Elemental: War of Magic

Saxif · 11684

Saxif

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on: August 01, 2010, 02:52:56 pm
Picked up a copy of PcGamer and spotted this game, looks really good from the write up in pcgamer, so I think I might pre-order, should be released on 24th August.  You guys should head over to the web site and check it out, seems to play like a turn based empire management and RPG.  Think it could be interesting, the guy who designed it, also made GalCiv 2 which was a very good game.

http://www.elementalgame.com/

Sax.

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Lasiien

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Reply #1 on: August 02, 2010, 12:54:33 pm
looks pretty good. Do you still get the beta if you pre-order? Doesn't seem to say on the webby.



Saxif

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Reply #2 on: August 02, 2010, 04:35:57 pm
I got the impression not from the forums but didn't read to much about it tbh.  I like the look of it, I like the various things you can do and I assume it is a fairly fast paced game else the 16 player option won't work so great.  Thats what kept me away from multi player Civ tbh.  I will prolly pre-order it without waiting for reviews but need to read more before commiting, couldn't see it on Amazon but it is on Impulse for pre-order DL.

Sax.

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Lasiien

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Reply #3 on: August 06, 2010, 10:47:45 am
Thinking about it I will prolly pass, as I don't have as much gaming time these days as I'd like and it seems Civ V is coming out mid September (didnt realise it was so close!).

Heres a couple of previews:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/15/new-civilization-5-screenshots-and-e3-impressions/

http://pc.ign.com/articles/107/1075587p1.html



Saxif

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Reply #4 on: August 07, 2010, 10:57:35 pm
I am currently of the school of thought that Civ 5 won't be as good as Civ 4, I think it'll be dumbed down without the complexity.  I hope I am wrong but I am worried, only time will tell.  I am defo gonna pick up Elemental as it sound wicked, new concept (ish) and wanna try it, will let you know how it turns out.

Sax.

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Lasiien

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Reply #5 on: August 08, 2010, 12:07:06 pm
People have said that about every new Civ game though for as long as I remember. When Civ Iv was coming people worried there would be too much automation/assitance. But when it came out it was apparent that the automation was ok, but if you really wanted to get the absolute most out of your cities you needed to micro manage. I like this, it gives the player the option of digging into the detail if they want to and leaving other stuff when you figure it doesn't matter anymore.

However, I do share a concern that the sucess of Civ revoultion on the console might mean a real dumming down. Hopefully the marketing blurb firaxis are pushing out at the moment is correct and all the depth/detail is still there if you want it. Only way is to get it and play it and see what you think I guess :)

Let me know about Elemental, does indeed look interesting



Saxif

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Reply #6 on: August 09, 2010, 10:35:50 pm

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xann

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Reply #7 on: August 27, 2010, 07:53:12 pm
So is this game out yet? you still getting it Sax?




Saxif

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Reply #8 on: August 27, 2010, 11:05:12 pm
Yarp ... Came out this week, downloaded it and have played about 4 hours, was kinda tough at first cos the manual didn't dl properly so had to work stuff out.  Its not bad, kinda fun to while away some time with but don't think it is a Civ killer (though its been over 2 weeks since I played that).  The game seems kinda long, haven't finished a game yet and have played 2 x 2 hr games so far and didn't seem close to finishing ...

You have a monarch that runs around on his own beating up monsters and then you can add more people to his crew (you can design your own untis or summon them with magic) and they all go round beating stuff up, you lvl him up he gets harder and better gear its not revolutionary BUT at the same time you have various towns and cities which you grow with buildings.  You have a research tree based around Civics, Warfare, Magic, Adventure and Diplomacy; within each branch their are various other techs in a hidden tree structure (i.e you can't see to far down the line).  The further you go the more options open up to you, of course the further you go the more expensive it becomes so its best to have a base of techs and place most points in one or two paths.

I think the game feels a little clunky atm its fun but I do not at this point think its the best thing since sliced bread.  I'll play a little more but unless hidden strategic depths open up under me like a pit trap then I'll likely stick with my initial impression of "diverting but over-priced".

I'll do another update when I have put 10-15 hours into playing it ...

Sax.

