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GalCiv III visuals

So yesterday the art team gave me a tour of the new rendering technology being used for GalCIv III.  If you’ve been with us for many years, you know that I’m not a graphics guy.  I drew the original OS/2 version “art” myself with the built in OS/2 icon editor.  As you can imagine, that means I have only a little understanding of all the cool stuff they’re doing. To me, I thought the GalCiv II ships looked pretty good. But the art team cringes when I say that.  I am intim... [read more]

1/28/2014 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Part 1 of the Galactic Civilizations 3 Community Interview is Up at SpaceSector

SpaceSector has part 1 of their Community Interview up which took several questions from the community and were answered by our own Ray Barton, producer on Galactic Civilizations 3. " Kordanor, adarax: Regarding multiplayer, will there be simultaneous turns or IGOUGO turns? If there are simultaneous turns, will the orders be executed right within the turn or will they be executed “between” turns? W ill there be a special lobby for multiplayer? Meaning, will Steam be r... [read more]

1/27/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Starbases in Galactic Civilizations III

Constructing starbases has long been a key element of any successful space empire in Galactic Civilizations. We’re taking a good look at them for Galactic Civilizations III from both artistic and mechanical perspectives. Starbases are going to be cooler and more strategically interesting in Galactic Civilizations III than ever.   (click the pic for a high-res downloadable version) Lead designer Paul Boyer (Mormegil here on the forums) has the following to say... [read more]

1/27/2014 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Galactic Civilizations 3 in Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s ‘Spectacular 2014 Preview’

Rock, Paper, Shotgun put up part one of their ‘Spectacular 2014 Preview’ highlighting some of the PC games coming in 2014.  We’re happy to see Galactic Civilizations 3 on that list. “Stardock’s hotly anticipated sequel may be the epic 4X space game that the federated worlds have been waiting for. Improved planetary management, intricate ship-building and interstellar terrain are among the features that could make this game, long in-development, the brightest star in the sky.” ... [read more]

1/3/2014 By Island Dog in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Stardock's Brad Wardell Talks to Arstechinca about the Star Control Title in Development

I know many of you have been itching to get more info on what’s been going on with Star Control, and today Arstechnica published their interview with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell on just that topic! “In July of last year, developer and publishing house Stardock acquired the rights to the highly celebrated but long-dormant Star Control franchise. The company announced plans for a new Star Control title which would be heavily inspired by the franchise's most famous entry... [read more]

1/3/2014 By Island Dog in Star Control News

Community Q&A #1 -- Answered!

Lead designer Paul Boyer and associate producer Raymond Bartos answered many of the questions you folks sent in last week . Tactical battles, minor races, and moddability were among the many hot topics, and our guys dropped some new info in their answers. Check out the full Q&A below. Programming note: Paul (mormegil on the forums) has been active here on the boards and has provided most of the info I’ve been bothering the team for to fill in the journals and such I’... [read more]

12/17/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Galactic Civilizations III: December Update

Greetings! I just wanted to give you guys a quick update on where things stand with Galactic Civilizations III. Internally, the game is fully playable at this stage (except the AI is really stupid at this point as we won’t really get started on that until January).  While this isn’t a promise, we anticipate the Alpha version being made available in late February.  Those of you with Founder’s Elite access will receive a Steam code around that time and be able ... [read more]

12/16/2013 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

AI coding, I can’t even begin to express how excited I am

I haven’t got to design an AI since…well 2006.  It’s been a long time and the Stardock games team of 2013 is insanely awesome and the tech is just amazing too. Now, I programmed the AI in Legendary Heroes and helped on the AI in Fallen Enchantress (I wrote worker functions for War of Magic).  But I haven’t got to sit down and make something from scratch since GalCiv II. And wow, things are so much better now.  Virtualization, lots of cores to handle threads (GalCiv II ... [read more]

12/5/2013 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Meet the Altarian Leader, Akari Malara

(click the pic for a full-res, downloadable version) Humanity’s allies are bloodied but unbroken in the Galactic Civilizations III timeframe. The former leader of the Republic, Eleys Mue, died at the hands of the Drengin paving the way for the Resistance to take more direct measures that ultimately pushed the Drengin off her world.  Succeeding her is Akari Malara of the Iru-Wraith'ir. She is a smart and capable woman willing to deal with the Drengin-dominated galaxy as i... [read more]

