[quote who="GreatVolk" reply="16" id="2020163"]... I like to have more of the diplomatic information, depending on the spy-level I have on the enemy. ... [/quote] I very, very much agree.
The subject of the Conquistadores came up in the long thread on armour tech, and it almost immediately made me think about how I've never seen much by way of 'disease mechanics' in TBS games. Elemental will have Life magic, which could potentially cover both causing and curing diseases. I'm sure several folks are already interested in being able to use disease as both a tactical and strategic weapon--I am, when I think about playing as Evil. But I'm wondering whether another area wher
[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="16" id="2013682"]... Most of the reason why I'm so argumentative on these forums is that I think it's the best way to draw out the gold from the veins hidden within a concept, even if the the concept as a whole isn't so good, or isn't feasible. Asking questions forces people to come up with answers, and challenging people about an idea forces them to come up with a reason for it or a better idea. ...[/quote] One word-snooty way to make your distinction
[quote who="kryo" reply="12" id="2018176"]... Going back to the bit about self-responsibility, people should have the freedom to make choices. Those choices will always have consequences, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but unless those choices impact others negatively, they are the individual's to make. While taking that to the point of "go die" is quite harsh, enacting heavy-handed regulation of people's lives under the guise of helping them isn't much better. History has shown time and agai
[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="14" id="2018268"] Quoting landisaurus, reply 13what kind of shirt would you like A magical one. [/quote] [e classic]:lol:[/e] (I picked on graphics-as-comm today in another thread; sometimes a picture really is better.)
[quote who="landisaurus" reply="24" id="2018184"]... No matter what, the equater is going to be the largest strip of similar climate. ...[/quote] Only on a map *with* an equator [e classic];)[/e] I haven't caught any word about the current map options other than what BoogieBac said in reply 2: "...flat and non-square..." So, having an equator might be an option, or an equator of some sort might be a result of choosing an option or set of options that sum up roughly as
In the Channeler vs. Channeler (FIGHT!) thread, there's some discussion of 'honor' as something like a channeler stat that could connect to both quests and the diplo system. I had trustworthiness in mind when I typed over there, but maybe there should be a sharp distinction between being trustworthy and having a reputation for victory. Either way, I definitely agree about wanting to see the AIs act differently towards a civ that's a known backstabber vs. a civ that has n
Re "prize design for the beta multiplayer folks," I was just sloppily thinking about some rewards for folks who played the most and/or best for the multiplayer components. Multiplayer is almost always about competition, so I figured leaders in that part of the beta effort might enjoy prizes. I still don't know if I want to mess with anything multiplayer at all, and could easily go for a year post-RTM before I start messing with it or know that I never will. As far as direct playtestin
[quote who="kryo" reply="1" id="2017402"]... government tends to come up with steaming heaps of compromise that achieve little more than screwing everyone equally.[/quote] Beg pardon if I edit a bit so I can "completely agree" in a contrarian way. First, I offer a corollary: the free (truly free) market screws everyone *unequally* because it puts profit above all other values, leads inevitably to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, and, because they must put profit firs
[quote who="landisaurus" reply="14" id="2015901"]do you really think its worth being on the collection? I think there is a lot of room for improvement, but I guess most artists say that about their own art.[/quote] I prefer prose for the bulk of my post reading and writing, but the smilies are Stardock-wide and plenty of folks talk about the economy in other forums, so a bear would have more to do than perpetuate the in-joke here at Elemental. But IIRC, they are still be
[quote who="GreatVolk" reply="4" id="2017685"]... Let's say, I build the Great Library. Then I will get 50% additional science ressources. As soon player 2 builds his Great Library he will get 50% additional science ressources. But, because my Great Library is older, and my librarians have more experience, i then will get 75% additional science ressources. With the third player, the libraries will become 87%,75% and 50%. As soon as every player have a Great Library, the libraries are not that
[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="1" id="2017181"]... But I think the idea of having magic use affect Elemental balance, and thus having an effect on the world, is different from the Armageddon counter. For one, magic can be peformed by anyone, even a turtler. But what it does do is encourage players to take an active role beyond their own boarders without necessarily having to leave those boarders, or to directly interact with other players. Elemental balance could affect things like weather,
