Is it worth my time starting yet?

from Elemental Forums

Bought the game months ago. Came here about 2-3 months ago and saw that progress was promised etc.

Updated my client and played over the last two days (about 8 hours today)PLayed latest full release and the latest Beta.

AI was still very very weak. Computer still hardly used magic, simple "turtling" tactics won the games easily, pathfinding was atrocious, and despite me now playing on an entirely different PC (Intel rather than AMD, 32 bit win 7 rather than 64 bit, different GFX and sound) The game STILL crashed with an OOM error after about 2 hours and refused to spit out the required error reports.

Is anyone actually playing this game and enjoying it?

This is a serious question from someone who dearly wants this game to work, but can beat it with the most cretinous of strategies, or watches it fall over all the time.

If someone with a bit of PC strategy gaming experience is managing to wring more joy than me from this game, please let me know how you are doing it?

I'll even live with the crashes if the game wasn't so incredibly simple to beat and the AI actually "did" something "intellgent" now and again.

I read peoples play experiences and they talk about situations occuring in game that would only seem to occur if you deliberately knobbled yourself, or thought "to make this more challenging I'm going to let the computer thave 100 turns while I do nothing" or something. With every toggle, setting and function I am trying to make this game a challenge on a strategic level - yet knowing I can win by confounding the PC's pathfinding,or employing some laughably simple turtling techniques, or over use the magic elements of the game (to which the AI seems to have little or no answer) is really disheartening.

In fact it seems every "cunning" idea I have to try and beat this game, on any level...just "succeeds", often with astonishing speed

Is this ever going to change? Has anyone found some setting that turns this game into an enjoyable challenge? Is there a way to play using fun strategies and tactics that doesn't instantly turn you into a wrecking ball?

Please don't flame. I do love the whole concept of this game. But after playing perhaps 5 or 6 games through - and having never lost (except to a CTD ot OOM error) and waited months for the game to improve, I'm starting to think it's just not going to happen. If you all have access to some feature, patch, addon or "switch" that I haven't seen, please put me out of my misery and tell me what it is.

Scritty

3,533 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

don't know if you know about this. But there are separate switches for each of the AIs individual difficulty and for the world difficulty. So to get most challenge one must set both the world difficulty and EACH AIs difficulty to the maximum. If you've already been doing this then disregard my post.

Figured i'd mention it though cause some people mistakenly think setting the world difficulty up does both. Another mistake people do is setting one AIs difficulty level up instead of all of them. Its a pain but you have to change them each individually. (click on faction 1.. set to rediculous click on faction 2 set on rediculous etc.)

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I understand what you are saying. Come join us here and help prove to Brad what needs to improve: https://forums.elementalgame.com/404541.

That stickied thread was a direct response to Brad asking the community to step up regarding AI complaints. Instead of making generalizations such as "the AI sucks", Brad asked we provide concrete examples. I can tell you that the SD crew has met us halfway - our efforts are bearing fruit in the beta patches.

Is there still a long way to go? Sure there is. There's only so many resources to dedicate to EWOM and FE plus there are many things beyond strategic AI that needs some love. What we can do, however, is make arguments backed by solid facts and help steer the devs to certain things, especially those that aren't working as intended.

Come "borg" into a Demandobot! :cylon:

[Edit] And what Fistalis said. Definitely make sure your world AI and EACH faction AI is set to ridiculous.

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Fantastic responses - and very much appreciated.

I have been setting all the individual AI, but I had missed the user lobbying group completely (my bad)

I'll spec it out and likely join up next week.

Thanks for the open and none flamey replies.

 

Scritty