Hackbar

Reply to Elemental Alpha: Invites going out in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="ckessel" reply="11" id="2327158"] What about the whips? Will there be whips there? Only if you play as the Fallen. [/quote][quote who="Annatar11" reply="10" id="2327153"]What about the whips? Will there be whips there? [/quote] Some companies use level caps, area lockouts, and the like to ensure that beta testers focus on the elements developers feel need testing. In keeping with their cutting-edge policies on subjects like DR

Reply to A Round On Me in War of Magic Elemental Forums

Are you sure it's wise to be giving them alcohol before the Alpha/Beta is released? ;P So how does one donate to this little shindig? There's no way I'd be able to make it out there from California (though with more notice I would certainly try!) but I'd certainly like to raise a toast and offer a round to the people responsible for SOASE and Elemental, and I even liked what little time I had with GalCiv 2 enough to throw a bone to anyone who worked exclusively on

Reply to You're Banned!: The Forum Game in Everything Else Elemental Forums

Banned for being a Sith with more than one name after 'Darth.' We don't tolerate that kind of affront to order here.

Reply to Stardock acquiring other Developers in PC Gaming Elemental Forums

I'd love to see what Relic would do if it were independent of THQ and published through Stardock, but unfortunately that would mean they would have to more or less buy themselves back from THQ. I can't see THQ allowing them to make enough money to do that, and I can't see Stardock being willing or able to plop down the vast amount of cash THQ would demand for one of their star cash cows. I weep.

Reply to Concerns I am starting to have in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="b0rsuk" reply="3" id="2121524"] In fact, races in most fantasy games differ less than enemies in real world. Conventional army versus native americans - both had very different technology, culture, and ways of warfare. Mongols against typical feudal armies of medieval Europe - to mongols, knightly honour and ways of fighting were ridiculous. [/quote] An excellent point. Part of this is undoubtably to make games more approachable and easier to learn.&nbs

Reply to Triumphs in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

I like the ideas of triumpths and monuments. There's nothing like celebrating one's great victory with a marker on the world map and a grand parade through your capital city, boosting morale, diplomatic influence, and trade. (your people feel more comfortable with going abroad to trade, seeing as your mighty armies can clearly crush any threat to their safety) I think the defensive equivalent could be interesting, as well. Win enough defenseive battles at a given location and it becomes

Reply to Building a fantasy world in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="BoogieBac" reply="9" id="2086392"]Empire:Total War is more along the scope of what we want in Tactical Battles....more of a realistic scale between the world and the units. On the main map, unit's are more abstracted (a 'realistic sized' unit on a tile would be a dot), but the entire map does some crazy scaling that I have a hard time explaining. [/quote] Maybe some screenshots would explain? [/please?] That's great to hear, b

Reply to Thoughts about the Fallen in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="13" id="2076460"] Quoting landisaurus, reply 12 It would be like balancing a check book, you don't want to run out of money, but you don't want to not-spend it either. Bad analogy, because you're not going to spend your money in order to balance your check book. At least I hope not, or you've got some major financial troubles coming up! [/quote] It's not necessarily a bad analogy at all.

Reply to How do we know to pre-order? in War of Magic Elemental Forums

Yes, but didn't they say they wanted to make it so the game could be played entirely from the cloth map in order to allow super-low-end systems to run the game smoothly?

Reply to Pre-Ordered and in it for the Long Haul: Sound Off in War of Magic Elemental Forums

Proerdered and anxiously awaiting my chance to help make Elemental awesome. I'm really glad stardock came along and decided to go and make all the games I've wanted for a long time but no publisher has had the balls to finance. Now if Stardock would somehow buy Relic and announce a Homeworld 3 project, I think I could live the rest of my life never buying from another game company.

Reply to New copy protection comming for Spore and Mass Effect (EA) in PC Gaming Sins Forums

I hate these moronic piracy debates and the aggressive profit-protection measures that inevitably spawn them. For all you pirates out there (and I do not claim that never in my life have I pirated or stolen anything) piracy is in fact illegal and is at best morally questionable. Yes, piracy can lead to game sales in some cases because a pirated copy provides a much better idea of a what a game is like than the pathetic excuses for demos that I've seen lately. Anyone who claims pirates don't buy

Reply to Need some honest advice regarding which game to buy in PC Gaming Sins Forums

BFME 2 is graphically OK and fun to play, but multi player is horrendously buggy. Expect loads of crashes and player drops if you plan to LAN it or play online. Also, I was disappointed with the detail when zoomed all the way in, but that's not too huge a deal. I'm just spoiled by the stellar graphics in Relic RTS games and keep expecting everyone else to be as good. Besides, BFME2 has plenty of other graphical effects that are very nice. As for the important part, BFME gameplay isn't half bad.

Reply to Piracy & PC Gaming in GalCiv Journals Sins Forums

[quote]Okay, alright... I just have to ask... what games target the Chinese market?[/quote] The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the semi-MMO version of Company of Heroes that Relic is supposedly developing exclusively for the Chinese market. Not sure what the heck they're thinking there, really. I mean, yeah, it's a big market and it's not too easy to pirate an MMO, but China-only?

