I have been gaming online for a long time - since I was a teenager and Battle.net (I played a lot of Diablo II and Starcraft) was first a thing, in fact. Back then, the biggest thing I remember my parents being concerned about were mostly safety things: don’t give out your name or address, don’t share pictures, and for the love of all that is holy, don’t EVER agree to meet someone you’ve only met online. They’re not bad rules - they’re good rules, ...
Everyone has preferences in gaming. Some people prefer to play a game for some heart-pounding, fast-paced action. Others might enjoy something a little more serene, like a nice puzzle or “find it” game. Some play for the mechanics of the game itself, and others might play a game primarily for the story. There are lots of reasons that I play games, but one of the things that compels me the most about them is the story. The gameplay could be incredible, an...
A couple of months ago, I talked a little about the fun virtual trivia night that I held with my coworkers via Discord. Now that vaccinations are rolling out and things are starting to open up again, we’re hoping to hold the next one in a Family Feud style, and in person - but that’s another discussion. Over the last year, I - like many millions of others - have had to find ways to stay connected with friends and family without being able to hang out in the same room. To ...
I don’t worry too much about constantly tidying and organizing my PC - until it gets annoying, anyway. By then it’s too late, and I spend all sorts of time sorting icons and renaming folders. I’ll admit that I am pretty much the same way with my house - the idea of ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’ has never really resonated with me. This creates a special sort of chaos, which is fine - until it isn’t. I know that if I had a syst...
There’s a light at the end of the tunnel! Vaccinations are rolling out and we’re all one step closer to being back together in person at the office. I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say that we’ve missed each other so much. We’re still not quite ready to gather in person yet, so we’ve been taking our game nights online for the last year or so. A couple Fridays ago, we hosted an online trivia night using Discord. We offered a $20 Am...
Civilizations are no strangers to struggle - they all face it in one way, shape, or form. The Torians of the Torian Regime are absolutely no different, having endured generations of cruelty and torment under the tyranny of the Drengin Empire. The Torians were enslaved not once - but twice! - by the Drengin and forced to endure terrible torment as their people were slowly eradicated. Thought by the rest of the galaxy to be extinct, it came as a surprise to nearly everyone when a smal...
Galactic Civilizations IV has many old and beloved civilizations in its lineup, but also has several newcomers that we know you’ll enjoy - including the members of the Baratak Grove, a race of sentient tree-like creatures who have taken root. The above line might sound like a pun (and don’t get me wrong, it absolutely is), but it’s not all that far from the truth of what the Baratak are best at: reviving dead worlds. The stout citizens of the Grove ...
Perhaps the civilization with the most tragic backstory, the Manti Cluster is an Aquatic race that’s brand new to Galactic Civilizations IV. The game is now in beta and this civilization - along with over a dozen others! - is available to play right now. Let’s take a look at the Manti Cluster and what they bring to the game. The Manti were naive. They will be the first to admit their folly, to acknowledge that their naivety cost them so dearly that they are stil...
Galactic Civilizations IV is in beta right now and moving on toward release! Although we’ve been introducing plenty of new civilizations into the game, we have made sure not to neglect some of our classics who have been around since the very beginning. This week, we’re going to talk a bit about the Terran Alliance and what their place is on the galactic scene. The Terrans are the youngest civilizations in the galaxy and are known almost as much for their professed love o...
The Galactic Civilizations series has existed since the OS/2 days and has a long and storied history spanning the last 25+ years. Galactic Civilizations IV is on the horizon and it contains many beloved and established civilizations from previous versions of the game. GalCiv IV also happens to include several brand-new civilizations, perhaps the cutest of which - at least, in my opinion - are the Mimot Brotherhood. The Mimots evolved on a planet with five other species, but are now ...
About a week ago, we released Galactic Civilizations IV into beta . Since then, more videos from our YouTube and Twitch friends have been rolling in, and we’ve really enjoyed seeing all of the gameplay and hearing all of the feedback! The alpha testing phase for GalCiv IV was awesome and we were able to implement a lot of great player feedback during that time because we had such an active and vocal community. We’ve put out an update to the beta today , too, which incl...
I’m terrible at New Year’s Resolutions. The concept of picking something that I need to do or accomplish isn’t what I take issue with, nor is the idea of having a set time frame, but rather that it has to happen at the first of the year and carry on throughout the next 365 days or whatever. When I’m going to make a resolution, I have to be really ready to see it through, otherwise it’s a moot point. Picking an arbitrary time to start one - lik...
I have long found speed runs fascinating. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, the goal is for a player to get through a specific game as quickly as possible in order to beat it with the best possible time. An entire culture has popped up over the years that is centered around this activity, with many generalized and also game-specific communities. An annual charity fundraiser known as GDQ - or Games Done Quick - is in its 12th year thanks to the wonderful speedrunn...
While I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions for myself, it’s hard not to feel the pull of “new year, new me!” every time we finish our midnight celebrations. More often than not, this is accompanied by an urge to clean and purge certain areas of my home in an effort to feel like I’m starting fresh. This desire often extends to my personal computer as well, since I spend large amounts of time on it for my various hobbies and work endeavors. I have said it...
The mosaic (left) and geographic (right) maps of Jupiter's moon, Ganymede. Image courtesy of NASA. In case you haven't figured it out by now, we love space here at Stardock. While the premises for our games tend to be fictional, we do our best in many cases to try and adhere to real-world science, and that includes referencing and showcasing planets that actually exist in our solar system. In Star Control: Origins, for example, you start in our solar system. All of the planets...