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Elemental: War of Magic |OT| Spellbooks, Spiders and Shards
- Thread starter Spl1nter
- Start date
Man, pre-ordered Elemental this morning hoping to get some gameage in today. Paid by credit card and was told that they'd send a notice out informing me when they'd charge my account and that I wouldn't be charged until the game was ready to download.
The order doesn't show up in my purchase history (since it hasn't been processed yet) and I still can't DL the game even though others can. I don't mind waiting so much, just get antsy when online transactions don't happen instantaneously
Wonder when I'll be able to DL the game.
The order doesn't show up in my purchase history (since it hasn't been processed yet) and I still can't DL the game even though others can. I don't mind waiting so much, just get antsy when online transactions don't happen instantaneously
Wonder when I'll be able to DL the game.
Open Source
Banned
Paid full price for Demigod 6 months in advance, so this time waiting for reviews, maybe a price drop and a few patches.
Open Source
Banned
arstal said:
That's fine, preferable even. It will reduce my temptation to buy before the inevitably necessary series of patches. I do the same thing with Paradox games now.
Open Source
Banned
Victrix said:
Point taken - but they did publish it and handle the online service.
Bossman said:
I believe those are likely to be patched in, or someone will mod them in.
That said, if you're not 100% into having things improve with patching, SD games are things you should wait on- they're awesome years down the road.
I think this game's stability and bugginess is no worse then the big-budget games I've played personally, except that Stardock fixes their errors a lot more successfully.
This is the first time SD has rushed to get something out (was due to retail windows officially, unofficially I think Civ 5 Steamworks was the reason)- and you can tell in a few spots, but they will fix everything- they did with GC2.
Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it, especially as I learn how to actually play the thing, but it's definitely a WIP.
Normally that'd be a pretty hefty caveat, but Stardock provides support for their games like few others.
EDIT: Oh and note about the performance issues I mentioned above. It appears that if you scroll the map by using edge scroll (aka push the mouse to the edge of the screen to scroll it) it goes super choppy. If you scroll by clicking the left mouse button and dragging around it is buttery smooth, so it doesn't appear to be a real performance issue but some kind of bug with edge scrolling.
Normally that'd be a pretty hefty caveat, but Stardock provides support for their games like few others.
EDIT: Oh and note about the performance issues I mentioned above. It appears that if you scroll the map by using edge scroll (aka push the mouse to the edge of the screen to scroll it) it goes super choppy. If you scroll by clicking the left mouse button and dragging around it is buttery smooth, so it doesn't appear to be a real performance issue but some kind of bug with edge scrolling.
There's a slider that defaults to a delay on the edge scroll too, so if you haven't changed it it might not start scrolling for a second or so, that was pissing me off before I found it in options.
The game definitely feels unfinished, but supposedly this isn't the 'day 0' version that is supposed to hit Tuesday. But, I can't imagine that update implementing the complete overhaul of the spell and unit/creature variety, quests & tactical battles I feel the game needs to be at all competitive with the likes of MoM or AoW:SM.
Performance issues are bogging my system down, and this frustrates me because I remember reading somewhere that this game was supposed to have lower system requirements than GalCivII, which runs great on my system. Perhaps this is related to a bug they will fix in the future sometime.
It's hard to generate an all out bullet point list of problems with the game knowing there is an update due in a day and a half or so that just might address many of these issues, so I am making an effort to hold my tongue on specifics for now.
At the moment this does not feel like a $50 game, it almost feels like a bare bones tech demo of a toolkit, and whenever I see someone defend a particularly shallow or missing feature with "oh, a player will mod that in" I get just a little more pissed off. Yea, i see potential for fun mods too, but I bought a game, not a toolkit.
The game definitely feels unfinished, but supposedly this isn't the 'day 0' version that is supposed to hit Tuesday. But, I can't imagine that update implementing the complete overhaul of the spell and unit/creature variety, quests & tactical battles I feel the game needs to be at all competitive with the likes of MoM or AoW:SM.