Reply to [MOD/MAPS] "TrueSpace" for Sins in Sins Modding Sins Forums

Anybody home? I really hope this mod isn't dead. Let me know if you need some help. (says the man with no modding skills)

Reply to Homeworld Lover Request in Games Sins Forums

Last I checked, both games were available on Ebay for around 10 USD. Amazon might have them as well, though I didn't bother to do a search. Also, you might consider investing in a CD scratch repair kit. I've used several different types and they generally work surprisingly well. There are some scratches, of course, that are beyond repair, but it's amazing how bad a disc can appear and still be recoverable.

Reply to [MOD/MAPS] "TrueSpace" for Sins in Sins Modding Sins Forums

Wow. You've done all that already? I'm really looking forward to trying it out. I've got one question, though. You made it clear that pirates hide at the outer edges of systems, and that they can be disabled, but I'm confused as to whether they're in every system or just a few. Also, would it not make sense for pirates to prefer barren "dead" systems or dangerous "portal" systems so as to best stay hidden from the authorities?

Reply to Empire Tree woes in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

I haven't run in to 3 very much, but 1 and 2 have been the only thing that keeps me from using the Empire Tree constantly. I use it more to keep track of things than for actual command, but only because it sometimes seems to have a mind of it's own. My biggest gripe, though, is that I'd like new systems to be added to the tree contracted rather than expanded, as I find the expanded view just gets in the way except in certain cases.

Reply to Vasari phase stabilizers and trade/refinery in Strategy Sins Forums

I'm pretty sure they also reduce distance from home planet, as every planet with a phase stabilizer I've had went up to 90% allegiance with media hubs when it was capped at 80 or lower before.

Reply to Allegiance & Rebel "problems" in Strategy Sins Forums

[quote] Um.... given the strength (weak) of rebel attacks, any serious assault force (heck, even a mere raiding force!) would seriously out power any rebel forces. The only way they'd interfere is if you're trying for an AI style siege frigate raid [/quote] Actually, I've had rebels (multiple heavy cruisers and a dozen or so frigates) damage my force of a Marza (level 4) 2 siege frigs, half a dozen Cobalts, and half a dozen Javelis LRMS en

Reply to TEC Scenario: stalemate --> slow pillow suffocation in Strategy Sins Forums

Binksy and zzz give good advice. The planet shield really does stop most bombardments cold, and even a determined force won't be able to bring down your planet before reinforcements arrive from a few jumps away. T he repair bay is something you should always, ALWAYS have on front line cities. The only excuse for not having them is if you're trying for the all-civic no-military research achievement. Even then, once you've got the achievement you can research military techs in the same ga

Reply to TEC Scenario: stalemate --> slow pillow suffocation in Strategy Sins Forums

Binksy and zzz give good advice. The planet shield really does stop most bombardments cold, and even a determined force won't be able to bring down your planet before reinforcements arrive from a few jumps away. T he repair bay is something you should always, ALWAYS have on front line cities. The only excuse for not having them is if you're trying for the all-civic no-military research achievement. Even then, once you've got the achievement you can research military techs in the same ga

Reply to Can we be honorable warriors in Sins....... in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

You know, as much as I find real genocide to be terrifyingly evil, I really can't see the races in Sins settling for anything less than the complete annihilation of their enemies. Consider the backstory and races' points of view. TEC: Half the planets on any given map used to be TEC. Now they're populated by ailen scum who enslave us to build their ships and suck our worlds dry of resources to rebuild and refuel their fleets, all the while fully intending to leave us behind to deal with what

Reply to How to Fix the Diplomacy System in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

While I agree that the diplomacy system needs work, the game's backstory provides a compelling reason for everyone to be hostile at game start. It wouldn't make sense any other way. I agree entirely that the player should be as free to make demands of the AI as the AI is to make demands of the player, and that the AI should act in a fashion that makes a little more sense as far as extending an olive branch while you're at war.

Reply to Allegiance & Rebel "problems" in Strategy Sins Forums

[quote] The rebels will fight with the TEC player who caused them, but they won't actually attack his planets. [/quote] The point I was trying to make is that, for the TEC player, rebels can actually make it more difficult to take a system, since the rebels will drop what they're doing and attack any siege frigates in the system thanks to the goofy targeting priorities, and the TEC ships, if left alone, will also attack rebel siege frigates who ar

Reply to Allegiance & Rebel "problems" in Strategy Sins Forums

Think of the Rebels as a mixed blessing. Sure, they're causing a mess in your system, but it's better than getting nailed with a novalith cannon. Rebels will attack everyone, even the masters of the culture that spawned them to begin with, so when the enemy shows up to take your rebel-infested system from you it's a 3-way battle. Left to their own targeting priorities, I've observed the rebel and invader fleets trying to take down each other's siege frigates rather than fighting their common ene