Remember the Neverwinter Nights modding days? Stardock does as Sorcerer King: Rivals will let players create their own RPGs according to Gameranx, all thanks to Steamworks. The game is due for release September 22nd.

Neverwinter Nights had some incredibly versatile campaign-creation tools. Remember those? Well, Stardock's upcoming 4X strategy game Sorcerer King: Rivals will include all the tools you need to create your own RPGs and share them with everyone else-minus any of the hassle players had to put up with in NWN and other games thanks to Steamworks.

This fantasy 4X game allows players to design their own classic RPG by stripping out the factions and city/unit building and focus entirely on characters and storybuilding.

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In Rivals, the tables are turned and players now take on the role of a wizard who aspires to godhood. The rival wizards must try to stop you before you ascend, and the Sorcerer King's (he's still around) own ambitions will get in the way of yours.

The tools available in Sorcerer King: Rivals include a quest editor, a map editor, and various other tools to create items, units, tiles, and more.

Stardock describes the game as "Populous meets Master of Magic." It's set for release on September 22.

Well here is the next Development stream for Sorcerer King on YouTube.

Stardock released the next Development stream for Sorcerer King on YouTube.

Designer Scott Tykoski plays the latest build and shows some of what's upcoming in the next patch.

Its time again for another development stream from Stardock for Sorcerer King.

Designer Scott Tykoski plays the latest build and takes players questions.

Stardock once posted the next development stream for Sorcerer King on YouTube.

Designer Scott Tykoski plays the latest build and answers players questions.

Stardock posted the next development stream for Sorcerer King on YouTube.

Designer Scott Tykoski shows off the latest Sorcerer King build and takes viewers questions.

Stardock posted the next Development stream for Sorcerer King on YouTube.

Designer Scott Tykoski reviews the recently released beta 5 and takes players questions and feedback.

Stardock posted the next development stream for Sorcerer King this week.

Designer Scott Tykoski gives a preview of Beta 5.

They also released new beta version on Steam.

Among (many) other things, Beta 5 includes:

• Remnant Champions – Earn the loyalty of these powerful, unique heroes by completing their faction’s hand-crafted questline
• Quest system overhaul – More, better rewards and additional multi-step quests added
• End-game stats – Get more detail on what went right, and what went horribly wrong
• Balance, polish, bug fixes – Overall experience is hugely improved with latest patch

View the full patch notes here.

Gaming Nexus published the next preview this month for Stardocks Sorcerer King.

You are given a standard set of tools – a big cloth map, spells, separate strategic movement and tactical combat maps, heroes, crafting, quests – and lots of other features I do not have time in this preview to describe.  It all works well together, and even the beta is fun to play.  This preview would have been done a week ago if I could have just stopped playing.  And have I mentioned that it's funny, but not too funny?

Stardock posted the next Development stream for Sorcerer King this week .

Designer Scott Tykoski plays the latest build and talks about naming of a new hero.

As usual Stardock has released the next Dev stream for Sorcerer King this week.

Designer Scott Tykoski shows off more of Sorcerer King and takes questions.

Stardock has released the next Dev stream for Sorcerer King this week.

Designer Scott Tykoski plays more beta 4 and takes viewers questions.

Stardock released the next beta version of Sorcerer King on Steam today. Here is the short post from the developer with more information on whats changed.

Sorcerer King Beta 4 Released

Sorcerer King Beta 4 comes strapped with more new and improved stuff than most updates can even dream of. The full patch notes[forums.sorcererking.com] are crazy-long, and not even padded (much) with minor bugfixes for little cosmetic glitches that only the artists who stare at the game all day notice anyway.

Among (many) other things, Beta 4 includes:

• Enchantment system – Customize your items with elemental attacks, mana drains, impenetrable defenses, and more
• Hundreds of new quests – Thanks to the folks who signed on to help implement quests, there are 400+ new ones to explore
• Tinkerer sovereign – Unlock the full potential of the crafting and enchantment systems with the final premade sovereign
• Custom sovereigns – Mix and match abilities, heroes, spellbooks, and skilltrees into your ideal avatar
• Graphical overhaul – New forests and chasms, much improved lighting, and tons of animations and effects

Stardock released a new forty minute weekly Dev Stream with Designer Scott Tykoski who gives a preview of the next beta patch for Sorcerer King.

