Stardock announces Elemental: War of Magic [Archive]

itchyeyes

11-04-2008, 08:17 AM

"Elemental is set in a world devastated by cataclysmic war magic from 100 years before, and now life is starting to return," explained Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock.

Stardock is aiming for a February 2010 release, with a public beta arriving this coming spring. The game has been teased very mildy for several months, with Stardock fans referring to the game as "Not-MOM," or "Not Master of Magic," a reference to the classic fantasy turn-based game from 1993 that influenced the game.

More info here (http://www.edge-online.com/features/elemental-war-magic-unveiled)

Telefrog

11-04-2008, 08:25 AM

Fuck yes! Stardock has done no wrong so far.

LongStepMantis

11-04-2008, 08:27 AM

Just looking at the screens sold me on it. I wish more devs would be like Stardock.

And even if it is "Not-MoM", it gives me all the impressions that MoM did...good ones.

Ancalagon

11-04-2008, 08:30 AM

Telefrog

11-04-2008, 08:33 AM

They mention Demigod's, including the Rook, on page 2. Are GPG's Demigod and Stardock's Elementals set in the same universe? I remember GPG saying they were collaborating much closer with their publisher for Demigod, Stardock.

It does seem that way. I have the beta for Demigod and so far, it's a decent game. It's still pretty rough, so there's a lot of balance issues and it's woefully lacking in variety at this point, but it's a nice take on DotA.

biosc1

11-04-2008, 08:35 AM

Art style reminds me a little of PixelJunk Monsters...that's a good thing. I like the look of this game :)

Telefrog

11-04-2008, 09:04 AM

Brad Wardell just clarified that Elemental and Demigod do not take place in the same universe. In fact, he said the Edge interviewer got the communication boned. Brad was talking specifically about how the persistent multiplayer in Demigod would work.

Ancalagon

11-04-2008, 09:06 AM

Telefrog

11-04-2008, 09:11 AM

Here's the official website:

http://www.elementalgame.com/

It looks great so far.

Ghostbear

11-04-2008, 11:41 AM

Awesome, can't wait to give this a try. I have enjoyed every Stardock game so far, I am certain this one will not disappoint.

danielOut

11-04-2008, 01:31 PM

I'm pretty sure it is the GalCiv team making this, and if that is the case... oh man am i stoked.

Shadowmage952

11-04-2008, 01:32 PM

Dammit, I came in here specifically hoping that it would be MoM-esque being from Stardock. Not that the game doesn't have potential, but I just want a new MoM so damn badly.

itchyeyes

11-04-2008, 02:55 PM

Here's the official website:

http://www.elementalgame.com/

It looks great so far.
Nice find. I'm really liking the cell shaded look they've got going.

ShivaX

11-04-2008, 04:33 PM

Dammit, I came in here specifically hoping that it would be MoM-esque being from Stardock. Not that the game doesn't have potential, but I just want a new MoM so damn badly.

It is MoM-eqsue, its code name was "Not-MoM" because they lost (or couldn't get?) the rights to MoM to make a sequel. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're saying.

Ten19

11-05-2008, 06:09 AM

This looks awesome already. As a long-time fan of MoM I'm really excited, even if this isn't the same property.

Shadowmage952

11-05-2008, 07:50 AM

It is MoM-eqsue, its code name was "Not-MoM" because they lost (or couldn't get?) the rights to MoM to make a sequel. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're saying.

Yeah, I noticed that when I started looking into it more and more. Definitely something to be be very excited about. I'm glad there is a company like Stardock out there still making games like this.

Telefrog

11-05-2008, 08:45 AM

More details from Brad Wardell:

[Yes, you can build city walls.] One of the key game mechanics of Elemental is how cities are built. In Elemental, when a city grows, it gains a new tile which can be placed where the player wants it to go (as long as it's adjacent to an existing tile). So cities are a multi-tile affair in the game. Now, how you choose to build up your city heavily determines how defensible or productive, or rich it is. Cities are only conquered when the keep tile is taken which could be in the utter center of the city or could be at the end of a peninsula.

On describing the user "pollination" feature:
It's somewhat different than Spore. The idea is that the worlds you get will slowly evolve based on what players make. New races, new types of buildings, new technologies, new spells, new units, etc. will alowly find their way into the game if users choose to the option to allow user submitted content.

The moderation will categorize it and rate it on quality and then users can choose what kinds of content (and of what quality threshold) they want. We do this to a large degree today with WindowBlinds and our other non-game stuff.

