Greetings!
We have made Beta 1-Z4 available.
General Overview:
Caveats:
Here’s what’s new since the last update:
- Elemental 1Z Update #5 Change Log -
* New Features *
+ Added and implemented the new quest screen (Work In Progress)
+ Hooked up very basic lore book wnd, will serve as a way to get details about a bunch of stuff in Elemental, but for now it is just a screen that pops up in place of the unitequipment wnd when you click on the center medallion for a unit that doesn't belong to you
+ Unit Details Wnd: hooked up new backstory section that Paul added to the screen.
+ instead of unhiding a simple message box when you press the recruit button for a selected NPC, it will now bring up the conversation wnd
* Bug Fixes *
+ Fixed distance fog on characters in unit scene view windows + Fixed missing heads on units used in quests (damsel, son, daughter, etc) + The camera should now properly focus on the center of a tile when positioned by tile. + Fixed bug where changing the race or gender of a sovereign you are customizing in the customize sovereign screen would not refund the item cost of any equipment that ended up being removed + Fixed a crash that would occur in CTerrainGraphic::ReleaseTerrainEffects( ) when attempting to exit the game.
+ Fixed a problem in CWaterGraphic that was preventing the water from rendering off the north edge of the map.
+ Made the changes I made to allow setting a destination during a unit's movement between turns only apply when the unit is using the new auto patrol along path directive, instead of any directive, in case there is a reason why those might need to skip moves that I didn't see when scanning the code, making it less likely to get a stuck turn button if I did miss something.
+ Changed the check I added to Move and CheckNextTile to handle skipping leftover moves differently only if the directive the object has is the patrol along path directive
+ Limited the delta times on character graphics to cut back on animation blending wierdnesses (ie, swords sticking in and out of unfortunate places)
+ Fixed bug where using the "Unit Scale" option would cause clothing and items to scale in wierd ways on a unit's gfx
+ Fixed an issue with quest-related goodie huts and quest locations not disappearing if they were cleared during the auto-turn phase.
+ Removed call to CWorld:laceResourceHoardsInClumps( ) in CIsReadyToStartProcess::OnUpdate( ), which was placing extra resources on the map after generation and the player locations had been chosen.
+ Fixed a problem where a dialog on encountering neutral cities was popping up twice. The problem was that the unit wasn't losing its movement after the first encounter.
+ Fixed ref-counting errors in cheat key and key callback code
+ Creature race skips expensive calculation in CalcResearchPointsPerTurn and automatically returns 0 + Creature race skips expensive calculation in GetPopulation and automatically returns 1 (so other parts of code do not think race has died out) + Fixed ref-count error in Portrait Generator + Added more debug data to error message in SetDXSASEffectUIParameterValue
+ Fixed bug where clicking on a city with multiple units stationed would cause the units to unstation on top of the city and not return, from calls to get the city battle rank for the UI that would gather the unit defenders but not replace them - To fix this, I added a function to CCity to just calculate the battle rank, and when the city gathers its defense army now, it doesn't unstation the subunits - Also, it doesn't bother recreating graphics, refreshing UI, or setting destinations while gathering this army, making the assembly of forces quicker - This also happens to fix a bug where the subunits of the city defense army were not getting any of the city's defense bonuses, only the leader got them, because they were no longer considered stationed in the city
+ Fixed crash where unit was deleted at wrong time + This was caused by an extra release call in the ::AutoResolveBattle function
+ Fixed several other reference-related errors
+ Fixed bug where destroyed units were added to population in CPlayer::GetPopulation
+ Fixed bug where destroyed units were added to research in CPlayer::CalcResearchPointsPerTurn
+ when loading a gamesave, now stopping the xml file loading thread, in case it's still running as is the case when you've just started up the game and immediately tried to load a gamesave from the main menu. Previously, it would wait for the load xml file thread to finish before loading the gamesave. The load code clears and then loads in xml data directly from the gamesave, so waiting for the xml file loading to complete is a waste of time. + added some output messages throughout loading of the gamesave, so I could see that the game was not frozen
