Moving back to a twice-a-month format, as many weeks are a bit light on news. Plus, with Rob’s recent health issues (he’s just recently had cervical spine surgery), this has been a bit harder to keep up with.
A Fortnight of News:
Paradox Interactive announced a bevy of upcoming events related to the next Stellaris DLC, “Nemesis”, first showing the achievements coming related to the 3.0 update, “Dick”:
And then teasing us further with a video showcasing some of the upcoming features:
I’m sure we’ll have more in the lead up to the release and you can tune in here closer to the release date for our review of the “Nemesis” and 3.0 update!
GPawley Games and Iceberg Interactive released a Star Dynasties Early Access roadmap. In it, they’ve laid out the plan for Early Access, which is to add a story events editor, “expedition” events, and finally, colony improvements. You can look to this nifty infographic for a more colorful list:
Also, STAY TUNED, as we have a podcast interview with Glen Pawley, the lead developer of Star Dynasties, scheduled for tomorrow, so leave your questions down below, if you have any.
Arcen Games continues to improve its beta of AI War 2. Some significant balance changes, some great User Interface improvements, more fine-tuning, performance improvements, and more preparation for the next DLC in the form of new ship models were all in order. Rob has a Let’s Play going that starts after the initial tutorial videos that he created here:
Amplitude Studios broke our hearts repeatedly this past fortnight. First, they delayed Humankind until August 17th. Then they delayed the release of Monstrous Tales and Dark Matter. However, they threw us a bone and released a new Feature Focus, number 11, on the “Power of Diplomacy”. You can watch it here:
Mad Sheep Games continues to work hard on Urtuk: The Desolation. We really like it and consider it to be one of the best indie efforts we’ve seen in some time. The lead developer, David, has been furiously fine-tuning the game and adding some UI elements that are a much better look for the game. Rob played a short series of the game and if you haven’t seen this game, and enjoy tactics games, you owe it to yourself to check it out:
Mohawk Games continues to plug away at Old World, reaching v0.1.48868 Test (03/29/2021). The changelog, found here, shows many balance changes, art additions, UI upgrades, and as usual, more events. The biggest highlight of the build appears to be that you can now abandon ambitions, a lot of new art assets, and new UI improvements.
By the way, if you’re considering purchasing Old World, or any other game on the Epic Games Store, for that matter, please use the Creator Code “EXPLORMINATE” at the checkout. That will help us reach our funding goals and keep this ship afloat. Thank you!!
Iceberg Interactive hosted an event that they call “Iceberg Ahead”, where they showcased new and upcoming releases for the indie-ish publisher. In it, the unveiled that Lord of Rigel will see a 2021 release date (likely Early Access) and also announced Circle Empires Tactics, a simultaneous turn-based strategy game. You can watch the event here:
Praxis Games came up for some air to let us know that their expansion, Natural Law, has sold well enough to continue the development of Interstellar Space: Genesis and that we can expect a large, free content update/patch in the Summer and another expansion in the Fall/Winter timeframe. They’re both on sale for another hour or so by the time this publishes, so if you’ve been considering this wonderful game and its great expansion, now’s the time!
Starchart Interactive, developers of the Kickstarted and very disappointing Dominus Galaxia, released an update on their game, basically entailing a stalling in progress, funds drying up, and that part-time work will resume, but at an obviously slower pace, as the lead developer has taken a new, full-time job. We’re extremely disappointed to see how little has been accomplished with Dominus Galaxia and not really surprised by this update. It’s a shame, really, because Dominus Galaxia was full of potential and was already working in almost every way a 4X game needs to function. Poor management? Lack of direction? Too conservative? Regardless of the reason, this feels like a huge opportunity lost.
Finally, Kube Games released v1.1.4 for Imperiums, which added a new game setting, improvements to the ‘end turn’ animation, a few balance changes, and more. You can read all about it here.
Anything we missed? Be sure to let us know below! eXplorminate members are hard at work on some great features, coming soon. We have a reexamination of Civilization 6 that’s nearly complete, interviews with Glen Pawley of Star Dynasties, Chris Park of Arcen Games, and Steve Hawkings of Alliance of the Sacred Suns lined up, and much more, so stay tuned! In the meantime, come join our Discord server or Steam Group and speak with like-minded fans of these great games!
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