In our previous entries, we've discussed specific major new features of Crusade. For this entry, we're going to go through a guided tour of what's new in Crusade over GalCiv III in terms of features and gameplay. Strap in!
Stardock Magazine
April 2017
by Brad Wardell (@draginol)
## Editorial from Brad ##
Spring is here. Which means, of course, that another anniversary of the launch of OS/2 2.0 has come. In fact, this year marks the 25th anniversary of OS/2 2.0 or as my wife calls it, the 25th anniversary of our first date (which, she reminded me as I was holding up my OS/2 2.0 box). The Register has a lot to say on this. In the meantime, I'll be sleeping out on the lawn.
## Discord ##
I have fallen in love with Discord. And yes, it's romantic love. Don't judge me. I use Skype constantly and there's a time and place for both. Now, if it can add in the power of Google Hangouts (where I can just give out a link to join a hangout at a certain time) then my life would be complete.
What makes Discord special is that it combines Skype + IRC + the Web. I can give out a link to a Discord server which is super nice. I can also manage permissions in a channel (which I can't do in Skype which is frustrating). But it's also like a BBS (I started out running Commodore 64 BBSes) where things can stay like posts (I'd love to have more features like that where I could have topics or something.
Here are two links:
Windows desktop stuff: https://discord.gg/tth3jx6
Ashes of the Singularity: https://discord.gg/gFc8bUM
We'll be sharing more soon. Let us know what you think.
## Feedback ##
The Stardock forums are possibly the longest running Windows based forum software on the net. People sometimes suggest we move to a different forum software. For instance, Quarter To Three recently changed to a new forum system and it's pretty slick. Meanwhile, Neowin has a super customized forum system as well.
The reason we persist with our forum setup is that it allows us to directly integrate customer features into the forums and gives us a lot of flexibility in how it's used. For example, check out the new games website. This page is just custom view of our forums.
What we'd like to hear from you are what are some features that you'd like us to add to our forums?
Speaking of hearing from you, visit here to give feedback on this issue of Stardock Magazine.
## Fences on Steam ##
If you are reading this and don't already have Fences, then stop reading this and go get it. Seriously. If there ever was a program that every computer user should have, I would rate Fences above any other app.
I actually use it to quickly hide all my desktop icons (double click on the desktop) so I can use my desktop as a staging area. It's, by far, our most popular program.
Fences is the first non-game we've put on Steam and you can get it .
Here's Fences in action: [CLICK HERE]
Get Fences on Steam: [CLICK HERE]
## Windows Creator Update ##
Microsoft is doing a major update to Windows 10. Dubbed Creators Update, it has a bunch of new features and updates. Windows Central has an article on it.
Our QA team has reported that some of our programs have problems with it. Ashes of the Singularity is crashing on DirectX 12 on some machines with it and we had to update many of our Object Desktop programs to support it. So if you have any problems, make sure you update the program in question.
## Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade ##
The biggest expansion we've ever done for any game is nearly complete! Galactic Civilization III: Crusade. You can read more about that here.
## Sins of a Solar Empire: Anniversary Update ##
This past week we released a huge update to Sins of a Solar Empire.
Performance improvements, graphical improvements and high DPI support and more are amongst the improvements.
Learn more about the big update here.
## That's all for now ##
It's been a super busy month here. Within the next few weeks we should be able to start talking about Object Desktop 2018, the big expansion we're working on for Offworld Trading Company, some Star Control news and more.
Stardock Magazine April edition is about to go out.
Use this thread to discuss.
You can also visit the Windows Desktop Discord channel here: https://discord.gg/EZe8uxG (games ones are being set up too).
Let's begin this diary with the understanding that conquest is not the primary means to victory in Galactic Civilizations.
While warfare is commonly seen as politics via other means, it is not the only or even the easiest way to "win".
That said, when you do go to war, you are dealing with battles on a scale that humans of the 21st century could scarcely imagine. Invading a planet is an immense task.
