Session Report - Bugs,Comments...

from Elemental Forums

Played for two days a longer game on a small map.

Bugs:

  • Combat: Sometimes the Control-buttons do not work in combat, or the units/heroes do not react anymore when I play "pass".Switching to Auto-Mode and switching back helps then.
  • Combat: Sometimes Range-Attacks with staffs reach the units from the wrong side (shoot from above, beam comes from the left)
  • Combat: The Spell "Growth" on Warg-Riding-Units has the Shrink-Animation (unit is smaller)

 

  • World-Map: The Control-buttons (for example for Heroes "Trade" etc.) are "permeable": When you want to click the Trade-Function and an enemy-army is under the button, your mouse cursor turns into crossed swords, keeping that condition in the trade-Menu preventing several functions.

Suggestions/Wish-List:

  • Mini-Map: I do not understand the mini-map, for me it is difficult to see where is what location, the orientation because of the isometric design is very complicated on the mini-Map, North is not North etc., I do not know if I will learn to handle this or if that could be improved.
  • Settle/Material and food of tiles: I am missing options for the map for example showing me possible settle-locations/Material and Food-values. I play a little bit strange now to find the right place: When I move the mouse-Cursor over the settle-button of any pioneer I can see the values of any location in range of sight of any of my units.
  • Streets/Towns/Moving armies: When a city has the maximum garrison inside, moving units have to walk around the whole city and can not use the street-bonus anymore. When you have big cities that can cost a lot of turns, and is not quite logic.
  • Bonus for City-Level: I would like to have the possibility to watch city-Details before choosing my bonus, I do not want to note the values for grain and materials for every city so that I know what bonus would fit best.
  • Garrison/wages at the beginning: In non of my games (all played on Challeging) it was neccessary to defend my cities or outposts with extra-units, the situation seems a little bit strange to me: When you are not at war with the AI nobody will attack you, and when you are attacked by "freed" monsters and your souvereign or other heroes are not there most of the time the units you can build at the beginning have no chance against  them, so it makes no difference if you build them or not. And the wages are to high at the beginning, I had three cities, and one (self-designed) unit costed more than my cities had as income.
  • The AI seems to be attacked less often by "free" monsters, sometimes they build ouposts inbetween hordes of monsters. Seldom something is destroyed. I tried to avoid attacking monsters near the AI becuause I hoped the AI would get in trouble then.
  • The AI seems not to be interested in collecting the items that can be found at the locations of defeated monsters?
  • Hunters have a bonus against beasts: What is a beast? Are Dragons and Elementals Beasts , too? Or is it meant in the sense of animal? Same for weapons against "twisted": I am missing these infomation to be found easily in the help index.

 

Comments on Balance/AI/Gameplay:

I like the Design and Idea of the Game very much, but I am afraid if the game makes fun in the sense of strategic competition.

I am a little bit disappointed that strategic round based games in 2012 have such big problems to create (the illusion of) a challenging AI.

Civ V for example uses the cheapest and oldest way to make the game more difficult: Hordes of enemy-units.

In FE at the moment I see the problem that there are so many wonderful possibilities and Ideas, but I had no problem to beat the AI on the difficult-Level "Challenging" the oldest way: War.

It was no problem for me to capture any city (I still do not know for what you need siege weapons...).

The AI helped me by doing very strange things: Heroes standing around alone in forests, Pioneer-Armies, moving armies of possible City-Defenders outside the town one turn before I wanted to attack the town.

 

I am afraid that the game will always feel unready and a little bit schematic.

I like to play it to explore sth. different, a new game, fantastic things like the Unit-Editor, but I am not sure if I will love the game, If it will attract me strategical. Iwant to play a "Master of Magic 2012", what it feels like right know is like a "round based Heroes of Might&Magic".

 

 

 

 

 

2,490 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

OK, there are animals/beasts, constructs, twisted...after playing some games  I know many of them, but an overview would be nice.

 

I missed the option to rotate the map, but I found it, by klicking the middle-mouse-button.

But still the navigation on the minimap seems complicated to me.

 

Hard is much better/more Competition then challenging, I was "visited" by monsters and the AI (tried to) attacked me.

Still it was no problem for me in my first game to beat them military (Medium Map this time), there is only one opponent left, he has half the power-Level of mine, two are destroyed or to weak to be a threat and two are my vassals. It took not very long to achieve this...

Perhaps "a problem" with experienced Strategy Game Players searching for new challenges...

It makes fun, but I am not sure for how many games...

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Bug: There is one Hero who casts "Mass Curse" in his first turn. Afer casting he is not "controllable", no Control-Buttons appear... switching to Auto and switching back resolves the problem.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Regarding the AI. This game is in beta and the AI is improving for every version (sometimes a new bug creeps in and the AI gets worse). The AI in this game will moste likely be far better than CIV V. Its months from release yet.

 

Some of the bugs you mention is on the fix list for the next beta version. 

 

This beta is not meant as a taste of the full game, but it is a work in progress. Expect bad AI, changing features, bug and so on. That is what beta is about. 

 

 

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

I hope that, too.

But I bought and played Elemental and that beta now is a kind of Update for me...

So they had a lot of time, more then the coming months...

But could nothing better happen then a round based strategy game with a better AI then Civ V.

And it is always the question for who the game will be made for, as I saw regarding Civ there are a lot of Casual Gamers,

just want to play around a bit and are not unlucky with fast success,

After my opinion for that case are difficult-levels made, but how you realize that is a bit tricky.

I appreciate that they "openend" the beta for so many players, that shows me that they want to make a good game, and I will try to do my part in descibing what I see, think and like as a Veteran (Master of Magic, Master of Orion 2, Grandest Fleet, Fantasy General, Civ 1-5,...).

 

A good point would be when the AI starts to mix their amies (magic, Range Attack, Horses, front-Fighter...).

Perhaps it should be possible to build "little" Mages, who just know one spell or minor spells (Level, Power).

 

A perfect defense are the spells that can be cast only on your territory, but that seems to be sth. the Ai is not using/knowing yet.

Perhaps it would also be intersting when you have destroyable obstacles or walls and towers on the battlefield (which you have to build as improvements)

when fighting in a town, so you need time or siege weapons to conquer the town.

 

Are there/will there be any advantages/needs to build towns near the ocean/water?

I remember there were harbours and ships in Elemental.

 

Cool that my opponents use my unit-designs...now I see how strong my units were...