LightofAbraxas

Alright, version 0.9 has been posted. This is the "beta" version. I think that I got all of the bugs, but there may be some balance considerations to take care of in the late-game. I also plan on adding about 10ish more spells, but I've been having some problems getting them to work. Feedback would be greatly appreciated! *Update* Fixed a couple damage calculations. Sirocco and Heat Armor calculations were a bit off. To do for v1.0: <

[quote who="Supreme Shogun" reply="15" id="2860898"]Question: have you gotten an enchant spell to work with minvalue and maxvalue? Just wondering if something I did wrong or non-damage spells don't work like that. Most things like Bull's and Mage armor etc. are a fixed amount. False Life I was trying to use our formula of 10hp + intelligence modifier again. Seemed like it didn't work at all. [/quote] I haven't been able to get any sort of

It's fairly entertaining, sure. But honestly, it's not really a great strategy game. Elemental is sorely lacking in strategic depth, and I have to say that it concerns me a little that the developers posting on the thread mention the interface and not game mechanics, though I guess that this doesn't necessarily mean that it's not on their radar.

I still get Glenn's Theme stuck in my head when I invade one of the Empires. Ah, nostalgia.

Well, I'd be interested in a group project, too. I know a little bit about the spell xml, but absolutely nothing about the rest of the game code. What did you all have in mind?

ATTN: Myself. You have wasted one minute of your life reading this post.

[quote]What's the best way to lay out cities?[/quote] Anywhere there's resources. [quote]How should I specialize my cities?[/quote] Based on the surrounding resources. [quote]What's the best tech to pursue?[/quote] Warfare, with a little Civ and Magic. [quote]How can I use my spells to the maximum effect?[/quote] Don't bother, they're pretty much worthless in the mid to late game. Not trying to be snide or even funny, but that's really a

Yeah, I think that you're right about the ranges and areas of effect. As it is, the Fire school is the only one that does this adequately. There are quite a few continuous damage spells, but I could probably add an AoE to a couple more books as well as a couple short range, high powered spells. I finished the rebalancing and all the particle effects today for all the books but Light and Shadow, so hopefully I can get the last few spells implemented and release v0.9 tomorrow.

Unfortunately, it's not (just) an AI problem, it's a mechanics problem. The game doesn't have the depth at the moment where distinct strategies are even possible. Get the best weapons. Get the best armor. Get as many units as you can, and you'll win.

Also, you can use SetUnitStat to make a unit's stat take a specific value (rather than adjusting it up or down).

Just FYI, Lifesteal doesn't actually work, at the moment. It damages the caster for the value entered, and does 1 or 2 damage to the target. Also, does anyone know what stat is used to reduce DefendableDamage? Is it defense?

That I don't know, but I'm guessing that this is left over from when mana was a local resource...

Yeah, I've used it in a couple places, at 25% and 75%. I haven't actually done a test to see if they work exactly 25 and 75% of the time, but they seem to be about right- one works more often than the other, and niether work every time.

Heavenfall, i t works in the spell xml. I haven't tested it anywhere else, though.

[quote]Heck, even modders know that there's a huge difference between a system that sounds good on paper and played the way you expect it to be played, and a system played by people looking to exploit any and every loophole for an easy win.[/quote] Amen Brotha (or Sista)! A very important point that not many people recognize.

It's not just good, it's the best 4x space game in the past 10 years. The AI is superb. It will require actual thinking by you each turn on higher difficulty levels. The different factions have different personalities, which is a plus. You get to design your own ships. But... the "theme" is a little cartoony. The ambience is uninspired. So, if you want to know that you're playing a game, albeit a good one, I'd say that it's 50 dollars well spent.

Yep, I heard that Jesus was arranging the Second Coming to fix Elemental, too. I mean, it's not like he's been employed quite a while, right?

Willkommen!

Oh, well, don't let me steal your thunder, then. Helpful guide, like I said. One thing that the game could certainly use is more spells.

Nice guide. Where were you three weeks ago, lol? If I could, here are a couple more useful tags. %b Can be used to give a spell a cost or perform an effect per turn of its duration, surprisingly. 1 Does what it says. The following is used to define a spell effect Effect file name&

From reading the game code, I think that Nature's Bounty requires that the city already be producing food. Could this be your problem?

[quote]Building one Minas Tirith[/quote] Personally, being able to design the defensive layout used in tactical combat when each of my cities is attacked is one of my dreams for this game. Having said that, I'm approximately 97% sure that it's not going to happen.

[quote]That's not really fair. There are decisions that are made for a game far above the level of Lead Designer. They have responsibility for the execution, they don't always have responsibility for the design instructions they are given.[/quote] More seriously, this was my impression, too. I think that there was a deliberate attempt to appeal to a wider audience. I have to wonder if the current direction of Firaxis was part of his decision to leave. In the interview I read, he cited

Jon Shaefer kicked my dog and stole my girlfriend!

Yeah, if I did include them, I had planned on rearranging the magic tree a little bit to have some intermediate techs before each book tech, which would all be seperate. With a little bump to the tech exponent, I think that would keep the factions from ending up with them all. But, I like your way better, it's just going to take a little investigation on my part to figure out how all the tech/quest xml works. The main problem that I see is this. Now, most of the schools have a