+ Fixed ref count bug in GetCityDefenders
+ Fixed bug where equipment on pewter pieces did not scale correctly (ShowStopper #3) + Fixed bug where blank designs showed up in the unit design lists (ShowStopper #5) + Fixed bug where if you play as a race with a custom sovereign, then delete that sovereign and play against that race, that race would not get a sovereign - It now randomly picks a sovereign unit if it is unable to find the sovereign that is specified in the race XML
+ Units don't remove themselves from their player list in SetDestroyed anymore, player removes destroyed units itself at the end of a turn (which apparently it was already doing, its just that the units were removing themselves first) + Added health regen stat for unit, and since now it can be negative, units can die between turns, hence the reason why players need to wait to remove units now + Sovereigns still won't die if they lose all their HP from a disease or something, will go back to nearest city with some different msg + Fixed some UI and graphics bugs with killing and removing units from armies + When a subunit dies, they remove themselves from their army now + Fixed bug where UnlockImprovement modifiers wouldn't work if attached to a sovereign talent, since player modifiers from that aren't applied, now checks the sovereign + Fixed bug where the same modifier instance would be applied to units at the same tile, so durations would get decremented too many times + Added spell effects to the unit stat breakdown tooltip, and a place for modifier appliers to set this info when creating an instance to support that + Fixed wonkyness when unstationing units by setting a destination outside of the city perimeter, now will still teleport the unit outside of the perimeter and have them form armies correctly, but will reset the destination so it doesn't get cancelled out of the blue
+ Fixed crash in city wall code where index was out of bounds of array
+ Fixed the city build list not going to scroll mode when it gets too tall.
+ Fixed a buffer overrun in CCliffGraphic::GenerateCliffTiles( ) that could occur when running the game in basic mode.
+ Fixed a crash when upgrading a lot of city improvements at once; this was due to the walls getting regenerated after every deletion and construction. + Altered the upgrading code to, instead of deleting the current improvement and making a new one, simply pointed the improvement at the new improvement type and reset the improvement data. This makes upgrading MUCH faster now.
+ when recruiting a unit, it was pointed out on the forums that he would not provide non-FOW around him until you move him once, making it possible to lose him under FOW. I added code to fix this when a unit is traded from one player to another.
+ fixed a typo that was reported on the forums, "Rouge Scholar" should be "Rogue Scholar"
+ if a city capital is taken, the player will automatically pick a new capital + CPlayer::GetCapitalCity() now actually loops through the player's cities and finds the capital (before it would assume the first city in the array was the capital) + made UIRefreshEmpireTree() that initalizes and refreshes the list of the player's capital is taken + if a player dosent have a city and takes one, it becomes it's capital
* Gameplay Tweaks *
+ Increased distance between cities requirement from 4 to 5. + Changed Relias backstory and info. + Changed backstory of Altar and Pariden
+ Created new unique sovereign armor
+ Added shop values to various equipment + Removed extra shard improvements that were causing duplicate game modifier bonuses
+ Changed the unique resources text to make it more apparent that they must be part of a town to receive the bonus. + Removed normal armor from Sovereign Customization + Moved AI Data to bottom of Study Improvement XML
+ Added a new spell (Freeze Enemy). + Added the correct icon to Burn Enemy. + Added a new modifier type (ZeroTargetMoves) that will have some value driven chance to remove all moves left on some unit
+ Tooltip for city shield displays combat rating for city.
+ commented out most tech prereqs for existing NPCs. Brad wants the npcs to show up at game start. Now they will since they don't require a tech in order to spawn. I did leave the tech prereq for the two NPC types that lead a party. They require "Heros" be researched in order to spawn.
