Rhishisikk

Okay, at the risk of being accused of digressing again... I don't recall saying that SD should do all of the stuff we're suggesting. Yes, most of what we want will be modded in, possibly by different modders, some better than others. I know I want to get in on the 'heroes' and 'animal handling' expansions, and probably those for Politics, Espionage, and several others. In the meantime, I'm more than willing to discuss anything and everything. Will the n

Err, okay I've played enough PnP (pencil & paper) games to make this suggestion: limit the amount of Essence the hero can be imbued with by the lower of the hero's level or the channeler's. This means that highly augmented heroes only appear later in the game. Also, please don't forget we're talking about ESSENCE, the irreplaceable commodity of the Channeler. You want Super-hero? Guess what? Your opponent has a stronger channeler than you, and probabl

It's okay. It's worth mentioning again. The general concensus was it probably didn't add enough to the game and SD would leave it for the modders to add in. I can see multiple facets of this issue, but I have other priorities once the mod tools are released.

pigeonpigeon: Okay, so how about this: we keep a set of templates. For example, I have both a holy paladin and a knight template. I want my paladins to keep their holy sword instead of getting the new flaming swords, but I want my knights to make use of the new technology. I select UPGRADE on the knight template, move in the flaming sword, and save the template. New knights will be built with flaming swords. My idle production goes into making flaming

Wintersong: NERVE STAPLE THEM ALL! On the subject of Koonan, I have another wrench to throw into the works. Temporary loyalty might be bought with gifts, or with (Three Kingdoms) MORE RESPONSIBILITY. Yes, you can have Koonan loyal now knowing that he's going to ask for more next year. Ooh, decisions - big rebellion now, or larger rebellion later. Colonization can be adapted for this. You produce rebel 'heroes', who produce unhappiness in your towns.&nbs

Okay, feel free to tell me this is silly. Spontaneous heroes come from idle training structures. I got the idea from Colonization. Idle structures train the populace, increasing output. Idle training structures train the populace for faster unit production. OR they put points into a pool for heroes. The type of hero produced will be random, based on unused weapons and armor in the town stockpile. Where the idea isn't silly: you make a choice between

I like this idea, AND the corrolary, that such curses can be countered/removed. I recommend by quest or 'civilization goal'. Consider the Quest for the Holy Grail. The king is cursed, which curses the land. All the knights go a-questing. I look at Death Curse as a trust fund, mana AND essence invested. So you're less awesome before your end in order to be awesome AT your end. Besides, who ISN'T planning on going down in MP laying land-wasting devast

Ahem. Try a simple concept - RECALL. I'll explain. The more advanced a hero is, the more 'start resources' it costs to migrate him into the next game. Maybe it costs less to put him into a 'reserve pool' where he can be summoned later. Or maybe the hero might migrate, but the Sword of Fiery Awesomeness just doesn't seem so awesome anymore. Things like gold, mana, elite units, heroes, technology, spell advances - all should pull from the same pool of 'next

As I've already said, I support this idea. Militant players should get militant heroes. Players using culture, diplomacy, trade, or espionage should get heroes in those veins. What about city mayors, gaining abilities as the city expands/produces/some other measure? I've also advocated a Court or Council, where heroes have the option of providing Empire bonuses rather than be directly on the board. One of the big moments in Civ4 for me was deciding whether my

On customizing spells - If Elder Scrolls can do it, so can StarDock. If you can customize point-based powers in Champions (a pen and paper game), you ought to be able to do so with spells in Elemental. In fact, this lends itself VERY WELL to campaigning. Instead of flat values, I propose that Effects, Range, Duration, Casting Time, etc. have values that MULTIPLY to determine total difficulty of the spell. This way, I could specialize in one or two elements of a spell

On the matter of upgrades, I see no reason why there can't be an Upgrade to Best option in cities. Clearly swords won't change to scythes, and code is needed so that my paladins upgrade to +4 holy swords instead of +5 swords, but that's retained by a single checkbox (Retain Specials, No Retraining, and a Time Limit checkbox (with either input box or slider) are all things I'd think of adding.) So you DON'T need to design Knight, Knight2, Knight3, ... Knight57. Just make a

