As we move towards release many of the assets in the beta make their exit. We shall miss them (well, maybe not).
The finished quests start to get put into place, the finalized notable locations begin to be inserted and the unreleased spell books and special abilities start to get implemented.
The beta program has largely been about testing out systems and mechanics. Some mechanics, like the per city level building limiter, didn’t survive. Others, like influence based resource control, replaced them.
Memory Problems
The area we need the most help on right now has to do with out of memory issues. This is something we’re very concerned about because it’s not easily repeatable (but very easy for those who run into it). So we’ll be asking users who run out of memory to get us their debug.err and their saved games so we can look at it. It could be as simple as some building in the game taking up some crazy amount. It shouldn’t be hard to track down something that eats up over 100 megabytes per turn (or so you’d think anyway).
The other area we’d like to hear from you are all your ideas, suggestions and wish lists. We want to make sure Elemental is something really special on day 1 as well as set the game on the path to evolving over time.
New Quests
One of the types of quests that I’m enjoying are the ones where you have to collect various items and bring them back to someone to get them made into a special item. I’m looking at adding the ability to trade these items between players so if the AI players have found Midnight Stones (for instance) and you need one more to get the boots of eternal dodging then you can trade with them for that midnight stone (and vice versa if they need something the AI can come to you and try to trade for it).
Special Abilities
Here’s a sampling of some of the special abilities we’re putting in:
Poison Shot Tangled Web Vengeance Sanctuary Deadly Bite Immunity Blink Rain of Stone Flame Strike Maul Sprint Savage Strike Confusion Drowning Strike Crushing Blow Dominate Hurricance Backstab Tremor Searing Attack Agonizing Fear
But if you have your own special abilities you’d like to see, go ahead and post them and explain what they do. Keep in mind, the more convoluted they are, the less likely they are to go in (e.g. Moonlit Dance – if full moon, target unit has a chance of doing a special dance that causes adjacent units to mimic dance draining them of their will to live if they have an intelligence less than 8 but greater than 4).
Anyway, we’re pleased with how the game is turning out. The only thing we’re sweating right now really is the out of memory issue.
Dang, I like goodie huts, maybe just fewer of them. Civ's implementation works. Placed at the beginning and they don't respawn.
I've got one, Thunder Guard. In combat when the unit is hit there's a chance that whoever hit it will be struck by lightning.
The name isn't very good, in King's Bounty Armored Princess there was a spell, I think it was called guardian angel or something, but instead of a chance, there was a set number of lightning strikes that occurred on the enemy every time it hit the unit enchanted with the spell.
Aura of Recovery - All allied units gain 1 hp per turn in battle.
Life Conversion - whenever a unit dies in tactical battle this unit gains 1 hp/mp.
Mass Spell - Next buff affects all allied units, 2x spell cost
Soul Link - Tethers life to Allied unit Unit share HP.
Shadow Step
Flash Step
Flurry of Arrows
Precise Shot
Hide/ Reveal
Stealth
Invisibility
Thunder Feet/ Trample
Aura of Fear (nearby enemy units quickly lose morale, -0.5 attack speed, -1 run speed ... nearby friendly units lose morale very slowly)
Aura of Valor (nearby allied units start at high morale, slowly increase morale, +0.5 attack speed, +1 run speed)
Crown of Brilliance (can see all nearby enemy units [2 tile radius?])
Hawkeye (+5 LOS, can see stealth, can see hidden, cannot see invisible)
Aura of Truth (cannot be dominated, charmed, or otherwise controlled by the enemy)
Impervious Aura (20% resistance to Spell Effects and Spell Damage)
Stone-Blooded/ Stone-like Constitution (immune to status effects, including but not limited to poisoned, blinded, and dizzy)
Regenerative Skin -> +1 HP per combat turn, +5 HP per overland map turn
Some simple ones
dodge- Dex% chance of avoiding enemy melee blow
parry- % chance of avoiding enemy melee blow
spell slinging- has x% chance of reflecting enemy single-target spell back to caster
bash- can keep enemy from moving in tactical combat
whirlwind- can attack all units surrounding, but also friendly units
bandage/medicinal herbs- extra +n HP healing at end of turn to all in stack
So wait.. cities will all be at the same level at release? I kind of liked how every city starts as like a backwoods town, and changes as it levels up. How are city levels going to work differently?
