Elemental: Coding Reports

from JoeUser Forums

You know those really cool Starcraft II battle reports? If not, allow me to promote Starcraft II here.

image
Starcraft II: Battle Report 4

Now, I’m not saying you’re a bad person if you aren’t looking forward to Starcraft II.  But then again, I’m not saying you’re not either.

For Elemental, we are doing something a bit different.  We’d like to show readers what Elemental’s development is like long before the game is actually…you know…good.

Here’s a quickie example of what we’ll be doing:

For fun, on occasion we’ll take questions people have asked in the forums and answer them in video form.

4,762 views 33 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

These videos are awesome! Please keep it up, and that from someone who is already in beta.

 

I thought the "Gulliver Mod" was hilarious. I expect to find a load of bugs in the graphics once that finally gets turned on. Also glad to see more content is going into the game. Combined with that and the economy display I'm hoping we have enough information and content to actually test the economy. :D

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Sorry guys, the "gulliver mod" has been removed ( AKA "fixed" )  :)  You won't get that with the game anymore, but I suppose that wouldn't have to stop anyone from making a mod that does it.  :)

Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

I think it should be added in as a funny cheat mode... type "Gulliver" and watch giant famers stand on buildings... maybe just a graphical thing... or maybe have them wander around destroying things.

 

Looking forward to more videos, they're always interesting.

(I think if you want to see how many people watch them you just need to ask more questions questions... although it could end in war. Like the economics camps, damage type camps... I'm sure there are more)

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Isn't it great when bugs can turn into features?

Things are progressing nicely.

It's great to see updates, although I really wish you'd allow BoogieBac to be released from his coding prision.  He needs to get out in the daylight at least every few months and post something about Elemental!

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Very interesting this. Thanks!

I like that you are holding off decisions about the battle system, but it makes me a bit nervous too :)

You have created a waiting game here :p

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

I'm sorry.  I missed everything you said after "StarCraft 2 Battle Report 4 is up." :)

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Dr, reply 3
I think it should be added in as a funny cheat mode... type "Gulliver" and watch giant famers stand on buildings... maybe just a graphical thing... or maybe have them wander around destroying things.

Easter eggs in games are often a point of amusement and entertainment. Not a bad idea.


(I think if you want to see how many people watch them you just need to ask more questions questions... although it could end in war. Like the economics camps, damage type camps... I'm sure there are more)

It is a youtube video. So if you want to know how many people have seen it subscribe to Draginol's videos. At the time of this post this video has 164 views and his prior Elemental video has 617 (better than the Demigod video released the same day ;) )

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

More features YA! Its less painful after every update... or is it? :omg:  

 

Promoting Starcraft 2 and Elemental... Good stuff! :grin:  

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

The elemental video looks really cool.

 

As for Starcraft 2 for me it will be prlly like sc1 and all other rts:  reasoanbly fun .. if i can slow it down almost to a crawl:).I dont like the element of arcade and multitasking speed  in strategy games, and in in sc in multiplayer its like a huge part.Stil i hope the single player cvampaign to be good and fun for me , in sc1 it was fantastic, when slowed down to max:)

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

So if we say the beta is fun as it is right now, we get the 3d graphics?:pout: I'm pretty sure that's what Frogboy just said in the video:P

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

I did hear something along those lines :)

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

So if we say the beta is fun as it is right now, we get the 3d graphics? I'm pretty sure that's what Frogboy just said in the video
The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now. The beta is fun as it is right now.

Reply #13 from Elemental Forums Top

Wow. It still reads correctly down either side or the central breaks.

Reply #14 from Elemental Forums Top

DUDE! You're right! That's cool! I honestly had no idea it would do that! hehehehe.....

Oh. The "it" is missing...... but it still makes sense........

DUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!

Reply #15 from Elemental Forums Top

OMG, what a spam. I shall name my dog in Torchlight Scoutdog! This is my prescription for every spamoholic :).

On to questions, shall we?

1. As we can see in the video, we are able to add a couple of armor parts to our units. Will this functionality be also spread to weapons & 'equipment'?

