Ellestar

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="LDiCesare" reply="6" id="2191747"]You don't need a combo to be a game-winning combo all by itself to be a viable strategy. Dom3 cannot be won using a single trick, which makes it more strategic than MtG, not the opposite. I used Mtg in the beginning to point out that a game with complexity could be popular, and pointed out why Dom3 is complex too but not as easy to grasp. Point remains that Mtg has complexity but doesn't have a steep learning curve. Arguing that both games have di

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="LDiCesare" reply="4" id="2191603"] Like Dom3 Darkness spell which affects both you and your enemies and only happens to be useful if you have night-seeing units (or units with auras which cause damage without having to see anything)? Or Communion Master which is useless if noone casts Communion Slave AND noone casts other spells afterwards? Like combining spell effects? Come on![/quote] Wow, obvious pairs are somehow equal to combo decks. Don't make me laugh. Say, in

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="LDiCesare" reply="2" id="2191408"] Generic magical effects???? I think you didn't play Dom3 enough. There are astral only spells like antimagic or Master Enslave (take control ofevery enemy unit that fails an easy saving throw). There is a death enchantment that causes all units in the world to age 12 times faster (which usually amounts to "Everyone Attack me" in MP), another death spell that causes darkness on the battlefield, a magic item that blinds everyone on the battlef

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="b0rsuk" reply="18" id="2187750"] My point: Learning curve is once, having to replay dumbed down design is forever.[/quote] Continuing about complex games. The most complex board game is Go , and it has what? A board and stones, that's all. Still, "Go is noted for being rich in strategic complexity despite its simpl

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="b0rsuk" reply="18" id="2187750"]Can you support that ? "Build order" is a phrase extremely common in RTS communities, and it's something often hotly debated. Perhaps because a game like starcraft leaves little else to master except build orders and finger dexterity ?[/quote] By the way, didn't i already said in that thread that you're wrong when you think it's finger dexterity that matters? APM of 200 is more than enough

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="b0rsuk" reply="18" id="2187750"] Strong opinions without any support, use of derogatory terms, a lot of assumptions(probably, I suppose...), belittle.[/quote] What you call "strong opinions" are not really opinions, that's knowledge. You may ask for specifics if you want. I'm making assumptions when i don't know for sure. N00bs just say "Starcraft is not a strategy game" without any assumptions because they're not knowledgeable enough so to doubt their premise

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="LDiCesare" reply="17" id="2187618"]I don't think Civ IV offers a fast multiplayer mode. It's just slow. First rounds include lots of hitting next turn or moving a single warrior. I never managed to end a 4 or 5 player MP Civ IV game in one evening (which I did in Dom3). I agree that having fast mode is cool, but that should last about 2-3 hours, 4 at most.[/quote] Yes and no. Overall, Civ 4 MP support was lacking. However, there is a turn timer and a city elimination limit

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="b0rsuk" reply="15" id="2185717"] Dominions3 is a niche game, but in no way a failure. *** Dominions 3 is a very good game for its intended audience. [/quote] I think it fails. Customers think it fails. Hardcore fans think it isn't, so what? From what i saw, Stardock actually cares about sales. Well, they're making games for their own money instead of someone else's money, so there is no surprise here. [quote who="b0rs

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

To continue the discussion, on a Sirlin's site i found an interesting link to an article that explains why some games just fail (*cough*Dominions 3) and how to make a better and more popular game. It's an article by another professional game designer "link: All genres are Doomed" that perfectly explains why Dominions 3 is the epitome of a niche game with all it's complexity and th

Reply to Elemental: Modding & Single Player in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="SimRex" reply="12" id="2178262"] Python was fast enough to script a third-person RPG (with perhaps the best real-time swordplay combo system I've ever seen in a game) as early as 2001's Severance: Blade of Darkness, and a 3D space sim, Star Trek: Bridge Commander, in 2002. In both games, all of the actual game logic is in Python. In 2003, Stackless Python (a variant) was used, and continues to be used to this day, for the server and client of EVE Online.

Reply to Elemental: Modding & Single Player in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote quoting="post"] You have gameplay scripting. We are using Python and that is where the rules of the game itself are modded. You have the AI scripting. Again, using Python, that is where the AI behavior is modded. [/quote] It's nice that gameplay and AI will be moddable but look at Civ 4 modding. AFAIK even some parts of Fall From Heaven mod were re-written so to use C++ instead of Python as Python is much slower. And IIRC Lua is faster than

Reply to MSNBC Report on Demigod and Piracy in PC Gaming Elemental Forums

[quote who="SnallTrippin" reply="25" id="2176488"] The differences are quite apparent. I have control of and can check and exe or other file I download. Also I know that the patch came from the game company, baring a complete takeover of a website/fileserver for a VERY short time that would effect relaitively small amounts of consumers. On the other hand if a company/server had the ability to access and change files whenever I was playing a game...well...yeah.&nbsp