Also I like goodie huts. I mean it'd be nice not to need them, but finding random loot is fun
If you get rid of these at least make it so brigands and random monsters drop stuff more often. Goodie huts give me a decent reason to send my sovereign in any given direction.
Cities still change (play the beta) ... but instead of building more buildings, you get more bonuses and more influence.
So... you ARE taking out goodie huts? It's tine headline but I don't see a comment about it. It's going to make the game a LOOOT slower... isn't it?
Summoner - all Summoned units gain INT/4 Atk/Def/HP
Huntsman - +5 atk against all animals, +5 attack with bow
Warlord - All allied troops gain morale at .1 per turn for each allied unit on map
I've never been a huge fan of goodie huts, but I figured they were here to stay. Interesting to hear they've been dropped.
Here are a few random ideas for abilities (though the names could use some improvement):
Immolate - The caster (probably only available to some fiery supernatural things) bursts into flames. Any melee attack against them deals fire damage to the attacker.
Shockwave - Emits a massive concussive wave, with a chance to stun nearby enemies. May also knock them back a square (not sure if that's possible with current mechanics).
Pull - Pulls a single enemy towards the caster into melee range (idea shamelessly stolen from Revenants in Dragon Age). Good ability for melee-heavy supernatural things. Again, not sure if it would be properly doable with current mechanics.
Silence - Removes all sound from an area (or maybe single target?), preventing spell-casting.
Shriek - Gives all nearby enemies penalties to attack, defense and morale.
Banshee's Wail - Deals damage to all nearby units, and gives them a penalty to morale.
Stomp - The unit (something big) stomps its foot on the ground, with a chance to cause all nearby units to be knocked off their feet. Those affected lose their next turn (or lose some of their moves, or whatever).
GC2 suffered from too many goodie huts IMO.
You need a few, but they should require adventuring techs, or adventurers to see.
Maybe it's just me, but the only quests I've seen so far are the ones that are like: Go here to win. Go to another witch's house. Moving to location X is hardly what I would consider fun. In any way. Every single one of those quests should die a fiery death.
Assimilate (Empire only perhaps?) - You absorb a friendly soldier to gain a portion of health.
Oh yeah, here's another cool one:
Aura of Death - The unit gains a percentage of attack/defence/health upon killing an enemy.
A few more:
Mountain Shield - You and all units within a one tile radius become invincible for one turn, but cannot move or act.
Firewall (lol) - You create a barrier of fire that lasts 2 turns that does damage to every unit that passes through it.
Guard - Unit can take incoming damage for an adjacent unit; however, the guarding unit will take 150% of the original damage. Hello Secret Service.
Skirmish - I like units with thrown weapons (e.g. spears) with limited uses
Charge - Mounted units do additional damage based on the number of tiles moved
Disarm - Chance to cause an enemy to drop their weapon
Fight Dirty - Trip or kick dirt to disable opponent
Rage - Increase damage/armor penetration at the cost of defense
Spear Wall - spend x# of turns to establish an immobile defense against mounted charges
Throw Ally/Enemy - Especially strong units can throw normal sized units
Parry - Full defense stance (i.e. no attack) with a chance to deflect incoming melee attacks w/ counterattack after successful parry
Sweep - Attack friend & foe in a 120 degree arc
Spinning Strike - Attack friend & foe in a 360 degree arc
Shield Bash - Knock the opponent backward and apply damage based on the quality of the shield
Sprint - Increased move with an applied penality to attack and defense
Rally - Increase the moral of nearby troops - Decrease defense while rallying troops
Flank - Adds 50% to the damage of adjacent ally attacks
Brother in Arms - Adds to the defense of adjacent allies
Somewhat agreed ... although King Arthur: Roleplaying Game mastered the fun parts of "moving to location X to win"
Forgot two..
Taunt - Force an enemy to fight for x # of turns based on skill level
Heal - We need field medics (limited charges) in addition to spells
I would like to see the following stuff.
1. A spell that alows you to put a ring of ice,fire,earth,ect around your city for defence if your being attacked. Nobody can get in for a couple of turns. It could allow yo enough time to build some units to fight with.
2. Boulder Smash- A rain of boulders from the sky.
3. Dragons Breath- Instead of the common fire breathing dragon, how about a bad breath dragon that emits green death fog from its mouth.
