AI War: Fleet Command

[Salamander8]

I have started playing AI War: Fleet Command again now that the new micro-expansion is coming soon and the good folks at Arcen Games were asking those of us that like the game to spread the word, so I immediately thought of The Nexus!

 

It's an RTS, but it's a quite different RTS. It's actually cooperative for 1 to 8 human players against 2 asymmetrical AI players for control of the galaxy. Like turn-based 4x games, you start out small, but can quickly grow and the battles can involve hundreds, even thousands of ships. Here's an early screenshot of a new game with the newest beta patch as an example:

 

http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab268/Salamander8888/AIminifleet.jpg

 

The graphics are pretty simple, but they get the job done. The game's biggest allure is the massive number of different unit types; from the basic Fighter to the versatile Riot Control Starships; from the very dangerous Parasites, to the Massive Golems, the game has a staggering array of units. Some of them are AI only as the AI plays to different rules, but many can be unlocked via research or capturing AI labs and special production facilities. The game has a lot of depth and replayability as you can set the AI types and difficulty, pick different galaxy sizes and layouts, play solo or with up to 8 people, and have different 3rd-party factions be present or not. The game is not a short one as it can take hours to complete, and you can save at any time. Time actually plays against you as the AI becomes more dangerous the longer the game lasts, but pushing too quickly can backfire as the AI sends attack waves after your systems.

 

 

You can get in-depth info at one of these sites as I don't want to make this post 5 pages long. ;)

 

Their Website:

Arcen Games

 

Their forums are here:

Arcen Games Forum

 

Arcen Games AI War wiki:

Wiki

 

Community Wiki:

Community Wiki

 

You can get a free demo at their Website or via Steam, and use either of these sources to actually buy the game as well. Buying the main game and the first big expansion (The Zenith Remnant) is quite reasonable, and the new micro-expansion is only $4, and that $4 all goes to the Child's Play charity! Pretty crazy for an independent game company. It truly is a labor of love and it shows. If you like starship-based combat and lots of variety of units, you will most likely enjoy this game.

[Gishank]

I like the sounds of it, however to be perfectly honest with you it's not really an original concept. What seperates AI War from things like Galactic Civilizations (Turn-based) or Sins of a Solar Empire (Real-Time)? If you've ever played them, that is.

[Salamander8]

It is similar to both of those, and of course MoO and SE4, but it is quite different in that the AI you fight against plays by very different rules than you do and you can 'anger' the AI too quickly and it will crush you like a bug if you do. It's hard for me to put into words, but the biggest original idea of the game is the way the AI behaves. Instead of playing like a reflection of the human players, it's more like a sleeping giant that if you rouse it's ire unprepared, will make your life short and brutal.

[TheTerminator2004]

With most games, the AI players and you start off on a relatively even footing. Not so in AI War. The AI effectively has unlimited resources and unlimited ships, but how strong it actually is depends on the AI progress. Destroying AI ships/facilities increases the AI progress level, as does building many types of ship/building. Capturing planets causes a big jump in progress too. It leads to some interesting tactics - for example, the AI might have a major distribution centre which you want to destroy in a nearby system, but it is heavily defended, and the system is next to useless otherwise. Do you destroy everything there, and capture the system, at the risk of angering the AI, or do you attempt to send a small strike force in with the aim of destroying the distribution centre and getting out again as quickly as possible?

 

It's an excellent game, on a collossal scale, I highly recommend it to everyone even remotely interested in RTS or 4X games.