Performance issues are bogging my system down, and this frustrates me because I remember reading somewhere that this game was supposed to have lower system requirements than GalCivII, which runs great on my system. Perhaps this is related to a bug they will fix in the future sometime.
It's hard to generate an all out bullet point list of problems with the game knowing there is an update due in a day and a half or so that just might address many of these issues, so I am making an effort to hold my tongue on specifics for now.
At the moment this does not feel like a $50 game, it almost feels like a bare bones tech demo of a toolkit, and whenever I see someone defend a particularly shallow or missing feature with "oh, a player will mod that in" I get just a little more pissed off. Yea, i see potential for fun mods too, but I bought a game, not a toolkit.
Alex Connolly
Member
Bit of a shame it's a mess at the moment. Give it a few months, all should be right. I love the look of the cities.
Sinatar said:
AoW:SM has one huge flaw though- the AI is completely worthless, to the point where it becomes unfun as a SP game.
AoW:SM > Elemental as a MP game right now though, if you can find players.
Also Aow:SM 1.00 was a buggier mess then Elemental 1.00 by a good bit
It's unfair to compare final version of one game to a 1.00 of another.
ruuk said:
Those areas you called shallow, I know that there are two DLC packs (free) planned for day 30 and day 60 roughly to improve those areas. Monster pack and Quest pack are planned.
I haven't had any stability issues. That choppy edge scrolling thing Sinastar mention does affect me though. It's been in since a very early beta but no one seems to mention it.
Even so, I don't see the appeal of a multiplayer version of a real 4X game. They just take far too long to play.
The big thing with Demigod is that it was a shitty peer-to-peer system so they ran into all sorts of firewall-related issues. Elemental is a client/server model which should all but stop those problems.Open Source said:
Even so, I don't see the appeal of a multiplayer version of a real 4X game. They just take far too long to play.
There's going to be another patch tomorrow to fix some of the issues reported already.
http://forums.elementalgame.com/391533/#2724180
Also, they have some map mods out already. Getting mods/downloading things/community features- right now I'm a fan of the way Impulse does it, really smooth UI.
I wish Steam would copy some of Impulse's features in this regard. It's really smooth and good.
http://forums.elementalgame.com/391533/#2724180
Also, they have some map mods out already. Getting mods/downloading things/community features- right now I'm a fan of the way Impulse does it, really smooth UI.
I wish Steam would copy some of Impulse's features in this regard. It's really smooth and good.
Confusatron
Member
I would love to see your take on getting the game started. I've put a couple hours into the game so far, but I feel like I'm missing something. Not sure why.Spl1nter said:The AI made me sad. It place down villages in the exact two spots I wanted. My pioneers were like 3 turns away
Edit: If you guys want any specific videos be it tutorial, tactical battle etc tell me and ill get one up.
I built my capital, built some buildings to increase money, food, material, research, etc. Sent my avatar out to start collecting resources and ran a few quests. Now what?
Hari Seldon
Member
I am curious about this game cause I love strategy games but I am going to need a demo or a discussion on a podcast to convince me. Civ 5 is looming large in a month.
Cru Jones said:Ya, I was still planning on getting it even with SC2 because it looked really interesting to me... but reaction has seemed pretty negative
It's overreaction. The game, as it stands now, is very good, to me at least.
It will get better also.
A bunch of things are already planned and fixed on tomorrow night's patch.
Elemental demo should be up in about a month. The one big plus to SD games is that the AI is always excellent, whereas Civ AI is mediocre at best. (They're saying Civ 5 AI is better, but I'm betting that's 2K marketing talk, civ 4 AI only worked with massive cheating)
arstal said:
Brad is one of the best TBS AI programmers in the business. He's been doing it for almost 20 years.
I think what Im going to to do is one quick tutorial video on basic interface and menu and then another video were every 10 turns I analyze what has happened in the world and my plan for the future.
