Brad visited Gametrailers.com, and they have posted a walkthrough video of Elemental focusing on the story and characters of the game.
Check out the rest of the videos here.
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/elemental-war-of-magic/12076
I have checked all the videos, there is acutally alot of them, which si great... but sadly, I have to say, that UI is still very limited, and rough. It is just too small and too clicky. I do not like idea, that I own large screen to have more space on the screen and be forced to 1024x768 UI screen. Also, it seems, like you do not really think about expanding it. If people come with more races, backgrounds etc... its going to be horrible to choose them, because of clicking on one little smallish arrow...
Overall I hate those small arrows so much, because it does not allow control UI fast. I do not know, why you do not use expanding menus, for stuff like backgrounds, or poses, to make choosing them much easier. I also do not like all the scrolling in the backstories etc... Because UI is small.
I hope that you have fixed scrolling sliders, that I can actually scroll up and down, without needing to have curscor precisely on the button while holding the mouse button.
Combat UI is still horrid, and also, I do not like look of the minimap and overall skin of the UI. You had beatifull UI way back, which was a little bit crowded but it was much much nicer. Also on the left side of the screen are units, and on the right are events, and those are not used to its full potential. More color codes, and info on them, would make them much more useful.
Overall UI is still too dull and cumbersome.
Other then that, I really like what I see and can not wait for release. Other then UI I have high hopes for the game. GJ.
You're absolutely right about the UI problems. I'm especially irritated by how unwieldy it is on high-resolution monitors. Everything is shoved wayyyyyyyyy in the corners for me and it's all far too small.
I was hoping that the finalized UI would have some kind of built-in scaling where the entire UI scales up as the resolution increases (see: WoW, Starcraft 2) but I guess it's not to be.
I've even posted about this before but I don't think anyone responded.
I don't think these videos are running the "finalized" UI. A bunch of stuff Frogboy posted about it in the "last day in CA" journal isn't actually in the video, so I assume it was taken before the stuff was ready. At least, that's what I'm hoping. If this is the final, then I agree it's pretty underwhelming.
I hope you are right, but there are actually changes on the UI, if you have watched all the videos, so its not beta 4 UI. I just hope, that this is not final version of it. Because its not something what really fits 2011 with a complex game and alot of informations, which should be displayed fast and clearly.
Honestly the voice for the opening cinematic
Yep, I've noticed some changes but not others. We'll have to see and hope, I guess
I was super impressed by nearly everything I saw except for the combat.
Perhaps it would've been wiser to show a larger battle or something, because it simply did not look impressive. It looked downright boring. Only one guy attacking/defending? What's the point of assembling an army if only one guy is going to do the legwork at any given time. Even if the combat values account for the number of units, it still looks weak.
I still plan on buying it at launch because of how impressive everything else looked and knowing Stardock's commitment to improve past games and Impulse, but I really hope that combat gets overhauled. Tactical combat like this is such a good idea, but it has to look like some serious stuff is going down.
I have to agree with SumoX, the combat was extremely disappointing, when armies fight, I should see armies fighting, not one soldier detaching and hitting the enemy while the others stand in the background looking like idiots. This seems like a bastardization of the heroes of might and magic system, where only one unit actually attacks and it takes into account the stats of all the units in a stack, except here it actually shows the rest of the units laughably doing nothing. I was hoping to actually see armies clash in this game but if that part (again) has to be left up to the imagination, just show one unit with a number indicating the amount of units in the stack please.
Completely agree. It looks silly now. Either one unit to represent the stack or all of the units attack.
Some of the sadsackery I see on these forums make me think that some of you guys really aren't worth my time.
Hopefully, you guys can find a game that meets your expectations in the future. But I can tell you right now, if these forums were to become a big bag of whiney malcontents, I'll find somewhere else to spend my time. I'm really getting tired of the pettiness.
The game's final UI is good. No, it doesn't expand with resolution. But it's a good UI for managing a large, worldwide empire. The tactical combat between a handful of units isn't going to be that interesting I agree, it's just what happened to get shown during the course of playing the game. It's not Rome Total War.
