Greetings!
Today Beta 1A (0.76) of Elemental: Fallen Enchantress. This beta has been made available to everyone who purchased Elemental: War of Magic before November 1, 2010.
The feedback from beta 1 has been very positive and also very helpful. We’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us but it’s good to know that we’re on the right track.
There’s been a lot of changes made to 0.76 which can read below. We won’t be tipping our hand on what new things we’ll be adding but I think players will be pleased with some of the additions we’ll be making.
The next planned update (beta 1B) will be roughly two weeks from now when it’ll get opened up to everyone who purchased War of Magic in 2010 or earlier.
Also, please vote in the survey if you have the beta to give us an overall idea of how you’re feeling about the beta.
Full Change log:
Download:
Fallen Enchantress Beta 1 patch 1 (version 0.76) is available for download from the Stardock store. You should find a patch update if you already have the game installed (so you don't have redownload the whole game). Players installing for the first time will need to apply the "Full Beta" download and then download and install the "Beta Update".
https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products
Features:
+ Added Edge Scrolling (defaults to on, can be disabled in game options)
Bugs:
+ Fixed an issue that kept players with captured drake and forest drake lairs from being able to train them
+ Added temp tile designs for Drake camps, Forest Drake camps, Mercenary camps, Naja camps, Ogre camps, Ophidian camps, Troll camps and Wilding camps
+ Naja, Ogres and Ophidians are now recruited as single units.
+ Fixed an issue that was causing swamps in the players ZoC to look like forests.
+ Fixed a lost device crash in desktop mode.
+ Fixed an issue with the arena tactical battle arena.
+ Fixed a crash attempting to fill the environment map if the sectormapper isnt initiated.
+ Fixed a bug with the Run Wild (Varkana's) quest.
+ Ring of Storms isn't available for unit design anymore.
+ Fixed a bug with Mantle of Oceans that was causing it to increase tactical spell cost instead of decrease it.
+ Fixed Throwing Knives.
+ Fixed the Powerful custom faction ability.
+ No more pauses when Air Elementals cast spells.
+ No more pauses when Troll Shamans cas spells.
+ Fixed bug where if a leader of an army was killed, their surviving sub units were not reformed into a new army, which was manifested as if you killed the leader in an army, but ended up losing the battle, the entire other army still died.
+ Fixed an issue that allows the build button to work on resources that are outside of your ZoC.
+ Fixed an issue with a conversation tag from Resoln to Yithril.
+ Fixed an issue with a conversation tag from Gilden to Resoln.
+ Fixed AI bug where pioneers would never look for a city unless they had escorts, even if the destination area is safe
+ Fixed bug where AI would declare war on players it has never met
+ Got rid of several repetiative debug messages.
+ Fixed crash bug that would occasionally occur on loading a saved game
+ Optimized load save game code to reduce big game loading times from >2 minutes to <30 seconds
+ Fixed crash bug where unit stats were being modified by multiple threads at once
+ Fixed crash bug where modifiers were being modified by multiple threads at once
+ Removed critical seciton around GetHarvestPerTurn() that caused deadlocks
+ ProcessEvents only occurs every other frame to improve framerate (this should be followed-up with more cleaning of the event queue)
+ Auto Saving now has a Debug.err message around it so we can easily tell if a crash occurred during autosave
+ Fixed bug that caused turns to get stuck on occasion
+ UpdatePioneerImpAssociatedCities() moved to a background thread so that late game animation remains smooth
+ Fixed crash bug related to Pioneer Improvements being reassociated
+ Fixed bug that caused AI to cast strategic spells from the main game thread
+ Fixed AI bug where it would send a pioneer unit to a location too close to a city and try to build there and get stuck
+ More cowbell
+ Fixed crash bug where background thread was trying to update the UI
+ Fixed crash bug related to a unit being added to a city in multiple threads at once.
+ Fixed crash bug related to a unit being clicked on in a city at the same time as a background thread was accessing the unit
+ Moved Increment Hitpoints to the top of the event list because it's one of the most common events (performance)
+ Rewrote OnEndGame() to clean up data more cleanly
+ Fixed deadlock related to GetCityByIndex()
+ Fixed deadlock related to GetCityCount()
+ Fixed AI bug where it would go to a quest location that has already been visited
+ Fixed a missing tile design for the clay quarry
+ Fixed the clay quarry so it correctly gives a material
+ Fixed the empty lairs on the Northern Waste wildland
+ Fixed some empty lairs on the Burning Lands wildland
+ Fixed memory leaks
+ Fixed the white particle effects in the Fog of War
+ Torax's head trophy will now correctly increase the gildar of your city
+ Fixed an issue that was keeping you from casting tactical spells if you didnt have the original mana cost (you couldnt cast fireball for 15 mana with bonuses if you didnt have 30 mana because its original mana cost is 30)
+ Fixed an issue that was keeping army bonuses form being applied unless it was from the armies leader
+ Fixed a hung tactical battle issue when an ai opponent couldnt get to an enemy
+ Fixed a hung tactical battle issue when an ai archer tried to make a melee attack
Balance:
+ Regeneration also works in tactical combat (instead of just on the world map).
