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Questions for August 2009

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Questions for August 2009

from Elemental Forums

So we're starting to put together stuff for the alpha. 

This week we're putting together the list for the private alpha group (basically a lottery).

The exact day of the release of the alpha remains to be seen. Part of it depends on the weather up at Higgins Lake (where I'll be on vacation until early next week). If it rains, I'll be going home sooner which means the alpha will likely come out a bit sooner. If it's nice, I'll be staying a bit longer and the alpha will have a couple more days to bake. Kind of a reverse groundhogs day.

In either case, we plan to start making public to those interested in seeing the sausage factory that is game development our internal bug reports.

Those of you not used to a Stardock beta will find these quite...something I suspect.  Most people don't realize how games are made. 

A game, at the end of the day, is a piece of software that is tuned to be "fun" where fun is a debateable concept.

On a new property like Elemental, that means the software is taking a bunch of technologies that have been developed over the previous year or two and integrated together.  

If a game takes say 3 years to make, 2.5 years of that time will be spent on the underlying tech. The lsat 6 months spent putting that tech together into a working "game".  That is where we are now, taking the techs and integrating them together.

You'll be able to see all our foibles in the journals area starting next week as the good, bad, and ugly of the game's develpoment starts to come together. 

So if you have any questions for the August FAQ, post them here. 

Cheers!

elemental
215,146 views 109 replies
Reply #51 from Elemental Forums Top

I have a question steming from the mention by one of the devs (don't remember which) that fertile areas will grow with time, without any essence cost beside the initial one : Do you have any mechanics in mind to discourage, or prevent, the "smallpox" strategy? (Note : for those who don't already know, "smallpox" in Civ 1-3 consist of covering the map with tiny cities, as close to each other as possible.)

Of course if you need to pay essence for every new city this strategy is ridiculous, but it doesn't seem to be the case if a player can simply fill the grown fertile areas with tiny cities.

Reply #52 from Elemental Forums Top

Surely the grow with time part means like lots of turns.

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Reply #53 from Stardock Forums Top

a few minor questions...

Considering the limitationg the average player has modding some things, how much base content is provided? Like, are there 5 diff weapons to arm soldiers with, or 30? 3 mount types or 10? And why only 2, very similiar, races?

If I preorder after the beta starts, can I join that day? or do I have to wait?

Can you be more clear on the difference between essence and regular magic? Is there a difference? Can I cast spells in battle often, or is that a gross waste of my limited essence?

 

Reply #54 from Elemental Forums Top

Can there be cityless factions? Sort of like nomads/barbarian/hordes that encourage a more SRPG style of gameplay?

Can we disable magic/essence?

How big are the 64-bit maps? Can you show one off in a video/screenshot?

How much support will you give in providing tools to help in some of the rather rudimentary and basic levels of modding?

For example, in Civ4, even adding/changing Civs required going into text editors and a lot of cross checking of files to make sure it would work. Will Elemental help make it as easy as possible?

 

Reply #55 from Elemental Forums Top

Just one thing to say:

Happy vacation, brilliant weather and have fun with the familie.

 

Reply #56 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Ranbir, reply 4
For example, in Civ4, even adding/changing Civs required going into text editors and a lot of cross checking of files to make sure it would work.
My half finished mod for Legend of the Five Rings is sad witness of that.

Reply #57 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Wintersong, reply 17

Quoting BoogieBac, reply 20
1- Pure -->hypothesis<-- but in the case of the game selling (really) well, microexpansions a la Sins of a Solar Empire would be considered?


I really didn't want to answer any of the questions (leave that to Brad) but this is one that I keep going back and forth on. It's definatly more rewarding, for us and the players (I beleive) to do meaty, full blown expansions where we stuff all the goods in.

On the other hand, it's A LOT of fun to have a game that supports lots of different play-styles that can be toggled on and off to make each experience even more unique. Carcasonne has this, where we can play with rivers, kings, towers, dragons, trade goods, etc etc, which are all interchangable and balanced.

I'd be curious what you guys think about this subject as the beta's move forward...big expansions or micro?

In the end is a matter of money but that one option may be profitable doesn't make it available.

About changes in code like new game options, microexpansions can hurt modders making them adapt now and then. Patches for bug fixes should be more than enough. Microexpansions that only add art/graphics should be easier and could benefit more from microexpansions.

Let's say that Stardock decides to create a bunch of art/graphics of scifi style. Many user surely wouldn't be so much interested in such content as they could prefer more fantasy style one. If the meaty expansion pack without that scifi content were to cost $30 but with the scifi content the cost raised to a total of $35, the people that didn't want that content would complain about paying for something that they don't want in the first place. Specially if that would raise the price of the expansion pack.

