klaxton499

I don't understand why Stardock is putting any time into multiplayer other than it's expected these days. I play a TON of multiplayer; battlefield, demigod, etc. Recently i've put over 300 hours in LOL. But I will not play one minute of multiplayer in Elemental. How are you supposed to keep people from rage quitting in a game that lasts hours or days when they won't stay in a game of Demigod or LoL that lasts 30 min. No one will stay in a game for hours so you ca

I thought this was a 2010 TBS game that was going to push conventional thinking. Why are we using squares or hexes when we could use distance and vectors?

I was beginning to worry Elemental was going to be too derivative; then, there were spell books. Wonderful Idea. No one can have it all. Specialization exists. Each game is unique. Also the use of shards helps play balance and give armies a reason to fight outside the city. So why stop there. You can apply the same meta-game concept to unit equipment. Blueprints rather than spell books. You specialize early during sovereign creation by s

If you go with straight check boxes at least layer it. Childhood (basic stat increase) Teen (production/research/income bonus) Adult (professions gives a perk and a weakness)

+1 vote for personality test like the aforementioned jagged alliance or better still the Ultima IV test where questions were not split between good and evil. Choices were often complex both good and bad but for different reasons. That way you feel connected to your soveriegn from the start. However, I would include an "advanced" option with check boxes. Eventually everyone learns to game the system so check boxes are a logical shortcut for those who pref

Most modern (read: last decade and a half) TBS games revolve around the creation of an ultimate stack or two of units. These one or two armies move around the map completing all of the major conquests. You'd have to go back to Warlords I and II to find games where common troops had a substantial impact on the outcome. Therefore, my question is "Is it possible to make time the most valuable resource?". Can the activity of the sovereign and heroes be a

For me the point is simple. Stardock is working on stuff that is far ahead of what we see in Beta/Alpha. It would be nice to get updates on the overall development so we know there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Plus it would be good to hear something other than "it's not fun". I'm ready for "Wow wait till you guys get your hands on this".

Preach on Brother Tater... Single player games need Randomness in all details (map, AI, tech, quests, hit and damage calculations, etc.) Multiplayer needs static parameters and extreme balance. Player skill must reign supreme. For this reason, I hope that Stardock either drop multiplayer (unlikely) or understand they'll need to decouple the two play modes. *fingers crossed*

The system is fine for multiplayer games where balance is key. But by your own admission you expect most people to play single player. In single player games it will be more fun if opponent AI "styles" are hidden from the player at initiation. Second, I would much rather my soverign gain traits, achievements, and weaknesses based on in game decisions or occurences. I would much rather take on quests that force me to choose between military vs eco

Rather than pick from a list at character creation, I'd like to see these traits develop organically as the player makes in game decisions. Build lots of troops=Warmonger Build lots of Inns=Leader Develop lots of treaties=Trade bonus Questing=Adventurer. You get the idea. Even present the player with some early decisions. The forge needs rare metal to construct an anvil but the farmers are complaining strange animals are eating the crops.&nb

Raven great review. By the way, I owe you a big thank you. Your original post about this game a few weeks ago was the first I'd heard of it. I love when a game sneaks up on me. Kinda rare but a nice surprise when a quality game appears out of nowhere. Mount & Blade was my last surprise now this. I love what digital distribution does for non-US developers. Much easier to get on Steam or Impulse than on a shelf at Best Buy. Anyway, Thank you Raven X

Raven: I"m not trying to steal your thunder. Your review is a deeper examination. I mainly wanted to let all the Dragon Age lovers know I found a game I like even better. [e digicons]:X[/e] Also, I read your review and you are spot on. I would imagine anyone looking forward to Elemental would at least find a few hours enjoyment from this game.

Raven is spot on. It is Magic:Total War. I've already posted my "thumbs up" for this game in the PC gaming section. They've borrowed heavily from several games. I suggest you look at the game for the Battlefield style of control points. Their use of control points on the battle map made unit speed an important consideration. It works as a game mechanic and provides an alternative path to victory on the battle map. See for yourself.

Am I the only one that thinks this new game, despite it's underwhelming title, is a joy to play? I'm enjoying this game more than I enjoyed Empire: Total War and more than I'm enjoying Dragon Age. I'm sure I'll get flamed for that last bit but it's true. I have both icons on my desktop and I click King Arthur more these days. Also: note to Stardock - take a look at this game for the way they incorporated unit speed. Using a Battlefield like territorial co

I continue to be amazed by your business practices. In a world largely void of customer service you are quite the "throwback". When I was making the decision to pre-order Elemental, I struggled a bit. Essentially, we were each making a $50 investment in a private company with no ability to look behind the glass. The credit crunch and small business cash flow problems are all the rage in the news. Any of us would be justified to fear our $50 investiment

Ultima IV - In what other game would you refrain from stealing from the blind merchant because you need to increase your honesty or deflect credit for your heroic deeds to establish humilty. While the lack of modern graphics would keep anyone from returning to that adventure; if we are judging each game in it's time period, Ultima IV is unmatched.

For whatever reason EA has decided to live and die by DLC. I blame COD 4's mappacks for igniting the fire. While it can be a money maker for high quality games like Dragon Age, it punishes weak games Battleforge. There are no illusions when you purchase DLC for Dragon Age you know what you are getting; the core game is the same. If the DLC provides a good playtime to money ratio, I'm all in. My theory on the Stone Prisoner: they made

I suggest weapon types grant the unit "abilities". For example: spear gives first strike, halbred gives a chance to fend off an attack, sword or axe can cause a bleed effect, blunt weapon can stun, etc. This will add flavor and weapon research can produce better weapons that increase the frequency of ability procs and/or the magnitude of the effect.

I suggest the computer auto-resolve 100 battles internally and report the % chance to win. If you want scouts to matter in the analysis make the number reported back +/- X based on the quality of the scout. A number near or below 50% should signal significant losses for the attacker. A player's skill could overcome poor odds. In fact it would be nice to know as a player that you won a close/tough battle.

Microsoft's Allegiance was better than x-wing vs tie fighter. It is freeware now that Microsoft released the code. Kinda old and I have no idea if people are still playing but it was a great game for its day.

Those of you asking for a dungeon keeper remake... Did you try Evil Genius? I know it wasn't perfect but it had similar game mechanics. circa 2004

I agree with the OP. I think this will be a problem. That's why in other threads I've advocated spliting unit conscription & training from equiping. Unit conscription and training should be purely time based that can be improved with buildings, leaders, higher population, prestige, etc. The equip/upgrade interface should be simple. Warehoused goods on one side and units on the other. Simply drag and drop equipment on the units you want to equip. I

I think the 3 most important things to consider when designing tatical battles are location, location, location. You need a game mechanic at the strategic level that pushes battles away from the cities. Far too many of these games are alternating city seiges. I think this has happened in previous games for 2 reasons. One, there is no meaningful reason to fight outside the city and... Two, unit upkeep is so crippling that you can only support a small number of&nbsp

Is there any way you can tell us if combat is pauseable real time or turn based? Also, what's the unit to battlefield scale? It's hard to comment or make suggestions on how to implement unit speed without this information.

If PC sales slump because of peer-to-peer multiplayer it only pushes Activision further toward console development. I'm not saying we should all go out and buy the game to prevent this from happening. I'm just trying to describe the blinders companies have toward legitimate problems. They won't understand why PC sales were softer than expected.