Where is the real manual?

Basic mechanical information is missing

from Elemental Forums

I played the game an hour or so today, and go nowhere.   Read the manual, stupid!

So I did.

Where is the REAL manual?  The current manual is a combination of fluffy background text, and summary of some of the higher level concepts.

Where are the answers to the basic mechanical questions about the game such as (just from my first play session):

  • What causes a turn to end?   Is that why my unit will sometimes not move?   How can I tell that is what is happening?
  • How can I tell what units still need to move during the turn?
  • How do I split an army back into its constituent units?
  • Why do I only have two buildings to build in my one city... what do I need to do or achieve to get more?
  • Is it possible to talk to a unit that has been combined into an army?
  • Why does my army not attack the obvious enemy on the screen?  Although crossed swords show, neither clicking, nor right clicking, nor double clicking attacks them.... is there a turn issue or something else?

I want to like this game, having been a player of Stardock games since the original GalCiv on OS/2.  However, the game is not making that easy, and I didn't learn everything during the betas, because I didn't play them.

6,103 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

What causes a turn to end?

In single player your turn ends when all of your units are out of movement points or when you click on the turn button at the bottom right side of the HUD.

How can I tell what units still need to move during the turn?

Hitting tab will cycle through units with movement points left.

How do I split an army back into its constituent units?

Select your group of units, and you should see an icon for each one on the HUD.  If you click on an individual icon, you can separate that unit from the group by hitting the eject arrow that appears above the icon, or by simply right-clicking away from the group in the direction you'd like the unit to leave.

Why do I only have two buildings to build in my one city... what do I need to do or achieve to get more?

That could be several different things(here's a few possibilities):  you may lack the resources(gildar, materials, food) or level requirements to build grayed out buildings, or if you lack a range of even grayed out building options you may need to research further into the tech trees to unlock more building options.

Why does my army not attack the obvious enemy on the screen?

Have you declared war on this enemy already?  Have you possibly made a non-aggression pact with them?  Could be a turn issue if that unit is out of movement points for the current turn.

Is it possible to talk to a unit that has been combined into an army?

That depends on who you're trying to talk to...  enemy faction or wondering champion?

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Dash, thank you for your very courteous reply.   As much as I love Stardock, and try to buy everything I can through Impulse to support them, it is a shame that you had to answer these questions which the manual should have covered.

In terms of my army not attacking, I am playing the first scenario in the campaign, and this has happened with spiders and those other monsters, I think they are Ogres but I have quit the game as unplayable so I don't recall what they were.  The ones that block you off from the rest of the map, I guess.

In terms of talking to someone in an army, it is the Muramasa or whatever his name is character that is evidently your hero's friend.

I guess I have to wait for some real documentation.  If I was reviewer, this one issue would make me give it a terrible rating, and that is a sad thing to happen to a normally great company like Stardock.

 

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

And where is manual ? ;)

Guys, I am not so desperate as topic starter but some basics would be nice, I am playing this game since earliest beta and still not sure I select units into the army right way etc.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

In Windows XP:

 

Program Files > Stardock Games > Elemental > ElementalManual_EN.pdf

 

 

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

I have to agree with OP - the manual sucks.

Going to options and enable tooltips helps a lot, but still I'd prefer a bit more solid facts about what all those fancy hero statistics do, how units heal, if you can heal them faster than the 1HP/day rate and... and... and.

What about a list of terrain costs - and why is a diagonal move as cheap as a horizontal or vertical one?

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Be a bit adventurous ppl. Try and discover :) Its like gaming in the old days. To be a bit more serious, there is a lack of documentation. Still one should remember that the "real" game hasnt been released yet. After day 0 patch its time to document. Meanwhile I got my questions answered in the irc channel #Elemental in Impulse. Lots of helpful people there!!!

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Is the manual available as a separate download somewhere? (Officially, that is.) I just purchased a digital copy and the 1.87 GB are downloading, but at 45kb/s, this will take most of the day! (Living a bit in the wilderness, so 384kbit DSL is all they can offer me.) I didn't know about the "one day early" download, or I'd already be playing now! :)

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Mivo, the download has an 8MB PDF manual, yes, which will help you over the worst spots. However, it doesn't contain enough detail by a long shot, thus I've opened a thread asking if we want to create a nice PDF handbook ourselves...

 

Ciao,

Klaus

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

Saying we should be adventurous is a NON-ANSWER! Yes, manual writing is a lost art. It's not like the old days when Microprose released a great manual. But Elemental COULD have a great manual. Nowadays developers rely too much on fans to create wikis and FAQs when they need to document this stuff themselves.

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Relax, glucero0  ^_^

You are right, of course, but squeaking around doesn't help here (although Stardock truly has good support), but (as mentioned above), how about creating a nice manual? I did start a threat thread on it: https://forums.elementalgame.com/391823

 

Ciao,

Klaus

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

Printing costs alot so I suggest they DO write a nice thick manual. Put the physical one in the special editions. Put the PDF version of the same meaty tome in both versions. I miss the old days of manuals that took you a few sesions in the bathroom on taco night to read. But not everyone wants a stack of phone book sized manuals to go along with their ten story pile of game boxes. Also if the rumors are true ;) digital downloads are taking over and soon there will be no physical game boxes to go buy. The main reason I bought the special edition is for the big lore book I know that won't help me learn the game but I like that I had the option to get the special or the "vanilla" version. And my pewter command and conquer warrior from AGES ago can do battles with the dragon!