We have said from the start that Master of Magic was a major inspiration for the game. If you watch MoM tactical battles, you'll find that ours are very similar in terms of game play.
I think you guys should just assume that the final game won't be good and go somewhere else and let the rest of us enjoy it. Sheesh.
Having spent some time today looking at how my friends at Blizzard are getting ragged on by their so-called "fans" despite releasing what is certainly a masterpiece (Starcraft 2) makes me thankful that we're not a publicly traded company because I don't have to put up that.
Don't think that because you purchased the game that you have an unlimited right to spend time on my forums ragging on every little detail that we didn't do for you.
Well, I was a bit worried, but I'm not anymore, thanks to Stardock's dedication and Draginol's post in this thread. I think the final game will be excellent and will evolve too.
I'd like to thank Frogboy and all the team for allowing us to be part of this process, and taking on board a lot of our ideas. Kudos, Gracious! (if I got that Mexican? word right )
So, thank you, and I look forward to the future, of all things!
Btw, I like the new colour scheme.
Best regards,Steven.
I do not understand, why you take criticism so personaly frog. I mean, there is always room to improve your game, and there will always be. If someone or me, post something what they dont like, or point out some problems, it does not mean, that the game is bad or that they attack you.
If you do not want to admit, that they are things which you could or can do better, then it is shame on you. Because, there is always room for improvement! I dont see any flaming at all, so there is no reason to be so hars at us.
It depends on how criticism is delivered.
Part of me is just outraged and disheartened at what I've seen today at the Starcraft 2 forums over at Blizzard. I didn't work on SC2 obviously but I can't help but take the endless bitching there a bit personally as a game developer and realizing that no matter how perfect something is, some people will never be satisfied.
It's always that way of course. The difference is, I don't have to participate.
So coming back over here and seeing people complaining endlessly on piddly stuff (I mean seriously guys, if anyone in the beta believed that we were going to implement some sort of scaleable UI in the last month of development they're nuts. If users had wanted that we could have made it a priority but we had a year long beta and I can't think of a single time it's come up).
The tactical UI is being refreshed for release, the main strategic UI you saw, other than the empire tree, is done. It ain't changing. We like it.
And as long as this game is my baby, I'll take it personally. Believe me, you want me to take it personally. If I didn't, we wouldn't be making multi million dollar fantasy strategy games for the PC in 2010.
Elemental is a labor of love. We love it. It matters to us. We like it. And we're open to suggestions and criticism. But calling our UI "horrid"? Please. That's being melodramatic or makes me think you haven't played many games.
Games are never finished. Nothing is ever perfect. But perfect is the enemy of good. The released version of Elemental is something we're going to be very proud of. If you don't like it, then that's certainly your prerogative. But I don't have to listen to nonconstructive criticism on my forums.
If you have ideas, post them. We love to hear them. We've implemented a lot of features from the community.
Don't enter public life if you don't have thick skin...
While I agree that some comments may just be blatant trolling others are legitimate concerns / criticisms.
Still, he is as human (as far as a frog can be human, anyways ) as the rest of us. Occasionally he gets a little melancholy and protective. But I think the majority of people post on these forums because they care about Stardock, Frogboy and Elemental, and I think that is important too.
Often, the motives behind something someone does can be as important as what exactly they do.
I am not bitching, I do not take it as bitching. It might be, that my english is not as good as others so I can not express myself in polite manner.
But as I said, there is always room for improvement and you should take it positively and not negatively. It should be something what can drive you further to improve your game more and more. That is what you have been doing until now, and its something what you are going to do for another few years.
So why so serious? Nobody said, that the game suck, most of the people like this game so much, so do I. And most of the people find some things, which they prefer differently, but that is normal, because everyone is different.
I believe you are really lucky, to have such a great community here. But if you get mad, everytime when someone pick one thing which they dont like, then you might die from heart attack really soon
I don't think the goal of anyone here was simply to "whine", only to critique parts of the game we didn't like. I thought one of the points of a forum was to express opinions and offer constructive criticism. I am not a game developer and thus I cannot tell you I believe the game would be better if you modified x and y, but I can tell you of an aspect of the game I think needs improvement; not being a game developer, that is the way I try to help make games I like better, and in return I pay you for doing what I cannot. If I purchase your product that is my declaration that I support and enjoy your work. If you're looking for only endless praise of your work, you should stop calling us petty.
