Ashes of the Singularity 2 maps aim to "ground the fantasy of world domination"

Ashes of the Singularity 2 has big shoes to fill. Its predecessor earned a reputation back in 2016 for its huge unit counts, and developer Oxide Games has similar ambitions for the sequel. But all of those actors need a stage on which to enact their grim play, and Oxide says it's been working hard to ensure that the environments and maps you'll encounter in the sequel are on top form. They'll not only look better than ever, but also bring your strategies and tactics to the fore with dynamic and interesting layouts.

Oxide notes that, when considering the best RTS games, "most people think first about the units: the soldiers, tanks, aircraft, and other powerful pieces that players use to dominate the battlefield." However, it says, "the real star of the screen is the environment itself," and that's especially true in Ashes of the Singularity 2.

"It's not just a backdrop - it's the stage where every battle is fought, every strategy unfolds, and every story emerges." The studio says its new-look terrain "couldn't just be a functional improvement over the first game," which Joe scored an impressive 9/10 back in our Ashes of the Singularity review at the time.

"It has to be visually striking with much higher texture density, responsive to the units and their weapon fire, and overall narratively supportive," the team writes in its newest developer blog. "Our environments need to balance two competing goals: they must look beautiful and immersive, but they also need to clearly communicate gameplay information," it explains. You're dealing with a camera that the player is constantly moving, yet important details must be conveyed as quickly as possible if there's any hope of keeping up with the sheer scale at play.

"That means troops must remain visible against the backdrop, paths and choke points must be readable at a glance, and key features like cliffs, valleys, and roads must stand out even when viewed from a distance. At the same time, when the player zooms in close, we want the world to feel alive with dust kicked up by tanks and explosions scorching the terrain."

The shape of the environments you face will naturally influence how battles will play out. Maps in Ashes of the Singularity 2 employ plenty of verticality, and Oxide breaks out definitions between those elements that can be more easily traversed, such as plains, plateaus, ridges, valleys, and mesas, and more disruptive barriers like cliffs, canyons, and mountains.

It notes that while "Ashes of the Singularity 2 will have hand-crafted levels, which can be polished to perfection by an artist," it'll also offer procedurally generated maps that allow for nigh-unlimited variety. This, however, poses a problem: "how do we make sure these endless maps are still cohesive and beautiful?" Oxide says it's built custom tooling that ensures "different terrain types blend naturally with each other," helping the worlds it spawns to feel believable, even when using random layouts.

Once brought into being, however, these worlds are far from fixed. "Static environmental beauty just isn't going to cut it in today's dynamic gaming environment," Oxide remarks, "so we've been working hard to make sure the environment in our game reacts dynamically to the chaos of battle. When troops cruise along the terrain, it responds. Vehicles kick up dust, leave tracks, and crush vegetation. When weapons fire, the ground scorches, trees splinter, and craters are carved into the earth.

"Is the land covered in Turinium [Ashes of the Singularity's most valuable resource, and the centerpoint of much of its conflict], or restored to its natural state?" Oxide hopes that "by the end of a match, the environment tells a story of the fight, whether it's converting the landscape into Turinium, or reclaiming it back from Turinium infection." It adds, "There's also a different kind of story told from the burned-out husks of forests, roads trampled by countless soldiers, and explosion craters freckling the terrain."

It's also important that you can tell what's going on at a glance, no matter whether you're using a high-angle view for maximum strategy or have swung in close to admire the destruction in all its vicious glory. "This is where art direction becomes vital," Oxide says. "We lean heavily on color and shape language to separate troops from the environmental 'stage' while still feeling like they belong there.

"Neutral tones in the terrain allow units to pop against them, and buildings are designed with bold materials and silhouettes that remain recognizable at a distance," it concludes. "In Ashes of the Singularity 2, the armies may be the actors, but the environment is the stage that gives their performance meaning. It grounds the fantasy of world domination in a believable, reactive space, and ensures that every battle feels epic, cohesive, and unforgettable." From what we've seen so far, I'd say it's shaping up very well.

Ashes of the Singularity 2 is set for launch in 2026. You can wishlist it now via Steam to keep track of its progress.

In the meantime, we've rounded up the best strategy games on PC that you can play right now. If you're a big RTS-head, you'll know the value of having the best gaming mouse to hand, and we've tested the latest and greatest on the market.

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