Designer Scott Tykoski shows off the upcoming Sorcerer King beta 4.

Stardock releasd the next weekly Dev Stream for Sorcerer King.

Designer Scott Tykoski shows off the upcoming Enchantment system.

Here is the here is the next Dev Stream for Sorcerer King from Stardock this week.

This week we're taking a look at the Enchantment system and Tinkerer sovereign.

Yes I'm  late with the update I give no apologizes so here is the next Dev Stream for Sorcerer King. The game is looking good, but I will wait to play the final version.

Designer Scott Tykoski takes your questions and talks about current development.

Adam Foster of Hey Poor Player posted a preview of the Beta version of Sorcerer King.

The developer, Stardock, is avoiding the pitfalls so common to other Early Access games. Where most games on the service present with bare-bones features and a vague promise of a fleshed-out vision, Sorcerer King is already a fully-formed game, with a ton of smaller improvements on the horizon, weekly developer streams, and regular hotfixes every few weeks. The most recent build added the Priest sovereign class, and a future update seems to be hinting at something called “The Tinker” sovereign class, so I’m incredibly interested in what comes next.

Stardock posted the next monthly Development Stream for Sorcerer King.

The first livestream for 2015! We show off a new internal build.

Keith Turner of Space Sector posted a new Early Access First Impression article based on his playtime with Stardock's new game Sorcerer King. Here is a small sample.

Sorcerer King does introduce some interesting restrictions and a bit of resource management, and with further polish could become a solid experience for me. What it needs to overcome is the fact that we are now in an era of fantasy strategy excellence unlike anything I’ve seen in recent years. As a product priced the same as, or more than, other quality completed titles, Sorcerer King has got its work cut out if it wants to stand out and grab my attention.

Stardock released the third beta patch patch for Sorcerer King, and as usual here are the details as provided from the press release. I can't wait to play the finished game.

Beta Bulks Up With New Sovereigns, Random Maps

 Massive replayability comes to Stardock’s asymmetrical fantasy 4X -

Plymouth, MI – December 16, 2014 – The third beta update to Stardock’s Sorcerer King delivers on the promise of endless replayability for the uniquely asymmetrical fantasy 4X strategy game. Available now via Steam Early Access for $39.99 at http://store.steampowered.com/app/241990/, the Sorcerer King beta now includes the divinely powered Priest and military-focused Commander: new classes that enable entirely new playstyles as they join the existing roster of Tyrant, Wizard, and Guardian sovereigns.

Sorcerer King is a different kind of 4X game from Stardock, one of the longest-tenured independent studios in the video game industry. Rather than racing equally matched rivals for abstract victory conditions, Sorcerer King puts players in charge of the last remaining kingdom in the wake of an apocalyptic war that the evil empire has already won. Only by rallying the shattered remnants of fallen civilizations, and defending the shards that are the lifeblood of the world’s magic, can the player stop the Sorcerer King himself from consuming all life in his quest to become a dark god.

Sorcerer King Beta 3 adds the Priest and Commander sovereigns as options for players. The Priest focuses on healing and defensive magic, flying under the Sorcerer King’s radar until she is ready to call in her divine favors for the most powerful effects in the game in a final effort to bring down the big bad. Unlike other sovereigns, the Priest can even reverse the spread of the Sorcerer King’s corruption across the land, buying time before the final confrontation.

The Commander is a leader without equal, whose armies can prevail with force of arms where any other sovereign’s forces would require dramatic magical backup to carry the day. Players with an interest in fielding the strongest armies in the world – well, short of the Sorcerer King’s personal guard, which is a whole different kettle of murderous, twisted monsters – will find the Commander’s unique capabilities well-suited to their plans.

This major update also enables random maps, ensuring virtually limitless replayability. The placement of quests, monster lairs, remnant factions, and the Sorcerer King’s fortress itself have massive effects on each playthrough, and so every random map presents significantly different challenges – not to mention the adaptive “dungeon master” AI that controls the world’s reaction to the player and the differences between each of the (now five) sovereigns.

Sorcerer King Beta 3 is available now via Steam Early Access. The full game is scheduled to release in spring 2015. To learn more, please visit http://www.sorcererking.com or view the development team's weekly livestream, Wednesdays at 3pm Eastern, at http://www.twitch.tv/stardock.

