The first beta release of Children of Neinzul, the new micro-expansion for AI War, is now available for demo or for preorder (only $3.99)! After the longest time ever between AI War releases, the new beta 3.173 version of the game is also now out with a few bugfixes aside from the new CoN micro-expansion features. The following features have been added so far for the expansion:
* Starship Class: Neinzul Enclave Starships Mark I-IV.
* Bonus Ship Type: Neinzul Youngling Commandos Mark I-V.
* Bonus Ship Type: Neinzul Youngling Tigers Mark I-V.
* Map Types: X,Concentric Circles
* AI Plot: Hybrid Hives
The Neinzul aliens are an insectoid race of perpetual “younglings,”
who live for an extremely short span before
dying and being superseded by fully-aware and vicious replacements. The
Neinzul are organized into localized “Enclaves”
that form mini-collectives with their own personalities, goals, and
desires. In this second expansion to AI War,
players face off against the Neinzul minor factions, against new AI
types in general, and enlist the help of the
friendlier members of this new alien presence.
The new Enclave Starships bring a long-awaited feature to AI War:
mobile space docks, including variants that go
all the way up to mark IV. Optionally, for those players who felt that
the normal types of AI in the game weren’t challenging enough
for them already, there are new Hybrid Hives that bring an
all-new-to-AI-War type of AI structure to the game. Hybrid
hives are part Neinzul and part AI, consisting of loose fleets organized
around the Enclave Starships. Hybrid hives have
various personalities and goals, and might work together or might go it
alone. They are far more aggressive
than the regular AI, they gain in power over time, and they can even
recapture planets. For advanced players who want
to try their hand at a whole new kind of AI War experience, the Hybrid
Hives provide more cut-throat opposition than ever.
Child’s Play
But wait! Perhaps the best part is still yet
to come. When you purchase AI War: Children Of Neinzul, you’re not only
getting an exciting new expansion, you’re also supporting an important
cause. Arcen Games has partnered with the
Child’s Play charity,
pledging 100% of the profits from sale of
Children of Neinzul (excepting any taxes and distributor fees) to helping sick
kids in need.
The staff at Arcen has long admired
the work done by Child’s Play, and we’re very excited to finally be able
to contribute in a substantial manner. Our
goal is to raise $14,000.00 USD for Child’s Play in 2010, but even after
2010 all of the proceeds from this micro-expansion
will continue to be donated to the charity. We’ll post monthly updates
on how we’re doing towards our goal, so
check back!
Want to read about all the features in extreme detail? You can of
course try the demo of the expansion to make sure
that you know what you’re getting, but
the
full feature list
is also now available on the AI War wiki. There’s quite a bit that will be coming in this
one even though it’s technically a micro-expansion
rather than a full expansion!
