Stardock's new game "Elemental: War of Magic"

[Multi-headed Cow]

Ye gods. Just tried it. Maybe I'm being a popamole consoletard but the clunkiness of the game and the unwillingness to seemingly explain the mechanics of the game drove me off. Seems like Fall from Heaven is a better alternative and it's just a mod.

I have an axe to grind since I strongly dislike/hate Stardock so maybe that's coloring my view on it a bit, but damn. That's a bad game.

 

[Mortmal]

Its not a problem of polish i dont care if the game has some bugs, its not polishing it require, its a fix when it crash every 3 turns.
Now i restarted a game on smaller map, it works ok for now, but i fear it will crash again late game.Its quite enjoyable when it works, but its still an unfinished game.

 

[MetalCraze]

They should probably stop trying to make good games and start churning out the same polished turds as everyone else.

First they should start trying to make good games to do that











Ba doom tssss!

 

[commie]

They should probably stop trying to make good games and start churning out the same polished turds as everyone else.

First they should start trying to make good games to do that











Ba doom tssss!

Ha ha ha ha...errr.....Sorry Skyway but MOO2 sucks balls compared to Gal Civ 2, particularly with Twilight of the Arnor. No amount of pathetic sniping can cover that up.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Reading the drama at Quartertothree is pretty fun. Unfortunately I don't know if it'll hurt Stardock much if any because they spent their skillpoints on bullshitting which will give a bonus to saving throw.

 

[commie]

Whats with Stardock and having awesome premises for games and then churning out crap? Demigod could have been awesome, but had terrible balance and few heroes with little choice in how to play them. SoaSE is something people have wanted to see for ages: a real time 4x. But again, very little variety in gameplay, with lots of useless tech and ways to waste your money in game, and no real difference between one side of the tech tree and the other, or between races for that matter. Have heard bad shit about Galciv 2 as well. And now I'm hearing nothing but bashing for a MoM clone, how can you fuck up something so simple? Rip off fucking MoM and you're done. Tons of units, items, heroes, spells, races, ways to build cities up, all vastly different from eachother. Even with the ancient graphics, shit
AI and assload of bugs it's still worth playing.

Sins of a Solar Empire is NOT a Stardock game, it's an Ironclad game.
You heard bad shit about Gal Civ 2, eh? Why use your own brain when Skyway can tell you what to like or not!
Frankly I love Gal Civ 2, particularly with the Arnor add on. Finally we get variety in the tech trees of all the races instead of generic crap with minor bonuses like the overrated Master of Orion series. How people can crap on that there's no personality in Gal Civ when there is fuck all of it in MOO?
Elemental will be patched and fixed up to be great. Stardock will support it for years.

 

[dragonfk]

Whats with Stardock and having awesome premises for games and then churning out crap? Demigod could have been awesome, but had terrible balance and few heroes with little choice in how to play them. SoaSE is something people have wanted to see for ages: a real time 4x. But again, very little variety in gameplay, with lots of useless tech and ways to waste your money in game, and no real difference between one side of the tech tree and the other, or between races for that matter. Have heard bad shit about Galciv 2 as well. And now I'm hearing nothing but bashing for a MoM clone, how can you fuck up something so simple? Rip off fucking MoM and you're done. Tons of units, items, heroes, spells, races, ways to build cities up, all vastly different from eachother. Even with the ancient graphics, shit
AI and assload of bugs it's still worth playing.

Sins of a Solar Empire is NOT a Stardock game, it's an Ironclad game.
You heard bad shit about Gal Civ 2, eh? Why use your own brain when Skyway can tell you what to like or not!
Frankly I love Gal Civ 2, particularly with the Arnor add on. Finally we get variety in the tech trees of all the races instead of generic crap with minor bonuses like the overrated Master of Orion series. How people can crap on that there's no personality in Gal Civ when there is fuck all of it in MOO?
Elemental will be patched and fixed up to be great. Stardock will support it for years.

WTF is wrong with you?

MoO2 worse than GC2? Bullshit.

Maybe MoO2 doesn't have a specific tech tree for every civilization there is, but it still is the better game. Generic crap with minor bonuses? Hahaha. Let's take a look at weapons in both games:

GC2:
laser I (dmg 1)-> laser II (dmg 1, miniaturized)-> laser III (dmg 1, miniaturized)-> laser IV (dmg 1, miniaturized) -> phasor I (dmg 2) ...

