1.19c Changelog

First, Heavenfall!

[Edit] Were broken xml tags confirmed in 1.19b and fixed in 1.19c? Thanks.

Do you remember when 1.2 was going to be about fixing memory issues, AI, and UI?  I'm seeing the work on fixing memory issues and AI, but what about the UI?  There's still a lot of stuff we've suggested to improve the UI.  Will any of it or Stardock's own ideas for improving the UI be addressed in this beta?

There was a big UI change already- you can now select targets in a stack for enchants.

My big UI issue right now is clicking can sometimes break up stacks, leading you to suicide charge a unit.

There was also the thing about being able to garrison your units instantly when building a new citay.

So that's it?  Are those the big UI changes we were looking for?  Spell casting on a stack and instant garrison when building new cities?  What about?

- a more useful minimap with colors, cities, influence, resources, etc.? (ever played Gal Civ 2?)

- active army or building highlighted in the pane on the left

- scroll bar for pane on the left

- sovereign and champion info pages that go beyond 1 page when they have more than 1 page worth of info to display

- better quest tracking system

- movement or path tracking visible before clicking to move (also shows number of turns to move to that spot)

Troj - I'm guessing none of that good stuff can be implemented, along with improved AI, until the root cause(s) of memory issues are fixed. Every single change probably has to be measured for potential memory impact (either positive or negative). Then again I could be talking out of my ass because I don't have the details nor am I a programmer. I probably should stop speculating though.

Yeah you might be right... there's probably (hopefully) a whole bunch of cool changes on hold while they figure out the memory issue...  Would be nice to hear that from someone at Stardock tho...nudge, nudge.

As I said before, you don't paint the house until the structure is sound!!. Until you can play for 12 hours without a crash, I am really not concerned with Color or Content. Needless to say, we should have been doing this last year! I really feel that until this game, loads, hooks in and works with standard drivers, for no less than 12 hours of constant up time, there is no need to try to polish it!!

Given this is just C and the alphabet got's lots left in it, and they are doing weekly updates (so far) those fixes may be just 7 days out. (Glass half Full kinda thinking of course)

I'd be extraordinarily happy if they came out with 1.2 and it fixed the memory issues.

I'd be extraordinarily unhappy if 1.2 comes out with any other fixes, but the memory issue isn't fixed.

Get the game functional first, worry about the other stuff later.

.

I'm less concerned with the memory issues, and more concerned with content and fun factor.  It only crashes occasionally for me anymore, and that really doesn't bother me that much.  I just have no reason to play it.  Heroes are boring, they are all generic and interchangeable as their stats and abilities mean nothing compared to the gear they are wearing.  Quest haven't changed.  Factions are still bland.  10 racesand 6 of them are White humans.  Not saying anything against white people, just would be nice to have some more diversity.  So not only do they look all the same, they act all the same.  All heroes are humans still.  The world is bland.  If I build a city on some hills, I should be able to mine for some iron, even if it's less than what a special resource would give.  If I have a city on grassland, I should be able to grow or raise some food.  Ive gone on and on about this stuff, made my own topics and all. 

Stop it! You can't be talking sense, you're Lord Xia, the master of madness, the commissar of crazy, the admiral of anarchy. My world's crumbling before my very eyes!

That's what FE is for to me.  The stuff that's being done now will help with FE.

I'm less concerned with the memory issues, and more concerned with content and fun factor. . . . The world is bland..

I'm concerned with both -- I have a saved game that crashes 3-4 moves after I load it -- but I agree that the second issue is more profound. Memory leaks can be fixed with some time and the right tools; game design is a lot harder.

And your comments pretty much sum it up. I've always enjoyed the explore/expand aspect of 4X games, but even here it seems a bit generic -- and it's the best part of the game. Once you've bumped up against your initial explore/expand limits due to geography and/or neighboring factions, the game pretty much falls apart. it just becomes dull -- more and more of the same, and the same isn't all that great. If I'm feeling feisty, I race to cedar longbows, arms a bunch of champions, and go around stomping on neighboring cities. While Fall From Heaven II greatly enhanced and improved upon Civ4, EWOM feels like a poor cousin to Civ4. ..bruce..

Well, I think that several little changes here and there to War of Magic could make it quite good too.  The benefits of faction traits shouldn't only simply be a bonus tech that everyone will eventually get.  They should be something that makes them unique for the entire game and it should be noticeable.  Factions should look different and feel different.  And I don't mean because of lazy programing, like how some races or genders can't use some gear.  Gear should be less important, and we should learn to make different techs.  Maybe you have a standard troop, but maybe Tarth can learn to teach Berserkers too.  Maybe they have higher STR and Less DEF or something, and then you can add gear to that unit in the design.  Or Maybe they could do that to the Drath, Darklings, etc.  Maybe the Gilden could be Black?  Would be nice ot see a non white human faction, I see some black heroes around, why can't they have a homeland.  Shit, even the minor faction of Yoren could be Black, at least there is some lore about them being sailors or some shit.  Oh yea, add back the minor factions, and make a few non white humans too please. 

UPDATE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT:  Just started with an administrator version of Janusk for the first time!

I literally cannot finish a game, it crashes from OOM, it crashes often, it crashes more and more often the longer the game goes on, to the point where the game is unplayable. It crashes on large maps, it crashes on medium maps (I have no desire to play a 4x game on a postage stamp). It crashes, it crashes some more, and then it crashes once too many.

I can't enjoy a game I can't play. If 1.2 comes out without the memory issue being fixed, I'm done.

Oh, and 1.19C is still leaking memory like a damn sieve.

They are working through the memory issues. Since you have posted your crashes they will undoubtedly get to your problems eventually.

The game I am playing has not crashed once I updated to 1.19c. Been playing the longest for about 4 hours. the downside was that around season 400 I started getting a delay after hitting the turn button. Sometimes it would happen just looking around the map, not actually walking anywhere, just checking my cities. The delay has lasted up to a minute and a half.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5899818/119c.EleSav

2. Thanks for fixing that. I posted about it and it got fixed. Happy day. Keep it up and I'll send you guys a postcard from Peru!

My game has not crashed since 1.1 honestly.

For a 1.19c strategic AI analysis please see here: https://forums.elementalgame.com/405436

Yadada Yeeee!

Is it just me or does anyone else LOVE when a new update comes out for Elemental? Its something I look forward to alot (:

Funny, I don't remember reading that in any of the release notes.

I'm not saying it isn't there, but I am surprised that I missed it, especially considering it has been a pet peeve of mine.