Clarifying the screenshot of the strategic map:
When you zoom all the way out, the map becomes the parchment. It's a very seamless experience. You could, in theory, play the whole game that way almost (other than placing new tiles on cities and whether you wanted to have tactical battles).

Are there choices for tactical battles?
There's instant-resolve (i.e. two armies meet, one dies), there's auto-resolve where the game zooms in and shows a tactical battle but it's all handled by the AI (ala GalCiv II fleet battles) and then there's full tactical battles where both sides play.

One thing I should mention about the tactical battles that isn't clear in the screenshots is that they're continuous turns. They're not like HOMM. The player tells where they want their units and uses the space bar to pause the action to give new directions. That way, we can get much more interesting battles.

bryan

11-05-2008, 10:38 AM

You seek the spell of mastery...

(This is AWESOME news. My bro is gonna be stoked when I tell him.)

Telefrog

11-05-2008, 12:51 PM

More tidbits from Brad Wardell:

On spell balance:
The spells are going to be intentionally de-balancing in late game. I.e. by late game, you'll be able to do Populous level damage to the world. A lot of the reason we had to create a new engine was because we needed one where the world could be truly wrecked.

On the engine:
Not only is 64-bit Windows supported but there will be a native 64-bit edition of it. This info should appear (hopefully) in some of the previews.

Elemental uses a new engine that was developed for Society which is explicity 32-bit and 64-bit and scales based onthe # of CPU and GPU cores. I almost think we should get into the 3D engine licensing business.

Most people will be playing it 32-bit but the 64-bit version lets us have much larger maps because we aren't fighting with the 2 gig limit of 32-bit.

We've had a number of years to think about the game mechanics and learn from GalCiv. What we want is a game where the "winner" isn't decided early on with the rest being just mopping up.

The key to that is to have distinct paths to victory that are truly unique (far more so than in GalCiv) that are action-driven (and by action I mean the player is doing "stuff" on the map and not just making treaties or whatever).

By doing that, you can then open the way to have extremely large maps in which players are viable for a long period of time with different paths to victory.

danielOut

11-05-2008, 08:26 PM

DO. WANT.

Stardock = win. Elemental: WoM = win. PC Gaming = epic win. :)

Ghostbear

11-06-2008, 12:26 AM

DO. WANT.

Stardock = win. Elemental: WoM = win. PC Gaming = epic win. :)

I'm not really clear on what you are trying to say...

Xydarc

11-06-2008, 10:34 AM

This looks great. Between Demigod and Elemental, Stardock is going to be getting my money.

Goronmon

11-06-2008, 10:37 AM

Holy crap, that sounds awesome.

MagGnome

11-08-2008, 02:27 PM

I am really excited about this. I wish they hadn't announced it so early, but my fantasy strategy bone needs to be tickled. It's been far too long since Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic.

Telefrog

11-10-2008, 10:30 AM

They just updated the journals page (http://www.elementalgame.com/journals.asp) with some nifty tidbits about the economic model.

So when it comes to building things, we are trying to get away from the classic "N production units". There are, for instance, no factories in Elemental. We want players to really understand just how big of a deal it is for a civilization to be able to produce mounted warriors who have metal armor and metal weapons. It's not just knowing how to build such a unit, it's being able to put together the infrastructure to produce such a unit.

Players don't research types of units, they research technologies. Players then design their own units and those designs require certain resources. A basic soldier with a club is pretty easy. You take a guy, arm him with a big stick. A better soldier might involve same guy, armed with same stick but trained. Now he's much much better but it will obviously take longer to get that unit. It's not about production then, it's about time.

A still better soldier might be equipped a bronze sword instead of the stick. But that bronze sword didn't just come out of nowhere. The metal had to be mined and then forged and then delivered. Of course, the challenge from a game-design point of view is that you don't want players to be forced to micro-manage such things. It's supposed to be a strategy game, not an inventory management game. And so, you make that issue something for your civilization to deal with - not the player.

June 2009 is too far away.

Telefrog

03-05-2009, 04:36 PM

And another update from Brad Wardell (http://frogboy.impulsedriven.net/article/342047) regarding the tactical battles.

Our goal is that if you want to see the whole “Battle of 5 armies” type thing you should see each and every soldier fighting if you want or you can zoom out and see it more abstracted.

