sins-of-a-solar-empire posts

Sins of a Solar Empire developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock has now released the final, non-beta, 1.2 patch version of the 2008 space strategy game via Impulse. This new patch for the Trinity edition of the game (the original game plus the Entrenchment and Diplomacy micro-expansions) adds a lot of new and improved features.

The change log has all of the info on the patch including the new Pirate features, lots of gameplay balance changes, better memory usage for better performance and more. Remember that the next stand along game in the series, Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion, is already available for pre-orders at Impulse.

As promised, pre-orders for Sin of A Solar Empire Rebellion have now gone live on the Impulse web site. This allows folks to put their hard earned money down on the recently announced and upcoming space strategy game from developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock. The title, described as a stand alone expansion to the original game rather than a sequel, will cost $39.95.

However if you already own Sins of a Solar Empire you might be able to get a discount on Rebellion. In order to find out how much of a discount you can get you will have to head over to the official Sins of a Solar Empire web site and log in. You will be able to get a $10 discount if you are eligible. Also Rebellion pre-orders will also be able to play the beta version of the game when it becomes available.

Sins of a Solar Empire fans who have been waiting patiently for a new game in the space strategy series will be very happy today with this breaking news story. Developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock have officially revealed the next stand alone game in the series, Sins of a Solar Empir: Rebellion. Big Download got a chance to chat briefly with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell via phone last week to get the first few details on the game which is described as a stand alone expansion to the original title which was first released back in 2008 and was followed up with two small downloadable expansion packs, Entrenchment and Diplomacy.

Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion will continue Ironclad's mix of 4X turn-based strategy elements with real time strategy space combat, according to what Wardell told us last week. The biggest change in the game compared to previous installments is that there will be two separate factions that players can control; the Loyalists and the Rebels. Wardell told us that each faction will have their own distinct art style and tech trees that will make playing each faction a different experience.

In addition to the new factions, players can look forward to getting their hands on new ships to command including the truly massive Titan-class ships which Wardell told us are the equivalent to the Super Star Destroyer that the Empire uses in the Star Wars movies. The concept art for the Titan-class ship can be seen above this post. Look for other new ships to be added to the game as well. There will be no single player campaign in Rebellion, which is something that fans of the original Sins have been wanting for some time. Wardell told us that Stardock and Ironclad have wavered back and forth on adding such a feature for the game but ultimately decided against it.

While Ironclad and Stardock have not released in-game screenshots yet Wardell told us that Rebellion will have some graphical improvements for the original game's Iron Engine including better lighting and particle effects and support for larger maps. As with the original game and its two micro-expansions look for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion to have diplomatic features alongside the space combat, exploration and

While Wardell told us last week that Stardock's goal is to release Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion by the end of 2010 he added that both Stardock and Ironclad don't plan to release the game until its ready. Like previous games from Stardock, folks who pre-order the full game will gain free access to Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion's beta test builds. Also previous owners of the original Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity will get a discount when purchasing Rebellion. You can check out the full press release for the game after the jump.

Update: We've updated our article to reflect that the discount for Rebellion will apply to Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity owners

Sins of a Solar Empire was a big sleeper hit for developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock back in 2008. Recently a major new patch for the game and its two micro-expansions was released. But it sounds like Ironclad and Stardock are prepping up plans for a major follow-up for the space strategy game.

In the just released annual Stardock customer report, company CEO Brad Wardell states, "We will also be making some important announcements regarding Sins of a Solar Empire in 2011." That's about as close as he would come to admitting a sequel is in the works. The report also states that Stardock's gaming/entertainment division "anticipates making 3 big announcements in 2011 concerning its future plans for the PC."

The annual report also goes into some detail over the issues surrounding the launch in 2010 of Stardock's fantasy turn-based strategy game Elemental War of Magic. As we have reported before, Stardock has hired new team members and is developing an all new stand alone game, Elemental Fallen Enchantress, which Wardell states in the report shares little from the original game apart from some art assets. Wardell also states that Stardock is still looking to hire a "seasoned lead developer" for Stardock's game studio.

Finally there's a small update on the long-in-development free-to-play MMO Society which was first announced by Stardock several years ago. In the customer report, Wardell states, "The project has not had full funding yet and the company is considering creating a new business unit dedicated to Society to allow for more partners on this ambitious project."

