[0.981] Beta 5C -- Game Nine & Game Ten: Comments/Bugs/Balance/Tweaks/Suggestions/Etc

from Elemental Forums

[0.981.1] Beta 5C for Game Nine:

[0.981.2] Beta 5C for Game Ten:

Comments/Bugs/Balance/Tweaks/Suggestions/Etc 

 

Game Stats are as follows:
Map: Random
World Size: Medium
Map Type: Balanced
Wildlands: Many
Champions: Moderate
Quests: Plenty
Difficulty: Normal
Monsters: Dense
Pacing: Normal
Magic: Moderate
Resources: Moderate
Random Events: More often

Going to go with Lord Relias this time around. 

I’ll be rearranging all the items I find into corresponding groups again. Please bear in mind that these notes are no longer in chronological order. Thanks.

  • [Applause] Book sound is excellent now!!
  • [Applause] Just spotted an ‘enchanted’ shard. Don’t know what it is yet, but it’s AWESOME.
  • [Applause] Really, Really appreciate how to reintroduced ‘snaking’ to obtain the river and forest tiles! Thank you VERY much!

 

  • [Question] I’ve never played Relias before, but is he suppose to level up right away without gaining additional experience?

 

  • [Suggestion] The new selection sfx is a very abrasive sound. Recommend considering a softer ping.
  • [Suggestion] That selection sfx is becoming downright annoying. Strongly recommend changing it. Perhaps something that more of a fantasy oriented sfx?

 

  • [Balance] Yikes, research tech has expensive again!
  • [Balance] Does blindness ever end? Seems very powerful.
  • [Balance] Still think the warg should receive a bonus to attack.
  • [Balance] 25 seasons have gone by and I’ve still only research 1 tech. Really feel like this is slow.
  • [Balance] I’m now on season 50 and still have yet to build any troops.
  • [Balance] I’m now on season 50 and still have yet to receive a random event.

 

  • [Bug] Tactical combat still has those extended white lines when cursoring over tiles.
  • [Bug] In the patch notes you mention that mana will always be posted, even if it is 0. This was not the case when I used up all my mana in a tactical combat.
  • [Bug] Just ran Relias northwards onto a river tile, but the animation was consistent with my last move eastwards.
  • [Bug] Entered into the Bhinadmi Fissure, but when the cutscene played, no change of music occurred.
  • [Bug] Not sure if this is suppose to happen, but I’m beside Gilden’s borders now, yet I do not see any of their faction stats on the faction power bar. Should I not recognize their existence??
  • [Bug] Growth onto a unit riding a warg still has the Shrink animation.
  • [Bug] After entering into a loot tile, the screen still moves over to the next unit BEFORE the loot has a chance to be explored. Makes for confusion UI.

 

  • [Tweak] Pioneer spam still runs rampant. Recommend removing the ability to build outposts with pioneers.
  • [Tweak] Scouts still serve no function in game as heroes do all the scouting necessary. Recommend adding the ability to only build outposts with scouts.
  • [Tweak] While I never attempt map restarts, the map I am currently playing on is still VERY low on essence. Strongly recommend allowing Scrying Pools to be built by every race, tied to a mid-game tech. Imo, each city should eventually be able to gain access to a minimum of 1 essence as there is SOOO much importance and design currently placed around the mechanic of essence.
  • [Tweak] Outposts are still being built too close to AI cities.
  • [Tweak] Really don’t like it when I walk over AI resource improvement and it automatically destroys it. Should have a ‘raze’ option at the bottom of the army UI to give player the choice whether or not it should be destroyed.

Will be taking a break now for awhile. More to come in the near future...

23,790 views 33 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

All good stuff, I look forward to reading more...

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top


1. [Question] I’ve never played Relias before, but is he suppose to level up right away without gaining additional experience?

2. [Suggestion] The new selection sfx is a very abrasive sound. Recommend considering a softer ping.
[Suggestion] That selection sfx is becoming downright annoying. Strongly recommend changing it. Perhaps something that more of a fantasy oriented sfx?

3. [Balance] Does blindness ever end? Seems very powerful.

4. [Bug] Entered into the Bhinadmi Fissure, but when the cutscene played, no change of music occurred.

5. [Bug] Not sure if this is suppose to happen, but I’m beside Gilden’s borders now, yet I do not see any of their faction stats on the faction power bar. Should I not recognize their existence??

