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Elemental: Game Play Example – Part 5

Elemental: Game Play Example – Part 5

Note: This part of the AAR is being run with the Day 0 build so you will see features that weren’t in the gold edition

Yithril vs. Capitar Climax

For years, Roland’s kingdom of Capitar had grown at the expense of the Empire of Yithril. Emperor Verga had been occupied with events in the west.  When his son was killed in battle, he began to revisit the “Thief in the East” issue.

image

The battles would go on for over two years.

imageEven Verga’s wife would come out to fight [AI note: Going to make it so that the spouse doesn’t come out, especially if she has no weapon].

Verga’s wife would escape the battle but the rest of their army was wiped out.  It was then that Roland realized that Verga had moved the bulk of his forces from the West…to the East.

For while Roland was nipping at the edges of the Empire of Yithril…the Empire of Yithril had conquered the Kingdom of Gilden.

imageimage

 

Veterans of War

As the war progressed, both sides were able to recognize the considerable [to the point we thought it was a bug] benefits of experience.

image

With experience came durability. Veterans knew how to survive far better than raw recruits. As a result, the hardened veterans began to be seen as a valuable resource onto themselves.

image

The wealth of the kingdom was going into combating the growing westeron threat. Yithril had taken Haru and lost it. Roland had put out the word that the Kingdom

Verga meets Roland

imageThe two Channelers would meet in battle. Sorcerer vs. Sorcerer.

image  Roland

 

image Verga

The Kingdom also came with a Catapult

image

Verga’s Sorcery wiped out Roland’s crusaders.

image

image Roland’s allies, the Black Widow Fiends, had traveled and fought beside him for years. Now, these immensely skilled [level 5] friends were down to two.  The situation had become so desperate that Roland himself had to enter the field of battle…

A NOTE FOR PLAYERS:

Risking your sovereign when attacking enemy territory is VERY RISKY.  YOU SHOULD NOT DO THIS.

imageIF you (The player IS the sovereign) die in battle in enemy territory you die. It is over.

Roland has an escape route. He could safely leave the battle and fight another day.

 

imageThe catapult finished off the heart of Yithril’s force.

 imageimageRoland’s Wilding ally was down too.

  image

This was one of those moments that could change the course of the world.

Only Roland and his catapult remained. Out of mana, he had no spells up his sleeve. However, Verga was out of mana as well. His morale and that of his catapult were low [which is a penalty on attack].

Yithril still had for soldiers in the battle including Verga himself.  Roland knew he might not ever have another chance.

Roland decided to fall back at first. Could the catapult soften Verga up enough to even the odds?

Morale was getting dangerous.

image

 image

[AI note: He should go after the ranged unit first]

imageRoland vs. Verga: ONE ON ONE! 

imageVERGA FALLS! 

 

imageVERGA ESCAPES!

 

[The Stardock dev team actually watched this live as it was pretty bloody exciting actually]

Yithril had lost its eastern fortress.

157,189 views 87 replies
Reply #26 Top

 

This was a fantastic read this morning Brad, thank you very much for putting it up. I'm glad to hear there will be more installments of this since those of us in Asia will be waiting just a touch longer to get this off impulse :)

Reply #27 Top

Quoting AndyRoo, reply 26

One, in part one. Showing where Yithril is in comparison to Capitar. None since - hence the increasing feeling that something is missing from the story.
End of AndyRoo's quote

I think he thought you making a comment on Elemental the game rather than Frogboy's story telling. I agree it would be pretty cool to see the map as it stands now in the next update.

 

Reply #28 Top

Argh!  The wait is killing me!  I want to play!

 

What happens if an enemy sovereign is killed in your territory?  I'd imagine that they wouldn't escape that easily, but what happens to their kingdom?  Does control fall to their children, or does it become a neutral kingdom?

Reply #29 Top

Quoting Fading_Suns, reply 29
Argh!  The wait is killing me!  I want to play!

 

What happens if an enemy sovereign is killed in your territory?  I'd imagine that they wouldn't escape that easily, but what happens to their kingdom?  Does control fall to their children, or does it become a neutral kingdom?
End of Fading_Suns's quote

I admit I too am curious how succession is handled in game.  I mean we see from the Dyansty screen shots scattered around that the offspring are listed as 1st, 2nd, 3rd in line etc..  If your sovereign is slain is it game over or does it then eleveate his offspring to sovereign (and it should) and keeps doing that so long as you have heirs remaining.