What he describes is pretty awesome sounding. The graphics scalabilty of Sins or GalCiv2 with the epic drama of Empires.

Xydarc

03-05-2009, 09:07 PM

When's the release date on this?

Telefrog

03-05-2009, 09:12 PM

When's the release date on this?

I don't think this comes out until next year or so. The "friends & family" closed beta doesn't even begin until the end of summer. :(

Xydarc

03-05-2009, 09:43 PM

I don't think this comes out until next year or so. The "friends & family" closed beta doesn't even begin until the end of summer. :(
Awwwwwww :(

biosc1

04-29-2009, 05:00 PM

Elemental is scheduled to go into public beta by June 2009. Players who pre-order (http://www.stardock.com/coming_soon/purchase.asp) the game will have the option to download beta builds via Impulse™ (http://www.impulsedriven.com/). This enables them to give feedback, suggestions and even begin populating Elemental with their own creations via the integrated modding environment.
Couple of screens I stumbled across:

https://store.stardock.com/images/product_gfx/Battle_lightning_1280.jpg
https://store.stardock.com/images/product_gfx/Battle_Close_Up.jpg

ShivaX

04-29-2009, 05:05 PM

Dammit, my erection just knocked over my lamp.

Ghostbear

04-29-2009, 05:18 PM

I must have this. Now.

Telefrog

04-29-2009, 07:02 PM

Man, I preordered this way too early.

PathMaster

04-29-2009, 07:27 PM

I am digging the look of it, gameplay I will have to wait on.

Clark

04-30-2009, 06:56 AM

Can not wait.

Panthera

05-01-2009, 10:00 AM

That really does look like Master of Magic.

biosc1

05-01-2009, 11:39 AM

Seriously, though, who brings a catapult to a dragon fight? :p

Xydarc

05-01-2009, 01:33 PM

Seriously, though, who brings a catapult to a dragon fight? :p
Those without a dragon?

torrefaction

05-01-2009, 01:36 PM

OMFG that looks amazing.

biosc1

05-01-2009, 02:12 PM

More news and an article on modding:

(http://frogboy.impulsedriven.net/article/349782/Elemental_Modding_Single_Player)
Now a couple of things about Elemental that should be made clear:

Elemental will be a single-player focused game. It will have multiplayer but most of the development time will be spent on single player.
Elemental will have a story-based campaign. While Sins of a Solar Empire and Demigod do not have story-based campaigns, it’s important to bear in mind that Stardock doesn’t develop those games. Galactic Civilizations II and its expansions all have story based campaigns.
I don’t like traditional story-based campaigns. I.e. we are not going to do a scripted campaign but instead tell the story through the campaign game that will play a little bit like Defender of the Crown (incidentally, designed by my friend Kellyn Beeck, VP of BizDev at Gas Powered Games).

Modding:

The plan is that players will be able to save these creations and post them to share with other players. When these creations are saved, they can choose what “mod” they go with. Elemental (for instance) would be the default choice that your creation could be used with. But if someone made a different game mod, they could save it there as well. That way, a mod could continue to be improved over time by the community. Players would continue to use the bestiary (you’ll see that late Summer) to choose which mods they want to make available for themselves.

MagGnome

05-03-2009, 09:51 AM

Clark

05-03-2009, 06:44 PM

This is far and away my most anticipated game. I played Age of Wonders to death, and I've been yearning for a replacement for quite some time now.

This can't come soon enough, and will be a day one purchase.

Age of Wonders ruled!

I remember you saying you picked up Disciples 2 recently. What did you think? I got into that game pretty hardcore for a couple of weeks. It's a game that I end up coming back to every few months.

Back on topic....this and Diablo 3 are easily my most anticipated games.

tombofsoldier

05-03-2009, 07:01 PM

I can wait till next year. I can barely afford the Sims 3 and the new Fable 2 dlc. I wouldn't have any money at all for this.

Crittias

05-03-2009, 09:26 PM

Preordered. For two reasons: the game looks awesome, and Stardock deserves money from me JUST because of their terrific stance on DRM and customer relations.

MagGnome

05-04-2009, 04:58 PM

Age of Wonders ruled!

I remember you saying you picked up Disciples 2 recently. What did you think? I got into that game pretty hardcore for a couple of weeks. It's a game that I end up coming back to every few months.

Back on topic....this and Diablo 3 are easily my most anticipated games.

