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PREVIEW GUIDE: Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade

Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade is an expansion pack for Stardock's popular 4X space strategy game, Galactic Civilizations III. Crusade is a top-to-bottom update of the entire game. This article will walk you through what's new, what's changed and try to explain it for those who may not be familiar with the series. The Specs Title : Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade Platform : Windows PC, 64-bit Price : $19.99 if you already have Galactic Civilizations... [read more]

4/26/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade - The First Turn

Crusade is the space strategy game made by 4X nuts for 4X nuts. Let's do this. What is Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade? In 2015, Stardock released the latest entry in its popular 4X space strategy game series, Galactic Civilizations III. 4X means eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate and is turn-based. GalCiv III was well received (81 metacritic) and has a recent Steam review score of 82. However, coming from Galactic Civilizations II (94... [read more]

4/24/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Galactic Civilizations through the ages

Galactic Civilizations has the distinction of being the longest running strategy game developed by the same company. Let's take a look at how it has changed. Galactic Civilizations OS/2 The game that started it all. I wrote this game from my dorm room in college. Galactic Civilizations for OS/2 (1993) First commercial multithreaded game First commercial game to use more than 256 colors First commercial 32-bit game It was written for I... [read more]

4/23/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Everything You Need to Know About Io

Hello everyone, and welcome to our second dev journal about Jupiter’s Forge. Today we’re going to begin digging into the meat of the upcoming Offworld expansion, starting with the most obvious place, Io itself. As we talked about last week, Io is not a pleasant place to be. A good look at the moon’s surface should reveal why. Immediately alarming is the fact that Io is covered in lava flows and volcanic pits. However, most of this lava is composed of basalt. This is in fact ... [read more]

4/19/2017 By Zultar327 in Offworld Dev Journals

CRUSADE DIARY 8: A guided tour part 1

In our previous entries, we've discussed specific major new features of Crusade. For this entry, we're going to go through a guided tour of what's new in Crusade over GalCiv III in terms of features and gameplay. Strap in! Let me preface that this is long and probably a bit full of typos. I wanted to get this out to you as soon as possible. It's long, but I hope you like it! -brad Prior to the age of digital distribution, Crusade would be a sequel... [read more]

4/17/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

New "Inception" DLC for Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation is Now Available

Inception DLC features a new type of split scenario, new maps, and more! Choose your story in the first split-faction scenario in Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation Get it on Steam | Get it at Stardock A mysterious entity known as Nihilon has returned to wreak havoc on the planet Oneiros and has seized control of some of the Substrate consciousnesses residing there. As the Substrate, you must rescue your corrupted brethren and find o... [read more]

4/13/2017 By Island Dog in Ashes of the Singularity News

Introducing Offworld Trading Company: Jupiter’s Forge

We’ve built a new home on Mars. It hasn’t been easy, it hasn’t been simple, and it hasn’t been safe. But for those with the will and cunning, it has been profitable. From Mars we went to Ceres, and created a refuge for belters across the system. Completely devoid of atmosphere and with a scarcity of resources that made Mars seem plentiful, Ceres was a challenge for even veteran Offworld entrepreneurs. And yet with all the resources of the belt flowing through, we onc... [read more]

4/12/2017 By Zultar327 in Offworld Dev Journals

New Jupiter's Forge Expansion for Offworld Trading Company Arrives this Spring!

Offworld Trading Company's new Jupiter's Forge expansion takes you to the volcanic moon of Io and challenges you to thrive You thought Mars was a harsh environment? Think again. Prudent business decisions take you to Jupiter's moon, Io, to harvest its resources and keep an edge on your competition. Io's 42-hour days and lack of an atmosphere means that you'll have to change your strategy and choose what to build very carefully! Radiation storms, sulfur frosts, la... [read more]

4/12/2017 By Island Dog in Offworld News

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion - Forging an Empire

Recently, Ironclad Games and Stardock released version 1.9 of Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion to players, marking the 5-year anniversary of the latest expansion. I've had the pleasure of working on Sins of a Solar Empire since we released the original title in 2008, and it's been great to see fans continue to play both the base game and the many mods that have been created for it. If you're new to the series, or looking to join in the fun, what is Sins of a Solar Empire all abou... [read more]

4/7/2017 By Yarlen in Sins Developer Journals

CRUSADE DIARY 7: Conquest

Let's begin this diary with the understanding that conquest is not the primary means to victory in Galactic Civilizations. While warfare is commonly seen as politics via other means, it is not the only or even the easiest way to "win". That said, when you do go to war, you are dealing with battles on a scale that humans of the 21st century could scarcely imagine. Invading a planet is an immense task. Invading entire worlds: BEFORE Since the start of t... [read more]

4/6/2017 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Massive v2.2 Update for Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation is Now Live!

