You know, I was dead set on not buying the game considering how much I've read on various problems. Gamespot today just announced that they're going the "Wait and see" approach before delving into a full review. That worried me. But, what I've noticed here is the transparency to design and customer support. You keep us well informed on the changes happening now and you release patches very quickly to get the game up to speed. It's nice seeing a company so involved with the customers and are actually listening to them! That means a lot to me and I'm sure many other as well. I'll be getting this game soon, now that I know this game is in very capable hands.

um...multiplayer ?

Dear Stardock,

The game is already good and is getting better with each update. One thing that frustrates me though, is the ultra slow and unchangeable mana regeneration rate, sigh.

There is, it's called "auto-resolve" - just kill the baddies that can hurt you, then hit the auto-resolve button and your dudes will automatically wipe out all the peons, wives, and the like that are running too fast for the exits for you to catch them.

Yes, this is probably a [bug] btw, auto-resolve probably should not force-fight people who are running away.

-tid242

ps: the auto-resolve "spell" also uses 0 MP as well!, so you can do it every-battle and not have to worry about running out of mana!

I think post like this help everyone feel more confident... how about next week different devs post on different days a quick done list/to-do list just so we can see how different areas are going? maybe have jessie explain the fps trick?

also hope that "Magic System Numbers" is followed closely by other combat numbers... general to-hit rolls, defence rolls, action points, individuals vs groups, low health and such... I like the MoM mechanics although I look forward to something even better than that in time. (some mom mechanics here figures 20+ in the strategy guide)

Yeah, Multiplayer too...I'm just a bit removed from that part, but definatly coming soon.

Enjoy your weekend off.

Biggest gameplay problems after many hours

1: The biggest, most baddest AI on an 8AI small map suicided at my door by sending in his king with pitiful backup.  (on easy)

2: Magic doesn't feel terribly magic-y.  I want giant spells that have a chance to backfire (rain fire across a wide area on the cloth map, but if I'm not strong enough the storm could go haywire and spawn above him instead).  Or a spell that *could* double or even triple the output of a mine, yet it could also open it to endless caverns of monsters.  Aka : Turns mine into portal for monsters. 

3: Elemental Shards don't' feel very powerful.  I'm never in a rush (even on a 8AI smallest map) to get them.  Throw in a few abilities that require a shard or more.  If a channeler is on top of a shard he should get a tremendous bonus. 

4: Cities feel more or less the same.  I rarely have felt a decision between 2 structures, other than which one should come first.  A city build for my front line isn't any different than one in the safest of locations aside from the fort.

5: I created a maphack ingame.  Or in a better description, I spent $500 on $10 rings to grant me +50 eyesight when all equipped.  Unequipping and the vision is still there..

Agreed that "to-do" lists are very encouraging, reassures us that you're aware of and working on the things we keep complaining about Which is especially important for the new customers I imagine, who may not share the confidence us longterm fans have, considering that most companies don't listen to feedback and actively support games post-release like Stardock does.

You guys did a great job during these last few days. You certainly deserve a few days break

But don't keep us waiting too long for more updates

An issue that I find currently odd, and something that I did post about during beta. But as powerful as people say a Channeler is. Their spells often do squat for damage. And yet giving them a bow, so they can do something every round feels bassackwards. 

There should be a base spell that costs NO mana. That represents a standard ball of damaging magic the caster can use, every round. It's something that was learned in D&D (took until 4th edition), but a player should be able to DO something EVERY round! No if's and's or buts. They shouldn't have to carry a weapon JUST to be able to do something. Currently this just feels wrong that you have to give a bow to a sovereign so they can be powerful.

I've got other ideas to.. many of them were in the beta forums that I posted on. Still think many of them are valid as well. All in all, I'm having fun but there are flavor choices that certainly need a look at once all the technical drama fades.

One thing I can't trust about stardock....when they say they are going to bed.

At the risk of sounding terribly ungrateful at all the wonderful work you guys are doing, I want to state one thing for the record here, and that's that it's really, really important that Elemental be able to generate random geography by itself someday.  No random maps is the one thing that will, 100% guaranteed, kill the game at some point in the future.  You can't brute-force it just by adding more maps every once in a while; even with a hundred maps of each size, the odds of getting a duplicate within ten games is something like 40%, and nobody wants to say "ugh, not this map again" in a 4x game.  In the short term it's fine to keep the furnace fueled with new hand-made seeds occasionally while you work on major performance and balance issues, but I really hope you guys understand how critical a true random map generator is for the long-term success of the game.

I only bring this up now because this is the second time "new map seeds" has popped up in a changelog, and I don't think there's ever been an official response on whether or not random maps is something that's on the table or not.

First, let me say that the release is a pretty good one (and I am one of those who has single digit FPS over cities)

A brand new engine, a brand new game, and overall it went smoother than say HOI3 (yes a Paradox fan too).

Here is my condensed list:

1.  Create rollovers everywhere.  If I hover over a weapon in research menu, I want to see its stats.

2.  Show resources with income.  i.e. 10(+2)

3.  Show all icons in the Icon menu.  Expand the outer container if need be.  Too many clicks now

4.  Condense (merge) some techs.  More content isn't always a good thing.

5.  Option for faster animations in Tactical combat.  Currently walking/casting/shooting takes forever

6.  Warning when you press End Turn and there are still armies that can be moved

7.  Merge the quantity/size setting for unit training into a single scale.  Current design is overkill.

8.  Tab/Next Unit shouldn't select caravans

9.  Graphical indicator showing the projected path the unit will take to its destination.

10.  Tactical Combat:  Odds and potential damage of action when hovering action over target (i.e. if selected Fireball and hovering over target it should say 2-7 damage, 10% resistance chance or whatever).  Also, in same rollover display bonuses/maluses in effect (i.e. if archers have a malus due to range)

11.  Strategic Resources ala GalCiv:  something that isn't a resource but augments some aspect of your Empire.

12.  Flanking logic!  Units should have reduced defense from sides/rear

13.  Unit levels should be clearly marked and accessible in Strategic and Tactical views.  Preferable denoted by some icon (i.e. a number of stars) with a rollover explaining what this level of experience actually does for the unit (i.e. +1 HP, +1 ATT, +2 DEF)

14.  Overlays on the mini-map (i.e. Kingdom influence areas)

15.  Overlays on the main map (i.e. Kingdom influence areas, easy resource indicators, roads...etc)

I'm glad that Stardock takes post-release support so seriously but I'm kind of paranoid that some design choices which are a huge concern if the game is to reach its full potential are just going to get completely ignored, since they seem to have been ignored int the beta. As is, this game lacking nearly all of the charm of Master of Magic, and I think a lot of the criticisms have really zeroed in on why that is. Weak and bland heroes, extreme lack of passive special abilities (in MoM almost every unit had at least one special ability and that added A LOT to the atmosphere), lack of differentiation between schools of magic, lack of differentiation between races/civilizations, no flight and other such important special abilities, etc.

I don't feel like a god-like wizard lording over a kingdom which employs powerful and flavorful individuals, and I think that's a bigger problem in the long run than the bugs and AI and balance issues which I utterly trust Stardock will fix.