Journals
Dev Journal
As someone who has played PC strategy games since, well, since there's been PC strategy games to play, the thing that often stifles me is the late game. Often times, strategy games will bog down due to sheer wait time between turns or just collapsing under their own weight in micro management. Fallen Enchantress attempts to solve this through the use of a multithreaded game state architecture. What this means is that while you're taking your turn, a bunch of different things ... [read more]
Dev Journal
When games come out, one of the things that helps them pass the test of time is modding. It's a big deal to us and in 20 years of making games, we've never put so much effort into modding as we have in Fallen Enchantress. Here's a video of me playing with the map editor today which comes with the game. Elemental: Fallen Enchantress will be released on October 23rd. Visit www.elementalgame.com to learn more. [read more]
Dev Journal
There's only a week left! That's just so hard to believe that we're almost there. Looks like there's going to be another public update tonight. They want to test out some installer improvements and...well since they were doing that, we snuck in some tweaks, fixes and I ninja-checked in some AI improvements. The team that started Fallen Enchantress includes virtually everyone who made Galactic Civilizations II (and expansions). It's been a real joy seeing the team ... [read more]
Dev Journal
One of the changes we've made for the final public build is that we've greatly reduced the costs or raising and lowering land. Now, you can't use these spells to create mountains or make islands. That's not their purpose. What they can do, however is create shorter routes through mountain regions (lower land) and connect players to other parts of the world that aren't normally accessible (raise land). This will become a particularly big deal after release when we ... [read more]
Dev Journal
It’s a rainy Fall Sunday here in Michigan. The team play tests and play tests. We’re in the final polish phases for the game. Today’s video shows the tactical unit placement updates. In the current public beta, the algorithm for placing units left something to be desired. Now, ranged units and defenseless units are explicitly shoved to the rear which results in a much more satisfactory experience. Also, the AI has gotten a lot better at tactical... [read more]
Dev Journal
In 10 days, Elemental: Fallen Enchantress will be released to the public. Building a new 4X franchise is a challenge. If you look at Wikipedia’s 4X chronology there aren’t that many, particularly if you focus purely on turn-based ones. What features matter depends on the person. For me, I want to feel like I’m building a civilization. That’s why I was drawn to Master of Magic and Civilization. Creating a strategy game that focuses not just on warfare but... [read more]
Dev Journal
Fallen Enchantress: The Journey
> As you may know, we've set a release date for Fallen Enchantress. It's October 23, 2012. These past two years have been quite a journey. When I joined Stardock, I asked Brad how much freedom I would have with the Elemental universe. Could I make it a new and different game than War of Magic? He said, "Do whatever needs to be done, take whatever time it needs, make a great game." He meant it and that brings us to where we are now. Fallen Enchantress isn&#... [read more]