I once had a discussion on winged humanoids. In DnD and other places humans with wings are a common feature. But in real life you would need a wingspan of over 40 feet, and that is just if you want to glide. Powered flight is probably impossible because we don't have room for any more muscles and wings can't be connected to any of the existing muscles.

Of course of magic is involved all bets are off.

Can't wait till beta

I think most of the information asked about in this thread can be inferred by looking closely at the image of the battle under the media section. One thing I notice is the soldier closest to the dragon seems to have lost his sword (it is seen above him) which implies that soldiers can be separated from their equipment in battle. This could just be a superficial death animation, but some of the other soldiers also flying through the air still have their swords, implying it might be something more. Now, if soldiers can be separated from equipment, it also implies they can be separated from their mounts. What happens after they are separated... I dont think any outside of Stardock knows.

Then again, it could just be the result of placeholder animations put in so they could get screenshots out this early

Unfortunately it's probably the latter... But wouldn't this be revolutionary?   I think if any company could do this it would be Stardock, and Im looking forward to seeing this all play out!!

Imagine a rider getting knocked off his bear (or horse ) and spearing himself when he fell!  not to be morbid or anything Or... Or... An Enchanted Sword wielding Paladin gets killed, and his sword flies across the field and lands next to a another soldier, who recently had been disarmed in combat, who grabs the sword, turns around and slays his pursuer! Ok, I need to calm down, im getting ahead of myself here!

But loving the idea Frogboy  

All Hail the FROG!!   

I think you're taking it too far. Elemental is a world of magic, so the entire game won't be running based off of realistic physics. Mundane soldiers and the likes could easily be done with pretty realistic physics properties. But more importantly, I don't think that controlled flight will be managed by the physics engine. It would require many extra parameters like the density of air, aerodynamics, etc. Way more complicated than physics for walking and uncontrolled flight (like being thrown). Based on frogboy's post, what the physics would do is determine the motion of the soldier riding a pegasus, and how the pegasus' armor moves. There will obviously be preset animtions for many things. For example, there will probably be a walk-cycle. If somebody wants to mod in a new creature, they probably have to supply some basic animation sequences with it, and the rest will be dealt with by the physics.

As Luckmann said, this feature allows us to create units piece by piece and have the result look natural. Plus the side effect of some real nice eye candy, and maybe even some physics-based combat.

The argument that this is a 4X game, so they shouldn't spend so much time on combat doesn't really work in this case. It appears that SD wants there to be a pretty involved tactical combat aspect to the game (with auto-resolve for those who don't want to bother). And frankly, having half-assed tactical combat is far worse than having none at all.

One of my biggest concerns with Galciv II was the ship creator.. it made me want to design my ships to look good rather than just what they have.  A system like this could mean they look good, but I don't think I would feel too required to put massive effort into each and every unit I make.

..Also, this is a thread about the physics system, and how it applies to the graphics of tactical battles, right?  Where do the gameplay concerns some of you are voicing come into that?

That's somehow dissappointing.

While I also like eye candy, I would prefer a physics system to be integrated in to the combat engine, and not only for graphical effects. (I interprete your answer that it will only have a visual impact.)

But we're still waiting for the video.

As for Pegasi, since they're magical creatures anyway I can make them fly the way I want. And if all fails, I can still strap rockets under their wings, can't I?

Whats the visual equivalent of a rotten tooth?

I don't really understand what that has to do with my statement, really. Anybody who doesn't like tactical combat or doesn't want to deal with it won't feel that they are missing anything by pressing auto-resolve. My point is that there is going to be tactical combat in the game. And if the combat is going to be half-assed, then the people who like tactical combat will be disappointed, while the people who don't like tactical combat or don't want to deal with it in this type of game won't care less. On the other hand if it's done well, then the people who like tactical combat will be happy, and the others still couldn't care less. Hoping for a feature to be half-assed just so you don't feel like you're missing out on something if you choose not to use it is pretty cynical and silly.

/OT

Sounds really nice. We need to see the video. This might make customization a more solid feature, has itens will also be affect by the weight and look individually on the body like the way you produced them. Being that nicier for the realistic/solid feel and animation looks.

At the close combat map, I hope some soldiers also act individually with their own AI or the same AI randomized (That can vary and unnexpected results/actions happen).

Depending on the training and the small or large part of your army you choose to give strong training (time/upgrades or kingdom likeness), they could be brave or not; could it be bold and also technique apart. A bold warrior would try to inflict more attacks and take iniciatives. Talking of direct combatants (not ranged), only these would attack a Dragon (and be suitable for it) don't let it advance to the archers and other ranged support (especially good here) and have the possibility of hits (cuts), if they are bold or trained enougth. Everything could work by probabilities less just animation. The more serious damage the Dragon takes on probabilities that range from luck to warrior trained skill's spented time, the faster it goes, whipping out less of your men if they survive it is. Less trained warriors also have the chance to do very well in battle but smaller, and if you take care of your Kingdom (and supposedly the people) you might get more natural skilled/bold warriors because they want to defend it (of a natural personality probability). Better trained archers would be much more accurate (bold archers throw arrows faster), wizard/monks (if not only you) maybe more than less powerful casts. A player with a huge group of better trained warriors will be more secure and positive on how his army will do at combat even on some unfavorable battles. Those just get an improvement at doing well at combat than not (better % for attacks) and also every soldier acts by their individuality even tough what will matter is actually a significative amount of them.

If short on resourcers it's the best to spend more time foccusing in trying to produce top notch trained warriors than look for big numbers. Also, everyone will want to give the best armors and weapons to those for efficacy or to just be able to use that. Advantages for high training won't be so huge but balanced to what could had been in real life on the past, maybe bigger in extreme cases. A "medium" trained army could be possible to show equal and even superior sometimes (per unit) but just not at the same constant than a higthly trained have. It's not the same if someone give weak training, be it by reasons like producing his core of warriors only by late game but for most cases "medium" training can sufficy and equipament (weapon/armor/mounts) and tactics will be decisive still.

I think armors and other itens could possible be looted after battle, not only this but they will feel so individual and touchable after all.

Then make with the video already!

Integrated physics could easily be used for more than just eye candy- it could help with unit placement when those units are "struck" by something- magic, other units, artillery, etc.  It can also be used for special effects (weather, magic, etc.) and reaction to terrain.  While a good portion will mean just visual effects, there are some gameplay implications that should make this helpful.

Does this mean that SD will be using Nvidia's PhysX engine?  If so, I'm glad I bought one!

I've also never subscribed to the idea that turn based stratergy has to mean ugly. It's like saying good looking people have to be dumb and clever people have to be ugly.

Go for it Frogboy I want pretty and clever.

This sounds excellent. Look forward to seeing the video.

Tactical basec combat is one of the features I look forward to in this game. (amonsgt all the others) and I like eye candy too!