Troy’s look at Elemental 1.1 matches my opinions on it pretty well. There’s a lot of improvements, but the overall feel of the game is just bland as heck.
http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/12/20/patched-an-honest-second-look-at-elemental-war-of-magic/
hong
6202
Uh, Guild Wars bland? Maybe Prophecies, but Factions and Nightfall have some of the most amazing visuals I’ve ever seen. Particularly the former; Kaineng City and the Jade Sea are just standout achievements.
KiloOhm
6203
Specifically I’m talking about your characters, I didn’t find any class look or armor (the few there were) appealing. Maybe I just didn’t like the art style (way too gothic emo for me). I didn’t mind the creatures.
Strato
6204
Yep, I agree with Troy. I haven’t managed to get to 1.1 yet due to a problem I’m having with the update (Impulse wants to redownload the whole game) however going through the beta patches leading up to 1.1, I’m still absolutely bored by the lore of the game.
I think the big thing will be the map. I can handle a dumbass AI right now because I’m still learning the game. Trouble is, I find it hard to learn the game because after half an hour or so, I’m tired of hitting the next turn button hoping for something fun and interesting to come up, either as I explore the world, or as a leader tries to negotiate something with me. It is just a flat map with some random hills and forests, bits and pieces strewn across the map, including some that remain hidden until discovered by the right Adventure tech (which I think is dumb).
One good thing though is that Stardock Support were quite proactive with me in dealing with the trouble I’ve got in Impulse. Didn’t have to register a support ticket, they came straight to my email with a number of steps to try and troubleshoot why my update is registering 2GB in size, considering the possible solutions useful during the beta patch period isn’t working now.
ckessel
6205
To be honest, Troy’s review gives me hope. Kael hasn’t had much time to start adding his flair to the game. The fact it’s made this kind of progress is a good sign. A relentless march to a good game.
For all the crap that’s gone on, it’s hard not to find respect for the team working on it. They care, they sound genuine, and so far I haven’t seen the double-talk feeling that they’re going through the motions on a game they’ve given up on. If, in 3-6 months, it’s close to the game I originally hoped for, then I’m a happy customer.
God knows there’s promising crap that never went anywhere. Ascendancy had the opposite problem. All atmosphere, no game. Would that that game had had a team work on it post release.
Alstein
6206
There is an unofficial patch made by Brad on the forums over the holidays that improves the AI by a decent amount, though it still needs work, it is a threat in the early game, and you can’t really rush it early game easily without some luck. Also announced on IRC was another hyped surprise hire for next week, who will help with modding and be involved with GalCiv 3. Work on 1.2 begins then also.
That’s all I care about from Stardock at this point.
Krazee
6208
Jon Shafer is now working at Stardock!
Brad is putting things in place to make a real go of improving Elemental
I may come to regret not buying Elemental after all …
there’s an article up at Shack News but I can’t post links yet.
JM1
6210
Yeah, we know - we talked about it for some time in this thead.
Brad is putting things in place to make a real go of improving Elemental
And I thought your vote for Elemental as Game of the Year was a joke :(
Krazee
6211
Now a news item, so presumably officially released.
It was. I couldn’t resist, I thought the formulae might (incorrectly) round down my vote down to 0.
JazzJ
6212
The news about Jon is new. Are you sure you’re not thinking of Kael?
Alstein
6213
I’m hoping I can vote Elemental in for the 2011 GOTY, but even I wouldn’t vote Elemental in for 2010. ^_^
JM1
6214
DAMN YOU SARCASM, WHY MUST YOU FAIL ME
damnit. Sorry gents :)
(P.s. Why does this thread attract so many newbies?)
Krazee
6215
This thread and forum have been quoted a number of times in Civ V forums, and so those interested in 4X in general have looked into Elemental.
Alstein
6216
Dave Stern also got hired yesterday as well. The writer, not the NBA commish- though that would have been much more entertaining.
As for Elemental, the various flamewars and stuff, plus dissatisfaction with other spots, brought me here.
Wouldn’t it be better for Stardock to start developing a new IP w/ the new talent rather than trying to fix Elemental?
The damage is already done and I’m sure the Kael and Jon will be able to do their best work developing something new than trying to salvage a broken game.
Mr. Woo, it looks like Schafer is also working on a new IP.
As for Elemental, I think Stardock is trying to do the right thing by salvaging it rather than writing it off and moving on. I, for one, still want the bitchin’ fantasy 4X that Elemental should have been. And I’m fortunate enough that I didn’t have to pay $50 for it. Think of how people who paid $50 feel.
-Tom
Or those who went with the $70 collector’s edition.
I tried this once when it came out and it’s been sitting there ever since. Every once in a while I patch it via Impulse and one day I may even try it again, when the hivemind tells me it’s worth the time…