6. [Tweak] Outposts are still being built too close to AI cities.

Nice list!

1. Yes, he is an Adventurer. They start the game with level 2.

2. This seems to be fixed with the 0.981.2 patch.

3. No, it works until combat is over.

4. Noticed the same thing.

5. My guess is, that you need to meet one of their units to start diplomatic relations.

6. Agreed. In my game, Resoln build an outpost right next to one of their cities.

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Gaunathor, reply 2


Nice list!

2. This seems to be fixed with the 0.981.2 patch.

3. No, it works until combat is over.


5. My guess is, that you need to meet one of their units to start diplomatic relations.

2. There's a 0.981.2 ?? Why not just call it 0.982 ?? Do you know when it'll be released and where it was mentioned that they fixed that aggravating ping?

3. My apologies. It wasn't meant to be a question. I was mentioning that blindness was too powerful to last the entire battle, especially for the low mana price. Either increase the mana cost OR tag on a turn limit to which blindness lasts....10 turns or something...

5. But try finding somone. I've conquared 2 cities from gilden and have yet to see someone to talk to. Thankfully I know you can initiate conversation with the AI city, so I've got that part covered. However, when you only see the cultural borders, there are even times where you have to cross into enemy territory to look for someone to speak with. Just seems clumsy.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 3
2. There's a 0.981.2 ?? Why not just call it 0.982 ?? Do you know when it'll be released and where it was mentioned that they fixed that aggravating ping?

It was a side comment by Frogboy in another post. I made a post to try and point people to it. It happened yesterday somewhere around 9 - 10 EDT (but not exactly sure about that time).

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 3
2. There's a 0.981.2 ?? Why not just call it 0.982 ?? Do you know when it'll be released and where it was mentioned that they fixed that aggravating ping?

It is already out. As far as I know, it is just a maintenance patch. There is no list detailing what it does, but there is a thread about it.

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 3
3. My apologies. It wasn't meant to be a question. I was mentioning that blindness was too powerful to last the entire battle, especially for the low mana price. Either increase the mana cost OR tag on a turn limit to which blindness lasts....10 turns or something...

No problem. I agree, debuffs are in general a bit too powerful.

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 3
5. But try finding somone. I've conquared 2 cities from gilden and have yet to see someone to talk to. Thankfully I know you can initiate conversation with the AI city, so I've got that part covered. However, when you only see the cultural borders, there are even times where you have to cross into enemy territory to look for someone to speak with. Just seems clumsy.

This is definitely a bug. The AI is also affected by this.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

[Question] I’ve never played Relias before, but is he suppose to level up right away without gaining additional experience?

Look at his background silly.

"Adventurer: Starts at level 2"

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

[Balance] Does blindness ever end? Seems very powerful.
[Balance] Still think the warg should receive a bonus to attack.
[Balance] 25 seasons have gone by and I’ve still only research 1 tech. Really feel like this is slow.

A, 1: Blindness is sooo powerful, I would advice a change to the rate of change instead of duration.

A, 2: Make mounts more powerful? O_o.

A, 3: Yes research is dreadfully slow, I find myself picking water magic every time for inspiration spell.

Tweak] While I never attempt map restarts, the map I am currently playing on is still VERY low on essence. Strongly recommend allowing Scrying Pools to be built by every race, tied to a mid-game tech. Imo, each city should eventually be able to gain access to a minimum of 1 essence as there is SOOO much importance and design currently placed around the mechanic of essence.
[Tweak] Really don’t like it when I walk over AI resource improvement and it automatically destroys it. Should have a ‘raze’ option at the bottom of the army UI to give player the choice whether or not it should be destroyed.

B, 1: I have seen you say this tons of time, and everytime I read it I really disagree, I think the change should come as a balance change to the overall land map, the grain/materials/essence is too dependant on random shards and resources near your starting location, I think that is a mistake...
I also do feel there should be a few spots with high materials or grains but without magic, you know the lush grass field with a river have tons of grain, but sadly is totally void of essence, so you can choose between magic or a huge city.

B, 2: Agreed on this really much :) Usually have to walk weirdly around these improvements until I get to the outpost so I can capture them!

