Greetings,
just a short intro. I suppose im one of the older ppl here, 31+ years of age and going steady, a historian by occupation, father of two and yes, a devout player of all Civs, all CtPowers, MoMagic, MoOrion 1/2/3, Heroes of might and magic and the list goes on and on, including all the main turn based and RT strategies out there. I dare to say that i have seen and played more or less everything "strategic" coming out in the last 15 years.
My hopes on Elemental were really high when i saw it for the first time. As a HUGE fan of Master of Magic (MoM) classic i was immediately drawn by the concept, very similar to MoM's in its basic elements such as spell research, building of towns, tactical battles, mana nodes, numerous heroes, equipment of heroes and the list goes on and on. I also loved the idea of integrating numerous concepts of CIV games, such as tech development, or Alpha Centauri's concept of unit design, which are all a must for a quality strategy game. From what i saw it was finally a game oriented towards a "developed" player, a game without the premise that everything must be done for the little, usually ignorant, kids or teens. Forgive my last sentence but sadly this is the main factor at the development (look at what has become of Civilization).
When Elemental came out i naturally grabbed my piece and started playing. I wasnt at all that annoyed by the numerous bugs and errors it had. The concept was supreme, the game was made in a good way and all in all more or less playable. With all the following patches/updates the game only got more stable and playable. But when i came to the "2nd half" of the game (timewise) so to say, playing a Large map on Challenging, i got seriously disappointed with the game as such.
The goal of this post is to post some elementary ideas about how the certain concepts of the game should be handled in order to make the game more challenging, interesting and enjoyable. The post is made on the basis of a number of games played from the 1.00 version up to 1.09 version on LARGE MAP, CHALLENGING "hardness" factor and a player made ruler.
Perhaps i will add a few more. All comments are more then welcome.
A: Ideas on the strategic part (the big map)
1. fight for the exotic locations (money stashes, equipment caches, book libraries, flask laboratories etc)
The concept of "exotic locations" (money stashes, equipment caches etc...) is naturally an excellent one. Saw it in a number of turn based strats and its a must. The wrong thing is that in Elemental there is no challenge in them. Except for the big quests (as per example, "The Dragon Egg" Quest and the main quest) there are no challenges in most of them. The only challenge is getting to them not getting the reward. In later game you get huge amounts of money (600 gld+) for entering an undefended exotic location, you get supreme gear (2handed swrd per instance), Elementium, awesome books for building the heroes etc, etc, for nothing! Not even a small battle.
So what i propose is: Make the rewards in exotic locations and mainly their rewards harder to get. All the non-basic rewards on locations should have a battle connected with them.
2. fight for the special tiles (food, metal, crystal, material, mana nodes)
The idea of a special map tile (extra food, metal, crystal, mana etc etc) is another basic feature of any strategy game, seen all over from the earliest up to the latest Civs and all the other TB strategies. As in a very similar environment of MoM the Elemental uses special tiles as a form of getting all the basic materials for your faction, even the food, which was usually gotten from the "normal" / "usual" tiles. The concept as such is fine and needs just a little tweaking.
What i propose is: The special tiles of higher importance and value should be fought for and as such harder to get. Its utterly silly to get a special tile of higher importance and value such as horses/wargs, crystal mines, tech/arcane libraries, for nothing. All the special tiles of higher importance should have a battle connected with them.
3. change the size of the town
In all the strategy games town was a 1 tile location. The idea of developing a town with placing of buildings inside a town grid is very interesting but it has a major backdraw. By building two towns close together you can almost connect them thus making the units pass the territory under your control very fast - too fast. This is not a good thing and destroys a lot of the strategic element to the game.
What i propose is: Make the tiles for building the town structures 1/2 or even 1/4 of the current size. The game will look nicer and this strange element of interconnection of towns will be diminished.
4. increase the number of the roaming creatures (NPCs)
The variety of independently roaming NPC monsters/characters in Elemental is wonderful, makes the world alive. As i noticed the earlier versions of the game (1.00 and 1.06 per instance) had a higher number of NPC roaming around thus making the game a challenge in this aspect. The towns and caravans actually had to be defended. In 1.09 it seems the number was extremely diminished. Many of us enjoy the idea of an "empire under attack" from an independent horde of NPC characters. Adds alot of "juice" to the game and makes it a true challenge.
What i propose is: Make the number of free roaming NPC characters/monsters bigger and harder either as a non-optional or optional part of the game. By increasing the number of free roaming NPCs you will add alot of life to the map and the game itself.
B: Ideas on the tactical part (the battle)
1. change the duration of the battle
I still remember the wonderful battles of Master of Magic or Heroes of Might and Magic. Sure it was "primitive" but it worked and the tactical part of it was a pure pleasure. In Elemental the battles as such are fun, but with any serious armies the battles are a joke. Specially when you have a seriously developed main char, ie. Legendary Armor + 2 Handed Sword + numerous books on attack, defense applied + sufficient intelligence, which makes it a monster without comparison or challenge.
Example: The last battle of the game, that being the Master Quest = The Forge, lasted for 3 minutes.
What i propose is: Change the stats of the units so the battle will last longer and actually be a challenge, cause currently it isnt.
2. add "magic resistance" statistic to the units
Master of Magic had an interesting stat added to all the units called "resistance". It was a magic defense sort of stat that also had a melee mitigation value as far as i know. Idea is that you make a magic resistance stat, next to melee resistance stat which is "defense".
What i propose is: Add magic resistance statistics/items to all the units and thus reduce the effect of overly powerful magic.
3. change the power of spells
There is a number of spells in the game which are overpowered. Such as "Chain Lightning", "Arcane Strike”, “Fireball”, “Morrigan’s Spite“ that can destroy a char or a group of chars in one battle turn.
Example: In the last battle of the game, that being the Master Quest = The Forge, i killed the whole lot with 3 Arcane Strike shots and finished the rest with the regular army. If thats what you consider a "final battle" its really a joke.
What i propose is: Balance the magic power versus the hitpoints and reduce the power of battle spells.
C: General overall ideas
1. "Large map" as maximum size option is too small. Increase the size of the maps.
2. Quests are too hard to follow. Its not overly clear from the quest log what is the current phase and where is the report location. Add some location markers for the quests.
3. A bit more personification and diversification of the Hero chars wouldnt be bad. Add more heroes and diversify them even more as they are.
That would be it for now. Please take into consideration these are ideas based on playing of numerous TB/RT strategies and on some 6 games on large map from 1.00 up to 1.09 version.
Thx for reading the post and as i said, any reply and opinion are more then welcome.
Cheers!
shabb
