Sins of a Solar Empire is a real-time space strategy game that incorporates a lot of the strategic depth normally reserved for traditional turn-based 4X strategy games. A lot of this magic comes from the innovative user interface concepts developed by Vancouver-based Ironclad Games.

Published by Stardock in February of 2008, Sins of a Solar Empire has become a tremendous success both critically (average review of 4.5 out of 5) and commercially (half a million copies sold and counting).

When the game first came out, Stardock and Ironclad rolled out several updates to improve balancing based on player feedback, add new features and even improve graphics.

Then, Ironclad did something truly remarkable, they went and developed a v1.1 that was, in many respects a mini expansion pack unto itself.  Version 1.1 includes an ambitious new multiplayer system called Alloy. In effect, it largely eliminates the need to mess with router ports. It "just works".  I can attest to the effectiveness of Alloy as someone who had a heck of a time getting multiplayer games going, v1.1 made this a joy.

In addition, the AI was dramatically updated, the graphics overhauled, and hundreds of other enhancements and tweaks made to the game.  In short, the game, already good, is now dramatically better.

Below is just a little diary of some of my experiences with Sins of a Solar Empire v1.1.

My home planet from which I start.

One of the nice touches of v1.1 is that I can, by default, buy and sell resources right from the main screen. Same is true for handling of pirates.

The left side of the screen continues to show the empire tree.

Of course, what really makes Sins of a Solar Empire stand out is the sheer scale of things.

Players can set up a game with one star and a dozen or so planets. But they can also go crazy and have several star systems with many planets -- and play multiplayer with these settings where players can save games and continue them later. 

Zooming out...

So you get an idea of the level of scale that is possible if you really want.

Now, I have my own wish list of things I'd like to see in a future v1.2 such as a "Faster" speed available in on-line multiplayer in terms of how fast resources are mined and how fast ships travel between phase lanes and I'd like to see more splash damage improvements for TEC but in many respects, Sins is a remarkable strategy game for being able to deliver significant depth and also good old fashion very pretty battles.

Ironclad has a couple of expansion packs in development. The first one is called Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment which lets users build starbases and a host of other structures that let players truly lay claim to territory.  Another expansion for next year (tentative of course) is designed to expand the diplomatic scope of the game. 

If you don't have Sins of a Solar Empire, you can get it directly at https://www.sinsofasolarempire.com. It's also available at most retailers worldwide.

Cheers!

We released Galactic Civilizations II v2.01 today which adds some improved computer AI updates, economic balancing improvements and fixes some crashes we introduced in v2.0.

You can download thew new version from Impulse.

Download: GalCiv II: Twilight of the Arnor v2.01

I don't have a specific change log in front of me but I can tell you a few of the things that went into v2.01 over 2.0.

First, the AI is better. I made changes to how the AI decides which planets to colonize and improved how they pick their research projects.  The overall "Feel" of 2.01 in terms of pacing and general fun is just much improved really in my opinion.

Second, the team fixed some crashes that we had noticed.  I'm not sure what caused them but I know that they're gone now. We're not sure how they crept in there but it was certainly something that got introduced in v2.0.

Another cool feature is really a set of changes to research costs and tourism that just make the game feel a bit better. It's hard to really define but long time players I think will appreciate the general maturing of the play balance.

Lastly,I updated more of the game images to get rid of older images. I'll bee doing this more and more as I play so expect a v2.02 at some point in the near future.  I play at very high resolution so when I see a low resolution planetary improvement, it drives me crazy.

Here are some screenshots:

 

Now, as part of my job, I have to play-test these games for hours and hours at a time.  It's a true sacrifice. What can I say, I'm a real hero.

 

This is truly why things like Twilight of the Arnor and v2.0 are so important. You really can future-proof a game by just enhancing the graphics and such without having to rewrite the entire game. 

I never get tired of that.

