Ashes of the Singularity Will Emphasize Tactics Over Amassing Cheap Units

[Fanghawk]

Ashes of the Singularity Will Emphasize Tactics Over Amassing Cheap Units

How will Ashes of the Singularity's classes stack up against each other? Brad Wardell shows us with a new designer video.

If you're an RTS fan, you're probably eyeing <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/166158-Stardock-Releases-Ashes-of-the-Singularity-Beta-on-Steam-and-GOG#&gid=gallery_5545&pid=1>Ashes of the Singularity - Stardock's attempt to expand the genre to an unprecedented scale. Our own previews have stated that <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/140038-Ashes-of-the-Singularity-and-Nitrous-Engine-Demo-GDC-2015#&gid=gallery_3895&pid=1>5000 units won't even touch the game's limit, which allows you can control multiple armies across several fronts. Naturally, if RTS fans want any chance at success, they'll have to know their unit compositions inside and out. Thankfully, lead designer Brad Wardell has released a new designer video showing how various unit types compare in combat.

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"Someone is going to say, 'Oh Ashes is just about building a crapload of crap units,'" Wardell says in the video as he spawns an army of cheap Brutes. "'It's just building up spam.'"

In response to this theoretical (but likely) comment, Wardell drops a single enemy Avenger unit into the mix, supported with two power-supplying capacitors. One minute and several devastating exchanges later, the Avenger unit is all that remains. "Well, I think that point is made," Wardell concludes.

Of course, that's not to say cheaper units like Brutes can't be useful - in a carefully-constructed army, they can be devastating. The point is that Ashes of the Singularity's scale doesn't mean you can forget about advanced tactics. A single unit could decide an entire battle, which in turn might decide the war.

If that appeals to you, Wardell's video goes over unit balance in more detail. Of course, if you want to learn how to assemble armies the hard way, you can dive into Ashes of the Singularity's public beta today.

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[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

It's times like these that make me wish that I had more then just this laptop to play my games on but I suck at PC building and a desktop won't fit on my lap ^^;

Still, this game looks pretty neat, really hope we get more Dev videos like this one in the future

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Let's see.

Just uninstalled Starcraft 2, and just bought this now via the sale and installing it now...

Taking. too. long. to. install....

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

If only I had a decent PC. But I don't have several grand laying around.

Too bad. It actually looks really fun, and after the disaster that was Supreme Commander...

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

[SNIP

To be fair 750 euro is about 850 American. Plus what, $40+ S/H puts at 890. Plus a mouse at about $40 its $930. So technically not a grand. But its pretty damn close.

Alienware high end is about $4000. CyberPower $2500. Graphics Cards alone will be several hundred dollars. Some, admittedly over-priced, are several thousand.

Hell a buddy of mine just spent 2k+ on a gaming PC and it runs Dragon's Dogma as good as my $150 360 does.

The myth seems to be that PC gaming is cheap. Which I certainly wish it was, because this game looks tits!

 

[gigastar]

Hell a buddy of mine just spent 2k+ on a gaming PC and it runs Dragon's Dogma as good as my $150 360 does.

Dragons Dogma isnt exactly setting any new benchmarks for PC.

 

[Jadak]

Hell a buddy of mine just spent 2k+ on a gaming PC and it runs Dragon's Dogma as good as my $150 360 does.

The myth seems to be that PC gaming is cheap. Which I certainly wish it was, because this game looks tits!

Unless you're also saying that both your console and your friends 2k PC can't play the game properly, your friends inability to handle a game better than you does not indicate his machine isn't vastly better, just that the game doesn't need much. The game would also run just fine on a far cheaper machine.

PC gaming does tend to be less cheap than self-building PC enthusiasts like to suggest, particularly if you account for the fact that not everybody wants to deal with trying to build their own PC. That said, I would also not recommend buying 2k machines unless you demand ultra high settings at 120 fps or freak out when you can't handle it.

At the rate computer hardware progresses, it's perfectly reasonable to spend say, 1k USD on a pre-built PC and be able to play every game on high settings for the next year, and probably be just fine for 2-3 years if you drop down to medium-ish settings.

Spend around that much or even a bit less on a bi-yearly basis, and you'll manage just fine.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Oh lord. "Spam" is a tactic. Does the Avenger have specialist abilities you need to manually activate, or are you just saying cheap spam isn't the way to go? For that matter, can you get enough stuff like Avengers out before cheap spam overwhelms you?

Zerg rushes were not a late game tactic after all.

 

[BoogieManFL]

I remember Supreme Commander making similar bold claims about the scales of it's battles and number of units. In the end, the game couldn't handle it. Even with computers a decade more advanced.


Hopefully these large scale battles are actually possible without slowdowns.

 

[tacotrainwreck]

I think you meant Brad Wardell, sir.

 

[Silverbeard]

[SNIP

Alienware high end is about $4000. CyberPower $2500. Graphics Cards alone will be several hundred dollars. Some, admittedly over-priced, are several thousand.

Alienware is shit and you know it. Fuckin' 3500+ for little more than a fancy case and bragging rights.
For that much money I could get two pre-built PCs that can run most anything in this century and do it swimmingly, at that.

 

[TotalerKrieger]

[SNIP

To be fair 750 euro is about 850 American. Plus what, $40+ S/H puts at 890. Plus a mouse at about $40 its $930. So technically not a grand. But its pretty damn close.

Alienware high end is about $4000. CyberPower $2500. Graphics Cards alone will be several hundred dollars. Some, admittedly over-priced, are several thousand.

Hell a buddy of mine just spent 2k+ on a gaming PC and it runs Dragon's Dogma as good as my $150 360 does.

The myth seems to be that PC gaming is cheap. Which I certainly wish it was, because this game looks tits!

High-end PC gaming is over-priced if you are not willing to build a rig yourself. Pre-built, name-brand gaming PCs usually have a terrible price to performance ratio. Unless you have lots of money to burn, the only sensible option is to build a PC or alternatively pay someone local to assemble the parts that you have purchased.

By keeping an eye out for good deals, you will very easily save 30-40% on your total hardware costs (probably more than 50% compared to rip-off operations like Alienware). Building a PC really is quite simple and increasingly idiot-proof, but it can still be a nerve-wracking experience the first time you do it. Honestly, if you are not willing to take the DIY plunge, I really couldn't recommend a high-end PC over a console, not right now anyways.