+ Magical Bows are more common as loot drops.
+ You can recruit more darkling and wilding warriors from those lairs
+ You can design units with Ignys Bows now with Arcane Weaponry (and archer will upgrade to them).
+ Giant Form and Growth can only be cast on sovereigns or champions.
+ Berserker's Axe reduced from 20 Attack to 10.
+ Berserker's Broadsword reduced from 22 Attack to 11.
+ Made the following level changes to monsters:
Abeix: 15 -> 18 Ashwake Dragon: 10 -> 15 Clambercoil Dragon: 7 -> 12 Delin: 15 -> 19 Drake: 8 -> 11 Fell Dragon: 9 -> 13 Forest Drake: 6 -> 9 Giant Rock Spider: 6 -> 8 Hoarder Spider: 8 -> 10 Morian: 15 -> 19 River Slag: 5 -> 9 Sarog: 12 -> 17 Shrill Lord: 9 -> 12 Slag: 7 -> 10 Storm Dragon: 9 -> 13 Torax: 15 -> 18 Vetrar: 15 -> 20
+ Might now gives +3 Attack instead of +1 Attack per Level
+ Discipline is now a custom sovereign ability
+ Verga starts with Discipline instead of Might
+ Increased the XP needed between levels
+ The Hallowed Rite trait is only available to Resoln (or custom factions using the Wraith race)
+ Caravans are limited per city. 2 become available with Trading, an additional one is added with economics
+ Road Warriors faction trait is renamed Legacy of Serrane and it also grants an additional Caravan per city
+ Champions get injuries if they fall in combat (even if you win the battle)
+ Warrior Temple and Warrior College are both 1 per Faction
+ Late game tech costs reduced
+ Many Mid/Late game Improvement costs increased
+ Ice Elementals can cast Slow
+ Apothecaries produce 3 research per material instead of 1
+ Lightning Pike doesn't require metal to produce (crystal cost increased)
+ Boreal Blade doesn't require metal to produce (crystal cost increased)
+ Maul gives -4 Accuracy per strike instead of -3
+ Merchants reduced from +3 Gildar per season to +2
+ Added a Research cost modifier by map size (tiny is 0.7, small 0.9, medium 1.0 and large 1.1)
+ Reduced Tech Cost Percentage Increase Per Tech from 10% to 5%
+ Town Hall moved form city level 3 to 4
+ Almshouse produces Diplomatic Capital instead of reducing Unrest
+ Hedge Walls and Wooden Walls require city level 3, Forts and Castles requires city level 4, Fortresses require city level 5
+ Theater is limited to 1 per Faction
+ Arena is limited to 1 per Faction
+ Watermills only give +2 Production per Material instead of +5.
Cosmetic:
+ Added a description tag to the Adventurer ability
+ Added icons for the Horn of Sarog, Fist of Vetrar and the Eye of Abeix trophies
+ Fixed a minor word wrapping issue with the civics ability
+ Tarth males cant wear the ladies satin shirts anymore
+ Fixed a missing cloth map icon with the Rats Nest
+ Made the prisoner quest text more clear.
+ Fixed a text overlap issue on the Unit screen.
+ New shield idle for the equipment screens (so it doesn't obscure the characters face).
+ Clarified the description text on the infirmary.
+ Fixed a typo in the Vetrar conversation
+ Fixed a typo int he Slave Lord ability
+ Added a "+x research" to goodie huts that give you research, before it was hard to tell what they were doing
+ Notification stay maximized for 15 seconds instead of 3
AI:
+ AI less aggressive in dealing with trespassers on its territory
+ AI more aggressive about recruiting champions
+ AI Scouts will now move towards unrecruited champions that it finds to recruit them
+ AI less cautious about going on quests
+ AI will defend its bigger cities better
+ AI handles strategic spells much more intelligently
+ AI sovereign will cast spells that only can be cast on champions
Update #1: Hot Patch (Data update – these get streamed to you when you load up the game automatically.):
+ Acrobat ability gives +4 dex instead of +1 dex / level
+ Fixed the Lucky faction ability
+ Added a cost to the Endless Legion faction ability
+ Reduced the likelihood of getting Path levelup abilities
+ Fixed the Quick faction ability
+ Fixed the Vulnerable faction ability
+ Fixed the Weak faction ability
+ Corrected the description on the Wealthy faction ability
+ Telescopes aren't available for unit design anymore
+ Fixed a type in the growth potion description
+ Salted pork now correctly heals 8 damage
+ Corrected the description on the Blight scroll
+ Fixed an issue allowing Csilla, Irdael and Norak to get Acrobat twice
+ Increased the amount of XP required per level (especialy at higher levels)
+ Halved the amount of the players Dexterity that feeds into Dodge
+ Increased Tech Cost Percentage Increase Per Tech from 5% to 10%
brad i just want you to read the posts from MTRIXIS hes posted so much on suggestions to balance the game and to overall improve it that quite frankly i have to say is brilliant
seanw3 also has some great ideas on the city improvements which would really make for strategic decisions on wat to build and at the same time eliminate rampant city sprawl on the map.