Game Replays, Huge Balance Updates, New Maps, Modding Support, and More in v2.2 of Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation New features, updates, and adjustments have been made. For a full list, see the change log below! Game Replay You've been asking, and here it is! The game replays remove the fog of war so that you can see absolutely everything that went on during your game. Scope out what your opponents wer... [read more]

4/6/2017 By Island Dog in Ashes of the Singularity News

v1.9 Update marks 5 Year Anniversary for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion!

v1.9 Modernization Update Improves Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion for Current PCs Get Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion on Steam for only $10! * Sins: Rebellion celebrates its 5-year anniversary with an update that brings significant changes to the game's engine, AI, graphics systems, and more! Modern gamers will enjoy an incredible remastered 4K experience, optimizations to late-game play, and improved memory capabilities. Major Features Gra... [read more]

4/4/2017 By Island Dog in Sins News

CRUSADE DIARY 6: What kind of Civilization do you want to build?

What kind of people are you? I think the biggest reason the Galactic Civilizations series has been so popular over the years has been because each game is your own epic story. In fact, the biggest request we get is to make the galaxy feel move alive. With this Spring's mega expansion to Galactic Civilizations III, we hope to do just that. With Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade, we've been able to use the new, 64-bit, multicore game engine to create a much more lively... [read more]

3/16/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

v2.1 for Sorcerer King: Rivals is Now Available!

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, r... [read more]

3/9/2017 By Island Dog in Sorcerer King News

CRUSADE DIARY 5: Spies & Saboteurs

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 th... [read more]

3/8/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Save 50% on Escalation on Steam from Feb. 23 - March 2!

Wage a Massive War in Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation! Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation is a massive-scale RTS where you can conquer alien worlds, build enormous and diverse armies, and engage in epic battles against up to a dozen other players on huge maps. Play as the Post Human Coalition or their eternal foes, the Substrate, and battle for control of the galaxy. Experience maps of unprecedented size and detail with the unparalleled power of the world's firs... [read more]

2/23/2017 By Tatiora in Ashes of the Singularity News

Escalation v2.1 Update is Now Available!

Tons of Map Rebalancing, Single Player Observer Mode, and More in Escalation v2.1! Map Rebalances are a huge part of v2.1! One of our partners, Callum McCole over at General's Gentlemen overhauled some of our maps and streamlined them for better gameplay. Stardock's CEO Brad Wardell details the adjustments in a recent dev diary over on our community site. Check it out and let us know what you think of the changes! v2.1 also adds&... [read more]

2/23/2017 By Island Dog in Ashes of the Singularity News

CRUSADE DIARY 4: What is a 4X strategy game?

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. Besides 4X, there are other genres: Real-Time Strategy games (RTS), such as Ashes of the Singularity and StarCraft, focus on harvesting resources to build units in order to destroy the enemy with it all happening... [read more]

2/23/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

CRUSADE DIARY 3: Galactic Citizens

Sliders. Knobs. Checkboxes. Such is the spread-sheet roots of strategy games. Let's fix that. Going back 15 years to Galactic Civilizations I for Windows, players managed their economy like this: GalCiv I: Sliders. In Galactic Civilizations I, you would set your tax rate. Your tax rate affected the approval rate on your planets. You could then decide how much of your GDP the government would take control of with the spending slider. From ther... [read more]

2/15/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

CRUSADE DIARY 2: The Civilization Builder

Galactic Civilizations games have had ship building in them for almost 20 years. And ever since, people have used it to create all kinds of amazing designs from robots to their favorite Sci-Fi ships. Ship designer from Galactic Civilizations II With Galactic Civilizations III, players were able to share their designs with millions of other players via Steam Workshop. Suddenly, players could download and play with almost any type of ship imaginable. As much as players loved... [read more]

2/9/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

New DLC "Blue Chip Ventures" is Now Available

Take on new single-player challenges designed by a Top-Tier Offworld Trading Company Player Blue Chip Ventures' difficult new scenarios will force you to play at your very best to win Predict markets, effectively sabotage your opponents, and break monopolies in Blue Chip Ventures! This series of new single-player scenarios is designed by one of Offworld Trading Company’s top competitors - will your business come out on top, or will y... [read more]

2/9/2017 By Island Dog in Offworld News

Galactic Civilizations: Ship Designer

Ship design has been part of Galactic Civilizations games for many years. However, with Galactic Civilizations III, the designer has reached the point where user creations are starting to rival what you would see in movies. The ship designs we included are wholly original creations based on the lore that's been developed over the past 25 years. The ship designer itself lets people put together thousands of parts to create whatever they want. A new design For the serio... [read more]

2/3/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Newest "Crusade" Expansion for Galactic Civilizations III is Coming Soon!

