Greetings!
I'm pretty far from a good net connection so I'll keep this brief
Let me say that I'm glad that most people seem to like the game. This message, however, is for those who are disappointed with Elemental so far.
Stardock is not just a game studio but it is also a publisher. What does this mean? Well, historically, the way it works is a game is released and if people don't like it, they're supposed to buy some expansion pack for it that "fixes" things that people thought should be in the original version.
We don't have to do that because we're both the studio and the publisher.
That means we can release free "expansion packs" for Elemental until such a high percentage of players love the game that only then can we discuss sequels or paid expansions.
Having had the opportunity to finally get out of the office for the first time in months has let me look at the game (and ahem, play the game for crazy amounts) of time from a new perspective.
I should also say that regardless of sales or reviews, our commitment to Elemental will not be affected. As some of you know, most of our company's revenue doesn't come from developing games. Even if the game didn't sell another copy, we would still continue our update schedule.
So what will be the concrete results of this?
1. In September we will release v1.1 which will be the first major revision to the game that takes into account the feedback we're getting from players. This will be a pretty substantial change. In particular, character creation, magic (think, shared mana pools),
2. We are going to go ahead and make a more traditional tutorial. I'm not a fan of tutorials but some of my grognard friends have had trouble figuring out the mechanics which means to me that we have to do something about that.
3. We are going to move Book 2: Magesa out of a future expansion pack and into the base game in a future "mega" update, likely late Fall.
4. As mentioned on the forums back in July-ish, we plan to make a new DVD gold master available to those with limited Internet connections later this Fall.
5. As discussed (I think) last Winter, I will be taking a sabbatical this Fall specifically so I can dedicate time to AI and modding so that others, long after me, can use the Elemental engine to create other things (you will need to know Python to really go crazy with it).
6. I will NOT be ceasing my postings on other forums. The guys on Qt3 and Octopus Overlords and elsewhere are my friends. I'm no more going to stop posting there then I would stop going out with my friends to movies and other "public places" where, heaven forbid, someone datamining my comments might find a "gotcha moment". Those people are my friends both on the forums and outside the forums. Interacting with you guys is a major reason I like making games in the first place.
7. To those reviewing the game: I would urge you to review the game prior to v1.1. I say this because v1.05 (the release day version) is the version of the game that was originally released and if that version of the game is considered flawed then my view is that Stardock should suffer the consequences for that. We appreciate the kindness and patience many people have shown. I just think game studios, including Stardock, need to be conscious of what they release and not expect to "patch themselves out of trouble". I do believe Elemental is, by far, the best game we've ever made but I also agree with most of the criticisms I've read too. The state of PC entertainment has changed since 2006 (when we released GalCiv II) and it is our responsibility to stay with the times.
In short, we love this game. And we love this community. We're not going to be leaving this game to work on some other game. We're with it and you guys for the long haul.
I won't be around to answer questions until next week so I hope this answers some questions.
That is simply not how the real world works. All PC games (heck some console games these days...) have a day 0 patch that is the official release version. There is a large delay between burning the gold master and the product arriving on store shelves and these days that time gets used for work. You may not like that but it doesn't change the reality of things.
He was not implying that GalCiv II is what caused that change...
He was merely saying that the PC games industry has changed since the release of their last major title, GalCiv II, and that they need to adapt to those changes.
I mean this when I say this- I do appreciate the work you're doing, and I know you'll get it right. Hopefully this doesn't get lost in the string of encouragement and your time away, which is needed.
However, I am still concerned that others are just going to write Stardock off after this launch- which is why I think down the road you need a re-release, like an Elemental: Enhanced Edition - maybe once Book 2 is out. You'll get re-reviewed, which will help down the road.
One other suggestion: on the DVD gold master, wait a bit until you've got the game in a "highly polished" state (listen to your community on this)- then do the masters with the re-release- should save yourself a bit of cost.
For those comments that the races were boring and one-dimensional- that was a criticism of GC2 until Twilight. It's something that needs to not wait for an expansion pack in future titles.
It does. The comment in the original context conveys they did a good job, but the times (gamers / industry) have changed, becoming more demanding. In reality, the state the game was released in would not have been acceptable in 2006, or even 1996. The Hubris refers to writing an apology and punctuating it with a sentence that suggests they didn't do anything wrong, it's really the fault of the industry, gamers, whoever. They need to let go of that pride and fix the product!
Defining "buggy but good' as a game one should take a look at The Guild 2 and the following expansions. They basically did what Brad has said Stardock won't, whic is to sell expansions to get the game right. Even still, it has flaws. The Guild 2 is another game that was good (after a bit) but has stayed flawed and I doubt will ever be the game it could be.
With the support Stardock offers its game you can be sure it won't go the way of The Guild 2 serience which did not get really good until Renaissance was released and still has issues.
OK... what about the technical issues? are we to expect that late fall as well? can we expect ongoing stability updates?
Nope the decided that they were where they wanted to be and thats it, now addon stuff only.
I suspect you'll see vast improvement before 1.10, they still got 7,8, and 9
Please drop the "percentage modifier" & "modified values as random ranges" system. There's a reason you're the only ones who've ever use a system that simple and elegant, and it isn't that you're the only ones to think of it. The reason is it's boring, creates spiralling imbalance, and is too unpredictable to allow strategic decisions.
I'd rather you documented how the game works. But I guess that's something we'll have to do in the wiki.
As you should. The game in the box is incredibly broken.