I did pick up Disciples 2, but I haven't actually played it yet. It's sitting in my backlog along with dozens of other gems. :o

If it's anything like Age of Wonders I'll probably play it for months. Age of Wonders 1, 2, and Shadow Magic were pure crack to me.

jpublic

05-05-2009, 08:20 AM

Anyone remember Lords of Magic? I once picked that up in a mad urge for something MoM-like. It wasn't bad. Not thrilling, but it had its moments.

Panthera

05-05-2009, 08:51 AM

I do remember Lords of Magic. The RTS battles were a bit confusing, but I liked a lot of the ideas behind it.

torrefaction

05-05-2009, 12:16 PM

Anyone remember Lords of Magic? I once picked that up in a mad urge for something MoM-like. It wasn't bad. Not thrilling, but it had its moments.

No where NEAR the level of awesome that MoM was.

Ten19

05-19-2009, 11:36 AM

Some awesome updates from Stardock on Elemental:

The first describes how they're developing a series of in-game tools to edit every asset of the game. Spells, items, even the particle effects will be in the player's hands:

http://boogiebac.impulsedriven.net/article/352520/Countdown_to_Beta_Zero_-_Spells_Spells_and_more_Spells

And a blog out today about the lessons they've learned from Demigod that they'll apply to Elemental:

http://frogboy.impulsedriven.net/article/352655/Getting_back_to_Elemental

Getting more and more excited with each piece of info released, especially the suite of tools. :D

Telefrog

05-20-2009, 08:01 AM

A small update to yesterday's post by Brad.

Let's be clear on the bots:

You can have AI players in MP if you CHOOSE.

But we won't be inserting artificial players (bots) into games unless users explicitly ask for them. Before, we planned to have bots operating on their own server looking for MP games to join complete with their own chat capabilities.

Island Dog

05-20-2009, 08:18 AM

I'm really looking forward to Elemental. The art style is just beautiful. :)

http://www.draginol.com/images2009/GettingbacktoElemental_A5E3/Midleavel_Farm_Test2.jpg

Telefrog

05-20-2009, 08:36 AM

I'm really looking forward to Elemental. The art style is just beautiful. :)

Besides being the MoM "non-sequel" that we've all been waiting for, the art style is the most impressive aspect of the game so far. I love the unique direction!

MagGnome

05-20-2009, 04:30 PM

Besides being the MoM "non-sequel" that we've all been waiting for, the art style is the most impressive aspect of the game so far. I love the unique direction!

Don't you mean Age of Wonders "non-sequel"? :p

ShivaX

05-20-2009, 09:38 PM

Don't you mean Age of Wonders "non-sequel"? :p

Not really. Age of Wonders is definately inspired by Master of Magic, but its more of a scenario-based game.

MoM is like Civilization. Random worlds, tech trees, exploration/empire building, etc, etc. AoW has a little of that, but its really more about making a stack or two of units and wandering around killing stuff. It replicates the magic research of MoM pretty well, but when it comes to other stuff they vary quite a bit.

This looks to be a true sequel to MoM. Basically a 4X game with a fantasy theme.

Telefrog

05-21-2009, 08:58 AM

Brad shot up a new journal entry (http://forums.elementalgame.com/352821) with an intriguing question. Do you want to see Elemental use a complex or simplfied economic system?

Now personally, I could go either way. I do like the idea of players having to choose certain towns that are absolutely strategic. But I also like the idea of being able to have “processed” manufacturing that can keep specializing things until you get some rare but very valuable things.

On the other hand, I’m also worried that a complex system could turn out to fall apart in actual practice (the user interface for it would have to be incredibly good) and then we’d be stuck having to go to camp 2 late in development.

What do you think?

Personally, I favor a Camp 3 approach. Brad's example models don't do much for me either way. Camp 1 seems way too complicated for a game about blasting your rival kingdom with magic fireballs and taking towns with goblin armies, but Cap 1 seems overly simple.

I like the way Civ 4 handled things. Resources can be shared between towns as long as there is an unbroken trade route between them. This keeps certain towns vital to your strategic economy, but leaves the player free from dealing with managing caravans and supply sliders.

Panthera

05-21-2009, 11:24 AM

Telefrog

05-21-2009, 12:04 PM

Alternately, Colonization was fun because it took away all the resource abstraction. I'm not sure I'd want it to be that hands-on, but running an efficient production system can be an interesting challenge.

