Four days into the new job

  The longest part of my day is waking up to early to head into the Stardock office.  I'm anxious to get back to work.  What a great job.

  I spent yesterday helping to make the spells more exciting, but so far my focus has been on process.  We will create a consistent design, we will document that design, we will march toward implementing that design.  Flexibility is important in creating games, if something isn't working it has to go, but we aren't going to simply "try things".  There is a great game in Elemental, we have to bring it out.

  It's worth saying that the great game in Elemental isn't Fall from Heaven (for those hoping or worried that I'm going to try to make Elemental into FfH).  That doesn't mean there aren't ideas in FfH that are valuable here, such as faction differentiation, but this is a very different game.  This is about exploring a shattered world, engaging in great tactical combat and building a fantasy empire.  Master of Magic is the inspiration here, not FfH.

  There is great background lore in Elemental, but we need to bring it into the game.  There are great opportunities, but we need to make them more fun.  There are some problematic mechanics that we need to get out of the way.

  My main focus is really on the post 1.1 work, but I've been able to help on the 1.1 side.  Tighten the feature list, make sure everything is moving toward the next steps, help with ideas and flavor.  There is a great team here, I'm honored to be able to work with them.

  We will be starting a community design contest soon.  I appreciate all the great ideas everyone provides, and we are going to have some fun with it (we were just going to use my ideas but then we realized we wanted the game to be good).  Watch the boards, the full details will be announced next week.

370,918 views 113 replies
Reply #1 Top

:beer:

 

Congrats on the new position, and best of luck with the team's goals!

Reply #2 Top

hallo Darek

 

i hope you take a look at the dynasty and improved it :D enable us to remarry and marry champions that would be awsome

 

and any news about the 1.1 ?

Reply #3 Top

Quoting Pantasd, reply 2
hallo Darek

 

i hope you take a look at the dynasty and improved it enable us to remarry and marry champions that would be awsome

 

and any news about the 1.1 ?

Not any news that Stardocks Press Relations person will let him talk about.  =P

Reply #4 Top

I will be waiting :troll:

If the game keeps improving (certainly needed) then I will be with you all the way. A great game is always worth waiting for. They are few and far between.

Reply #5 Top

Use pictures in your posts. It distracts people from any mistakes and causes endless pointless speculation about what you really mean... O:)

Reply #6 Top

We will create a consistent design, we will document that design, we will march toward implementing that design.

This is what Stardock should have done from the start :)

Reply #7 Top

What happened to Kunta, aka Toby?  He's not back from that mysterious part of the world where there is no internet? 

 

Also, Brad touches all his staff, doesn't he?  You know, bad touches.  Point to the part on the doll where he touches you Derek and we can take him away so he can never hurt you like that again...

Reply #8 Top


  I spent yesterday helping to make the spells more exciting,

 

Master of Magic is the inspiration here, not FfH.

Good man. Keep it up on those spells, and please don't stop. I don't have to tell you, and Stardock, that a game called "War of Magic" should make me have fun casting any of the spells. Right now ... not so much :)

 

Good to hear that Master of Magic is the inspiration, and hopefully this won't get lost in all of the design changes and in the 1.1 and future expansions, and stays in everyone's mind. Getting this game as close as possible, or exceeding of course, MoM would be a remarkable feat in itself, and would make for the killer "game to play" in fantasy strategy.

Reply #9 Top

Gotta say I like what I'm hearing.

Reply #10 Top

The community design contest sounds great.

Reply #11 Top

Derek,

I really like some of the things you mention.  Specifically:

-Making spells more interesting
-Faction differentiation

Both of those are areas I feel are currently weak, I'm glad you're looking into it!!

Reply #12 Top

just so you all keep in mind... kael is just getting into the thick of it now. as he says POST 1.1 is where he will get his real hands on in the game. besides what he afore mentioned helping out a bit with 1.1. so right now is when hes really going to start cooking up the future game plan for the game. any case KAEL welcome... finally good to see a post from you as im sure alot of you out there have been eyeballing the forums to see him posting. my only request is to please inject as much fun as possible into the game. streamline as much as possible and make the game less gloomy. the new motto for EWOM...

"IN KAEL WE TRUST"

Reply #13 Top

Thanks for the update Derek!

For a list of suggestions I would highly unrecommend, and that would do this game a great service if they were quickly unimplemented, please see the Ridiculous Requests for Upcoming Patches thread. If you see something in there you like, that means you need to stop and take a break.

Cheers :beer:

 

P.S. More MoM makes the Kael = :star:

Reply #14 Top

It all sounds great. Wake me up when we have something to look at. Derek sounds like the magic man. Can not wait to see this new magic system. Masters of Magic coming soon. Oh, Yeah.....

Freebird in the birdcage for now.

Reply #15 Top

  There is great background lore in Elemental, but we need to bring it into the game.  There are great opportunities, but we need to make them more fun.  There are some problematic mechanics that we need to get out of the way.
 

This sounds awesome. What attracted me initially to the game is the story, lore, and different factions, so I'm really looking forward to what comes out down the road. Thanks for the post.

Reply #16 Top

It's worth saying that the great game in Elemental isn't Fall from Heaven (for those hoping or worried that I'm going to try to make Elemental into FfH). That doesn't mean there aren't ideas in FfH that are valuable here, such as faction differentiation, but this is a very different game. This is about exploring a shattered world, engaging in great tactical combat and building a fantasy empire. Master of Magic is the inspiration here, not FfH.

Been playing FFH while waiting for Elemental 1.1.  I really like the depth you were able to add to Civ IV with that mod.  That being said, MOM was (is) one of my all-time favorite games and if you can meld MOM with Brad's Elemental back-story I for one think you'll have created a real classic.

 

 

Reply #17 Top

*Thumbs up!*

Sounds like these are turning out quite well! :)

Reply #18 Top

Major props if you have some hidden cheat that shows Procipinee in a black bikini! :D

 

Welcome aboard!

Reply #19 Top

just keep in mind that 1.1 is not kaels baby. hes just getting into the mix now and his 1.1 input is coming in the last part of it. everything after 1.1 is wat kael will be cranking out... anycase i have faith that he will inject some fun and streamline the game. later down the road id like to see more eye catching graphics (game is kinda gloomy feel) and the armors and weapons sure need some graphical loving not to mention better stats.

Reply #20 Top

I am so happy that Brad and Stardock brought you aboard! You guys take your time and bring out the enormous potential of this awesome game. Cheers to you Kael!  :beer:

Reply #22 Top

Quoting noobshot, reply 12
"IN KAEL WE TRUST"

 

Geez, no pressure.

Reply #23 Top

Nice.  I'm glad to hear that Elemental is going to be the best Elemental it can be, and not a mash-up of ideas from other games borrowed because those games are perceived as 'good'.

 

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Reply #24 Top

Nice to hear

Too bad you weren't here a year ago but better late than never :D

Reply #25 Top

Right now I'd be happy with stability. Can you put out a quick patch so the game is playable without all the bugs that STILL remain?