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Elemental War of Magic 1.4: worth playing now?

Kalmah

Kalmah

Diamond Member
I've had an eye on this game since its release about a year ago. With all of its problems I never purchased it though. Can anybody give an update as to the playability of the game with the 1.4 patch?

I find it strange that they are soon to release an expansion for the game if it happens to still be in bad shape. Is Stardock grasping at straws now? Or is the game in a legitimate playing condition?

Thinking about installing Sins again but was considering this. I passed on BF3 due to Origin bullshit.
 
BladeVenom said:
There was an old thread about it.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2080661
Click to expand...

The last post in that thread is 9 months old...

I'm also interested if theres been any real improvements to this game. I bought in to the hype when it was released and pre-ordered, and obviously I got completely blindsided by what a buggy, untested, unbalanced, and unfinished product it was. The memory leaks and/or poorly designed code didn't even allow me to play past the first few dozen turns, though my computer was pretty weak too.

Just got a new laptop though with some serious power, busy installing all my games from Steam and wondering if I should even bother giving this one another shot.
 
Supposedly the game is much better with 1.4 and a few mods installed (not too hard with the state it was released in), but most on the forum seem to see it as something to hold them over till the standalone comes out (it's not expansion as far as I know). They have a bigger budget for the standalone, and those who bought the Elemental War early on get the standalone for free.
 
It's improved greatly over where it was, but to me, still just not fun, even with the mods. Still feels unfinished. Spells are lacking. Still has some game play issues. They couldn't figure out how to make the AI use ships properly, so ships get disabled. So unless you pick the transforming book when you set up your sovereign, you have no way of getting off whatever chunk of land you are on. Overall the game is mediocre at best.
 
Thanks for the replies. It's a shame that this game didn't turn out as wanted. Hopefully the new one redeems the series.
 
I've been on the fence with this game every time I see it get brought up, but since they announced the stand alone expansion and made it sound like they will be fixing many of the community complaints with it, I figured I'd just wait and get that.
 
I haven't paid too much attention to that game, but damn, I had no idea it was so buggy. It sounds like a real disappointment for Stardock fans.
 
I tried out the game last night after reading this thread. I played a few turns, but didn't really get very far. Maybe I'll try again tonight.
 
Everything I have read on the elemental forms seems to say the same thing. when Fallen Enchantress comes out it will be significantly better. Up till then, I personally have been spending my time in Gal Civ 2 which is a much better game.
 
I actually enjoyed it on early release--after the first patch. So I never experienced the worst of the pugs, jsut a somewhat unfinished product--but I thought it was exceedingly fun. Still, quite a few of those quests were broken.

I've barely played it since the latest and greatest patches, the economy and development system is completely different from what it was (likely for the better--it was just too easy initially, and enemy AI was dog shit). I've tried to start a few games, but I keep getting my ass kicked early on, lol.

so, there's definitely improvement. I thoroughly dig the art style, and the level of detail for each town that you can create is astounding.

Also, the implementation of AI multi-threading is something that Firaxis should take a look at--it completely embarrasses Civ V when it comes to such performance.
 
thespyder said:
Everything I have read on the elemental forms seems to say the same thing. when Fallen Enchantress comes out it will be significantly better. Up till then, I personally have been spending my time in Gal Civ 2 which is a much better game.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've been waiting for that, too. That is supposed to be when it really shines--and iirc, it's still a free update for early adopters, correct?
 
zinfamous said:
Yes, I've been waiting for that, too. That is supposed to be when it really shines--and iirc, it's still a free update for early adopters, correct?
Click to expand...

Yes. If you purchased it before a certain cutoff date, Fallen Enchantress will be free. I would verify with the Stardock website as to what that cutoff date is.

Personally, I played it when it first came out and found it incomplete. I played again after the "Major" update that was supposed to make it "Complete" and although some things were significantly better, I still felt it lacked something. Haven't played it since 1.4 came out.
 
I actually played this game over the weekend, and I had a lot of fun with it. I had one minor bug, where I was supposed to bring a knight back to town to complete a quest, and doing so didn't complete the quest (meaning the quest is still open, but I cannot finish it now).

The lack of documentation for this game is unfortunate, however. This is an issue with all the Stardock games I have played to date. They make changes and updates for years after release, but the manual is never updated, and the tool tips only go so far in explaining what you can do. A lot of it is stuff where you won't learn how to do what you want until some trial and error, due to the lack of documentation of the changes made in the game.
 
This game is probably very underrated. The reviews online can be pretty bad. Some reviews are well thought out and positive. The good reviews do hint of a very good game. The bad reviews that give it a 1 or 2 (metacritic) seem out of place.

Does anyone know if you can play the campaign multiplayer? I am looking for a new game to play with a couple friends. Sins of a Solar Empire is an excellent game. but I am looking for a fantasy strategy game. Is the multiplayer rts only? The price is still high at $40 so I am reluctant to buy a copy or have friends buy a copy. What I am worried about is standard quest givers that show ! and ?.

I cant seem to gain much insight from youtube. The graphics are probably as good as Sins. Can someone explain if the gameplay is unique? Or as the bad reviewers say it being a hodgepodge of gameplay that is better with games like Kings Bounty (which has no multiplayer).
 
gamerguy2 said:
This game is probably very underrated. The reviews online can be pretty bad. Some reviews are well thought out and positive. The good reviews do hint of a very good game. The bad reviews that give it a 1 or 2 (metacritic) seem out of place.

Does anyone know if you can play the campaign multiplayer? I am looking for a new game to play with a couple friends. Sins of a Solar Empire is an excellent game. but I am looking for a fantasy strategy game. Is the multiplayer rts only? The price is still high at $40 so I am reluctant to buy a copy or have friends buy a copy. What I am worried about is standard quest givers that show ! and ?.

I cant seem to gain much insight from youtube. The graphics are probably as good as Sins. Can someone explain if the gameplay is unique? Or as the bad reviewers say it being a hodgepodge of gameplay that is better with games like Kings Bounty (which has no multiplayer).
Click to expand...

This isn't a RTS game. It is a 4x game similar to Master of Magic. If you haven't played Master of Magic, then it is similar to Civilization, except you can customize all of your units, and combat happens in a tactical style (similar to HOMM or Kings Bounty). Also it has RPG elements, allowing you to go on quests, and level up your characters adding spells and customizing their attributes.

It does allow for multiplayer, but I honestly have never played a MP game with it. I can try it out, but I am nearly positive that the only way to play MP is in the full up mode. I am pretty sure it isn't like Mount and Blade where multiplayer is only the combat portion of the game.

The Graphics are ok. The character models leave a lot to be desired, but the terrain and map effects look pretty good.
 
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