I’m back from the Game Developer’s Conference. Lots of fun. I did a lot of demoing of Impulse::Reactor but also showed a few journalists what we were doing in Elemental.
The most common question I got is how is Elemental different from other turn-based strategy games (ala Civilization or Galactic Civilizations).
The answer: Elemental is a much more personal experience. In Civilization or GalCiv, the player exists outside the game. It is about (as their names imply) their civilization.
Putting you in the game
In Elemental, the player starts out in the game, by themselves. They literally must build their kingdom (or empire) from the ground up with nothing. When starting up in the sandbox mode, the player is asked who they are and can design (both in terms of traits as well as visuals) what they are like.
The connection between your army and your people
Similarly, when you build armies, the number of people in your “units” matters because each one comes from your town. Early on, an outpost or village may only have a couple dozen people. Thus, each person you draft from your village is one less person there to grow food, build houses, research technology, etc.
Our goal is to avoid abstracting your armies. If you zoom in, you will be able to see that every person in your army is different (even if it’s just cosmetic) to help send home the point that these virtual people are part of your cause.
Your dynasty
Similarly, because we’re a fantasy title and not historical, we can put the player as the head of a multi-generational dynasty. Thus, your sovereign’s virtual off-spring can be sent off to battle and be put in danger.
The Reaction
The reaction we got from this was very positive. Over the coming months, we’ll be fine tuning this experience with the beta testers. And since we’re our own publisher, we’ll take as long as we need to get it right. 
