mr nobuddy on 30/8/2010 at 22:05
Before I write this off as not worth my time: to those who've played it a bit, is it fun? Or do you consider it a chore to play?
Shakey-Lo on 31/8/2010 at 01:52
I have played it a fair bit now and I do think that as a basic 4X-plus-questing game, the base game is quite fun. Building up a kingdom in peacetime and levelling up your hero can be fun. Tactical combat can be fun if you're fighting magical opponents. War on the 4X strategy level is not fun, though, and in fact probably broken.
I was building up my army to take on my nearest opponent - we were both large empires and I had been building my army up for some time, yet the diplomacy screen still told me his military was larger than mine. I captured the city closest to my borders, where his sovereign was stationed, and wiped out the defenders. The enemy sovereign was able to retreat to a nearby city, as they do. A few turns later, while my army was recuperating in the captured city, the enemy sovereign attempted to take his city back. With an army that had a combat rating of around 100. Against my army which had a combat rating of about 700. His army was slaughtered yet again, and because the enemy sovereign was now in my territory, he was unable to retreat and died for reals. This means his empire is defeated and disappears off the map. Where there was once a sprawling empire of about eight cities, there is now only empty land. All from two easy combats. And that's working as intended.
With that, I quit and decided not to come back until at least the next major patch, but in all likelihood, Civ 5 will have me hooked for months and I might only drop in to check up on it in 6 months' time.
It's funny though, something doesn't quite sit right with me in all this hubbub about it being released unfinished. When I was in the beta, it struck me that the notion of a "release date" seemed rather arbitrary in this case. I paid the full amount several months ago, and because of that, could play in the beta. At any point over that past few months, anyone could pay the full amount and play the latest version of the game. On August 24th, anyone could pay the full amount and play the latest version of the game. In the coming months, anyone can pay the full amount and play the latest version of the game. So what makes August 24th so special? It's some arbitrary date where they release the arbitrarily-designated "v1.0". Even the press around the "release" version of Elemental are humming and hawwing and trying not being too harsh because it's not finished and maybe they'll come back in a few months. Just the notion of a 'release date' seems arbitrary and unneccessary when the game is always in a changing state and the game has been available to anybody who buys it for some time. It kind of reminds me of Mount & Blade's release model.
gunsmoke on 31/8/2010 at 03:12
Quote Posted by N'Al
(
http://www.unamommer.com/?p=109) Could this - quite possibly - be the best, and greatest, and most entertaining something about Elemental?
Holy, shit-, did, an 8-th grade student, write that, book with-out, an, editor? WTF.
Briareos H on 31/8/2010 at 07:08
No, this is not completely a vanity project as an editor and a professional writer supposedly worked on it. It's written in the article. Bother reading.
mr nobuddy on 31/8/2010 at 09:30
Quote Posted by Shakey-Lo
I have played it a fair bit now and I do think that as a basic 4X-plus-questing game, the base game is quite fun. Building up a kingdom in peacetime and levelling up your hero can be fun. Tactical combat can be fun if you're fighting magical opponents. War on the 4X strategy level is not fun, though, and in fact probably broken.
I was building up my army to take on my nearest opponent - we were both large empires and I had been building my army up for some time, yet the diplomacy screen still told me his military was larger than mine. I captured the city closest to my borders, where his sovereign was stationed, and wiped out the defenders. The enemy sovereign was able to retreat to a nearby city, as they do. A few turns later, while my army was recuperating in the captured city, the enemy sovereign attempted to take his city back. With an army that had a combat rating of around 100. Against my army which had a combat rating of about 700. His army was slaughtered yet again, and because the enemy sovereign was now in my territory, he was unable to retreat and died for reals. This means his empire is defeated and disappears off the map. Where there was once a sprawling empire of about eight cities, there is now only empty land. All from two easy combats. And that's working as intended.
With that, I quit and decided not to come back until at least the next major patch, but in all likelihood, Civ 5 will have me hooked for months and I might only drop in to check up on it in 6 months' time.
Thanks. I'll keep an eye on this but for now I'll pass...
gunsmoke on 31/8/2010 at 09:38
Quote Posted by Briareos H
No, this is not completely a vanity project as an editor and a professional writer supposedly worked on it. It's written in the article. Bother reading.
Bother taking a joke...
Briareos H on 31/8/2010 at 09:47
Sorry mate, being grumpy today.
Tenkahubu on 31/8/2010 at 11:17
Quote Posted by Shakey-Lo
It kind of reminds me of Mount & Blade's release model.
The big difference being that M&B didn't charge full price until the game was finished.
They could possibly have gotten around a lot of the criticism by selling the game as an open, stable beta2 or something. People without prior involvement would have had lower expectations.
I wonder how many other people will be fed up and leave it, to check back in 6 months (or maybe forget to bother)?
Unless they can keep people happy there won't be many mods either
Eldron on 31/8/2010 at 14:17
Quote Posted by Tenkahubu
The big difference being that M&B didn't charge full price until the game was finished.
They could possibly have gotten around a lot of the criticism by selling the game as an open, stable beta2 or something. People without prior involvement would have had lower expectations.
I wonder how many other people will be fed up and leave it, to check back in 6 months (or maybe forget to bother)?
Unless they can keep people happy there won't be many mods either
This and M&B was always quite open with that it wasn't a finished or released game, and that it was in beta.
I'm still a bit optimistic about elementals future though.
Eric18 on 1/9/2010 at 16:14
I am too considering they're track record. GC2 turned into a fantastic game i think this can to. Im sure they will work on it till its solid.