I read on-line how some people don't even look at the battles. I must say, even after 2 years since the original release of GalCiv II, I still watch them.

Things are moving forward quickly. Seeing a drake, in battle, up close and personal is really cool.

One thing that I believe is going to make a huge gulf between Elemental and what we've seen before is that Elemental is a 4X strategy game designed and engineered in an age where decent 3D acceleration is the norm which means we can do a lot of cool stuff in terms of UI, game mechanics, and game play. 

In the meantime, here are some new medallions:

 

Hi guys, just a note where we're at.  It doesn't look like we're going to have the beta ready in time for Thanksgiving.  It's pretty close but even if we made it by Wednesday, with so many people off for Thanksgiving, it's just not one of those things we would feel good about putting up and leaving.  We hopefully will have it the following week.

Now, that said, let's talk about some of the stuff the team at Gas Powered Games is working on as well as things we're contemplating.

First, there's a lot of new purchasable items in the game.  That said, one type of item we're contemplating are a series of rings that players can purchase that are particularly effective against specific Demigods.

For instance, let's say there's a Demigod who does a lot of stun-based spells. There would be rings that players can purchase that can greatly diminish that effect. Similarly, there are rings that do specific damage against particular Demigods.  This way, players who are somewhat skilled can equip their Demigods up to go against their specific opponents.

We're still mulling this over but we'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Another concept we're contemplating on implementing are active flags. That is, if you capture a flag, that flag may give you a power you can make use of that would mostly take the form of building a special type of tower that would further magnify the effect of that flag.  Other flags with different powers may make their way in based on time/budget but the idea here is that capturing flags wouldn't just give you a passive bonus to your team but also an active power you can make use of on the map tactically.

The GUI Championships is a contest held every other year in which different aspects of the Windows GUI are customized by contestants.

The contest has over $15,000 in cash and prizes available to those who win.  The way it works is that the entries are judged by a panel of experienced UI designers (including myself). The finalists are then voted on by users.

This year, a new category was added -- animated wallpaper.  Animated wallpaper is a tricky thing to do because you want something that is nice to look at but isn't distracting.

Each judge has their own criteria for what makes a good animated wallpaper.

My criteria are:

• How good does it look
• How usable is it (is it distracting)
• How much CPU does it use

With that said, here are the finalists:

Above the Stream

Original:  5

It's reasonably original but water flowing down the stream is something we've seen a lot of.

Usable: 8

Very good. It's a video dream but i don't see any looping while running it, the quality is good and it uses little in terms of CPU for me. I could definitely run this all day.

Overall: 7

A good animated wallpaper.

 

ALF

Original: 4

It's a ball of energy. Not a bad effort.

Usable: 4

It uses quite a bit of CPU on my system and the animation is a bit distracting. No noticeable looping.

Overall: 5

A nice effort, just not my style.

 

Alien Queen (v2)

Original: 8. Very original creation.

Usable: 5. Not too distracting but it uses quite a bit of CPU. Great looping. Seamless.

Overall: 7. Better than the sum of its parts really. It's a good work.

 

Alternate Reality

Original: 5.

Usable: 4. Central ball rotates with dots moving around. It's quite distracting, uses a lot of CPU.

Overall: 3. Woudl actually have been better off without the ball in the center. The background has a subtle flow effect that is pretty decent.

 

Autumn Leaves

Original: 9. While leaves aren't that origianl, the quality of this is really outstanding. This is better than most of the video-based dreams included with Windows DreamScenes.

Usable: 8. Averages about 5% of my CPU. Very low CPU requirement. It's also extremely pretty.

Overall: 8. Oustanding work.

 

Brahmand

Original: 10. Fantastically original. Wow.

Usable: 7. It's actually quite usable. At 138 megs, it's not surprising that it has a very long loop. Uses very little CPU.

Overall: 8. This is one of my favorites in the contest.

 

Calm Seas

Original: 3. There's actually quite a few dreams like this one. I like it but it's not terribly original.

