RTS

Ironclad Games' next micro-expansion for their hit space-based RTS game Sins of a Solar Empire, titled Diplomacy, is about to begin its first beta test. A note on the game's official web site has announced that the first beta release of Diplomacy will begin sometime on Monday. While the beta won't be feature complete nor "fun" to actually play (as per publisher Stardock's warning about their beta tests) it will go live for anyone who has pre-ordered the $9.99 expansion.

As we reported during PAX 2009, this will be the final micro-expansion for Sins of a Solar Empire with the final version to be released sometime this spring. Plans for a third micro-expansion have been canceled but it looks like Ironclad and Stardock have major future plans for the game franchise.

Thursday is a special day for many as PC gamers hit the download site to see what deals they can find. We have the latest list of price cuts to check out right now:

• GamersGate has an assortment of titles on sale including Kings's Bounty: The Legend for $12.49 and Frontline: Field of Thunder for just $4.95
• Impulse has several games on the price chopping block this weekend including Iron Grip Warlord for $9.99 and Supreme Commander Gold for $22.49.
  
• Steam has cut the price of Frontlines: Fuel of War to just $7.49 this weekend. You can also buy Star Wars Galaxies The Complete Online Adventures for 50 percent off until November 26. The newly released game Ninja Blade has a 10 percent discount for the first week Also you can get the original Dirt racing game for 80 percent off its normal Steam price with the pre-purchase of the PC version of Dirt 2. Finally you can pre-purchase Rogue Warrior for 10 percent off its normal price before its Dec. 1 release.
• Direct2Drive also has Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures for 50 percent off. You can also take $5 off of Torchlight from now until Sunday if you use the discount code 5OFFTORCH at checkout.
  

While some games have attempted to merge the first person shooter genre with elements from RTS games (The Savage series, Command and Conquer: Renegade) none have been deemed a complete success. Today publisher Reality Gap officially launched Battleswarm: Field of Honor, a sci-fi themed free-to-play online game that was originally developed by Asian developer Gameworld Tech. The game itself has one side (the human solider) in a first person view point. They go up against the other (side the bug-like aliens) who have an RTS game play design.

On the occasion of today's official launch of Battleswarm, Big Download got a chance to ask some questions to Reality Gap's Chief Operating Office Mark Hood as he talks about the game, how Pong creator Nolan Bushnell is involved and more.

This is the playable demo for Men of War: Red Tide, a World War II real-time strategy game. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"Men of War: Red Tide is a stunning mixture of RTS and a third-person action that introduces a new fighting force known for its brutal efficiency during the height of World War II. Played out across more than 20 missions, Men of War: Red Tide allows to take command of the feared 'Black Coats,' the nickname given to Soviet Marines, an elite combat group specializing in engagements near the shoreline."

Download Men of War: Red Tide Demo (960 MB)

It's been a few months since there's been a lot of new content uploaded to Blizzard's StarCraft II web site. That changed today as the site added an additional 17 new screenshots for the upcoming sci-fi RTS blockbuster (we have reproduced them and put them in our ever growing StarCraft II gallery). The shots are a mix of gameplay visuals with some in-game engine cinematics like the shot you see above.

In addition to the new visuals, there are also some articles on the process of making 1v1 multiplayer maps for the game as well as how Blizzard's development team will be creating the single player story/campaign. There's even a new StarCraft II-based short story to check out that focuses on the new Zerg Changling unit. And no, there's still no word on the beta test . . . sorry.

Just yesterday we got wind of some new screenshots and a "spring 2010" release date for Gas Powered Games' Supreme Commander 2. Today we got a new press release from publisher Square Enix' PR folks that should make many fans of the original sci-fi RTS title happy. The PC sequel is now set for a March 2, 2010 release date (the Xbox 360 version won't be available until two weeks later on March 16).

With this game coming out in early March and Command and Conquer 4 due out on March 16, it looks like the first month of spring will have two big powerhouse sci-fi RTS games battling it out for supremacy. At least they will be out of range of StarCraft II which we don't think will be ready before late April at the earliest.

[via email press release]

Most people think of Stardock mainly as a game developer of titles like Galactic Civilizations II and the upcoming Elemental but the truth is that the company has its hands full in several areas including third party publishing of games, developing non-gaming Windows applications like Object Desktop and the Impulse PC game download service. Today Stardock issued its 2009 customer report which gives an overview of what the company has done in the past 12 months.

The report is brutally honest with the fact that the launch of Stardock's big 2009 game, Demigod (developed by Gas Powered Games) did not go as well as anticipated due to multiplayer networking issues. The report does say that despite the launch issues, Demigod "continues to sell thousands of copies weekly."

