Elemental all-purpose thread

James_Johnson · 2011-01-12T06:08:18.000Z

Disconnected:

To be perfectly honest, what I really want is to see you toss out all of the systems design currently in the game, and use any one or combination of the alternatives I’ve seen on your forums. I have little confidence Elemental will ever be entertaining, unless that happens. The best quests in the world, for example, wouldn’t be able to carry the rest of the game as it is right now.

You mean you want it to be a real game, not Galciv 2: Fantastic Worlds.

Disconnected · 2011-01-12T07:39:46.000Z

James Johnson:

You mean you want it to be a real game, not Galciv 2: Fantastic Worlds.

Well, yes. But GalCiv2 had the advantages of actually working, being challenging, and of not being drowned in & forcing the player to waste time on pointless and/or redundant features. Also, GalCiv2 was very obviously not the least bit related to tabletop-like games, so the lack of tabletop-like mechanics didn’t come as a nasty shock to anyone (important). The same is absolutely not the case for E:WoM.

darkurthe · 2011-01-12T13:17:03.000Z

kerzain:

My problem with contests like this (with other games anyway) is that all of my ideas end up being beyond the scope of what the developers want to do with their game.

This sounds like the problem Elemental had in the first place…

Jason_Lutes · 2011-01-13T04:00:12.000Z

Janster:

Been playing some Elemental, its fun enough at times now :) However I’d like to see a few things, speed up combat, its a bit slow, and also I guess its gonna be revamped as currently combat is a bit odd…

I don’t get why things should retaliate…you have attacks, enemy has attacks, retaliation should be maybe at best a special ability.

Without retaliation, an “I-go-you-go” turn-based system can feel too gamey, and too weighted in favor of the acting side. Plenty of strategy games feature some sort of similar retaliation (i.e., Master of Magic, Heroes of Might & Magic).

Raife · 2011-02-11T21:12:22.000Z

So I updated Elemental to check it out again after putting it aside for a few months and it won’t run without an internet connection because apparently most of the data files for the beta versions are kept on the server. I guess it’s partially my fault for enabling beta versions, but WTF? Fuck you, Stardock.

kerzain · 2011-02-11T21:14:01.000Z

Oh man, I remember this game.

Alstein · 2011-02-11T23:17:57.000Z

Raife:

So I updated Elemental to check it out again after putting it aside for a few months and it won’t run without an internet connection because apparently most of the data files for the beta versions are kept on the server. I guess it’s partially my fault for enabling beta versions, but WTF? Fuck you, Stardock.

They’re running another set of betas to get the engine in shape for the next Elemental game.

1.11 version works offline just fine. They announced all this ahead of time, so I’m fine with that.

Really, the 1.2 betas don’t add much to gameplay, it’s engine tweaking mostly.

Raife · 2011-02-12T00:36:22.000Z

So how do I revert to 1.11 from the betas without reinstalling? And that’s great that they announced it ahead of time, for people that still follow the game’s development. For other people, not so much.

Alstein · 2011-02-12T00:55:23.000Z

Raife:

So how do I revert to 1.11 from the betas without reinstalling? And that’s great that they announced it ahead of time, for people that still follow the game’s development. For other people, not so much.

Turn off pre-release in Impulse under preferences, it will allow you to backpatch to 1.11.

Jorn_Weines · 2011-02-12T01:38:03.000Z

Raife:

So how do I revert to 1.11 from the betas without reinstalling? And that’s great that they announced it ahead of time, for people that still follow the game’s development. For other people, not so much.

Alstein:

Turn off pre-release in Impulse under preferences, it will allow you to backpatch to 1.11.

You might also have to Shift-click Elemental’s icon in the My Games-tab and select verify installation in order to get the 1.1 update to show up.

James_Johnson · 2011-02-12T09:43:27.000Z

So when’s this game coming out anyway?

Blips · 2011-02-12T09:55:46.000Z

James Johnson:

So when’s this game coming out anyway?

When ever fallen enchantress is released. I’ve honestly given up on Elemental.

Tohree · 2011-02-12T14:00:01.000Z

I was going to wait until after the expansion to start playing but I started fiddling with the campaign today using the latest build. I am aware of the controversies that swirled around the game since release but I am diving in without any preconceptions…So far I am having some fun with it.

Raife · 2011-02-12T16:08:23.000Z

Jørn Weines:

You might also have to Shift-click Elemental’s icon in the My Games-tab and select verify installation in order to get the 1.1 update to show up.

Yep, I had to verify before it gave me the option. Thanks.

lordkosc · 2011-03-01T17:32:28.000Z

Not sure if anyone read the Stardock 2010 report, it has abit about the Elemental : Fallen Enchantress Stand Alone Expansion. Check out page 7…

Figure 3: Fallen Enchantress will take a dramatically different direction from War of Magic in terms of game mechanics.
As a practical matter, Fallen Enchantress is a new game, one that shares some art assets with War of Magic but little else. The scope of the differences between the two will become very apparent in the early months of 2011. Extensive brainstorming sessions between Derek Paxton (Fall from Heaven), Brad Wardell (Galactic Civilizations), and Jon Shafer (Civilization V) resulted in a complete redesign; combat systems, tactical combat systems, character creation, economic system, game mechanics, etc. are all new.
In addition, unlike War of Magic, Stardock does not plan to make Fallen Enchantress available at retail in order to keep its schedule as flexible as possible.

stardock.com

stardock2010.pdf

1915.65 KB

BrianRubin · 2011-03-01T17:35:27.000Z

Wow, that sounds encouraging.

Nesrie · 2011-03-01T22:33:03.000Z

Brian Rubin:

Wow, that sounds encouraging.

Usually does until someone runs around claiming EWOM was finished and perfectly fine for consumption… not much to trust about any information coming out of that camp.

jpinard · 2011-03-01T23:11:26.000Z

Nesrie:

Usually does until someone runs around claiming EWOM was finished and perfectly fine for consumption… not much to trust about any information coming out of that camp.

They’ve got a whole new mindset and great people working with them to help manage the workflow. I think it’s going to be pretty good.

BrianRubin · 2011-03-01T23:13:06.000Z

Nesrie:

Usually does until someone runs around claiming EWOM was finished and perfectly fine for consumption… not much to trust about any information coming out of that camp.

Oh, you’re right, they released an unfinished game, I forgot they also drop kicked your kitten at the same time. Yeesh. :P

Strato · 2011-03-01T23:14:53.000Z

Thanks for the headsup lordkosc.To be honest, I frequently forget I even have Elemental, one day I’ll fire it up and see how it has progressed. But this is somewhat promising news.

Nesrie:

Usually does until someone runs around claiming EWOM was finished and perfectly fine for consumption… not much to trust about any information coming out of that camp.

Who is running around claiming that at the moment? Or at any point recently?

The combination of Derek, Jon and Brad is a strong combination, a group of guys who have the potential to do a lot.

I say wait and see what happens.