My only reaction so far is that the game pacing is a little slow yet at the same time so epic. It takes alot more turns to ramp up then galciv2 or civ4 but its less macro and more micro of your units. Also the turns go by much faster so in the same time as 10 turns takes in civ4 your have already completed 20 in elemental. Also thank fucking god for the empire tree. I can see not having it in other civ5 really making the experience less enjoyable. Overall so far the game has a different feel as your focus isnt on your cities/planets but your characters and territorial influence. Its cool snaking your city from one part of the map to another to block off a choke point or reach a resource.
BobsRevenge
I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
Unfortunately it was the online service that ruined it. Demigod is a great game, its just really hard to play.Open Source said:
That said, Demigod-gaf was awesome.
BananaBomb
Member
Sinatar said:
Whoa, where did you hear this? Google is telling me nothing.
Just posting some impressions >
Finally managed to download the game and spent about 3 hours on it. I jumped straight into "New Game" choosing to learn as I go along.
The presentation of the map / city is well done. Nice graphical style. I'm not really crazy about the unit portraits but I guess you have to make it like that to keep the customizable elements in.
To be perfectly honest, I grew up with Master of Magic, Fantasy Empires, UFO, Alpha Centauri, and FFT. I've missed out on a lot of good games like all of the Civ series (save for the 360 version) and AoW. Having said that, I'm still finding a lot to like about Elemental. The core gameplay is there and it's fun. Sure, they could have made it a bit easier to pick up in the beginning but watching the tutorial videos goes a long way to getting a feel for the controls (took me two games to learn how to build a farm.)
I'm looking forward to watching the game grow - regardless of how much time it takes. If you're a fan of the genre and you have the cash then you can't go wrong with picking the game up. If you're looking for a polished experience - then you may want to hold off and come pick up the game later. Chances are - if you know about this game then you're already a fan of the genre and there's a lot to like about this game or at least there's a lot of potential. I do agree it's going to take a bit more time before Elemental fully lives up to that potential - but I'm still going to have fun playing it until then.
edit:
Holy crap. Finally found out how you can buy weapons. :O
Finally managed to download the game and spent about 3 hours on it. I jumped straight into "New Game" choosing to learn as I go along.
The presentation of the map / city is well done. Nice graphical style. I'm not really crazy about the unit portraits but I guess you have to make it like that to keep the customizable elements in.
To be perfectly honest, I grew up with Master of Magic, Fantasy Empires, UFO, Alpha Centauri, and FFT. I've missed out on a lot of good games like all of the Civ series (save for the 360 version) and AoW. Having said that, I'm still finding a lot to like about Elemental. The core gameplay is there and it's fun. Sure, they could have made it a bit easier to pick up in the beginning but watching the tutorial videos goes a long way to getting a feel for the controls (took me two games to learn how to build a farm.)
I'm looking forward to watching the game grow - regardless of how much time it takes. If you're a fan of the genre and you have the cash then you can't go wrong with picking the game up. If you're looking for a polished experience - then you may want to hold off and come pick up the game later. Chances are - if you know about this game then you're already a fan of the genre and there's a lot to like about this game or at least there's a lot of potential. I do agree it's going to take a bit more time before Elemental fully lives up to that potential - but I'm still going to have fun playing it until then.
edit:
Holy crap. Finally found out how you can buy weapons. :O
I'd strongly recommend avoiding this game till they patch it a bit. The AI is basically nonexistent. I won two games in a row on normal just by blitzing the AI with summon spells (though you can do the same thing with normal units, given how little resistance the AI puts up).
I then bumped the difficulty for the AI and map up to 'Ridiculous', added another civ to make it more cramped... and repeated the same tactic. The AI isn't attacking me, even though I just crushed one of its neighbors with the same single summoner stack.
There's also a host of random bugs, some minor, some major.
Those actually bother me less, but if the AI presents no challenge of any sort, what's the point of playing?
I'm sure it'll improve in time, but unless you're really hard up for a fantasy TBS to screw around in, I'd recommend waiting until it's improved.
I then bumped the difficulty for the AI and map up to 'Ridiculous', added another civ to make it more cramped... and repeated the same tactic. The AI isn't attacking me, even though I just crushed one of its neighbors with the same single summoner stack.