Let's not forget a point brought up in Dragon Quest (old tabletop RPG) - ressurection requires a thorough knowledge of both healing AND death. Prophecy movie series (not the one about the mutant animals) - just because you're on the side of the angels doesn't mean that you aren't a total b@$%% ^^&. Consider, for example, the evils that can be done with LIFE magic: Want cancer? Hope you did, cause you got it now. I want to pro

Luckmann states my case best - include everything, but make sure it balances. And yeah, we'll have to mod in the bears, and probably 2/3 of the mounts mentioned in this thread. I'm not seeing a [bear riders] tech option, unless the entire tech tree is that specific. What I *DO* see: Naturalist stack: for not getting eaten by what you're taming. Bears are both omnivore and tempermental , and so will be harder to tame than oth

Two quick questions: 1) If I like how an AI plays online, can I copy it to my local hard drive for offline play? 2) Can I keep track of my own games, and 'train' an AI to play like I do? 2A) What about the same thing for game replays?

I presume that NPC travel (caravans, etc) will also route through waygates? Or are there other things, like zerglings waiting in the shadows of the Way?

Wait. Zubaz, please tell me that doesn't include the mod who made the addition?

Could you better define what you mean by 'ever expanding tech tree'? I'm thinking that no matter how hard you research, there's always another tech higher up, but I've been mistaken before.

[quote who="Luckmann" reply="1" id="1958494"] Wheras(sp?) *I* would prefer to try and convert habitats to a singular mount resource. Fear us, for we are Legion! [/quote] Yes, and so long as the terrain supports the mounts, that should also be a viable option. I'll have various small cavalries, and you'll have a large, unified element - you should win. However, I'll be able to do something else with the time and resources other than converti

I can see why only a few two or three day ritual spells can get cast in a week. MOM did this well, as you had the option of increasing your 'throughput' or other options. You had to choose between a few good spells, one or two GREAT spells, or a horde of 'minor tweak' spells. At the risk of being dense, if the tactical game is daily turns and the production is measured in weeks, then militarizing early and often becomes mandatory. :) Just to point

On the issue of invulnerable soldiers, why not steal a page from TORG? (Yes, I realize I've just posted my age as OLD.) You get hit by a pike for 1d6 damage. Your armor absorbs 8 points of damage. Instead of just 0, there is a chance for you taking a bruise (temporary/shock damage). OR, swipe a page from RoleMaster: damage has two parts, the shock value (hit points) and the possibility of a 'critical', which is actual damage (temporary stat reductio

Lolol, I am also in favor of travelling envoys. I'd say ... tech tree, with the diplomats getting better. Want instant comms? Research it. But that's X number of weeks before you get your bear cavalry or sunstrike or create vampire spells. OTOH, you should ALWAYS be in control when a foreign diplomat visits your channeler. Oh, were you out looking for the Sunstone of Brilliance? Hope your regent or statesman or seneshal (whomever) has good dip

Please watch out for a problem I've noticed with expanding maps - automatic flanking. On a set map, you can hold an 'edge' and have one side secured. If the enemy appears, fully developed, on your 'secure' border, you're going to get pwned before you can re-allocate your army.

I like the idea of a stables where your domesticated animals are grown (not just horses); I CAN, however, easily see the problem if your worgen riders are stabled at the same place as your Chickens of Doom. Naturally, plains aren't where you want to raise bears; caves and forests are better. And yes, you're probably talking some form of charm spell to help domesticate them. But it shouldn't be that much harder than domesticating gryphons, another free-willed and violent an

Simple questions: If we do pre-order, will copies of the player dev tools ship with it? Or is there a way to get them earlier? For that matter, is there a balance guide, libraries, and/or ways to improve/customize the tools themselves?

I like the idea of battles that end with survivors on both sides, including morale and fatigue mechanics. Why? This brings up the issue of RESERVES. Consider one of the big problems with 4X games, the 'Stack of Doom (SoD). Round 1: SoD attacks stack A and wins. Stack A retreats, and stack B fights next round. Round 2: SoD wins against stack B, but less so because they are tired. Reinforcements reach stack A. Round 3: SoD loses against stac