Greyclouds40

I think that the Beta has gotten to a point where we can almost glimpse the final product. There is still a long ways to go before release, however, and I want to give some feedback on the various game systems and encourage more feedback from the community as well. I will use a color coded system that highlights my opinions on the game subsystems: Green indicates that the system just needs some more polish and content, in my

[quote who="Rishkith" reply="19" id="3148774"]Good ideas here. One of the lost Xs of 4X in this game is exploration because we skip straight to expansion. There is no tactical choice of where to settle first because the answer is settle everywhere before the AI spam gets it all. Before I've explored far in the game it already has outposts nearby everywhere. Seems less wild lands and more ... Risk I guess.[/quote] I agree that the exploration part of the game has been sl

[quote who="Malsqueek" reply="11" id="3147186"] Quoting DsRaider, reply 10The reason why monsters are rampaging isn't that the AI is destroying their lairs, it is that the AI is building cities and outposts right beside them and they rampage when placed under ZoC. This could be easily fixed by having monsters home in on the source of the ZoC and then return to their lair. To prevent thieving the lairs could be invincible until their guardian is destroyed first. <br /

I think that Naaarf hit the nail on the head here. Elemental's tactical battles are a sub-feature, not a core mechanic. If you are looking for a strategy game that focuses on tactical battles as a core mechanic, then AOW is the game to play. It is difficult to pick a core mechanic for Elemental. Currently, there is a questing system that differentiates it from the pack (far more developed than AOW's quests). I only p

I think that Yazari nicely illustrated the value of pioneer-spamming. He used them as meat-shields, scouts and (naturally) city founders. Because they are wage-less, they fit all of those roles very handily. Very well-played! In order to combat this, perhaps a unit limit for pioneers should be in place? A faction can only have one or two pioneers on the field at one time? Also, I am wondering if outposts need an overhaul (flat gildar cost to place them and-or maintenanc

I believe that the latest round of AI improvement has been solid; however, some issues remain. As for Derek's questions: 1. I felt that the monster behavior and distinction is starting to approach a "good" quality. Mites are small, but rapidly reproducing menaces (I seek out

[quote who="Xan" reply="21" id="3143708"]The Civilization tree after the first few is worthless. The magic tree after the first few techs is worthless. If they want each tree to mean something they gotta do these things.... Have the Civilization tree have a lot more things you can recruit. The magic tree should have a lot more...well magical stuff in it. Especially strategic spells.[/quote] It's funny that you say th

After they add a few more techs, I would like to see some exclusionary tech tree designs. Here's what I mean: If you research this tech, you cannot research two other techs -- one per other tech tree. Make this for middle and late tech tiers and you add more flavor to mid-game and late-game strategies. Here is one scenario: do you want to research the 9 unit squad size, research late-tier magic items (balanced to make up for smaller squad sizes), or un

[quote who="Kongdej" reply="1" id="3137812"]9: Make prestige modify population Cap (Food)[/quote] Another good suggestion. Now that I think about it, I have only had a level 5 city once in the hours that I have played in this game. Having prestige modify food could promote fewer, larger cities for the non-expansionist.

I voted "Good," though in the context of the current beta. I like the changes -- they are definitely in the right direction. I feel that you guys are working hard to improve the differentiation between the factions and improving the dynamic nature of the game world. Every step that you take here is much appreciated. I noticed the new "wildlands" environments and even killed the glacier monster in the ice realm (sorry, I forget the name, though that was an epic battle for my leve

The current system that the game uses to discourage early and frequent expansion (Prestige) is far too much of a paper tiger to actually accomplish this purpose. First, I will explain my understanding of the prestige system and why it works in theory: * Prestige is a flat quantity that determines your growth rate across your entire empire. Whether you have one city or several, you are assured that X number o

I, for one, totally agree with the removal of the primary statistics. They were total bloat without good, tangible benefits (or at least did not confer immediately obvious benefits). Keeping a trait system (perhaps with stronger benefits, but that will need testing) is far more lightweight and would accomplish the same things as the primary stat system. One suggestion: with the trait system, there needs to be a way for the player to tell whether or not a unit has

These are awesome changes! Really looking forward to playing as the slave-driving, cannon-fodder-based, Magnar now! I would like to second that hammers should get a special feature as well and not the subtle bonus you mentioned in the journal entry. One concern over spears: if spears turn out to both pierce armor AND eliminate the bonuses affixed to other types of weapons, then what weapon counters spears? Will spears be extremely heavy (reduce mo