[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="22" id="2016678"]... I don't like this idea. It essentially caps channeler strength. Among other side effects, it means that once you reach that 'cap' your channeler will essentially devalue for the rest of the game as empires and armies expand. Your channeler is stuck at a safe strength while everything else continually gets stronger. ... [/quote] Not if you link the 'threshold' to an improvable skill or ability. Something like that would seem r
[quote]First, your health is primarily influenced by your own choices. [/quote] Great rhetoric, but not an easily supported fact claim. We're barely scratching the surface of the role of genetics in our length and quality of life, and we have a food production system that is nothing short of the largest experiment *ever* in testing the effects of industrial chemicals and 'medicines' on both human health and the environment. But your take is understandable, given the tendency
[quote who="GW Swicord" reply="5" id="2014662"]In games and fiction, magic is whatever the author or lead dev says it is. And sometimes it's a slippery thing like the One Power in the Wheel of Time series--no one with training ever calls it magic in the books, but the Aes Sedai do get called witches. In 'the real world,' magic is typically a stage name for skill with illusions and/or sleight of hand, or an aspect of a religious system such as Wicca or Haitian Vodou.[/quote] <p
[quote who="NTJedi" reply="9" id="2016326"]... Optional Features are a good thing. [/quote] In the most general terms, I quite agree. But I have a competing axiom: Too many decisions made in the name of multi-player 'balance' are not good for the health of the core, single-player game. Plus there's the whole 'one person's exploit is another person's strategy' problem. My favorite way out of that sort of debate is by heading for the Hills With No Scores. Or by
[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="24" id="2015637"]... Kenken has a good point, though. No sane person would put any effort into building up a powerful death effect in a single player game unless they completely forego strategy for role playing. It'd just be a sunk cost that would never have the opportunity to pay up. It would be a nice feature in multiplayer games. If you know you're doomed, setting up a powerful death effect might serve as a deterrent and keep you in the game longer (if othe
[quote who="landisaurus" reply="11" id="2014956"]...(woah , I didn't notice this 2nd page of faces How long have they been there )[/quote] At least a few years. The drug-addled looking ones are a recent change--I think some person or crew on another Stardock site won some sort of contest because the larger crowds over there thought the 'old' smilies were, well, 'old.' [e classic]:P[/e]
alway brings me back to my main point for magic in Elemental: it is what the devs say it is, and thematically it is nearly infinite in story potential when compared with 'mere technology,' at least until the story begins to include some metaphysical 'laws.' If you want to talk in psuedo-physics terms, magic is power, otherwise known as the ability to do work. Game metaphysics will define the source(s) of this power, the entities and objects that can store and/or channel this power, an
[quote who="kenken244" reply="22" id="2015088"]The problem with researching death curses is that you would rather research a spell that keeps you from loosing in the first place to one that happens after you have already lost.[/quote] That's only accurate for a zero-sum, play-to-win perspective. This game supposedly aims to bring a strong RPG aspect to the traditional TBS experience, and some fans of TBS games have always been more interested in playing than they are in 'winning.'
This talk about the Eye reminds me of my wacky idea about choosing 'Shard Size' during game setup, with shards being jewelry/tool-sized, cow- or elephant-sized, and landscape element-sized. The early map art leaves me thinking that the devs are planning for shards to be special tiles on the map and not mobile items of any sort, but they asked for ideas... Anywho, in a game where we can equip champions with magic items, shouldn't we also be able to build wonders that are as small as th
[quote who="Tamren" reply="6" id="2014764"]... a system of technology that can not be explained and or understood ...[/quote] Beg pardon, but isn't that a contradiction in terms? The Greek roots of the word technology roughly translate as "craft saying." A technology is a way of doing things (often, but not always involving physical tools) that you can explain to others so that they can do those things also.
In games and fiction, magic is whatever the author or lead dev says it is. And sometimes it's a slippery thing like the One Power in the Wheel of Time series--no one with training ever calls it magic in the books, but the Aes Sedai do get called witches. In 'the real world,' magic is typically a stage name for skill with illusions and/or sleight of hand, or an aspect of a religious system such as Wicca or Haitian Vodou.
I don't want to mess with any of that until I can get a pair of *comfortable* datagloves. No other input device I know of works with my poor wetware--I can't make the leap from 2D pointer control to 3D pointer control via mouse/trackball/joystick/keyboard.
Some of the channeler death effects talk has been interesting, but I started out asking about a specific spell (or spells) to research and 'load up' via a long, expensive ritual. It seems to me that if Death Curses were decently-designed spells in the "late-game, world-wrecking" class, there should be no complaints about balance and no expectation that every channeler would always have one 'loaded.'