MoO2:
laser -> gravity beam (dmg&kills marines = easier to board) -> mass driver (no distance penalty = you can adopt a tactics with fast and maneuveral ships that attack from the distance, whereas your opponent can't do shit ) -> ... so on, every weapon has a special ability and allows you to introduce new tactics

And add to that you can see it in a tactical battler whereas in GC2 you just see a cinematic.

GC2 < MoO2

 

[Malakal]

Ha ha ha ha...errr.....Sorry Skyway but MOO2 sucks balls compared to Gal Civ 2, particularly with Twilight of the Arnor. No amount of pathetic sniping can cover that up.

No no no and definitely no. GalCiv2 is a soulless boring piece of shit with techs giving +1 dmg and having retarded descriptions and gameplay being as advanced as tetris. Dont even compare the gem that is MoO2 to this shit.

 

[BethesdaLove]

Whats with Stardock and having awesome premises for games and then churning out crap? Demigod could have been awesome, but had terrible balance and few heroes with little choice in how to play them. SoaSE is something people have wanted to see for ages: a real time 4x. But again, very little variety in gameplay, with lots of useless tech and ways to waste your money in game, and no real difference between one side of the tech tree and the other, or between races for that matter. Have heard bad shit about Galciv 2 as well. And now I'm hearing nothing but bashing for a MoM clone, how can you fuck up something so simple? Rip off fucking MoM and you're done. Tons of units, items, heroes, spells, races, ways to build cities up, all vastly different from eachother. Even with the ancient graphics, shit
AI and assload of bugs it's still worth playing.

Sins of a Solar Empire is NOT a Stardock game, it's an Ironclad game.
You heard bad shit about Gal Civ 2, eh? Why use your own brain when Skyway can tell you what to like or not!
Frankly I love Gal Civ 2, particularly with the Arnor add on. Finally we get variety in the tech trees of all the races instead of generic crap with minor bonuses like the overrated Master of Orion series. How people can crap on that there's no personality in Gal Civ when there is fuck all of it in MOO?
Elemental will be patched and fixed up to be great. Stardock will support it for years.

WTF is wrong with you?

MoO2 worse than GC2? Bullshit.

Maybe MoO2 doesn't have a specific tech tree for every civilization there is, but it still is the better game. Generic crap with minor bonuses? Hahaha. Let's take a look at weapons in both games:

GC2:
laser I (dmg 1)-> laser II (dmg 1, miniaturized)-> laser III (dmg 1, miniaturized)-> laser IV (dmg 1, miniaturized) -> phasor I (dmg 2) ...

MoO2:
laser -> gravity beam (dmg&kills marines = easier to board) -> mass driver (no distance penalty = you can adopt a tactics with fast and maneuveral ships that attack from the distance, whereas your opponent can't do shit ) -> ... so on, every weapon has a special ability and allows you to introduce new tactics

And add to that you can see it in a tactical battler whereas in GC2 you just see a cinematic.

GC2 < MoO2

MoO2 is a broken piece of shit.
GalCiv2 is a a good working game albeit a little sterile.

AI in MoO? SHITTY CRAP.
AI in GalCiv? Best I have seen.

Tactical battles in MoO2? Shit. Guess why? A-fucking-I.
Tactical battles in GalCiv? In your head BEFORE the actual engagement.

GalCiv == Spreadshit-Chess
MoO == Strip-Checkers

 

[Zed]

Who cares about your fucking space games. Nerds.

 

[commie]

Whats with Stardock and having awesome premises for games and then churning out crap? Demigod could have been awesome, but had terrible balance and few heroes with little choice in how to play them. SoaSE is something people have wanted to see for ages: a real time 4x. But again, very little variety in gameplay, with lots of useless tech and ways to waste your money in game, and no real difference between one side of the tech tree and the other, or between races for that matter. Have heard bad shit about Galciv 2 as well. And now I'm hearing nothing but bashing for a MoM clone, how can you fuck up something so simple? Rip off fucking MoM and you're done. Tons of units, items, heroes, spells, races, ways to build cities up, all vastly different from eachother. Even with the ancient graphics, shit
AI and assload of bugs it's still worth playing.

