Seboss

Reply to A Modest Proposal for the Magic System in Elemental: Where is the Magic in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

[quote quoting="post"]Time to redo the current schools of magic. I’ve got a revolutionary idea – let’s use the Shards to determine what magic you are able to research. In other words, if you want to research Fire Spells, you have to have a Fire Shard.[/quote] If memory serves, that's pretty much what Stardock was aiming for at first except you needed a Shard not to research but to cast a spell of the corresponding school (remember the pr

Reply to [Icecrown Mod] - Tactical spell particle remake - UPDATE : Now support 1.08 (Link&Video) in WOM Mods Elemental Forums

Fantastic job Icecrown. Would you consider putting up a quick tutorial video for beginners? I haven't played much with the particle editor so far and I'm still a little quizzical to say the least.

Reply to Elemental: Launch-Week Status Report in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

You guys did a great job during these last few days. You certainly deserve a few days break :) But don't keep us waiting too long for more updates :D

Reply to [Suggestion][Tactical Combat]Simultaneous Turns in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

Some early dev journals gave some details about the initial vision Stardock had with tactical battles (search for 'continuous'). I never really got what they were thinking about with the "continuous turn-based" thing. And remember battles were supposed to have thousands of soldiers on the field simultaneously. Then reality kicked in...

Reply to [Suggestion][Tactical Combat]Simultaneous Turns in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

I wonder why they went for the current simplistic "player gets to move all his units" model. I understand they had little time to turn around after the real-time with pause thingy got canned, but the current implementation of tactical battles is the worst/naive system I can think of. Any argument in favor of the current implementation against a combat speed/initiative order à la HoMM?

Reply to [gameplay] Dump the Diplomacy Tree. in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

Admittedly, the diplomatic tree is pretty weak compared to the others. It's not such a stretch to merge it in the civilization tree. Or not :P In any case, it definitely needs some more work.

Reply to [gameplay] Dump the Diplomacy Tree. in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

I agree that the whole idea of the diplomacy tree (and diplomatic capital) feels pretty artificial to me, but I guess it serves its purpose in term of gameplay and balance. Trade can significantly improve your finances early in the game but the needed research and caravans building can put you to a disadvantage against a faction that focused on military techs from the get go; and this all leads to interesting strategic choice. If trade and treaties were made available to all from the

Reply to Which version of Python? in WOM Mods Elemental Forums

There's no point in learning Python 2 today if you don't intend to use major python apps that are still 2.xx only (Django, Twisted...). Python core developers are pushing hard for Python 3 (aka Python 3000) anyway, and the 2.x branch will not have any new feature, but only bugfixes. These are the books I recommend for python newcomers: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Python-Powerful-Object-Oriented-Programming/dp/0596158068/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&a

Reply to Feedback from an interface designer in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

[quote]I would say is that anybody who wants to design a 4x game, particularly from an interface perspective (but also AI, faction balance etc), should take a look at Kerberos' Sword of the Stars. I know it's a different genre, but it is the 4x current gold standard (at least in my humble opinion ).[/quote] As much as I like SotS (and am eagerly waiting for SotS 2 and Northstar), it's hardly a 4x current gold standard. It's mostly seen as an average game at best and it's got its shar

Reply to There is something ... odd about this well [huge feedback on game] in War of Magic Elemental Forums

Great feedback. That may sound harsh, but most of the issues listed here (except for the SP campaign obviously) have been brought up before. Elemental still has a long way to go to become a classic. [quote] MODDING: I've been reading lots of threads (not just ones here) and people everywhere want a flexible modding system. It seems like something Stardock / Brad is set on which is great. Get as much of the core-game mechanics exposed

Reply to You! Justify your existence! in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="Spitz" reply="38" id="2710494"]I don't think people mind waiting; it's a wait of undetermined length with nothing to do.[/quote] Well, during the 'crashier' parts of the beta, the HTTP download of the data files + the parsing overhead on each start up strained my patience quite a bit. I suspect the download part was the main culprit since my internet connection can get really slow when the TV is on (triple play ftw). If I remember correctly, the release version won't

