Frogboy Frogboy

Elemental: Game Play Example – Part 3

Elemental: Game Play Example – Part 3

Previously: https://forums.elementalgame.com/390950

…A month has passed…

While the Thief turned King prepares his strike on the Fallen Empire of Yithril, he has also had to deal with the rising power of a local Bandit Lord.  Their first incursion is met by the growing power of Capitar.

 

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Roland came prepared. With a party of archers and observers (along with Janusk and “Muggles”) the Brigands would find that Resolve was not easy prey.

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imageThe Bandits would learn a harsh lesson.

The Thief and the Weaver

Roland was no stranger when it came to dealing with the fairer sex. But since his epiphany in which he turned away his life robbery, he had focused his time on building up his kingdom. 

But when he met Raline, his world was changed.

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Janusk the Scribe recognized the importance of the meeting immediately.

“Sire, it is said that Channeling can be inherited. If you truly love her then perhaps a union can be made that will, in time, bear children.”

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The Kingdom had become reasonably prosperous and Roland’s fame had grown to the point that his reputation was now high enough that most families would consent to their daughters marrying him. In short, Roland had become respectable.

 

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“Janusk, my friend, I would like you to escort the queen back to Resolve. There she will be safe.”

Janusk was wary of leaving his lord’s sire but obeyed.

 

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As a wedding gift, Raline bought Roland new equipment for battle. “I’ll feel better knowing you’re not running around like some Brigand.”

“Heh,” said Roland. “Yea, those Brigands.”

“Which reminds me, why do you continue to wear that head band? The highway men in the western wastes wear those. Where would you even get one?”

“Oh, yea, that. I just like the look of it.”

Without further discussion, Roland left for war.

Verga Arrives

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8 months after leaving for war, Roland’s forward scouts had spotted Verga. What they saw made them tremble in fear. Verga, unlike Roland, had obviously found midnight stones and had them forged into a mighty weapon. He had also equipped himself with superior armor.

While Roland had a summoned bear, Verga had summoned a Stone Giant.  He also had quite a few soldiers with him.

Deciding to withdraw, Roland found the way behind him had become increasingly dangerous. The no-man’s land between Yithril and Capitar was rapidly filling with monsters of increasing lethality.

It would take another 3 months to get home.

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The long trip back would bring welcome news…

imageimage   In 18 or so years, Sandra would become a powerful Sorceress.  That is, if the kingdom of Capitar survived that long.

On the Offense…

image Now it was my turn to strike back.

The battle for Yithril…

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Verga himself was not present. But his son was in the battle.

 

image  Muggles, our long companion was gone. But Roland was victorious.

Conquest

The destruction of the main Yithril army meant that Haru was largely defenseless and would fall.

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The War between Yithril and Capitar would span a decade…

One by one, Yithril’s cities were conquered.

And new allies would be brought on board.

 

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They told Roland of a new Empire to be aware of…Umber.

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Roland would send an emissary to learn more about Umber. Who were they? Were they friendly?   

imageThe situation was not looking promising…

 

…To be continued…

158,233 views 77 replies
Reply #26 Top

Thanks for the installment!  

Reply #27 Top

I'm excited to start the next installment.

Reply #28 Top

I'm curious as to IF the AI is affected by having a sovereigns offspring slain in any way?  If you slay an NPC sovereigns offspring does it cause a huge diplomactic negative with them or some scuh making any chance of peace beyond that point that much harder to achieve with them?

Does the AI take into consideration the significance of the unit slain at all?  I mean Roland has slain Ythrir's son (only son I assume) and considering he had a defect that makes him less likely to concieve children you would think having his son slain would have a huge impact on relations with you, more so than normal.

Reply #29 Top

Very interesting game play example. It's too bad that the AI didn't attack or defend as well as it could, but as you said it'll take some time to get the AI thinking about all the little things that us mere mortals spend far too much time agonizing over. I'm really looking forward to your next installment and keep up the humor, it's definitely fun to read. ;)

Reply #30 Top

Oh... I just thought of a good question:

So was it worth it to bribe Tarth? What aid in the war did they send? Did you find the AI to be good in following through on their declaration of war?