Now Announcing Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade! Add it to your Steam Wishlist today . For more information, check out www.galciv3.com/crusade. In Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade , the shield around Earth has fallen, but humanity has been anything but idle. Furious that their attempts at diplomacy and goodwill were met with treachery and violence, Earth turned to its most valuable asset: its people. From spies trained in espionage to soldiers ready to invade... [read more]

2/2/2017 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

CRUSADE DIARY 1: Introducing Galactic Civilizations III: CRUSADE

Explore. Expand. Exploit. Exterminate. This is where the term "4X" originates. The granddaddy of our genre is, of course, Sid Meier's Civilization. Where Sid Meier's Civilization leverages our common history from the dawn of agriculture to the moment we leave the Earth, Galactic Civilizations begins at the moment we leave our home world. In Galactic Civilizations, players create their own histories. Each game is a different possibility. When we relea... [read more]

2/2/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Sorcerer King: Rivals 2.1 preview

Greetings! The editor I’m working on Sorcerer King: Rivals v2.1 right now. Much of my work is actually happening in the Unit editor: This is just a glorified Excel spreadsheet that lets me change the pre-requisites. The new units There are 5 sovereigns we are enhancing: The Commander The Tyrant The Guardian The Priestess The Tinkerer Each of these 5 are going to get their own starting units and thei... [read more]

1/29/2017 By Frogboy in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

Get up to 75% off in the Galactic Civilizations III Steam Weekend Sale!

Conquer the Galaxy in Galactic Civilizations III! Galactic Civilizations III is the largest strategy sandbox ever made. Start with a single world and expand across the galaxy through diplomacy, trade, cultural hegemony, or military conquest. With loads of extra DLC, an exciting expansion with 2 additional races, and endless opportunities for both single and multiplayer experiences, Galactic Civilizations III: Gold is an adventure you will love undertaking again and ag... [read more]

1/26/2017 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Galactic Civilizations III v2.0 Update is Now Available

v2.0 adds new Starbase Administrators, Improves Diplomacy, updates Ship Builder UI, and More Starbase Administrators are a new addition to Galactic Civilizations III with v2.0 and will take some of the pressure of feeling like you need to mass-produce Starbases off your shoulders. You'll start with a number of Administrators based on the size of the map, and each Starbase will consume one. Researching certain government-related techs will allow you t... [read more]

1/26/2017 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Galactic Civilizations III: Season 1 Episode 1

Greetings! Welcome to the first season of Galactic Civilizations III AARs. Long ago, I used to write stories regarding Galactic Civilizations II . With the release of Galactic Civilizations III 2.0, I am proud to bring you a new generation of stories based on Stardock's epic 4X strategy game. This is just one story...your story will be completely different. We have detected something... Just beyond Jupiter's orbit, something was noticed. Somethin... [read more]

1/23/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

[a]listdaily Interview with Brad Wardell on Star Control: Origins

[a]listdaily has an interview up with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell on the upcoming Star Control: Origins! "What attracted you to the Star Control franchise? Star Control II was my favorite game of all time. When Accolade went out of business, Infogrames picked it up, and when that went out business, Atari got it. When Atari declared bankruptcy, we picked up the publishing rights to Star Control I, II and III so we could create a home for the existing trilogy. What we want is a space a... [read more]

1/20/2017 By Island Dog in Star Control News

DEV DIARY GalCiv III v2.0 preview

I'm enjoying my time back on Galactic Civilizations. The team is working on lots of neat things for the upcoming version 2.0 update which is due this month. Here are a few highlights: Administrators There's a new resource called administrators. Your capital world provides N of them where N is based on the size of the map. Building a starbase consumes one. You can get more by researching government related techs but that means you're not res... [read more]

1/13/2017 By Draginol in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Sorcerer King: Rivals JANUARY Update!

