Only 4 days left!
So let's talk about..The Fallen Enchantress.
Originally, we were going to have a button that said "campaign" and the user would play through it and that would be that. But instead, we've renamed it "Scenarios" for two reasons.
First, because we wanted to pave the way for additional scenarios in the future that could be added in without needing some "expansion pack". After all, the Fallen Enchantress campaign was created using the built in modding tools. There's nothing stopping modders from making and sharing their own scenarios and we wanted a UI that would support that.
Second, because the campaign plays so differently from the sand box game, we didn't want new players to think of the campaign as some introduction to the game. The Fallen Enchantress plays far more RPG-ish (it's all about your champions and characters). It's very fun but very different from the main game.
A long long time ago...
There was born a young girl who could tell the future. So powerful was she that the Magi put her in a secure place where great kings could come to ask her advice. When the Titans came, they destroyed her temple and put her into a deep sleep for the day when all their foes were vanquished and they could exploit her power for themselves.
Of course, the Titans were eventually defeated resulting in the cataclysm that broke the world. But the curse on the Oracle remained and so she has slept for an entire age of the world.
In the west, Queen Procipinee, heir of the King of all the Western realm, recognized the signs that pointed to an old prophecy of the rise the Empire of Sorcery.
Procipinee seeks to unite the realms of the world under her banner and fears the rise of any rival powers. To thwart this prophecy, she has sent her greatest champion, Relias, into the East to find the Oracle, release her from the curse and find a way to avoid the world being ruled by an Empire of Sorcery. She has told him to seek our her vassal, Kraxis for aid as well.
Stardock's Jon Shafer is the designer of the campaign and fantasy author, Dave Stern, wrote it. And here is a preview of it, shown publicly for the very first time...
Very cool cutscene. Kinda wish we had been able to see a little bit more, though I did notice your starting city is called Resoln. Hmmmmm...
You know, every time that I see a game that has Scenarios / Modules / Campaigns instead of 'Campaign' in singular, my respect for it goes a notch higher.
And the little I just saw makes me really, really hopeful. Maybe my wife will even lift her moratorium on modding done by either of us.
By the way, I am getting SUCH a strong Age of Wonders vibe, it's scary. The Dark Elf campaign of the original Age of Wonders is my favorite fantasy campaign, ever, ahead of Dark Omen, Planescape Torment, etc... And I've played a lot of them.
I seriously dig those cutscenes you have for the wildlands. More in the campaign/scenario? Even better.
After another day of grammar crap my vision is like the matrix, except much more boring:
Second and very last sentence of the fallen enchantress screen are fragments, not a big deal really, and the colon in the first paragraph of the Chapter 1 screen should be a semicolon.
Love the artwork!
Thank you so much for reintroducing organic human creativity into the world of video game design.
To be honest I have rarely played strategy game campaigns in the past preferring to get into a full on sandbox match but this intrigues the RPG gamer in me. I will definitely play the scenario.
Thank you very much.
I find myself very much in agreement with DTOM, here. I'm not normally much of an RPG Fan.
I love the FE (4X) sandbox already; and the degree of customization it permits (races, Sovereigns, land-forms, monster density etc.) is what will bring me back to the game, again and again. In essence, this (relatively) open-ended platform will allow me to create my own scenarios, which will largely fill my need for a campaign-like buzz/experience.
That said, this looks great! -- and I will surely give it a spin too. I appreciate that you have a real writer (Dave Stern) to have essentially scripted the campaign for you. That extra touch, plus the extra Artwork, will certainly add to the element of immersion, and make the Campaign a must play -- at least once.
Like you said, Frogboy: it's the cherry on top of the whole desert. Good Move !
same here
Awesome, Brad. lol @ Jack, Captain of the Grammar Police.
The city is called Resoln...
Is it safe to assume that the Fallen Enchantress is Serresa (I forgot the actual name, I am talking about resoln's sovereign) like I have been thinking since day one, or is it going to be a new girl?
Also going by Resoln's WoM description: "In the west, along the water, the coasts are sheer cliffs a thousand feet high, where the continent itself split" just like that town...
I call it that the Oracle gets corrupted somehow and becomes the Fallen Enchantress, since they both look similar in the artworks.
A self fulfilling prophecy, if you will.
I hope that's not the case. You'd think that at least one fantasy character would have the brains to figure out the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy, or at least to figure out that you cannot trust an oracle to be truthful if her self-interest may be involved.
If I had a buck for every story in which the 'heroes' follow a prophecy without asking themselves "Am I being led by the nose by a tall tale that someone concocted because it may make me advance his plot?"...