Thanks,

Joseph

Reply #31 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 23

Quoting Thizzbaby, reply 10Love it can't wait!

Anyone know how many turns is a year game time?

 
 

Whatever your imagination needs it to be.  The turns have no particular time equivalent.
End of Frogboy's quote

 

That begs the question on tuns till maturity of children? How is that being addressed, static number or increasing % chance per turn till maturity? Also what is the longevity of Spouses and children? Excluding of coarse death by circumstances.

Reply #32 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 24
These two things make the AI very problematic.  It's something I am going to be addressing more this weekend.

In the long run, it'll probably take about a year or two for me to be truly happy with the AI though.
End of Frogboy's quote

How does the AI fare compared to other games of this genre and compared to GalCiv2 specifically? You think it will take a year or two to reach that level?

Reply #33 Top

Quoting AbsynthMinded, reply 32

Quoting Frogboy, reply 23
Quoting Thizzbaby, reply 10Love it can't wait!

Anyone know how many turns is a year game time?

 
 

Whatever your imagination needs it to be.  The turns have no particular time equivalent.

 

That begs the question on tuns till maturity of children? How is that being addressed, static number or increasing % chance per turn till maturity? Also what is the longevity of Spouses and children? Excluding of coarse death by circumstances.
End of AbsynthMinded's quote

 

It takes 100 turns for a child to mature.

Reply #34 Top

I also noticed that Tarth's units on the diplomactic screen were way more valued than your own units... I take it those were NPC adventure types with some serious XP behind them. It's good to know you can trade for those types of units, but it won't be easy to steal them on the cheap.

100 turns to mature... hmmm... that means about 6 turns a year if we assume the child starts adventuring around age 15-16. Sorry... geek mode kicked on.

Reply #35 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 34
It takes 100 turns for a child to mature.
End of Frogboy's quote

 

And wolframalpha tells me 18 years devided by 100 equals 2 months, 4 days, 20 hours & 48 minutes. So a turn equals about 2 months of in-game time. 

 

Makes me wonder though how long the average game will last (in turns of course).

Reply #36 Top

I hope the downloadable version is released early as was suggested.  I can hardly wait to get my hands on your hard work.

Reply #37 Top

what happens if the city your wife and child are in is razed while you are out adventurin'?

 

I assume it involves an epic quest of vengeance as your sovereign grows bitter and spiteful of the world, ultimately leading him to subjugate the entire world.

Reply #38 Top

Quoting DragonRider862, reply 14
This update begs a lot of questions about children.  Is the process for having children any different for a female Sovereign as opposed to a male?  Is pregnancy represented at all, either for a queen or a king's wife?  If a female Sovereign has a child when she's out in the wilderness somewhere, what do you have to do to get it sent somewhere safe?  Or do babies not have a physical in-game representation at all until they grow up enough to be considered units?
End of DragonRider862's quote

 

These are good questions that suggest a way forward for the dynastic system.  I would love for pregnant women to have to be kept safe during their pregnancy (it would be like a mini-game of sorts).  In general, more detail for weddings and the dynastic system is what will make Elemental even more memorable.  There are lots of games about conquest, but few that deal with the intricacies of medieval dynastic politics in a comprehensive fashion (besides Crusader Kings, anyway). 

Two ideas I had:

1)  being able to choose the method of succession - such as Absolute cognatic primogeniture, Male-preference primogeniture and Matrilineal primogeniture  - and all the implied politics (I loved that about CK).

2)  I would love to be able to invite other sovereigns to my wedding for a possible diplomatic benefit (or if the party went bad, a diplomatic penalty).  This is sort of like what the old 8-bit game Dragon Riders of Pern allowed (but for dragon hatching parties).  Another idea:  being able to send a wedding gift for a diplo benefit.

 

 

 

 

 

Reply #39 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 24


These two things make the AI very problematic.  It's something I am going to be addressing more this weekend.