There's also a host of random bugs, some minor, some major.
Those actually bother me less, but if the AI presents no challenge of any sort, what's the point of playing?
I'm sure it'll improve in time, but unless you're really hard up for a fantasy TBS to screw around in, I'd recommend waiting until it's improved.
It's not just summoning, you can do the same thing with just stacks of normal units. The AI simply isn't playing the game right now, on any difficulty level.
I guess if you built up on just 1-3 cities and never built any troops, the AI might kill you, but otherwise...
I've also run into bugs in literally every area of the game (strategic map, tactical ai, city building, research, movement, ui, etcetcetc). There's also some extremely unclear mechanics that aren't explained anywhere that I can see (the in-game reference is very sparse).
I guess if you built up on just 1-3 cities and never built any troops, the AI might kill you, but otherwise...
I've also run into bugs in literally every area of the game (strategic map, tactical ai, city building, research, movement, ui, etcetcetc). There's also some extremely unclear mechanics that aren't explained anywhere that I can see (the in-game reference is very sparse).
MP is disabled until Wednesday I think (or today).
They're trying to prevent another Demigod and making sure everything is ready on day 0.
MP is going to be gimped initially, as Brad is trying to balance MP, at the cost of fun IMO. (I think it's a valid idea, but should be optional) Custom servers when implemented will fix this.
BTW patch is now up. (day 0 apparently meant minute 0)
don't think there's any AI improvements yet- those will come from a combination of Brad's playing and improving, and MP.
They're trying to prevent another Demigod and making sure everything is ready on day 0.
MP is going to be gimped initially, as Brad is trying to balance MP, at the cost of fun IMO. (I think it's a valid idea, but should be optional) Custom servers when implemented will fix this.
BTW patch is now up. (day 0 apparently meant minute 0)
don't think there's any AI improvements yet- those will come from a combination of Brad's playing and improving, and MP.
http://forums.elementalgame.com/391747
'twoud appear the version we've been playing is Gold, and Day 0 is a different build entirely
maybe it has AI
It'll be up tommorow at some point I guess
'twoud appear the version we've been playing is Gold, and Day 0 is a different build entirely
maybe it has AI
It'll be up tommorow at some point I guess
AI improvements come in tomorrow's update (as part of it)
Apparently this is the pre day-0 update.
Apparently the street breaking led to them releasing early to be fair, which led to a lot of feedback and areas they could improve on quickly.
The downside is with them patching so fast, you kinda don't want to play, cause you know the game's going to be more awesome tomorrow.
Apparently this is the pre day-0 update.
Apparently the street breaking led to them releasing early to be fair, which led to a lot of feedback and areas they could improve on quickly.
The downside is with them patching so fast, you kinda don't want to play, cause you know the game's going to be more awesome tomorrow.
Ok so word to the wise: Don't play the campaign mode. Pretend it isn't there. I was developing a fairly negative opinion of this game, finished the campaign and decided to give a random map a try (aka the real game). It's completely different, like 4000 times deeper and is actually fun. The campaign sells this game waaaay short. It's sort of a tutorial, except that it doesn't actually teach you anything and cuts 70% of the gameplay mechanics out of it.
So when you launch this badboy for the first time, go right to that new game button and ignore the campaign. Trust me on this.
So when you launch this badboy for the first time, go right to that new game button and ignore the campaign. Trust me on this.
DiscoJer
Member
Sinatar said:
GalCiv 2 was pretty much like that as well.
I never got that. They take a Civ sort of game, then try to shoe-horn a HoMM style campaign into it (which was okay in that or Warlords 3, because HoMM is more Empire than Civ, since you don't build cities or planets or whatnot, just capture and upgrade them. Much quicker playing time, so to duplicate that quickness, they have to gimp the game for that scenario of the campaign)
Hari Seldon
Member
Sinatar said:
You finished the campaign in one day?
Takeda Kenshi
blew Staal
Sinatar said:
Will do, sir. My LE is on the way. Can't wait.