tjashen

I never played MoM, so my opinions on how I'd like to see things work in Elemental are based on what's already there, with some really general concepts from some other games I've played (no other 4x fantasy games in my library, unless Warlords III counts). I do break out Alpha Centauri on occasion though, but I can't think of a thing in that game that I'd like to see in Elemental that Elemental doesn't already have, or is close to getting right (while terraforming is cool in Alp

Well, Kael's only been on the job for 3 weeks, we can't expect Rome in a day you know. I do think the game is going in the right direction. Even at 1.09E, it has become pretty good (I actually like it a lot). They can't please everyone though (I like the old Mana system), and since this is a BETA we can focus on what is working and try to make that better. The sooner we get a beta with a working dodge, though, the sooner we can evaluate how good it s

Yeah, the 17 accuracy versus the 5 dodge (assuming 10 dex at 1st level) does have me wondering a bit. Assuming straight probabilities (i.e. no square/squareroot), that's still only around a 30% or so chance of the dodge working. And with 2 points being added to accuracy every level, even with putting all 3 points into Dex for that next level, you'd only add 1.5 to your dodge skill, so Dodge becomes less and less effective. And if square/squareroot is in force, then 5 versu

This is a statistical exercise only. Yes, in the real world tactics would come into play, but these peasants bash first, ask questions later. Also, all Knights, Heroes, and the monster are armed for Melee (no ranged attacks). Peasants are using the same generic, basic weapon (clubs), and do not have a shield and are unarmored, although feel free to elaborate what having these items might do for their chances, should you so wish.

There has been a pretty deep discussion about probabilities in a few different threads here. It's interesting to see the different takes on what people expect/would like to see happen, odds wise in combat. I'm thinking this might be a good time to ask a more general question. What do you think the chances should be for success? Reply to the following three situations. Assume all peasants have a basic weapon (club), nothing fancy. 1) 100

It took me a couple of reads to understand what you are trying to convey, Archonsod. As it stands now, (if I AM understanding this correctly), you have an Accuracy vs Dodge roll, followed by a Strength vs Defense roll. If I grasp your concept correctly, the second roll would simply determine penetration of the armor, with the third (Damage) roll being a set value (DWeapon Strength, plus strength bonus). Hmmm... interesting. Anyways, I got a l

I'm quite content beta-testing the 1.09n patch. However, I've seen a few mentions of some people becoming a little frustrated with crashes, broken game mechanics, etc. and who might want to play with 1.09E again for a bit while we wait for 1.1. Plus, we might have a person or two who accidentally install 1.09n, if their Impulse is set to show beta patches. Is there a way to do this through Impulse? Which doesn't involve a full reinstall? Note that y

Good to know there's a new beta out there. I'll hold off until a few of you here are able to successfully download the new patch. 1.09GB does sound a little excessive, though. Shouldn't this patch be smaller? It's just a few fixes, from what I can see, but they have been working on it for a few days... Also, for the poster above that can't play anymore (Delmoroth). When you reinstall, you should be able to disable the 'show all available patches' beta p

Remember that the other 'Role Playing' style games out there have skills you can increase as well, most of the time. Combat Speed is a skill; so is Accuracy and Dodge. Being able to influence these abilities through Character building adds to the flexibility of the system. Sometimes you may just want to boost one of these abilities, if a Stat influences more than one ability. Being able to increase sight distance and spell resistance might be fun as well, as long as th

Good to see the changes to Bows! Might I also suggest a change to Character/Empire creation where, if you have the Bows ability you start out with Crude Bows, instead of having Cedar Longbows available from the start. Researching bow tech would give you the next bow tech earlier as well (so when your research makes Crude Bows available, you actually get Shortbows, and when Shortbows become available, then you'd get Cedar Longbows, due to your special ability). I ca

Currently, in 1.09n, food seems to be the huge limiting factor in building cities. I'm finding myself having to hold off on settlement upgrades, so I can build that next city I'm thinking about, and several Cities have ended up holding off on leveling up because I don't have the food to spare for more huts/houses to house the necessary population, at least until I research the next available food boosting tech or wait around for that granary/irrigation structure to finish being built.</

I was browsing the .xml of some unit's I had designed earlier today, and there is already a leveling stat boost mechanic in the stats. Mostly for things like accuracy and hit points, though. So it shouldn't be too hard to raise other stats in the background, if it's deemed a good idea. Looks like some good ideas, guys!