Reply to You! Justify your existence! in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="11" id="2710382"] That's very similar to what we're thinking of doing. What we're looking at is loading the XML the first time and then saving it as a binary blob where it only changes if the checksum changes.[/quote] I realize I'll sound like a smart ass here, but I'm surprised you haven't considered that earlier since you've been using Python. Python scripts work pretty much that way; i.e compile .py file to byte code on first run, dump that in

Reply to Two weeks from tomorrow in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

When does my vacation start? Oh yes, on August 24th :D

Reply to Elemental: We’re so excited! in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

Just chiming in to say this post is a relief. I played the beta from the very beginning and beta 4 really got me worried. I mean, the engine is good, the game is much more stable than before and performs a little better on my aging hardware. But as Frogboy said, it's pretty boring and I was pretty sure it was a pretty close representation of the final SP game. I'm glad to hear it's not. Can't wait to play the campaign :)

Reply to Shhh. Sleeping. in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

You're more than welcome to do that Anny :)

Reply to On to BETA 4! in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="DeadlyShoe" reply="70" id="2691070"]I would dearly love if unit groups were handled on a per figure basis, ala Master of Magic..[/quote] Indeed. I was pretty surprised when I found out it wasn't the case.

Reply to Elemental BETA 3-C in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="arstal" reply="98" id="2689512"]There is a fun game in Elemental now, I just think we'll need a lot of post-release support for the game to become a classic. I know Stardock will do that, so I'm not worried about it- Stardock with their efforts and sustained support in the past, has earned my trust. [/quote] True. I realize Stardock is a small structure that works on a very tight schedule, and that even in its current state, Elemental is quite an achievement. The Kum

Reply to Elemental BETA 3-C in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

The team did a pretty good job with this build. It's the most stable build I played in a loooong time. I've been away from the game from quite some time so I'm still trying to figuring out where mana shards and multiplayer went. I reckon the magic system has been through a lot of streamlining. Suppose I'll have to catch up on Devs Journals. Still, the game really is in a really enjoyable state right now. Of course, I got a couple gripes though. I think the map creation algorithms

Reply to Elemental: Modding in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

Python is pretty much the only language worth learning as long as you don't have to crunch a lot of numbers or dig deep into low level drivers - which need to go into the ruthless world of native code; and even then, you can find an opensource library or python driven engine for pretty much anything. I can't thank Stardock enough for picking it as their scripting language of choice. [quote]If anyone is interested, O'Reilly has their Learning Python ebook on sale today for $9.99[

Reply to Tiny coincidences in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

What?! No Jeremy Soule? Outrageous! j/k of course. I'm glad to hear such a talented composer works on the project :)

Reply to Channeler Customization: Continued in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

Like I mentionned in the previous thread, while I like the idea of perks and flaws I'd really like traits like how they're done in Fallout , i.e traits that really break some rules or bring very unique abilities but come with a steep price, all in a fairly consistent manner.

Reply to Sovereign Attributes discussion in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

Yup, I heartfully agree with the idea of real game changing perks/flaws that cannot (or hardly be) emulated through normal sovereign progression. I'm not so fond about numbers either, I'd rather have traits that bring a new twist to the game like vieuxchat and others mentionned. I think that bonus/malus is okay for faction traits, but the sovereign deserves something really unique (hint: Fallout 1&2). I also like the idea of traits that are not outright positive but that c

Reply to Some thoughts on succession in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

I can't wait to know for about the succession system. I agree that the framework Brad describes in this post seems a little simplistic and I'm confident it will be fleshed out in the next coming weeks. But for my fellow posters, don't focus too much on the subject, Elemental is not Crusaders Kings.

Reply to Oh I’ve got all year in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

AI and diplomacy? That's more than I hoped for! That really is fantastic news. These two features are the ones that are the more sorely lacking in the current beta and even though trying out build patterns and fiddling with UI and such is pretty fun in itself, having semi-decent opponents will really make all the testing more exciting.

Reply to Elemental: And now for something completely different in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

I have to admit I'm a little confused by this new research system. I'll have to lay my hands on it before I can make my opinion. I'm happy that you're resisting to the temptation to implement everything and the kitchen sink in the game though, I certainly don't mind depth but I wouldn't want Elemental to turn into Fantasy Transport Tycoon either, or have to put everything on autopilot (MoO 3) to make any progress in the game. I'm exaggerating of course but I think you get the point. You have