Usable: 7. Extremely usable in my opinion. Low CPU, smooth flowing. Some may find it quite distracting.

Overall: 4. I like this one quite a bit but it reminds me much of others I've seen. I also think that other people may not like it because the motion could be seen as quite distracting for some people (it doesn't bother me).

Original: 5. It's a lot like other water-based dreams except the designer made the decision to have it be very dark which was a clever choice because it makes it much more usable and original.

Usable: 10. This is about as usable as it gets. It's more usable than any of the Stardock Design dreams that came with Windows DreamScenes (except for maybe Aurora).

Overall: 9. I would say that this dream represents what animated wallpaper can be. It's very usable but simple. Some may feel it's too simple. I suspect it wasn't terribly difficult to make but effort to create isn't one of my criteria. Those reading this later may want to keep that in mind.

 

 

Color Array

Original: 5. A cool rotating image

Usable: 2. It is not smooth on my machine at all. Low CPU but the looping is not seamless and is very distracting.

Overall: 4. A decent effort.

 

ColorClouds

Original: 8. This is one where a screenshot doesn't do it justice. It's really quite a neat Dream.

Usable: 3. Low CPU but it's just way too distracting for daily use.

Overall: 3. I like it but it's not something I would keep on my desktop.

 

cubic

Original: 6. Cool objects dancing

Usable: 5. Somewhat distracting, fairly high CPU use.

Overall: 5. Nice work ovearll.

 

Dead Planet

Original: 3. Not a bad concept but the execution needs work. Feels rushed. It's mostly static other than the rotating planet. That's fine except that the static part isn't strong enough on its own. I'm all on board with animated wallpapers that are extremely subtle but it also means that the overall quality of the wallpaper has to be higher. I.e. looking at the above screenshot, how good is it on its own compared to other static wallpapers? Then imagine the planet in the background orbiting fairly quickly.

Usable: 6. It's quite usable except that the planet can actually be distracting because it moves relatively fast. It's also 120MB in size which isn't uncommon but there's not enough going on to justify that size.

Overall: 4. I would personally use this on occasion but it doesn't really stand out.

 

 

Distant Moon

Original: 10. This is outstanding.

Usable: 10. Subtle, uses virtually no CPU (3% here).  Only downside is that it is big. It trades size for CPU use.

Overall: 10. One of the best animated wallpapers I've ever seen.

 

Fluttering Nature

Original: 8. This is a really good animated wallpaper.

Usable: 9. Extremely usable. Very low CPU usage (my CPU spiked in the screenshot because of Incredibuild). Higher quality than what comes with Windows DreamScenes in terms of video.

Overall: 9. If you like realistic wallpaper, this is about as good as it gets.

 

Galaxius (v2)

Original: 8. Very original. The art quality could be better but it's still first rate.

Usable: 6 Quite usable though oriincally if it didn't have the planets that slowly come into view and move around it would be more usable. Also, the star bursts from the light sources are somewhat distracting.

Overall: 6. It's a good effort.

Gargoyle

Original: 10. A scene of a scale from day to night. It's very clever. The gargoyle statue turns into a demonic thing during night and during the day it's just a statue. It's really quite cool.

Usable: 2. The changing in color, sometimes rapid, can be very distracting.

Overall: 6. High quality work. I probably wouldn't run it very often because the concept requires the wallpaper rapidly changing from darkness to lightness which is too distracting.

Hypnotic Flower

Original: 7. It's a good animated pattern.

Usability: 8. Very usable. Low CPU.  There's a couple moments where light colored ribbons twirl quickly across the screen which is distracting.

Overall: 8. This is an animated wallpaper I will likely use.

Life on Europa

Original: 8. I love the concept here. It's a near-perfect blend of something that looks good even when paused with something that really shines when animated.

Usable: 8. Low CPU,  easy on the eyes. Looks good when paused.

Overall: 8. One of the best submissions.