Sins of a Solar Empire is NOT a Stardock game, it's an Ironclad game.
You heard bad shit about Gal Civ 2, eh? Why use your own brain when Skyway can tell you what to like or not!
Frankly I love Gal Civ 2, particularly with the Arnor add on. Finally we get variety in the tech trees of all the races instead of generic crap with minor bonuses like the overrated Master of Orion series. How people can crap on that there's no personality in Gal Civ when there is fuck all of it in MOO?
Elemental will be patched and fixed up to be great. Stardock will support it for years.

WTF is wrong with you?

MoO2 worse than GC2? Bullshit.

Maybe MoO2 doesn't have a specific tech tree for every civilization there is, but it still is the better game. Generic crap with minor bonuses? Hahaha. Let's take a look at weapons in both games:

GC2:
laser I (dmg 1)-> laser II (dmg 1, miniaturized)-> laser III (dmg 1, miniaturized)-> laser IV (dmg 1, miniaturized) -> phasor I (dmg 2) ...

MoO2:
laser -> gravity beam (dmg&kills marines = easier to board) -> mass driver (no distance penalty = you can adopt a tactics with fast and maneuveral ships that attack from the distance, whereas your opponent can't do shit ) -> ... so on, every weapon has a special ability and allows you to introduce new tactics

And add to that you can see it in a tactical battler whereas in GC2 you just see a cinematic.


GC2 < MoO2

Depends what you want. I liked the way that every game didn't degenerate into a war of conquest like in MOO and that a cultural victory was a real option. All you've shown are the military aspects of MOO. It does that well, but it's not the focus of Gal Civ where the strategic situation is more important than endless tactical battles.
There are other games like Sword of the Stars, Armada 2525 that also do tactical battles.
In Gal Civ it's all about building up the infrastructure and letting your 'lower' commanders do things on a tactical level. . It can be frustrating, but it simulates the need to give the troops in the field the best equipment and support possible. With tactical battles against crap AI, you can easily overcome more powerful enemies in ways that realistically would not be possible, thus defeating the whole idea of trying to get ahead technologically and in infrastructure.

In a way this is like Hearts of Iron or EU: They also let you research tech, but combat is basically automated for the most part.

MOO was fine for the time, and is still an ok game for those that just want to fight battles with their custom made ships, but for a grander strategy Gal Civ 2>MOO 2.

 

[commie]

Ha ha ha ha...errr.....Sorry Skyway but MOO2 sucks balls compared to Gal Civ 2, particularly with Twilight of the Arnor. No amount of pathetic sniping can cover that up.

No no no and definitely no. GalCiv2 is a soulless boring piece of shit with techs giving +1 dmg and having retarded descriptions and gameplay being as advanced as tetris. Dont even compare the gem that is MoO2 to this shit.

MOO2 is shit in comparison, boring techs, tactical battle crap, constant fighting. AI in MOO2 is shit as well. All the races play the same, no individual tech trees. If by gem you mean turd then MOO2 is all that and more.

BethesdaLove has it down 100%. Gal Civ 2 might be a bit sterile for some, but honestly, most strategy games post-Panzer General have been.

 

[Malakal]

De gustibus non est...

I disliked GC2 and found it boring, seems that some people think the same and some disagree, not going to argue about that.

 

[commie]

De gustibus non est...

I disliked GC2 and found it boring, seems that some people think the same and some disagree, not going to argue about that.

Well maybe it depends on what you played first. I only played MOO2 after playing Gal Civ 2 and it seemed meh to me, particularly the AI which after all is the main reason I play strategy games. I also don't care much for tactical battles. Maybe if you played MOO@ to death first then Gal Civ 2 seems crappy.

 

[Malakal]

De gustibus non est...

I disliked GC2 and found it boring, seems that some people think the same and some disagree, not going to argue about that.

Well maybe it depends on what you played first. I only played MOO2 after playing Gal Civ 2 and it seemed meh to me, particularly the AI which after all is the main reason I play strategy games. I also don't care much for tactical battles. Maybe if you played MOO@ to death first then Gal Civ 2 seems crappy.

Well could be. So perhaps I am destined to hate GC forever since it wasnt even out when I started my adventure with MoO series. I suppose that MoO became the foundation of my likes and dislikes in 4X genre.