But, following the previous example, if Stardock sees that the scifi material would be profitable if sold (becuase there are enough people in it... maybe for an Alpha Centauri mod), to sell that contento trhough a microexpansion would be the solution (and sell the meaty expansion pack without it). The problem with this approach is if this scifi content include new gameplay elements. That could be a problem when patches arrive... But if the microexpansions are only eye candy, that wouldn't be a problem, right? Or not so big at least.

It's also nice not to hae to wait for 9 months for something that was finished in 3 months. Specially if it's just art/graphics.

I used scifi as example because it's the one that breaks more the Elemental style but I could have chosen Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, Acient China/Japan... or some D&D (slightly) based content. Just saying. In any case, I suppose that Sins of Solar Empire's case should give you some nice data to study about the topic, right?

And thank you for answering, BoogieBac.

Yeah, it is what I stated in my prior post albeit with far less words. :borg:

Reply #58 from Elemental Forums Top

I agree with Wintersong for the most part. I dont mind micro's if their graphics only. Otherwise, I think feature related content belongs in a regular expansion. Hey, Boogie...can we have both?? :D

Reply #59 from Elemental Forums Top

I don't think there will be micro-expansions for Elemental.

We're more likely to follow the Galactic Civilizations path of things where each expansion acts as a chapter to the story and also adds a ton of new features and such.

Reply #60 from Elemental Forums Top

There! A spoiler! The campaign doesn't end the story! ;)

Thanks, Frogboy. Knowing (and enjoying) the expansion packs for Gal Civ II, Elemental's will be great to be sure. Only doubt would be: would they beat the quality of Gal Civ II's? (quite a high bar there)

Reply #61 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9
I don't think there will be micro-expansions for Elemental.

We're more likely to follow the Galactic Civilizations path of things where each expansion acts as a chapter to the story and also adds a ton of new features and such.

Good to know! I found out about GalCiv2 when all the expansions were already out. I wish it were the same way with Elemental. I am so impatient and hate waiting! :)

Reply #62 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9
I don't think there will be micro-expansions for Elemental.

We're more likely to follow the Galactic Civilizations path of things where each expansion acts as a chapter to the story and also adds a ton of new features and such.

Will there be any plans to provide content or art packs?  I could see that being worth some money just to have more options to include when creating units, customizing my sovereign, or to view in the terrain.

A bit off-topic, but how has the micro-expansion concept worked for Iron Clad/SD?  It seemed like all the rage for a bit, but after Entrenchment was released the discussion with it died out (or at least became less public).  Development time also seems to be a lot longer than anticipated.

Reply #63 from Elemental Forums Top

Any chance at getting a sneak preview of a chapter of the book you (Frogboy) mentioned might come out around the same time?

Reply #64 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Ephafn, reply 1
I have a question steming from the mention by one of the devs (don't remember which) that fertile areas will grow with time, without any essence cost beside the initial one : Do you have any mechanics in mind to discourage, or prevent, the "smallpox" strategy? (Note : for those who don't already know, "smallpox" in Civ 1-3 consist of covering the map with tiny cities, as close to each other as possible.)

Of course if you need to pay essence for every new city this strategy is ridiculous, but it doesn't seem to be the case if a player can simply fill the grown fertile areas with tiny cities.

Somewhere, some time ago, Frogboy said that city population will be limited based on its surroundings. The reason being population in Elemental doesn't come as much from births as from the remnant population of the world coming out of hiding and into your cities. Presumably this also means that having many cities clustered together will seriously limit how large each of those cities can become.

I'd actually like this very much - allowing you to choose between sparsely populated metropolises or tightly packed villages.

Reply #65 from Elemental Forums Top

I just hope that we have some option to turn on and off expansion features.   I don't remeber it being a problem in Gal Civ 2 (likely because it was not multiplayer, which is always where I seem to find  what features annoy me.  'cause there is what the AI does, and what players do and when it doesn't coinside at  all)  But I know in Civilizations IV I wish I could turn off some warlords features while still keeping others and the Beyond the sword content

 

Reply #67 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting landisaurus, reply 15
I just hope that we have some option to turn on and off expansion features.   I don't remeber it being a problem in Gal Civ 2 (likely because it was not multiplayer, which is always where I seem to find  what features annoy me.  'cause there is what the AI does, and what players do and when it doesn't coinside at  all)  But I know in Civilizations IV I wish I could turn off some warlords features while still keeping others and the Beyond the sword content.

Unless they add something pretty crazy in an expansion, that seems unlikely. Selectively enabling and disabling everything new adds an immense amount of complexity to making the whole thing work.

