Elemental all-purpose thread

JM1 · 2010-09-01T08:25:15.000Z

The cities are gorgeous.

However! The unit portraits are uniformly ugly, the landscape is horribly under-utilised and contains mostly featureless plains, the unit graphics are underwhelming, and most importantly for me the spell effects make Dominions 3 look like a AAA title.

Seriously, have you seen the fireball effect?

William_Abner · 2010-09-01T08:33:26.000Z

JM:

The cities are gorgeous.

However! The unit portraits are uniformly ugly, the landscape is horribly under-utilised and contains mostly featureless plains, the unit graphics are underwhelming, and most importantly for me the spell effects make Dominions 3 look like a AAA title.

Seriously, have you seen the fireball effect?

The spell effects are particularly poor, totally agree.

Sepiche · 2010-09-01T08:39:19.000Z

JM:

However! The unit portraits are uniformly ugly, the landscape is horribly under-utilised and contains mostly featureless plains, the unit graphics are underwhelming, and most importantly for me the spell effects make Dominions 3 look like a AAA title.

To be fair part of that has to do with the setting, but in general I agree. They could spruce up the terrain a bit more. Once they get rivers added I suspect that will help.

Adam_Altmann · 2010-09-01T08:40:37.000Z

JM:

Seriously, have you seen the fireball effect?

Okay. I can’t argue against the spell effects, those are pretty rough.

KevinC · 2010-09-01T08:43:54.000Z

The spell effects are hit and miss. The lightning bolt is pretty good IMO, the fireball is pretty awful. At the end of the day I don’t really care, though, what I care about is that my fireball stops hitting anything past turn 50.

I do like the illustrated storybook look, though, and the given that the world just went through a massive cataclysm it doesn’t bother me that it’s barren for the most part (I do turn terrain details to the max, though).

KevinC · 2010-09-01T08:45:44.000Z

dbd1963:

Now that we are talking about “shitness,” FieryBalrog sounds like a kind of poop –

The Fiery Balrog – when you have had too many jalopeno quesadillas; it burns, but it cannot pass.

Oh great, now next time I’m dealing with the aftermath of going out for Mexican food, I’m going to be hearing Gandalf.

inactive_user · 2010-09-01T08:49:27.000Z

JM:

Ironclad developed SOASE, not Stardock.

Edit: Which he does mention later on, but still…

I’m trying to think of a way to phrase this that doesn’t sound like kvetching or bagging on my editors, but there really isn’t one. So yeah, the bit about Stardock “developing” Sins was added in after I submitted the copy. Rage. Fixing it now that it’s come to my attention.

Matt_Bowyer · 2010-09-01T09:00:52.000Z

KevinC:

Oh great, now next time I’m dealing with the aftermath of going out for Mexican food, I’m going to be hearing Gandalf.

“Fly, you fools!”

Teiman · 2010-09-01T09:02:01.000Z

The graphics looks to me like “Programmer art” + Massive ammounts of ambient oclusion.

It almost work, but not everywhere… the units portraits are awnful, the cloth map is good. On the tactical battles, these units are alone in the center of the square. The UI has pretty buttons, and these buttons look like buttons (extra points here).

lordkosc · 2010-09-01T09:51:13.000Z

I am keeping track of all reviews here, if anyone is interested.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/391186

arakyd · 2010-09-01T10:07:21.000Z

Galadin:

I’m sick and need help. I enjoy reading novels set in gaming worlds, even though they are often poorly written. Sad thing, I was also a literature minor in school, and love reading classic works as well.

I implore you good sir: pray to the baby Jesus before it’s too late, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Cory:

Troy’s Elemental review

Solid, although I think “ambitious” is a questionable descriptor. A tangled pile of tropes is not ambitious, except perhaps in relation to Stardock’s ability to execute. I know reviewers struggle mightily to come up with at least one good thing to say (“potential” is a real workhorse), but if you’ve got two short pages to convey the main idea, namely that that the game is broken and opaque, it’s not easy.

I look forward to the upcoming Elemental episode of Three Moves Ahead with delicious anticipation. You’d better show up, Brad! Don’t wuss out!

JM:

the spell effects make Dominions 3 look like a AAA title

Ouch. See, this is why you don’t make strategy games on top of 3D engines unless you want to keep them simple AND are backed by a big company like 2K. The bar for acceptable visual quality goes through the roof, compatibility issues go through the roof, code complexity will go through the roof if you aren’t careful (and nothing I’ve seen indicates that Stardock is careful enough), and for what?

KevinC · 2010-09-01T10:16:14.000Z

arakyd:

Ouch. See, this is why you don’t make strategy games on top of 3D engines unless you want to keep them simple AND are backed by a big company like 2K. The bar for acceptable visual quality goes through the roof, compatibility issues go through the roof, code complexity will go through the roof if you aren’t careful (and nothing I’ve seen indicates that Stardock is careful enough), and for what?

To leverage the 3D processing capability of today’s GPUs [insert ATI bug here], having a Movable/Rotatable camera. I like the Raise/Lower land stuff as well, visually, although mechanically you could duplicate that in 2D. It also allows for all the lighting effects, the LOD zooming, etc.

At least that’s how I understand it, I’m not a graphics programmer so if I’m wrong on those points, someone please correct me.

RepoMan · 2010-09-01T10:25:07.000Z

dbd1963:

The Fiery Balrog – when you have had too many jalopeno quesadillas; it burns, but it cannot pass.

Awesome. I fear your interpretation of other nicknames.

scharmers · 2010-09-01T10:25:35.000Z

The graphics looks to me like “Programmer art”

Awesome link BTW

Teiman · 2010-09-01T10:36:01.000Z

About the rendering:

cs.rpi.edu

lajzer_nottingham.pdf

654.45 KB

The first image look a loot like Elemental.

At least that’s how I understand it, I’m not a graphics programmer so if I’m wrong on those points, someone please correct me.

Maybe is not a tecnical thing as much as a economic one. Dwarf Fortress uses OpenGL to draw a fake character based interface.

How hard will be to sell this to most gamers?

HexWar.jpg550×542

KevinC · 2010-09-01T10:50:43.000Z

Teiman:

How hard will be to sell this to most gamers?

Hard, I would imagine, but damn I need to go play another game of HOI3 now.

Teiman · 2010-09-01T11:08:28.000Z

KevinC:

Hard, I would imagine, but damn I need to go play another game of HOI3 now.

Lets adds 3D to these hexes!

BrianRubin · 2010-09-01T11:16:36.000Z

Teiman, forgive my ignorance, but which game is that? It’s mighty pretty. Is that Civ V?

Kael · 2010-09-01T11:24:27.000Z

Brian Rubin:

Teiman, forgive my ignorance, but which game is that? It’s mighty pretty. Is that Civ V?

Yes .

Oghier · 2010-09-01T11:25:32.000Z

Troy’s review is spot-on, though I think a bit more highly of the artwork.