The Valiant Turtle
2010-06-15, 12:29 PM
It is our last, best hope... for a proper successor to Master of Magic!
Hopefully, I've hooked a few people just with that. Go here (http://www.elementalgame.com/) and click pre-order to be granted access to the pre-order beta. You won't be disappointed. The rest of you may read on.
As a die-hard member of the cult of MoM I have followed the development of Stardock's Elemental: War of Magic for a long time and got in on the pre-order beta as soon as it opened (last September).
For those who aren't aware of MoM, it was a Fantasy strategy game released in 1994 by Microprose. It could be vaguely called Civilization with Magic, but the Magic adds tons of options. I am among those who have waited for a true sequel for ages. I had high hopes for Age of Wonders, but I was not impressed. Stardock initially tried to get the trademark from Atari (or whoever it is that holds it now), but Atari wanted too much control, so they just decided to create their own game. That game is Elemental: War of Magic.
Up until last week it wasn't really much of a "game". It was more of a test for their game engine, but it was a very exciting opportunity to help design a major game. What they gave us as the first beta wouldn't even be considered an alpha by most companies, but they really wanted community involvement as early as possible. What's even better is they said it's gone so well that they'll open things up even earlier on their next game!
Anyway, they released Beta 2 last week, which actually has reasonably pretty graphics and is closer to what most people think of as a beta. It's still missing some pretty major parts - most notably magic. I meant to post here then, but life was a bit busy. I realized today that the beta is still open for pre-orders until later this week. After that the Beta is closed until phase 3, which is a month or 2 away. Phase 3 will begin tactical battles and Phase 4 will be for modding. Release is expected in September of this year.
For those of you who are familiar with Stardock's games let me answer a few questions you may have.
They expect the AI to easily exceed the AI from GalCiv 2. This is a game where it's possible to raise up mountains (or create oceans) to block off your territory and they expect the AI to be able to handle that and probably do that itself.
It will have multiplayer. Beta 2 is actually the multi-player beta although I haven't had time to test it. It's probably a bit clunky at the moment. It's going to be a client-server model and dedicated servers would apparently be possible. (yes, there's a good chance I'll host one once that is possible)
It will have an engaging campaign mode (missing in many Stardock games). They are working with Del-Ray publishing and there will be a book (http://www.amazon.com/Elemental-Destinys-Embers-Bradley-Wardell/dp/0345517865/) published shortly before the game comes out. The campaign mode will apparently feel more like an RPG than a strategy game, which might not make much sense to you until you play the game.
It will support heavy modding. They are dedicating the last phase of the beta to modding and the CEO (Brad Wardell) is hoping to release his own personal mod shortly after publication.
It is unlike any other strategy game you've ever played. It incorporates elements of questing as well as building your dynasty. A viable option to start the game is to forget about building a city, recruit some wandering heroes, fight some monsters to level up and then go find somebody else's city. I've done that once already, it was quite fun.
There is no NDA of any kind, so I am free to answer questions if you have them. You'll probably have more luck just browsing the forums over here (http://forums.elementalgame.com/). I strongly recommend browsing the Elemental Dev Journals forum, which is where most of the game design discussion has occurred.
It is a pre-order only beta. You will not be charged until you have access to the game, but as long as you order by this Thursday that should be nearly instant.
I guess I'll link to the pretty pictures section of the official website while I'm at it. Pictures (http://www.elementalgame.com/media). Keep in mind that many of those are mock-ups and not actual game shots. They are actually intentionally holding back some artwork and graphics models until release.
Check it out and come play!
Hopefully, I've hooked a few people just with that. Go here (http://www.elementalgame.com/) and click pre-order to be granted access to the pre-order beta. You won't be disappointed. The rest of you may read on.
As a die-hard member of the cult of MoM I have followed the development of Stardock's Elemental: War of Magic for a long time and got in on the pre-order beta as soon as it opened (last September).
For those who aren't aware of MoM, it was a Fantasy strategy game released in 1994 by Microprose. It could be vaguely called Civilization with Magic, but the Magic adds tons of options. I am among those who have waited for a true sequel for ages. I had high hopes for Age of Wonders, but I was not impressed. Stardock initially tried to get the trademark from Atari (or whoever it is that holds it now), but Atari wanted too much control, so they just decided to create their own game. That game is Elemental: War of Magic.
Up until last week it wasn't really much of a "game". It was more of a test for their game engine, but it was a very exciting opportunity to help design a major game. What they gave us as the first beta wouldn't even be considered an alpha by most companies, but they really wanted community involvement as early as possible. What's even better is they said it's gone so well that they'll open things up even earlier on their next game!
Anyway, they released Beta 2 last week, which actually has reasonably pretty graphics and is closer to what most people think of as a beta. It's still missing some pretty major parts - most notably magic. I meant to post here then, but life was a bit busy. I realized today that the beta is still open for pre-orders until later this week. After that the Beta is closed until phase 3, which is a month or 2 away. Phase 3 will begin tactical battles and Phase 4 will be for modding. Release is expected in September of this year.
For those of you who are familiar with Stardock's games let me answer a few questions you may have.
They expect the AI to easily exceed the AI from GalCiv 2. This is a game where it's possible to raise up mountains (or create oceans) to block off your territory and they expect the AI to be able to handle that and probably do that itself.
It will have multiplayer. Beta 2 is actually the multi-player beta although I haven't had time to test it. It's probably a bit clunky at the moment. It's going to be a client-server model and dedicated servers would apparently be possible. (yes, there's a good chance I'll host one once that is possible)
It will have an engaging campaign mode (missing in many Stardock games). They are working with Del-Ray publishing and there will be a book (http://www.amazon.com/Elemental-Destinys-Embers-Bradley-Wardell/dp/0345517865/) published shortly before the game comes out. The campaign mode will apparently feel more like an RPG than a strategy game, which might not make much sense to you until you play the game.
It will support heavy modding. They are dedicating the last phase of the beta to modding and the CEO (Brad Wardell) is hoping to release his own personal mod shortly after publication.
It is unlike any other strategy game you've ever played. It incorporates elements of questing as well as building your dynasty. A viable option to start the game is to forget about building a city, recruit some wandering heroes, fight some monsters to level up and then go find somebody else's city. I've done that once already, it was quite fun.
There is no NDA of any kind, so I am free to answer questions if you have them. You'll probably have more luck just browsing the forums over here (http://forums.elementalgame.com/). I strongly recommend browsing the Elemental Dev Journals forum, which is where most of the game design discussion has occurred.
It is a pre-order only beta. You will not be charged until you have access to the game, but as long as you order by this Thursday that should be nearly instant.
I guess I'll link to the pretty pictures section of the official website while I'm at it. Pictures (http://www.elementalgame.com/media). Keep in mind that many of those are mock-ups and not actual game shots. They are actually intentionally holding back some artwork and graphics models until release.
Check it out and come play!