Yeaaah... I don't know. My best guess is that Frogboy will have a list of features he really, really, really wants to get into the next expansion/patch and that "further multiplayer support, i.e. hotseat" will be down on the list with the items marked "if we got the time".

I'd rather lobby now for hotseat, how else am I gonna get it included?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but then why is PBEM support a goal for release, as Frogboy stated himself ( as can be seen in the thread Wintersong linked upthread )? PBEM essentially is hotseat, only that you send a savegame to your friend instead of him sitting beside you.

And as I said, if the feature isn't in the initial game, my fear is that it will always slide to the bottom of the priority heap for any patches/expansions. We all know that Frogboy doesn't like multiplayer.

If a multiple installation LAN works (read works) I don't really care about hot-seat. The only times it would be better would be when you have a limited number of computers. For example, when we go to our summer house we only have my laptop and hotseat is really nice then, but otherwise we have so many comps that either works.

Well, it's good to know that you and your friends are so affluent, but my set of friends do not all own laptops and I got my desktop and one pretty old laptop.

In my circle of friends (and our families since most computers are shared to an extent) we have one laptop, and four comps that run the game smoothly. I am sorry if I offended you in any way. I simply stated my situation.

Sorry, I took it for a more generalized statement of "Of course everybody owns a laptop or two nowadays!".

Yes I fail to see how it would be difficult to put in Hot seat. Just look at AGe of Wonders. WE are not talking about some damn console split screen thing. Be sides Hot Seat also allows us to play multipule empires at once which I do a lot in TBG that allow hotseat. Yes multipul instalations at home is fine but some of us only have one PC.

That would require so many changes to how the UI, game input, and even the turn system work that it's not even remotely viable.

Reason #1:

How do you make Hotseat work with simultaneous turns? In MP, turn advances for everyone, when everyone hits End Turn (or an amount of time after the first person hits it). Basically, Player 1 does his thing at the same time as Player 2, and they both advance to the next turn at the same time.

This is inherently opposite of what's required for Hotseat, which is Player 1 does his thing, passes turn to Player 2 who does his thing, passes turn back to Player 1, and so on.

Substantial engine modification would be required to implement Hotseat.

So why is Frogboy saying that PBEM will be hopefully in the game for launch, then?

"Hopefully", "maybe" and such isn't quite the same as "Yes, we're doing it".

Not really. I expect PBEM would basically be handled as async client-server (manual save handoffs via email would require internet anyway and just adds a cumbersome extra step). You log on, do your turn, toggle ready-up for the turn to advance, and come back later. Once the wrinkles are worked out in that, then we could look into hotseat since a little bit of that infrastructure might apply, but there'd still be a lot of work to do.

Ah, okay. Sorry, my expectations were as with other games, which handled turns on a "you press turn and the other guy has his go" basis, instead of simultaneous turns.

Well, I said my piece. I've cited the reasons why I think including hotseat will result in better word-of-mouth, which probaböy still is very helpful for a game like this from a company which is not super well-known like EIDOS, Bioware, Creative Assembly, etc.. And I've given evidence for people who won't buy the game without multiplayer ( anecdotal, but still... ).

That's the best I can do and I've gotten at least another "we'll try our best, if the resources are there" commitment, which is probably the best I can expect at this point of development. So I rest my case for now. Of course I'd love to see more voice their support for hotseat.

Hotseat would be nice, but PBEM is more important for me. I'm playing some Age of Wonders (both the original and Shadow Magic) PBEM games, and I like it a lot - I have all the time that I need to play a turn, and don't have to use semi-RTS elements like turn timers and simultaneous turns. The games can last for years, and often subs are needed to replace players that are no longer active, but it's still a great way to enjoy the game. We write our turn logs at the forum, so anyone can "watch" these games.

Of course I understand that PBEM doesn't have to be in the first release, but please add it in a later version.

here is a thought... (and if its a bad idea ignore it heh...) since the goal for elemental is ultimately for it to be a low sys resource hog,as a simpler way to  create/allow a hot seat game is it  possible to have 2 instances running on the same machine logged into same game?I know this would limit hot seat to 2 players but i Am just brain storming here.

like i said if this is more work then building in hot seat never mind. heh heh

Apologies for threadomancy. Please bear with me.

Elemental multiplayer is intended to be simultaneous, right?

Why not take advantage of it. Implement a branch of Tech called "Intelligence" or "Surveillance" or "Spy Network" or something. The higher you've developed the tech the later you will get to act in a turn.

So, for example, a player who hasn't researched this Tech at all will go first during a turn, then lock in his moves. A player who has researched this tree will go after him -- he has the possible advantage of responding to the opponent's move.

If there's a tie in tech level between two players, resolve randomly.

Hope that makes sense. It'll solve whatever issues simultaneous turns bring to hot seat, and do so in a fluffy manner.

Hotseat doesn't require much different work from PBEM.

Also, hotseat allows a kind of MP that LAN does not: Playing against oneself, which is great for checking strategies.

Please include hotseat.

Also consider that LAN only works if you have several computers, which may not be the case if you want to play with your daughter.

I concur with this. There's no need to make all kinds of multiplayer avenues. Just make online and I guess LAN type and that is all that is needed. I might play an online game from time to time if they are fast and quick like the old MYTH series of games. I'd never play a long term 800 turns or probably even 300 turns game though.

Initially though I'd rather see Stardock and Brad et all focus on the SINGLE Player game and get that in order before tackling anything in multiplayer. There's things to refine and I guess improve from the single player standpoint and that's going to take 6 months to a year I would imagine to get it like a GC2 Twilight of Arnor. :))

I still think a hotseat mode is needed. I'd like to play with someone who is in my home and we have only one computer that can run Elemental. I suppose such situations happen quite often, and I think of hotseat as a "basic" mode that should be implemented in every TBS game that has multiplayer.

Btw I don't understand why it causes differences in "combat resolution". The only thing that should need some work is diplomacy, "switching which faction the player is controlling on the fly" shouldn't be that hard 

Honestly, there are a 1000 far more important things that need to be addressed before new multiplayer features are added.

Well, it's your opinion. Concerning myself, I NEED to have a Hotseat multiplayer option in a turn based game. F***, it's a must!

screw giving up my game time for my "friends" or "family", ill play Elemental, they can go play solitaire.