So what does it show on the box? I didn't buy the boxed version. If it's that dragon shot, I could probably manage something like that late in the game if I adjusted the camera right.

I think metalfacekevin is asking a reasonable question. He's not asking about epic battles, he's asking if the game, at some point, will look like the screens on the back of the box.

I'm not saying he deserves an answer any more than anyone else does.

But you guys trying to shout him down are just stupid as hell, purposefully misreading what he is saying.

If I made a thread asking the devs a reasonable question, and you people showed up trying what you're doing here, I'd be mad as hell.

You might be right Heavenfall. Though if that is the case, then I admit that you are much better at reading into things than I am.

I responded based only on: "All I need is confirmation that epic battles (such as the one pictured on the box) are being worked on."

I didn't comment on whether or not the question was reasonable, but rather that the answer was given in any case, yet not accepted.

Well, no.  The answer has not been given.  I've never played Total War, so that reference is lost on me.  All I want to know if the dragon battle with the flying soldiers in chain mail will be possible in this game.  If the scope of that battle is not currently possible, will it be possible in the future?  Yes or no would suffice.  Frogboy did say they were rushing to get multiplayer out because it's on the box.  I just want reassurance that the dragon battle scene would be something I could find in the game.  I apologize if my question offends you, but I stand my ground.  This is a reasonable question, and I feel an answer is in order.  Players who wanted the multiplayer aspect released were addressed, so I'd like an answer to my question.

I explained the relevance of the Total War reference in a previous post in your thread. When compared to battles in MoM which the game designers took as the inspiration and influence for Elemental, it is easy to understand that the answer to your question about epic scope is no.

A simpler breakdown would be:

Total War = Big epic scope of combat with respect to number of units.

MoM = Small scope of combat with respect to number of units.

Brad says, Elemental combat is influenced by MoM, not Total War.

Therefore,

Elemental = Small scope of combat with respect to number of units.

If that isn't clear enough for you, then I wouldn't blame the developers if they won't touch this thread with a laser beam from outer space.

So you mean the answer was not given in terms you could understand.

So currently:

1 - I've had battles with a Dragon on my side and soldiers in chainmail on both sides.

2 - I've had battles with 10's of units with a descent number of mean in each unit and a dragon.

3 - Unit's hit for a lot of damage and killed do go flying although admittedly it tends to be only one name form the unit others just fade.

4 - You can adjust the camera angle/ zoom to get a similar battle field view to the picture box.

Finally currently you can have battles with lots of units comprising a large number of mean and with creatures like dragons (though at the start of the game you won't have vast armies) you can actually build some pretty big armies by the end of the game and have big battles that include dragons. So what are you after here?

I doubt your answer is accurate, Istari.  The released that screenshot for a reason.  I want an official answer on whether or not the promotional image Stardock used is an accurate representation of something they plan on making possible in the game.  I see I'm upsetting you.  Please remember you can leave this thread at any time.  I'll keep waiting for an official answer from Stardock, not your interpretation of the matter.

Could you post the shot from the box or a link too it? I want to see what part of it is not achievable in the game at present, so I can judge we didn't all buy the boxed version.

P.S. Quote seems not to be working properly for me at the moment as you can see.

This image: http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/Raven_Xavier/ElementalDragvsArmy.jpg

Wasn't that screenshot released when the game still had RTS battles....months ago?

Yes it's an ancient screenshot and long before Brad even stated in the forum that the OP never read or looked up that there wouldn't be real time battles as such in the game or EPIC battles. The OP just wants to be a troll like all the rest of them out there just grabbing at sticks and stones of niggly things not in the game or aren't going to be in the game because some screenshot that is ancient shows otherwise. Brad has already stated about EPIC battles there is no reason for him or anyone else from Stardock to respond again. They should just ban the little booger.

Right I see, yes it was and I agree it was silly to put it on the box because it does make the combat look more like RTS than turn based, which was changed mid-development. Guess they already printed the boxes.

Substantially I've had a battle with about 10 units (many of them squad I think 10 men units basicly, plus a dragon and my soverign).  The enemy fielded less but I have seen large armies fielded, the dragon does still look like that and have a fire breathing animation like that. I think what is lost is maybe the chaotic movements of units and I agree that would give combat a more epic feel.

Here are a few ideas:

1 - make units fidgit between turns it makes them seem more alive.

2 - Make whole units clash rather than have one man from each unit move to the front look at Battle for middle earth (archers all attack together now think the same for melee). Have units move on to a shared tile to fight and have everyone clash, hard animation wise put looks a lot more epic.

3 - Add more background noise to battles hundreds of men make a lot of noise.

As it is you can have epic battles like the one in the box art, but they just don't look and feel as epic as they should because there is no sense of vast armies clashing even when you field hundreds of men. It's look and feel as much as substance, because as I say you can have epic battles they just don't feel epic.

They have commited to an overhaul of tactical battles, no details yet and I doubt their are likley to be in the short term. I doubt you are going to get an answer here from a dev by the way other than a refernce to the other thread.

Totally, I miss units doing things like the sprites in the old Ultima games that looked like they were constantly doing jumping jacks, that was awesome. 

Yeah, we're trying to get the battles to look like that again. That shot was from a battle engine test that, while it 'ran', caused some pretty unplayable framerates. When we made Tactical Battles into actual turn-based affairs, we lost what (IMHO) made that shot look 'cool' (namely: simutanious animations and movement).  There are plans on the table that will bring us closer to what you see there, but 'all guys running at the same time' may be lost forever    sorry.

Now, all of a sudden, I am glad that metalfacekevin asked.

Thanks for taking the time to respond, BoogieBac

edit: HQ version of pic

http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/07/35/73520_Elemental-31.jpg

That image has been my current logon for months.  

The short answer is: yes.

The battle scene on the box is a screenshot from a beta version of the game that we nerfed later on for balance and memory consumption.  The battle scene came from a test of the quest of Sarog's Egg and its aftermath.  

However, with v1.1 moving towards using population as a resource again we can effectively have much larger armies.   But epic confrontations remain a core objective for the game for the late game.

Hope this helps.

Epic tactical confrontations in turn-based fashion I am assuming to be a bit annal but thorough...

I'm fine with Turn based battles ala AoW and MoM ...EPIC?  even better....

But what about tech trees that regress technology?

I'm so confused...

From: https://forums.elementalgame.com/396523/get;2773239

Am I just misunderstanding something?!? 

The context is the key here.  We're not going for a Total War (massive armies battling it out across a huge battle field). We're going towards a MOM style battle which can still be pretty epic (ala the screenshot).

What's on the box of Elemental would barely qualify as a skirmish in Total War.

If you want larger scale battles, consider (likely in an expansion) allowing groups in adjacent tiles to be in the battle.

In designer terms, Elemental is going for grand tactical battles of MoM gather than grand strategy of Total War. What that translates is that while you will likely not ever field armies of divisions comprising of hundreds or thousands of people, you will be able to field an army of heroes comprised of dozens of units.

Wow, all you guys slamming the OP for asking this question should be ashamed of yourselves and apologize to him.  This is a very legitimate question since it is a screenshot advertised on the retail-release box.  I'm glad we've gotten a confirmation from a dev and Frogboy himself.

The bettles are fine, they can get massive later on.  Like I said earlier, I had a battle at the end of the last game I played that had my Sov, that same dragon, and about 100 soldiers against an army of about the same size.  I should have taken a screen shot or something, I might still have a save game from it.