I hope that Ceresa is a good gal, and that she has to deal with suspicion, and eventually it turns out that the Fallen Enchantress is the part of her that got separated when she (Ceresa) became a wraith... The wraith got the soul and the gift, the 'difference' got the body and the lust for power.
I'm happy to hear there's a distinct difference between the sandbox and scenarios.
Looks nice. I see v1.00 in the video.
Really nice to see, one thought though, I want subtitles
Haha made me smile
Sincerely~ Kongdej
I certainly do hope that I am wrong, I like being wrong, since I end up surprised by the actual plot twist.
But think being in Procipinee's position, you know the rise of a empire that will cause ruin for centuries to come is about to occur, what do you do? Stay put and live in fear that the empire could be at large in the east and gaining power, or go find help despite the off chance that is the start of the prophecy itself?
I just think both the characters bear some resemblance, but personally I hope that the Fallen Enchantress is not even Ceresa, but some new sovereign, specially considering that no Dev I have seen has called the FE Ceresa so far, so maybe we are just being led to falsely believe it is her...
Oh well, we will soon see what comes to pass.
I plan on making one of my mods add a scenario level story to the sandbox. It will likely be smaller, but give a non-linear quest line that advances your nation as you play the game. It's so nice that the questing system lets the AI go on quests like this as well.
Looking forward to the campaign. Give them hell on release.
I think you guys have it backwards. My arbitrary prediction: Procipinee ends up being the main antagonist, the "Fallen Enchantress." She is, after all, the one trying to "unite the realms of the world under her banner" - how do you think she's going to do that, hugs and kisses? She's a power-crazy conquerer, who's sending her minions (you!) to the other side of the world, just to brutally stamp out someone she thinks might be a threat to her dominance someday. Eventually Procipinee crosses some moral event horizon, becomes the Fallen Enchantress, and you (Relias) turn against her with Ceresa's help. At least, I hope so - that'd be a lot more interesting than an entire campaign of just smashing the evil empires in the name of good Procipinee.
Also, it's Procipinee who has the 'Enchanters' faction ability, who else could be the Fallen Enchantress?
This is good stuff on top of an already addictive Elemental experience. I just finished playing for seven straight hours.
Happy times!
Okay, so if and when multiplayer* support is added, will we be able to make/play scenarios as multiplayer? If so that is so freaking awesome, I don't even know what to say. Also, this whole added dimension, plus the custom maps, plus the added scenarios sure to come from modders (I'm not very good at it...) is just spectacular. I was already excited for this game; now I'm ecstatic. And for the record Frogboy, I happened to be in Best Buy the day of WoM's release (pure coincidence honest), I didn't even know beforehand you were releasing a new game, and I bought it solely on the fact that it's a new Stardock game. Needless to say, you and your company have lived up to that trust, and I'm not disappointed. There are still a few bugs I'd like ironed out - or explained maybe they are design decisions, but that can wait till after release.
*I heard that multiplayer support is either coming 1)In a patch 2)In DLC or 3)Could be modded in anyways. Is this correct?
Edit: forgot to add that this scenario with more story and background from the Elemental universe is awesome too. Exactly what SOASE was always missing.
Who does the female voice at the beginning. Its really a great voice and adds kinda a Lord of the Rings feel to the game in a way. Very well done!!
Frogboy, Derek. It is essential that you fix the installation issues as posted in this thread. It does not matter how great the game is if you can't get it to install properly!
This and I say again. THIS.
The original concept I had first though FE was going to go down was to have several simultaneous non-linear scenarios available in the sandbox mode. Then, as the game progressed, you'd narrow down on one of them for the victory.
Else, each faction have their own non-linear sandbox scenario.
Anyways, it was wishful thinking and in the end I found out that Stardock wasn't going that direction.
I'm just glad it's left open for modders to.
I like this one, if only for the fact that humans and fallen would ally to fight against a common threat.
I always wanted to see some sort of truly diplomatic victory where both sides could cohabit.
This would also be pretty interesting since I believe that the girl you start with is one of Procipinee's daughters, I base this on the fact that at the end of the WoM campaign, I vaguely recall Procipinee telling her daughter that she is going to go an gain Relias's trust or something along those lines.
Excellent Analysis, Austinvn! Son-of-a-Gun, you have me convinced ... Your suggestion sounds so much more like a Novel, which (given Dave Stern's involvement) seems even more likely to me. Of course, there are any number of other possibilities too; but if I had to bet on it, I would go with your prediction!
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
