Ashes of the Singularity

Ashes of the Singularity is a real-time strategy in a sci-fi setting. The game was developed by studio Stardock, known mainly for the Galactic Civilizations series.

Story

The story takes place in the distant future, at a time when human civilization is nothing like it is today. After the invention of a powerful self-aware AI named Haalee humans entered a period of intense technological development and eventually abandoned their biological bodies to move their consciousness into electronic systems. At the same time a substance known as Turinium was discovered, which made it possible to create extremely effective computer units. It quickly became the most valuable resource and the main currency, as its owners augmented their intelligence the more of it they possessed. Simultaneously, a new race of completely artificial beings emerged, which were the descendants of the conscious artificial intelligence.

Both groups have lived in peace for a long time. When Earth ran out of Turinium, humanity managed to expand to other planets, which it began to convert into this valuable resource. However, even though humanity abandoned biological bodies, it failed to leave behind greed. Eager for new territories, it started to transform all encountered worlds into Turinium, even those inhabited by intelligent beings who lost their lives in the process. Haalee and her descendant AI could no longer tolerate this barbarism and, for the first time in centuries, a war broke out.

Gameplay

Ashes of the Singularity contains elements typical for a real-time strategy, such as collecting materials, erecting buildings and waging battles, but executes them on a much larger scale than it’s usually done. All clashes take place not on small maps, but on the surfaces of entire planets. Throughout the game we collect metals and radioactive isotopes and take over objects generating energy. These three materials allow us to construct buildings, carry out research on new technologies and form an army. The planets are divided into several regions and each of them has one generator. By gaining control over it we acquire an entire territory assigned to it. At the same time we must ensure the connection between all acquired areas and our base, because only this will allow us to gather raw materials.

In Ashes of the Singularity each unit has a specific role. An attempt to defeat our enemies by throwing an entire army on their positions rarely ends with a victory. Of course, controlling several thousand machines manually would be impossible, and that’s why the authors have introduced the so-called meta-units that the player creates. The AI of each member of such a group is aware of the actions of its comrades and can cooperate with them. Thus, the user is able to predict the behavior of a specific unit and, on this basis, he or she can create configurations of its members. We can play the game alone or in several multiplayer modes.

Last updated on November 18, 2015