[quote who="enoeraew37" reply="71" id="3111817"] I've enjoyed playing FE in its current form so I'm not trying to rip on it but anyone who is calling it a more than a 5 is drinking the same koolaid that gave Moo3 a 7. FE seems to have the start of a sound foundation under it and now just needs a robust infusion of content and character to move it from "just a game" to an "experience". I would warn against trying to "teach to the test"..figure out what people think belongs i

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="97" id="3107108"] Quoting Gammit10, reply 94 Because I am such a visual person, I would most prefer to see the faction differentiation. To alter the cities or surrounding land for each faction would be awesome. While the kingdom versus empire land and building differences are already a start, I would ideally like to see some differentiation in the city's buildings. You're going to

One suggestion for the new equipment/gear: I have noticed that non-champion, dedicated support abilities are completely absent from Elemental. By non-champion support abilities, I mean buffs, debuffs, heals and dots that can be cast by mundane troops outside of the spell-casting arena. I think that such abilities can be woven into some of the existing weapons/items, though many of these abilities would have to be added in via new equippable items. Here are some exampl

[quote who="Galwinganoon" reply="13" id="3106347"]Awesome. I can't wait to read the journal that gets into the bits and pieces of differentiation. I voted for Resoln, so I'll briefly talk about them since the wraiths are near and dear to my black, rotten heart. I'd really like to see their population / recruitment controlled by mana and spells rather than prestige. From how I interpret the lore, Ceresa bound all of her subjects to her with a power

[quote who="mqpiffle" reply="53" id="3103482"]Excellent post. One point I would like to bring up is the use of alternative upkeep costs (negative modifiers) on improvements. For instance: Quoting seanw3, reply 27University +20% Research, +2 Intelligence for trained units, -3 Gildar per turn. Same situation. Except this is not a wonder, its in the chain of extraneous research buildings. There could probably be half as many. The maintenance cost

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="58" id="3101854"] Still, I do not believe that the current tactical system is "fun" yet. It was fun the first couple of times in my first game, but the novelty wore off quickly. Rewarding unit diversity (a strategic concept) and astute usage of a small smattering of passive abilities/active abilities (a tactical concept) would improve the current system greatly! Right now? I roll around with one stack of melee units and mostly archers. I also throw in a champi

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="40" id="3101548"] If the goal is to make the tactical battles so basic that they don't affect the outcome vs. automatically resolving, don't include them. I would much rather deal with Civ style auto resolve as the only option, than knowing there is this 'tactical' system tacked on for no other reason than to include it in the feature list. That's a pretty unfair assertion. Tactical battles are pretty fun. T

I particularly like the idea of custom quests for each faction. Here are some ideas for that: Make a four to five tier quest-line for each faction that carries a victory condition upon completion. If the quest-line has significant bonuses for each tier completed, then it might be useful for any strategy to include the completion of a couple of tiers from that quest-line. Make the final stage of the quest-line incredibly difficult to prevent ease in completing the quest for victor

I voted for faction differentiation. If I had to prioritize different aspects of the game to flesh out, it would be the following: (1) Faction differentiation. (2) Weapon balance/diversity (3) Spell diversity (4) City management

I would like to second this. Everyone in this thread (and the developers as well, if they're reading) needs to try this strategy to truly understand how the first strike melee system is broken in the current beta: Strategy taken from this thread: https://forums.elementalgame.com/418617 1. Create a new unit called "Fodder." Equip the unit with clubs and sele

I voted "Good." Here's why: Things I like about my time with the game: * The world is infinitely more inviting to explore than EWoM ever was. * Tactical battles are almost at a good state. I like the fast pacing that is reminiscent of MoM and the inclusion of non-magical, reusable weapon abilities was sorely needed (also, there need to be more of them!). * Unit creation streamlining was for the best in this case. I immediately

Agree with this post with an additional caveat: Alot of players are noting the lack of distinction among the two realms and numerous factions. My suggestion would built upon your second point: have a set of basic weapons that are universal to all factions and have unique properties specific to certain needs. For example, everyone gets: clubs (basic weapon, no bonuses, no detriments) spears (bonus to mounted units, less damage to armor) longswords