Two weeks from tomorrow

from JoeUser Forums

Greetings!

So much going on right now that it’s hard to do anything other than ramble.  So I will. :)

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Random House has sent over some advance copies of Elemental: Destiny’s Embers.

This week we’ve been integrating lots of the lore from Random House into the game itself.

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A lot of the finalized land textures, fonts and other goodies are starting to go in.  We’re also replacing DirectX 9’s primitive font rendering system with one we’ve been working on for awhile.  I wasn’t sure this was going to get in before release because it’s a pretty big project but it came in ahead of schedule so it’s going to make it in prior to release which is nice.

Today me and Bruno are incorporating the various special abilities into monsters, NPCs, etc. 

They’re doing a lot of work on the tactical battle map and terrain system but I’m not that involved in that area so that’ll have to wait for a future blog.

I’ve been working on the reputation system so that getting married isn’t quite so easy.  It’s going to be controversial but suffice to say, when you’re King (or Queen) you don’t get to marry purely out of “love”. The level of the NPC magnifies how powerful the children are. But the higher their level, the higher your reputation has to be (reputation here defined as your faction’s population/100 * Your relative world power (0 to 1.0).

This afternoon I’m putting in the new diplomacy techs that let you begin recruiting friendly third parties into your armies (various special creatures).

Media Coverage

image In 2010 it’s pretty hard for independent titles to get a lot of media coverage.  However, that’s been changing in the past couple of weeks as we start to show off the near final version of the game .

A few examples:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/64973

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/character-design-elemental-war/100928

(http://www.neoseeker.com/news/14458-elemental-beta-journals-pt-1-sexy-mages-battles-and-brigands/)

http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/29/elementals-beta-intro-melts-our-nerdy-hearts/

http://www.gamingnexus.com/FullNews/Elemental-War-of-Magic---Interview-with-Brad-Wardell/Item18934.aspx

http://pc.gamezone.com/ads/interstitial/?oldurl=http://pc.gamezone.com/editorials/item/stardocks_brad_wardell_talks_elemental_war_of_magic_galciv_iii_specula/

http://www.fragworld.org/frag/interviews/interview-with-brad-wardell.html

http://www.gamestooge.com/2010/08/07/preview-elemental-war-of-magic-pc/

I also had a great talk with CNN about our no DVD copy protection system.  The integrated modding system in Elemental where people can share creations obviously requires the player to have an account (much like a forum account is required to comment on this blog) and that account is tied to their serial #. Such a system thus rewards paying customers. We’ve already got several post-release updates in the works including a quest pack, a monster pack, and I am taking time off this Fall to mod and play with the Elemental AI which I’m very much looking forward to.

So that’s all for now.

 

 

 

82,764 views 44 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

Is there a link to this CNN talk/interview somewhere? I'd like to see it.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I like how your having marriage be more like it use to be back in Medievaltimes and before which had nothing to do with love. Most people these days don't seem to know that marrying someone due to romantic love was a relatively new concept.

Looking forward to the game.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting kyogre12, reply 1
Is there a link to this CNN talk/interview somewhere? I'd like to see it.
End of kyogre12's quote

Verily!

and nom nom nom nom.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Gah stupid college :(

I leave two days before Elemental come out, and I probably won't have any time to do much of anything at WPI

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

I’ve been working on the reputation system so that getting married isn’t quite so easy. It’s going to be controversial but suffice to say, when you’re King (or Queen) you don’t get to marry purely out of “love”. The level of the NPC magnifies how powerful the children are. But the higher their level, the higher your reputation has to be (reputation here defined as your faction’s population/100 * Your relative world power (0 to 1.0).
End of quote

Eeenteresting...

That sounds like at least a good start on 'branching' dynasty strategies: breed numerous strong champions, get those diplo connections going ASAP, or try to strike a balance.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

End of quote

See that book? Pick it or another identical. Put it with my Limited Edition copy. Then send it to me after charging my credit card the proper amount for the book.  :grin:

Thank you for doing your work, Stardock. I hope that I can shake the burdens of my job (not permanently, just enough to stop working on weekends) and enjoy the result of your hard work in two weeks. :D  When Galactic Civilizations II was released, I thought it was the best thing ever. Now, after two expansion packs, I'd never buy it without the expansions. I'm hoping for something similar with this new baby of yours. :thumbsup:

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

That reminds me, I've got to go order the kindle version of Destiny's Embers.    Will we get the "bonus campaign" with the kindle version of the book too, or just the hardcopy?