Reply #68 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Tridus, reply 17

Quoting landisaurus, reply 15I just hope that we have some option to turn on and off expansion features.   I don't remeber it being a problem in Gal Civ 2 (likely because it was not multiplayer, which is always where I seem to find  what features annoy me.  'cause there is what the AI does, and what players do and when it doesn't coinside at  all)  But I know in Civilizations IV I wish I could turn off some warlords features while still keeping others and the Beyond the sword content.

Unless they add something pretty crazy in an expansion, that seems unlikely. Selectively enabling and disabling everything new adds an immense amount of complexity to making the whole thing work.
Not necessarily. I was just thinking a bit about this, and supposedly, there's going to be some kind of auto-application of mods so that you can match and mix to your heart's content. If an expansion is developed not as a single module, but as an array of smaller mods, it should be entirely doable.

Just a thought. I may be completely wrong.
It of course depends on what kind of changes are added. Obviously not everything can be optional.

Reply #69 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9
I don't think there will be micro-expansions for Elemental.

We're more likely to follow the Galactic Civilizations path of things where each expansion acts as a chapter to the story and also adds a ton of new features and such.

Sounds good to me. More story and features! Hoody-hoo! Thanks FB.

Now get back to fishn' and vacation with the family! Turn off the PC. Step back.. step baaack.. yes, now walk away.. just walk awaaay..  go to the cooler and: :beer:

Reply #70 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting CapnWinky, reply 8
I agree with Wintersong for the most part. I dont mind micro's if their graphics only. Otherwise, I think feature related content belongs in a regular expansion. Hey, Boogie...can we have both??

I too approve of this (and of course, we all know my approval is so very important ;) ).  I'd much rather see significant additions of features & content further apart than relatively frequent releases of micro-packs.  

 

Reply #71 from Stardock Forums Top

So I have a question for Brad. Im not sure if its ok to post questions not related to elemental, but I didnt see any guidelines, so ill just start out with a qoute from an article I read here:

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/07/30/is-the-lack-of-game-digital-download-sales-info-hurting-the-indu/

"In a press release today, James Brooksby, the studio head of UK-based Doublesix said, "I do wish that all the platform owners would make their digital sales figures public. We feel this lack of transparency is hindering the development of these channels."

He added, "As a developer trying to decide which platforms to develop for, as well as what type of games to make, we're currently in the dark regarding real sales performance for digital platforms and that makes it increasingly difficult to make realistic plans. I'd like to see some kind of verified sales charts on all digital systems to encourage more developers to support these channels and to help make sensible investment decisions."

I thought about it, and I think he may have a point. Though more and more companies are realizing the value of digital download services, wouldnt posting sales figures for games only further demonstrate its value? Companies usually publish retail sales figures, I find it odd that everyone is so tight lipped about it.

Any thoughts?

Reply #72 from Stardock Forums Top

So I have a question for Brad. Im not sure if its ok to post questions not related to elemental, but I didnt see any guidelines, so ill just start out with a qoute from an article I read here:

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/07/30/is-the-lack-of-game-digital-download-sales-info-hurting-the-indu/

"In a press release today, James Brooksby, the studio head of UK-based Doublesix said, "I do wish that all the platform owners would make their digital sales figures public. We feel this lack of transparency is hindering the development of these channels."

He added, "As a developer trying to decide which platforms to develop for, as well as what type of games to make, we're currently in the dark regarding real sales performance for digital platforms and that makes it increasingly difficult to make realistic plans. I'd like to see some kind of verified sales charts on all digital systems to encourage more developers to support these channels and to help make sensible investment decisions."

I thought about it, and I think he may have a point. Though more and more companies are realizing the value of digital download services, wouldnt posting sales figures for games only further demonstrate its value? Companies usually publish retail sales figures, I find it odd that everyone is so tight lipped about it.

Any thoughts?

Reply #73 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Scoutdog, reply 25

Will the technology tree also include "fantastic" technologies
I hope so. That would be great.


What religions will there be and can you found your own?!
I don't think there will be religions, but they may still put them in.... but they've been ingored so far, and generally that's a bad sign.
In a lot of games religion is a non-factor so how do you deduct a general rule in the first place?

Reply #74 from Elemental Forums Top

In a lot of games religion is a non-factor so how do you deduct a general rule in the first place?

Huh? Not quiiiiite sure what you're getting at here...... well, the devs have been rather candid about most everythibg in the game so far (broad stroaks if not the details) and no-one has said a word about religions: it's like the thought hasn't come up.

Reply #75 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Scoutdog, reply 24
well, the devs have been rather candid about most everythibg in the game so far (broad stroaks if not the details) and no-one has said a word about religions: it's like the thought hasn't come up.

Maybe you just thought you thought about it.