polobo

Once you've gotten the equipment in the proper inventory you can click on the shield icon next to the HP bar to actually choose what items are equiped.

I agree on the value of the binary cache. I guess the indexing of the XML "solves" a related issue in that you do not have to load everything into memory but divide your data into chucks that can be loaded separately and only to the (broad) level of detail required. It would likely require a larger effort at this point to retrofit something like this in as opposed to simply loading all the XML into one massive DOM (from raw XML or from a cached binary format), load in MO

I have never really tried working with XML cached into a binary but that does seem to be an ideal way to work with a static DOM. EDIT: To summarize the following - use XSLT to generate multiple indexes that can be used by the loading/creation code to select elements that are then retrieved in full from either the original source files OR from a structured cache also created using XSLT. One thought that came to my mind, to deal with the size and element count iss

As mentioned elsewhere leftover units of conquered soverigns remain on the map; cities disappear however (should be reversed - capture cities but kill units). Better yet, have them convert to your side. I also got the "road bug" I saw in another post - where the game eats up a single processor (dual core system with constant >=50% load) Question - is the revenue/expense model working? It doesn't even look close to being stable and so I figured I'd ask

Units can stack in a couple of ways: Armies Settlements In either case "un-stacking" a unit causes it to immediately move to an adjacent tile compared to where it is stacked; which appears to be random. Random is not good, especially for detaching from an army. Should give the user a grid-selector cursor when they click the little "eject" arrow so they can indicate where to eject. Also, with settlements, the number of tiles should b

With my soverign and a scout standing on the same tile I hit the TAB key and the screen scrolls to the lower-left corner where the compass is (and the compass seems to disappear). Hitting TAB again goes back to "The Soverign's Army". I have no other units on the map - though a squadron is inside my captial. I was trying to cycle to the captial (which TAB normally does) and discovered this bug. EDIT: Even after moving my squadron out of the capital I still only can TA

First launch did not generate a map. Once I finally got a map the soverign could not move (ever); and when I founded a town I could not build anything. (2nd Game Worked Fine - though first game when the soverign settled the town he remained visible on the town tile whereas the 2nd game he disappeared into the town) Pop-ups (e.g, Research Completed) need to have their "OK Button" acquire focus so hitting "Enter" clears the screen instead of issuing an "End-Turn"

Just did a double-take on the "layered monsters" thing: aside from massive numbers how can the "lower" dungeon levels contain stronger monsters while the upper levels contains lesser ones (though in somewhat greater numbers)? I guess the lower levels may not care about getting out into the world and instead happily guard their treasure from the weaker upper levels and thus to get to the treasure you have to "bypass" them but would you want to incorporate each individual layer defending agains

I've had many of the same thoughts and ideas (though not the "layered cave" one which is quite insightful) - and summarized them as follows: There is a living world of which we are simply a part. There is no "re-spawning" - once the intial world is populated every subsequent state is the result of a "defined" process. The real problem is where to start, and stop, with this "living world" layer from a programming and design standpoint - and thus where compromises (e.g.,

I like the general idea of devoting resources in-combat to counter what the other magic user is doing; but also incorporating "personal defense" mechanics - A battle mage should able to shrug off some damage and even avoid it without actively devoting resources. The main reason I like the "counter-spell" possibilities is that a Channeler with a stronger supporting army can neutralize the opposing channeler and allow the superior army to win where it probably would not if the other chann

Given the nature of the cataclysm and technology research are there any plans to incorporate "ancient technology" that is more powerful than anything to be discovered since the re-settling of the earth? This was done to a degree in GalCiv2 but was mostly event driven where I would think Elemental would be more conducive to tying their discovery to quests or encountering/defeating a channeler with said "artifact". Also, any plans to incorporate sentient weapons? Was partial

Even the victors should have their weapons and armor degrade in that case - with possibly having magic equipment degrade more slowly if at all. Magic weapons, however, can degrade in that (for example) a +5 weapon eventually becomes a +0 weapon and then degrades normally until it rusts and falls apart. If the weapon is wielded by someone who can also wield magic (or is maintained by a "magical smithy") the rate of decrease would be considerably to totally slowed. It would co

Just some quick thoughts that have sprung up regarding having the game become more challenging as it is played. One source of information that I don't recall seeing in the (admittedly limited) TBS/RPG games that I've played is having the game capture data as people play the game and then incorporate those experiences into later attempts - basically a learning AI. These are just some quick thoughts meant to inspire ideas but that do not consider computational resources. 1

The biggest discrepancy is opinion on how useful"out-of-character (OOC)" knowledge should be. TBS games have long made heavy use of OOC knowledge and compensate by giving the same to the AI; whereas traditional RPG players (especially off-line/pen-and-paper) would like to minimize the influcence of OOC knowledge. Would be really nice to have a option to choose between the two to appease everyone. The following thoughts can readily be adapted to either implement them (minimize OOC

Chadeo: Its not the remote location that protects them but the roads... [e digicons]:P[/e]

One of the biggest negatives of "colonies" and vassals in Civ4 is the "team diplomacy" factor. If you are friendly with anyone you are generally safe from being attacked by them. But, if you immediately form or take a vassal the AI considers the "average" of their diplomatic rating for you AND your vassal - which basically makes playing friendly with big neighbors impossible unless you go solo. Avoiding this downside should be considered if you want to make vassals feasible

If dugeons ARE exploreable then hopefully they will not allow us to contol the unit scouting (unless your channeler scouts). 1) Scouting takes time so your army is waiting around for the scout to hopefully get back and report 2) The scout could die or get lost and thus never return (or take really long) 3) If the scout is really mad at the soverign for some reason he could lie (after seeing a dragon - "no sir, no dragons just a buncy of little bunnies) Of cours

[quote who="kryo" reply="4" id="2364901"]Email [email protected] as astrath noted. Unless your bank kept the funds-check hold on record, there won't be anything there since it won't actually be charged until the beta is released.[/quote] Somewhat OT, the wording is you wouldn't be charged until the final game is released; not just the beta. Not sure I'd complain either way but paying for a beta seems to be a win-win proposition without need money to be exchanged. Back o

I think I've seen this somewhat mentioned before but the upgrade aspect shouldn't only be about research but all supply. Unless you bring along a blacksmith with your army it should take time (any maybe effort) to get those newly desgined weapons and armor to your forces in the field. Of course, your home guard can be upgraded immediately - though now you need some way to prioritize who gets the supplies. Also, sending your weapon cart off to join the army should have its