This is by no means a complete list of things that are on our mind for Elemental for 2011. For those of you just joining our community I should first start out with an explanation of what Stardock is about and what makes our games a bit...different that is the norm in 2011. It might be more accurate to say that Stardock is how game companies in the PC industry used to pretty much operate prior to the flood of IPOs in the late 90s that changed our industry so dramatically.
At GDC 2011 I will be doing a talk about game designs that fail and will be using Elemental's development and subsequent launch as my case study example as this may help up and coming game developers learn some of the pitfalls of when you transition from having a small game team to a much larger one.
Anyway, Elemental: War of Magic was released in August 2011. Contrary to what some would have you believe, it was a finished game when it shipped. It just sucked and was horrendously buggy. We didn't think it sucked or was buggy but given we had been working 90 hours plus for months on end, I think, with the benefit of hindsight, that our judgment was a bit impaired across the board. But what is past is past.
However (and this is important), Stardock is both the developer AND the publisher. Next time you load up a game, pay attention to that first intro screen that lists TWO names: The guys who make the game and the guys who publish. Since we're both on Elemental, we could go back and revisit all the things in the game that went wrong and do something meaningful about them.
So here's a partial list of things that we think are big deals that we want to address this year in the Elemental universe in order to make it the classic PC fantasy strategy game of its time.
1. Core Engine Stuff. This means smarter memory management so that we can have larger maps, faster late game performance, etc.
2. Core Strategic AI stuff. This means an AI that plays the game strategically in an intelligent way.
3. Core Tactical AI stuff. This means that when you have a battle tactically, the AI units play as if they were being controlled by another human.
4. Core Diplomacy AI stuff. More interesting and intelligent diplomatic options available to players.
5. More overt AI differentiation. That is, each faction plays different to the point that players can see a difference. They're not predictable but rather they have different ways of achieving their objectives.
6. More faction differentiation. That is, each player is blatantly different across the board. Techs, improvements, weapons, racial attributes, etc.
7. More interesting tactical battles. Specifically, tactical battles that blend the best of strategy and RPG together. A complete rewrite of what we have today.
8. More interesting and important city differentation. That means, more explicit ways to specialize cities, more interesting ways to make different cities unique and strategic on their own.
9. Vastly more interesting world. We have this great world with great lore behind it but you don't see it in the game. This is going to change this year as the lore of Elemental comes into play both in terms of actual game mechanics and game play but in the general feel of the world.
10. Much more modding support than what we have today.
Start Monday, 3 new people join Stardock and are being added to the Elemental team. And two of them are pretty well known and the other is an amazing game developer that we've bee fortunate enough to find.
Stardock is looking to hire more people for the Elemental team (in particular, Kael and I are trying to recruit a seasoned lead game developer). Please contact myself of Derek if you know anyone who would fit that description. Stardock has some other game projects that start up this year as well and the publishing group is working on some new things as well. So it's going to be a pretty exciting year for Stardock gamers.
The list I have above is not even remotely a complete one but it summarizes some of the big things on our mind. I approved the necessary budget in December to fund Elemental for both 2011 and 2012 (most of Stardock's revenue comes from other parts of the company -- we don't live or die on our game sales but we care deeply about our games).
It's a good list. I would tentatively add:
-Continue to expand on the content that is already in game. More items, more abilities, more spells, more quests! (Big emphasis on the last one.)
This is a very good list. I am extremely excited to see number four - the "Core Diplomacy AI stuff". I hope this means more diplomatic functionality to the game as well as diplomacy related AI improvements (great though that will be). It sounds like improved diplomacy mechanics are on the cards from what you're saying, and I think a really robust, deep and interesting diplomacy system in the game could differentiate Elemental from other strategy games, which have basically never really bothered with diplomacy. Still, everything there looks good. Best of luck to you all!
Ha. One thing.
I'm playing a game from the future?! Sweet jesus that rocks.
Sounds like a great year for all of us. Very very good points. I´m realy excited.
Aren't you interested by any chance on an "exploited code monkey" that in a few months may be a "unemployed code monkey" with bills to pay?
So... Political Machine? Galactic Civilizations III? Non-Baldur's Gate? Non-X-Com? Hell, Societies maybe (finally)? Wincustomize Wars? Do you include working with Ironclad on SoaSE stuff?
About that list related to Elemental, it's quite impressive and sounds like some kind of titanic task. Hoping for seeing it made true.
Out of curiosity, do you envision these changes you listed to be implemented strictly through patches, or do some pertain to a future expansion?
It is good to see you have identified the game's major shortcomings and have set yourself goals to address them. Most game companies just keep you in the dark.
Also regarding diplomacy, when one nation warns you about another, it would be better if they made you an offer to declare war with them.
Frogboy, thanks very much for the outline of planned improvements for 2011. Very nice.
I do hope that one relatively easy item could get on the list: improving the player's UI for purchasing, trading, and equipping items. Right now it is a nightmare compared to almost every other RPG game I've ever played (and I've been playing computer games since Pong).