12/3/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Paul Boyer on SpaceGameJunkies Podcast

Lead designer Paul Boyer joined Brian and Jim over at spacegamejunkies.com to chat all kinds of Galactic Civilizations III design, goals, and philosophy. Learn all about how you go from icon designer to 4X space strategy lead in just ten years of hard work by listening in to the podcast. [read more]

12/3/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Stardock Autumn Sale - 50% Off Fallen Enchantress Titles, DLC, and More

Stardock Autumn Sale! Starting today through Tuesday, December 3rd, we have a big Autumn Sale going on for Stardock games and DLC.  This sale is going on in our store and on Steam. View the Stardock Autumn Sale list here. Here are some sale highlights: Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes  -  $39.99  $19.99 Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion  -   $39.9 9  $19.99 Stardock Entertainment Pack 2014  - $89.99  $44.99 Galactic Civ... [read more]

11/27/2013 By Island Dog in Elemental News

Stardock Autumn Sale - 50% Off Sins of a Solar Empire Titles, DLC, and More

Stardock Autumn Sale! Starting today through Tuesday, December 3rd, we have a big Autumn Sale going on for Stardock games and DLC.  This sale is going on in our store and on Steam. View the Stardock Autumn Sale list here. Here are some sale highlights: Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes  -  $39.99  $19.99 Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion  -  $39.99  $19.99 Stardock Entertainment Pack 2014  - $89.99  $44.99 Galactic Civil... [read more]

11/27/2013 By Island Dog in Sins News

Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes 1.5 'Global Intrigue' Update Released

Global Intrigue update released! v1.5 The fifth major update to Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes is live! Diplomacy and stability are the major focuses of v1.5, which you can enjoy as soon as your Steam client automatically downloads the patch. The diplomatic AI has been overhauled, making for a more varied and interesting strategic layer. The AI is also more verbose now, telling players how it feels about them and their other rival empires in no uncertain terms. We al... [read more]

11/25/2013 By Island Dog in Elemental News

The evolution of the Drengin

Many years ago, when I was trying to come up with a villain for what I called, at the time, Earth Space Wars, I wanted an enemy that was brutal, ruthless and most importantly, inhuman. An enemy that would look at our system of ethics, morals and honor and laugh at them as being hopelessly naïve and primitive. Below are images of the Drengin over the years. Early Drengin image from early 90s. Drengin painting from 1995 Lord Kona, Galactic Civilizatio... [read more]

11/22/2013 By Frogboy in GalCiv III Dev Journals

PC Gamer's First Preview of Galactic Civilizations III

PC Gamer has put up the first preview of Galactic Civilizations III and talks with Lead Designer Paul Boyer about the game. "Many of the familiar races from the game, such as the Krynn Consulate and the Iconian Refuge, will return alongside new races. The Iridium Corporation, for instance, was always part of the series’ lore but never a playable race. Boyer notes that “they are essentially ultra-capitalists, like if Apple was a race that was going to take over the universe&rdqu... [read more]

11/20/2013 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Galactic Civilizations III Timeline Launched

We've put together an interactive timeline of the Galactic Civilizations III universe. Follow along from our dimension's creation billions of years ago through the rise of humanity and hyperdrive, the Dread Lord wars, and the wrathful return of the Terran First Fleet that kicks off the story of Galactic Civilizations III. Check out the Galactic Civilizations III interactive timeline here. [read more]

11/18/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Derek Paxton on the business of making games

Stardock Entertainment VP Derek Paxton (Kael) has a lot to say about the business side of how games are made. Check out his latest interview if you're curious about the differences in the way Stardock works versus many other game studios. [read more]

11/14/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes v1.5 Beta Update is Available!

