How long is the campaign?

I guess that would be decided by how fast you hit the Turn button...

I've never seen anything official on campaign length. All we know is it's made with the mod tools that we'll have access to I don't think they've even said if it's all on one map from start to finish, now that I think about it.

Multiple maps for 'one' campaign? Gah, that would be too much like the non-campaign campaign in GC2. If it is a chain of maps, hopefully we'll at least be able to bring the royal entourage forward with all the bling and dings earned on a preceding map.

Last night I saw a post on the forums - before I could read it, it was deleted. However, the title was something along the lines of "beat the SP in one night". It's possible that the post was made by one of the few people who managed to download the gold version of the game.

Or it could have been complete garbage.

I actually read that post yesterday before it got deleted and I reposted his claim today in another thread as stuff that I am concerned about. This part of my post got deleted by the mods... I'm still unsure of how to take this swift reaction.

It took me about 5 hours to complete it.  That's with me knowing how to play the game of course.  I'd expect a typical user it would take them about 8 hours.

Interesting, so the 6 hour claim by the anonymous poster was truthful then. Thank you for the confirmation, even though I had different expectations for the campaign.

8 hours seems short for a single player campaign, but remember that the meat of the game is in the randomly generated non-campaign games and the mods.

It doesn't make sense to devote the company's resources towards a 20+ hour campaign when most people don't play these types of games for that.

8 hours of constant play is not bad, it also sounds like there is more to come! With Mods and other stuff I am hopeful that I will be busy for a while!!

Don't get me wrong, I am sure that the heart of Elemental will be the randomly generated maps and I am perfectly fine with that, especially considering the seemingly complex gameplay, the RPG element and Stardock's impressive body of work. I mean, I played MoM for ages and that game didn't even offer one tiny scenario or anything other than the generated maps. I am thankful for the fact that there IS a campaign at all.

Still, I had different expectations regarding the length of the campaign, that it would be comparable to, say, HOMM 4 or 5. At least it sounded like that to me with the emphasized focus on the RPG element of the game.

lets all cry now we want a longer campaign

The campaign isn't where the RPG focus of the game comes from. It's largely an introduction to the game and its world as well as shows what you can make with the mod tools.

Really, that's pretty short for a turn based game.  I guess the campaign is really only one part of the game but I was expecting something more along the lines of 20 hours especially since you guys were saying how you were focusing on the single player game.  I assumed it would be play a larger part of the overall package because of that.  I'll wait until I play it to reserve judgement but I was really hoping for a big epic campaign.

Are there plans to create more free to download campaigns made by Stardock outside of expansions?  Maybe other campaigns focusing on different sovereigns, races or factions or something?  Just curious as from what I've heard (a very little to be honest) I think I will really enjoy it so I think I'll want more.

Correct me if I'm wrong Froggy One, but my understanding is the campaign is essentially an extended tutorial.

Yeah, I realize now and I have no gripe with that, I am sure you all did a great job of implementing the RPG elements into the randomized game and the modding tools. It seems my Planescape Torment tormented heart got a hold of me and deluded me into expecting a great RPG experience with the campaign.  

But there is always the option to create one myself.

Personally, with a game like this, I'd rather have a short campaign that gets you into the tools, gameplay, story, and so on without artificially drawing out the experience.  Heroes is a campaign-driven game, because the AI is usually terrible unless it's scripted, and it's not really nearly as fun as a one-map sandbox as it is in a series of "levels."  Even so, HOMM5 suffered from having maps that were clearly just filler, some of which were extremely long, arduous, and boring.

Consider, on the other hand, a game like Sword of the Stars, which is fantastic as a sand box, but which really could have used a clearly delineated introductory scenario.  Much as I loved reading the manual, man did I want to learn that stuff in a campaign.

Consider, also, the horrid (no offense Brad) campaigns in GCII.  I'd rather have a 5-8 hour, one map intro full of goodness than an arbitrary collection of maps just there to provide filler.

Back in the day when I had loads of free-time, I thought any game that could be beaten in less than 20-hours was a ripoff.  I'm so busy these days that I have trouble finding the time to complete even an 8-hour game.  I probably won't even start the Elemental campaign until after I've gotten a few sandbox games under my belt.

I never even botheed to go through any of Gal Civ 2's campaigns and its one of my games ever. I want to see what Stardock do with the lore but i just want to do my own thing not follow a restrictive campaign so 8hrs seems about right to me.

GalCiv II and Sins of a Solar Empire didn't come with campaigns at all.

The main part of the game is the sand box mode, not the campaign. The campaign is there to introduce you to the world.  If people LIKE the campaign, we can look at doing more of them.

Didn't GalCiv II come with the Darklords campaign?

I could be wrong.  All the campaigns in GalCiv II were pretty terrible though.  The one in Elemental is, by contrast, pretty good IMO.  It's just not super long.  It could certainly last someone 20 hours I just don't think that'll happen for most people who know what they're doing. We'll find out soon enough.

The main thing I want to find out is if people LIKE the campaign and want more of them.

Very much looking forward to playing through the campaign, regardless of length. It'll be an interesting experience, I'm sure!

Probably about the same length. Though it will come in 3 parts so it'll probably be somewhat longer in total.

The tools were still maturing when we did the Relias campaign for Elemental.

My sons are playing the campaign right now in the other room as I type this. I love listening to them figuring things out. 

Well if it makes you feel better, people will be able to make and trade their own campaigns with you.   The whole campaign was made with the included modding tools.