In the long run, it'll probably take about a year or two for me to be truly happy with the AI though.
End of Frogboy's quote

i applaud your dedication... :thumbsup:

Quoting Frogboy, reply 25


Well Lord Moco and his wife Mierda will certainly keep things interesting.
End of Frogboy's quote

you sir made me lol... there was even a bit of rolling... but no chortling...

Reply #40 Top

I am seriously more excited about this game than I have been about any other game in recent memory.

Cant freakin' wait.

 

Reply #41 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 24


1. He is not defending his towns as effectively as he should.

2. He is not good enough at choosing what types of units to build and choosing the right quantity

These two things make the AI very problematic.  It's something I am going to be addressing more this weekend.

In the long run, it'll probably take about a year or two for me to be truly happy with the AI though.
End of Frogboy's quote

Great read!

Perhaps have "defense-plays" for the time being until a better system is worked out? I'm sort of talking about defense plays in football, yet for this game, at least in terms of using whats provided concerning filling positions with manpower. For example..

Defense 1

  • 4 - City Guards
  • 2 - City Knights
  • 2 - Random (more City Guards or City Knights)

Defense 2

  • 2 - City Guards
  • 4 - City Knights
  • 2 - Random

Defense 3

  • 1 - City Guard
  • 3 - City Knights
  • 4 - Random

Defense 4

  • 1 - City Guard
  • 1 - City Knight
  • 6 - Random

Perhaps this could be just used as an underlay under the method that is incorporated right now, just sort of like a padding method that always ensures cities are protected to some extent by battle oriented people. :D

Reply #42 Top

Muggles must be avenged.. or at least resurrected.

Reply #43 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 24
I'm not happy with the AI at this point for the following reasons:

1. He is not defending his towns as effectively as he should.

2. He is not good enough at choosing what types of units to build and choosing the right quantity

These two things make the AI very problematic.  It's something I am going to be addressing more this weekend.

In the long run, it'll probably take about a year or two for me to be truly happy with the AI though.
End of Frogboy's quote

Despite all of that, I predict that the AI will still kick my butt.  I love strategy games, but I'm not very good at them.

Reply #44 Top

Muggles...how little we knew you!!  Now we need the cub of Muggles to step forward and takes his fathers place...Puggles!!  His sister Snuggles is a little busy at the moment, so she cant come yet!

Reply #45 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 24

Quoting Murteas, reply 13So awesome.  I am really excited to play.   

 

Quick Question:   So are you happy with how Yithril played, should they have crushed you?   Is there something else that was preventing them from striking at your capital?   

 

Great AAR.  Looking forward to part 4 (and making my own once we get the game )  
I'm not happy with the AI at this point for the following reasons:

1. He is not defending his towns as effectively as he should.

2. He is not good enough at choosing what types of units to build and choosing the right quantity

These two things make the AI very problematic.  It's something I am going to be addressing more this weekend.

In the long run, it'll probably take about a year or two for me to be truly happy with the AI though.
End of Frogboy's quote

 

What will be your short term solution there? Faster production, higher starting resources of the computer opponents? Presuming you don't get the sufficiently dealt with this weekend.

Reply #46 Top

Little did anyone know, muggles was a girl bear, her and Janusk have a baby man-bear-pig, named Fuggles.

Reply #47 Top

Can there be out of wedlocked children?      Now that would be something.  Great stuff,  cant wait for this puppy.

Reply #48 Top

keep it up frogboy, this is great stuff! We are all now addicted to these installments :D
I can't wait to see what you do with the A.I. 

Reply #49 Top

Quoting RooksBailey, reply 39


These are good questions that suggest a way forward for the dynastic system.  I would love for pregnant women to have to be kept safe during their pregnancy (it would be like a mini-game of sorts). 


 

End of RooksBailey's quote

 

Omg no mini games. Throwing in mini games to add "depth" to games does not.
Mini games are arbitrary, repetitious, and time consuming; look at spore... it is a giant clusterfuck of mini games and it fails harder than titanium steel.  

Reply #50 Top

It seems to me that you defeated that empire fairly quickly.  I hope the pacing isn't too fast and the factions have time to research and explore before war is even considered by the AI.  Other than that, can't wait to play!