I agree somewhat. I think it works in games like Imperialism, Anno 1701, and Colonization because those game are primarily about trade and balancing your trade with production. In a game like Elemental, I'm not sure that the goal is have everyone worrying about whether or not their elves have enough mithril to make magic swords. I know I want the game to be about slinging badass spells at my enemy and letting those elves slice 'n dice the orcs. I want geysers of hot lava spewing in the middle of the warg formation, not spreadsheets about managing grain shipments.

MagGnome

05-21-2009, 04:59 PM

Not really. Age of Wonders is definately inspired by Master of Magic, but its more of a scenario-based game.

MoM is like Civilization. Random worlds, tech trees, exploration/empire building, etc, etc. AoW has a little of that, but its really more about making a stack or two of units and wandering around killing stuff. It replicates the magic research of MoM pretty well, but when it comes to other stuff they vary quite a bit.

This looks to be a true sequel to MoM. Basically a 4X game with a fantasy theme.

Blah blah blah. :p

In all seriousness, thanks for the post. I knew that the games were somewhat different, but I've never played MoM. I poured hundreds of hours into the Age of Wonders games, so those are very close to my heart, as I've mentioned several times in this thread. :D

jpublic

05-21-2009, 05:03 PM

I never could get into the AoW games. There was too little focus on the 4X for me.

MagGnome

05-21-2009, 05:07 PM

I'm a little torn on the economic issue.

On the one hand, part of me wants to concentrate on the overall picture and the battle at hand.

On the other hand, the thought of a system closer to that of Dwarf Fortress in a game like Elemental gives me a major game-boner.

I never could get into the AoW games. There was too little focus on the 4X for me.

I really don't think of them as 4X games. They are turn-based strategy games of course, but there wasn't much of a focus on all four "x's", so to speak. I think of Age of Wonders as being more of an evolution of the original Warlords than a game like Master of Orion.

jpublic

05-21-2009, 08:08 PM

I really don't think of them as 4X games. They are turn-based strategy games of course, but there wasn't much of a focus on all four "x's", so to speak. I think of Age of Wonders as being more of an evolution of the original Warlords than a game like Master of Orion.

That's exactly where I was trying to go. My problem with AoW was that they were little more than fantasy Warlords to me. I didn't want that.

MagGnome

05-22-2009, 06:18 PM

That's exactly where I was trying to go. My problem with AoW was that they were little more than fantasy Warlords to me. I didn't want that.

To each his own, even when he is wrong. :p

CappinCanuck

05-28-2009, 07:08 PM

No where NEAR the level of awesome that MoM was.

Yeah, played Master of Magic to death for almost a year. Insanely amazing game. Haven't seen anything like it for a while.

Telefrog

06-19-2009, 08:44 AM

June update (http://forums.elementalgame.com/356722/page/1/) on Elemental:

Q: When will the "beta" be?

A: We expect to have an alpha out in the next 30 days that will be available on a very limited basis. However, we anticipate launching the beta officially at the Penny-Arcade Expo on September 4th. This beta will be available to anyone who has pre-ordered the game. Be warned though, our betas are not fun. They're real betas which means they're incomplete and unbalanced. But through these betas, users can help mold the game by working with us online.

Booo! :(

But, hey! New screens!

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5/Taranis_2006/Elemental_WorkerInAction.png

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5/Taranis_2006/Elemental_1244581868.jpg

CappinCanuck

06-19-2009, 09:03 AM

Looks awesome and epic. Perhaps a little too epic, but I sure as hell hope they pull it off with its currently slated features.

I really wish I had remembered to preorder this with that 20% off coupon we got...

MagGnome

06-19-2009, 09:30 AM

I never, ever pre-order anything, but I just might have to make an exception for this so I can get into the beta.

Have I mentioned that I'm looking forward to this more than any other game? :D

RandoM51

06-20-2009, 08:51 PM

Looks like Dark Cloud/Dark Cloud 2. :p

SilentScreams

06-26-2009, 06:46 AM

If this game turns out anywhere near as awesome as it's looking right now, I will never need another game ever again (except Diablo 3, obviously).

Xydarc

07-04-2009, 12:37 PM

I may have to pre-order this and get into the beta. I don't care how rough the beta is, this game looks great.

Rune_74

07-04-2009, 06:19 PM

When do you have to preorder by to get in the beta?

Telefrog

08-07-2009, 08:19 AM

Elemental: The Book (http://forums.elementalgame.com/360957)!?