Metal Milk.

Original: 10. This is my favorite entry. It's one of the few that looks incredible just from its screenshot and it looks even more incredible in action.

Usable: 10. Low CPU, looks great paused, consistent motion makes it low distraction.

Overall: 10. This is the best entry this year in my opinion.

 

MiG 17

Original: 8. Very original but it's not clear how this isn't just a rendered scene as opposed to something made to be an animated wallpaper.

Usable: 3. Very distracting because of the jerky camera.

Overall: 4. Very high quality work but I'm not sure if it's been made to be an animated wallpaper or not.

 

Motion

Original: 8. While energy/light effects aren't generally original. It's the execution that really makes this special.

Usable: 10. This is something that shows off what animated wallpapers are all about.

Overall: 9. One of the best entries this year.

Ocean Clouds

Original: 4. Water and clouds with clouds passing over.

Usable: 5. The clouds moving is pretty cool and I think it's a great scene but I find it a bit distracting.

Overall: 6. A case where it is greater than the sum of its parts.

OGA Processor

Original: 7 It's pretty original

Usable: 3 Low CPU use but I just don't like this one.

Overall: 3. It could be a matter of taste but this one isn't my style.

Plaktonic

Original: 10. This is a scene that was clearly designed to be an animated wallpaper.

Usable: 9. Some may find the movement distracting but I don't think most would. It's really oustanding. Uses virtually no CPU.

Overall: 10. One of the best animated wallpapers in the contest. If this won, I wouldn't be surprised.

Rainy Flower

Original: 8. Similar to some of the other ones I've seen but it's really good.

Usable: 8. It's a tough call on this one because on the one hand,it's very pretty but on the other hand, would someone use this if it weren't animated? The colors are a little muted (since it was taken when it was overcast) and the camera is so tight that it's a little jerky.  Low CPU use.

Overall: 8. A very good entry.

Springtime in the Alps

Original: 8. This is a good scene for an animated wallpaper because the execution is so good that one could imagine taking a moment to just look at it and relax.

Usable: 7. It's a little distracting but it's a nice distraction.

Overall: 8. This is one that people need to download and try for themselves as the screenshot shows you very little about it. This one will be very hard for people to judge because it is so dependent on the person viewing it.

The Abyss

Original: 4. Energy pattern that looks somewhat low resolution.

Usable: 5 Somewhat high CPU use (WMV base?). Somewhat distracting.

Overall: 5. If you like energy patterns, and many do, this is one to check out.

The Depths

Original: 7. I'm not sure how to describe it. The energy ribbons move around on a watery/motlen background.

Usabilty: 5 High CPU, the ribbons are a bit distracting.

Overall: 5. A nice entry though I'm not sure if the energy ribbons add or distract from it.

Dream Machine

Original: 10. Good gravy this thing is cool. Whatever the designer is having, I want some of that!

Usable: 10. Low CPU, easy on the eyes, makes a good still wallpaper. Just insanely good.

Overall: 10. One of the best entries of the contest. A definite contender for best overall.

Tidal Forces

Original: 9. Very clever concept.

Usable: 8. Low CPU usage, easy on the eyes, makes a good wallpaper on its own. Clearly designed as an animated wallpaper.

Overall: 8. One of the better entries to the contest. I like it a lot.

Venus

Original: 6. Not a bad effort here. It's a water scene with a cool sky effect.

Usable: 8. Quite usable. Avoids any distracting effects. The animation is a bit too fast overall and it uses quite a bit of CPU.

Overall: 7. It's a good effort but its animation is a bit too fast and its CPU use a bit too high. (15% on my monster rig).

Warp

Original: 9. If aliens had an acid trip, this is what it would look like I bet. Very well done.

Usable: 9. Near perfect pacing, low CPU, great work.

Overall: 8. An excellent entry, if I had to say anything about it negative it would be that it overall is missing "something" to make it to the very top artistically. But it's still outstanding.

