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Sorcerer King: Ruined World

Setup This game takes place in a land that the Sorcerer King has dominated for some time.  The world is ruined. Very little life exists now. The rot of the Sorcerer King encroaches on my last city, Athica.  The Sorcerer King is powerful and is already in the process of casting the spell of making which will convert all life on this world to elemental magic. My job is to build a force that can take him about before it’s too late. Of course, how I go about doing... [read more]

10/11/2014 By Frogboy in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

Sorcerer King Beta 1.1 Patch Now Available

We’ve got a quick for you today that incorporates a huge pile of tweaks and fixes, plus addresses some pressing performance issues for some hardware configurations. Log into your Steam client to update your game automatically. Among other things, Sorcerer King Beta 1.1 includes: Additions + Spell to reduce Doomsday Counter added (still working on the visual FX though) + Outposts can now fire on multiple units per turn + Added WASD map controls + Additional tactical ba... [read more]

10/10/2014 By Island Dog in Sorcerer King News

Dev Stream Today (Friday, October 10th) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

  Get ready for the weekend by joining us at 3pm EST today for our weekly dev livestream on Twitch.  Today we’ll have Galactic Civilizations III Producer Ray Bartos and Lead Designer Paul Boyer taking your questions and talking about the upcoming beta patch. Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! After the live broadcast today, we’ll post the replay on our YouTube channel so you can catch up on the latest episodes. ... [read more]

10/10/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Galactic Civilizations III Beta 2 Adds Diplomacy, Available Now!

Galactic Civilizations III Beta 2 has arrived! This major update to the beta adds diplomacy and all the trappings – trade routes, technology trading, alliances, the United Planets, and more. Log into your Steam client to automatically update your game.   Galactic Civilizations III Beta 2 Features: Diplomacy – Make friends, broker deals, and threaten uppity neighbors in your bid for galactic dominance Trade – Boost your economy through trade, or tak... [read more]

10/9/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Sorcerer King: Week 1

Greetings! The first week of the Sorcerer King beta has been both exciting and terrifying.  On the one hand, the people who play the game seem to really like it.  On the other, people who have only seen the screenshots think it looks like Fallen Enchantress which makes us very sad. Update 1 = this week We’re getting ready to roll out the first update. Lots of changes in it.  A lot of performance optimizations have gone in that should be noticeable to everyone.  ... [read more]

10/8/2014 By Frogboy in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

Sorcerer King Dev Stream Today (October 8th) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

We’ll be having our next dev livestream for Sorcerer King today at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific.  We’ll be playing the latest internal build and taking your questions and comments about Sorcerer King.  If you have a question, please leave it in the comments below and we’ll try to get it answered on-air today. Join us and follow our Stardock Twitch channel - http://www.twitch.tv/stardock After the live broadcast today, we’ll post the replay on our YouTube ... [read more]

10/8/2014 By Island Dog in Sorcerer King News

Like Sorcerer King? Review us!

First of all, thanks to everyone who has joined the Sorcerer King Early Access beta. Your feedback is hugely appreciated. As developers, one of the most frustrating things is to see the people who enjoy your game shouted down by drive-bys from people who haven’t played it. The new Steam paradigm makes community involvement more important than ever. If you are so moved, the team would really appreciate anything you choose to do over there. If you like Sorcerer King, there are a c... [read more]

10/7/2014 By abiessener in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

Sorcerer King: Feeding the Dungeon Master

One of the major new features of Sorcerer King is the Dungeon Master. Essentially, the Dungeon Master is the AI behind the game making sure that things stay interesting and different from game to game. In coding terms, the Dungeon Master is a big fat state machine that you feed with your actions.  Here’s how it works:   First, I create a narrative resource.  In this case, I’m making one called Indifference. I am putting a _ in front of the name (_... [read more]

10/4/2014 By Frogboy in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

Dwarven Allies

Greetings!   Getting a ton of questions regarding minor races. Here’s the scoop: You and the Sorcerer King are trying to woo the “remnant factions” (minor races).  Each time you succeed, you gain favor with them. When enough favor has been gained, they will ally with that player. If they ally with you, they will be attacking the Sorcerer King on their own as well as giving you units. In addition, you can outright ask them for help Each min... [read more]

10/3/2014 By Frogboy in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

Sorcerer King BETA road-map!