4. Kamikaze- allows you to sacrafice one of your pawns for a greater then normal HP.
5. Tornado toss- throws an ememy a couple tiles away and damages them
I will add more later.
Charge: (passive) if the unit has moved at least 2 squares this round of combat, attack is multiplied by 1.5
Shield wall: Unit cannot attack this turn, but gets 2x defense
Berserk Rage: Half defense added to attack, defense set to 0.
Spear wall: Unit cannot move, but attack multiplied by 1.5 versus mounted units
Basically, I'd like to see abilities available for mundane units. I'd imagine them being added through equipment. Polearms give spear wall, mounts give charge, etc.
1.Corpse rain. Causes a rain of corpses to fall on the enemy causing panic and poison damage.
2.Ressurection, revive your fallen units.
3.Plauge summon a plauge on your foers that reduces their population and spreads from city to city.
Some ideas...
Cleave- When a successful attack causes damage has a % chance of attacking a unit next to the one hit.
Whirlwind- Attacks all units in a full circle
Charm- Causes unit to join up with the unit that charmed it. % chance that after combat unit will remain with the unit that charmed it
Walker (ForestWalker, Desert Walker, Jungle Walker etc)- Units in either the tactical or main map will not be visible if they are in their favored terrain
Invisibility/Hide in Shadows- Unit is invisible
Dirge of Doom- Causes enemy units morale to drop
Song of Inspiration- Causes friendly units morale to rise
Entangle- Causes terrain to hold units in place
Sniper- Allows ranged unit to be invisible, fire a missile, and go invisible again
Seige Breaker- Unit can cause damage to city walls, or other defensive terrain
Horse/Worg Master- Additional movement or attacks when riding on a chosen mount.
Immunities- Unit is immune to a specific type of damage (Piercing, Fire, Earth), or progressive based, where Immunity I gives you a 25% chance of ignoring the damage and Immunity II gives you 50%, etc..
Disease- Causes units to lose HP per round and healing spells are not as effective until cured. Continues damage into the main map after tactical battle is finished until it is healed
Incorporeal- Only magic weapons or magical attacks do any damage
Levitate/Fly- Able to get past walls or other defensible positions in order to attack enemies.
Berserker or Rage- Attack and Hp's rise while Defense drops
Inspired leader- Raises friendly stats. Could either be variations of this such as Charismatic leader (where all Charisma is buffed), or a progressive based versionwhere at level one you get one stat increase (HP +5) at level 2 you get 2 stats (HP +5 and Attack +2), level 3, etc...
Swallow Whole- Unit is destroyed in X number of rounds unless unit is killed..Gives benefit of extra HP's or some additional powers based on what unit was swallowed.
Mimic--Allows you to mimic a power of another creature you are fighting
Shapechange--Makes your unit look either like another unit showing false info, or actually allows you to mimic that creature completely.
Putrid Stench- Nearby creaturs suffer a penalty to attack/damage and defense.
Cone of Vomit- Causes minor acidic damage, and lowers defense of creature...perhaps has a chance to cause additional effect (blindness, slow, sickness)
Armor Master- Brings up the defense of the unit, can also scale such as Armor master I gives you +2 to Def while Armor Master II gives you +4 to defense
Weapons Master- Same as above but uses attack/damage Values
Sacrifice/Retributive Strike--Causes unit to die a violent death, but causes major damage to all nearby units
Berserk
Once the unit is damaged, it gets +1 to move, combat speed and attack, and halves defence.
Roar
Drops the morale of all enemies within a 2 radius (where can we see morale?).
Death Touch
Damage dealt is permanent.
Bloodsuck
Part of damage dealt is added as health to the attacker.
Antimagic Aura X
Prevents the casting of spells of X level or lower being cast on the battlefield, unless the caster has a shard of that type.
Okay, I can't resist, here are a few more that could be used for late-game bosses or such:
Holy Shield - The boss is surrounded by a holy shield, negating all damage but dark damage, which it recieves a penalty to.
Dark Shield - The boss is surrounded by a shield of shadow, negating all but holy damage, which it recieves a penalty to.
I also really like the idea of the elemental rings blocking off the town from attack for a few turns, but make it so that they have a penalty associated with tem, or at least a very high mana cost, so that they aren't spammable.
Lots of cool ability names in there.
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