Some Questions about Elemental.

from Elemental Forums

Hi... been a big stardock fan from Galactic Civilization 1 days. Pretty keen to play this new one.. though I think I would have been more excited for a scifi game.. there is like sooooooo many magical medieval games, us scifi nerds are so short changed!!!

Anyway...

I have a few questions about this game...

1) A mate told me it is released.. witch is why I am here.. but I can not see that in the news?! So is this game released yet? I know it is available to pre-order.. I mean released.

2) I know you have a digital download version... YAY... dvds and boxes and all the crap cluttering your shelves is so 1980!! Digital Download all the way!! Still how dose this work are you going to be using Steam? I ask this not as imo digital downloading only works when you know that the digital download will be available for ever. Like it is safe to get starcraft in digital form as you can expect blizzard to comfortably host the install pack for pretty much all time, same with a steam game. So my question is really... if you get the digital download version will there be any time limits or number of downloads on the install, and then we have to manual archive it.. or will the digital download be linked to an account with stardock or something and be available for as long as the company exists?

3) Well I have been following this game for a while and it seams massively focused on the single player experience... How dose multiplayer work, IS there multiplayer?

Thanks for your time and thanks for GC2.. that game rules (yes present tense!!)

elemental
5,355 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top
  1. It's available today in retail stores (in the US) and digitally (and DVD direct order from Stardock)
  2. You can archive your digital download and burn the game and the digital download app (Impulse) for later restoration.
    You can also redownload  from Impulse at any time
    You can trust Stardock.  :) 
  3. Not at release.  Can you be more specific what you are looking for?
Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Um... just multiplayer... Single player doesn't really interest me much so I was hoping for a multiplayer experience in this game but haven't seen much information about it. I'm a little sad that there is no multiplayer... and in truth I am a bit shocked.. are you sure?

Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

1) It has been released now.

2) You need to download Impulse, it's like Steam. With it you can download, install and manage the game. You also need that programme to update the game in the future, but you don't need it to run it in the background in order to play the game. It also does not limit the number of downloads or intallations. You can also archive Elemental on your hard drive for future use. All in all, it's similar to Steam but a little bit more customer friendly.

3) Yes, there is multiplayer for up to 16 people, currently without the option of engaging in tactical battles, but it is likely to change in near future. The focus of Elemental is indeed on the sandbox singleplayer part, the avail of multiplayer has to be seen in the future.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

1) A mate told me it is released.. witch is why I am here.. but I can not see that in the news?! So is this game released yet? I know it is available to pre-order.. I mean released.
End of quote

The official release date is today. Some stores broke street date over the weekend, so they rushed people in and worked through the weekend to give it an early release on Sunday night.

2) I know you have a digital download version... YAY... dvds and boxes and all the crap cluttering your shelves is so 1980!! Digital Download all the way!! Still how dose this work are you going to be using Steam? I ask this not as imo digital downloading only works when you know that the digital download will be available for ever. Like it is safe to get starcraft in digital form as you can expect blizzard to comfortably host the install pack for pretty much all time, same with a steam game. So my question is really... if you get the digital download version will there be any time limits or number of downloads on the install, and then we have to manual archive it.. or will the digital download be linked to an account with stardock or something and be available for as long as the company exists?
End of quote

They're using Impulse as the platform, not Steam. There are no installation or activation limits, and you can always either manually make an archive or download one from http://anywhere.impulsedriven.com. The registration is linked to your SD account, so it'll be available as long as the company exists, yes. They've also promised to release patches to disable all forms of "activation" (really just an account check on install from Digital Download) if they ever go out of business. For Elemental, they also plan to create archival DVDs with the latest update every year, which you could get for paying shipping.

3) Well I have been following this game for a while and it seams massively focused on the single player experience... How dose multiplayer work, IS there multiplayer?

End of quote

The game has Multiplayer (though it won't be enabled until next week due to the street-date-breaking-prerelease rush). At the moment, there's not much to it, the game is mainly intended as a single player experience. There are no mods, no random maps, no quests, and no tactical battles. SD's approach to this has been from a more competitive perspective, but they're coming around after realizing that the majority will play co-op with friends. Tactical battles and mods/custom servers will be enabled in an update, and the rest we're not sure about.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

hmm... a bit disappointing... oh well... thanks guys...