Welcome to the first of several 'Countdown' journals leading up to the release of Beta 0. While we don't have a firm date for the release (several folks need to recoup from weeks of Demigod all-nighters), we still plan on getting Elemental's first playable form into your hands for June!
Boogiebac (myself) holding a Resturaunt Meeting on City Resources
After seeing the amazing starships made by players (and reviewers) in GC2's ship designer, we decided fairly early to make customization a huge part of the Elemental experience. And while this has resulted in a longer tool-development period than GC2, the current results with those tools have been really exciting.
Case in point: our new Particle Engine (and coorisponding in-game Particle Editor). Obviously, since we're making a fantasy game, we would need some fantastic spells spell effects to get players excited. Besides spells, every weapon swung, item used, dungeon cleared, and acheivement acheived would require it's own special effect. To acheve this we (Ross and Paul) created the Particle Editor, a mighty in-game workshop for the artists (and players) to create effects with.
We put the final few touches on version 1 of the editor last Wedensday and gave it to Akil and Dan (two of our artists) to create spells with. In just TWO DAYS, they had the tool learned and had created their first 4 spell-ready effects.
Beckon HomeA spell for the adventurer that just wants to get home to heal up. 'Beckon Home' sends any unit to a friendly settlement.
FlareA ball of fire burns away the FOW and gies you full view of a selected part of the map. Flare uses both Fire mana and a small amount of essence. Think of it as the 'Eye of Sauron: Lite'.
Sublime HarvestFeed your people with some magical rations! Sublime Harvest tops up a settlement's food supply, using both Earth mana and a pinch of your essence.
PyrostormBurn away a section of forest or any unused Fertile Ground with Pyrostorm.
The in-game Particle editor, despite requiring additional up-front dev time, will allow anyone with a crazy spell idea to get their creation into the game easilly (then use the online Library to let them share it). Besides this, the final boxed game will have an Item Editor, Equipment Editor, Tile Design Editor (more about TD's later), the World Builder, and any other editors we can cram in
Next week we'll talk about World Creation and the adventures you'll be going on! Till then, please send your good vibes to the Demigod team as they (hopefully) wrap up a very rough month.
Check for bears first.
A great magic system will really make this game unique. What I loved about Masters of Magic was the spells! I just hope we have a way to modify how much Essence you start with. So I could go for a really over the top high magic game if I feel like it or go for low magic if I feel like that. If not then guess it will be Modding time! *adjusts halo*
Can't wait for Beta!
Keep up the great work!
I'm going to assume where 'jerk'='a good looking and intellegent fellow'
Don't worry Zubaz, one day you will learn how to spell
Awesome news and thanks for the demos.
Looking forward to making some interesting spells and more.
Keep the updates coming!
Loved the info! Are you planning on releasing small tutorial videos for the tools along with the documentation?
Some very cool vids, BooieBac. The "Sublime Harvest" was probably my favorite!
I would just like to add my voice to the concern(s) about spending one's essence on spells, however. Unless I've mistaken/misunderstood you guys thus far, I'm under the impression that essense is going to be an *extremely* finite resource (since it's essentially what your channeler is composed of). Assuming that's indeed the case, it seems like spending essense would/should be reserved only for truly epic-level spells. I know you want to avoid "cheese" -- which is a sentiment I very much appreciate, believe me -- but it seems like requiring essense for lesser spells might be an....overcorrection in this regard.
I am not worried about essence. I think it makes sense to have to give up, maybe permanently, some of your power to cast a spell. BoogieBac said
You'll have MANY spells to cast that dont sap your essence, but the ones that do will be considerably more potent.
so I think it will be fine. It will force you to think through your decisions. Do I cast this spell now, or should I save my essence for later? And Stardock will be testing and balancing out the wazoo, so I am not worried.
Unless the beta requires to be always connected to Internet ....
This sounds Awesome, AWESOME TO THE MAX!
It occurs to me that we don't know yet what the city model in Elemental is, unless I missed a post. In a lot of Civ-like games, food is directly related to population growth -- so although the direct effect of conjuring food would be temporary, the long-term effect in the game could be huge. You'd basically be peeling away your essence to build a large, thriving city much earlier than you would otherwise be able to.
I for one do not like the idea of essence cost for non-permanent spells provided that essence does not regenerate (which is the impression I have gotten from other dev journals). If that was the case, I fear it would make spells WAAAAY too rare in the game, and all of those pretty animations would be wasted. Of course, if the costs and spells can be modded, I don't really care WHAT they put in, as I can change it when I get the game. (Not a big multiplayer guy).
Over all, a built-in animation editor looks really cool. Can we use it to crerate animations for other things (I'm thinking GC2 weapons), or do the spells use a unique file format that cannot be converted?
Oh, yeah: and BoogieBac looks almost exactly like my middle school IT support guy.
Wow, I can't believe I missed this thread. Some interesting stuff posted. Thanks a lot for the update.Now, about those bears...
We'd need something like a religion in the game, for proper cultural invasion/domination. After all, if Channelers are really that awesome, they could easily be perceived as God by the common people...
Channelers could choose wether they want to set a religion about them or not. Like Sauron or Saruman. Both were evil, but one wanted to be a God, while the other simply a Sorcerous Overlord.
HEATHEN!!
KARMA GIVEN!!!
p.s. karma CAN be a bitch, or so I hear....
Boogie still looks creepy - is he a villian from scooby doo
"Doom doom doom..." - Deekin Scalesinger
Having a particle editor with UI is a great idea. Way better than coding glsl or directX shaders by hand!
Catch one, if you can.
But not by you!
stop gettting my hopes up for a new dev journal
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