Today I spent a lot of time working on the story elements and timeline for Elemental to make sure it goes along with the book. There, I said it. There’s going to be a book that comes out at roughly the same time as the game.

Uhhh... Okay. I guess.

jpublic

08-07-2009, 08:33 AM

Rune - there's no date you have to be in by, I assume once the beta actually, y'know STARTS they'll do the Stardock standard 'preorder and you can help betatest' thing.

Hopefully they won't be like Demigod and force it into online-only play.

Lima Beans

08-07-2009, 10:21 AM

Looks very cool, definitely interested.

Island Dog

08-07-2009, 05:53 PM

After the initial closed Alpha phase, the preorders should be pretty standard as we have done in the past.

And Elemental is single player focused, so I don't think you will be "forced" into MP only.

:)

Rune_74

08-09-2009, 11:38 AM

Island dog are you involved with the game?

Libuke

08-09-2009, 12:00 PM

Island dog are you involved with the game?

That is Brad I believe.

Telefrog

08-09-2009, 12:18 PM

That is Brad I believe.

Nope. Here's his blog. http://www.theislanddog.com/

Brad is officially "Frogboy."

Libuke

08-09-2009, 12:44 PM

Nope. Here's his blog. http://www.theislanddog.com/

Brad is officially "Frogboy."

Not sure why I thought that; I do not follow stardock too closely but for some reason I thought I new the answer. After I posted it I came to me that I should of just waited for you to answer the question correctly.

Telefrog

08-10-2009, 09:01 AM

Elemental alpha build preview! (http://frogboy.impulsedriven.net/article/361047/Brads_Quickie_Eval_of_Elemental_Alpha_1) Lot's of good stuff in here!

The Alpha, like Beta 1, will all take place on the cloth map. The idea here is to take all the eye candy away and let beta testers focus first on just the game play. So again, people looking to have “fun” with the alpha or beta 1 should stay far far away from this. The whole point of a Stardock beta is to let people help mold the final game.

I hope I'm in the first batch or preorder entries. Even the cloth map view looks great.

MagGnome

08-10-2009, 09:04 AM

Wow, that looks great! Easily still my most anticipated game.

Hotcod

08-10-2009, 09:56 AM

i may preorder this as my birthday present :D

Xydarc

08-12-2009, 08:37 PM

Wow, that looks great! Easily still my most anticipated game.
Mine as well.

MagGnome

08-12-2009, 09:12 PM

Mine as well.

No, it can only be mine, sorry. :p

Wait, maybe this time we can play some more multiplayer together!

Telefrog

08-25-2009, 08:29 AM

Looks like Stardock is ramping up the media coverage to begin the beta. New previews at IGN (http://pc.ign.com/articles/101/1017713p1.html), Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5344334/elemental-war-of-magic-impressions-theres-more-to-might-than-magic), and at the official site (http://forums.elementalgame.com/362223).

In Elemental, diplomacy is not merely a matter of trading and treaties but involves family politics as well. Each sovereign, while eternal, can have children who will, in time, grow up, have children, grow up, and pass on and repeat the cycle over and over. Political marriages can strengthen ties and children and family members can become playable characters in the game world similar to “heroes” found in other games who have their own unique abilities based on their pedigree.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2edcegk.png

The beta program, which is open to all who pre-order the game prior to the end of this Summer, begins in the next few weeks and will play entirely on the cloth map in order to allow players to maximize the actual game-play input into the game’s development.

Woo-hoo!

MagGnome

08-25-2009, 09:33 AM

Excuse me while I clean up my keyboard. :D

I'm really tempted to pre-order and get into the beta, but I think I will hold off and wait for the final release.

Clark

08-25-2009, 09:39 AM

My knee-jerk reaction is to pre-order this. I WILL control myself and enjoy it in it's finished goodness.

CappinCanuck

08-30-2009, 08:06 PM

I'll preorder this bad boy :) As long as it works like anything else, meaning, that they won't charge until the release. I'll buy it anyway... and I'll most likely also buy it off Impulse... so why the hell not :D.

SilentScreams

08-31-2009, 04:44 AM

I'm very tempted to pre-order, but I think the payoff will be far greater if I wait like a good boy and play it in all it's glory when it's released.

CappinCanuck

09-07-2009, 05:18 PM

I'm very tempted to pre-order, but I think the payoff will be far greater if I wait like a good boy and play it in all it's glory when it's released.

You know you want it...