The beta for Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes v1.5 is live! Download it through the Steam client to help us test the next update for our fantasy empire builder. To get the v1.5 beta, do the following: Launch Steam Open your Library Right-click Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes, select Properties In the Betas tab, select the v1.5 Beta option from the first drop-down menu Once your download is finished, launch the game We’ve done a lot of work with d... [read more]

11/13/2013 By Island Dog in Elemental News

Drengin Ship Design Illustrated

The evil Drengin empire is in control of the known galaxy. Lacking nigh-invincible warrior-priests to do enforce its grim decrees, the Drengin use these powerful starships to maintain their hegemony. As the story of Galactic Civilizations III begins, the Drengin have seized control of the galaxy alongside their Yor allies . Treacherously holding their fleets back during the Dread Lords war allowed the two malevolent races to sweep aside the weary Terran-led coalition in the aftermath of th... [read more]

11/11/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Brad Wardell Talks to Strategy Informer about Galactic Civilizations III

Stardock's Brad Wardell talked with Strategy Informer about Galactic Civilizations III taking advantage of 64-bit, Steamworks, multiplayer, and more. Strategy Informer:  You’ve said that your game is going to only work on 64-bit computers – that’s quite a statement.  "Brad Wardell: The vast majority of our users have 64-bit Operating Systems already, so it’s really not that big of a thing. For us… 64-bit is just about memory, we wanted... [read more]

11/7/2013 By Island Dog in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Derek Paxton explains why 64-bit gaming is a big deal

Stardock Entertainment VP and Legendary Heroes designer Derek Paxton spoke to Rob Zacny at PCGamesN at length about how 64-bit strategy gaming takes the shackles off of modders and designers, among other things. “If I know that my game is going to support 32-bit, some people are going to play my game in 32-bit mode. I know that I can’t design more stuff in my world, no more can be accessed at once than what fits on a 32-bit amount of memory, which is about two gigs. ....You can ... [read more]

11/7/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Creating Stellar Phenomena

I haven't written a developer journal in ages, but with the release of the Stellar Phenomena DLC for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion today, I thought I'd give it a go. This DLC adds a number of elements to Sins that I've long thought of, so seeing it come into being has been a blast.  As with everything Sins, I worked closely with Ironclad in designing Stellar Phenomena, as did the rest of the team in creating it.  I love getting to work with Ironclad on this stuff, so th... [read more]

11/6/2013 By Yarlen in Sins Developer Journals

Galactic Civilizations III "Civilizations" Webpage Launches

We’ve opened up the doors to another section of the Galactic Civilizations III website: the Civilizations page in the Databanks. Curious where the Torians are at? Want to spot-check your knowledge of the wars that shaped the Drengin? Read up on them and the rest of the major players in the upcoming crusade right here. [read more]

11/5/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

The Stellar Phenomena DLC Pack for Sins: Rebellion is now available!

Explore the newest, most dangerous battlefield yet The ever-expanding conflicts within and between the TEC, Vasari, and Advent have pushed the battlegrounds into uncharted space. The sectors now being drawn into the war feature the most dangerous and powerful natural phenomena in the galaxy.  In addition, Stellar Phenomena lets players seize the moment with 11 optional random events that can alter the fate of not just your empire but the galaxy at large. Stars ... [read more]

11/5/2013 By Island Dog in Sins News

Upgrade Discounts For FE: Legendary Heroes, Sins: Rebellion End November 15

Stardock is retiring the early-adopter upgrade discounts for Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes and Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. Any owners of previous games in the Elemental or Sins of a Solar Empire franchises who want to take advantage of discounts they are currently eligible for will need to make those purchases by Friday, November 15. Thank you all for your support over the years. We’re on the cusp of an exciting new era for Stardock, with the announcements of Galactic Ci... [read more]

11/1/2013 By Island Dog in Sins News

Upgrade Discounts For FE: Legendary Heroes, Sins: Rebellion End November 15

Stardock is retiring the early-adopter upgrade discounts for Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes and Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. Any owners of previous games in the Elemental or Sins of a Solar Empire franchises who want to take advantage of discounts they are currently eligible for will need to make those purchases by Friday, November 15. Thank you all for your support over the years. We’re on the cusp of an exciting new era for Stardock, with the announcements of Galactic Ci... [read more]

11/1/2013 By Island Dog in Elemental News

Galactic Civilizations III Founder's Repository Now Open

  We've added a cool new feature to our Founder's program : a behind-the-scenes look at some of the pieces of Galactic Civilizations III as they're being built. We're planning on adding new content to the Repository on a regular basis, but for now all Founders can listen in on some of the music our talented composer has already finished for the game. In the future, we're looking at dropping the following types of things into the Repository: Music Con... [read more]

10/30/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

The Dead World DLC for Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes is now available!

