Lest we get accused of adding features or making changes based on vocal members on the forums, below are some of the topics we've been discussing since before release for future updates:

1. Siege Frigate HP decreased (done in 1.02)
2. Time between pirate rates increased (done in 1.02)
3. More maps without pirates (done in 1.02)
4. More smaller maps
5. Game Speed: Very Slow (to slow pace further)
6. Game Speed: Very fast (to increase the pace of the game)
7. Resources: Very High (to start out with even more resources)
8. Super Weapon Limit: 1 per system
9. Counter Super Weapon Techs
10. More levels on early resource increasing techs
11. Tech that increases the fleet supply across the board (high level)
12. Advanced Phase Jump Inhibiter (must be destroyed before units can jump out)
13. AI level: Unfair (AI gets a 25% boost to resources)
14. AI level: Very Unfair (AI gets a 50% boost to resources)
15. AI level: Very Easy
16. Huge list of ICO improvements
17. Random Events
18. AI replaces dropped players (planned for 1.03)
19. AI smartly surrenders when it's losing badly (planned for 1.03)

This isn't a preview of what's going to be in future updates. These are just things we've been discussing MIGHT go into future updates. 

Now, some of you might say, why not just put these in? Why not on release? The answer is, every game has a list like this. Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor has a gigantic list, much bigger than this that just won't make it in that I'm sure players would love to see (player submitted United Planets issues, more treaties, better team setup at start of the game, updated economic system, etc.). 

The reason I'm even posting this is so that players already know some of the issues we've already discussed prior to release for future updates. A lot of this stuff users haven't even discussed yet.

After years of being told that PC gamers are really just console gamers but with different game controllers (mouse and keyboard) and that in-depth strategy was dying, we now have some conclusive evidence that no, that serious strategy games are alive and kicking.

Behold:

#1 at Gamespot:

#1 at IGN:

#1 at 1Up:

And what about sales?

#2 at Amazon.com, #3 at EBGames.com / Gamestop (And it sold out, they've replenished). Sales at other retailers who have it in stock say it's "selling very well" (but no rankings yet).

Why is this significant?

Because the reviews haven't hit yet.  People are buying this game sight unseen despite relatively little coverage, PC gamers so much want a real time strategy game that has 4X depth that they are going out, en masse to find out more about this game and buying it. 

You are making your voices heard.  People who buy PC games may have consoles but they don't necessarily want their PC games to simply be ported console games or console-like games.

We thank you for your support!  We hope we are living up to your expectations.

After years of being told that PC gamers are really just console gamers but with different game controllers (mouse and keyboard) and that in-depth strategy was dying, we now have some conclusive evidence that no, that serious strategy games are alive and kicking.

Behold:

#1 at Gamespot:

#1 at IGN:

#1 at 1Up:

And what about sales?

#2 at Amazon.com, #3 at EBGames.com / Gamestop (And it sold out, they've replenished)

Why is this significant?

Because the reviews haven't hit yet.  People are buying this game sight unseen despite relatively little coverage, PC gamers so much want a real time strategy game that has 4X depth that they are going out, en masse to find out more about this game and buying it. 

You are making your voices heard.  People who buy PC games may have consoles but they don't necessarily want their PC games to simply be ported console games or console-like games.

We thank you for your support!  We hope we are living up to your expectations.

 The latest Games for Windows podcast (2/6/2008) features a lengthy discussion of Sins of a Solar Empire. To find out what the editors of Games for Windows (formerly Computer Gaming World) think of the game!

Check it out!

View: http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3148397

Sins of a Solar Empire v1.02 is coming...

We hope to get this out this week. Ironclad has been working hard to make v1.02 available as soon as possible but we also have to finish testing.

Updated info at bottom:

Here is what will be new:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gameplay / Balance:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tutorials moving into bad states at random fixed.
-Siege frigate survivability decreased.
-Pirate raid frequency decreased.
-Later stage missions to destroy ships and structures have had their expiry times increased.
-Clairvoyance: duration increased from 30, 45 60 seconds per level to 50, 100, 150 seconds.
-Guidance: cooldown changed from 20, 15, 10 seconds per level to 20 seconds at all levels.
-Guidance: ability cooldown rate changed from +20%, +35%, +50% per level to +40% at all levels.
-Guidance: duration changed 20 seconds at all levels to 15, 30, 45 seconds per level.
-Reverie: friendly units will no longer auto-acquire enemies under the effects of reverie as attack targets.
-Reverie: duration increased from 15, 20, 25 seconds per level to 20, 30, 40 seconds.
-Gravity Warhead: range decreased from 7000 to 6000 at all levels.
-Gravity Warhead: cooldown increased from 18, 16, 14 seconds per level to 25 seconds at all levels .
-Gravity Warhead: antimatter cost raised from 80 to 100 at all levels.
-Gravity Warhead: duration changed from 12 seconds at all levels to 12, 15, 18 seconds per level.
-Gravity Warhead: Speed reduction changed from 15%, 30%, 45% per level to 30%, 45%, 60% .
-Gravity Warhead: Acceleration reduction changed from 20%, 40%, 60% per level to 60%, 80%, 120%.
-Nano-Disassember: range increased from 4500 to 6000 at all levels.
-Nano-Disassember: antimatter cost decreased from 85 to 75 at all levels.
-Ion Bolt: antimatter cost increased from 65 to 85 at all levels.
-Ion Bolt: cooldown from 9, 11, 13 seconds per level to 10, 12, 14 seconds.
-Shield Projection: radius of effect increased from 2500 to 5000.
-Game update rate change hooked to - and = buttons (singleplayer only).
-Two new pirate-less maps.
-First tutorial now handles players spending their ability point before they were intended to and thus not being able to spend it when instructed.
-Phasic Transmissions research is now effective even at max fleet supply research.
-Reduced Phasic Transmissions supply bonus from 20% down to 15%.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphics:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Shield projection's bubble less opaque.
-Various new ICO art.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Networking / Multiplayer:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Games in progress causing "Rejected by Host" error fixed.
-Multiplayer lobby screens now have Map Designer tab.
-Whisper functionality for ICO
-Refactored join game screen.
-Fix for not seeing friend's games.
-New chat friendly ICO font.
-ICO user names are now sorted.
-Self and friends are colored in ICO channel player list.
-Events for players entering and leaving channels.
-ICO nows preserves history when changing channels.
-ICO logged in user count now displayed. This number will only update when you change channels or login.
-Added some default lobby names.
-Reorganized numbered lobbies to increment sequentially as they fill.
-Added notification of what channel you are in.
-Fix for rare multiplayer lobby crash when host leaves a game in ICO.
-Various new ICO message strings.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
UserInterface / HUD:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Added counter descriptions for all frigates and fighters.
-Game menu now mapped to F10 by default instead of Esc so people can repeatly press Esc to close any submenu they may-Fix rare bug in group selection.
 be in w/o going all the way to the escape menu.
-Various strings cleaned up.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modding:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Loading mods supported

Might be ready by Friday. Maybe.

Update:

Some people are complaining that we're simply catering to "whiners".  I would remind those people that Stardock has many many years of experience in putting together lists based on user feedback and making its own judgments on the matter.  The GalCiv series, for instance, has evolved plenty over the years and it's unlikely you're going to find any reasonable person who would say that we simply make changes based on who is loudest.

Prior to release, our internal testing of the game has produced a lengthy list of suggestions for future updates (1.01, 1.02, 1.03, and so on). Stardock and Ironclad get together, discuss what things we would like to change, and then prioritize it. The only thing that was "rushed out" for this release was some additional maps that don't have pirates so users have a choice.

It is not hard to defend against siege units.  But that is irrelevant. No counter to a given strategy should require more effort than the initial strategy. Throwing a swarm of siege units, takes virtually no effort. Defending against it requires considerably more. Similarly, the strength of the pirates is fine.  It's how OFTEN they strike.  The changes are not drastic, however.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Stardock, we can understand your concerns.  For those of you who have GalCiv II,  I would hope you all know better than to think that we make changes on a whim based on who posts loudest on a forum by now.  Ironclad shares the same views as we do on this matter. It's their game and we get together and discuss these things at length.

On Monday, Sins of a Solar Empire was released digitally. On Tuesday, the retail launch began. And so it's Wednesday. Where do things stand?

• As I type this, Amazon.com has Sins of a Solar Empire listed as the #2 best-selling PC game in North America.  Obviously, World of Warcraft and The Sims just can't stand up to the marketing juggernaut of the Sinners...cough.
  
  
• Meanwhile, Penny Arcade, which is extremely popular at both Stardock and Ironclad mentioned the game today. We're pretty excited about that and you'll be seeing a lot of Sins stuff over there as it's where the bulk of our web budget is going. Penny Arcade only allows games that they have tried and liked to be advertised there which I think is a really impressive stand to take.
  
