Latest 'Ashes Of The Singularity: Escalation' Update Focuses on Accessibility

Stardock’s real-time strategy title Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation received its v2.6 update today, with a swath of improvements centered around bringing new players into the fold.

In addition to smaller changes and adjustments, there are several new tutorials included to make the game more accessible to players both new and old. Lead designer Callum McCole noted that “accessibility” was indeed the biggest goal for v2.6, explaining that the game’s old tutorial “wasn’t great” at showing new players the ropes, nor how to play effectively. “We made it into a set and changed it to be more targeted and easier to follow,” said McCole.

The UI has also been given a redesign in an attempt to make newbies even more comfortable by improving readability. Part of this comes in the form of larger icons for changing panels for upgrades and abilities. It’s all part of the game’s proposed quality of life changes, which make up a bulk of this update’s content.

Beyond upgrades to the player experience, however, v2.6 also includes a new “Nexus Health” Quantum Upgrade, which is an optional power-up of sorts that adds more health to the Nexus building players utilize as their headquarters. This is the same in-game, whether you’ve chosen to side with the Post-Human Coalition or Substrate.

In addition, the Engineer construction unit has been reworked so that multiple engineers can help to speed up unit production without negative effects. They’ll also be able to repair at a much quicker pace but can only target buildings. Similarly, Medics get a speed boost but can only target other units for healing.

You can read up on everything else v2.6 offers right now in the full changelog from Stardock, but if you’re ready to jump in and play, the update is live now.