Philocthetes

[quote who="Denryu" reply="4" id="2288339"]...All the pokey things would hurt![/quote] It's all about the right sort of harness with that crowd.

[quote who="psychoak" reply="19" id="2287356"]I find it funny that there's an argument I don't have any interest in. It's so rare.[/quote] My guess is that you're one of those rare folks under 80 who has absolutely no postodernist traits. I was in recovery for a while, but I'm back to the corrosive/constructive binge these days...

I won't touch old-book numerology talk with a ten-span pole, but I will mock modern Hoyle-compliant playing cards as merely a crippled version of the Tarot's minor arcana. Card games, divination (cartomancy), and computer games are lots more fun with things like the major arcana involved.

[quote who="Scoutdog" reply="12" id="2287378"]... Well, knowing SD, the acchievements will be moddable, as will the eyecandy, so you could very easily remove the requirements. If they do get included, I would be happy to do that for you personally in one day.[/quote] That might be all well and good, but what about the possibly-vast number of Elemental owners who will have no interest in cluttering their installation with mods? I'm basically in agreement with pigeon here about

[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="17" id="2287284"]...Scientists gave the current definition to "desert" long before people perverted it to the extent that most people think deserts are all hot, sandy wastelands with saguaro cacti everywhere. There is no point in reconsidering names when they already have a consistent, sensical naming system in place - people who need to know know them, and most everyone else will remain ignorant no matter what they do. Unless the media picks up on it, which i

Goodness, but it looks like some folks need that alpha soon, or need to just start drinking now and not stop until it is posted (and friends don't let friends type drunk). [e classic];)[/e] On the linked-to-GalCiv thing, I can't find it quickly, but the last I recall from dev-land was a statement roughly to the effect that Elemental is neither a prequel nor a sequel to GalCiv. The two seem to share some background cosmological themes, but I'm pretty sure that the campaign world

I agree that Robbies AI-assistant ideas are ambitious, but I wonder if they're not quite as ambitious as pigeon and Climber seem to think. I can't find it quickly, but some time ago, Brad made an OP that discussed just how 'smart' PCs could become as multiple cores and 64-bit BUS become the norm. He sounded very ambitious to me there, but he's a pro and I'm not. (He also avoided direct talk about timeframes, IIRC.) Anyhow, it might be pie-in-the-sky for Elemental, but maybe even by GC

[quote who="Scoutdog" reply="21" id="2286043"]Well, if you want to get technical about it, the actual "bulging" is caused by the muscles that allow you to WALK, so......[/quote] [e classic]:lol:[/e]

[quote who="Scoutdog" reply="1" id="2284860"]... Remember, people: players want to WIN.[/quote] Except those of us who just like playing. This game is supposed to be a TBS-RPG fusion, so hopefully it will expand on the variety of ways to end a game that GC2 has and eliminate GC2's profound bias towards total conquest of the map.

[quote who="Denryu" reply="25" id="2284657"]The screen shots you just posted lead me to believe the camera angle is going to be fixed (like GC2) rather than freely rotating (like SoaSE). Is that right? ...[/quote] The camera angle isn't fixed in GC2. SHIFT+arrow keys rotate and pan. I imagine Elemental will work similarly.

Thanks for the fresh ones. The wolf is neat, and so is the spider in the woods in the second image.

[quote who="Scoutdog" reply="5" id="2283784"]... the Electoral College we use in place of a popular vote. ...[/quote] The wiki page on the US Census is a decent general overview. The Electoral College isn't exactly used "in place of a popular vote," it's more like a barely-democratic capstone on a largely-democratic process. I generally appreciate o

I sorta like the forum medals in GC2. They're Metaverse-dependent, so I don't know if Elemental will be able to do something similar. They have no direct effect on game play at all, but once you get familiar with them they can give you a loose impression of an individual's play style(s) and how 'good' they are from a scoremonster POV. For in-game stuff, I just want a quest system that blows my mind and maybe some neat naming thing(s) that can put lables on the map and on units based o