 

Looking forward to special abilities.  :)

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

When is that G4 show going to happen? 

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

This afternoon I’m putting in the new diplomacy techs that let you begin recruiting friendly third parties into your armies (various special creatures).

So that's exactly the kind of stuff that let's my heart beat faster!

thx for the news Frogboy!

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Is this quote from the Gamezone article saying what I think it is?

“But late in the stage [of development] we realized it would be kind of fun if we created an additional campaign. So we said, ‘Hey, why don’t we make it so that people who buy the book can play this extra campaign.’ And [Random House] went, ‘That’s great!’ That was it, and they added it to the back of the book in like a day.”

If we buy the book, we get an extra Elemental single player campaign to play? Has this been mentioned elsewhere, and I've just missed it?

[edit] I see this was mentioned by someone above while I was still reading/typing. I'm also curious whether the campaign will be available to those of us who purchase the book in ebook format.

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

That's correct, and it has been mentioned in another thread about the book (check out the News section, Island Dog's post with the book title in the topic).

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

We were starting to think you guys just packed your things and fled :D

Two weeks to go. Well I've made without such a game for years, I can do 2 weeks more.

Too bad my vacation will be over by then...

Reply #13 from Elemental Forums Top

Hmm... do we get to see some samples from the book?

Reply #14 from Elemental Forums Top

When does my vacation start? Oh yes, on August 24th :D

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top

Thanks for another update!

Reply #16 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting kyogre12, reply 1
Is there a link to this CNN talk/interview somewhere? I'd like to see it.
End of kyogre12's quote

Me too :). Where can we find this or when will it air, Frogboy?

Great update. I was just saying it's been a while since we had a Dev journel..lol. These next two weeks are going to be soooooooo slow.

Reply #17 from Elemental Forums Top

If the book is good, it might become one of the few I've read in years. Wish it came with the limited edition though. :(

Reply #18 from Elemental Forums Top

And if it was a fox interview ... oh dear!

 

Will be ordering the limited edition in a few days, can't wait.  With this, I will own every stardock game ever, and so begins my plot to take over the world - while having fun.

Reply #19 from Elemental Forums Top

[Conspiracy Hat & Sarcasm On]  Anyone else notice the title of the thread?   Two weeks from Tomorrow...what!!??!! The game has been delayed to the 25th of August.   I can't believe it.   I bet it is because it is not ready and they really are going to delay until next February.  

 

I had my whole life planned around an 12:01 am release on the 24th, now I am going to lose my job, wife, kids, and my neighbor's dog.  [/Conspiracy, Sarcasm].

 

:)   Looking forward to release.  I've been waiting since before it was even officially announced.   I can wait a few more days. ::twitch::  

 

Back to looking at the .xml files and trying to decipher some of the fields.

 

:frogboy: :w00t:

Reply #20 from Elemental Forums Top

A picture is worth a thousand words, so........ -> :beer:

Reply #21 from Elemental Forums Top

This afternoon I’m putting in the new diplomacy techs that let you begin recruiting friendly third parties into your armies (various special creatures).
End of quote

 

Yes!  :grin:

You know what would be even cooler? To be able to tweak them a bit (barding/enchantments :D)

Reply #22 from Elemental Forums Top

Hmmmm, what are the odds of getting an autographed copy of that book?

 

Reply #23 from Elemental Forums Top

Looking forward to it!  Be fun to try out that bonus campaign.

 

Cheers! :beer:

 

Reply #24 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Murteas, reply 19
[Conspiracy Hat & Sarcasm On]  Anyone else notice the title of the thread?   Two weeks from Tomorrow...what!!??!! The game has been delayed to the 25th of August.   I can't believe it.   I bet it is because it is not ready and they really are going to delay until next February.  

 

I had my whole life planned around an 12:01 am release on the 24th, now I am going to lose my job, wife, kids, and my neighbor's dog.  [/Conspiracy, Sarcasm].

 
End of Murteas's quote

 

LOL!

Hey, wait, your neighbor's dog? You gonna be so mad that you'll shot the neighbor's dog? Well, better his dog than your dog, though, eh? :D

Reply #25 from Elemental Forums Top

Prince Willem Alexander of Orange of the Netherlands omg. :D