[quote who="Trojasmic" reply="3" id="2830581"]you might be onto something there OP... perhaps i would want to wait 1 more turn for my attack if i'm mostly a fire shard guy and want to have an extra effect during the summer![/quote] This is what I was thinking when suggesting it. And also why I said a nominal bonus, not a huge one. Just enough to make you think about holding things off for 1-3 turns, but not so much that you ALWAYS will hold off because the bonus is so awesome

[quote who="Jarod Silverstar" reply="15" id="2830553"]Also, they need to make gaining magic be about using magic. How do you gain magic currently? You research it with the tech tree to make it available to research again. But once you have a spell, as long there is mana available, any channeler or imbued champion can cast it. Oh look, its late game and I just managed to recruit a new champion, the next turn I imbue him and pow, he can cast any spell available to me, level 10 on dow

Well, Dodge is broken for now apparently (see relevant thread), so it simply comes down to Attack Strength versus Defense (armor) for now, guys and gals. So, for now, if you want to wade through enemy units without taking damage, you'll need uber armor! I'm sure they will fix Dodge soon (not this week though, with it being Thanksgiving and all). So, if I NOW understand combat mechanics correctly, it's accuracy versus dodge (dex modifies bo

I just tried raising Dex to 63 (31 dodge) on a character, versus a 23 accuracy. No armor, was hit every time. Dodge skill did go up (1/2 of Dex, to 31), btw. So, for now it's not how nimble you are, but how thick your armor is... Was dodge working in 1.09E?

Since you guys are playing around with the .xml files, have you tried boosting dex to some obscene value to see if THAT might be the new dodge stat? Or is that the stat you are already raising? Yes, I do care if Dodge is working. I had assumed it was, and that Armor factored into it (I wasn't aware of separate die rolls). I've seen block a few times, usually involving units carrying shields, and I guess I think of that as a 'dodge' of sorts. I've just been mo

OK, I'm seeing a potential problem here... assuming the sqaring/square root situation. Apparently, the 'die type' is squared, and THAT is the new attack die. Then the result is square-rooted and compared to the defense roll, which was also squared/square rooted. A simple chart for quick comparison: Strength- Square 1 - 1 2 - 4</sp

[quote who="nikmesh" reply="10" id="2830221"]Here's my take on the situation. Previously before 1.09n magics strong points were:- 1. missile spells. Lets face it they killed enemy sov's out right and wrecked armies quite a bit 2. Summons. Create massive summoned armies by imbuing multiple heroes. This was magics most powerful aspect and was easy to win games with. Magic in all other departments was weak however. Assist spells, buffs, enchantm

[quote who="Werewindlefr" reply="4" id="2830217"]Actually, it has been said by one of the dev that they square the max value before making the roll, then they take the square root of the roll, which gives an average of ~70% and a lower standard deviation -thus, less randomness-. I think lowering randomness any further is bad. Managing uncertainty and probabilities is part of ones' tactical skills, and should be part of this game as well.[/quote] Well THAT's an interesting w

[quote who="Das123" reply="1" id="2830129"]I don't think it quite works this way. The first roll is the 'To hit' against the dodge counter. If you score a hit then the next roll is the damage against the armour.[/quote] Thanks for the clarification. I was focusing mainly on the Damage roll in my discussion. This is why I said Attack and Defense. Substitute 'To Hit' and 'Dodge' for the first set of rolls, 'Damage' and 'Armor' for the second set of rolls.

Back when I was playing Neverwinter Nights, I tinkered with designing some items for my character. In that game, the items you could use were limited by your character level (so a 1st Level character couldn't wield a +5 Holy Avenger right out of the gate), so I spent some time tailoring some weapons to my current character level. There were points for various attributes, such as accuracy, damage, healing ability, secondary damage (think flaming sword), other spell abilities, etc.<

OK, if I'm understanding the underlying mechanics right, the attacker makes a roll, with the 'die' used being the same as the attack strength. If I'm wrong on this, feel free to clarify! Then the defender rolls, using said's defense strength as the defense roll. So if you have a 28 attack, and he has a 12 defense, you roll 1D28 and he rolls 1D12. Higher roll wins. Not sure if damage is equal to the amount that exceeds the defense roll, but this tracks with

We have to remember who designed Elemental. The same guys who brought us Galactic Civilizations and the Political Machine. Both of these games are by nature number crunching games. And there are (I'm sure) a good number of people here that bought this game because it would be kind of a 'Galactic Civilizations meets Lord Of the Rings' kind of game, complete with all sorts of min-maxing techs that you can use to get more production, more attack, more everything. I, o

I just wanted to say that not having to wait around for turns (because the AI's been deciding what it wants to do next while you are doing your own turn) is very nice. Not that waiting for turns was that unbearable before, but the wait now is almost nonexistent. Some turns, I have to wait for the hard disk activity to calm down so I don't 'break' anything, but other than that, turns are now a breeze! Thanks! [e digicons]:thumbsup:[/e]