Critical Moves - Strategy Gaming

Al and Drexy talk to Dan, solo developer of Imperium, a spiritual successor to the 1995 cult classic Ascendancy. They cover the game's modular ship design, hybrid real-time/turn-based combat, 21 alien species, a rebuilt diplomacy system, and an honest look at how AI tools made a six-and-a-half-month solo passion project possible.
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Critical Moves examines strategy games through weekly Friday episodes and the occasional video essay. Six hosts across multiple continents analyze recent releases, forgotten classics, and industry developments without the typical podcast theatrics. We cover real-time strategy, 4X civilization builders, turn-based tactics, and hybrid games that blur genre boundaries.

Critical Moves hits episode 100. To mark the milestone, Al is joined by regular co-hosts Drexy and Jack for a big debate on generative AI in game development, plus a special guest: Ben, known to many as Battlemode.
The panel gets into whether AI is good or bad for the games industry, why developers at GDC are growing more worried about it every year, whether players actually notice or care if a game was made with AI, and where the real ethical line sits between using a tool and stealing someone's work. Along the way: the Shadow Empire AI art controversy, the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 story, Stardock as an AI power user, and what happens to art when you can no longer tell if a human made it.
Thanks for sticking with us for a hundred episodes. If you enjoyed the show, like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs convincing.

More from Critical Moves Podcast:
Web: https://criticalmovespodcast.com
Forum: https://criticalmovesforum.com
Newsletter: https://criticalmoves.beehiiv.com
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Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CriticalMoves
Critical Moves examines strategy games through weekly Friday episodes and Monday news updates. Six hosts across multiple continents analyze recent releases, forgotten classics, and industry developments without the typical podcast theatrics. We cover real-time strategy, 4X civilization builders, turn-based tactics, and hybrid games that blur genre boundaries.

Jack hosts this week with Drexy and Joe as they run through a stack of strategy adjacent announcements from Gamescom and BlizzCon. Topics include Lego Skylines, Paradox's new post apocalyptic title Afterworld, the surprise reveal of Humankind 2 and its civilization switching mechanic compared to Civilization VII's recent anniversary update, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Tactics (aka SixCom), Ubisoft's Heroes of Might and Magic III remake, Warcraft III Reforged's new campaign, a wave of Blizzcon reveals including Starcraft and Diablo 5, War for Westeros, Worms Galactic Tactics, Transport Fever, Conquesta and more Total War: Warhammer 40,000 chatter.
More from Critical Moves Podcast:
Web: https://criticalmovespodcast.com
Forum: https://criticalmovesforum.com
Newsletter: https://criticalmoves.beehiiv.com
Spotify: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/spotify
Apple: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/apple
Amazon: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/amazon
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/criticalmovespodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CriticalMoves_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/criticalmovespodcast
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CriticalMoves
Critical Moves examines strategy games through weekly Friday episodes and Monday news updates. Six hosts across multiple continents analyze recent releases, forgotten classics, and industry developments without the typical podcast theatrics. We cover real-time strategy, 4X civilization builders, turn-based tactics, and hybrid games that blur genre boundaries.

Alejandro Nunez is building The Last General entirely alone: a massive scale RTS where you command thousands of troops with high level strategic orders, then jump into any tank, plane or drone in first or third person whenever you want. We sat down with him to talk about the game's rapid rise to 158,000 wishlists, the FPV and kamikaze drones inspired by the war in Ukraine, why early access has slipped from 2025 to May 2027, and what's eaten up that extra time. We also get into the twelve fictional nations, their asymmetric designs, the campaign structure, and yes, whether there will be nukes.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2566700/The_Last_General/
https://discord.com/invite/thelastgeneral
https://www.thelastgeneral.com

More from Critical Moves Podcast:
Web: https://criticalmovespodcast.com
Forum: https://criticalmovesforum.com
Newsletter: https://criticalmoves.beehiiv.com
Spotify: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/spotify
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Amazon: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/amazon
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/criticalmovespodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CriticalMoves_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/criticalmovespodcast
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CriticalMoves
Critical Moves examines strategy games through weekly Friday episodes and Monday news updates. Six hosts across multiple continents analyze recent releases, forgotten classics, and industry developments without the typical podcast theatrics. We cover real-time strategy, 4X civilization builders, turn-based tactics, and hybrid games that blur genre boundaries.

RTS isn't the genre it once was. Al is joined by Jack and Nuno to work through why real-time strategy fell off the map - the shift from PC to console, the rise of FPS, mobile and MOBAs, and the loss of Westwood and Blizzard's hold on the genre - and whether the games on the horizon can bring it back.
Along the way: the multiplayer-versus-single-player question, why so many well-funded RTS projects keep failing, and the upcoming titles worth watching, from Total War: Warhammer 40,000 and Game of Thrones: War for Westeros to Dawn of War 4, Stronghold 4, Zero Space and a wave of indie and double-A releases.
More from Critical Moves Podcast:
Web: https://criticalmovespodcast.com
Forum: https://criticalmovesforum.com
Newsletter: https://criticalmoves.beehiiv.com
Spotify: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/spotify
Apple: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/apple
Amazon: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/amazon
Discord: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/discord
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/criticalmovespodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CriticalMoves_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/criticalmovespodcast
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CriticalMoves