Also what happens if the sovereign dies and he has an heir but he/she is not of mature age? Does the sovereigns spouse become Regent until such a time as the offspring is of age?

I would love if the Dynasty systerm allowed for complex arrangements of successions in game such that you don't only have to take the opponents kingdom you have to hunt down the heirs too in order to prevent the bloodline and possible threat from continuing to oppose your own sovereignty.

which also now I think of it rases another query, if your next in line to the throne is a daughter and she marries does her husband become sovereign or does she?

I guess ti could become even more complex, what if your next in line was a daughter and she was married off to an ally, if her husband becomes sovereign, would your kingdom them become part of that of the dynasty he is from? or remain separate?

Wheels, within wheels..

Reply #30 Top

I think this was answered in a different thread, but basically, if your Sovereign dies, as in dies permanently, it's game over, period. Just can't recall where I saw this answered, sorry. I might of course be wrong.

Reply #31 Top

Quoting Xaltwind, reply 31
I think this was answered in a different thread, but basically, if your Sovereign dies, as in dies permanently, it's game over, period. Just can't recall where I saw this answered, sorry. I might of course be wrong.
End of Xaltwind's quote
We aren't talking about your sovereign, we're talking about the sovereigns of NPC factions. It's sort of important that the infrastructure be there, because presumably, killing an enemy sovereign is kind of important.

Reply #32 Top

My mistake, I misread the question entirely. *Goes to the corner in shame*

Reply #33 Top

In beta 4 if you kill an enemy npc sovereign in your territory they are dead and their kingdom disappears.. I hope this carried on into release.. but if it was to hard the A.I. not to be foolishly risky I can understand why not..

Reply #34 Top

Quoting Cruxador, reply 32
we're talking about the sovereigns of NPC factions.
End of Cruxador's quote

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember from Beta 4: if you kill an enemy sovereign their entire kingdom / empire is instantly removed from the map.

Quoting Twohawks, reply 34
In beta 4 if you kill an enemy npc sovereign in your territory they are dead and their kingdom disappears.. I hope this carried on into release.. but if it was to hard the A.I. not to be foolishly risky I can understand why not..
End of Twohawks's quote

I don't hope this has been continued on at all. Entire cities just magically disappearing? I'd like to see each city turned into a minor faction.

Reply #35 Top

I don't hope this has been continued on at all. Entire cities just magically disappearing? I'd like to see each city turned into a minor faction.
End of quote

 

hmm very good point.. I fully support the cities going neutral then.. I just think sovereign death should be same for AI and player alike... but I do understand that we cant always get what we like because the AI is not able to deal with some concepts....

Reply #36 Top

These are some good points.  What's the point of having a line of succession (indicated in the game, no less) if the gameplay mechanics pay it no mind?  Jeez, I really hope that children are able to replace their parents on the throne.  I *sort* of understand why it would be game-over if the player's sovereign dies (i.e., the whole concept of "you" being in the game), but it doesn't make sense for the other realms to immediately collapse despite there being plentiful offspring to take the throne. 

If a line of succession is mentioned in the game, it really needs to have a purpose. 

Reply #37 Top

can I just ask one thing?  Are these the final graphics...?

Reply #39 Top

Quoting Infernal, reply 39
Is it Monday yet?

 
End of Infernal's quote

 

If that is an answer to my post...how much can they do in two days, really?

Reply #40 Top

Quoting Fading_Suns, reply 29
Argh!  The wait is killing me!  I want to play!

 

What happens if an enemy sovereign is killed in your territory?  I'd imagine that they wouldn't escape that easily, but what happens to their kingdom?  Does control fall to their children, or does it become a neutral kingdom?
End of Fading_Suns's quote

They would die and their faction would be inherited by someone else.

Reply #41 Top

Quoting charon2112, reply 38
can I just ask one thing?  Are these the final graphics...?
End of charon2112's quote

What we are seeing now, if not final are very near it.. they chose an artistic style based on Alphonse Mucha works, you can read more  in a interviewe with  Stardock's Scott Tykoski from Aug of 2009 on ign http://pc.ign.com/articles/101/1019369p1.html there has been other discussion both on these forums and in other interviews it was just the one  I found first.

