Why I decided to buy the game

from Elemental Forums

 

Back when I was alot younger I was a huge fan of Master of Magic (despite its AI and balance problems).  Over the years a few games have come and gone that follow in its footsteps.  Some terrible (an rts hybdrid that I forget the name of comes to mind) and some exceptional ones (Age of Wonders series).  A while back when I heard that Elemental was in the works I got very excited about the possibility that there would be an MoM game to rule them all.

Elemental came out while I was away on vacation (and without a computer) and I only released it was out during my work week (week work, week off, with no game time during the work weeks).  This gave me plenty of time to read reviews and then later the forums around here.  I noticed that the reviews grilled it for being an unfinished product and the forums resembled a warzone.  Not wanting to lose hope of having a true epic fantasy turn based game to spend my free time on, I started looking for signs of hope.

Most reviews had mentioned the "Just one more turn" syndrome and apperantly people where playing the game judging by the forums.  Also I trust Stardock to tinker with their games until they become the game that the developers themselves want to play.  I figured that it was a bad idea to get it but also that someone out there was having fun playing it.

So crazy as it sounds (given that Stardock has stated that the game isnt ready as is), I went ahead and bought it!

My impressions after 20 hours or so game time (with 1.7 and then 1.8) are as follows.

 

First, I love customization in turn based games, naming cities, units etc. to make the world your own really adds to the immersion.  Theme and the amount of starting customization really drew me in and gave me the motivation to keep at it.

First few games where dull and confusing and not very immersive (in part due to fearing that everything in the game might be broken).  After a long learning game in 1.7 against one AI the concepts started to come together but overall the experience was somewhat dull (long passive game of building with only one lopsided offensive at the end to finish it).

Then came 1.8 and I started a new game against 3 AI and trying an Empire faction.  Again this was a game set to easy but it turned out to feel wonderfully epic in parts.  A Sovereign decided to attack one of my cities with a larger force (and me teleporting in to balance the odds) lead to the extintion of the faction in a very underwhelming way (I understand that this is being worked on) but it was balanced out by a huge two front war against a second faction where I simply could not locate the Sovereign and his forces keept striking where I didnt expect them to.

I was hoping the game would be fun and it delivered with about 8 hours so far of pure turn based bliss so far.  For what I thought would be a bad investment its actually a better return then several other games I own.  Its not Gal Civ polished yet, but it will be an interesting journey.

I figured that coming into it with the mentality that its a work in progress helps, Stardock was very honest on that part once they realized that the game was nowhere near their own standards at release.  I didnt get burned but at least those that feel that they did can expect to get future enjoyment out of the game rather then support shutting down due to a failed launch or the game being terminated (as recently happened with APB).

I really wish that the game was in perfect working order, balanced and bug free but I dont regret getting it (or recomending it).  Trusting Stardock to get it there isnt blind faith since they already delivered on Gal Civ.  My only problem now is deciding if I want to patch or finish my current game! 

elemental
8,330 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

For what I thought would be a bad investment its actually a better return then several other games I own.
End of quote

Exactly my feeling. When i read three weeks before release that they are JUST adding special abilities to units that they can use in tactical, i thought to myself, no way this is ready for release. Bought it anyway because there's no way i could miss a turn-based strategy game. Turned out i've spent more time with it than with mass effect 2 or other high-profile titles, despite the state the game is currently in. Funny how things turn up sometimes.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Yeah I totally agree that this game has been more enjoyable than a lot of complete games I have played.  It is easy to focus on the negative though so you will see a lot of hate.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Honestly better to wait until this is a bargain buy. I wish I had waited. I wen t ahead and bought it and after the last hotfix I cannot even play the game due to crashes. This game is still in Beta...it's not just rushed out the door, this is a pay to beta the game program.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Nice Write up, makes for a good honest read for a change (Lot's of unpleasant posts out there).

 

 

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

davidjc, you are right about the game being incomplete and not polished.   Apperantly they are offering a free expansion to make up for that once the game becomes what it should be. 

I dont see it as being totally broken though, balance might be a bit off but there is an epic scope to it.  I managed to hold my wifes interest as I explained diffrent places on the map and the events that had happened there.  Screwy as it might be the game has a life of its own once you sink your teeth into it.

If the current patch doesnt work for some reason, then try rolling it back, unistall and go to a more stable version.  So far I have had 2 out of memory crashes in 24 hours played.  Mind you it did teach me to set the autosave to 1 turn.  :P 

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

It cannot be played right now. It's just sitting there. I can't even fight tactical battles without crashing constantly. I am not going to roll back to previous versions(fact is I don't even know how without full reinstall) nor amI going to disect a perfectly fine computer trying to tweak it for Stardock. OOM errors occur more often the bigger the maps and the more you save.

 

The # of OOM crashes is not going to be system dependent. It's in the game code. I have seen this happen time and time again with certain game publishers they say(or simply let i be said) the OOM is system related when they know darn well it can only happen due to the game code which in certain circumstances does remove from RAM what it put there throughout the course of the game.

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Actually thats pretty much it, you need to uninstall and reinstall up to a version thats stable on your rig.  Turn based games are known for OOM errors, since they store so much data.  Has happened with Civ, AoW and even old X-Com.  Map size is correct on that it adds to the problem. 

Not telling you what you should do, basicly you can make the most of it if you like the theme/game enough or abandon it for later. 

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Actually thats pretty much it, you need to uninstall and reinstall up to a version thats stable on your rig
End of quote

If you reinstall it, you can play with the first version or the latest.  There's nothing in between.

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting davidjc_af, reply 6
It cannot be played right now. It's just sitting there. I can't even fight tactical battles without crashing constantly. I am not going to roll back to previous versions(fact is I don't even know how without full reinstall) nor amI going to disect a perfectly fine computer trying to tweak it for Stardock. OOM errors occur more often the bigger the maps and the more you save.

 

The # of OOM crashes is not going to be system dependent. It's in the game code. I have seen this happen time and time again with certain game publishers they say(or simply let i be said) the OOM is system related when they know darn well it can only happen due to the game code which in certain circumstances does remove from RAM what it put there throughout the course of the game.
End of davidjc_af's quote

 

Have you sent in your crash reports after your game crashed?

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Rune_74, reply 9

Quoting davidjc_af, reply 6It cannot be played right now. It's just sitting there. I can't even fight tactical battles without crashing constantly. I am not going to roll back to previous versions(fact is I don't even know how without full reinstall) nor amI going to disect a perfectly fine computer trying to tweak it for Stardock. OOM errors occur more often the bigger the maps and the more you save.

 

The # of OOM crashes is not going to be system dependent. It's in the game code. I have seen this happen time and time again with certain game publishers they say(or simply let i be said) the OOM is system related when they know darn well it can only happen due to the game code which in certain circumstances does remove from RAM what it put there throughout the course of the game.

 

Have you sent in your crash reports after your game crashed?
End of Rune_74's quote

 

God I don't know how and I really kind of don't feel like it. If it means they can fix this FAST I would.