Thanks for remembering to sort it up, really helps me!! (Its like looking at a proper UI, except its a "proper" wall of text :P. :thumbsup:

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Great feedback! Thank you!

The biggest pet peeve I'm having, by far, is the bug that relations aren't initiated until actually come into contact with a unit.  Apparently this occurred during an optimization of the FOW code.  It's being fixed today but won't go in until next Thursday.

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

--wrong thread, sry--

 

 

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top


[0.981] Beta 5C

Game Nine: Comments/Bugs/Balance/Tweaks/Suggestions/Etc 

Game Stats are as follows:
Map: Random
World Size: Medium
Map Type: Balanced
Wildlands: Many
Champions: Moderate
Quests: Plenty
Difficulty: Normal
Monsters: Dense
Pacing: Normal
Magic: Moderate
Resources: Moderate
Random Events: More often

Going to go with Lord Relias this time around. 

I’ll be rearranging all the items I find into corresponding groups again. Please bear in mind that these notes are no longer in chronological order. Thanks.



[Applause] Book sound is excellent now!!
[Applause] Just spotted an ‘enchanted’ shard. Don’t know what it is yet, but it’s AWESOME.
[Applause] Really, Really appreciate how to reintroduced ‘snaking’ to obtain the river and forest tiles! Thank you VERY much!


 


[Question] I’ve never played Relias before, but is he suppose to level up right away without gaining additional experience?

 


[Suggestion] The new selection sfx is a very abrasive sound. Recommend considering a softer ping.
[Suggestion] That selection sfx is becoming downright annoying. Strongly recommend changing it. Perhaps something that more of a fantasy oriented sfx?

 


[Balance] Yikes, research tech has expensive again!
[Balance] Does blindness ever end? Seems very powerful.
[Balance] Still think the warg should receive a bonus to attack.
[Balance] 25 seasons have gone by and I’ve still only research 1 tech. Really feel like this is slow.
[Balance] I’m now on season 50 and still have yet to build any troops.
[Balance] I’m now on season 50 and still have yet to receive a random event.

 


[Bug] Tactical combat still has those extended white lines when cursoring over tiles.
[Bug] In the patch notes you mention that mana will always be posted, even if it is 0. This was not the case when I used up all my mana in a tactical combat.
[Bug] Just ran Relias northwards onto a river tile, but the animation was consistent with my last move eastwards.
[Bug] Entered into the Bhinadmi Fissure, but when the cutscene played, no change of music occurred.
[Bug] Not sure if this is suppose to happen, but I’m beside Gilden’s borders now, yet I do not see any of their faction stats on the faction power bar. Should I not recognize their existence??
[Bug] Growth onto a unit riding a warg still has the Shrink animation.
[Bug] After entering into a loot tile, the screen still moves over to the next unit BEFORE the loot has a chance to be explored. Makes for confusion UI.

 


[Tweak] Pioneer spam still runs rampant. Recommend removing the ability to build outposts with pioneers.
[Tweak] Scouts still serve no function in game as heroes do all the scouting necessary. Recommend adding the ability to only build outposts with scouts.
[Tweak] While I never attempt map restarts, the map I am currently playing on is still VERY low on essence. Strongly recommend allowing Scrying Pools to be built by every race, tied to a mid-game tech. Imo, each city should eventually be able to gain access to a minimum of 1 essence as there is SOOO much importance and design currently placed around the mechanic of essence.
[Tweak] Outposts are still being built too close to AI cities.
[Tweak] Really don’t like it when I walk over AI resource improvement and it automatically destroys it. Should have a ‘raze’ option at the bottom of the army UI to give player the choice whether or not it should be destroyed.

Will be taking a break now for awhile. More to come in the near future...

Since this thread has mostly been a lovefest, I'll play devil's advocate so that the devil is equally represented in today's more tolerant world.

1.  Blindness is perfect.  Leave it alone.

2.  Wargs are perfect.  Leave them alone.

3.  If techs are too slow, then play on FAST or build more research buildings or cast more Inspiration or play factions that specialize in research.  Research is better in .981 than it was in .980.

4.  Pioneer spam is no longer rampant.  I am as good or better than the AI at spamming pioneers.  Do not remove the ability of pioneers to create outposts.  Outposts are critical now because of the contiguous kingdom unrest penalties.