Greetings! We’re very excited to have you with us on Sorcerer King.  We hope you’re having as much fun playing the beta as we are having making it.  This post will go over the road-map between Beta 1 and the final release of the game so you can see where things are. Milestone #1: Sorcerer King BETA 1 [October 2014] Crafting is in Outposts attack enemies in ZOC and can be upgraded Minor factions are on map but don’t do anything Wizard sovereign is... [read more]

10/3/2014 By Frogboy in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

Dev Stream Today (Friday, October 3rd) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

Our first dev livestream for October is happening today at 3pm EST!  Today, Lead Designer Paul Boyer will be playing the latest internal build of Galactic Civilizations III and showing off more of diplomacy.  As always, we’ll be taking your questions so please leave them in the comments below and we’ll get to as many as we can. Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! After the live broadcast today, we’ll post the repl... [read more]

10/3/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Announcing Sorcerer King!

This is a new kind of 4X. In traditional strategy game terms, the bad guy has already won – civilization lies in ruins, and twisted monsters roam freely through the scattered wreckage. Not satisfied with his victory, though, the evil Sorcerer King is bent on destroying the world in his quest to become a god himself. We invite you to explore Sorcerer King’s unique asymmetrical design, and give us your feedback here so that we can make this the best game it can be when it ... [read more]

10/2/2014 By Island Dog in Elemental News

Sorcerer King: Early Access!

  Stardock is pleased to announce the early access availability of a new, asymmetrical 4X fantasy strategy game. The Sorcerer King puts the player as the sovereign of the last surviving kingdom in a world that has already been conquered.  Having annihilated the other kingdoms, the Sorcerer King is now casting the Spell of Making which will transform him into a god – at the expense of eliminating all life in the world. Your only hope is to build alliances with the rem... [read more]

10/2/2014 By Frogboy in Elemental News

Dev Stream #1 – 3pm ET, Thursday October 2

We’re going live with lead designer Brad Wardell, showing off live Sorcerer King gameplay at www.sorcererking.com/stream – come join us! These dev streams will be a weekly thing on Wednesdays at 3pm ET (noon PT, 9pm CET). We just wanted to get out there on launch day, so this Thursday jam is a one-time deal. We’ll be taking your questions and showing off the latest builds, so you can check out our progress throughout Early Access as we approach our planned early 2... [read more]

10/2/2014 By Island Dog in Sorcerer King News

Holy ****, it's Early Access time!

As a game developer Early Access is awesome and terrifying and weird. It's awesome because we get a ton of feedback from a huge audience of strategy fans. It's terrifying because we're lifting our kilts to show you a buggy, unfinished game. It's weird because we used to have to beg people to play betas. But let's skip right ahead to the AWESOME part. We've got tons of additional content, massive balance updates, endless bug fixes, and some big new features coming your ... [read more]

10/2/2014 By cbray in Sorcerer King Dev Journals

Diplomacy status

We’re getting pretty close to Beta 2 for GalCiv III. This one is the diplomacy beta series.  Part of the challenge is having UIs that can handle potentially hundreds of players.  In this screen, Kael has made his own custom players using Star Control players but players will be able to make whatever they’d like. [read more]

9/29/2014 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Dev Stream Today (Friday, September 26th) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

Be sure to join us at 3pm today for our latest dev livestream.  As usual, we’ll be talking with our Lead Designer Paul Boyer while he plays an internal build and takes your questions.  Be sure to leave those questions in the comments and we’ll get to as many as we can. Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! After the live broadcast today, we’ll post the replay on our YouTube channel so you can catch up on the l... [read more]

9/26/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Dev Stream Today (Friday, September 19th) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

Today will be a stream you don’t want to miss!  At 3pm EST we will be showing off an internal build of Galactic Civilizations III where we will begin to take a look at diplomacy and United Planets!  Please post any questions you have in the comments and we’ll get to as many as we can on-air today.  Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! After the live broadcast today, we’ll post the replay on our YouTube chan... [read more]

9/19/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

3 questions from Stardock to you

Greetings! Today I would like to ask you guys some questions about strategy games. 1. What specific features of diplomacy do you traditionally like the most? I want you to be as specific as you can be. Which parts of diplomacy from any game do you like the most? What parts do you remember long after playing the most? 2. Looking back, how many turns do your favorite games last? This is important to know the specific number of turns the game in Question lasted.  3. Consi... [read more]