One of the things that I tend to fixate on is the shape of my territory. Anyone else like this?
In GalCiv III: Crusade, I re-wrote how the territory expands. Crusade comes out this Spring.
We just came back from the Game Developer's Conference. It was a great week for the Nitrous engine (the underlying engine used in Ashes of the Singularity).
Big News: AMD is bundling Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation with more and more CPUs The hardware bundling keeps a steady stream of new players coming into our community.
Moreover, the AMD Ryzen chips, which are 8-cores, really show off the power of the game. As more people get 4 core machines and more powerful video cards (like the AMD Radon VEGA) the more people that can play the game which in turn allows us to increase the rate of development even further.
As you know, the up-front hardware wall on Ashes of the Singularity is fairly high. If you don't have an SSD, loading the game is slow. If you have low resolution, the fonts are blurry. If you don't have at least a 2GB video card, the graphics are slow. What players get in return, however, is that the game doesn't slow down, even late game.
Thus, the faster AMD, Intel and NVIDIA can get mainstream high-end, DirectX 12 and Vulkan hardware out there, the quicker the adoption of Ashes of the Singularity.
Now, let's talk about what's coming in Version 2.2 this month...
Galactic Civilizations is a game that asks the question: What happens after we start colonizing other planets? For our purposes, we are going to assume that we will come into contact with alien civilizations.
Alien civilizations will have their own histories, cultures and ideals that we can only fathom. In Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade, you will be able to train your citizens to learn more about these other civilizations and, if necessary, do very bad things to them.
March 2017
Contents:
## Contacts ##
To chat with me directly, follow me on Twitter. To discuss this issue of Stardock Magazine, visit the feedback forum. Also, for those of you who use forums, please feel free to write in any suggestions in this thread on what features you'd like to see put into the forums.
## Editorial ##
Like a lot of you reading this, I've been around a long time. I just got back from GDC and it's always great to talk to people who have been in the industry for many years.
For example, how many of you know what "poke 53281,0" does? Good times.
The tech just keeps getting better and better. For instance, AMD announced the Ryzen CPU recently. It's a big deal, but not for the reasons I've seen covered. What makes Ryzen special is that it brings 8 core processors to the mainstream.
Those of you who have been with me since the OS/2 days know what a big deal multithreading is. Unfortunately, it's been a long time since CPUs, on a per core basis, have gotten much faster. Most of the way computers have gotten faster is by adding more cores. But the progress of adding more cores has been slow. Most laptops, like my beloved Surface Pro 4, only has 2 CPU cores.
All the juicy new tech really needs a minimum of 4 cores. 8 cores would be better. That's what we at Stardock have been investing all our Impulse money into: a next generation engine for our software and our games. Last year, we released Ashes of the Singularity, our first game to make use of this new engine. But games are really just the tip of the iceberg. As much as I love making games, the main purpose for developing this new core-neutral engine is for our software business. Specifically: Mixed Reality.
Mixed Reality isn't the same as Virtual Reality. I personally don't really have much use for VR. It's neat and there is a place for it, but just as OS/2 allowed me to do lots of tasks at once, Mixed Reality will let me interact with lots of things at once. Mixed Reality will require lots and lots of CPU cores to take off - you might even say 8 cores minimum - and that's why Ryzen is so exciting.
In Mixed Reality, you will need to split up every task into tiny parts between a desktop level device, a mobile level device, and some sort of eyeware (think same as sunglasses and no heavier). Then, using a simple gesture, you can bring things into your view as you need them and be totally unobtrusive otherwise.
One day, we'll look back at pictures in which people hefted along big old monitors or even laptop displays and laugh just like we do when we see CRT monitors or giant mainframes. We are still pretty far form that future of course, but the first steps are mainstream CPUs with 8 CPU cores.
## Star Control: Last Chance to Join ##
If you want to join the Founder's Program for Star Control, now is the time to do it. We're going to close it this month. You can also visit the Star Control site to pick up the classic series from the 1990s.
Check out this preview video to see what we're working on:
