Fallen Enchantress at two weeks
Fallen Enchantress has now been out two weeks. So far, we’ve sold about 50,000 units (give or take). This is somewhat below Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion but, obviously, far far ahead of War of Magic during the same time frame.
The biggest obstacle has been reviews. It’s hard for niche titles (and make no mistake, fantasy turn-based PC games are niche) to get coverage. There’s only so many reviewers to go around and the last thing we want is a drive by (i.e. rushed) review.
Tomorrow or Thursday we expect to release v1.01 which has a long list of fixes and tweaks that we’ve found. Probably the most obvious change will be performance which dramatically improved.
The Map Pack
We will be releasing our first-ever DLC for a Stardock game. It’ll be an interesting experiment to see what the demand is. Paul Boyer and I have designed a series of hand crafted maps that will be going up for sale in a week or two for $4.99. If sales of this are strong, we’ll look at doing additional DLC packs. A game like Fallen Enchantress lends itself to content centric DLC and so we’re anxious to see what people are interested in.
The Expansion
We have an expansion planned for early next year. I won't spoil it except to say that it’s going to re-design the way champions are handled in the game. We want the game to generally move towards the power of your champions be a reflection of the power of your civilization.
After the expansion, Stardock will look at where things stand. We have 3 game development teams at Stardock. One is on “Game X”, One is FE related stuff, and one is on mobile game development. Since we’re not likely to get as many reviews as we’d like, we’re going to be relying heavily on word of mouth.
Version 1.1
We very much want to do a pre-Christmas update to FE. That version will be heavily AI and balance focused based on player feedback. We’ll have more details of that as we get closer. Right now, we’re focusing on getting v1.01 out the door.
Will the map pack have the full elemental world in it. With the two main continents separated by the hinge. That is worth five bucks. I have wanted to play that map for a long time. Each faction starting in a per selected location and then random shards and resources.
tell me that is in there frogboy and 5 bucks is yours.
I would buy a DLC map pack, but am with others who would like to see new scenarios (especially more sovereign backstories, I got a kick out of the Fallen Enchantress campaign).
I'm playing a pre-designed map (the Bay of something or other) at the moment and am enjoying it so would play more, when I want a break from random maps.
Stamps would also be good, as mentioned above.
If this DLC is successful, can we get somewhere along the line a revamped Umber and Capitar, and maybe even these mysterious Yoren folk whose cloaks and boots are still so fashionable in certain kingdoms? I've made custom sovereigns for Umber & Capitar (as have most people on the forum), but it would be nice to see Umber in particular get an update so they don't share as many abilities with Tarth. I still remember the days of commanding hordes of ophidians...
I agree. Please dont make it look like "free" is only half-heartedly meant post facto. I know I am in the minority, but I have had only bad experience with dlc and will not purchase any - even though I DO make donations, e.g to Path of Exile.
Not really interested in static maps. But i would be interested in larger maps than what the random map generator offers(even if they were static). Ideally tho, a huge random map option would be best.
I don't mind DLC, but lets make it something worth while.. game changing. I'd really like to see a upgraded and revamped tech tree.
Here are some ideas..
New/Expanded Tech Tree
Animal (Civic) - Harvesting tiers for equipment and types of resources. Hatcheries, Nests, Dens, Culling.
Crops (Civic) - Harvesting tiers for crop and elemental infused / tainted properties.
Mining (Civic) - Harvesting and refining tiers. Possible alloys?
Weapons / Armor (Warfare) - Focused weapon/armor trees in conjunction with new ore/crystal types. (Ex - Bladesmith/Blacksmith/Enchanter/Seamstress I, II, III.) Gradually increased weapon/armor style (NEW APPEARANCES!) and types based on ore/crystal.
New/Expanded Resources
Animal (Leather tier) - Wild Sheep (Wool, Meat), Wolf Den (Leather, Fur/Pelt), Warg Den (Leather, Fur/Pelt), Dragon Nest (Teeth, Claws, Scales, Bones). Fish.
Crops (Cloth tier) - Cotton, Hemp, Air/Fire/Water/Earth/Life/Death infused or tainted variants based on what shards you have under your control.
Mining (Plate & Chain tier) - Tin, Copper, Titanium, Mithril.
(Cloth tier) - Crystal, Obsidian, Elementalium?
New/Expanded City Improvements
Animal - Upgradeable tiers for production amount. Hatcheries, Veterinarian, Animal Clinic.
Crops - Upgradeable tiers for production amount. Farmers Market, Crop Rotation, Irrigation systems.
Smithies / Seamstress - Upgradeable tiers based upon ore/crystal tech tree advancement.
I could go on and on.. but I'm sure most of you get the idea. Content! More content!
(A new menu page for materials would reduce clutter on the UI for the suggested additives.)
Brad, I also think that a map-only DLC will be bought (grudgingly) only due to loyalty and will eat up some of the goodwill you've generated. I know that I at least may buy it to support Stardock, but will not think it's worth its value...
Also agreeing with most of the posters here, I would GLADLY buy a DLC (and for more than 5$) if it contained any of the items below:
- improved combat mechanics (tactical combat unit placement, flanking/swarming/backstabbing etc.)
- improved strategic gameplay (espionage, better diplomacy, open/close borders, city governors etc.)
- long-requested features such as an item vault we can build in our cities to store items for a price so that other champions can pick them up
- new content / art (new armor, new weapons, new trinkets, new buildings, new monsters, new quests etc.)
- aesthetic and UI improvements (to the sovereigns, to the units, to the overall environment)
- new races (fantasy or otherwise)
- a new campaign/scenario or three
- a user-friendly unit / character / item editor
Of course, a combination of the above would be the best
Keep up the good work,
Bendiwolf
I would have preferred a DLC that is adding up non humanoid factions. That would have been a no brainer to get. Something along the line of what Master of Magic had, and not Elves and Dwarves and Orcs. Suggestions:
- Draconians
- Beastmen (centaurs, minotaurs, Satyrs, etc.)
- Avians...
Also you'll want to check on Dominions III and its 52 or so races and hundreds of monsters to get inspiration, the designers are well versed in mythology.
As for the expansion, I guess that many of us are waiting for a second plane of existence, as did the old brothers like Master of Magic and Age of Wonders.
Word of mouth will be your life saver I believe Brad. I already talked good about your game and this translate into 3 additional sells for you.
I have to agree with the general sentiment, a "map pack" doesn't really get me too excited. Even a high quality, dedicated, detailed, painstakingly designed map which I'm sure you intend to deliver isn't really what I think too many people are looking for in a 4X strategy game. I know that personally I've yet to touch any of the "scenario maps" in FE, Civ5, G&K, Civ4, Civ4 WL or BTS and barely played them in HoMM III and HoMMIV.
I would however happily support content driven DLC for this game. As while I don't think it's perfect by any stretch of imagination; even when the bugs get resolved, I do enjoy it quite a bit and strongly feel that there is a LOT of potential in this title and would love to see some of the ideas explored fleshed out further as well as the diversity and options increased. The expansion pack will certainly be on my radar though, without question.
I will buy your DLC just because ...!
Been a big fan of the company for a while now...
But I'm so freakin' sick of "DLC"...
Every game... DLC this, DLC that.
5 bucks here, 10 bucks there, 2.99 here, yadda, yadda, yadda...
What the hell has happened to gaming, well PC gaming...
What the hell happened to buying a full game, playing said full game... And then 6-12months later buying an Xpac.
Is there any company even left that doesn't do DLC? And when the hell did the term "DLC" turn into being synonymous with "paid updates/patches"...
Honestly is Blizzard the only PC gaming company left that doesn't do DLC?
Count me in!
I just hope lots of stamps from these maps will be availiable for random maps and I propose Stardock includes those stamps in an upcoming Update to all players no matter if they got the map pack or not.
While content is always nice - and I got the game for free so I feel like supporting your ongoing effort with some goodwill purchase here and then- FE in my opinion needs balancing and further polishing, not so much game changing additions.
Thanks for the number of sales. This really interests me
A map pack would not even be on my list of DLC wishes, due to the game making random maps anyway. I dont play campaigns either. I would like more STUFF in the game. Monsters, Quests, Heroes ++
I would also love stuff that makes the world more alive. Cool random events that really does wild stuff.
I'm also not really excited by maps, always go with random in 4x games
You said Multiplayer DLC is possible.
If anything I'd buy that one.
I don't use premade maps, only random, so I'll give some more suggestions for a DLC/expansion pack
- Dinasties. This way, we can play with normal, few or no heroes. The techs for the heroes should be readapted too...Mmmm, what about the level 7 hero tech for allowing a marriage? With that, you need to invest in that tech to give sense to the dinasty system...
- Ships. Maybe a way would be by doing a coast tile called something like "natural port" where to build a dock. It is not necessary to be in a city, now with the outposts system. This could add interesting strategic options. Let the world throw a few "natural ports" and the strategy is on the table.
- More monsters and creatures. With ships, water creatures and amphibians could be added. What about flying units? More, more monsters are needed...
- I like the idea of monsters that can create new lairs, and spam more monsters. Now, once cleaned, the world lies too empty...
- Independent cities. Ok, it is a minor detail, but it gives more life to the world.
- More weapons. I miss a magical bow (requiring crystal) to compete with staves. And for heroes too (the lightning bow is too powerfull, and the others are crappy).
If you see the posts like "spears vs swords vs maces", there are many interesting ideas there to update these weapons.
- New units and traits. I have been thinking in how to introduce new different units, I got this idea (I wish I knew how to mod): By traits (like the slave or the hench)
* Magic trait. This trait allow the unit to use magic. So we can create new units: Monk (with healing and shielding spells, that can be traits too). Magician (or any name you like) for offensive unit. Spells can be inserted via new traits too.
Using traits for magic units allows balance, as you will not spend traits in +HP or defence for them, making weak units, but with spell power (that is what is supposed to be). Traits with spell could be implemented in many ways, i propose each trait gives 2 spells: a low level spell that doesn't need mana (asssuming that a bit of mana comes from the magic trait), and a high level spell that requieres mana. That is 6 new traits (one for each magic school), plus the "magic trait". And the spells are already created, so it is only inserting them as traits. Example: Fire magic trait: flame dart (no mana req., 2 turns CD) + Fireball (mana requiered, 3 or 4 turns CD).
A new trait (+X spell mastery) can be added too: want a multi-mage, or a specific more powerfull mage?
* Beast trait. The unit is more like a beast than a humanoid (I don't like the word "mutant" as it is overused). This way, new traits and skills from the lore can be used (like spitting venom, web, and many others). The wages of a beast trait should be reduced in a 50% at least, to give them a reason to be built vs normal units...
- New mounts. I've seen the spider mount in a hero...it could be nice that a quest gives you a spider nest. Mmm, do you think a bear might be used as a mount?
- New terrains. Where is the artic/tundra/snow? Where is the jungle?
- New factions? Well, I would prefer more differentiation on the current factions first. Give them more unique traits to make unique units... Maybe special buildings would be a good idea too.
Well, many ideas here and there with more use than only maps... I hope you can find any usefull
I am not against DLC's but simple map pack cant say that i like it. At least make it like some other people above mentioned, make it a battle enhancement DLC (since battles right do need some love) with some maps included. As someone else above said if there is a hand made map make that original of the Elemental with specific starting positions.
P.S. Hope Game X if GalCiv3 with that amazing Sins artwork for races and ship design
brad, personally if the dlc was just stratigic maps then I probably not buy, if it had many( ie more than 6) tactical maps I might buy,if it had several stamps, tactical maps and the stratigic maps I probably would buy, if it included an optional 64 bit exe (and yes there are issues thunking down to 32 bit for external dlls) with a huge ie 16 *12 map size , then it is in my MUST BUY, if it has the dynasties features (or improvements on W:wom's dynasties), then it is also a MUST BUY.
harpo
Main reason why I would by DLC is to support you.
That being said, I don't think that map pack is a bad idea for DLC. I like high quality manmade maps and scenarios, and they sort of guarantee certain level of quality after all. You can get some bottlenecks, some intriquing monster placement etc. (but AI should be able to handle those as well).
Some actual scenarios (not maps) might be interesting as well. One map mini-campaign with story etc.
Despite that, I would like that to be spiced up with some other content as most of the people around here. (Btw. some people around here seem to be a little bit silly - suggesting overhaul of research or tactical combat for optional 5$ DLC? Really?)
As I see it, existence of DLC should not impair the "vanilla" experience. This is more of en expansion pack territory. DLC should not be improving/changing the game mechanics. It should be just adding some little bits of uninportant content here and there. More of an spice/flavour. Things which comes to my mind are
- droppable items
- quests
- wildland monsters
- maybe some spells, but I would be quite careful with this one as this might be more of an expansion pack territory in my pov
- perhaps some extra graphics for map tiles (to spice things up - but not adding any new functionality - literally just extra graphics for tiles like forest, plains etc... so random map generator can choose from more options)
As you are probably aware, you sort of made a "trap" for yourself - by making the game so moddable. Most of (all) what I see as DLC appropriate is doable by modders for free
I would not buy map DLC. Random maps are better for a game like this. I would gladly pay $5 or more for a Creatures DLC: new monsters, new wildlands, and new wildland bosses. Would also like to see some random events that spawn unique super high-level god-like nightmare monsters for end game challenges.
Thanks for the report. I will buy the map pack to support you and i think from time to time it is fun to play a premade map. The Hints about Expansion (early next year? *wow* This is not much time ) sound interesting... So, looking forward to the future of FE.
I like Blizzard a lot, but they have experimented *plenty* with a wide variety of innovative ways of extracting extra money from customers. SC2 is three full priced games! Real money auction hall in Diablo! Subscriptions for WoW of course.
A lot of customers like DLC because they can pick and choose, and instant gratification. Yeah, sometimes DLC is lame and is a terrible value, but same can be said of expansion packs, sequels, or any other ways of bundling new content.
Blizzard just gouges you in other worse ways, and the quality of their games has drastically reduced.
That said- I really don't think the DLC option is a good direction for STardock- it might make a little short-term money, but carries risks.
Now: if you combined enough DLC's to make a $10 mini-expansion, folks would be more willing to pay for that- map packs could be part of that (but you'd probably need something everyone would want for this to be worthwhile). If you bundle 3 things together, a map pack, some stuff for the sandbox, and a new gameplay feature- nearly everyone will find something worth $10 in there, and people will be happy.
The big issue with DLC is that you end up overpaying for something you don't want, if you wish the complete game, or you get the nagging feeling of an incomplete game (yes, I know that's not your intent- but that's how it feels to us gamers, even when you guys have good intentions)
My end suggestion: your DLC ideas, take the 3 or 4 most popular ones and wrap them up into a mini-expansion, then do the FE expansion as the 2nd expansion. You could even throw some ideas from the 2nd expansion into the mini-expansion to make it a full expansion (to finish the freebies), then add a bit more to the expansion ideas to make up for it and sell a 3rd expansion.
what about customizable equipment in an add-on? Each piece of equipment, weapon, armor would have a variable, maybe upgradable amount of slots to which artifact could be applied, changing so their attributes. This would greatly add to the items variety
Might as well add my voice to the chorus. I won't be buying just a map pack - I didn't buy EWOM and bought FE at full price so maybe I don't have quite the same sense of gratitude that will prompt others to buy DLC just to support Stardock (though I do admire your giving the game away to EWOM customers).
I am enjoying the single scenario so I would probably buy more DLC scenarios if they were the right price. I'd also potentially buy more content that would slip into the regular game as others here have mentioned.
I prefer random maps. I'm not really interested in pre-fab ones.
I would like to see a DLC with a monster, spell, or building pack.
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