Reply #42 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 41

Quoting Fading_Suns, reply 29Argh!  The wait is killing me!  I want to play!

 

What happens if an enemy sovereign is killed in your territory?  I'd imagine that they wouldn't escape that easily, but what happens to their kingdom?  Does control fall to their children, or does it become a neutral kingdom?
They would die and their faction would be inherited by someone else.
End of Frogboy's quote

 

sweet that works very well! thanks for clearing that up for us..

Reply #43 Top

Quoting Storm, reply 4
Pretty bloody exciting!  This in itself is an argument for MP Tactical Battles!

End of Storm's quote

Exactly what I was thinking as I read through it. This is exactly why I love total war, it gives your grand stratergy a intimate context and that context will be gone in Elemental multiplayer. Civ 5 will have to do I guess.

 

Anyway, back to your non whiney posts.

Reply #44 Top

Thanks for another installment!

Nice to see some more of the tactical stuff, and more nice changes from Beta4.  :beer:

 

Reply #45 Top

If an enemy Sovereign dies, it would indeed be nice if their Cities turned into Minor Factions (the weak kind).

However, this makes those cities easy pickings for the "vultures" of opponent civs that may have not ever fought Sovereign X, but were still close enough to pick up the pieces.

Therefore, I would prefer if the Cities of Slain Sovereigns turned into "Feral Ruins" that spawned monsters of some sort (preferably monsters and undead, maybe the occasional demon).

In this case, the "cities" would remain the same size, but their art decals would change (a ruined version of each building perhaps, or a generic ruins tile repeated over and over) and they would become a "notable location" that spawned baddies.

Although, the lairs would probably need to spawn X number of monsters as a "City" garrison before sending them out into the wild. Preferably a stock of 10 would do.

Reply #46 Top

reading this reminded me of a little issue i had while playing beta... i had a caster sov, and she had a loaded spellbook with all these l33t spells, but i couldnt even battle with her, cause i chose to have her use no standard weapon... just wasnt sexy enough... so dispite the fact i could wipe legions of enemies with my spells, i still had a combat rating of 0 or so... that just bothered me...

enough about my complaining... this is looking so great to me... only a few more days, and i can make my own story ;)

thanks for all your hard work on these posts, Frogboy, and to all your team at Stardock for making awesome software, and games! just wish i would've found out about you guys sooner!

Reply #47 Top

Even from my version to the day 0 build there's a ton of changes that just don't show in my screenshots but you guys will start finding out tomorrow what I mean.

Reply #48 Top

Actually, pretty sure that there WILL be tactical battles available in MP. The threshold is decided at the beginning of the game.

 

Edit: (looks above) Does this mean that beta testers will be able to get the game on Sunday???

 

Also... if Sovereign death = heir will take over, I think different NPCs should have different AI directives (instead of all NPCs having the same personality, while running an empire)... therefore if the odd mook gets control of a faction through succession he should rule differently than his father.

Equally, if Bandito the bandit takes over a faction he should rule the Kingdom differently than Lordalot the Noble

Reply #49 Top

Here's a related question. How hard would it be to make it possible that the death of your sovereign instead lets you play as your heir? I'd imagine it would take a lot of hackish stuff if done from a modding end, at the very least. At worst I could see having to kill everyone related to the sovereign and put new characters into those relationships with identical characteristics. I like the Crusader Kings dynastic emphasis, and it would be interesting to play with.

Reply #50 Top

Quoting Twohawks, reply 42

Quoting charon2112, reply 38can I just ask one thing?  Are these the final graphics...?

What we are seeing now, if not final are very near it.. they chose an artistic style based on Alphonse Mucha works, you can read more  in a interviewe with  Stardock's Scott Tykoski from Aug of 2009 on ign http://pc.ign.com/articles/101/1019369p1.html there has been other discussion both on these forums and in other interviews it was just the one  I found first.
End of Twohawks's quote

 

No, I understand about the style, and I like it.  It's more the ground and scenery, like the trees.  It seems very bland, like just one flat shade of green to represent a grassy tile.  And the same couple of tree models repeated over and over.  

 

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Stardock and their games, I have faith that Elemental will be incredible.  And I know that a game can be great without super realistic graphics.  I guess I'm torn, because I can buy either this or Civ V, and I don't know which way to go yet.  Graphics ARE part of that decision for me.