The report goes over a number of the company's other issues such as future updates to their Impulse service (which include adding pre-loading of games), how weekend sales reductions have reduced the overall cost of PC games to consumers and lots more.

Gas Powered Games and publisher Square Enix have been pretty quiet these past few months about the progress of Supreme Commander 2's development. This developer walkthrough video, narrated by Chris Taylor himself, proves to be very illuminating and runs down some of the major features and new units players can expect from the the game, which includes a revised user interface and optimizations for a wider variety of computer systems. The game looks like it's shaping up to capture the epic gameplay of its predecessor, and at the same time, it's taking on a bit of an RPG theme. Players will need to accumulate points through combat and spend them in research to unlock special units.

Supreme Commander 2 is still in early alpha phase of development, but is expected to release in the early half of 2010.

Download HD Supreme Commander 2 Developer Walkthrough Video (130 MB)

Gallery: Supreme Commander 2

Developer Gas Powered Games and publisher Square Enix have been fairly quiet of late about the status of Supreme Commander 2. The sequel to 2007's terrific sci-fi RTS game was announced several months ago but aside from a couple of previous and a almost unnoticed playable level at PAX 2009 there hasn't been much said lately on the progress of the game.

Today Square Enix announced that Supreme Commander 2 is now locked for a spring 2010 release and also provided a huge batch of screenshots that show off some of of the sequel's massive battles and a few gigantic units. Our question: While we are looking forward to the game, will Supreme Commander 2's release date put it in direct conflict with StarCraft 2?

Last August Ubisoft announced that it was taking sign ups for people to beta test their upcoming and pretty unique looking WWI RTS game R.U.S.E. Today the publisher announced that the beta will begin on Monday, November 30 with a select group of folks chosen to take part.

Steam will be used as the service to distribute the multiplayer beta test client with two factions (the US and German armies) and three maps as part of the initial release. Updates to the beta will be released over time adding up to four more factions (UK, Italy, USSR and France) along with more maps and more gameplay modes. There's no word yet if the beta version will support the previously announced Windows 7 multi-touch features.

After a few months in beta testing, the free-to-play RTS-FPS hybrid game Battleswarm: Field of Honor is scheduled to officially launch to the the public on Thursday. The game's publisher Reality Gap plans to make the most of it with a launch sweepstakes that will include the grand prize of an Alienware gaming PC laptop.

The game's launch will also include the addition of the in-game and web based stores where players can use real money or gold from the game itself to purchase new weapons, armor and other items. As we have reported before, Battleswarm's gameplay lets players choose from either the first person-based humans or as the RTS-themed alien race.

Rumors that the upcoming Command and Conquer 4 game might actually be the last in the series seem to be unfounded. However the next game in the RTS franchise might not be released in stores. Gamasutra reports they have obtained an internal memo from Electronic Arts stating they have hired Jon Van Caneghem to lead the C&C team with "a new digital model that is going to re-ignite the fan base for this franchise."

That likely means that EA is looking to create either a downloadable game that isn't sold in stores or perhaps a free-to-play model that's similar to their work on Battlefield Heroes. Jon Van Caneghem is best known for creating the Might and Magic RPG franchise. He was also the co-founder of the MMO developer Trion World Network but left under somewhat mysterious circumstances earlier this year.

1C Company's WWII RTS game Theatre of War 2 was released earlier this year in the US by Battlefront.com. Today the publisher announced that the first expansion pack for the game, Theatre of War 2 Centauro, is now gone gold and and will be made available for sale and download later this week on their site for $25. They will also have bundle deal with the original game for $50.

The expansion pack will add ten new maps and missions to the original game, which is set in the North Africa campaign of WWII. Look for ten new vehicle units to be added to the main game as well.

Looks like GameSpot has the exclusive this time on a new PC closed beta test. It's for Electronic Arts' latest RTS title Command and Conquer 4. The multiplayer beta will let selected folks try out the new 5 versus 5 gameplay modes, the new units, the persistent leveling and more. However the beta is restricted to GameSpot's Total Access members which means that if you want in you will have to pony up at least a $5.95 monthly fee.

The site states that the beta will allow all GameSpot members, paid and free alike, to have access to the open beta test but that won't be coming until early 2010. So if you don't feel like paying a gaming web site a monthly fee you can wait a couple of months before access is granted. C&C 4 is due for release in stores on March 16.

Even with most of Earth rendered near uninhabitable, GDI and Nod still battle against each other for power and control. In this gameplay trailer, fans get to see all the major units from Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight in action, including plenty of mech units and mobile walking construction yards. There will also be a slight role-playing element, as players earn experience and spend point on unlocking different upgrades for units. The game is scheduled to release on March 16, 2010.

Download HD Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight Gameplay Trailer (172 MB)
Check out all Command & Conquer 4 downloads