2. At the moment, there are 3 categories: weap., arm. & equ. Will there be added any more? For example "training", which would describe the type of training that the unit has undergone.

3. In equipment we now only have some "packs". Will the packs be substituted by some rings/trinkets/amulets/rabbit feet, or will they stay?

4. General question about economy. If we want to rise the income, we just get more people and build some markets, yes? If we want faster research, we just build more academies? And finally; if we need more troops, we just build more barracks?

5. Once you said that major part of incomes, players will spend on army (training & upkeep). Don't you think there there should be 'operational costs' tied to all (or almost all) buildings, so that specializing in research, building many mines or supporting barracks, would require from a player to spend some money on those? In other words - will there be any other significant ways to spend our hard earned money?

6. Are there any news about independent factions?

Reply #16 from Elemental Forums Top

Calling beta "fun" right now would be stretching the truth a bit. Especially since for some people it still doesn't even work. There isn't exactly a lot "game" in there yet either.

I'm hoping maybe with this next patch it will be bug free enough and have enough content to START being fun.

Reply #17 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm merely guessing here, but based on the way things looked in the video it seems that the "Scout pack" would act in a similar way as training. IE, instead of hiring/training a scout unit, you build it from the same basic stock as any other soldier, and it is up to you to deside how much armour and the like to invest. Likely the "scout pack" gives the unit something like increased visual range, better mobility over certain terrain, or some other similar bonus.

 

EDIT: Actually, looking at the video again on full screen, the scouting pack increases the visual range of the unit at the cost of greater training time.

Reply #18 from Elemental Forums Top

Calling beta "fun" right now would be stretching the truth a bit. Especially since for some people it still doesn't even work. There isn't exactly a lot "game" in there yet either.

Shhh!:X Don't listen to him Frogboy! Ignore the person behind reply #16!

@Rishkith: You're missing the point. In the video Brad said that bete testers would get fancy 3d graphics once we all agreed that the current system is "fun." Therefore, the cloth map is fun:P

Reply #19 from Elemental Forums Top

I am excited about the prospect of having much more content. I'm also excited about equipping pieces of armor, rather than entire suits (greaves, cloaks, etc). Keep up the good work.

Reply #20 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting red1939, reply 15

2. At the moment, there are 3 categories: weap., arm. & equ. Will there be added any more? For example "training", which would describe the type of training that the unit has undergone.

I hope to find something like that,  so that units can get some interesting abilities and specializations (for example, a scout specialized in exploration, a scout specialized in enemy unit spying, and so on...) based on their training. These also will affect to buildings, because you should have a specific building for a specific training

 

Reply #21 from Elemental Forums Top

The final game should be incredibly beautiful and alive: we can already see the waves breaking against the shore! :drool:

Reply #22 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Mandelik, reply 21
The final game should be incredibly beautiful and alive: we can already see the waves breaking against the shore!

We shall see. I don't really care about waves breaking against the shore. It's nice to have gfx features like that, but the gameplay is what matters. I am really worried about the combat system to be honest [It looks like that it's way too simple as it is now], but I have my hopes up of course...:)

Reply #23 from Elemental Forums Top

Given your karma value, I assume you've been around long enough to know that the real combat isn't even in the game yet, right?  Like I said I assume so, but I find your comment odd.

 

Reply #24 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting goodgimp, reply 23
Given your karma value, I assume you've been around long enough to know that the real combat isn't even in the game yet, right?  Like I said I assume so, but I find your comment odd.

 

It is not, that is true. However right now, combat is heavily RNG based, because of the very few "stats". [ATT/DEF] This is why I said, that I have my hopes up...and SD will create a decent -not RNG based- tactical-combat system.

Reply #25 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Tormy-, reply 24

It is not, that is true. However right now, combat is heavily RNG based, because of the very few "stats". [ATT/DEF] This is why I said, that I have my hopes up...and SD will create a decent -not RNG based- tactical-combat system.

Honestly, I think the true complexities of combat are going to come from spell effects and magical damage types (which we know now will be in). There's going to be a lot of depth there.