# Elemental: War of Magic **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875 "2010-08-20T15:00:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Teine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Teine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teine)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/1 "2010-08-20T15:00:25Z")
I’ve been hesitating about making this post for a good week now. Lurker inertia, mostly. So how many folks here are interested in [Elemental: War of Magic](http://elementalgame.com/)? It’s due to be released on Aug 24th, and Stardock is starting pre-loading of the game files to pre-orders and beta-testers this weekend. I pre-ordered early and got to look at the Beta builds, and I’ve been pretty favorably impressed. The game is based on the concepts of Master of Magic, as well as some of the other 4x fantasy-themed games out there. It has a lot of elements from Galactic Civilizations II, Stardock’s other 4x game (space-themed) as well, including a pretty detailed Diplomacy model and AI. The game also includes quests, some interesting Civ-style city-building, unit design, and of course magic. To quote the main page: > [@](#): > > Customization, Magic, Warfare, > Empire Building and more > > * * * > > Design your sovereign in terms of talents, profession, race and appearance. Learn spells of increasing power to unleash on those who oppose you. Found new cities and build them up by researching new technologies, recruiting specialists or trading knowledge. Send your champions on holy quests to recover ancient artifacts, gain allies, or recover the great wealth lost during the Cataclysm. For some details about the game development and some recent posts on game play, check out the [Development Journals](http://forums.elementalgame.com/forum/513). ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/2 "2010-08-20T16:20:32Z")
I was into it until they launched against Civ 5. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/3 "2010-08-20T16:29:00Z")
I’ll be buying it the first day. Master of Magic was my all-time favorite TBS. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/4 "2010-08-20T16:32:47Z")
I want it, but alas I have to mind my finance. Never mind about Civ 5 launching; from the previews it seem that both games are going to play differently. Elemental allows you to build one city right and be effective as building multiple cities too (At least that’s what the designer claim), and I am intrigue by the leader unit. I also happen to be a sucker for fantasy themed games. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/5 "2010-08-20T16:37:44Z")
How is this launched against Civ 5? They are a month apart, right? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/6 "2010-08-20T16:55:33Z")
I don’t buy games I’m only going to play for a month. At least, at the $50 price point. ---
**Author:** ![Teine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Teine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teine)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/7 "2010-08-20T18:44:59Z")
For me, Civ 5 just isn’t as interesting. I’ve played Civ 1 through 4, enjoyed them all. But there hasn’t been a good fantasy-themed 4x game in years, and even the ones that have come out haven’t grabbed me the way MoM did. I’ve also been pretty happy with Stardock as a company, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with the platform. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/8 "2010-08-20T19:47:04Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > I’ll be buying it the first day. Master of Magic was my all-time favorite TBS. Same here - not because I liked Master of Magic that much, but because it’s Stardock, of GalCiv fame. These guys rock Xtremely hard. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/9 "2010-08-21T04:34:35Z")
I was an early adopter. I pre-ordered as soon as pre-orderers could download a beta. I “optimistically” filtered out everything the devs were saying - “Hey! The beta will not be fun! In fact it will suck!” So I downloaded the beta, found the game nearly incomprehensible and gave up. This is my fault. The devs didn’t lie, they were very honest. This must have been back in 2009? I seem to remember the first announced release was February 2010. Anyways, that’s come and gone. I check in on the official page now and then. So now it’s coming out very soon? Cool! I’m not deterred at all by my unhappy beta experience. Every other Stardock game I own is fucking gold. Galciv? Galciv II and the expos? Sins? Love them all. I look forward to learning the (proper) game of Elemental. I have good confidence. I don’t regret the pre-order - Stardock is so great, I’m happy to kick them my money early to keep the quality coming. …and FWIW, I was massively addicted to MoM from about 1995 through 1999. That game was so great. If Elemental can pull of even 80% of that, I’ll be thrilled. ---
**Author:** ![Teine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Teine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teine)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/10 "2010-08-21T15:55:24Z")
Well, there’s a series of gameplay example threads, if you’re interested in seeing a bit of how the final product came out. [Gameplay Example - Part 1](http://forums.elementalgame.com/390900) [Gameplay Example - Part 2](http://forums.elementalgame.com/390950) [Gameplay Example - Part 3](http://forums.elementalgame.com/391011) [Gameplay Example - Part 4](http://forums.elementalgame.com/391065) ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/11 "2010-08-21T20:52:04Z")
It’s not a first-day purchase for me, but that’s not an indication of dislike. I’ll very likely get it at some point. Stardock in general, and from what i’ve heard from people in the beta, don’t fill me with confidence that it will be fully ready on release. A few patches in, then, probably. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/12 "2010-08-23T14:40:24Z")