9/14/2014 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Dev Stream Today (Friday, September 12th) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

It’s Friday!  That means our dev livestream with Galactic Civilizations III Lead Designer, Paul Boyer, will be taking your questions today at 3pm EST.  Adam is back and will be running the show, so if you have any questions post them below and we’ll try to get to as many as possible. Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! After the live broadcast today, we’ll post the replay on our YouTube channel so you can catc... [read more]

9/12/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Galactic Civilizations III Beta Patch 0.42 Released

We've released an update to the Galactic Civilizations III beta. Simply fire up your Steam client, and it should download the 0.42 patch automatically. Galactic Civilizations III 0.42 adds huge hulls, improves load times, and fixes several bugs. Our next major patch, Beta 2, is scheduled for an October release and adds diplomacy and much more to the game. Check out the full tentative development schedule here . Thanks for playing, and happy conquering!   *** GALACTIC C... [read more]

9/11/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Dev Stream Today (Friday, September 5th) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

Be sure to join us at 3pm EST today for our latest dev livestream of the Galactic Civilizations III beta!  Lead Designer Paul Boyer will be talking about the latest opt-in beta 2 patch that was made available yesterday.  Hosting again this week will be the Producer on Galactic Civilizations III, Ray Bartos. Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! If you can’t make the stream, please feel free to drop your questions in the comme... [read more]

9/5/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

August 2014 quick status report

Greetings! While Star Control is not officially announced, it's no secret we're working on it. Here's a quick status report: We are developing a prototype to start from using Oxide's Nitrous 3D engine.  The prototype is very similar Star Control 2 but with a mini story. We hired comedy writer Chris Bucholz (Cracked.com) as the lead writer for the series. We are evaluating/discussing/debating/arguing/eating (okay maybe not eating) the different aspects of what ... [read more]

8/31/2014 By Frogboy in Star Control News

Galactic Civilizations III - The 100 Player Game

  Dropping 32bit support was a huge change for Galactic Civilizations. On the one hand we know that it means that there is a percentage of potential customers that won't be able to play the game. On the other, we are able to do things we could never do before, such as play a game with 100 players, which is exactly what I did this week.  The following is the results. *** Disclaimer *** The following if from a super early version of the Beta 2 build. You will see some bu... [read more]

8/30/2014 By DerekPaxton in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Dev Stream Today (Friday, August 29th) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

Join us today at 3pm EST for our next dev livestream with Galactic Civilizations III Lead Designer, Paul Boyer.  Adam is out this week, but filling in will be GCIII Producer Ray Bartos, also known as Raynman here on our forums.  They’ll be discussing the current patch that went out yesterday and taking your questions. Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! If you can’t make the stream, please feel free to drop your q... [read more]

8/29/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Galactic Civilizations III Beta 1 Patch 1 Now Available

The first patch for the Galactic Civilizations III beta is live! Log into your Steam client to automatically update your game. Galactic Civilizations III 0.41 addresses a common issue with laptops that have both integrated and discrete graphics chipsets, fixes a variety of bugs, and adds the option to suspend production at a shipyard so that your foremen will stop nagging you every single turn. Read the full patch notes here: https://forums.galciv3.com/457077 [read more]

8/28/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Dog Days of Summer Stardock update

Greetings! Well, my friends, there’s so much going on around here these days that I don’t even know where to start.  Please forgive me for my rambling in advance. Galactic Civilizations III As a developer, having a 64-bit only game engine is amazing. As I type this, old man Kael is testing to see what a GalCiv game with a hundred or so AI players will play like.  Can you guys imagine that? A game where the galaxy is alive with hundreds of empires (not counting min... [read more]

8/26/2014 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Dev Stream Today (Friday, August 22nd) at 3pm EST, Noon Pacific

Today at 3pm EST we will have our next dev livestream!  The topic for today will be the next upcoming patch and as always we will be taking your questions. Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! If you can’t make the stream, please feel free to drop your questions in the comments below and we’ll try to get them answered on-air. After the live broadcast today, we’ll post the replay on our YouTube channel so you can ... [read more]

8/22/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Dev Stream Today (Friday, August 15th) at Noon Pacific, 3pm EST