5.  Scouts are great for factions that get heroes like Kraxis and Altar.  They do not need the ability to create outposts.

6.  I just played a map that had a ton of essence and it was a standard settings map.  If you want more essence then change your map settings.  Do not give all factions a scrying pool.

7.  Random events are rare.  Don't expect to see them.

There is one thing I agree with:

1.  Turn 50 and you hadn't built any troops.  I find myself waiting until I can make 5-man troop groups before I make my first unit.  That has mostly been because the AI doesn't attack soon enough.  That appears to have changed slightly in .981.  I need to play more.

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

there is a new seting for champions now you can increase their density

i always rise it by at least 1 because its definitely better

 

as for sovereign we all know they are too op, check other threads everyone is telling the same since some time

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Trojasmic, reply 11
Since this thread has mostly been a lovefest, I'll play devil's advocate so that the devil is equally represented in today's more tolerant world.

WHY?

Why oh why should there be a devil's advocate. >_<

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Reply #13 from Elemental Forums Top

It is just the first tier in techs that need to cost less. Each one should not cost more than 15 research so that players without any research bonuses can still play the game.

Reply #14 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9
Great feedback! Thank you!

Your welcome. B)  

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9

The biggest pet peeve I'm having, by far, is the bug that relations aren't initiated until actually come into contact with a unit.  Apparently this occurred during an optimization of the FOW code.  It's being fixed today but won't go in until next Thursday.

Woot! woot! It's getting fixed. That's what counts.   :thumbsup:

 

Quoting Trojasmic, reply 11


Since this thread has mostly been a lovefest, I'll play devil's advocate so that the devil is equally represented in today's more tolerant world.

1.  Blindness is perfect.  Leave it alone.
2.  Wargs are perfect.  Leave them alone.
3.  If techs are too slow, then play on FAST or build more research buildings or cast more Inspiration or play factions that specialize in research.  Research is better in .981 than it was in .980.
4.  Pioneer spam is no longer rampant.  I am as good or better than the AI at spamming pioneers.  Do not remove the ability of pioneers to create outposts.  Outposts are critical now because of the contiguous kingdom unrest penalties.
5.  Scouts are great for factions that get heroes like Kraxis and Altar.  They do not need the ability to create outposts.
6.  I just played a map that had a ton of essence and it was a standard settings map.  If you want more essence then change your map settings.  Do not give all factions a scrying pool.
7.  Random events are rare.  Don't expect to see them.

There is one thing I agree with:
1.  Turn 50 and you hadn't built any troops.  I find myself waiting until I can make 5-man troop groups before I make my first unit.  That has mostly been because the AI doesn't attack soon enough.  That appears to have changed slightly in .981.  I need to play more.

Nice that you want to play devil's advocate, as I love the debate, but reasons are required behind some of your points...

1. I find blindness to be quite crippling. There is no redemption once it's cast (unless there is a cancel enchantment spell that I'm missing).

2. Wargs fall infinitely short compared to horses. A bonus to attack would tempt you to pass up on the additional movement that horses grant.

3. I like playing on normal, as fast would make the game progress too fast. As is, these techs feel like they're for epic.

4. Well, in the game I am currently playing, I've had to rush build every single building so far so that I have enough queue time to build pioneers so that I can build outposts so that my cities will con contigously connected. That's pioneer spam. I don't recall off hand, but it was something like 14 pioneers in under 50 seasons. If it took 8 turns to build a pioner (many took more, but I also rushed some...so I'll say 8), that means the 4 cities that I've built have been cranking out pioneers almost the whole time.  If outposts could NOT be built by pioneers, I'd have built 3 pioneers...cause I only have 4 cities. (8 now cause I took over some Gilden turf and just built my fifth city). This would open up all sorts of queue time. Grant some of that queue time would have to go towards the unit that did build outposts, but the scout is a lot cheap to build than the pioneer is...

5. I'm not sure I understand your logic on this one. Kraxis and Alter has access to all sorts of heroes. I would argue that you'd need scouts even less as you have more heroes to do the scouting relative to the other factions.

6. My map settings were posted at the top of the thread. Granted, maybe it's the map generation that needs some tweaking. So far, I've gotten very little for essence, Whether essence is consistently high and no scrying pools, OR whether essence is consistently low with scrying pools....makes no matter to me....so long as there is a consistency.