and of coarse read up on what heavensfall has to say as he as well posts good info.
Sweet, more cowbell.
I just checked for the beta email, and checked the Impulse/Gamestop site for an update, no joy.
I purchased Elemental in August of 2010 from Best Buy. What do I need to do to get on the beta list?
Note that I released a couple of mods for Elemental in 2010! I ended up taking a long break after that, though...
I agree that city building needs a bit of an overhaul to make it more interesting. Currently there are very few interesting choices when it comes to what to build in the city. Now you could use seanw3's ideas of upgrading building. Definitely wouldn't be a bad way to go but it sounds like it would require a lot of rework. You could also make city building a great deal more enjoyable by fiddling with the cost to build of each of the buildings and making the effects significantly more dramatic. Meaning that buildings are more powerful but require dramatically more production time and upkeep. So having a city with say a barracks would be a big deal because it would be a significant investment but you could really pump out more (and better?) troops than your opponents could. Or you could give specializing improvements downsides. Like military buildings could boost unrest. Production boosting buildings might lower research and research buildings could give a small hit to growth. Or something like that. There has to be tradeoffs or the choices aren't interesting.
I bought War of Magic on release day from Walmart and have yet to receive an invite so hopefully it just hasn't been sent yet.
I've just downloaded FE, and my anti-virus programme is saying 'Fallen Enchantress-0.75_beta_setup.exe is not commonly downloaded and could harm your computer'... Why is it doing this?
edit: Ah, because not many people have downloaded it yet, so it's flagged as suspicious..
Do not check Impulse/Gamestop. The beta will never be there. Final game, I believe yes, but not the beta. Just go to stardock.com and log into your account using your same credentials, and that is where to find it. If you bought in Aug 2010, and it is not listed there, I'd email stardock support, they'll take care of you.
So what you are saying is "I told you so?" Seems that not matter what they do you will have something like that to say...maybe I am misreading this? I think city building itself is fine, just that I don't think the buildings you can build should be the same. Exckude some buildings if you make one, or make the upkeep cost prohibitive to have them all.
WoM did not grip me has i had always hoped it would, which saddened me a great deal. FE could be the redemption i only dreamed of. but it needs to be finished first. tactical combat needs to be (somewhat) more involved than setting your people in a line and having a go at the enemy. thats hardly tactical. and, i guess its just me, but settler/pioneers are now so important but its difficult for me to make enough to keep up with my progress and with it my progress's demand for resources. im liking where these tweaks are going, but when you said "increased XP needed between levels" does he mean champions or units? or both? and if both at the same rate? important questions...
I agree on the city building to the effect that, it seems to be currently the one area that needs work, but has not been acknowledged as a major area of focus of improvement by Stardock. So that makes me a bit nervous, it's not the biggest problem, but it's the biggest one that (as far as we know) doesn't have a lot of improvement's planned.
Only so many hours in a day though, so I guess we'll see what they can get in before this puppy goes gold.
Certainly feel free to discuss what you don't like about it.
We have our own views on it too that we're discussing.
For instance, I don't like having improvement placement at all. I'd prefer that players chose their building and the game simply placed the improvement taking out the whole location thing because it creates the implication that placement matters and it really doesn't other than "snaking" which really isn't a very good mechanic.
But that kind of change isn't an overhaul at all. That's really more of a UI tweak.
On the other hand, someone wishing that every tile within the city radius gave bonuses/penalties depending on what you place there is something beyond the scope of what we would like to do. That doesn't make someone wanting something like that wrong about wanting it, it just means that that isn't where we're looking to go with the game even though we understand the merit of the idea.
I agree. This would definitely fall into the area of balance and something that's fair game.
One of the hot topics on our list is to put more effort into making sure players can have very distinct cities (i.e. THIS is my production city, THIS is my research city, THIS is my money city, THIS is my military city) and so on.
A+ for being vague, nondescript and having a false sense of entitlement.
Thanks Stardock, keep it up! The game is already great and will only get better.
I'm just happy i can recruit Drakes now.
I bought it the week it came out and no email yet.Maybe it'll come late as I'm sure they had alot to sent out.