  
• We are hoping to have the first post-release update out THIS WEEK. Now, those of you already familiar with Stardock won't be surprised by this. But for gamers who aren't used to getting lots of free updates that aren't just "bug fixes" you're in for a pleasant surprise.
  
  
• This week's update will add some new maps (maps without pirates for those who want pirate-free games).  It will also cure the annoying bug where games in progress wouldn't dissappear off Ironclad Online (ICO) and so you'd get a "rejected by host" message when in fact it should have disappeared or said "game has started". And the tutorials are fixed for users running at high resolution.
  
  
• Retail availability is spotty still.  I went to Best Buy today and they have it in the ACTION game area.  Sins is many things but it is not an action game. But it was well stocked at least. So if you're going to Best Buy, look in the action area...
  
  
• Next week we hope to offer a preview of the first significant post-release update. We're reading through the forums and considering everything from adding a "faster" game speed option for people who want a faster game pace option to new options regarding pirates to getting AI opponents to take over for disconnected players automatically.  Right now, you probably noticed we're all over the forums. 
  
  
• The first major reviews should start showing up early next week I imagine.  I read the Game Daily review and the Shacknews review (I'm a pretty big Shacknews fan).  I won't comment on the Game Daily one (it got an 8 but reads like a 9.5 so its score surprised me a bit).  I do recommend the Shack review even if I don't agree with all of it. I think people who play the game will really enjoy the visuals of the game a lot.  Let me put it another way (to use two of my favorite RTS's of recent memory) zoom in to a unit in Supreme Commander or Age of Empires 3 and ask yourself if they have the detail of a zoomed in unit of Sins.  One of the reasons Sins has become so popular so fast despite little publicity is because you can zoom out and see the entire map and zoom in fluidly to see quite detailed individual ships fighting it out.  But the Shacknews review is high quality IMO.
  
  
• The first of the Forge tools is now available. They're a free download in the downloads section. Go ahead and create your own maps and other goodies and upload to share with others. There's a ton of mods in the making and more tools coming!
  
  
• And lastly, the fun has only begun.  In all my years as a gamer, I've never seen a period in the game industry in which the right game showed up at the right time.  First, Sins is the only major new PC strategy game (that I know of anyway) coming out until, well next Fall/Winter time frame (feel free to correct me -- I've been looking pretty hard though).  And secondly, Sins will continue to evolve.  You think the game needs X, go ahead on the forums and make your case. Just be sure that you show you have played the game or aren't expecting Sins to simply be a clone of some existing game or something.

Stay tuned!

Wow!

One nice thing about Vista is that it requires 256x256 icons which ups the visual quality of things. This is a 128x128 thumbnail of the Sins icon.

Yesterday saw the digital launch of Sins of a Solar Empire.  Today begins the official retail launch of the game. 

The following retailers should have Sins of a Solar Empire on the shelf starting today or by the end of the week:

• Best Buy (launched at 2pm today)
• EB
• Gamestop
• Target
• Circuit City
• Walmart
• Fry's

Regardless of where you buy the game, you'll get the full direct digital service from Stardock. That means you'll be able to re-download your game on Stardock Central (and soon Impulse) even if you lose your DVD. In fact, once you've created an account, you'll be able to re-download the entire game even if you lose the DVD and serial # and everything else.

And just as we do with our other games, we plan to provide frequent updates based on player suggestions and feedback. These updates are not required to play (except for on-line games of course for synchronizing reasons) so if you don't want to update, you don't have to.

Here are some highlighed screenshots from the launch:

Stardock is pleased to announce the official release of CursorFX.  CursorFX is a free program that allows users to customize their mouse cursors in ways far beyond what Windows is capable of doing on its own.

The default Windows mouse cursor technology is the same today as it was in 1993 when Windows NT 3.1 was released. It lacks functionality and visual effects that are easily possible with any remotely modern PC.

CursorFX updates the Windows mouse cursor engine to support fluid animations, alpha blending, effects, real-time shadowing, user-action mouse states, mouse cursor resizing on the fly, color changing, trails, and much more.

CursorFX is a replacement to CursorXP which only ran on Windows XP.  CursorFX runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista and includes dozens of new features and tweaks over CursorXP.

A gallery for CursorFX cursor themes is available on WinCustomize.com to download hundreds of free mouse cursors, trails, effects, and more.

CursorFX is a free program. A plus version is available for $19.95 that adds more features.  To learn more and to download, visit www.cursorfx.com.

Screenshots:

Download: www.cursorfx.com