Hey, @all, relax
I think the devs are a bit under stress at this point, while gamers who have waited and debated over the game for so long understandably start to raise their expectations and notice every minor quibble.
Being pretty new around here and having preordered too late for the beta, I think I have kind of a fresh reaction to the whole thing (today's videos showed me what it's all really about for the first time!).
Frankly, the game looks terrific.
It's something totally new graphically, the UI looks good and serviceable (which is what I mostly care about), the strategic view oozes awesomeness. Sure it's clear from the intro and other minor thingies that the budget is not the same as Starcraft II, but who cares about that. I'm telling you, I don't ever care if it doesn't come out perfectly "balanced", all that matters to me is the fun factor.
And as an old MoM lover, this is the first time I get excited for a game of this kind. Even if it doesn't look perfect, it looks special.
Of course part of the excitement comes from knowing that the game will develop even after release, and hopefully there'll be even full, separate expansions that'll improve on the game significantly, if need be.
What I'm saying is: one step at a time!
Thanks for showing great stuff in these walkthrough videos! During beta testing I was occasionally worried that the game would not be deep enough. But now I am convinced this will be a wonderful game. UI is certainly good enough. People who put a perfect UI as top priority when judging a game, well congratulations there's a lot of crap games out there with great UI but nothing of value beneath the looks.
i have to agree with frog on some points. most people let fly on forums without abandon. if you don't like something, you can be polite about it. if your grandmother made a cake and it was good, but not great you wouldn't tell her it was "horrid", or laugh in her face. i say this, if you don't agree on something then simply say i don't agree, AND then state what you think would be a better way. honestly i am sometimes embarrassed by the gaming community because of their inconsiderateness. stardock is a great company and a friend to us gamers, show some respect.
The reason people say what they want on forums is because they are generally not held accountable for their actions. It's pathetic and weak.
If any of you have made games/art you generally don't want to hear critics like "it sucks" that is not constructive at all, and generally not helpfull...there are ways to say things and get acrss your point in a better fashion.
I was the one complaining about the lack of UI scaling. I didn't mean to make you crazy, Frogboy It's just my one big complaint about what's looking to be a great game and I was surprised to finally see someone else mention it.
Anyway, I've been in these betas since day one and I've been reading the dev journals ever since. If it means anything, the in-depth look at Elemental's development has pretty much cemented Stardock as one of my favorite developers. I'm liking the sound of Beta 5 as well, even though I probably won't get a chance to try it.
(BTW, if you value your sanity, stay as far away from the Blizzard forums as possible. I've been reading them off and on for years and they're always a disaster. Doesn't matter if the games are any good, it just comes with being a popular developer.
Which is precisely why I preordered this game before the first beta was even released, and upgraded to the LE the moment that became available. Almost all the other companies want to go for eye candy or fps/console type games nowadays. Nobody wants to work on games with the kinds of depth that this one possesses. Many of the games you cite for inspiration are the same ones I grew up loving and spending many hours of my life playing. There are not a lot of games anymore that can recapture the magic and wonder I had in playing those games in my youth. Elemental promises to be the best one in a long long time to do that.
It's time for you to go, ThinkProgress.
Nothing is more annoying than someone who argues that a person lacks some given quality while utterly relying on that very quality -- such as saying I am thin skinned but relying on me having a thick skin to not remove him.
We're pleased with how the game is coming along. We think most people will like it. Not all will of course.
I think most people are conscious of how unusual it is for the actual developers to participate in these dicussions. We enjoy interacting and working with the community. But at some point, some people seem to take that as an entitlement. There are plenty of sites out there for people to participate complaining versus providing constructive criticism.
We're working hard, we're tired, and we hope people like what we make. And we won't let our forums become a haven for endless nitpicking. Go elsewhere for that.
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