[Mod]Elemental:Expanded Edition (Working Title) - Now "Hiring"

from Elemental Forums

Elemental:Expanded Edition (E:EE) is going to be a mod that expands and changes the gameplay in Elemental to provide a deeper, more strategic game than the original.

While I have a ton of ideas for how the gameplay (as it stands now) in Elemental can be improved upon, the ultimate goal is to make the game more fun. While I will continue to post my suggestions for incorporation into the "Vanilla" version of the game, I would like to start getting a team together, so when Beta-5 comes around this summer we can immediately start work.

The initial version of E:EE will be to create a backbone version of the mod while sticking to the canon and lore of the Elemental universe. Essentially it will expand upon the game, creating more in-depth systems for everything from Quests, to Diplomacy, to Magic without altering the story (or at least altering it as little as possible) and vision that Stardock has worked so hard to prepare for us.

Once this initial version is complete and released to the public, this "base" mod can be used by other mods as a starting point for more comprehensive mods, as well as an expanded version of E:EE.

One of the key goals of the mod, is to make it modular. As different aspects of the mod are completed, they will be released independently for use in other mods.

If you've read any of my threads on Multi-Racial species, mount changes, terrain, etc. you have at least a general idea of where I am looking to go with E:EE. Other changes will include a re-work of the Magic system, expanded diplomacy, and major changes to the tech tree. That being said the goal of E:EE (as stated above) is to make the game more fun- If something doesn't work, or the majority of the dev team feels its a bad idea, than I'm all for changing it. I'm not here to be a leader per-say- this is going to be a community effort- I'm just here to keep the team communicating, and contribute as part of the team.

Right now I need everyone I can get on-board. We will need everything including:

moddelers

texture guys

2-D artists

writers

play-testers

designers

anything else you can think of

If you are planning on creating a mod yourself, you might want to consider getting onboard with E:EE - We plan to make it fully available to all modders to use as a base (and further modify as they see fit) for their own mods. Why should 2 people be working on the same task just because they are working on different mods?

 

UPDATE 1: I have registered a domain, and set up some basic hosting for the mod-site. Once everything is ready up-to-date information on the mod will be kept at https://www.elementalexpanded.com

UPDATE 2: Already generating some interest from a few of you :) - I have launched a forum and a wiki for the project on the website above to help us track the mod. I'll have more stuff up for it later - for now I'm gonna go test some elemental!

elemental
5,972 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

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Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

is it not to early for stuff like that ?

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Great question. To some degree yes.... Much of the games systems are not yet set in stone....and for this reason the mod will consist mainly of brainstorming for the short-term.

That being said, its never to early to start planning. Some systems are already "how stardock wants them" at least in terms of their basic structures.

By the time Beta-5 hits, much more will be locked in place and we will have a better idea of where to go. By that point I hope to have a full team drafted, so we can get right to work. By the time the game launches I hope to have an early version of the entire base, as well as several modular parts of the mod released for people to use in their own mods. Now is the time to start recruiting, and start the ideas flowing, so we know exactly what we will want to change when the time comes.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting strager, reply 4
Great question. To some degree yes.... Much of the games systems are not yet set in stone....and for this reason the mod will consist mainly of brainstorming for the short-term.

That being said, its never to early to start planning. Some systems are already "how stardock wants them" at least in terms of their basic structures.

By the time Beta-5 hits, much more will be locked in place and we will have a better idea of where to go. By that point I hope to have a full team drafted, so we can get right to work. By the time the game launches I hope to have an early version of the entire base, as well as several modular parts of the mod released for people to use in their own mods. Now is the time to start recruiting, and start the ideas flowing, so we know exactly what we will want to change when the time comes.

Exactly.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

it is too early to start planning, because we have no idea what the systems will actually look like by beta 5. :P

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

I disagree...For example, say you wanted to change the magic system. Instead of shards that are stuck in place, you were planning to mod them to be movable. That is something that is currently set in stone (no pun intended), but could be modded. While this is NOT one of the changes I had in mind, its a good example of stuff we already know will not change. We are at the point now where we can see how the game is shaping up and while no real work can begin quite yet (beta-3 would be the time for real planning to begin, and beta-5 should be when real work begins) getting the team together, and discussing stuff we'd like to see done differently should start now.

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm moving this thread (by creating a new one) in the new Mods Board Stardock just put up. Reply there.

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Tridus, reply 6
it is too early to start planning, because we have no idea what the systems will actually look like by beta 5.

It won't matter what those systems look like when some modders already plan on not using whatever those systems are because they have something else in mind. All we really need to know about those particular systems is how to change them. For those people who don't know how to edit XML and more importantly don't know anything about Python, now is the perfect time to start planning what it is you want to do and start to pick up the knowledge necessary to do so.

I my-self don't know much about Python. The only reason I know anything at all about it is because it's similar (I hear anyway) to languages I have used in the past. I know C, C#, C++, VB (visual basic), some more then others, but a lot of things are close to the same. Some of those are much newer then the last time I did any serious scripting. The last serious scripting I did was for Ultima Online, so...yeah, I'm a little behind the times. Python is something completely new to me, the only slight advantage I have is understanding the basics of the languages that came before it.

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Well, I don't really thing that the economic system needs to move away from global ... however I am more than willing to play-test, as well as determine the necessary out-put values for each important building, ect.

All through play-testing and hypothesis of course.

Again, if I am able to eventually learn modelling, then I will (try) to create new art assets and monsters. If I create a new monster Art asset, im positive that I will ALWAYS suggest the Stats and abilities of the monster to the smallest of minutiae.