RTSs often have the most beautiful names. Sins of a Solar Empire. Heroes of Annihilated Empires. And soon Ashes of the Singularity, Stardock's 64-bit-only real-time strategy game that supposedly operates on an "unprecedented" scale. We'll be able to test that for ourselves next week, as it's coming to Steam Early Access on October 22.
AotS will cost you $39.99 ordinarily, but there'll be a 20% discount at launch. As for what's included in this version, expect a few planets and just one of the game's factions: the Post-Humans. They may be post-human, but they still bloody love killing people, I can tell you that. You'll be able to play against the AI, or other players in multiplayer.
Stardock's CEO and president Brad Wardell is obviously bigging up the game, and has this to say:
"Previously, RTS games had to choose between great visuals or lots of units, due to being limited to 32-bit and DirectX 9 based engines. It's one of the reasons that RTS games have kind of hit a wall these past few years. The RTS could be pretty or be epic, but not both. Thanks to the Nitrous engine, we can support tens of thousands of units acting independently as part of a worldwide battle with a distinct visual style."
Well alright then. Also this:
"While we expect the game to have a strong multiplayer community, we are adamant that the single player game have intelligent and challenging computer opponents to play against. We have team games with friends versus the AI, free for all, and every other combination in place already to help begin testing this part of the game early. This isn't one of those games where the AI is an afterthought."
Ashes of the Singularity. Steam Early Access. October 22. More here.