I just preordered it. No harm, no foul, they don't charge you until the release date so you can still return it if you like. SUBMITTT...

wyeast

09-07-2009, 05:20 PM

Goro, Astra, and I sat in one of the demos for this during PAX. The game indeed looks sweet. :)

MagGnome

09-07-2009, 07:08 PM

You know you want it...

I just preordered it. No harm, no foul, they don't charge you until the release date so you can still return it if you like. SUBMITTT...

I didn't realize that!

I might preorder after all...

CappinCanuck

09-08-2009, 01:07 PM

I didn't realize that!

I might preorder after all...

Do it soon. The beta will be starting any day now and afterwards, you won't be getting an invite.

Acidpoptart

09-09-2009, 12:59 AM

I couldn't resist any longer. Pre-ordered.

Ten19

09-09-2009, 07:28 AM

SilentScreams

09-09-2009, 08:54 AM

As hard as it is to resist, I think that for Elemental, I'm going to pass on the beta and just enjoy the final product. I think this is going to be something special and I don't want to ruin it or get burned out on unpolished code.

That's my reason for resisting so far too. Every time I think about pre-ordering this, I just load up Civ 4 and try to get my turn-based strategy fix on that. By no means a bad thing.

astranoir

09-09-2009, 09:05 AM

I was blown away by the presentation on this game at PAX. I really need to get a reasonable computer soon so I can get more serious about PC gaming. (I know this has cloth map mode or whatever, but I still don't think I'd want to play it on a netbook.)

MagGnome

09-09-2009, 07:39 PM

As hard as it is to resist, I think that for Elemental, I'm going to pass on the beta and just enjoy the final product. I think this is going to be something special and I don't want to ruin it or get burned out on unpolished code.

I'm leaning that way as well. I never pre-order games anyway, but I have been somewhat tempted to pre-order this. Then again I'd rather not get burned out on the beta, so I might just wait for the final product.

I was blown away by the presentation on this game at PAX. I really need to get a reasonable computer soon so I can get more serious about PC gaming. (I know this has cloth map mode or whatever, but I still don't think I'd want to play it on a netbook.)

Then we could play together, like in the old UNO days! :D

astranoir

09-09-2009, 07:56 PM

Then we could play together, like in the old UNO days! :D

Sounds good. I probably won't get one until after Christmas, but that should work out okay. :)

MagGnome

09-09-2009, 09:28 PM

Sounds good. I probably won't get one until after Christmas, but that should work out okay. :)

Let me know!

Maybe we can get Purple Santa to join us - ha!

Telefrog

09-17-2009, 08:09 AM

The beta is beginning TODAY (http://forums.elementalgame.com/363844)!

Objectives of BETA 1 in detail:
1. We want to know if it runs okay on your computers. If it doesn’t, tell us what operating system you’re running, video card (dxdiag is a useful tool), CPU, etc. The more hardware info, the better.

2. As has been mentioned, beta 1 will NOT be fun in any way. We are not kidding about this. Our objective with this first build is to get the parameters on which the game runs, how well it runs.
On October 1st, we will have BETA 1A which will implement some of the “game” features that we took out of beta 1 along with a lot of features that we’ve been focusing on since PAX (computer AI, economic AI, research tree stuff, etc.).

The entire BETA 1 (and BETA 2) series will only play on the cloth map (seen above). The cloth map mode will remain the standard game experience for the Elemental beta until the Beta testers (AND Stardock) decide the game is sufficiently fun without having to rely on next-generation graphics. This will take as long as it takes.

Acidpoptart

09-17-2009, 04:02 PM

Got my key!

Stoke

09-17-2009, 05:26 PM

Got my key as well. Still not sure if I'm actually going to partake though, I don't want to ruin anything for myself in the release.

UWCrash

09-17-2009, 05:39 PM

I was worried about people getting their keys when mine wasn't showing up, but it just arrived 10 minutes ago. I'm still a little miffed about the behavior of some of the Stardock people at PAX, but at least the person I talked to on the show floor was very excited about the beta starting.

It's a little surprising to see that schedule posted. When I was talking to Scott (from Stardock) a couple weeks ago it sounded like their previous plans for the initial beta were a lot more aggressive. They definitely had planned to release it in a "Cloth map-only" mode, but it sounded like pre-PAX they had planned to leave all 12 races in, which probably would have meant a lot more gameplay available in the early beta.

Stoke

09-17-2009, 06:39 PM

Telefrog

09-17-2009, 07:26 PM

I'm curious as well. Any details?