7. I have random events set to 'plenty'. imo, once every 100+ seasons is not 'plenty'. My kingdom gets bored if nothing interacts with it on a random level. It needs monsters popping up, quests starting...things to keep the interior of my empire busy while my heroes and would-be troops focus on the borders.

To the point of troops, yeah, my cities are completely defenseless....all 8 of them...and I don't need to worry cause I've purged all the threats and have the enemy bottlenecked with my overpowered heroes. Granted, I can play on a more difficult setting, but I'm looking out for the guys that want to play on defaults. I don't think it should be that easy for them...

 

Quoting Kongdej, reply 8


B, 1: I have seen you say this tons of time, and everytime I read it I really disagree, I think the change should come as a balance change to the overall land map, the grain/materials/essence is too dependant on random shards and resources near your starting location, I think that is a mistake...
I also do feel there should be a few spots with high materials or grains but without magic, you know the lush grass field with a river have tons of grain, but sadly is totally void of essence, so you can choose between magic or a huge city.
...
Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Yeah, we're probably going to disagree right until release. That's okay though.

In my current game, I built 6 cities so far. Out of all of them, 1 essence at my capital. I took over Gilden's two cities; they each had 1 essence. That's a total of 3 essence and I have some off 15+ city enchantments to choose from. Balance here just isn't doing the game justice, as I don't get the chance to play with all the spells the game has to offer.

IF, I had access to scrying pools when I got the 'arcane mastery' tech (well, I'm around season 60 and am no where close to getting it) around season 200, then I'd be able to bump all my cities by one. That would result in 11 essence accross my empire. Almost enough to play with all those spells...I'd have to tinker with others in another game.

Ever since brainstorming the idea out, I've been focused on it cause I really think it would benefit the game. In the early game, essence would still be really low (unless you were paradin) so no one would really get out of hand. In the mid game, everyone gets to play with more magic (paradin gets additional mod to theirs). Everything is still balanced. Late game, conclaves kick in and you get a few more essence (if conclaves are your strategy). Additionally, having another unique building available for your cities is never a bad thing.

Anyways, we'll probably continue to disagree. Who knows, maybe Stardock with reconfig the map generator and essence will become more consistent. That being the case, and tweaking scrying pools may not even be required anymore. I just don't really like being cut off from a main aspect of the game....and I really don't want to ctrl-N all the time till I randomly come accross a world with decent essence.

 

Reply #15 from Elemental Forums Top

 

Ready for more game time. I am currently at season 57 and just installed the 0.981.2 patch (had to get rid of that ping!). Yes…. I’m loading my old game. As I understand, not much has changed to impact crashes. We’ll see where this goes… 

  • [Suggestion] Would be nice if the saved game automatically attached the season # you were on.
  • [Bug] That ‘ping’ when you select units is still there. Noooo!
  • [Crash] Crap. Game crashed upon load. 

K. Starting a new game. I’ll use all the same settings and be Altar again. 

  • [Applause] Yeah! Ping is gone!
  • [Balance] Had to ctrl-N 9 times and still did not get good start locations.
  • [Crash] Game crashed when I attempted the 10th ctrl-N. 

K. Starting a new game. I’ll use all the same settings and be Altar again. 

  • [Bug] The crossed swords cursor still sometimes activates when hovering over the bottom left UI. This should not happen.
  • [Tweak] had a huge area where I should have been able to fit 3 cities. However, when I built my first city, all of the good land disappeared. The good land stretched across 12 squares, so I was hoping to build 5 squares away in the one direction and 6 squares away in the other. That’s plenty so not sure why all that good land disappeared.
  • Only reason why that was an acceptable starting location was because I should have had access to 3 city locations. 

K. Starting a new game. I’ll use all the same settings and be Altar again. 

  • [Bug] The crossed swords cursor activated when trying to pick my adventurer’s feat at the beginning of the game.
  • [Crash] Game crashed when I attempted the 3rd ctrl-N. 

K. Starting a new game. I’ll use all the same settings and be Altar again. This one looks like it’s a keeper. Have a 3/3/2 next to a forest with a prestigious location and fire shard nearby. Also have a 3/3/2 next to a forest with a prestigious location located a short ways away. 

