Before I get into the topic of this post, I just wanted to point out that I didn't put this in the Beta Section because I don't know if these are just a changes for 3-B that's being tested or if this is how it's planned to be at launch.
Spells:
I notice now when starting a new game, whether I make my own Sovereign or start with a pre-made one, that I start out with quite a few spells that I can learn right from the start. Some of these are tactical spell that do damage. While I appreciate the power boost and having a little offensive capability I'm also feeling a bit cheated because I didn't have to do much research to gain these spells nor did I have to build any specific research structures since I chose the "Brilliant" trait. It's a little too easy. Notice you start with not one, but two different Fire attack spells if you choose the Fire Spell Book as one of your starting books. One spell is Firebolt and another is Fireball. Also notice none of these spells show any damage ranges. How do I know which one is more powerful? In fact, if you look at the definition for both these spells they only differ by One Word. I would assume that Fireball is an area effect spell while Firebolt is a direct damage spell that hits one target, but the spell description doesn't tell me that. Granted I'm pretty sure this will be fixed and tweaked before launch (I hope).
Battle Animations:
During Tactical Battles, I notice that if a unit is attacked from multiple angles that the unit being attacked will move to the unit attacking it to be hit (within it's own square). This looks kinda stupid. I'd say instead of having the unit step up to the attacker to be hit, rather have the attacker move in to the target, strike the target, then move back to it's square. This would make a lot more sense then the current animation of stepping up to the attacker just to be hit.
Moving Create a Faction to the editors:
What's the logic behind moving the "Create a Faction" to the Editors? I'd really like to see it moved back to the "Faction Selection" screen. Why? Well, you left "Sovereign Creation" in the Sovereign Selection screen, so why move ONLY faction creation? It doesn't make sense to move one and not the other. If you moved Faction Creation you should move Sovereign Creation as well. I think Faction Creation is important enough that it should have been left where it was in the Faction Selection screen as that makes the most sense. Please consider putting Faction Creation back where it was.
Building Editor (not in game yet):
Notice when we create our own Units that the "Design a Unit" screen is where it should be under the "Training" Tab for raising armies. I would like to see the "Design Your Own Building" Editor added to the "Build" tab where you que up buildings to built in your city when the Full Game launches next month.
Can't Cast Tactical Spells:
I can't cast any tactical spells if I do the battle my-self. The AI can cast them if I auto calculate the battle and then click the "Details" tab to read how the battle went. In a actual Tactical battle when I click the "Spells" Tab I have no spell icons present even though I Do Know some tactical spells. I've noticed others saying this same thing, but I saw one reply in another thread where the person says they Can cast tactical spells.
Stability:
So far I've played 3 games of 3-B and all of them have crashed at completely random times. My first game I got well into the 200-300 turn range before it crashed. My second game crashed before I hit turn 10. My third game crashed after I won a tactical battle then tried to scroll out to the cloth map view. Of course I completely understand by adding all the new features that went into 3-B you introduced a lot of new crash bugs, so I'm sure this will be addressed in the next week or two. Just in crash fixes alone there's a lot to do. This is probably the main area I would say to concentrate your efforts between now and launch.
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Frogboy and the Team have done an AMAZING job with everything up to this point. We should all applaud their work and conviction. Especially after them staying so late last night to get this out to us. To help them I think we as well should be concentrating on getting in as many bug reports as we can to try to stream line their efforts to make sure the game is running smooth and crash free by launch. Lest we not forget, the actual launch of the Full Game is less then two months away.
Well done everyone and thanks for your efforts getting us all this far.
~ Raven
