This weekend we're back on GalCiv so that we can get an update up hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

The main thing we're doing is fixing that annoying research behavior where after awhile, the research gets too expensive.  What's really ironic is that we added in the new algorithm in response to those who felt research was too cheap.  So we made research get correspondingly more expensive near the end of development. 

Now, bear in mind, you can change the research rate but we're just not satisfied with the research pacing in the game so twilight will get a tweak to that next week.

Update: Based on feedback in this thread, we're going to expand a bit on what we were going to put into the update to deal with a few additional issues so it won't come out until next week but it'll be a much bigger update.

You can see why.

AMD has announced that Sins of a Solar Empire has joined an exclusive list of PC games it uses to benchmark their cards for optimal use.

The titles AMD tests internally are Quake Wars, Half Life 2 Episode Two, World of Warcraft, Lineage II, Call of Duty 4, Sins of a Solar Empire, Command & Conquer 3, Sims 2 Deluxe and Zoo Tycoon 2. While AMD obviously runs even more benchmarks internally, these nine titles are the ones that it uses in determining the minimum hardware requirements for the GAME! and GAME! Ultra logos. The 30 fps limit isn't actually a hard limit since the vanilla AMD GAME! spec doesn't always meet it, but the goal is to get as close to it as possible.

AMD Game is an initiative launched by AMD to improve the PC gaming experience by consumers using ATI cards. You can read the full article here.

A lot of attention has been given to Demigod's multiplayer capabilities.  I like to think that Demigod will be the Counterstrike of strategy games.

But what about the single player experience?

Well, one of the big changes since Stardock and Gas Powered Games have teamed up is the single player game.  Stardock takes single player games very very seriously. You could say it's our area of expertise.

In a couple of weeks, we hope to unveil here the single player concept.  I think people will be pretty pleased as those who are worried that single player will merely be skirmishes or some scripted campaign need not worry. We have something really special and unique in development.

Stay tuned!

Only a week or so left until we go gold with our new PC strategy game, The Political Machine. It's scheduled to hit stores in North America on June 17th so we're up against the gun! I haven't been to bed in over 2 days! The AI and the pacing has to be just...right. But we're in the home stretch and very pleased with how it's turning out - especially compared to the version we did in 2004.

The last days of Bush...

The Political Machine 2008 includes more than just the US election. It has other scenarios as well. Some are educational (Election of 1860) some are fantastical (Drengi) and one is offensively funny (Europe as seen through the eyes of an American high school student).

Players of Galactic Civilizations can picture the coolness of the included candidate editor. Both candidates were made with the included, easy to use editor.

Only an indie could make a game with a map like this.

The AI in The Political Machine is very good (if I say so myself). But it also comes with multiplayer built in and will be the first PC game to make use of the Common Multiplayer Platform (CMP) that is being launched with Impulse. CMP is the answer to any gamer who has bought a game and struggled to find people to play multiplayer (especially strategy games). 

 
You can design your own candidates from scratch, give them positions on issues, and all.  I have taken the liberty to make my lovely wife and my dear aunt for tonight's test game.

They're all bobble heads which means they're bobbing at you and trying their best to look at you.

He looks..familiar...

Getting endorsements is very important. Depending on which political party you play as, some of these are harder to get than others.  They change depending on the scenario of course (Europe, Drengi, and the election of 1860 have their own sets).

There's a ton of different ways to view the maps depending on what sorts of information you want to get.

as you can see, late in the game, you can hire a lot of operatives, consultants, and less than savory chartacters to help you out.

Plaeyrs can make speeches, take out advertisements, raise money, etc.  When players make a speech, they pick what issue they want to speak on. This is not window dressing as your speech will persaude others of your point of view - in that state anyway.

If you can make it in New York...

Different states have different issues. The start of the game has pretty realistic issues. But players can manipulate through the course of the game what issues care about through clever advertising, speeches, TV appearances, etc.   In one game, I had "Alien Abductions" as a top issue in some states.   In a game against experts, you won't be able to get away with that kind of thing as much though.

Hooray! I need to improve the AI more...yay...yay...sigh.    More sleepless nights it seems. The AI didn't get enough endorsements and focused too much on fixers.

Yes, we include a tutorial too! A little mention of our local school.

Greetings!  The Political Machine 2008 is nearly done.  Originally, we intended to have a public beta as we do with all our other games.  Unfortunately, to make our June 17th retail release, we have to go gold in basically a week which cut the time down on when we'd have a public beta.   

But in the meantime, here are some screenshots! I will also put together a guided tour of the 2008 edition. It's just so much better in every way.  I'm just finishing up a 40-hour day working on the computer AI, tweaking the game play, tweaking issues, etc. 

IGN has put up a thorough preview of The Political Machine 2008.  Check it out!

View: [IGN Preview]

Gamespot is previewing The Political Machine 2008.  It also includes a lengthy Q&A session with yours truly in going over the various aspects of our upcoming PC strategy game set for launch on June 17th.

View: [Gamespot Preview]

The July issue of PC Gamer has arrived and for fans of Sins of a Solar Empire, it's definitely a collector's item. It includes a complete modding guide that walks through Galaxy Forge and provides tips on how to create your own mods.

It also includes a column by Brett Todd that goes over some of their favorite mods including "7 Deady Sins" by Danman, Dawn of Victory by Slipstream Productions, Sins Plus by UZII, the Texture Pack by Max Tael and more!

And if that wasn't enough, it includes a preview of The Political Machine 2008, a new political strategy game coming out in June from the same team that designed and developed Galactic Civilizations II.

And if that isn't enough, it also includes a really good round-up of this summer's top video cards.

The July issue of PC Gamer has arrived and for fans of Sins of a Solar Empire, it's definitely a collector's item. It includes a complete modding guide that walks through Galaxy Forge and provides tips on how to create your own mods.

It also includes a column by Brett Todd that goes over some of their favorite mods including "7 Deady Sins" by Danman, Dawn of Victory by Slipstream Productions, Sins Plus by UZII, the Texture Pack by Max Tael and more!

And if that wasn't enough, it includes a preview of The Political Machine 2008, a new political strategy game coming out in June from the same team that designed and developed Galactic Civilizations II.

And if that isn't enough, it also includes a really good round-up of this summer's top video cards.