Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

GalCiv 2 is clearly a different game, 4X in space does not have to be MoO2 spin off. Having said that, GalCiv 2 was kinda boring after a while, too abstract.

I liked the Space Empires series for the tactical battles. Somewhere on the net is a blow by blow account of a MASSIVE SE IV: Carrier Battles mod battle. Picture the biggest movie space battle with massive numbers of tiny fighters buzzing around the battleships, it must have taken the player hours just to do that one battle.

Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

I would consider Gratuitous Space Battles an example of a well designed space combat system, though it is only that. Put that in with an economy, research, and all that and you would have a solid space opera 4x game.

Yes, its like the combat in Dom 3 as a stand-alone game.

Well, Elemental: War of Magic version 1.0 is on my pc and I feel it is not too shabby. Not too shabby indeed. I was concerned but now feel better about it, this game has really good potential to be another Dom 3, ie still kicking years after its release.

I must say that I have not played much of it yet (sleep takes precedent and I'm pooped after work) and I'm a gamer who is forgiving and patient. Having said this I have not seen bugs of any kind, so basically its a 1.0 version, it works, possibly has some non-game breaking "quirks" and has spelling mistakes (like Dom 3 :) ). I believe the engine will allow for some great gaming experiences, as it stands I have not played enough to say either way if it has solid replayability on release but I am happy with what I have seen.

Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

Doo, now that you have 1.0 can you relate to some of the questions below:
Do the races/nations feel unique and interesting?
Is the spell system interesting?
Is tactical battle interesting?
Are the races balanced by way of being more or less a copy of each other?

and bonus Q
Will Elemental ever support MP?

Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

From what I can see of the game now, I'd say "no" to most of your first questions, whereby I found the spell system to be somewhat interesting (if not as interesting as Dom3's), and "yes" to the last question. To disambiguate:
- No
- Somewhat
- No
- Yes

Bonus Question: Yes. (It should support MP now, but I havent played that yet). (What's the prize for the bonus Q? :D)

Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

you get the first copy of a game of your choice from the list below:
a- MOM II
b- Dominions IV
c- IW's secret game

That's the gaming industry's best kept secret, they not only exist and enjoyed by many (albeit at the cost of signing an NDA), they are also given as prizes for bonus questions (sadly making their MP community somewhat small) ;)

Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

MoM II has existed in many forms since MoM 1.
Some have reached being playable, but none have reached distribution form that I know of. Most of them are good starts that get destroyed by an effort to make them multiplayer.

Dom IV is still in discussion mode as I understand it. (note that it is not being done by Illwinter)

IW's secret game is only alpha as far as I know and their alpha's tend to require a working knowledge of Finnish which I dont have.

You forgot to mention :

Space Empires Plus, one of which is back to looking for programmers and the other is nearing alpha (neither done by Malfador)

VGA Planets IV which has become overdeveloped for release

Malfador's latest project World Supremacy which is in Apha

Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

There is a lot of feedback, most of it pointing to the game being "fun but unpolished".

http://forums.elementalgame.com/391385

http://forums.elementalgame.com/391443
http://forums.elementalgame.com/391433
(and many more)

Some of the more disturbing stuff is that the "random" maps are not random. The goodies huts are random but you always get some starting resources nearby like fertile land. However the land mass is seeded, meaning that the ocean, mountains, forests, etc. are all static. Kind of takes the wind out of exploration.

Also the tactical combat (which is the biggest draw for me personally) is disabled in multiplayer. It still might be a fun single player game (with time) but I can't see it replacing Dominions.

Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

What? Where? How? When? Who? (And possibly some other one-word questions too.) This is new info, right? Haven't heard anything about it before.

Re: OT: Starcraft II and Elemental
 

This is much like Civ IV. The default random map generators put a lot of additional resources near the player's starting location.

By seeded, you mean a same seed gives the same result, not that it's always the same seed? Please?