Also, this:

http://i31.tinypic.com/2dr9nww.jpg

This game is going to be epic when it's done.

jpublic

09-17-2009, 07:41 PM

I wish there was a starter guide, I have no clue what the hell I'm doing.

MagGnome

09-17-2009, 07:54 PM

Is it too late to get into the beta now? If I pre-order this weekend or next week, will I get in?

Stoke

09-17-2009, 08:06 PM

Is it too late to get into the beta now? If I pre-order this weekend or next week, will I get in?

I believe if you weren't in when they started sending out invites you won't get in.

Telefrog

09-17-2009, 08:24 PM

Is it too late to get into the beta now? If I pre-order this weekend or next week, will I get in?

If you preorder before the end of this month, you'll still get into the beta (http://forums.elementalgame.com/363844).

For the rest of September, new users will be able to pre-order and join in as well and then it will be closed (people can still pre-order but they won’t get access until we roll out Beta 2.

You still have time! :)

Stoke

09-17-2009, 08:26 PM

If you preorder before the end of this month, you'll still get into the beta (http://forums.elementalgame.com/363844).

You still have time! :)

I stand corrected. Good news. :D

UWCrash

09-18-2009, 08:44 PM

What happened at PAX? From what I've seen of the people at Stardock they're good people. Granted, if I've seen it it's only because they wanted me to. I did a quick scan of the thread but I couldn't find anything.

He didn't want to make a big deal of it and wasn't going to post himself, so I'm not going to provide gritty details. Basically a friend ran into a few of them in an elevator Sunday night, and without a word from him they said a few unprovoked, unkind things to him. Maybe they'd been drinking since the show was over. For their sake, I hope so.

SilentScreams

01-13-2010, 06:22 AM

CappinCanuck

01-13-2010, 08:49 AM

Super thread necro.

I've just seen on Big Download (http://news.bigdownload.com/2010/01/12/elemental-war-of-magic-now-due-in-third-quarter-2010/) that this game now has a Q3 2010 estimated release.

Anyone here played the beta lately? How is the game shaping up?

Still in Beta 1, nothing to really do if you're looking to play the game. Although I think Beta 2, the fun one, will be released this month -- any day now.

Telefrog

01-13-2010, 09:07 AM

Still in Beta 1, nothing to really do if you're looking to play the game. Although I think Beta 2, the fun one, will be released this month -- any day now.

Yup. At this point, the beta is still very rough and meant more for vetting graphical glitches, memory leaks, and sound issues. There is a bare framework for gameplay, but it's not much more than roaming the map with your leader and building random structures in your towns that don't actually do anything substantial. Features have been slowly added, but there is a lot to go before I'd call this a "game" at all.

Still, I love the graphical style choice they've made.

CappinCanuck

01-29-2010, 03:00 PM

Booyah! BETA 2 slated for late February btw.

BETA 1

1.Initial Build: Basic Compatibility
2.Beta 1A: Initial Gameplay Skeleton
3.Beta 1B: Initial Economic system Implemented
4.Beta 1C: Initial AI system Implemented
5.Beta 1D: Initial Diplomacy system Implemented
6.Beta 1E: Initial Dynasty system implemented
7.Beta 1F: Initial Magic system implemented
8.Beta 1G: Initial Quest system implemented
BETA 2

1.Initial build provides basic multiplayer (player hosted – client/server)
2.Beta 2A: Persistent stat tracking
3.Beta 2B: Stardock hosted option.
4.Beta 2C: Stardock hosted persistent games
5.Beta 2D: Stardock hosted persistent universe game (persistent dynasties)
BETA 3

1.Initial Kumquat3D engine build of Elemental.
2.Beta 3A: Introduction to Dungeons
3.Beta 3B: Introduction to Magical Spells
BETA 4

1.Introduction to tactical battles
2.Beta 4A: New multiplayer mode: Arena
3.Beta 4B: Customized tactical battle options
4.Beta 4C: Super-Duper AI Update to tactical battles
5.Beta 4D: Polish Beta (extensive and ongoing)
BETA 5

1.Introduction to integrated modding
2.Beta 5A: Persistent universe mods
3.Beta 5B: Third-party Maya/3D Studio importing beta
4.Beta 5C: Modding group testing
GAMMA

1.Private Build (only very active beta testers get access to this under NDA)
2.Single Player Campaign Testing