End Game: Wining the game
Not having the last 20% of the turns be a waiting game
Elemental Forums
TBS end games suck. It's almost a universal property of turn based strategy games. You build up you fight, you research, and you make it through the mid game, emerge as top dog . . .then spend the next quarter / third of the game just going threw the motions of meeting the 'game win' objectives (be they finishing up that final tech, finishing that secret project, casting that uber spell, crushing the last towns petty resistances, watching your armies move 1/18th of the map each turn for 50 turns. . . normally you know you're going to achieve it LONG before you actually do. [sometimes not, I've finished up an game win tech while loosing the last of my planets, or cast the magic mastery spell as a unstoppable army marches to my front gate... but it's rare.]).
In part it's a requirement of the genre [TBS mechanics], but can't Elemental at least make it fun?
My example mainly focuses on the winning by mastery of magic. but I'm sure the other game win methods can also be beefed up similarly.
If Elemental follows the trend of research to win TBS alternative win options, It will play out something like this:
Near the end of the research tree is a branch, finishing each tech in the branch gives you nothing but the next spell to research (or a semi-trivial bonus and a spell to research), Each successive spell will take many more Research points then the previous. The last spell on the branch will be 'win the game' the spell, you finish it, you cast it and the stats for the game pop up saying how wonderfully you did. yay.
I've got a counter proposal, but first an assumptions.
Before you start a game you choose a channeler, or you customize one. if you customize you'll be shown a list of options and have a set number of 'picks' you can use to choose bonuses you want, and neffs you accept to trade for other bonuses you think are more important. If the game follows AOW and MOM, you also use those picks to select books(spheres, shards) which determine which spells you can use, and how high a level of that type of magic you can learn (3 nature books unlocks level 3 nature spells to be researched, a forth gives you 4-5 more spells that you can research (level 4 nature spells).) For the sake of easy math you get 10 picks, which you can use for both books or channeler properties [extra essence, fast researcher, item forger, fire magic expert...]
My suggestion, instead of having a, You Win, spell have the player actually MASTER MAGIC. If the average channeler has 60 spells they can learn with the books they choose at the start of the game, have approximately 6 spell research slots that are 'get one more channeler pick' research options. Each additional bonus pick of course costs more to research. The game would still have a towards mastery spell research branch, available late in the game, but these also would give channeler picks at much steeper, and faster growing cost then the first 6.
At the end of this you now have an additional 10 picks you've spent, making you a much more powerful channeler then your opponents [if they have not been keeping up] the way of progressing from here is have that 10th win a pick actually be the 'win the game' spell. Instead i suggest that the research cost for additional picks be reduced. In any normal game you would have already 'won' so instead just have the cost to get your 11th pick be the cost of your 9th, the 12th the cost of the 8th, and then keep dropping till the cost is no higher then the research cost of the most expensive regular research spell. Now the fun begins!
Imagine the Power your gaining, the spells you're gaining access to, by your 8th bonus pick you've probably gotten all the books from one school, by 14, you've probably picked up all the best channeler abilities, by 24 [they are getting cheaper, and your getting more powerful, you might even be getting one every two-three turns at this point] you've got 2 schools mastered, and are researching 2-3 regular spells a TURN.
Eventually you gain access to channeler picks that aren't available at the beginning of that game 'multi summoning, ' Any summoning spell you cast summons 5 copies of the creature, you can summon them to any square you control on the map, rather then just your home town. ' Spell maintenance inversion' any spell that normally costs you energy/essence to maintain GIVES YOU energy/essence to spend each turn.
Imagine having ALL the spells of the game available to you, + new ones, Imagine casting any number of spells in a turn, Just to see what they do. Imagine counter spelling all the other channelers EVERYTHING in one supper spell, all blessings, buffs, all gone. Casting game changing spells, global enchantments that normally take 10- 15 turns to cast, TWO AT A TIME. THE POWER!!!
Soon you've researched everything, and actually find the 'win by mastering magic spell' which you can cast, or just drop a rock the size of new Zealand on every opposing town, in one turn. Whichever suits you.
Want something similar for concurring the world by force? How about having towns surrender to you as your troops come over their horizon? no fighting, just they see you they surrender. unless they have a hero of the enemy garrisoned in the town, or the opposing mage. who you walk over. Every turn Mercenaries offer to join your cause, each turn at lower and lower rates hoping to join the winning team and ride the victor to the spoils. Even top level heroes from enemy teams defect to join you as your strength rises far above your opponents. Neutral AIs beg to merge before they get trampled beneath your feet. Your troops march faster and farther per turn (as any locals eagerly show and explain all the local shortcuts/ lend you fresh horses who cares what excuses)
The trick too all of this is that the game has to detect or be preprogrammed to know you're a defacto winner, At the same point when you normally would cast the game over spell, or stop paying attention to your cities and towns just spend every turn moving your army as far as you can killing anything that gets in your way and hitting turn because you can no longer loose. Only after you've 'all but officially won' should ANY of these effects begin to take place. But all of these should snowball, causing you to get stronger and stronger by the turn super-exponentially. Once you pass the threshold it becomes hard to loose, once you're any bit beyond it you would seriously have to try to loose. THAT is power, THAT is mastery. THAT is winning a game!!
Is dreaming of casting a spell turning all opposing farms into billowing plumes of smoke and fire, with the snap of a finger.
Just call me Q.
See you, out there.
Damn, I like that game too much.
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