Greetings! Happy New Year! So here's what's happening around here. == New Campaign == Chris Bucholz (you can google him) is creating a new campaign for Sorcerer King: Rivals. It is almost done but you can expect the same style of writing with it as with the quests. == New Units == I'm currently mostly on GalCiv III right now but my intention is to get a bunch of new trainable units in for v2.1 which we currently have slated for the second week of Febr... [read more]

1/9/2017 By Island Dog in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

The Steam Holiday Sale has Begun - Get up to 75% off Stardock Games

Celebrate the savings on your favorite Stardock titles in the Steam Holiday Sale! Games are up to 75% off* - don't miss out! Offworld Trading Company $39.99 Now $13.59 Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation $39.99 Now $29.99 Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion $39.99 Now $9.99 Galactic Civilizations III $39.99 Now $13.59 Additional titles on sale: Offworld Tradin... [read more]

12/22/2016 By Island Dog in Offworld News

The Steam Holiday Sale has Begun - Get up to 75% off Stardock Games

Celebrate the savings on your favorite Stardock titles in the Steam Holiday Sale! Games are up to 75% off* - don't miss out! Offworld Trading Company $39.99 Now $13.59 Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation $39.99 Now $29.99 Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion $39.99 Now $9.99 Galactic Civilizations III $39.99 Now $13.59 Additional titles on sale: Offworld Tradin... [read more]

12/22/2016 By Island Dog in Sorcerer King News

The Steam Holiday Sale has Begun - Get up to 75% off Stardock Games

Celebrate the savings on your favorite Stardock titles in the Steam Holiday Sale! Games are up to 75% off* - don't miss out! Offworld Trading Company $39.99 Now $13.59 Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation $39.99 Now $29.99 Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion $39.99 Now $9.99 Galactic Civilizations III $39.99 Now $13.59 Additional titles on sale: Offworld Tradin... [read more]

12/22/2016 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

The Steam Holiday Sale has Begun - Get up to 75% off Stardock Games

Celebrate the savings on your favorite Stardock titles in the Steam Holiday Sale! Games are up to 75% off* - don't miss out! Offworld Trading Company $39.99 Now $13.59 Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation $39.99 Now $29.99 Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion $39.99 Now $9.99 Galactic Civilizations III $39.99 Now $13.59 Additional titles on sale: Offworld Tradin... [read more]

12/22/2016 By Island Dog in Ashes of the Singularity News

Offworld Trading Company on GameSpot's Best of 2016 list!

Offworld Trading Company is on GameSpot's Best of 2016 list! “Matches are vicious, and the scales often tip dramatically. Nobody would have ever thought a game centered around capitalism could get your heartrate up so high, but Offworld Trading Company succeeds with its truly unique, wonderfully-executed concept.” http://www.gamespot.com/articles/game-of-the-year-2016-countdown-20-16/1100-6446345/ [read more]

12/19/2016 By Island Dog in Offworld News

DEV DIARY: GalCiv III December 2016

By now you should have version 1.9 which is easily the biggest update to the game since its original release. When I joined the GalCiv III team last month, I did a thorough inventory of the code base and decided to focus on 3 things: 1. The AI 2. The Performance 3. The memory use ## Results ## The result was 1.9. I've seen a lot of feedback on it. Mostly good. There's some complaints that the galaxy sizes are a little smaller. This is true, I did make them a bit s... [read more]

12/17/2016 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Modders, Rejoice: Offworld Trading Company now has Steam Workshop Support!

Make your Offworld Mods and Share Them With Other Players Change game values in xml or dive deep into the code with your own C# mods At Stardock and Mohawk Games, we appreciate the modding community. Many of us got our start in games through modding in our spare time and we love to see the incredible ideas and designs that you dream up for our titles. To that end, we’re thrilled to introduce Steam Workshop support for Offworld Tradi... [read more]

12/15/2016 By Island Dog in Offworld News

Base Ashes Owners: Enjoy a Free DLC on us!

New Ashes of the Singularity Reinforcements DLC is Available! If you own the base Ashes game, the DLC has been added to your Steam account Up your strategic game with the new Substrate Harvester unit and the new PHC Artillery Post building! We've added a little something to each side of the war to open up new strategic possibilities. Substrate Harvester Unit: This unit can gather resources from any region, regardless of who controls them, al... [read more]

12/15/2016 By Island Dog in Ashes of the Singularity News

v1.5 for Ashes of the Singularity is Now Available!

New Features, WASD Camera Movement, and Audio Alerts in v1.5! Check out the full list of updates in the change log below You spoke, and we listened! We are committed to providing updates for Ashes of the Singularity and we know this newest one will provide a lot of what you've been asking for. Some of v1.5's highlights include: WASD Movement: To make it easier to scan the map, we have added WASD enabled panning. Keep directing units ... [read more]

12/15/2016 By Island Dog in Ashes of the Singularity News

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