[Via email press release]

It's been a long time since developer Ironclad Games released a new patch for its 2008 space strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire. However today the developer released a beta version of the game's upcoming 1.2 patch. Players can access the beta patch by using the Impulse client. By clicking on the blue button located on the client's left hand corner and then selecting the "Show pre-release version" option will activate the update.

The patch notes for the 1.2 beta update are quite extensive and include an overall on the game's Pirates system, unit balance changes and more. It also frees up more RAM for the game's textures.

Developer Stardock has had a rocky 2010 thanks to the issues that surrounded the launch of its fantasy turn-based strategy game Elemental War of Magic. However in a new post this week, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell revealed the company's tentative future plans for development of its internal game studios. All of Stardock's future games will be based on its in-house Kumquat game engine.

As previously announced Stardock will continue to update Elemental while also making new stand alone games such as Elemental Fallen Enchantress and a third unnamed game. The roadmap also shows that Stardock plans to make an RPG game based on the Elemental universe at some point. Wardell states, "This year we will begin to reconstitute this team as we bring in a lead studio developer and some senior developers to help ensure that we don't have another War of Magic episode." The long-in-development MMORTS game Society is still in the works and there are other unnamed games that are scheduled for release in 2013 and 2014 that are not connected to the Elemental franchise.

Finally there's "Mod Layer" which Wardell states will be a way for anyone to make games using its Kumquat engine. He says, "The idea is to create a piece of middleware between Kumquat and future games that would allow people to make games using mostly Python." He plans to take his long mentioned sabbatical from Stardock to develop "Mod Layer and says that when its done" ... modders can easily create a wide assortment of games that are either 2D or 3D and potentially portable to (at the very least) Xbox Live Arcade and Windows Phone."

By the way this roadmap does not include third party games that Stardock might or might not publish. Wardell states, " ... this doesn't count future titles from our partner Ironclad who developed Sins of a Solar Empire nor does it address next steps in the Demigod franchise."

The big PC downloadable game sales continue today as Stardock's Impulse service announced a big sale beginning today and running through the Fourth of July weekend. There are a ton of games that are below $5 in this sale. In fact one game is just 79 cents this weekend.

Among the deals this weekend on Impulse.are Command and Conquer 4 being sold for 50 percent off at $24.99, Company of Heroes Gold sold for just $9.99 and a Sins of a Solar Empire expansion pack bundle deal is set for $14.99. You can check out the full list of games on sale via Impulse after the jump.

It's just Tuesday but the folks at Impulse and Steam have some nice mid-week sales for anyone with a few dollars in their pocket. Over at Steam, the week-long Sega game sale continues with one-day price cuts for Stormrise ($7.50), Space Siege and Universe at War: Earth Assault ($5 for each). And of course the big Sega bundle is still on sale for $89.99 until Monday.

Over at Impulse they have put a number of games on sale this mid week. Ironclad's space strategy title Sins of a Solar Empire is now just $9.99 for a limited time while Gas Powered Games's strategy title Demigod is also $9.99 for a limited time.

Developer Ironclad Games just recently released Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy, the second mini-expansion for their hit space strategy game. Now the developer and publisher Stardock have gone ahead and released their first patch for the game via Stardock's Impulse client.

The 1.01 patch for the expansion is actually quite extensive with a number of changes to the pirates in the game. There also been some improvements to the diplomatic side to the expansion. Finally the patch adds a number of game balance changes to the expansion that have been based on getting feedback from the expansion's players.

If you're a real-time strategy fan and haven't gotten around to picking up Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity (aka Diplomacy), then this gameplay walkthrough presentation will show you everything you're missing out on. Divided into four parts, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell explains each of the new features Diplomacy brings to Sins. The introduction video is shown above and the rest can be seen after the jump.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity is available for purchase now on Impulse. Those who already own the base game and the Entrenchment micro-expansion also have the option of purchasing Diplomacy by itself. A playable demo for the original Sins of a Solar Empire can be downloaded here.

Read the Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Review
Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Walkthrough, Part 1 (9 MB)
Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Walkthrough, Part 2 (91 MB)
Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Walkthrough, Part 3 (75 MB)
Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Walkthrough, Part 4 (37 MB)
Download the Sins of a Solar Empire Demo (536 MB)
Check out all Sins of a Solar Empire downloads