Ratya48

Okay thank you. It's just frustrating seeing it in my impulse and then trying to install it and not being able to. [e digicons]X|[/e]

So I preordered elemental a few weeks ago, I.E. after the beta. It shows up in my impulse, but I can't download it because my SN is invalid. I understand that I won't be able to play until monday, but I would like to be able to preload. Will this be changed, or do I just have to wait?

I really like this idea. It makes for a much more dynamic diplomatic landscape.

I think personal (both troops and sovereign) bonuses are definitely part of it. However, in a more fantastical setting I feel like tech shouldn't be as important as it would be in a sci fi or modern game. The difference between a well-made sword and a poorly made sword are significant, but not game changing.

Try Homeworld 2. Older game, but still looks pretty good. A 3D space RTS. Lots of fun

I HATE SPIDERS GET THEM AWAY

Sounds like you like sim type games too. I would suggest either Tropico 3 or Supreme Commander. I've only played the demo for Tropico, but it seems like a lot of fun from what I've played. Supreme Commander is pretty great, although I haven't been able to play online for some reason, which is frustrating.

Thank you everyone.

My video card is actually pretty good. It can handle ME2 and Dragon Age fine. Not on the highest levels, but around medium with decent performance.

Hey all everybody, I'm considering buying GTA IV for the PC, but I'm a little apprehensive about it because I heard that the PC port had a lot of issues. I was wondering if anybody knew if these issues had been fixed or not. Here are my system's specs: Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz 4 GB Ram ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 Windows Vista x64 Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, I'm pretty sure there are going to be different kits you can equip your soldiers with (scouting is the only I've actually seen, but perhaps medical?). All magical units will be imbued by their sovereign directly at the expense of essence, so they will be incredibly rare and on the level of heroes. There are also magical creatures, but those will also be few and far between as I understand.

You spelled campaign wrong. Just so you know. [e digicons]:grin:[/e]

Why does everyone feel it is necessary to write "biotics(spells)"? They are not spells, they are biotics. They are not magic, they are a scientific, if fictional, biological ability. Everyone who writes about ME seems to have an irresistible urge to wrongly and incorrectly label biotics as spells. Nobody did this for the Plasmids in Bioshock. Imagine you developed a game for which you came up with the concept of little people that cling to your arm and fling themselves at enemies at your comm

I feel where you're coming from Istari, but that's not something you want to run out of control. I'm okay with multiple screens, but not too many. I guess the whole thing just comes down to balance.

In terms of immersion for UI in strategy games, one thing that helps is considering period/setting of the game. Let's be honest here; strategy games tend to be significantly less immersing than other genres. If you can use the UI style to place the player at least in the right context, I think you've done your job. Empire: Total War had a parchment shifting noise associated with most button clicks which really put me in an older era. GC2 had a more futuristic looking interface which made the

What you (OP) are talking about is fascinating, but it is a simulation, not a game. IMHO, there are two main reasons people play games (that are applicable). The first is competition. Competition is fun, people like it. For it to be fun, it must at least seem fair. One thing that makes a game appear fair is a simple, comprehensible set of rules. While the system you describe would not necessarily be random, the calculations would be so abstract and complex that it would appear to be.

I don't know if any of you have played Mount&Blade, but that game had a three-step siege battle. First you would fight for the walls, and then you would fight in the streets and it would culminate in a battle for the keep. So that's where I got some of my ideas for siege battles. Very different game, but I thought it was a good idea. It just makes sense to me to give the player the option to hole up in his keep, denying the enemy the heart of the city until reinforc

In the traditional TBS format of exactly one tile per city, siege warfare is a straightforward modification to open-field combat, the only differences being the bonus to defence from city fortifications and the ability of siege units to reduce this bonus. However, since Elemental has multiple tiles in a single city, the system of warfare becomes much more problematic. In the traditional format, both attacker and defender are fighting over one tile. The same holds for open field battles in Ele

My favorite form of customization in games is dynamic customization. That is, instead of just choosing what your character/faction is directly, your actions help determine what your character becomes. This, IMHO, is far more engaging than simply direct customization. It makes you feel like you are part of an evolving story, instead of just designing a piece for a game.

I have been reading Gamespot and Gamespy for the past 2 or 3 years, and my favorite parts of those are when they release special features that discuss the gaming industry as a whole, as opposed to previews/reviews of single games. Unfortunately, they come out with these types of articles infrequently, if regularly. Does anybody know of any sites that focus on this sort of writing? Thanks in advance.

Just thought everyone should know.

I think an appropriate solution to soldiers dying of old age is to assume that new soldiers are automatically being recruited into the army at the same rate that the old soldiers retire. It doesn't really hold up under close inspection, but honestly it's good enough for me.

If this helps, the only really negative reviews I saw of ME2 seemed to be those of old-school-die-hard RPG fans who complained because it stripped away a lot of the core elements of the RPG (inventory, turn-based combat, etc.) So if you're looking for a traditional RPG just in a space setting, don't go with this one. IMO, definitely worth it, but definitely get ME1 as well and play through it first. It's an excellent game in its own right, and the continuity is really necessary to get the ful

Quick question: with all this talk of dynasties and such do we know yet what the scope of this game is going to be? Are we talking decades? Centuries? Millenia? Eons? How much time will a turn represent? How many turns will an average game last?

The thing that interests me the most is the thought of capturing and holding creatures to research bonuses against them. It seems very realistic, and an awesome (and by awesome I mean highly unfortunate) event would be an escaped creature. For a spider it wouldn't be a big deal. But imagine if your Archdemon just escapes. Bad news. Also, this idea (the OP) allows for more cultural flavor for each faction. If you live near a dark forest swarming with spiders, your faction will eventual