[Interest Check] Original Fantasy Mod Concept

from Elemental Forums

Hey everyone,

 

Ever since Beta I have been kicking around some mod ideas. I'm now, finally, starting  to move forward, mostly just to learn what I can and can't do at this time. It is tough since Elemental is in such an evolving state. Some people are already doing some great early modding, and it has been nice to see.

 

I'm looking at doing something a bit different. Many of the mod ideas have focused on adapting some kind of source material, such as Warhammer, D&D, MoM, AoW, etc. I think this is great and I can't wait to play these mods. I'm also interested to see how the 'vanilla' world of Elemental grows. I think there are some great, unusual concepts and I applaud Stardock for trying something different. I just wish all of the 'Random House lore' had actually made it into the game.  However, I'm looking to build something new that is designed from the ground up to work with the game, rather than trying to make existing lore fit in Elemental's game world, or trying to make something deeper out of the rough foundation Stardock has created for their own, stock world.

 

The key things I plan to focus on for this mod are:

 

  1. •Lore / Character: Creating an interesting, fully fleshed out gameworld, and actually making that impact the game.
  2. •Strategy: Allowing for a diverse range of effective, interesting, and fun choices at the strategic level.
  3. •Tactics:  Allowing for a diverse range of effective, interesting, and fun choices at the tactical level.
  4. •Depth: Increasing depth to allow for more gameplay choices that matter and have an impact. Give players more to do.
  5. •Diversity: Provide vastly increased variety in factions, units, equipment, spells, etc.

 

So what does this mean?

 

I'm interested in feedback on the basic concept. How do people feel about trying a mod based on original lore, rather than established lore or the base game's lore? How do people feel about the priorities I have laid out for the mod?

 

I have already laid out much of what I want to do in a series of design documents that I have been working on for the past few months, on and off. All of this is subject to change based on the mod's evolution. The core of what I want to accomplish is in the above priorities. That said, I already have lots of ideas for what I want to do with the mod.

 

I am currently starting by implementing two new factions that will play differently from anything currently in Elemental, and differently from each other. This is actually well within the scope of current modding possibilities, although I won't be putting in any new art assets or making any truly radical changes...that will mostly come in time, hopefully. The idea is to implement the above priorities with two new factions, built from the ground up to thrive in the Elemental engine. These two new factions will be balanced against each and should provide a fun starting place for the rest of the mod to be built on as our ability to mod Elemental grows. I am not a great scripter or coder, and I'm not an artist. My skills with mods have always gone into design, balancing, writing, testing, and other areas. However, I am working with the XML files without much trouble and making the changes I need to make my initial ideas happen. At some point, if people are interested, I will likely seek some help with things like new art assets.

 

Depending on interest, I can provide more detailed previews of what I am doing. I will be interested in your feedback, and hope  to have the initial version of the mod out soon.

3,972 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

Sure I'm interested in what you're building there but you haven't said anything beyond that you're creating "a mod" with lore, spells, tactics, and strategy.
Effectively, you're creating Elemental.
So I can only comment on that and say that I think it's a good - if ambitious - idea.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Robert, reply 1
Sure I'm interested in what you're building there but you haven't said anything beyond that you're creating "a mod" with lore, spells, tactics, and strategy.
Effectively, you're creating Elemental.
So I can only comment on that and say that I think it's a good - if ambitious - idea.
End of Robert's quote

 

I can understand that, but I didn't want to go into too much detail initially. The key thing is the execution. Elemental has all the concepts, but the execution was weak. So yes, Elemental has lore, spells, tactics, and strategy...but they are shallow at best in most cases, as the vast majority of the community, and even the devs, seem to agree. The point of my mod, as stated, is to address those key areas.


For example, the Elemental homepage has long stated that:

 

"With a vast storage of lore developed in collaboration with publishing giant Random House, Elemental ensures that every game is a completely new experience."

 

As we all know, Elemental as a game simply doesn't have this. It may all be in bits and pieces between the game, book, design documents, and Brad's imagination, but that doesn't impact the game in any meaningful way. So, when I set out Lore / Character as a key priority, I mean to address that issue by improving it as part of the mod.

 

I know I'm not presenting much detail here, so there isn't much to get excited about. That is intentional. I'm not going to make a ton of promises and get overly ambitious. I intend to start small and accomplish realistic goals and steadily build up to something bigger and better. The key questions I am asking at this point, as stated are:

1) How do people feel about trying a mod based on original lore, rather than established lore or the base game's lore?

2) How do people feel about the priorities I have laid out for the mod?

 

Thanks!

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Goontrooper, reply 2

1) How do people feel about trying a mod based on original lore, rather than established lore or the base game's lore?

2) How do people feel about the priorities I have laid out for the mod?
End of Goontrooper's quote

I would position myself in the "Fine" area for both questions.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Always liked homebrew settings :) I think they have some excellent storytelling potential, but I think the implementation into the strategy game could be difficult.

Example: Lore-wise faction A is sworn enemy of faction B. Player selects faction C that's neutral, but due to their selected strategy, have poor combat rating. Faction A extorts/threatens the hell out of faction C because they are weaker in game, and completely ignores their nemesis faction B with whom they are on equal footing.

Still, out of your list of priorities, Lore, characters and depth of storyline is probably what would interest me the most :)

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting oddrheia, reply 4
Always liked homebrew settings I think they have some excellent storytelling potential, but I think the implementation into the strategy game could be difficult.

Example: Lore-wise faction A is sworn enemy of faction B. Player selects faction C that's neutral, but due to their selected strategy, have poor combat rating. Faction A extorts/threatens the hell out of faction C because they are weaker in game, and completely ignores their nemesis faction B with whom they are on equal footing.

Still, out of your list of priorities, Lore, characters and depth of storyline is probably what would interest me the most
End of oddrheia's quote

 

Very true, but my plan is to NOT try to make the Lore aspects of the game dictate what happens in the game, beyond the base setup. So, for example, we may start with a typical 'Dwarves hate Elves but REALLy hate Orcs' situation, and have that reflected in the Lore. This would impact gameplay through diplomacy modifiers, so Dwarves would have trouble with diplomacy with Elves, but might be able to work together with some major effort, but would never be able to work with Orcs due to the massive diplomacy modifiers. I also am working to use the Quest system to show off Lore, so that instead of the generic quests you see in Elemental, you will have quests that really involve lore, story, and characters. If you have played King Arthur, you will have an idea of where I am going...I just desperatly want a decent Quest Editor to help with this part of the mod.

One thing I hate about open-ended games is that they presuppose 'the future' instead of allowing player's to shape the world. I intend to create a backstory and initial setup, and not dictate what happens next. So the Lore will not cover anything beyond the past. What happens from Turn 1 onward will be player driven.

 

Right now I'm playing around with different XML editors. Going to try Notepad++ and see how I like it.