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="LDiCesare" reply="12" id="2176166"] So when the game has options like declaring peace, rights of passage, mutual protection pacts like Civ4, or giving gold/gems/magic items and sending text messages like Dom3, it's no longer metagame. At least, it doesn't fit with the 'simple terms' definition.[/quote] You don't just send an in-game offer about mutual protection or something, right? If you make an out-of-game agreement, it's metagame. And that agreement doesn't even r

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="LDiCesare" reply="10" id="2175601"] You might want to read again what I wrote. I never said Dom "sucked by itself". I said it's not balanced. YOU translate it as "not balanced = sucks". Diplomacy is not metagame when playing MP. IT's one of the funniest things in MP. And ins trategy, diplomacy is key too. YMMV. Why Dominions? Because it's got more features inside than any other game and is way more fun than Risk.[/quote] Yes, I translate it as "not balanced = sucks".<

Reply to MSNBC Report on Demigod and Piracy in PC Gaming Elemental Forums

[quote who="SnallTrippin" reply="11" id="2175722"]And I'm saying that would allow companies insane access to your machine. Not to mention what I'm sure some smart person would distribute viruses that way. But yeah, you're an IT specialist...you know what your talking about I guess. /S[/quote] Well, yes. If you launch any game with an exe file, you're already giving all access you can possibly give to that company. They don't need anything else besides that exe file if they

Reply to MSNBC Report on Demigod and Piracy in PC Gaming Elemental Forums

[quote who="SnallTrippin" reply="4" id="2175256"] Server side games? I would NEVER play a game like that. (Except on a console maybe) The security issues are HUGE. I don't trust anyone with that kind of access.[/quote] Server-side hosting of games. And there are no extra security issues at all because of it, i'm saying it as an IT specialist.

Reply to Two kinds of reputation in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

P.S. And that stupid forum doesn't work well if you format the quotes for your liking... I'm sure i didn't make any mistakes there, and now i can't even edit it. Preview option should have been nice to have as well.

Reply to Two kinds of reputation in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

[quote who="b0rsuk" reply="21" id="2173647"] This is going to be low: how about American soldiers in Iraq ? The treatment of prisoners etc ? American soldiers were supposedly the good guys. It's certainly possible for a 'good leader' like G.W. Bush to not be able to keep army disciplined. Would things be different if there was harsh punishment for breaking human rights (prisoners)?[/quote] Since when a bloody militarist like Bush become a 'good leader'? Maybe i missed something?

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="LDiCesare" reply="8" id="2173573"] Looks like you missed the smiley. I know it got botched, but your argument is the game is balanced, not that the game is a balanced strategy game. Balanced games aren't necessarily strategic. Dominions is very unbalanced, and still the best MP strategy game I know despite that. Balance is really important only for duels or when there are a few opponents. When there are 10 players struggling, unbalances don't matter much because looking weake

Reply to Two kinds of reputation in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

[quote] Fear: - army is more disciplined. Mutiny is rare. There are fewer willful commanders who compromise your orders for personal gain. Soldiers are less likely to act on their will and plunder, rape etc. (unless explicitely allowed) [/quote] Isn't "evil" army more likely to plunder and rape than "good" army? And "evil" commanders are more likely to overlook it. [quote] - population is unitied in support for you. Your cities are harder to inf

Reply to Two kinds of reputation in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

[quote who="Kitkun" reply="17" id="2171855"]Hmm...I like the ideas here. Although I'm not so sure about what exactly feared and loved should entail. For example someone who is feared will likely have plots against them. But if there is no plots, then someone looking for them through sheer paranoia will start finding lots of them. Secret police, citizens vanishing, etc. Some people just plain follow orders, no matter how deranged. Some people do things

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="5" id="2171556"] Given all the...fun we've been having dealing with Demigod's MP, I think it's safe to say that I would rather not have Elemental's fate determined by factors that are very difficult to predict pre-release.[/quote] Civ 4 had about the same problems with GameSpy and P2P. The difference is that Civ 4 is singleplayer game, not an MP-only like Demigod. [quote who="dionisus1122" reply="2" id="2171335"] And again we see the dange

Reply to If You Could Only Play 3 Games This Year in PC Gaming Elemental Forums

Starcraft 2 Majesty 2 Elemental

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Demigod Forums

[quote who="GW Swicord" reply="22" id="2155994"] I hope Elemental is able to earn Stardock good money by reaching a wide range of players, but I can't help scoffing someone who thinks the TBS genre ought to be limited to "quick" games. My sense of stragetic thinking is all about the long term, and sometimes that means putting down a game at a given moment so I can think about things for before I start inputting decisions again. And that doesn't even begin to touch on my taste for a game

Reply to Elemental & Civilization 4 in Elemental Dev Journals Demigod Forums

[quote who="LDiCesare" reply="21" id="2155378"] Very funny, you just said: It is a strategy game because it is a strategy game. Great proof. :b: It does not require much, if any, strategic thinking, but a lot of tactical thinking AND good reflexes.[/quote] Because it has the best balance. If you don't understand why balance is important for strategy games then sucks to be you. [quote who="LDiCesare" reply="21" id="2155378"] Go is turn-based, isn't it? W