To say we were pleased with the reaction Elemental got at the Penny Arcade Expo would be an understatement. Despite the game only being in alpha, users seemed to really like the direction we’re heading.
Some of the features that really got people going included:
Family Trees and Succession. That is, one of the strategies for victory is to quietly arrange marriages so that your family is in the path of succession when sovereigns start getting killed. In Galactic Civilizations, succession often seemed random (it wasn’t but it came across that way). So the Arceans would “surrender” to the Thalan even though you had been helping the Arceans. In Elemental, if a sovereign surrenders (goes into exile) his kingdom might be divided up amongst heirs belonging to the various houses.
The planned number of players allowed in a game being 32. We only plan to have 12 “canon” factions just like in Galactic Civilizations. But we also plan on letting people create their own (which we think will be typical). If you’ve ever played Master of Magic or Master of Orion, you probably have an inkling of the kind of race customization we have in mind.
The consequences of magic on strategy. Because of the engine, we plan on letting people alter the world a great deal. Later in the game, the arms race on magic will become increasingly apparent.
Modding. People at PAX were able to see the modding tools first hand. Hearing us talking about modding is one thing, seeing highly polished, functional modding tools built into the game long before the game is released lets people see just how serious we are about letting people create their own worlds and share their creations with others.
Now, all that said, the beta, which is due out in the next 2 weeks, is NOT going to be fun. Let me reiterate that: IT WILL NOT BE FUN. IT WILL BE HORRIBLE. WE ARE TURNING OFF THE MAIN GRAPHICS ENGINE.
BELOW ARE THINGS YOU WILL NOT SEE IN BETA 1 OF ELEMENTAL:
This is the built in modding tool. You take these, classify it, and then share it on the Internet within the game. Then, players can optionally have these mods inserted into their games.
BETA 1 will not have the magic system in it. At least, not until November.
The graphics engine in Elemental will not be enabled until January. Why? Because if the game is good it should be able to be fun without super good graphics.