[Great Microsoft article on the Windows 7 taskbar]

 

Elemental, like Galactic Civilizations, will have a very in-depth single player world.  In fact, in terms of the single player game, it will have a lot more "stuff" to it than GalCiv had (such as a virtual persistent single player opponent which we'll talk more as time goes on).

But it will be in multiplayer that we really hope to bring new fans to the genre.

I love multiplayer games. But I am not an advocate of them in terms of taking resources up from the single player game for most types of PC games.  That's because, as a practical matter, relatively few people play on-line.  Not because they can't but because it's just usually not worth the hassle.

Playing on-line can take a long time, it can be frustrating and it can often end up as a total waste because of dropouts, crashes, whatever.

To address this, Elemental is going to add some new multiplayer options that we think will really help expand the interest in multiplayer.

One of those options is the persistent world: Empire vs. Kingdom.  In it, players choose a side - The Empire or The Kingdom.  Having chosen that, players then play on-line with various other players who are trying to help their side - The Empire or The Kingdom conquer the world of Elemental.  Each battle takes place on a tiny part of the overall world of Elemental.  Their opponents and friends are a mixture of real users and AI users based on what is necessary.

The AI work in Elemental is a little bit beyond what we've done before.  We are aiming to provide virtual AI players who are competing in the game like a real player would.  These virtual AI players would be able to join games (if no one else is available, real people get first dibs on joining games) and would play much like real people do (GalCiv players have an idea of what we mean).

Part of my work, as the AI developer at Stardock, would be to create lots of these virtual players, each with their own personalities and strategies, so that they're prepared to join up in games and provide varying degrees of a challenge to human players.

The idea here is to let people be able to get into games on-line and play without a lot of hassle remembering that this is an additional option to the other multiplayer modes available.

We'll be talking more in the future about how the Kingdom vs. Empire persistent multiplayer experience works later.

Stardock has released Object Desktop 2009, its annual major update of our popular desktop enhancement utility suite.

This year we've got a ton of cool new things such as Theme Manager 3, a complete rewrite and reintroduction of Theme Manager.  Theme Manager lets users manage their skins, icons, themes, etc. Users can even take a snapshot of their desktop and save it as a suite for later use.

Object Desktop 2009 also includes a new version of DeskScapes which supports animated wallpapers on Windows XP. It's pretty slick and a definite must try. There's literally hundreds of free animated wallpapers available for download on WinCustomize.com in the Dreams section.

Another big update was the inclusion of BootSkin Pro, a brand new boot screen changing program for Windows Vista that lets users apply and create their own Windows Vista boot screens.

There's tons of other updates too. I mainly just wanted to show off some of the screenshots collected today.

You can get Object Desktop at www.objectdesktop.com.

Animated Wallpaper while running the new Aero Midnight theme and checking out some cool icons from the GUI Championships.

 

I got a real kick out of "Broken Aero" (WindowBlinds skin). WindowBlinds is the most popular program of Object Desktop with millions of users around the world.  For Object Desktop 2009, we enhanced the texturing support in it for greater speed and in preparation for some cool stuff we have in the works.

 

Definitely the biggest highlight of Object Desktop 2009 is the new Theme Manager.  It supports applying suite files but also MyColors themes.

 

Theme Manager doesn't just apply suites, it can interface with the individual programs. So you an do it all from a single program now.

 

 
I made this desktop from a combination of a number of different items. I changed my boot screen, Windows icons, skin, and what you can't easily see in the screenshot is that I applied a flowing animated water effect to my standard Windows wallpaper (it's super cool in action).

 

Aero Metal is a pretty popular skin for Object Desktop users.  Here I'm just showing how I took my desktop and saved it as a suite.

 

This is a slightly modified version of the Aero Midnight suite that comes with Object Desktop 2009 (open up Theme Manager and look in suites).

Diagramming what is happening.