Alstein

The thing about MP is that for TBS games, very few people outside of game reviewers want it, and game reviewers dock on their reviews for it. I think it's something that should be in there to have it in there, and to cover for any AI flaws, but it takes a lot of effort to get MP TBS going, which usually isn't worth it. On top of that, Stardock generally does awesome AI which reduces the need for MP a good bit.

There is value in the good name of a company. Just ask Gamestop, who lacks it and paid the price for it some with the Impulse acquisition.

It's well known that Brad does the pro-consumer things he does, because he thinks its good business. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, there is everything right with that. If anything, we should be encouraging visions like this- capitalism is supposed to exist for the benefit of society. We'd be in better shape as a country if more businesses took longer-term approaches, instead of trying to squeeze everything out for the short-term do

Expansion packs that are only sold online are effectively the same thing as DLC. The real question with FE is whether folks who got burned by WOM are going to give Stardock a 2nd chance. The existing fanbase that has been there since GCII, I think most off us have stuck around, we know what you guys do- we're giving you a 2nd chance. It's the guys who don't know what Stardock did in the past. Let's put it this way: SOTS II

[quote who="Sarissi" reply="25" id="3020632"]Good points, Kryo. When the console game makers require key registration and an online account, their used games business goes down the tubes. Impulse provides them with that safety net so they don't go belly up when this happens.[/quote] I think that was the plan. However, Impulse has no chance now of ever being an effective safety net. Most casual gamers will choose Steam. If your game

Of the intentions, I'd personally rank #1 and #6 the most important to me. I'd rate those higher then promise #2 even. I really hope you get a good tactical AI down- I think for a game with magic, you guys would be the first to get a good tactical AI if you pull that off. I'll feel bad if FE is free if it turns out to be as awesome as you guys say it is. Feels like you guys are promising the moon. &

I don't think we're getting boats. Hopefully we'll get them later.

[quote who="Cruxador" reply="60" id="3019521"]AND ON A TOTALLY DIFFERENT NOTE Quoting Alstein, reply 53The lines are sharply drawn in Japan, but not in the US. Girls read shonen stuff in the US (and not just Saint Seiya), and guys will read and like girly stuff. Major artists who come to the US are often shocked by this. My point was that a big reason anime boomed in the US, and maybe THE reason, was that unlike any other "sci-fi/fantasy" format, they really

[quote who="alaknebs" reply="52" id="3019344"] Quoting Alstein, reply 46 A lack of misogyny is why anime had its big boom in the 90s, largely at the expense of comic books. which have done a damn fine job of making sure half the population will never have much interest in their work. lost me there. manga are stereotypically divided into boy/man and woman/girl audiences (that's not to say the other gender don't read them!)... latter is more akin to mills and

[quote who="Firefly2442" reply="47" id="3019252"]A penguin huh? Maybe this means linux support for all Stardock games! (I know, I know, probably not... but I can dream.) [/quote] I'd settle for Dire Penguins in FE.

There really is no money in misogyny, this is why it's baffling to me why it's so common in the games industry. A lack of misogyny is why anime had its big boom in the 90s, largely at the expense of comic books. which have done a damn fine job of making sure half the population will never have much interest in their work. Games really shouldn't be an all-boys club. I kinda remember a few years back on here Cari making an excellent post on

Suggestion for a spell: protective shield which would make your unit immune to "proning" Alternate idea for earth spells: enlarge and shrink, which would adjust unit stats (negatively overall), but enlarge might prevent proning/bashing, shrink increase the odds. That champion thing sounds like it could be abused by a player against the AI. Assassinate champion, retreat.