[quote who="Sarudak" reply="18" id="2282630"]I think if you're paying mana upkeep to a creature you created from magic you are paying that upkeep to prolong it's unnatural life. Therefore when the mana cuts off the life force does also[/quote] That's really a story (integrated metaphysics) detail. I'd buy things working like you describe, but I'd also buy a mechanic where your mana upkeep for an undead unit was about keeping that unit under control, and whatever mana (or essence for a

[quote who="Darkodinplus" reply="25" id="2282127"]I believe the core of this disagreement stems from the fact that you believe equations are meant to explain while I believe they are meant to predict. Either way if you wish to continue this discussion we should probably do it someplace else. Edit: In other words send me a PM if you want. [/quote] I'm just a humble spectator, but it strikes me that y'all are wrangling over two aspects of the same wavicle. If you d

[quote who="psychoak" reply="2" id="2281401"]The use of quest is misleading. You're asking for a smart order que that fills in the blanks to achieve the given command, and preset attitudes that will automate certain things. It's something I definitely want to see, but a very misleading title. [/quote] IT-land is profoundly polluted with bad slash-compounds, so it's understandable that he'd use a slash instead of "and." The bulk of the OP is about champion assignments, so

[quote who="Moosetek13" reply="9" id="2281088"]... If you are put off by the fact that "I" should always be upper case, well, I'm sorry. It is no insult to you or anyone else to point out the fact. ... [/quote] Please, let me encourage massive and overwhelming threadjacking efforts here. A. I rarely find heckling people about spelling, grammar, and typos to have fun value (but then I edit for a living). If they could (or wanted to) do better, they would. B. There

What can you tell us about how channelers learn/gain spells? Will any units other than channelers be able to cast tactical combat spells? Will channelers be able to gain additional essence durning a game? Is founding towns a distinct essence-using function separate from restoring lands?

[quote who="Darkodinplus" reply="17" id="2280062"]Am I the only one that remembers this turn based vs "real time" debate? Long story short Brad showed up and said Elemental is a turn based game period. He never really defined what he meant by continuos turns or "real-time" as I recall. [/quote] I remember it, and the last bit you mention is why I am still vexed when the subject comes up. Also, I suspect at least a few of us feel a helpless need to whinge and beg about what we fea

[quote who="Scoutdog" reply="4" id="2278564"]... A single, all-powerful channeler is the ultimate elete.[/quote] Stephen Strong: Army of Me .

[quote who="Scoutdog" reply="10" id="2279502"]You mean turns/RTS is optional!? All hail the frog! I just hope the turns aren't timed. That would be horrible.[/quote] Brad did use shudder quotes in "from 'turns' to real time." I take that to mean they aren't exactly what primitive/niche-junkie/RTS-phobes like me think when we hear the word "turn."

[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="14" id="2278568"]... There is a comma between all the words in that sentence . ...[/quote] Well...it's not a sentence [e classic];)[/e] [quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="14" id="2278568"]... I'm actually starting to suspect that Robbie.Price's name is responsible for breaking our quotes. Every time I try to quote him it just fails, but I don't have trouble quoting other people. Maybe the '.' in his name is the culprit? SD should look into this

[quote who="Zyxpsilon" reply="19" id="2278853"]... GWSwicord, locking this thread? ... [/quote] I'm just really uncomfortable about trash-talking someone whose funeral still isn't quite planned, even though I trash-talked him severely when he was alive. I'm a lapsed anarchist, and this seems to be one of the few situations where I think voluntary restraint of free speech is a good thing. Maybe that's because I've lost a couple of very close people recently, or maybe it's just

[quote who="Scoutdog" reply="12" id="2271967"]Well, of course different undeads would take different amounts of essence to wiork, but I don't think that any of them should be essence FREE. I am perfectly fine with zombies taking, say .01 essence point to make (thereby making hordes a real possibility), and I also think that most should not take essence to maintain. I do, however, want undead tied in with the essence system, so that the people who go Gandalf can have an option when

[quote who="Scoutdog" reply="21" id="2278330"]Would not go terribly well with the new resource system, but mutate potions could be used to provide the same effect, and yet be treated as a resource...[/quote] If you're talking about an analog to MoM's Chaos Channels, I don't see a problem here. Producing a unit is one thing, and casting an enchantment on it after it is produced is another. As for enchantments that are embedded in unit production (the intersection in the Venn di