Fog of War

and how things can change over time

from Elemental Forums

I'm going to assume Elemental will have a fog of war, just like Gal Civ 2 and Civilizations where you can discover an area and continue to know what it used to look like, but unless you have a unit, building, or special effect in that area, so can't see everything going on there currently (unlike Heroes of Might and Magic).

So, this lead me to a cool idea- let's say you explore an area and then leave it.  Last you knew, that area had a river with a bridge.  So, you decide to send an army back there a bit later, only to find that bridge is gone (because of magic).

Or you go back to an area previously explored, and instead of a flat plains land, there's now a giant mountain or impassable valley.

It would be really great to see the players be able to radically effect the landscape for strategic purposes.  Obviously, you would need a way to balance that, too.  I'd also love it if those sort of events "surprised" the AI, too.  That's probably tough to do, but it would make that a lot more realistic if the AI would base it's knowledge on what it used to know instead of just on the way things really are (so it could be surprised, too).

36,661 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I think this is what they have in mind already. It makes things like guard towers and border patrols very important strategically.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

If I remember correctly Brad talked about wanting an engine and spell system that could alter the world.  I read his comments as spells that could alter the terrain (Including passability).

Sammual

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Sammual, reply 2
If I remember correctly Brad talked about wanting an engine and spell system that could alter the world.  I read his comments as spells that could alter the terrain (Including passability).

Sammual

Great!  My hope is that the AI suffers the same lack of knowledge as we do, needing to send out scouts, build guard towers, etc.

I can also see some really cool helpful units in the game, like flying creatures that help with scouting, maybe even a hot air balloon, and magical floating fortresses.  Obviously, channelers with Death magic should have the ability to create fogs of war (like in Heroes of Might and Magic) and those with Life magic should be able to use it to do scouting.

It would also be sweet to have a diplomatic option to share field of vision with another kingdom in the game and not just contingent on an alliance.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

This is going to happen.... "Populous" style magic has been confirmed to be in the game - that means raising mountains, flattening land, the whole 9 yards....FrogBoy should get us a video of this so we can all stare at it in awe....

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

lol

i see zombies

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

check the date on the posts before yours

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Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Oh wow - musta hit "Last" instead of "Next" haha - thanks for pointing it out :)

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

No problem. I do want that video though.