GAME Ten notes

  • [Applause] Just got some loot that grants the +2 gildar/season feat. Wow!
  • [Applause] Mites are more difficult now. Makes for early game challenge. Good job!
  • [Applause] Wow!! Monsters grouped together and attacked!! Holy crap that’s awesome!
  • [Applause] I think… Just got a treasure map quest, but it put the treasure on the other side of a huge mountain range. It may be a while before I obtain it…
  • [Applause] Really impressed with the tactical AI of the bandits. They were hiding behind the stronger of the units. Really cool.

 

  • [Tweak] Need to build a pioneer first thing every game. Game starts shouldn’t be so automatic…
  • [Tweak] Apparently the Bottled Fire needs mana to cast. This should be mentioned or the cost should be removed.

 

  • [Balance] Inspiration is extremely powerful at the very beginning of the game. It cuts your research by half!

  

  • [Bug] In tactical combat, when ‘white’ selector is over a tile and you move your mouse over a lake, the white does really funny things, extending out along a tangent to the edge of the screen.
  • [Bug] There is currently a glitch in the tactical UI display for Bannon Heighsley. Currently, the UI does not show up during his first turn of combat. He is also the first person in the initiative order…if that makes a difference…
  • [Bug] Built a city diagonal to forest tile expecting to be able to build a lumber mill. This has happened before in this very game, so I knew it worked. However, this time around I can’t. There needs to be consistency here. Either you can or you can’t. (I prefer that you can.)

That'll be all for tonight. Will continue playing tomorrow sometime I'm sure. Don't really like how random those starts are. Can definately make for some discouraging and frustrating moments. Once I get a decent game going though, it's a good run.

Reply #16 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 16
[Tweak] Apparently the Bottled Fire needs mana to cast. This should be mentioned or the cost should be removed.

[Bug] There is currently a glitch in the tactical UI display for Bannon Heighsley. Currently, the UI does not show up during his first turn of combat. He is also the first person in the initiative order…if that makes a difference…

I noticed the Bottled Fire bug as soon as I got it.  Would have been nice to be able to use it to not be killed by a gang of wandering water elementals.

Also, Amarian champions (anyone with Amarian Blood, like Bannon and Queen Porcipinee) have had that issue since Beta 3, if they go first in combat.  Used to be worse, but for a magic-heavy champ it's very unpleasant.

Reply #17 from Elemental Forums Top

[Bug] when monsters raze city it's not completely gone, game still counts as city is there for other cites placement purpose

Reply #18 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 16
[Balance] Inspiration is extremely powerful at the very beginning of the game. It cuts your research by half!

 

Run that one by me, again?  Casting Inspiration on a city cut your research by half?  I've been using it in the latest beta, and without fail it's increased research.  Of course, if you have a lot of unrest, it won't increase things much.  But cutting research?  What happens when you remove Inspiration?  Does your research return to normal?  And is this a saved game from a previous beta?

Reply #19 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Glazunov1, reply 19
Quoting GFireflyE, reply 16[Balance] Inspiration is extremely powerful at the very beginning of the game. It cuts your research by half!




 

Run that one by me, again?  Casting Inspiration on a city cut your research by half?  I've been using it in the latest beta, and without fail it's increased research.  Of course, if you have a lot of unrest, it won't increase things much.  But cutting research?  What happens when you remove Inspiration?  Does your research return to normal?  And is this a saved game from a previous beta?

I think what he is saying is that it cuts your research TIME by half, since at the beginning of the game you only have one research generated and inspiration may double that...

Which is a valid point, except for the fact that this happens only at the VERY beginning of the game - as soon as you get more cities, or your cities start growing, then inspiration's effect is exponentially reduced...

Reply #20 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 15
In my current game, I built 6 cities so far. Out of all of them, 1 essence at my capital. I took over Gilden's two cities; they each had 1 essence. That's a total of 3 essence and I have some off 15+ city enchantments to choose from. Balance here just isn't doing the game justice, as I don't get the chance to play with all the spells the game has to offer.

And I agree this is wrong.

What I was saying that I wanted to see 1 and 2 essence spots more easily available over the map, and not dependant on shards, crystals and ogrelairs.
This would help ease the pain on this.