 

[crazy_dave]

I agree with the guys that say GalCiv is a boring, soulless POS. MOOs are much better. I also tried Elemental. It's shit too. Maybe in a year or so with some addons it becomes decent.

 

[kyrub]

A good lesson.

1) A sum of many cool suggestions made by many cool beta-testers is not equal to a cool game. Any really good game is usually down to "an enlightened dictator" who has a definite conception of what should be in and what should be out. Democracy gives out mediocre results.

2) Not all Stardock products are just plastic. Some are unfonctional plastic.

3) You may gain a lot of money just by creating a big expectations because there are many people who will preorder your product, whatever it is.

4) A sequel to MoM will never fulfill the expectations, because MoM was a revelation in the context of its era, a genre crossover. "Revelation" and "sequel" are mutually exlusive notions.

 

[Panthera]

I'll take GC2 over Moo2 any day.

 

[Zeus]

1) A sum of many cool suggestions made by many cool beta-testers is not equal to a cool game. Any really good game is usually down to "an enlightened dictator" who has a definite conception of what should be in and what should be out. Democracy gives out mediocre results..

Yes, but they voted *for* tactical turn-based combat! So I'd say, in this case, Democracy works.

4) A sequel to MoM will never fulfill the expectations, because MoM was a revelation in the context of its era, a genre crossover. "Revelation" and "sequel" are mutually exlusive notions.

Just out of curiosity, what genres would you say crossed?

I always thought of MoM as a Civ clone with a high dose of Magic: The Gathering. M:TG obviously influenced its spells (basically copying half of Alpha/Beta/Unlimited's cards), but the game doesn't literally have cards or anything for me to think of it as part-CCG. It's basically a 4X game, right?

 

[Ulminati]

Having played the game, my reccomendation for anyone who hasn't gotten Elemental will be to avoid it for 2-3 months. See if they patch it. It might be a modern classic with a few layers of polish and less bugs, but it's unplayable as-is.

 

[Ruprekt]

There are good stargate and startrek mods for GalCiv 2.

I still didn't like the game :/

 

[Lightknight]

I'll take GC2 over Moo2 any day.

Good, i'll gladly give that thorny black box of sterile code away for free.

 

[Ruprekt]

I think galciv's thing is the ai.

That's not really a selling point for us retards

 

[kyrub]

Democracy gives out mediocre results..

Yes, but they voted *for* tactical turn-based combat! So I'd say, in this case, Democracy works.

When you teach a group of children, it is usually good to let them vote for something obvious. It gives them a sense of unity.
(Tactical tb combat is a no-brainer for me, otherwise the game can be hardly likened to MoM.)

Just out of curiosity, what genres would you say crossed?

Surely, it was built up with a 4X genre tools. But, for me, the gameplay leads us into the RPG-freelancer genre.

In CIV you face
- generic world with generic terrain
- single type of enemy (the AIs)
- generic units (ok, some exceptions in the latest)
- linear game development (1 main model - find the enemy, fight the enemy)

In MoM
- unique terrain in yet unknown Lairs, that will create new strategic openings
- singular heroes as a main factor fot the outcome of the game
- different type of enemies, barbarian cities, monsters in lairs, AI armies (this neatly structures the game into different stages / strategies)
- freelancer feeling: fighting huge battles with packs of Skydrakes just for the fun of it (never had this in 4X)

In short:
in other 4X you need to research to build to win (technocracy), while in MoM you need to discover the right place or the right item or the right hero which makes you stronger to go elsewhere to discover etc... until you win (RPG adventure). [/offtopic]

 

[commie]

I think galciv's thing is the ai.

That's not really a selling point for us retards

Well I'm no longer anywhere near as sharp as I was in my youth, but the feeling of 'satisfying' rage I get when the Gal Civ AI fucks me over is still a breath of fresh air. Having raped idiotic AI's in Total War and Paradox games constantly, I was glad to finally face an AI that didn't need to cheat massively in order to provide a challenge.

I still don't know where the whine about it being sterile comes from. It's no more sterile than other 4X games and indeed with the random events it's a bit less so. The campaign also gives the game focus and a plot reason for conquest rather than just setting up random galaxies to fight over all the time like in every other 4X game(though they are available here too). I especially like how the campaign forces you to adapt to a particular strategic situation rather than just the usual follow the tech tree, build up overwhelming force, win style of progression in these games. Following these methods will most often get you raped.