+ City Details button displayed for AI cities as well + Wages now displayed as a float instead of integer + Granaries require at least a village to be built + Brad has officially started working on the AI. ? + CoreAIDefs created (new file coreAIdefs.xml) + AI Personality “AI_General” defined + AI definitions for how to build up cities created + AI definitions on what technologies should be researched created + AI attributes added to CoreTechs.xml + AI attributes added to improvements + Market requires at least a village to build + Elder Council requires at least a village to be built + Monastaries require a village to be built + Warehouse requires at least a town + Arcane Insitution requires at least a town + Barracks now requires at least a town + Adjustment to costs of weapons + Magical Equipment Crystal costs adjusted (to 1 crystal) + Unit wages increased to 0.20 per turn. + AI: More intelligently targets cities (should eliminate obvious “train of death”) + Markets no longer cost gold to build but take longer and require more materials + Further Technology tree cleanup
+ Added Disease Enemy spell
+ Modified the base kingdom tech tree + Changed Unit Grouping Type prereqs + Modified health stat game modifier for Unit Types
+ Adjusted weapon preqreqs for new tech tree + Changed various improvement prereqs + Removed Old Palace and Inn improvements + Altered the formula for computing the combat rating that should make it more realistic.
+ Boots are now located in CoreAccessories.xml + New Armor and Weapon types created
+ Removed Kraxis gloves from Sovereign Creation screen
Screenshots from build:
What’s Next:
If this build seems reasonably stable, then we are going to proceed to beta 2 which is the multiplayer beta. We expect the MP specific beta to only last 1 or 2 weeks (we’ll be testing multiplayer throughout the process) but basically beta 2 is primarily the cue for us to make the multiplayer code available to you guys and then move forward from there.
Beta 3 will be the first “beta” that conforms to what most people consider as a beta as opposed to what we’ve done here which is essentially get players involved at the alpha stage. I cannot even begin to express how instrumental the beta group has been to changing the gameplay for the better.
Since Beta 1, the economic, research, and spell system has been completely reimagined based on feedback, debates and discussions by beta testers on the forums. Even when we don’t participate in a given discussion, we read them with great interest. Based on how well the Elemental project has gone, we are considering having the next game bring players in even earlier in the process (i.e. at the prototype level – pre-alpha).
I think when we hit Beta 3, users will find that the gameplay is very mature for what is a new IP. There is still some wiggle room based on player feedback but Beta 3 will mark the roughly (give or take a week or two) the 90 day countdown from release. However, we’re not promising Beta 3 at a specific date since we have to make sure we’re satisfied with the game mechanics and basic stability sufficiently enough to proceed.
Beta 1Z4 also marks the last public build without AI. Subsequent releases will begin to have intelligent computer AI that will continue to get better between now and release and then further beyond after release.
Let us know what you think.
Cheers and good luck!
Devs,
Couple items of concern:
1) Auto explore is buggy near coast lines. The path feature also seems to be weird near the coast which leads me to item two.
2) I still think there are some hidden geo features as there are blank spots on the map I can't get units to enter or cross.
3) After embueing a Sov daughter the army she exited disappeared. I found it teleported to the other end of the map.
4) It still takes an aweful lot of houses to advance a city. Any housing improvement tech is worth its weight in armies.
5) After maxing out the magic tech tree I still couldn't advance beyond 100 spell points, which means fire elemental is off limits.
6) Please confirm that essense = mana on a 1:1 ratio. If not what is the ratio?
Solid build, no CTD or crashes of any sort, though the music did seem to hang several times, it didn't cause a crash. Other than the above the build is ready for Beta 2.
Darvroth
I've seen the same thing. Are you reporting these problems in the Elemental Beta forum?
Don't forget the wisdom plutiplier (or intelligence, I don't remmeber)
If you have 10 essence and an int/wis of 12 you get 10 X 1.2 Mana
To echo what others have said, this version is a whole order of magnitude improved over the previous one.
I probably shouldn't say this, but right now the game is worth the price of admission, I'm enjoying it that much.
You didn't hear that Devs
If your getting the error for downloading which I have had a few times before, just restart Impulse. It worked for me.
on the more important note
B O O B S
Have you noticed how badly there are done on the picture in journal entry? It almost looks as if she has 4 of them. They look very unnatural, i would say flat, wide and very "tall" - simply they are all over the chest.
