Elemental: War of Magic

[you2]

No demo yet. They did give a date when the demo would be available but I forget when (I think it is sometime in sept).

 

[rpanic]

No demo yet. They did give a date when the demo would be available but I forget when (I think it is sometime in sept).

After beta testing is over.

 

[Grabo]

Well, it hardly uses the GPU at all, especially on the normal map when certain 3d objects are shown, like your city, or certain trees. Your machine that can run DA with bells and whistles OK gets single digit fps with two cities showing..and since the thread about this issue has people with all sorts of configs encountering it I'm hard pressed to believe that not everyone is.

Still, the developers, tech supporters, and CEO all post on their forum and they seem busy to fix the issues at hand, which gives me hope, 'cause the game does show some potential. If it just wouldn't seem like nwn2.. (horribly unoptimized, performance-wise, that is).

 

[Wardawg1001]

I bought this game night before release since it was available for early download. I haven't experienced many of the crashes/freezes (I did get one blue screen crash which was weird snice I haven't seen one of those in years), but the performance issues, poorly done UI, lack of documentation and direction, imbalances in units/equipment/heroes/everythingelse is really making this game hard to like.

My campaign game is unplayable (game locks up upon loading it) and was incredibly boring as well (generic quests, no variety, no strategy needed, etc) so I have no desire to restart and finish it. The random map generator has proved slightly more entertaining, but I still don't find myself getting pulled in to the game like I did with Civ3&4/HoMM3/Kings Bounty. Your goals aren't clear, research is too spread out (depending on what you research, you seem to either be left with nothing to build/train in your towns, or nothing to do with your sovereign/armies), its too difficult to get an overall feel for what is going on in the world, AI interaction is limited and generic, quests are generic and boring, the UI is clunky and becomes very tiresome to deal with.

Some of my frustrations may have to do with the fact that I can't get to late game. By mid game the amount of map revealed, number of towns/units on the screen starts causing severe performance issues (I'm not even talking about a lot here, maybe 7-10 towns revealed and less than half of a small sized map), and eventually it locks the game up, and like the campaign, all attempts to load that game again will simply lock it up again within a few turns. Being unable to make it to late game makes it difficult to see the big picture and to understand how my decisions in the early game will affect the game later on. Maybe once they get these performance problems sorted out and I play a few games through it will all come together better, but based on what I hear on this and other forums, I'm not too optimistic.

Overall I can see the basis for a solid game, but it seriously should have stayed in beta for much longer. I understand they had a choice between this Aug release or having to delay until Feb. I feel like if they had kept up development until Feb, they might have been able to release a good finished product. This one is just so buggy and unfinished, I really don't understand how they thought it was release ready. The fact that the CEO is running around on the official forums stating that he thinks this really is a finished product is very disappointing.

 

[A_Dying_Wren]

If you read one of the first posts in this thread you can see that they pushed it out because their next window for release was February, 2011. (due to retail space availability)

To be honest, I don't think they understood how unpolished the game really is. I think they actually thought it was "good enough". None of the Stardock developed games have been very polished, but they always have had excellent support. I expect this game to continue to get polished for the next year and a half, like all their other games. (Their last release was Galactic Civilizations 2, and before that it was Galactic Civilizations 1; the other games they produced were developed by a third party (SoaSE and Demigod).) (They did make some cheap games like Political Machine in the meantime, but that is a very small production).

Idk... I would doubt that they really couldn't put this game out until Feb 2011. For one, they are their own publisher with their own online store. I think they have enough fans remaining (prior to this release anyhow) to make most of their money online and then sell in physical stores once successful online.

Huge shame about this game though. Was hoping it would be awesome. I think I'll wait for Feb 2011

 

[Slew Foot]

Looks like according to the CEO on the official forums, theres going to be a major patch in September, and then another one later in the fall. Hopefully thatll fix the major issues. In the meantime, im tempted to download Master of Magic from goodolgames.

 

[Wardawg1001]

For anyone who is interested, here is an excellent post about some of the many, many, many UI issues in this game. Its a long read but very accurate, and if Stardock takes these suggestions to heart it would go a long way towards making this a great game.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/393693

 

[Gibsons]

For anyone who is interested, here is an excellent post about some of the many, many, many UI issues in this game. Its a long read but very accurate, and if Stardock takes these suggestions to heart it would go a long way towards making this a great game.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/393693

Wow, that's a long list. They might have it all fixed by... February?

 

[Slew Foot]

Yeah I read that post. That might be the longest most useful post int he history of internet forums.

 

[Phobic9]

Yeah I read that post. That might be the longest most useful post int he history of internet forums.

Yeah and it makes me feel bad that I paid full price for this game.

 

[tedrodai]

I'm right there with ya...

Noticed every single problem mentioned in this thread in the couple of games I tried this weekend, and the sum of all the frustrations = an unplayable game at the moment. I especially loved how the game would consistently help me advance to the next turn when I still had units with actions available.

