Thinking of Pre-ordering: Some questions [DONE]

from Elemental Forums

Hello guys, I have been a big fan of TBS games, and seeing my friend play GC2 made me burn with jealousy, but until a few months ago I had no way to pay using a CC or paypal; and I couldn't find the game in retail stores.

To the main point: I am very much in love with fantasy TBS games, so much so that I am thinking of pre-ordering Elemental even though it won't be out for a long time (Stardock Rep is very high, from what I have heard). I have a few questions, and I would be grateful if someone could answer all or some of them :)

1. I have read about several references to MoM and AoW. I haven't played MoM, but I have been a big fan of AoW2 and AoW:SM and I still play them. Is Elemental going to be similar to them, excepting the poor AI?

2. I saw that the pre-order price is USD 49.99; I thought Stardock games were priced at USD 39.99 by default. Is that true?

3. I have no games on my Impulse account, and this game won't be available until a few more months. Is that going to be a problem? Will I get an email with a serial key with which to register, and then be able to download the beta? If I pre-order it tomorrow, can I participate in the current beta?

4. Will the game run fine on a P4 3 GHz (HT), 1 GB RAM, 7300 GT, Win XP PC? Or on a PC with integrated graphics card?

5. Finally, a very important question - I am going to use my friend's CC, so should I ask him to create his own account and gift the game to my email address, or should I just use his CC on my account directly?

I know that these are a lot of questions, but then I am about to use impulse for the first time, so maybe it isn't too bad to be cautious :)

elemental
16,307 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

1.  Someone else is going to have to field this one. :)

2.  The pre-order price is $49.99, although they do run specials now and again, and I know that Demigod users have occasionally received 20% off coupons that worked torwards pre-ordering elemental.

3.  Once you pre-order elemental, it should show up in your Impulse menu right away.  Make sure you have the "show betas" option checked in your preferences.

4.  The plans say that they want the game to be able to run on a netbook, and I remember frogboy talking about how well it demoed on his laptop, despite it being not a gaming rig.  I suspect that it should run okay on your computer.

5.  You can put in a separate billing address than your account information, so I don't think he needs to make an account and gift it.  But he should install impulse anyway and try the Demigod demo!

 

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Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

2. I saw that the pre-order price is USD 49.99; I thought Stardock games were priced at USD 39.99 by default. Is that true?

Elemental has a bigger budget and more "stuff" in it than out past titles, thus the more typical price point.

Integrated graphics would be iffy, and chances are we'll have to make some special accomodations for them down the line if we do decide to support them (they're not likely to work at this point). A geforce 7300 should be fine though.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Thanks to both of you for your quick reply :)

The question about integrated gfx cards was more of the "what if" type - I have a 9800GTX+ ready for my system when it gets upgraded, which could be as soon as i5's arrival here :D

All right, so I think I am going to pre-order it tomorrow (23 Sep) and I should be ready soon enough to start playing the beta. My friend is not into gaming, but I will leave it to him to decide if he wants to gift the game or use the CC directly on my acount.

Will update when I have registered the game.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

1.  It's the same genre and I'd be surprised if there isn't an AoW-esque mod at some point. GC2 has the best AI of any strategy game and I'm sure Elemental will honor that tradition.

3. If you pre-order any time before the end of September you'll be able to get into the beta right away.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

1. It plays a lot like GalCiv 2 right now. Let me rephrase that, it plays like an early beta. I imagine that things will change significantly depending on what player feed back they get.

4. There appears to be issues with the game at the moment (strange graph, but they're working on getting the game to run on older, and less powerful machines right now. Hopefully everything will work well once the final version is released.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

I think that you should take their claim that the beta isn't fun seriously. They don't mean this in a winking sort of way. Unless you treat the game as a beta -- ie. unless you are so excited about the game that you're eager for any knowledge about it whatsoever and want to see the game as it develops -- then it won't.

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm not sure what you're saying exactly zigzag. 

 

The point of this beta is to let the community influence a large part of the development, which is something few other companies have tried.   What "won't work" about that?   I mean, yes... it won't be fun.   But if you're trying to tell him not to get excited about it because it isn't fun, I think you could have been a bit more direct. :D

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Thank you guys for your interest. I read what Brad wrote - he mentioned several times that the beta won't be fun. I took it seriously, but this is the genre of games that I love the most. Fantasy TBS FTW!!! And with Stardock making the game, what more could I ask for? I could ask for a chance to see the game early (even if stripped), to have a tiny, miniscule influence on the game by being a good beta tester. Plus, I would have bought the game when it came out for sure, even if were to be as buggy as ETW. That settled it for me :)

So, I woke up my friend (how could he sleep when I want the game?) and asked him to gift the game to me and he complied. Downloading the beta now :)

BTW, I did get the game for USD 39.99 after all as I got my hands on a coupon code today morning itself. Co-incidence? ;)

Yay! I am officially on Impulse now :D

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm not sure what you're saying exactly zigzag.

Don't read too much into it. I just meant that there are a variety of different reasons people might want to get into the beta. eg. Because they want to play the game before it's out. Those people will be disappointed. Anyhow, the point is moot anyway since the OP isn't one of those people.

Thank you guys for your interest. I read what Brad wrote - he mentioned several times that the beta won't be fun. I took it seriously, but this is the genre of games that I love the most. Fantasy TBS FTW!!! And with Stardock making the game, what more could I ask for? I could ask for a chance to see the game early (even if stripped), to have a tiny, miniscule influence on the game by being a good beta tester. Plus, I would have bought the game when it came out for sure, even if were to be as buggy as ETW. That settled it for me :)

Cheers! :-D

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

Thanks, now all I need is to have the game run - I haven't tried it yet!