Rock Paper Shotgun talks to us (and loads of other great developers) about recent Steam user review changes

Steam's recent change to its policies regarding user reviews has been a hot button topic as of late.

We spoke with Rock Paper Shotgun – along with a whole host of other fantastic studios - about how the changes have affected some of our games on Steam, which you can read all about here.

A huge thanks to Adam Smith for putting together such a well-rounded collection of opinions on the subject, it was fascinating to read how other developers have responded to these changes.

Auroch Digital's Peter Willington featured in Develop Magazine!

Auroch Digital's very own dynamo, Peter Willington, has this month been featured in Develop Magazine's August Edition!

Discussing the role of Producer within the games industry, Peter offers his extensive knowledge on what it takes to keep everyone working at their very best.

For his feature, click here.

Ever modest, Peter's expertise continues to help Auroch Digital grow and operate as efficiently as possible. 

You can also read the whole August edition here. 

For more from the man himself, you can find him on Twitter - @xeroxeroxero

We're adapting classic boardgame 'Ogre' in collaboration with Steve Jackson Games!

Ogre, the classic game of future tank warfare, will come to PC via Steam next year in a hex/turn-based digital adaptation! We're incredibly excited and proud to be working with Steve Jackson Games. 

Originally announced on Kickstarter, the project raised nearly a million dollars for its giant Designer’s Edition, and one of the stretch-goal promises was “We will do a computer game.” We are thrilled to announce that Auroch Digital will be creating this adaptation, as massive fans of the original game.

 Work on the project will begin immediately, and the game should be released in late 2017.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHERS
Auroch Digital Ltd. is the acclaimed and multiple award-nominated Bristol-based indie games studio, founded by veteran game designer Dr. Tomas Rawlings.

Steve Jackson Games publishes Ogre, Munchkin, Zombie Dice, Chez Geek, and a lot of other board and card games. Its big upcoming project is Car Wars on Kickstarter.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Auroch Digital: Follow on Twitter & Facebook or see Presskit.

Steve Jackson Games: www.sjgames.com/ogre. Rhea Friesen, rhea@sjgames.com.

Come and Play with Auroch Digital!

We'll be playing Chainsaw Warrior and Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night, trying to beat the highest scores and best times, as well as hardcore runs with no weapons and other such silliness. These will be happening on Friday afternoons, 16:00 GMT / 08:00 PDT / 11.00 EDT / 17:00 CEST.

Our latest title, Last Days of Old Earth, has a Multiplayer mode which our Community Manager, Jake, will be playing at the scheduled times below;

Thurs 30th June - 17:30 GMT / 09:30 PDT / 12:30 EDT / 18:30 CEST

Mon 4th July - 17:00 GMT / 09:00 PDT / 12:00 EDT / 18:00 CEST

Tues 12th July - 17:30 GMT / 09:30 PDT / 12:30 EDT / 18:30 CEST

If you would like to organise a game in advance, or you are not available at these times but would still like to play the game, drop me an email and we can look at when is best for you and us :)

Our reason for doing this is we want to open up a more collaborative and involved feedback process, so if users love our games, or have things they'd like improved, they can get involved and let us know. We will be active on the Steam forums for each game, or you can drop Jake an email with any feedback.

All 3 games are included in Steam's Summer Sale. Last Days of Old Earth has been discounted by 20%, while both Chainsaw Warrior and Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night are 50% off individually. If you're yet to pick up either CW game, both are included in the Total Darkness Edition, which is also 50% off.

So get involved! We'd love to hear from you, play games and have some fun! :)

Chainsaw Warrior Images

Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night Images

Last Days of Old Earth Images

Last Days of Old Earth exits Early Access, 1.0 now available!

After a truly fascinating journey, four massive content updates, and plenty of feedback from our fantastic community, we're pleased to announce that Last Days of Old Earth has exited Early Access!

Version 1.0 is available for all those that supported us through Early Access as a free update, with plenty of improvements and balance changes for veteran players.

New players are now able to join the battle underneath a dying sun with all features of the game available instantly.

This includes the core game we launched with, the Deck Builder, all the content from Stealth and Air, plus the recently added Campaign too.

If you've yet to check the game out for yourself, visit the game's page on the Steam Store now to see what you've been missing out on.

Auroch Digital set to speak at Develop 2016

Exciting news! We've been invited to speak at one of the foremost games industry events in the world: Develop 2016 in Brighton!

Tomas Rawlings, our Design & Production Director, is giving a talk titled "Second Generation Crowdfunding: How to Make Crowdfunding & Kickstarter Work for You" on the 12th July at 3pm.

He'll be going into depth on how Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms are maturing, why high profile IPs and developers with large communities are finding success, and what smaller indie studios can do to get the traction they need.

We're honoured and thrilled to be included among the prestigious list of speakers, which includes gaming legends like Kojima Productions and Square Enix, indie darlings Roll 7 and Revolution Software, and inspirational thought leaders Rhianna Pratchett and Shahid Ahmad, to name but a few!

If you're also headed to Develop 2016, which takes place on the 12th-14th of July, and would like to meet up with us, feel free to get in touch!

Campaign Mode comes to Last Days of Old Earth in major new content update

What is the history of the Skywatchers? Why has the rest of humanity disappeared? Who are the Automata and why are they out to exterminate you? Are these truly the final moments of life on our planet?

Explore LDoOE's narrative universe and lead one of the last remaining human tribes through cold and hostile lands, as Last Days of Old Earth receives its massive Campaign Mode update.

Available right now, for free, as part of our journey through Early Access, Campaign Mode comes with a full suite of single player levels for the Skywatchers, as well as selectable levels of difficulty with which to test your strategic abilities.