Is it true that those who've recently preordered will get into beta 2 and not into 1-Z4? I just cant wait to contribute and get to know the community better but there isnt much info to throw around about beta access
It is....Froggie has mentioned it a couple of times already.
*Update*
Okay, like I've said I continued testing 1Z4 today. I created 2 games. I completed 500-600 turns total in those games without having any CTDs or lock-ups. However, it looks like that the save/load system is still bugged. I was unable to reloaded a saved game [it was an autosave]. I am going to report that one ASAP. That being said, we're ready to move to BETA2. The game looks very stable to me.
Does the fact that work on the AI has started mean that they're solid on the game play mechanics or like 90% complete?
also, besides the modability and the python scripting what else will be new AI wise?
On another note:
I Must.. find.. free.. time.. to play...
I see. ETA until the AI becomes self-aware and decides it would be better off without human interference?
...which is due the first week of July, IIRC.
Ok some funny stuff. I created a Sovereign with a scar on his face. He became married to the damsel, and they had 4 kids. 3 girls and 1 boy. The boy had the same kind of scar on his face like my Sov had. What the?! The "genetics" system must be tweaked.
@Stager - Beta 3 marks the 90 day or so kick off until release. Not Beta 1Z. We still have to make it through beta 2 and then get beta 3 out and that could take anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months.
Restarting Impulse didn't help me last night, but a fresh instance this morning updated itself and then the game with no problems. Now I just need to get some time to play...
Thanks for the clarification. It still does seem like an awfully short time period since the majority of the game is going to be done during Beta-3 and 4. I was hoping Beta-3 would be a few months in-and-of itself, so we would have time to refine the actual game play as things progress. I'm sure you know what your doing however as this isn't your first rodeo.
I know you guys know about the turn button hanging. But damn it is still annoying, every game I start goes well and awesome until that happens then it is screwed. I assume when the multiplayer is actually enabled for the testers that will go away.
Most of the children stats seem quite random, except for the traits : children of the same gender as the ruler have the exact same traits, others have none. Couldn't it be a little more random about that too? Like a chance to inherit the leaders traits, and chances to get brand new ones.
Is there any other way to get married than completing the damsel's quest? Could it be possible to marry offspring with recruited heroes and let their children get traits from both parents? (at the moment, the AI seems unable to complete quests, hence to get married, hence to have dynasty, hence to have children for yours to marry with :/).
If I know how to make swords (or weapon/armor/ring), my soldiers can get some. But is there a way to craft one for my children/leader/champions?
So the Cylons are Stardocks fault?
We finally really did it! You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you!
I haven't had any problems with 1z4 so far. Mind you, I'm loading it off manual saves, as autosaves have never functioned for me.
Weird, I haven't noticed this yet. ..not that I miss it.
I am really glad that the feedback from players is welcomed and actually evaluated as the game develops. Many just use the forums as a "Marketing strategy" and rarely have the time to involve the "consumer"(player) in the true development of a game.
I am thankful that Stardock has this business model. I know this may defy conventional wisdom or the statuesque, but I believe that if one makes toys for children(for example) it is wise to ask them how they envision such toy to be, in the same token by allowing us players to be involved as the game develops and actually molding the development of the game based on player feedback is just what Elemental needs to withstand the test of time and become a classic game as technology changes.
Thank you for caring enough to develop a good game not just a profitable one
For me is this build even more unstable than the last one. The last one was unusable in fullscreen. This one does not work in window mode either.
Try deleting and redownloading everything. I have had to do that a couple of times and both times it made a BIG difference.
It looks like that he's having some anti-aliasing related problems. https://forums.elementalgame.com/381829
With anti-aliasing off I was able to play a decent game in window mode. With this setting it is really more stable.
I just got done playing a game with 1z4 and the stability seems more or less rock solid now. This was a great update it fixed the major issues I had with the previous versions. I'd have to vote yes for moving to Beta 2 now.
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