## ASHES OF THE SINGULARITY IS EVERYWHERE ##

We just came back from the Game Developer's Conference.   It was a great week for the Nitrous engine (the underlying engine used in Ashes of the Singularity).

Big News: AMD is bundling Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation with more and more CPUs  The hardware bundling keeps a steady stream of new players coming into our community.

Moreover, the AMD Ryzen chips, which are 8-cores, really show off the power of the game. As more people get 4 core machines and more powerful video cards (like the AMD Radon VEGA) the more people that can play the game which in turn allows us to increase the rate of development even further.

As you know, the up-front hardware wall on Ashes of the Singularity is fairly high.  If you don't have an SSD, loading the game is slow.  If you have low resolution, the fonts are blurry.  If you don't have at least a 2GB video card, the graphics are slow.  What players get in return, however, is that the game doesn't slow down, even late game. 

Thus, the faster AMD, Intel and NVIDIA can get mainstream high-end, DirectX 12 and Vulkan hardware out there, the quicker the adoption of Ashes of the Singularity.

Now, let's talk about what's coming in Version 2.2 this month...

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v2.1 adds a new campaign, complete with a unique quest with all-new dialogue and text, a new villain, and an unusually well-dressed ogre.

To read more, go here.

An anonymous note. A mysterious artifact.
An...unusually well-dressed Ogre. 

What adventures await in v2.1 of Sorcerer King: Rivals?

Powerless to stop the rise of the Sorcerer King, you've done your best to care for the people of your small and struggling kingdom. Even as you watched the Sorcerer King's sinister plans spread, you didn't dare step into the conflict out of fear of what he'd do to you if you defied him. Instead, you choose the bliss of ignorance, remaining within your kingdom's walls while the rest of the world is closed off to you.

...That is, until now. 

v2.1 introduces a whole new campaign that starts in a nearby inn with a single, mysterious letter. The writer has sent you an ancient artifact called the Crux of Az-Adoras, which is capable of piercing the magical wards that seal off your realm from the rest of the Sorcerer King's world. But, where did it come from? Who sent it? This isn't a world where things are ever done for free.

Spying on Aliens

Galactic Civilizations is a game that asks the question: What happens after we start colonizing other planets? For our purposes, we are going to assume that we will come into contact with alien civilizations.

Alien civilizations will have their own histories, cultures and ideals that we can only fathom.  In Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade, you will be able to train your citizens to learn more about these other civilizations and, if necessary, do very bad things to them.

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Plymouth, MI. – February 23, 2017 - Stardock released version 2.1 for its massive-scale RTS Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation today. The update rebalances several maps and adds a single-player observer mode, an option for disabling supply lines, unranked matches, and new maps.

"In addition to making some adjustments with AI visibility and balance, we’ve added features that players have been asking for, like the single-player observer mode," said Derek Paxton, Stardock’s Vice President of Entertainment. "You can learn how the AI makes decisions by watching it battle during customized games using any settings or parameters you want."

The latest v2.1 update for Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation releases during a special Steam sale where players can save 50% off of the game from February 23 - March 2. The sale is a great opportunity for enthusiasts who have been curious about Escalation to get it for a limited low price.

Among the improvements to v2.1 include options for supply lines, a quick-match multiplayer option, rebalanced maps for multiplayer and new maps for single player.

Last week, Stardock merged the base game with the critically acclaimed expansion pack into a single title, Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation and provided all owners of the base game a free copy of Escalation.

"The growing single-player modding community and the extensive multiplayer options convinced us that we needed to combine the Ashes of the Singularity and Escalation communities together," said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. "After all, there can only be one singularity."

For a complete list of the updates in v2.1, please view the changelog here.

Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation retails on Steam or through Stardock for $39.99. From February 23 - March 2, you can purchase Escalation for 50% off. For more information about the game, please visit www.ashesgame.com.  

Screenshots:
Screenshot 1 | Screenshot 2

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Please contact press@stardock.com for all media inquiries.

About Stardock: Stardock is a developer and publisher of PC games and desktop software founded in 1991 by nationally recognized technology expert Brad Wardell. Located in Plymouth, Michigan, Stardock is a powerful leader in the video gaming and software development world.  Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire, Offworld Trading Company, Galactic Civilizations and Ashes of the Singularity.

4X strategy. You may have heard of the term. It stands for: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate.  They are a specific genre of strategy game.  Today we are going to talk about them and how Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade, aims to innovate the genre.

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The world's most popular turn-based space strategy game is getting a major overhaul with this Spring's Crusade expansion.  In this week's Development Diary, we discuss the new Citizen system. 

To read more, go here.

By definition, there can only be one singularity.

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Sliders. Knobs. Checkboxes. Such is the spread-sheet roots of strategy games. Let's fix that.

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Overview

Years ago, Random House asked me to write a book around the Elemental universe.  As a first time author, I was assigned an editor, Dave Stern, who soon became a good friend of mine.

Over the course of writing the book, now sold on Amazon, Dave and I would go back and forth on the story along with Random House's requests to ensure that the book was commercially successful.  I will be the first to admit that my vision of the story may not have been as commercial viable as theirs.  After all, the editorial team assigned to me was the same team managing the Game of Thrones series who, fortunately for me, had a lot of extra time to spend with me due to a Dance with Dragons being late.

The end result, however, is that what is on store shelves is dramatically different from the original story I wrote.

Thus, for the first time, I will share with you the original draft of the book with you. 

I hope you enjoy it.

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