This addition is the last of four major Early Access content updates, following on from the addition of Air-based gameplay, Stealth mechanics, a comprehensive Deck Builder, and the new Units, Heroes, and Facilities that have come with them.

Head on over to our Steam Store Page now for more details and to purchase.

Chainsaw Warrior and its sequel joins massive Games Workshop sale on Apple's App Store

Surprise! It's the Games Workshop Digital Assault!

All Games Workshop titles for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch are receiving a whopping 50% discount between the 12th and 19th of May. The sale coincides with Warhammer Fest 2016, a huge celebration of everything Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.

The eponymous Chainsaw Warrior is joining in on the sales action, so if you're yet to pick up either Chainsaw Warrior or Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night, head on over to the App Store now and get yourself a bargain.

Last Days of Old Earth takes flight with new Air Update

After our huge Deck Builder Update that brought custom decks to Last Days of Old Earth, and hot on the heels of the introduction of facilities and subterfuge with the Stealth Update, comes the opportunity to dominate the skies, in the form of the Air Update.

The Air Update adds three new gameplay mechanics;

Air Recon - send out your aircraft to scout ahead of your position and investigate unexplored areas of the map, quickly revealing your opponent's plans.
Airstrike - Strike at the heart of your opponent's forces from the air, softening up their armies and minimising the risk to your own Units.
Anti-Air - With the war now raging in the skies, you'll need this ability to fortify your defences and keep enemy aircraft at bay.

As well as four new Aircraft Units and two new Facilities;

Skywatchers
Huracan Aircrawler – Multi-purpose aircraft, equally useful for long range reconnaissance and Airstrikes.
Oryon Airship – Though its range is short, this bomber hits hard against enemy combatants.
Gunnery Platform – allows Skywatcher Infantry Units within the structure containing it the ability to perform Anti-Air against any aircraft foolish enough to get close to it.

Automata
Azor – Long range but light aircraft, perfect for spying on the activities of your opponent.
Neptuno – This attack craft is durable, impactful, and extremely deadly.
Pulse Shielding – adds to the Defence of Automata Units within the structure it resides, both during Airstrikes and normal combat.

With the addition of new cards you'll want to check them out as soon as possible, so the pre-made decks included with Last Days of Old Earth have been updated to include an assortment of these new Aircraft and Facilities. Alternatively you can also jump into the Deck Builder and start adding them to your own custom decks straight away.

Stealth and Facilities Update

Huge news! Last Days of Old Earth takes its tactical depth to a whole new level with the Stealth and Facilities update. Within this update, we introduce new Heroes and units for both factions with the devastating new abilities, Stealth and Saboteur. With these, as well as powerful new Facility cards which will allow greater movement, Action Points and Supply and more, players will now truly have the ability to stamp a play-style on the frozen wastelands of Earth. 

Whether you wish to go all-out with Heavy units, overwhelm your opponents with waves of light infantry, or utilise the sabotaging ways of the new cards included in this update, there are now countless possibilities to discover!

Unit additions and changes

Skywatchers

New Heroes: Elena Rime-Treader, Brother Okubo, John Shiroma.

New Unit: Amarok Marksmen

Facilities: War Council, Absolution Font, Caravansary, Chullpa Beacon

Note: Tracker skill added to Wyrmbane Huskies and Spear Sister Trackers.

Automata

New Heroes: Nerrivik, Tele-MAT, Heironer

New Unit: Cazadore Drones

Facilities: Deep Core Generator, Quantum Processing, Sentient Network, Ourobos Recycler

Note: Tracker skill added to Mattocks and Brumby.

Stealth and Facility Abilities

Stealth - Heroes and Units with Stealth can slip past enemies undetected, revealing themselves to opponents just before they deliver a fatal blow.

Detection - All Heroes and Units have the capacity to Detect hidden Heroes and Units, though this chance is likely very small unless augmented by an Ability like Tracker.

Assassination - A card with the Assassination skill allows that Hero or Unit to kill enemy Heroes outside of battle, after having snuck up on them using Stealth. This dramatically weakens the opponent Army that Hero was leading.

Sabotage - There are two forms of Sabotage. Supply Disruption - Sabotaging an HQ, Outpost, or Collector using Supply Disruption will remove the Supply that Building provides, placing any Armies within at a very distinct disadvantage. Facility Destruction - Destroys the Facility at that Building, thwarting an opponent's best laid plans.

Pinpoint Targeting - Enemy units adjacent to a unit with this Ability have diminished Defence.

Repurposer - Bring back cards from the Discard Pile and add them to your hand.

Movement Bonus - Armies within supply range of the Structure are granted a movement bonus.

Extend Supply - Extends supply range of the Structure.

Increase Hand Size - Increase maximum hand size.

AP Boost - Generates +2 additional AP per turn.

Energy Stabilizer - Provides an additional +1 Energy per turn.

Enhanced Processing - When deploying from the structure an Army's movement cost is reduced.

Material Recovery - Refunds Material from the cost of playing a card.

Security AI - Buffs the Detection of this Structure's Garrison.

Tracker - Increases Detection rating of an Army.

This is the second of four major updates planned over the Early Access period. The Deck Builder was met with lots of great feedback and this update will not only make for more exciting decks, it will also hugely increase the strategy involved in overcoming your opponent.

The next Early Access update will be the introduction of Aircraft, which will allow players to rule the skies as well as the wastelands. If you haven't picked up the game yet, head on over to the Steam Store page, and keep your eyes peeled on the Community Hub for news, updates and discussion!