Stardock announces the second Beta for Sorcerer King on Steam is now available.

Big update today! Sorcerer King Beta 2 adds the Tyrant and Guardian sovereigns, world-cracking geomancy spells that turn the land itself into both a weapon and a resource, and proper quests for all the minor factions. Your Steam client will update your game automatically next time you log in.

The Guardian sovereign seeks to protect the world with magic that can restore the land, and starts with the noble Ranger hero whose task is to build up an elite party of heroes without attracting too much attention from the Sorcerer King.

The Tyrant sovereign, on the other hand, sees the Sorcerer King as a competitor. The Tyrant himself and his Warlord champion grow stronger as the Doomsday Counter increases and can secure victory not only by defeating the Sorcerer King in battle, but by co-opting the apocalyptic Spell of Making to his own ends.

Geomancy allows the player to ‘harvest’ mountains, forests, and fertile land to stockpile the goods they need to craft the finest weapons, armor, potions, and scrolls that can give their armies the edge on the battlefield. The price is steep, though, as cracking the world like this pushes the Doomsday Counter forward and the Sorcerer King closer to ultimate victory – and hastens the spread of the corrupted Shadowlands the Sorcerer King’s minions call home.

We’ve also enabled several new maps, fixed a ton of bugs, added a ton of content throughout every phase of the game (new monsters!), and cleaned up a bunch of interface issues.

Sorcerer King still has a ways to go – the next big things on our list are the big rework to the crafting system, additions to tactical combat to make it a little meatier, and improving the endgame to take into account the actions you’ve taken during the course of the game – but the release of Beta 2 today is a big step forward for the game.

Stardock Games posted a four part developer stream for Sorcerer King I missed this month, So if you're like me and interested in the game give them a watch.

The first part can be watched here, and the rest here, here, and here. Enjoy.

Stardock released the first Beta patch for Sorcerer King on Seam a few days ago. As usual ere is the infomation on whats updated, and changed.

We've got a quick for you today that incorporates a huge pile of tweaks and fixes, plus addresses some pressing performance issues for some hardware configurations. Log into your Steam client to update your game automatically.

Among other things, Sorcerer King Beta 1.1 includes:

Additions
+ Spell to reduce Doomsday Counter added (still working on the visual FX though)
+ Outposts can now fire on multiple units per turn
+ Added WASD map controls
+ Additional tactical battle special abilities added for a number of units
+ New portrait art when selecting a number of structures
+ New abilities hooked up for Elemental Damage types
- Weak Resistance to Cold, Fire & Lightning (10% defense to these types)
- Sensitive to Cold, Fire, and Lightning (10% more damage taken by these damage types)
- Most Beasts were made sensitive or vulnerable to these elemental types
- minor units were given the appropriate buffs / debuffs
- Some magic users were given buffs to elemental types
+ attack types added (ex. "Cold" attack/defense/resist)
+ added Healing Spirit ability: Any army with this unit gets +3 HP per turn on the overworld map.
+ circle of magic improvement added (unlocks Archon)
+ more quests added
+ Updated balancing on units
+ More quests are now spawned on maps

Notable Fixes
+ Potential fix for terrain performance issues on low end machines
+ Fixed "Marching Orders" sovereign skill
+ Fixed Tactical Battle initiative list highlighting when mousing over units
+ Fixed Summon Wisp spell
+ Fixed animation issues around auto-resolving combat on the strategic map
+ Citadel now properly unlocks the Paladin unit

Plus a ton more fixes for minor issues. Read the full patch notes here.

Let us know what you think! For further upcoming patch news, check out the current development roadmap for Sorcerer King Early Access.

Stardock released the new Beta Road-Map for Sorcerer King on the games forum.

Sorcerer King BETA road-map!

We’re very excited to have you with us on Sorcerer King.  We hope you’re having as much fun playing the beta as we are having making it.  This post will go over the road-map between Beta 1 and the final release of the game so you can see where things are.

