Krouv

Just my thoughts about the modified graphics： Yes, a thousand times yes! Of my biggest gripes with the current build is that I simply can't see clearly what goes on in the world. I feel like everything just blends into a mushy background. Those screenshots are obviously a bit exaggerated, but I think that increasing the contrast between elements and making the colours more distinct in the way to go. Just don't make the forsakeb lands too purple, I would hate to spend hours loo

I think the image is pretty self-explanatory. These lines appear between each option, but disappear when I mouse over a button (you can see that the line above "tutorial" is gone since I am mousing over it). I have just updated my graphical drivers yesterday, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I agree. I have always been troubled by the fact that the sovereign just deciding to plop down a city, and all of a sudden it gets populated. I prefer the idea of desperate survivors following you and helping you construct your first town.

Very good ideas. I agree that currently the world simply doesn't feel like a post-apocalyptic land. It would be much more satisfying if we could really build back civilisation from scratch, and see the effects of our development directly in the game world. Inns popping up around your cities is definitely a good idea.

I enjoy stories. I enjoy creating stories, and experiencing stories. For me, epic X4 games such as Elemental are an opportunity to connect the gameplay elements in my head into a story in which I am partaking. For this reason, it is very important for me that the world with with I interact be convincing and engaging (notice how I avoided the word "realistic"). There are several elements of the current build which in my opinion detract from the enjoyment of the game's world: -The

Ok, I should begin by apologizing for making such a general statement, but I'm just not in the mood for writing another wall of text. But that is the gist of it: unlocking new capabilities and abilities is more fun than getting bigger numbers. One of the problems with Galciv2, in my opinion, is that it was all about numbers, from research and civ costumisation to planetary improvements. Gameplay is about interactivity, and interacting with numbers is called mathematics; I know that some peopl

Cutscenes! Rejoice!

I also find this concept a bit iffy. Siring your own bloodline seems like an interesting mechanic, but it becomes rather uninteresting if all your sons are simply general, and all your daughters are bargaining chips; this may not at all be what Brad intends, but so far fathering children doesn't seem to have many advantages. I have an idea for a system in which family members will be crucial to maintaining your economy and inner diplomacy, as well as opening intersting options for outside inf

I'm really glad that Stardock are keen to introduce a soul into Elemental, as that was something severely lacking from GCII, which was more about numbers than people and personalities.

I agree with larienna. One think that contributed to making Galactic Civilisations 2 rather dull (even though I have poured a considerable amount of time in that game) is that there are no ""special" technologies. Everything is about bonuses, or a slightly better new improvement. I know that some people love number crunching, but personally I find this "math warfare", whereby your numbers are pitted against the enemie's, to be incredibly dull. What I would like to see are major technological

The decision to make mythical creatures rare and seperate from your army is one of setting. The designers want to create a world sucked of its magic, which means that there aren't super magical unicorns running about. Personally, I absolutely love this approach: not only is it a departure from the standard fare of orcs and elves, but it also increases the impact of seeing a powerful magical being on the battlefield. Having glowing magical creatures all over the place really dilutes thei

What a brilliant idea for a forum game that never ends.

If different damage types are not implemented, then it is crucial for the sake of strategic diversity to give different types of weapons some sort of distinction. I think that the best way to do this is to give different weapon types (and even individual weapons) some kind of special bonus. For instance, cavalry lances should provide a bonus on charge, one handed swords should increase defence (parrying bonus), and warhammers should have some degree of armor penetration. In addition, some wea

As I have stated in my previous thread , one of the features that appeales to me in Elemental is that its setting, a barren wasteland sucked of its magic following an immense war of magic. And while the powers that made such a terrible conflict possible are gone, traces of their terrible wills should be evident in the land. For instance, a dead volcano might rise up in the middle of nowhere, or an immense crater might become a lake as it fi

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I for one love the idea of dead spaces in the map. A world of fantasy needs its foreboding peaks and deadly deserts. To make thing more interesting, some of these places could hide great riches, shards, or other reward that would make traversing them worth it. Moreover, moving large armies around will actually become the great undertaking it should be, as moving your troops across mountains Hannibal-style should not be as easy as marching across a plain (and is frankly more interesting too).

The only playable races are Human and Fallen (evil humans), which are divided into different kingdoms with unique advantages. I think that the idea is that magic is rare in the world of elemental, and therefore you don't have a lot of magical species walking all over the place. More exotic races will probably be modded in once the game is released, though.

I second this. It would be nice for those of us on whose computers the beta does not work. :)

[quote who="SnallTrippin" reply="1" id="2376374"]I'm already sort of confused, I thought the shards would give essence, not mana, so now im wondering how one gets more essence (Other than leveling/special items?). -Also as for OP idea, maybe research where you can cast a spell to change a mana shard's alignment, or somewhat easier, just change where the power is going but only get 1/2 of the normal mana from said source.[/quote] You ge

As soon as I launch elemental, I am greeted with a white screen, yet the cursor appears quite normal. After a few seconds, what I assume is the cinematic begins, as black bars frame the whiteness, and the music is heard. Then appears what I guess ought to be the main menu, which looks like this: <img src="http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4637/mainmenu.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

I'm having trouble getting anything done right now because of the anticipation. Maybe we could include financial damages for our sharp decline in productivity?

Looks like Sin(x)s of a Solar Empire, to me. (Sorry, I just had too)

[quote who="astrath" reply="80" id="2374502"]from IRC: Beta is today "in theory" according to Yarlen[/quote] The "in theory" part sounds so sinister.

pigeonpigeon stole my words; the best part about fantasy worlds is that they contain vast areas that are incredibly dangerous and shrouded in mystery. What better realm to embody that than the ocean? Oceans have always been seen as a hostile and unpredictable places before modern navigation, and I believe that sea monsters figure in about every sea-faring culture out there. I think that it would be great if the seas in Elemental are dangerous places to travel through, yet necessity may someti

I like how the graphics succesfully convey the opressing mood of the post-cataclysm world. The limit between the fertile land and the wasteland really conveys that "a shadow has fallen over Gondor" feeling. The forests in this game feel like proper European forests too, all shady and glum. I just hope that not everything has this gloomy, opressive feeling. I want nice beaches in my empire!