The major issues that I see in the equipment UI:
1. No way to see what a character (a "C") has equipped when purchasing from shop.
2. No way to see what items another C already has equipped when trading to them.
3. Very confusing as to what items go in what slots, or compete for the same slot. E.g., boots and greaves take same slot.
4. A C's original equipment cannot be sold or trashed, clogging up the screen.
5. Compounding these issues is that there is no common equipment storage area that can be accessed by all C's. (E.g. an "Armory" that could be accessed by any C visiting the city.)
6. The equipment shop uses a single sliding list to show all its wares, with no way to order, filter or categorize them. It also rapidly becomes bloated with long-obsolete items.
7. Adding to the frustration is that equipment must be moved/traded through an elaborate series of mouse-clicks, instead of just dragging and dropping.
All these aspects of the current UI created enormous frustration for me yesterday, when, in the midst of the longest game I've played so far, I had gathered ten heroes in a city for some to purchase new shiny plate armor and weapons with my limited gold, and hand down their leather armor/older weapons to others. It literally took me about 30 minutes and hundred of mouse clicks to accomplish that. With a traditional RPG equipment UI, it would have taken less than 5 minutes.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel on this one. Just implement the basic interface concepts that other games have used for more than a decade: a C's paper doll window, a C's "bags" window, a "shop" window, and the ability to drag and drop items between them.
Thanks for your attention, and am very glad you are standing behind Elemental's further development. The seeds of a truly great game are there.
List looks solid. Are you guys going to offer a roadmap for the foreseeable future or are we going to take things "one patch at a time?"
Yes please. Pretty please?
As for the big name people coming... is it one who was working on Civilization perhaps?
Glad to hear that you've been able to find three good people to join the team. Finding the right people to any job is such a difficult task. One of the most important skills of anyone working in a management position.
Hmm, isn't Kael the lead dev' aleady ? Why do you need another ?
Is Kael even a dev? He's a project manager and the producer. On a team that size I doubt he'd be doing any development.
Maybe but don't think that he won't be heavily involved in development. So while he may be not poking things directly, he's certainly a developer.
Looks like a solid list, if a little vague. Making "the" fantasy rts game is absolutely within reach.
I hope that you can turn this investment into a profit, if you haven't.
Long-term, what can I say. THIS is the reason I bought Elemental when it was available. The brand means a guarantee I will get a solid game experience.
Good to see this list. Can't wait to see the announcement on the 3rd. And the game was released on August 2010 not 2011.
Excellent to see, thanks for keeping up in the loop as well as you do.
Hope you've kept room on your shelf for some more awards.
Kael's the Project Manager ("Producer").
If you were to look at a tree it would look something like this:
Product Manager -> Project Manager -> Lead Developer, Lead Artist, Design Lead
Right now, I am still the Product Manager (Executive Producer) and substituting as Lead Developer as well which is not doable in the long-term (and wasn't doable already but circumstances last Spring required me to step in to take over Project Manager, Design Lead, and Lead Developer which was an overload for me).
Wow! This so refreshing after years of dealing (being dealt to) with 2K/Steam etc.
Thank you Brad, I'm looking forward to getting more and more involved with Elemental - can we have some ships/pirates/corsairs please?
Good list, seems like it covers a lot ... except for one thing ... A BETTER MAGIC SYSTEM!
I know that this has been mentioned a LOT (and I mean a lot) on the forums, but seeing as how your list doesn't specifically state anything about the magic system (I know you said it's not exhaustive, but this is important), I thought I'd reiterate. The magic system (spells, tactical magic, overland magic, more spell focus in general) needs a major uplift, if not complete overhaul. As I've mentioned a few other times, the thing that makes the game not quite fun to play (and sometimes downright boring, to be honest) is the fact that this is not a fantasy strategy game right now, it's just a strategy game. The game needs more spells, many more. You have a list of about 300 spells that were submitted and that you own now, put the best 100 in there. After that, add 200 more, just make sure the game has diversified spells. I want to be able to have a choice of many tactical spells when in a fight, and I want to have many overland spells (and not just the "raise land," "lower land," etc). Remember, it's ok to use the generic fantasy stuff that people are used to in other games, that doesn't make it look cheap. You can have your unique style of things and still have some "old-fashioned" magic and spells.
I know it's like beating a dead horse mentioning this again and again, but please give us an overview of what you plan on doing to the magic system. THIS, in my opinion, it's good implementation, and the AI's ability to use it well, are more important than everything on your list. It's what made MoM, HoMM, AoW:SM, etc. fun: a good fantasy magic system.
EDIT: I just want to add that I'm not trying to be offensive. I know you have put a lot into this, but as your claim states you want this to be THE premiere fantasy strategy game, just as I want it to be, I'm giving my opinion on what you need to accomplish it. In no way am I saying you don't need to focus on the list you have, but I believe that a stronger magic system is more important right now. The game is very stable right now, so let's make it more fun.
The magic system could be more polished / fleshed out.
Sure. I'm not saying that its current implementation is entirely perfect, merely that it is not in need of significant change.
Bravo, bravo.
Yes please, I'm looking forward to this.
What about the demo ?
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