I don’t really see this competing against Civ5; Civ5 is another iterative run on the very respectable but not particularly exciting Civ franchise. In fact, it kinda blows my mind that people continue to anticipate ‘new’ Civ games with so much enthusiasm. On the flipside, there hasn’t been a game like War of Magic in over a decade. Your mileage, however, will vary. I’ll probably pick it up, but I’m waiting for reviews. I will not likely be getting Civ5 until it gets bundled with an expansion pack in 18 months or so. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/13 "2010-08-23T15:01:46Z")
Since Heroes 5 almost certainly is going to be a turd, this might prove to be a valid alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/14 "2010-08-23T15:10:48Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Since Heroes 5 almost certainly is going to be a turd, this might prove to be a valid alternative. Heroes 5 has _already_ been a turd, Heroes 6 is the recently announced turd-to-be. 🙂 I had the pre-order on Elemental so I noticed this morning that I had downloaded the 1.0.0 version overnight. I’ll probably try it out when I get home tonight, but the initial reports are that it’s badly in need of the Day 1 patch that had already been announced. Might make sense to just wait a month or so before touching it, but I doubt I’ll have that sort of restraint. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/15 "2010-08-23T15:15:45Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Since Heroes 5 almost certainly is going to be a turd, this might prove to be a valid alternative. Heroes 5 was released years ago - I think you’re confusing it with Heroes 6 🙂 I’ll definitely be getting this at some point as I similarly was a big fan of MoM, but I certainly won’t be getting it at release. All of my juices are being saved for Civ 5 which I’m going to play the shit out of (and I can’t understand how others can talk about it as if it’s not something to get excited about!). I do like Stardock but I can’t say I’m a massive fan of their work. Galciv is fun as is Sins but I certainly wouldn’t describe them as amazing. Guess it’s just different strokes for different folks. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/16 "2010-08-23T15:48:22Z")
I’m seeing a lot of stuff saying that this one needs to bake for another three months. Too bad they tried to get the jump on Civ 5. Seeing a lot of people agree [with this](http://forums.elementalgame.com/391385), specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Teine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Teine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teine)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/17 "2010-08-23T16:20:38Z")
They released it to pre-orders and beta testers last night. I got about an hour of play before I went to sleep. At work now so I have to wait a bit to get back to it. The link Palooka posted has some good points. The game does not really have a tutorial so players new to TBS strategy games are going to have a hefty learning curve. Personally, I think the game is a lot of fun to play, but I definitely need to get some more time on it. My current impressions: - The resource system is really good. I like the balance between gold, materials, metals, and crystals, and how they can affect choices of designing units. - The Hiergamon (encyclopedia) needs some work and additional detail, plus corrections. - Wandering monsters are as much of a problem as rival empires, which fits nicely with the lore and story of the world. It kind of engenders a comraderie between kingdoms, at least near the beginning of the game. - There are definitely a few annoying bugs with game response and some of the UI. Haven’t had any crashes or anything major, though. - I’m seeing a lot of potential for different strategies with having multiple magic-wielding heroes vs the one all-powerful sovereign vs sticking strictly with normal troops. There are enough tech advances in the 5 trees that I can see a whole bunch of different things that players can focus on in different games. - I have no idea what a “good” strategy is right now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/18 "2010-08-23T16:20:48Z")
While chrome is not the be-all and end-all for me, and for compelling gameplay I’ll forgive a lot, I have to say that, after viewing various screenies, I am more than a bit underwhelmed by the artwork. It’s not so much the relative crudity of the player/monster/building models, but the overall “pale greenish wash” that is laid over everything. Immersion has to count for something. But like I said if the gameplay is there I am too despite this. ---
**Author:** ![Teine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Teine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teine)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/19 "2010-08-23T16:28:10Z")
The graphics are definitely different from most. I kind of like the art style, but I’ve had some time to get used to it. I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “greenish wash”, but I’ll take a closer look tonight when I’m playing. The head developer has started to post some video tutorials, if it helps: [http://forums.elementalgame.com/391280](http://forums.elementalgame.com/391280) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875/20 "2010-08-23T18:36:03Z")
It’s just that all the colors seem diluted and dim; in a high fantasy game (or movie) I guess I expect bold, vibrant colors and such (volumetric fog and other associated effects) instead; Heroes5 for all its faults at least got that part right. \ And yes, I meant Heroes6 above. :smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elemental-war-of-magic/550875.md?page=2)