Milestone #1: Sorcerer King BETA 1 [October 2014]

1. Crafting is in
2. Outposts attack enemies in ZOC and can be upgraded
3. Minor factions are on map but don’t do anything
4. Wizard sovereign is in
5. City improvements determine available base units
6. Default small maps are in.
7. Trained units can be equipped with crafted items (even Bailey! <g>)

Milestone #2: BETA 2 [November 2014]

1. Minor factions ally up with either you or the Sorcerer King based on what the player (or SK) does.
2. Minor factions give player access to their unique units that cost 0 logistics
3. Sorcerer King will begin casting spells into tactical battles
4. Priest, Warrior, Guardian sovereign added
5. Sovereign customization in
6. Summoning Spellbook added
7. Pretty Quest screen added

Milestone #3: BETA 3 [December 2014]

1. HighDPI UI support (>2K/4K display enhancements)
2. Warlord, Tinkerer sovereigns added
3. Dungeon Master world system added (Everything you do in the game feeds data to the DM that may come back to help or hurt you later, variables will be listed in the Quest screen)
4. Hall of Fame added
5. In-Game status reports on how you’re doing in various interesting way
6. Large map support added
7. Random Map generation added

After Beta 3, it’s content, content, content.  More monsters, units, spells, abilities, quests, balance, bug fixing, etc.

Only one day on Steam Early Access and already we have reviews of the game. So the latest review I found today is from from a Youtube user called nikolai 60.

Overall the game's doing well for itself for it's first day of release. It's missing things but that's to be expected for a game that's still in beta testing. I think it's fun, and it not taking itself seriously is certainly a plus. Yeah it's a tad pricy for what you get right now, but I'm sure they'll add extra functions to fit what it costs. Overall, if you like this kind of game and are willing to wait for all the functions, take a look, otherwise at least keep an eye out for what's to come.

With the announcement of Sorcerer King earlier today a a few sites took the time to post new interviews with With Stardock's Brad Wardell. 

GameranX

Recently, I had a chance to speak to Stardock’s Brad Wardell about his 4X fantasy strategy game, Sorcerer King, which was just announced for the PC as a Steam Early Access title. In our interview, we discussed the creation of the game, its core aspects, its inspirations, the rise of Steam Curators, and more.

Venture Beat

The developer’s first attempt was Elemental, starting in 2010 after seven years of success with the Galactic Civilizations 4X (“eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate”) space strategy series.

Rushed and buggy, Elemental: War of Magic was a flop that led to the company’s utter metamorphosis. Stardock went from a PC business-software company that happened to do games to a game house with a division that does PC software.

Strategy Informer

We're experiencing something of a 4X renaissance at the moment, with titles like Endless Legend making a strong exit from Early Access, and Worlds of Magic and Stardock's own Galactic Civilizations 3 looking increasingly promising as they edge towards release. Not to mention the dozen other quality games we've been treated to over the last year and a half. Genre specialist Stardock's latest entry, however, offers a slightly different take on the format. Before you even start playing Sorcerer King you've already failed to save the world. Plot twist! I tracked down Stardock CEO Brad Wardell in search of answers.

Stardock announced Sorcerer King today on Steam Early Access. The game is made with the Elemental game engine. I have the usual Video , and game description below.

A New Kind of 4X

Sorcerer King is a new direction for 4X game design, pitting the player against a single overwhelmingly powerful enemy instead of a set of evenly matched factions racing for abstract victory conditions.

Think of the Sorcerer King as the evil mage who won the last traditional 4X game. He has already conquered the world. His enemies (including you) are scattered, their armies broken and cities torn down. His dark minions have free reign to terrorize the survivors everywhere except a few tiny outposts of civilization (like the one you start in) too insignificant to crush.

Asymmetrical Gameplay

Sorcerer King is built around the concept of asymmetry. Your goals (kill the Sorcerer King) are wholly different than the Sorcerer King’s goals (destroy the shards and therefore the world). The rest of the game revolves around this central concept.

The Sorcerer King doesn’t play by the same rules – he operates on a completely different level than your scarce resources allow you to. A sophisticated “Game Master” AI controls his forces and other events in the world, managing pacing and generating threats to ensure an engaging game from start to finish.

What’s In, What’s Coming

Sorcerer King is in Early Access. That means it’s functional but incomplete as we march toward its early 2015 release date. The main things you’ll see improve during Early Access are polish, balance, and content.

The one major feature that is still being worked on is the minor faction system. The remnants of other civilizations will each have involved questlines and dialogues, and you’ll have to win their allegiances before the Sorcerer King overwhelms the last shreds of hope they cling to. Letting them slip into the Sorcerer King’s grasp will be a huge blow to your chances of stopping him.