LightofAbraxas

[quote]Any thoughts on bringing back the uncommon and rare tech variables, and actually making them uncommon/rare and for things that matter like mid-late game techs that are powerful like weapons/armor/building unlocks? I thought it added a pretty interesting and unique aspect to Elemental although I hated the way they were originally implemented (since they were pretty much pointless, no offense). The more random variables (to an extent) the more replayability which means a lot in a strateg

I think it's going to be released later today. My crystal ball says early-mid evening.

This is really fantastic. I can't think of another company with this level of dedication to their customers. I hope that you all get a nice vacation knowing that many (at least) of the community are thrilled with the direction this game is going.

[quote]Where did you hear that it comes out today?[/quote] https://forums.elementalgame.com/400368

[quote]I suppose it would fall into making the proper housing buildings to "produce" a different kind of specialist instead of the default one. And then have things that cost this new type of specialist instead of the regular one (University: requires 20 regular specialists and 5 elite specialists).[/quote] Yep, that's what I meant. Sorry if I wasn't clear. I still think there will be an AI problem in implementing this.

[quote]Scared of being forced to make choices in sovereign creation?[/quote] It's a good attempt at faction differentiation, but not so good an implementation of it, imho.

[quote]Okay, I'd like an actual answer to this - why does it cost any points at all to have this trait? It is purely aesthetic, and offers absolutely no mechanical benefit.[/quote] Good point. Aside from the fact that combat troops before say, 1990 have traditionally been all-male. But, since there's no gameplay difference, I understand your point.

[quote who="abomination5" reply="22" id="2845270"]What does this have to do with 1.1? I haven't played the betas. The only thing I noticed is that shards now generate mana. Is that all 1.1 has to offer? [/quote] That and population as a resource. And FPS optimizations. And balance passes. And tech tree modifications. And... some other stuff. Someone else might be more helpful.

[quote]I love the challenge this game presents. It is so complex, but unlike any other game I've had, this one has got me fully engaged and I'm loving every session with it. -.- [/quote] You're kidding, right? This game is good (now), but I'm not exactly sure I'd call it complex.

I'm not a pro at game development, but changing the text in the research descriptions should really be a trivial change in the code. Then again, what do I know?

You know, it's relatively easy (so I've been told) to create custom resources, such as specialist population. This should be relatively easy to mod into the game. Having said that, I don't think that the AI would be able to use this effectively in a mod until we get some more access to it. Here's hoping.

[quote]Can't see any changes. Still ugly "you". Still good vs bad. Bad guys are ugly (why?). Same factions with no real differences. The view of the world is still sucks for the "epic" strategy game (cloth map is much better for playing). So what was changed? Mana pool? Bugs? Is it all?[/quote] Patience. I'm 99% confident that all this will be adressed. Only so much can be done in one update, homes.

[quote]Huh? I thought that v1.2 was the "free for everyone" mini-expansion, and v1.3 was to be the "free for the early customers" mini-expansion. If this is incorrect, was is the time scale for when you plan to do the first mini-expansion?[/quote] Nope. We're getting free small updates in addition to major expansions. I think they've split the team between ongoing development and expansion work. It's a pretty sweet deal, imho.

This is a good question that I'm curious to know, as well. I've seen it implied both ways by different developers.

I've gotta say that I agree with Steven here- I like the art style. But, I do wish my Sovereign's avatar wasn't so thick around the waist. Food is supposedly hard to come by, but my guy looks like he eats McDonald's twice a day!

[quote]It will likely take 'years' to take the shortest route to the closest inn. What gives?[/quote] It depends on your speed relative to the speed of light. Judging by my FPS, the speed of light is pretty slow in the Elemental universe... [e digicons]:grin:[/e]

I like these ideas. Nice post. [quote quoting="post"] Specialist pops should also be a LOCAL resource -- as in, having them in one city does not allow them to support buildings in another city! For city leveling purposes, have them count for multiples of standard pops. [/quote] I especially like this. I've been suggesting population as a local resource since the system was implemented, but there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for it- I'm not sure w

You know, I think what it comes down to is that Stardock was the victim of extremely high expectations, coupled with the fact that this game fills a void in a genre that has been largely neglected. I think the post-release backlash is could actually be viewed as a backhanded compliment. The initial release wasn't horrible, but it didn't really blow you away, either. Seeing that, Stardock has dedicated a division to game improvements and thrown in the expansion packs for

[quote who="Sethai" reply="18" id="2843710"] apologies for my poor choice of words. i didn't mean it to sound like that. i just want the settlement/influence system to be more organic and razing a city presented as less of a suicidal measure. but i stand by my point; the changes i suggested are more about mechanics than forcing behaviour. [/quote] Whoops, I misunderstood, then. I apologize. I think that we can agree that this aspect of the game needs work. [e

[quote who="xStarfirex" reply="15" id="2843624"]What if the game was filled with more negative map points. Currently we have no negatives to really consider when picking our city locations. If we had things like caves and dark woods that would spawn tough monsters even early in the game. Or perhaps existing terrain like swamps could mean that population doesn't grow as quickly. I am sure people could come up with lots of ideas. The gist is that I would love to have to go through the thought p

[quote who="Sethai" reply="13" id="2843590"] this is what i do, and it's the sort of playstyle that should be encouraged. make it more apparent that this was the way the game was supposed to be played, [/quote] This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've seen posted on these forums. To suggest that your favored playstyle is the way the game "should" be played and encouraged in everyone elses playstyle is just absurd. Sorry, but it just is. Not

Thanks. Just as an addendum, I do think that it's important that v1.1 is stable. I don't want to give the impression that I didn't.

From my (very!) limited understanding of the game industry, I have to say that I think that the release of 1.1 isn't as do-or-die as some people are making it out to be. Yes, it is very important that Stardock demonstrates their committment to making this game great. The release wasn't ideal, I understand, and it's very important that the market realizes that this game is much improved. But. This game will be re-reviewed with the release of the expansions.</strong

[quote who="AlLanMandragoran" reply="6" id="2842243"] What if the amount of tiles under one's control added a boost to mana generation? I mean, if magic comes from the land then one could infer that the more land under one's control should add more power. This wouldn't change the mechanics of how shards and buildings affect mana generation but maybe for every 50 or 100 tiles under one's control there is +1 mana generation. [/quote] Good post, but I can't say I agree with

I agree with the OP wholeheartedly. I know that even the developers (or Frogboy, anyway, according to a previous post) consider this to be an issue. Just a few thoughts: 1) I think that the way resource production is set up is a fundamental, but not fatal, shortcoming of the game design. Due to the lore and the game engine, there is no easy fix. The Civ system springs to mind as an elegant system that works well, but it's just not consistent with either the lore or easily impleme