But I also have a pet peeve with clay quarry's boosting material surrounding the quarry, and then again boosts material for constructing the enhancements, the same with grain stuff, the same with crystals boosting essence, it just makes natural resources at city locations so much more important, and is part of the reason some starting locations are really powerful (Proper random resource located so they boost the same time), or really weak (Random resources scattered like the wind at your starting location.

I just hope it gets less dependant on these big chunks of resources and more dependant on the land below the resources.

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Reply #21 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 16
[Tweak] Need to build a pioneer first thing every game. Game starts shouldn’t be so automatic…

This game start is very popular with me as well, except when it comes to building a city next to a forest. Then I usual choose to build a lumber-mill then 2 pioneers. The production boost is invaluable in that situation. Not sure if there is a good way to change this automatic start.

Reply #22 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting ins2, reply 20


Quoting Glazunov1,
reply 19
Quoting GFireflyE, reply 16[Balance] Inspiration is extremely powerful at the very beginning of the game. It cuts your research by half!

Run that one by me, again?  Casting Inspiration on a city cut your research by half?  I've been using it in the latest beta, and without fail it's increased research.  Of course, if you have a lot of unrest, it won't increase things much.  But cutting research?  What happens when you remove Inspiration?  Does your research return to normal?  And is this a saved game from a previous beta?


I think what he is saying is that it cuts your research TIME by half, since at the beginning of the game you only have one research generated and inspiration may double that...

Which is a valid point, except for the fact that this happens only at the VERY beginning of the game - as soon as you get more cities, or your cities start growing, then inspiration's effect is exponentially reduced...

Yeah, that's what I was saying.

In and of itself, Inspiration is a great and well balanced spell. The problem I find is if you don't have it. You're early game research is painfully slow until you build a second city or a study in the first...

Quoting Kongdej, reply 21


And I agree this is wrong.

What I was saying that I wanted to see 1 and 2 essence spots more easily available over the map, and not dependant on shards, crystals and ogrelairs.
This would help ease the pain on this.

I just hope it gets less dependant on these big chunks of resources and more dependant on the land below the resources.

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

:omg:   We actually kinda agree on essence. We were just going about it's solution differently. I'd be totally fine if the availability of essence was more consistent. My scrying pool idea was just a way of accomplishing that task without having to tinker with the map generator.

Reply #23 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting GFireflyE, reply 23

In and of itself, Inspiration is a great and well balanced spell. The problem I find is if you don't have it. You're early game research is painfully slow until you build a second city or a study in the first...

 

That's very true.  The negative implications of neither you nor your first champion having Enchanted Hammers is just as devastating, I find, since it also affects the time needed to erect buildings that help with research, and (if you're Pariden) the Scrying Pool, which gives you another essence point.  I guess it comes down to the thrill of a new challenge when you start out, with all the potential strengths and drawbacks that implies, versus the belief that a lack of one of these major essence spells means you might as well CTRL+N, since an AI will definitely have one, possibly both.

You can always select spellbooks for your sovereigns that give you these spells, but I suspect some players regard them as essential.  Which limits the choices available when you create a sovereign.  This may be an issue: if at least some players perceive those essence spells as necessary, then the choices in sovereign creation narrow down considerably to what they think of as a win combination.




Reply #24 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Glazunov1, reply 24
but I suspect some players regard them as essential.

Meeeeeeeee

Well essential and essential, If I want my empire to run at max steam they are.

I don't mind water magic anyways, sometimes I run without earth, because I consider earth magic boring.

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Reply #25 from Elemental Forums Top

 

More playing notes:

 

  • [Applause] Like the extra cost added to purchasing horses. 120 gildar is a fair amount.
  • [Applause] Really liked that the tactical battle took the dark chasm from nearby on the strategic map and added it to the tactical map. Makes you feel like you are fighting the battle on actual land…
  • [Applause] Really like that you can disenchant your city from the city details window!! Really slick!
  • [Applause] Really like the scroll added to the left side. It’s a little awkward to use when just 1 item is out of sight, but much better than not being able to access the ones out of sight.
  • [Applause] I was fighting against 3 bears with my fire-bow and was trying to kite. They were actually trying to hem me in!! Awesome!

 

  • [Crash] Game crashed when I tried loading my saved game.