Looking forward to it. I really want to bitch about the state of the AI, because it's kind of pathetic - but it admittedly isn't worse than usual for 4X & grand strategy games. I was just expecting something GalCiv2-like. And I still expect you to top GalCiv's AI at some point. You can do it
Glad to hear it. I'd miss you. And I'm very sorry you got sniped like that. You didn't deserve it and nobody was served by it.
v1.05 isn't the one you get in the box. Not that v1.05 isn't a bughive (v1.06 too, for that mater), but the version in the box is far worse. But I agree, it's the box version people need to review. And you do need to take a hit for the sad state of it. The game isn't freeware, after all.
Good example of why there are so many "fanboys" of Stardock and Brad. They deserve them. At any rate, I agree--this is way better than GalCiv2 was when it first came out, and even that was fun.
What he said about the state of gaming is true. People expect more spit and polish on the first run because of so many console games. What you sacrifice is anything approaching depth. A good example of this is the abomination known as the upcoming "reimagining" of X-com: UFO Defense. Titled "XCOM," it's being made by the Bioshock 2 studio as a...yep...FIRST PERSON SHOOTER. How you get FPS out of a turn-based tactical game with real-time strategic overlay I have no idea, but it's pathetic.
Yeah they should definitely add the variety of traditional fantasy races, after all elves arent simply tall, graceful humans and dwarves, halflings and hobbits arent just small humans ... wait a second, they are!
I hope this big september update comes before the 21st or its Game Over, Bradley. We all know it.
Is there any particular reason why we all can't play Elemental AND Civ V? I fully intend to. I kind of hope Civ V has huge bugs on release, to see if it effects reviews...I'm thinking it won't. And yet, Stardock is crucified for them.
Indeed!
I dunno, proper tactical game with FPS mingames.. I mean after awhile the missions got boring and long, but FPS vs AI and random spawn maps could be a good mix.
I can't understand why this post is so well received. There's no mention to the many important items brought to light by the beta community, not to mention the post-release community. For example, the items here are all missing: https://forums.elementalgame.com/392412.
This post by Brad tells about fixing character creation, making a new book and a new DVD release, while the core problems of the game remain unanswered. The single post by Brad in the thread I mention tell me that he has at least skimmed through it. I can't comprehend why he hasn't answered the items. Does he understand what is being requested? His answer seems to imply otherwise.
I still have a little hope, but I think I'm going for a refund soon unless these issues remain unanswered and the developers focus somewhere else.
For those who say that "Stardock always comes through", have you played Twilight of the Arnor? Are you aware of the problems that still exist and aren't being worked on? The non-expanding AI races? Planetary building for AIs, example here: https://forums.galciv2.com/339593. And then there's the thread "So Twilight is broken... and there seems no real interest in fixing it" here: https://forums.galciv2.com/363497.
Here's a short and accurate post from that last thread, from someone with 20 karma:
"You know, if you only scratch the surface, I can see how it could be perceived as broken. I mean, tax is a function of the square root of population, population has nothing to do with productivity, entertainment centers' 10% morale never really gives 10% morale, why even have 300% farm tiles at all, there's the silly 20k bc limit, bonus production is half paid and half free (?!?), miniaturization doesn't miniaturize anything (it makes ships bigger), ships can actually come out of combat with more HP's than they went in with, and the ship defense...enough said.... It's obviously the result of a lot of tweaks and tuning. At some point you just had to call it done, and that left a lot of loose ends untied. I didn't have a problem with it. But I can see how someone else would. I mean after all, you'd think 10% morale means, 10% morale."
Tsk tsk. No mention of free cookies anywhere! Such nonsense!
I eagerly await patch 1.1. I still rely on Stardock to break my LOTRO-addiction.
Thank you for making me feel slightly better.
Btw i have faith in the game, i like SD, and i don't think Nick is a troller (he has right arguments too).The only thing to do is ... wait and see.I am like Judas, i need to see to judge.
It's all good news from the support side of things but the game really should've been at a state where there were only minor issues left.
For the love of god fix the memory leaks and random crashes. Worry about balance when people can acctually PLAY your game.
And if you are going to claim the game is DRM free, the reviewed version of the game should actually be the DRM free version of the game.
Still, I am rather impressed with what Brad said. I figured he'd grab the 55% and say most people like it, screw the rest.
The game isn't DRM free it just employs DRM in a more subtle way.
Making you register your game to impulse in order to patch it rather than releasing patches as executables freely available to download is STILL being treated as potential criminal as far as i'm concerned.
I have a ton of complains about the game, the 1.05 version is extremely far from a finished game, if you look at my post history you'll see that I'm quite a loud complainer about it, but I agree with Brad that it's the 1.05 version, not 1.00 that should be reviewed.0-day patches is the norm for PC-Gaming nowadays because it takes months to send away the master CD and get the game printed, all the Game CD is expected to do at this point is install the game and indulge people that have a fetich for buying physical game boxes. As people have noted even Starcraft made by a company reputed for really solid games have 0-day patches.Stop invoking the theoretical gamer without an internet connection, both you and I know that they're such a tiny subset of the gamer market that they're irrelevant, they're not the intended audience for the vast majority of game reviewers.I think this is was a great post by Brad and I hope they'll eventually make this rather messy game into something really nice like GalCiv 2.
So much 'hope' and 'faith' everywhere, personnaly i would be scared
(i will go burn a candle !)
That's not the point, they set their own standards and they should abide by them
Exactly. At no point did anyone tell them to advertise or claim this game was DRM free. They did that themselve, in the mainstream media even and then ran out and told the reviewers to review the "other" version. I do take issue with that, and am not going to be apologetic about it no matter what the fanbois say.
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