delad

OKay, some very interesting ideas here. I'd love the concept of national ideas/doctrines to be incorporated into the game. However, the idea of sliders doesn't appeal to me here, it was okay with EU but i don't think Elemental is the game for it. First of all, i think we should sperate national ideas from doctrines. National ideas are, well, national ideas (democratic representation/ capitalism/ etc) but doctrines should be more specific (cavalry focus/defensive nature magic). T

personally, I'd like a map shaped in 6 dimensions. but having a gorgeous rimfall would be sublime too.I like the look of the old style 2D maps SD seem intent on having, it would really lend some authenticity, at least for me. I used to spend hours in school drawing fantasy maps for my RPG games i used to run. They were terrible, truly ugly things but i used to love creating them (even if i only had any use for some of them). In fact i remember buying the LotR rpg (can't remember what

How about giving the player a choice of coat of arms at the start of the game (as opposed to faction specific), kind of like... damn [e digicons]>:([/e] can't remember the name of the game. Basically, you would chose a birth sign at character creation adn that sign would confer certain bonuses. So i'm thinking along similar lines. However, the idea of including some kind of heraldric design thingy (using real world heraldric motifs, etc) sounds... [e digicons]:drool:[/e] . Or

I wouldn't like the idea of predetermined cities (especially given the context of the world we're playing in). Even the idea of predetermined locations feels a bit limiting, but i suppose you could put in some locations that are 'prime' city locations and it's up to the player to locate them (or not). Although that might unbalance the game.

Vandenburg, I don't mean to get on your case but if you read the whole page again you'll see that what is potentially on offer is actually a way of increasing the choices that a player has to (or can) make. You've taken GW Swicord's off the cuff description and applied that to how it will work. I'd actually agree with the whole thrust of what he has to say but that still doesn't mean that you can't found a city using a massive amount of essence. You can 'encourage' a village to take root in a

hey vordak, have you pre-ordered?

some good stuff there. it seems like a novel way to deal with founding cities and city sprawl. But the problem here would be the computer choosing too many 'sub-prime' areas and leaving you with a shortfall or lack of access to specific resources (ie no bears). Maybe a combination of your idea (where villages can be persuaded to take root) with what has been hinted at elsewhere (specific places are urban-setting friendly). This would mean quite a lot of city friendly squares though and i'm no

time to get cracking. Have i ever told you (i.e. the person reading this) that not only are you a wonderful, charming individual but that your honesty and principled nature are irreplaceable fillips in these dark and untrusting times? please, have a beer on me [e digicons]:beer:[/e] [e digicons]O:)[/e]

abandon 'realistic' growth rates then and adopt a fantastical calender of 14 'eargs' per 'suan', with each 'earg' consisting of 3 'fuineth' and 6 'la' per 'fuineth'; montag, luan, naile, dasa, sanch, anyung. every turn can be an earg or multiple of earg and growth rates set at map selection screen if one choses (or allow the map generator to chose the best rate based on map type).

At risk of (re) iteration, I think JRRT rules when you are talking about epic fantasy (although i haven't read him in years now). How he treats right and wrong is immense, but i suppose given when he was writing it isn't that incredible to believe and, despite his dry style, he still manages to convey incredible emotion. i remember being annoyed with him for making such a puny character into such a hero (when i was a teenager) but as i grew up i began to understand what he was attempting to d

[quote who="Wintersong" reply="25" id="1961936"] Only fair way is the order in which people preordered. FIFO style. Damn, why did i wait a few days to preorder? If people cannot play the beta as soon as it's available, they are going to complain. A lot. Let's hope that Karma doesn't gives privileges for the beta... [/quote] [damn] here's hoping... [e digicons]>_>[/e]

good stuff!

how about spells that affect pop growth? or what about how the TW series did turns? ie 1 turn is 6 months iirc. this takes care of population growth. if they included something similar along army movement (ie movement points depending on types of troops and commanders, etc) this could also be resolved.

Haven't read much sci-fi in quite a few years but i recenly read Alastair Reynolds "Revelation Space" trilogy and it blew my mind. I also read Richard Morgan, again excellent stuff. both authors are at polar opposites of the sci-fi spectrum, Reynolds is very much space opera, ie writing across centuries where the charatcters grow old, die, even within the pages of the same book. May seem strange and off-putting but he handles it very well and it actually fits the epic stage he creates. Reynol

[quote]I'm hoping for nodes/crystals as fortifiable positions. Build a wall, build a mote, build a tower, etc. And if you build a city right next to it, it'll be automaticly incorporated into that city, and any city walls will go around it, like it was a part of the city.[/quote] me too, but i'd like the opportunity to move minor shards. Not many and it should cost me to do so.

some valid points for and against. Personally, I'm a turtler and always have been. However,i think i like the idea of having immovable shards. Would definitely increase the dynamism of play. Not saying all of them should be immovable, but maybe the stronger ones should be attached with weaker shards possible to transport. you could make it a specific spell or tech that enables transportation of the weaker shards, i.e. as a player, you'd have to invest a not inconsiderable amount of resources

same same, spartan. I'm quite annoyed at this poster as i was salivating at the idea of reading another dev journal. damn!! [e classic]X-([/e]

also really looking forward to this one, but obviously Elemental is still my fav 'looking forward to' game . I've downloaded the dark fantasy setting for CivIV's Beyond the Sword. have been told it's pretty neat so i'm hoping this will help whittle away the time between now and then. By the way, 1) what's the ETA on D3 and 2) when is the beta? can't seem to find it on the site

I actually wouldn't mind the way that could possibly develop, i.e. you might actually have to raze some buildings/replace them with some of your own faction's to create a fully functioning city. Without doing so wouldn't mean a useless city, merely that it would produce lower level units/benefits/whatever. Defensive structures could be repaired and units there healed (so that it isn't completely defenseless). I also like the idea of sliders as done in EU (along with events and characteristics

afraid i can't help you out with such technical stuff, however i can give you (yet more [e digicons]:omg:[/e] ) karma for suggesting it [e digicons]k1[/e]

thoroughly enjoyed the read, although i have to admit i was somewhat skeptical at first. First rate job, the forums here are excellent, as are many of the posts. I really hope for a system that goes beyond RPS and, as Tamren has described it, it doesn't have to by labrynthine in exposition in order to produce some seriously mouth watering tactical propositions. As for where to go from here, I'd suggest crystallising what's been said and introduce it again as another post. The more the merrier

I would hope, given the RPG element, that even if it did take several turns for your Channeler to found a city, he/she would have had the time to actually develop certain skills/abilities (ie encountering PvE, picking up resources,etc) that the immediate city builder wouldn't and that these skills/abilities/items could be translated in benefits somewhere else. Thus providing yet another strategic choice for the player to make and avoiding a possible disadvantage (as it most certainly was on t

[quote]Towns could be specialised in which they export raw materials or someth ing. Much better than a random mine building on a resource tile. Especially if that tile isn't near a city.[/quote] [e digicons]k1[/e] personally, I think this is a fabulous idea and would love to see it implemented. One would only have few cities ( unless one goes all out and spends an untenable amount of mana on building many cities), but one could develop hamlets and villages near important

Excellent posts, some food for thought. I really loved the SMAC style of research. I'd have to come down on the side of 'blind/focused/specific' model. Offers great way around the 'blind' V 'min/maxing'. How about including an ability or skill that your channeller can choose at development (gain through levelling or build specific building) that gives an ability to 'see' several choices ahead on a research tree and adds a bonus to researching that path (i.e. costs mana to 'see' ahead)? Or too

I like the idea of a 'scout' ability or unit. simple but effective