Design your own undead army or lead the Empire of the Dead to dominion over the living in the latest DLC for Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes. The ancient sorcerer now known as Morrigan the Risen returns to leave another black stain on history as he leads the Empire of the Dead in his skeletal form. All-new mechanics change the way undead empires form and grow; they grow their population by spreading cemeteries and mausoleums rather than farming food like lesser races. Undead cas... [read more]

10/29/2013 By Island Dog in Elemental News

Legendary Heroes 1.4 Update "Deadly Foes" Released!

  Deadly Foes update released! v1.4 Stardock is proud to announce the release of v1.4 of Legendary Heroes, the expansion to Fallen Enchantress. Version 1.4 adds dozens of significant enhancements to the game including but not limited to: The original Fallen Enchantress scenario has been added A host of new summoning spells Enhanced AI for handling the new summoning spells Significant improvements to late-game performance for multi-core PC players Rebalancing of m... [read more]

10/25/2013 By abiessener in Elemental News

Yor Starship Design Illustrated

Meet the Yor, though the sociopathic murderbots don’t much care to meet with meat. Our sentient race of homicidal machines are sitting pretty in the Galactic Civilizations III timeframe. The clever Drengin plot to hold back during the Dread Lord war and crush their enemies’ exhausted militaries afterward appealed to the Yor’s calculated self-interest. The robotic Yor fleets joined the Drengin in smashing the Terran and Arcean empires and their allies, and now hold joint mili... [read more]

10/23/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III Dev Journals

Derek Paxton on Development Crunch

Stardock Entertainment VP Derek Paxton (or Kael, as you may know him) has strong feelings about the practice of game studios forcing massive overtime on their employees to meet milestones and deadlines. He spoke to Gameranx.com in the wake of the controversial #RyseFacts conversation on Twitter. [read more]

10/18/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Lead Designer Paul Boyer Interviewed

Lead Designer Paul Boyer answered a pile of questions about Galactic Civilizations III. Want to learn more about random events, Stardock's development philosophies, and multiplayer?  Check the interview out here. [read more]

10/18/2013 By abiessener in GalCiv III News

Stardock 20th Anniversary Sale

It is Stardock's 20th Anniversary and to help celebrate we have a big sale going on with games and DLC 50 to 75% off!  You can buy directly from the Stardock store or through Steam until October 21st. See the games available in the sale in our latest mailer here .     [read more]

10/17/2013 By Island Dog in Elemental News

Stardock 20th Anniversary Sale

Stardock has turned 20 years old this month and to celebrate, we're holding our biggest sale ever!  Gamers can save between 50-75% on our released titles and DLC by purchasing either direct from Stardock or via Steam from October 17th to October 21st. For full prices, check out our mailer ! [read more]

10/17/2013 By Yarlen in Sins News

Welcome to the Galactic Civilizations III forums!

We’re very proud to announce the upcoming Galactic Civilizations III, the definitive 4X space strategy game from Stardock. Coming exclusively to 64-bit PCs, Galactic Civilizations III stays true to the core mechanics that keep the franchise amongst the highest-rated strategy games in history while adding more depth and options for players to create their own immortal legacy as rulers of the galaxy. For the first time in the franchise, players can compete or cooperate with each oth... [read more]

10/15/2013 By Island Dog in GalCiv III News

Stardock Announces Galactic Civilizations III

Stardock announced the third installment of its award-winning PC strategy game series today as the company celebrates its 20 th  anniversary: Galactic Civilizations III, the long-awaited next chapter in one of the highest-rated strategy franchises of all time. Coming exclusively to 64-bit PCs, Galactic Civilizations III stays true to its core gameplay while adding new features including multiplayer, political intrigue, vastly improved visuals and much more. Galactic Civilizations cas... [read more]

10/15/2013 By Yarlen in Sins News