 

  • [Bug] So, my Path of the Govenor died and was sent to a city I control to recover. Thing is that while he is recovering, he’s providing ALL his bonus to that city. I don’t think he should be out on the streets governing…he should be in bed recovering.
  • [Bug] In the middle of the riddle another UI popped up for a city level up. These should be separated so that they don’t conflict with each other.
  • [Bug] I drank the Strong Healing Potion, but the health bar did not show the correct status of my life until I was attacked in the next turn.
  • [Bug] Klunni fell in battle, but because Vallisa was also in combat, Klunni did not return to the closest city to recover. I can use him right away as if he was not injured (granted, he still has the given injury).
  • [Bug?] Attacked some water shrills that were roaming the countryside, yet when the battle started; I was placed in a ruins tactical map, which I would guess to be their lair.
  • [Bug?] When holding the Tear of Cyndrum, and an opponent attacks me when I have a weapon that has counterattack, I get the +3 life bonus animation before the damage animation occurs. If this happens in the numbers aswell, that would mean I am gaining life (and could possibly avert death) before damage is dealt to kill me.
  • [Bug] Not sure if the Scroll of Despair is working correctly. It is suppose to transfer 4hp from each enemy to the caster, but I’m able to transfer 24hp from a single enemy to the caster.
  • [Bug] Um…I just came across an outpost that has its cultural borders only around the tile that the outpost is on. Pretty sure this is not the way it’s suppose to work.  ;) http://imageshack.us/a/img22/9785/game10bugoutpostborders.jpg
  • [Bug] Cultural borders are still getting confused. Especially when crossing mountain ranges.
  • [Bug] There is a glitch in the Achievement Built window for the Merchantcross Bazaar. Right after the first paragraph, there is some rectangular boxes where a simple space should be.
  • [Bug] Music did not change when I entered into the land of The Asag and got the cut scene.

 

  • [Balance] Strong Healing Potion seems too strong. Is there a Weak Healing Potion? My heroes all only have around 35hp at the moment. Healing 80 IS strong.
  • [Balance] The Non-Agg Pact’s duration of 50 seasons is a very long time. It would be nice if this amount were variable. If you wanted a short duration, maybe it’s going to cost something extra. If you want a long duration, maybe the AI likes it better. Could be the other way around, depending on what the AI’s attitude is towards you and how likely he is to declare war.
  • [Balance] The assassin demon is set to be a ‘weak’ encounter. It’s anything but weak. Recommend changing it to a 'medium' encounter.
  • [Balance] Why are wargs worth 150 gildar? (and for that matter, why are they after horses on the tech tree) when they are weaker in almost every way. Recommend granting them +3 attack to have them earn their spot as the stronger mount.

 

  • [Tweak] I’m not sure how long it takes between the allowable time between diplomatic encounters, but that time is WAY too long currently. Every time I want to talk to someone, they’re saying ‘I’m too busy’. It cuts out a very important aspect of the game...
  • [Tweak] When Vallisa is holding a shield, the graphic puts the shield going through her head. Ouch.
  • [Tweak] When looking at city details, the font of the improvements, overview and output windows seems a tad small. What are the chances of increasing its size by a notch?
  • [Tweak] Why is there no tax rate between 0 and 40%? Should be able to select at 10% increments.
  • [Tweak] Outposts are still being built right beside AI cities.

 

  • [Suggestion] The Shop UI is still not that great. Recommend a redesign such that the following can be accomplished:
    • All four rows of carried equipment and items can be seen without having to scroll.
    • The available for purchase items are organized into appropriate rows, with scroll.
    • A ‘specialty’ section is added where only a few items are posted…and only sometimes available…and they change each turn…so that there is some excitement to ‘shopping’. You never know what treasure you might find.
    • Apply some kind of travel mechanic where the shopkeeper would be willing to transport items to other heroes within your borders…for a fee of course.
  • [Suggestion] On the topic of recovering, it would be cool if a building existed (maybe one already does) to half the recovery and healing time of units in that cit. A ‘hospital’ of sorts. Maybe a few tiers buildings, Medic - Infirmary – Hospital, providing different levels of heal rate reduction.

It is now season 85. The interior of my empire is cleared out of monsters with the exception of two slags roaming around. I've been exploring other emires with impunity. Often there loot is still not picked up. There is a balance to be had though, as I do like being able to find stuff all over the world as the game progresses. Maybe it's a good thing that not everything is picked up...

Anyways, will be playing more still....