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Lasiien

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Reply #9 on: August 27, 2010, 11:35:47 pm
pc gamer wrote a really scathing article about it's launch, surprising given its stardock who have a decent reputation for quality etc

Linky here - http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/25/elementals-disastrous-launch-stay-well-away/

How much is true sax? Guess maybe some stuff is fixed now in patches etc?



Saxif

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Reply #10 on: August 28, 2010, 09:03:28 pm
I didn't read everything just the mian article but not the links or the article number 2.  I haven't had anywhere near as significant problems with the game as that guy had, he was really ranting and you could feel his anger through the way he wrote that article.  I have only really encountered one bug but I didn't start playing till Thursday and they had patched it and when I played Friday they had another patch ready to go, so I prolly missed the worst of it.  The only time it crashed was when I alt-tabbed. 

I have noticed that the AI might be a bit crap, one kingdom in particular hadn't built any troops to defend its one town where as another kingdom was threatening to come over and kick me in cos his army was bigger than mine.  I told him to piss off and although we were then at war I didn't actually get attacked ... this is prolly because the wastes between towns/empire are dangerous, and your little army can get a battering just trying to get around!

I think it could become great and I am currently enjoying it but it needs a little work, the main problem I have with it is that I cannot see the graphs telling me who is in the lead with gold, research, power (very much like Civ).  Also I don't really know whats a good move and whats a bad move, but thats cos I am n00by atm :)  It isn't quite there yet and I don't think it is as good as Galactic Civ 2 was for example but if they do a load of work on it in a couple weeks or a month it could improve considerably.

Sax.

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Saxif

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Reply #11 on: August 31, 2010, 09:03:06 pm
I had a bit more of a think about it and worked out what was wrong with it.

They basically released a game that was very similar to Total War with some Civ flavours and a bit of Might&Magic combat thrown in, the problem is every different aspect of the game is simple, theres very little depth to anything.  To make it a good game they need to add depth to the city management and make it easier to read what your cities are doing and they need to add significant depth to the tactical map where you and your 'army' fight, they should look at Final Fantasy for ideas on this.

The game plays like ... Unlock tech x to get building y, build building y in every city as you can only build 1y per city and you always have plenty of space.  Build unit z and add him to sovereign, unit z can hit and dodge and thats about the depth of his strategic abilities, or summon unit p which can cast a fireball or throw a boulder as a special ability.  So you army which comprises of z+p+soverign goes around fighting and sometimes = win, then you can upgrade unit z and he equals zsquare and once you have 10zsquare + 4p + sovereign you win the game as long as you research 10x to build 1y per city!!

Now I have thought about it I realise its another missed opportunity and that no one else will ever try and do it correct cos its already failed as a concept once ... I prolly won't play it again.

Sax.

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Lasiien

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Reply #12 on: August 31, 2010, 10:12:52 pm
bah, shame. I do like originality and stardock have often worked hard to offer something a bit different. Sounds like Civ and mods like FFH are just better though, one thing with Civ is you really can't accuse it of lacking depth!



Saxif

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Reply #13 on: September 03, 2010, 09:40:25 pm
Just got a Civ record! 1275 domination on Prince :)  Scored about 161K and yeah Civ has insane replayability, hope the new one follows the trend.

Sax.

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Saxif

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Reply #14 on: October 18, 2010, 08:18:24 pm
The dude that created Fall from Heaven got hired to sort out Elemental!  Good news, though I doubt I'll ever find the interest to play it again.

Like noted by our forum member ShaqFu, there is an article at Gamasutra: "Stardock Hires Fall From Heaven Creator After 'Challenging' Elemental Launch":

Quote:
But the new producer, Derek "Kael" Paxton, is not entirely new to video game development. He's the creator of the massive fantasy-themed Civilization IV mod series Fall from Heaven. He's also credited for his work on Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword and was a contributor on Civilization V.

"This is the opportunity to marry my professional project manager career with my passion for game design," Paxton said in a statement. He will officially join the Elemental: War of Magic and Galactic Civilizations developer in November.
Read the full article here and talk with the other civfanatics in this thread.

Let's say "Congratulations, Kael" , the CivFanatics are happy for and proud of you.


Sax.

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