Glad to hear you say this, both this post and the previous one about building placement. I couldn't agree more!
Downloading the beta now, and I intend on providing as much feedback as possible!
Personally I like city building as long as there are meaningful choices to be weighed against one another. A good example is the FFH and Wild Mana mods for CIV 4. Do I build the castle for defense against the imminent war on my east border? do I try and sneak in a forge for long term production? do I build the wonder that is going to clog up the queue but give me the gold I need to outright buy future buildings?
On the issue of where the tiles are placed I would like to see a system where the AI picks based on how a city might evolve. For example, market buildings near population centers, production buildings near mountains, etc....
Something to give the sense that the player is guiding the development of the city, but there is an mini community growing the city "naturally" out of the waste.
//looking forward to trying this. Thanks for the serious devotion to making it great.
I for one disagree very much. City placement in WoM was very boring because there were no tactical choices. Place a city wherever you felt like and simply "grow" the resources with technology.
Now you need to place a city well to take advantage first of food and materials. Then you need to grow it in a pattern which allows you to either defend it easier (because every square is an assault point) or to gain access to valuable resources around you (i.e. Shards)
When you make a choice actually matter, then it becomes interesting.
I think auto-build should be an option for the game, but if you took out the opportunity to place our buildings I for one would find the game a lot more bland and less strategic.
and I believe strategy should be the essence of a turn based strategy game.
Ahhh, that explains much.
Went to www.stardock.com, logged into my account, and there it is!
Thank you, kind sir!
Blooder27, Yehudah, tjashen, LightEcho, bazerka250, and anyone else in the window through October 31, 2010 should have account records as of 10pm EST tonight. You won't have an email until tomorrow, but the records have been updated. Sorry about the delay.
Kris
double post
Brad - might you all consider randomizing building facing direction as part of auto placement? Maybe it already does this in FE, not sure as I'm downloading FE now. I think EWOM would face the buildings the same direction. Or make it as an option maybe. I just feel that autoplacing combined with random building facing might do the trick for me.
Most welcome. Glad you got it sorted!
Alright then. First off, I agree with you on improvement placement. It just leads to a lot of weirdness, snaking being the worst offender. Personally I would like to see one-tile cities or one-tile-per-level cities with building handled in the city management screen. But that being a bit of a long shot, I'd settle for some hard limits on how many tiles a city can occupy. This tile limit could increase with leveling. This will force you to make some choices in what you build. I'd also limit building to just the tiles around the city hub. Resources could be included in the city, but only if you build the hub right next to it. This should count towards the tile limit, making including it a choice with some drawbacks as well.
Second, the scale of what you're building is off (I'm not talking about graphics). Being the sovereign, you shouldn't be involved in mundane tasks like placing gardens, granaries, workshops, and pubs. Like you said, you should be making decisions about the role of a city (military, research, production, etc). Those are large scale decisions, and the corresponding buildings should be large, requiring a significant investment of time and materials. Building a fortress for instance should be a lengthy and costly undertaking.
Third, there are a lot of no-brainer buildings. Take the Beacon of Hope for instance. The only decision about it is when to build it, first or after a few other buildings. Since you'll always build it in your capital anyway, why not include it in it automatically? (In WoM the capital could have different properties than normal cities, so it shouldn't be hard to do). But there are more such buildings. A lot of them have to do with food and production. Like the workshop, or the +1 grain or +x food per grain buildings. They are almost always a good idea to build, only decision again being when to build it. Just adding more (maintenance) costs to them wouldn't make them more interesting.
One way to address the previous two points could be the re-introduction of the farmers/craftsmen/peasants/malcontents division. (Any comment on why that system didn't make it into the game, it sounded good?) I've made a more in depth post about it here https://forums.elementalgame.com/415796 . I think this system could add a lot, through both giving you more control over the city, and removing the need for a lot of utility buildings.
And finaly, I'm missing some characteristic buildings that make cities not only specialised, but individualised. For example a military city that has not only an Military Academy, but also the Royal Stables, an Enchanted Forge, and a Temple of Life; making this city Paladin-central, the source of my elite troops, the backbone of my army. Or the overcrowded metropolis that is the scene of a power struggle between the thieves guild and the merchants guild, making this city a good source of cheap troops and interesting events.This is a bit harder to nail down, but I miss something that makes cities more than just Military city 1, research city 3, gold city 6, etc. I think some rare buildings could help with this, especially if they can interact with other equally rare buildings in interesting ways.
The download keeps interrupting for some reason. I've tried downloading the game 7 times now and every time it gets to about 50-60 MB downloaded, the download closes and says the file finished downloading. Obviously it hasn't if says it only downloaded about 50 MB. I understand there are probably a lot of people downloading this file right now but why does it keep disconnecting like this? No, not using a router.
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