That's right forum; Colonies & Empires, the mod that never dies, is nearly ready for an alpha release!
There are still going to be a lot of things missing from the mod, most notably a majority of native units and other features, but we have "cut corners" in the mean time in order to get closer to something that is playable. That said, I'm still pretty excited by what's been shaping over the past month or so, and that's where our alpha testers come in.
We are looking for people to download and play the C&E campaign as it currently sits (or will sit in a few weeks when I'm done with some stuff) and let us know of any issues you encounter - crashes, performance (lag), pathfinding, weird AI behaviour, "why is this thing like this?", your honest opinions, and anything else our modding team need to get ironed out before moving on to a (closed) beta version (balancing, scripting, other features). Once that succeeds we'll be able to push for an open beta.
We are hopeful of attracting modders to our team to help us realise the goals of more unique and awesome native factions, which is what we are currently lacking, and releasing a beta seems like the best way to stir up some publicity.
If you would be keen to alpha test for us, please post a reply here, or PM me!
Cheers,
Frunk