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Stardock Magazine
October 2016 – Part 2
by Brad Wardell
Contents
- Editorial from Brad
- Let’s talk about Mars
- Object Desktop 2017 and beyond
- Stardock Customer Report 2015
- The biggest real-time strategy game ever is coming
## Feedback ##
You can chat with me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/draginol) or post feedback here. https://forums.stardock.com/480276
## Editorial from Brad ##
Greetings!
I’m old. I got reading glasses this month. I sure how Ray Kurzweil is right and we’ll be able to get young again.
I drove from Michigan to Maryland in the new Tesla Model X. I wrote up some opinions on the matter here. Broadly speaking, the Tesla super charger network is a big deal. Being able to recharge in 30 minutes (for free) is a pretty nice perk. Stardock has two main locations these days: Plymouth Michigan and Towson Maryland. Towson Maryland is where we’re making the new Star Control game.
If you are interested in becoming one of our Founders and helping us with Star Control: Origins (whether it be feedback or just supporting the project) visit www.starcontrol.com.
## Let’s talk about Mars ##
Last Spring we released Offworld Trading Company. It’s designed by Soren Johnson, the man who designed the much loved Civilization IV. If you’ve ever played MULE, you have an idea of what Offworld Trading Company is about.
Offworld Trading Company: The Patron & The Patriot
This week, we released the DLC called “The Patron and the Patriot” which is designed to flesh out the game’s setting – Mars. You can read up about it here: http://www.pcgamer.com/offworld-trading-companys-new-expansion-tells-interactive-stories-about-life-on-mars/
Get it: http://store.steampowered.com/app/271240/
## Object Desktop 2017 ##
I originally wrote the article I’m linking to as part of this issue of Stardock Magazine. Once you read it, it’ll be obvious why I didn’t put it in here. It’s very very long.
A long, rambling article about Object Desktop 2017: https://forums.stardock.com/480274
Very large screenshot of Object Desktop in action
If you’ve been with us a long time, you know how important Object Desktop is to us. Object Desktop is a one-of-a-kind product designed, in essence, to take Windows to the next level. Historically that has meant that we add features to Windows that often end up part of the OS later on. What we are working on with Object Desktop 2017 are features that, as always, you could argue should be part of the OS. But they’re not.
The PC desktop of 2017 bears little resemblance to where it was 10 years ago. As a practical matter, it needs to redefine its role in our lives. I don’t know about you guys but I have a lot of mobile devices these days. I have my PC desktop still but I have an iPhone, iPad and a Microsoft Surface. Other people here have Android devices and MacBooks.
The problem is that the Windows desktop hasn’t evolved to recognize this new reality. That’s where we are taking Object Desktop. We want your PC desktop to evolve to incorporate all your “stuff” so that it acts like it was always part of your desktop. Your Google drive objects, your Dropbox stuff, other messages, chats and other devices should all be considered extensions of your desktop rather than treated as separate ecosystems.
In my opinion, the PC desktop must evolve to incorporate your entire digital life or it will ultimately become irrelevant. I think Microsoft realizes this as well but in the meantime, we are going to be focusing our energies on making Object Desktop not just make your desktop more pleasant to use but make it more essential.
Get it: http://www.objectdesktop.com
## Stardock Customer Report ##
In November 2015 we sent out a survey to customers. We got the results and have put together our analysis along created a report.
We will soon be sending out the survey for 2016. But in the meantime, click that link above to find out all kinds of cool data.
Get it: https://www.stardock.com/press/CustomerReports/Stardock2015.pdf
## The Biggest RTS ever ##
On November 3, Stardock is releasing Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation!
If you like RTS games, you will almost certainly like Escalation.
This past Spring we released Ashes of the Singularity which was designed to be an approachable RTS. It was well received but people who were looking for a successor for Supreme Commander were sometimes disappointed. Escalation was designed to be a much more sophisticated and deeper RTS experience.
You can read the fact sheet here: https://forums.ashesofthesingularity.com/
Get it: https://www.ashesofthesingularity.com/store
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