gas-powered-games posts

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]

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?

While we wait for developer Gas Powered Games and publisher Stardock to finally release their promised two new demigod character for Demigod, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell keeps teasing us with info about the upcoming free updates. The Demon Assassin is one of those free additons and Wardell goes into detail about his powers and abilities on the Impulse web site.

Some of the powers for the Demon Assassin include the ranged Spine Attack, Demon Speed and a power where he can exchange places with another demigod. As Wardell states, "You've just capped that portal flag, you're running away. You're going to make it. No. No you're not. You're going to die. Because the demon assassin has just exchanged places with you and now you're back at that portal and he's out in front of you." The post includes a YouTube Video of the demigod's skill tree that we have embedded above.

We've been hearing for quite a long time that there have been plans to add two new free demigod characters into the RTS game Demigod. Now it looks like that those plans are finally bearing fruit. A post on the Impulsedriven.net site by Stardock CEO Brad Wardell states the new demigod will be made available via an update that should be released "in the next couple of weeks."

Players will be able to add the two new demigods to their account and use them in regular games. Wardell says this will allow them to test the new additions out for balance issues. After that, he says that "we'll expand out access to it until everyone who has Demigod can access it." Stardock previously released info on both of the new demigods this summer.

One of the biggest PC game developers currently in operation is Gas Powered Games. It's founder, Chris Taylor, first gained fame for another developer with the RTS title Total Annihilation. For Gas Powered he has lead the development of the action-RPG Dungeon Siege series and the RTS game Supreme Commander. This year they released their latest game Demigod with Supreme Commander 2 waiting in the wings for 2010.

Industry Gamers got a chance to quiz Taylor on the games that have influenced him the most in his career. He goes in chronological order with titles like Space Invaders and Robotron first on the list, then proceeds to early PC games like SimCity and Populus. He says playing the early RTS games from Westwood Studios (Dune 2 and Command and Conquer) "changed the course of my life. Not only did I now know I loved and wanted to make video games, I wanted to very specifically make games like this..." It was those games that caused Taylor to create Total Annihilation.

More recent favorites include the Diablo series, Battlefield 1942 (" I played EVERY night for over a year") and the arcade racing game FlatOut ("I seemed to plug right into that game and it will always be a favorite.')

Gas Powered Games and Stardock continue to update their recent RTS title Demigod and later today Impulse is scheduled to make available a 1.19 patch for the title. It's supposed to be a pretty extensive update with lots of bug fixes and changes along with the removal of the multiplayer Skirmish mode (it will still be available for single player). Another patch is due out next week.

In addition, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell has posted up a Q&A based on forum questions about the future of Demigod. Quick summary; they will be making even more patch updates in the future to add new features such as the mod SDK for the game as well as possibly making new official maps (although Wardell does state, " . . . making maps is not easy. Unless you have a very good understanding of 3D Studio you will want to leave it to others.). As previously reported two new Demigods are being worked on for a free update but Wardell states, "My understanding that the artwork is taking longer than anticipated."

Update: The patch is now available to download via Impulse

Download the Demigod Demo at Big Download (599 MB)

It was tucked away in a corner of Nvidia's PAX 2009 booth but there it was; a playable (if pre-alpha) one mission demo version of Supreme Commander 2, the upcoming sequel to Gas Powered Games' sci-fi RTS game. So naturally we had to try it out for ourselves.

As it turned out the demo was more of an graphics engine presentation than an actual game. The basics of the game were there; cool futuristic units (both on the ground like tanks and missile batteries and in the air like futuristic fighters) structures to build and enemies to fight including a big anime-style boss battle to finally defeat. It's clear why Nvidia was showing this game in their booth, however. Even at this early stage Supreme Commander 2 looks terrific.

Again it's hard to judge a game based on a incomplete one mission demo for a title that's months away from being released but at least we know one thing; Supreme Commander 2 is going to be an epic RTS game when it's released. Our biggest worry is not with the game itself but the fact that Blizzard has pushed back StarCraft II back to sometime in 2010. Could we see these two games compete for the same audience? Stay tuned . . .

Developer Gas Powered Games and publisher Stardock have said for some time they plan to release at least two free additional demigods to their multiplayer RTS game Demigod. Now the Impulse web site has posted up info and some concept artwork for the one of the new demigods, Oculus. He's described as "a general that has some ranged weaponry" and that "existing minions you acquire actually provide specific benefit to him."

The article goes into more detail on Oculus including his powers and abilities. This follows the reveal (unnoticed by us until today) of another demigod The Demon Assassin. Unfortunately plans to show off both of the upcoming free demigods at PAX next weekend have fallen off the radar. However we should get more info on the new additions in the weeks ahead.

Alpha Protocol is one of Sega's big fall/holiday 2009 titles and the modern day super spy action-RPG from developer Obsidian Entertainment should be something to look forward to. Now folks who download and buy their games via Valve's Steam service have an even nicer deal to look forward to.

If you put your money down for Alpha Protocol before the game is released in October on Steam you can download and play the Sega-published 2008 sci-fi action-RPG Space Siege right now. The title, from developer Gas Powered Games, normally costs $19.99 via Steam so this is an unusually nice free game deal from the service.