[quote who="seanw3" reply="84" id="3018606"]It is rather unrealistic to assume anything about WWII is comparable to this fantasy game. It would be more useful to talk about Napoleon's attempt. There was little nationhood before the industrial era. To peasants, one King was as good as any other as long as there was gruel and water on the table. Taking over a city should have economic costs initially, but it is both unrealistic and bad for gameplay to have rebellion past the

[quote who="Ausland" reply="78" id="3018559"]Or the AI could launch a counter stack and attack a user's lightly defended cities. Or the AI could abandon a city if the odds look terrible and withdraw to another city where it does have time to gather an appropriate army. Or the other AIs could hear about the size of said army and somehow determine that this probably is your entire army and decide to try and attack your weakly defended cities. There are lots of options

[quote who="Edwin99" reply="73" id="3018351"]Historical Note: In the Dark Ages of European history there was no ongoing resistance by conquered towns. Why - The penalty was death and the prospect of the entire town being burnt to the ground. [/quote] Razing of towns should be an option, and one the AI may need to be trained to do, though razing should take more then 1 turn. 1 turn per level perhaps, with it gaining some gold as well.

On the steamrolling: the question is, do players like steamrolling. I think to prevent Steamrolling, you need the following a) Balance of Power mechanics where AIs will gang up on a player or AI that is dominating. This one can be handled by AI logic fairly easily, but feels gamey, even when it's realistic. Implemention of an EU-style infamy system for warmonging, especially with factions you have good relations with (diplomacy becomes

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="27" id="3017574"]One thing about Impulse that people don't often talk about (and I've told Gamestop they should push this a lot more) is that it is faster than any other service. And I don't mean a little bit faster but massively faster. I feel for people who bought BF3 directly via Origin instead of Impulse. With Impulse, the download speed is typically limited by your connection. By contrast,with other services, I get around 300

[quote who="DsRaider" reply="56" id="3017770"] Frogboy you seem to want to change game mechanics so that the AI can fight steamrolling; instead of either making the AI smart enough to use it itself, or changing the game mechanics so that steam rolling is not a sure way to win. Logically if you think that steamrolling is cheap then you should change game mechanics to make it a less dominate strategy, and if you don't think it's cheap then just make the AI do it to

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="45" id="3017578"] Quoting Kantok, reply 32Frogboy, I'm curious how you steamrolled the AI when all the indicators showed that they were competitive. What did they do wrong? Not trying to stir trouble, just curious what the AI got wrong that caused such a drastic change in the picture so quickly. Their forces were too distributed. I put my best units together into a single killer army and walked through them.<br

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="9" id="3016574"]Worst case scenario is that you'll just use our upcoming Stardock Central system to get your stuff. It's not very much like Impulse/Steam/Origin but instead just focused on getting your stuff to you really really fast and simply. The ETA on that is in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I'd contact Gamestop's support to see what the deal is.[/quote] Question: will SDC precede the FE beta

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="31" id="3016949"]I have gotten some new features added that should help all involved. First, there is now a "gold rush" option. You can rush build units. That will help a lot. Second, I'm working on the AI scouting so that it will keep track of the most powerful army it encounters so that it can prepare for it. Third, cities have their own militia. [/quote] One suggestion: gold rush should perha

[quote who="Tridus" reply="27" id="3017445"]I'd be willing to take Fred Wester more seriously if it was an isolated incident... but EVERY Paradox game is buggy as hell at launch. This one just happens to be even worse then usual, combined with some extremely unprofessional "customer service".[/quote] Was Vicky 2 overly buggy? Sucky yes, but not buggy. EU3 wasn't overly buggy. Then again those are first-party Pa

Pre-orders in my experience are a 50/50 bet. If I preorder something, it's becuase I think it's going to be a niche retail thing I might not get otherwise, or because of the pre-order goodies. Paradox is now a company I will not pre-order from for at least 2 years. Stardock is in this category as well due to Elemental, but if FE shapes up well I'll gain my confidence back for future stuff. (I think they'll do it, they just need to

Never get into a landwar in Asia or buy a Paradox game on Day 1.

[quote who="Brainsucker" reply="5" id="3016584"]Just want to say that not everybody love challenge. Some people hope for extreme AI, while the others just want to enjoy the game. If the AI is too difficult to the second type of people, they will consider the game as a bad game. You just need to make a standard but fun AI for Beginner, Easy and Normal AI, and give everything out to the level beyond that. Players shouldn't blame the developer for easy AI if they play in easy or normal AI; b