...but you really can't single out any one problem they need to fix...they definitely needed the time between now and February =p

edit: the CEO posted early in a 'state of the game' address how he hopes they have time to actually play the game soon, so he can experience it. If he would have set aside 1/2 a day before release to do this, he wouldn't have wasted all that time spreading his belief that the game was ready.

 

[JeffNY35]

Got to admit, I was suckered by this game simply because I loved other Stardock games and the concept sounded fun.

Its just not good. Disapointing.

Oh well.

 

[rpanic]

This game should be in beta until next year and then be in the $20s. stardock charging $49 for this unfinished game is a joke. In the long run they have ruined their image to make a quick buck before Civ5 release.

 

[CottonRabbit]

You'd think they would have learned after the Demigod fiasco. I guess not. At least that game was fun once you got past all of the multiplayer bugs.

 

[Martimus]

I can't seem to finish the campaign, and not just because the game is starting to crash more often. After saving the villagers from the demons in Chapter 6 (maybe it was chapter 5), I can't find the town they came from to get the book they are asking for. I have checked everywhere I can go in the world, and I have found nothing.

 

[Phobic9]

You'd think they would have learned after the Demigod fiasco. I guess not. At least that game was fun once you got past all of the multiplayer bugs.

Well hopefully Stardock is heeding by their Gamer's Bill of Rights they were touting so hard, but that's looking unlikely. They took it off the actual Stardock site and moved them to it's own site.

Maybe I'm over analyzing this but that's pretty shady IMO.

Ah well. At least they got my $50.

 

[Ancalagon44]

What a stupid decision - why release a half finished game? Havent they learned from the likes of Blizzard and Valve? Well polished games half a shelf life in years since they breath quality. No matter how good a game gets after release, if its unpolished when its released, it heads for the bargain bin.

Why shoot yourself in the foot like that?

 

[Martimus]

Well hopefully Stardock is heeding by their Gamer's Bill of Rights they were touting so hard, but that's looking unlikely. They took it off the actual Stardock site and they've been modified from what they originally said.

Maybe I'm over analyzing this but that's pretty shady IMO.

Ah well. At least they got my $50.

It is still up: http://www.gamersbillofrights.com/

 

[Phobic9]

What a stupid decision - why release a half finished game? Havent they learned from the likes of Blizzard and Valve? Well polished games half a shelf life in years since they breath quality. No matter how good a game gets after release, if its unpolished when its released, it heads for the bargain bin.

Why shoot yourself in the foot like that?

Some others have said it in this thread but I think they were trying to make a cash grab before Civ 5 came out.

It is still up: http://www.gamersbillofrights.com/

Ah they gave it its own site instead. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Kalmah]

Strangely after reading this I came across some people discussing this game on the gamespot forums who all seemed to love this game. I saw a lot of good comments on some youtube videos for it as well.

Not sure what to think anymore.

Either way, I do know that Stardock has a reputation for continuing working on released games for years after so I feel that I can confidently buy this game and know it will be worth it if not now, at least later down the road.

I really want to play it, but waiting for the price to drop seems to be a good plan I'm guessing.

 

[Phobic9]

Looks like Stardock had to layoff people due to Elemential's lackluster quality/sales.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/04/elemental-launch-results-in-stardock-layoffs/

 

[SirFelixCat]

I guess most (all?) of you guys missed what the head of Stardock has said.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/394855/page/2/#2753014

Hard to not respect the guy for his honesty.

 

[Martimus]

I guess most (all?) of you guys missed what the head of Stardock has said.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/394855/page/2/#2753014

Hard to not respect the guy for his honesty.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/394855/get;2753375

He made another good comment later in the thread as well.

 

[tedrodai]

I guess most (all?) of you guys missed what the head of Stardock has said.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/394855/page/2/#2753014

Hard to not respect the guy for his honesty.

Heh, considering there were only 2 posts above yours whose time stamp is after the CEO's post there...you're probably right

Yep, he's always been like that, and it's good to see he continues to be--I feel bad for the folks who may have lost their jobs over the entire ordeal, however, if that joystick article is accurate. According to his posts there, our assumptions that they pushed it out too soon to get the $$ now were wrong, but that doesn't lessen the damage they took to the company image. The game's still crap at this point, and I still feel like my money was nothing but a loan. If they ever get around to another game release in the future, it'll take a lot more effort to convince me it's worth considering.

 

[stevty2889]

At least he was willing to admit his mistake, and while I think the game is pretty much a disaster right now, I think it will get fixed. I just hope next time they listen to the beta testers when we say we don't think it's ready.
Not the only game I pre-ordered that turned out to be a disappointment(Supreme Commander 2 anyone?), but unlike GPG, Stardock at least appears to actually care. We've already gotten more patches in the last few weeks, than Supreme Lamer 2 has gotten in the last 3 months.