Happy Friday!  We hope you are enjoying the Galactic Civilizations III beta that was released Thursday, and the additions that were added to the beta.  We will be having our dev livestream again today at 3pm EST where we will be playing the public beta and taking your questions about it. Come on over to our Stardock Twitch channel and join us for our live broadcast! If you can’t make the stream, please feel free to drop your questions in the comments below and we&r... [read more]

8/15/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Galactic Civilizations III Beta Now Available

  We’ve officially launched the beta! Bells are ringing, birds are singing, and it’s a beautiful day to dig up the archives of a forgotten race’s reality TV shows and use them to placate a restive populace that for some reason doesn’t see the value in mandatory six-month stints working the factories of the nearest forgeworld. To all of our Founders, thank you so much for your early support. Elite Founders, your feedback and bug reporting has been invaluable i... [read more]

8/13/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Founder's Edition Off Sale, Beta Coming Thursday

First off, a big thank-you to all our Founders for their assistance in Galactic Civilizations III's successful alpha program! The pages and pages of feedback, bug reports, ideas, and discussion have been invaluable to us.   With the beta's imminent launch, the Founders' program is no longer available.    The Galactic Civilizations III beta will be available for purchase very soon (Thursday August 14, if all goes according to plan) for $44.99, a five dollar discoun... [read more]

8/12/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

GalCiv III Pre-Beta Status

Greetings! The team is really excited to get Beta 1 of Galactic Civilizations III out there.  The target date is one week away. The Founder's Edition, which is what provided access to the Alpha builds along with a lifetime subscription to everything we make for Galactic Civilizations III (all expansions, DLC) will not be offered anymore once the beta comes out.  On the other hand, the beta Early Access edition will be $5 off the list price of $49.95. So what's up? ... [read more]

8/8/2014 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Dev Stream Today (Friday, August 8th) at Noon Pacific

It’s Friday once again!  As usual we will have our dev livestream today at 3pm EST where Adam and Paul (and me in chat) will be taking questions and playing the Galactic Civilizations III Beta……yes, BETA!  The GalCiv 3 beta will be upon us before you know it, and we’ll be showing off the latest in that build and other aspects of current development. Tune in to our Stardock Twitch channel today and join us for our live broadcast! If you can’t... [read more]

8/8/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Dev Stream Today (Friday August 1) at Noon Pacific

It's that time of week again! Paul and I will be rocking out with our internal builds out (...yeah, sorry about that one, that was terrible) this afternoon. Join us on the official Stardock Twitch.tv channel to see that latest in Galactic Civilizations III development and ask Paul your burning questions about burning down the galaxy and/or fiddling. This week we've got a build that looks an awful lot like what we'll be getting into your hands as the official BETA version la... [read more]

8/1/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Dev Stream Tomorrow (Friday July 25) at Noon Pacific Time

It's that time of week again! This Friday, I want to talk about innovation. Tune in to the official Stardock Twitch.tv channel at 3pm Eastern time (noon Pacific, 9pm CET) to see an internal build of the game with some features not yet released to the public, and for a discussion with Galactic Civilizations III lead designer Paul Boyer on innovation and how Stardock is trying to walk the line between staying true to the GalCiv franchise while also moving the 4X genre forward. Inn... [read more]

7/24/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Dev Stream Today (Friday July 18) at Noon Pacific Time

Swing by the Stardock's Twitch.tv channel for the latest on Galactic Civilizations III development, live from Michigan at 3pm Eastern time (noon Pacific, 9pm CET). Lead Designer Paul Boyer will take your questions while showing off an internal build with some stuff you guys haven't seen before. If you can't make the stream, drop your questions in the thread here and we'll try to get to them on the air. All of our streams (including this one, when it's done processi... [read more]

7/18/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Dev Stream Tomorrow (Friday July 11) at Noon Pacific Time

We're back from the Stardock summer break (USA! USA!) and buckling back down on Galactic Civilizations III development. Join lead designer Paul Boyer on the official Stardock stream to get your questions about the just-released alpha patch, future Galactic Civilizations III development, and the impending beta answered. Point your browser at http://twitch.tv/stardock  at noon Pacific time (3pm Eastern, 9pm CET) to send your questions diving at Paul like a Brazilian soccer player. ... [read more]

7/10/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III News