Elemental: War of Magic

Alright. Some of you may or may not know that I am very excited about a new game that's coming out in August called "Elemental: War of Magic". I'm in the beta test (it's in phase 2 right now), and what I'm seeing so far is knocking my socks off. They implemented the graphics engine so I'm not playing on a cloth map anymore (although I like the cloth map), and man, the graphics are just blowing me away.

It's a turn based strategy game, so I don't know how many of y'all are into that sort of game. It's somewhat similar to Civ, except that instead of real world scenarios or cultures, it's all fantasy based. Usually games like this are based in the real world (like Rome or Civ) or science fiction (Galactic Civ., Master of Orion). There's only been Heroes of Might and Magic and Master of Magic for fantasy strategy games, at least from what I can recall. This is the "spiritual successor" to Master of Magic, so if you liked that one, you'll probably want to at least check this out.

The modding community is already active with this game. I know one guy in particular is modding Lord of the Rings to fit in the game. Stardock intends for the game to be fully moddable in nearly all aspects.

The website is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Wow, that looks awesome. I've been a fan of Stardock since Galciv 2 and Sins, and I'm confident this'll be good; is the beta open, or do you have to preorder?

You have to preorder, and I *think* the beta is now closed, but they should have more information on their site. I preordered... like way over a year ago. However, at least it's due to come out on the 24th of August, so you don't have long to wait. :D Well, unless they decide to bump that back to make the game better.

I haven't played Sins yet--is it good?

Sins is a lot of fun. It's not super complicated or anything, and (though I haven't played the most recent Diplomacy expansion yet, which overhauled it) the diplomacy between nations is limited to 'if you do missions for them, they'll like you' (which is why I usually play with locked teams) , but overall it's tons of fun to play, especially multiplayer. Huge maps with over a hundred planets and up to six stars are awesome too.

Also, I did some poking around. If you do preorder, you can get into Beta 3. It may still be open for Beta 2A--since it's not there quite yet. Here's what it says on their beta forums (which is open to the public):

Quote :

BETA 2: Game Play Beta (Spring 2010)
Initial: Caravans enabled, 3D Engine enabled, Multiplayer enabled, shops enabled, sieges enabled, visual battles enabled.
Beta 2A: Beta Fixes. Gameplay updates. Naval transports enabled. Master Quest enabled. Spell of Making enabled.
BETA 3: War & Peace Beta. (Summer 2010)

Initial: Tactical Battles options enabled. Finalized Diplomacy enabled. Naval warfare enabled.
Beta 3A: Combat Magic enabled. The Hiergamenon enabled.
Beta 3B: Morale and Tactical Battle AI enabled. MP: Wars of Magic.

We're at Beta 2 atm.

EDIT: And this is what it says on their Facebook page, sent in today:

Quote :

Elemental: War of Magic This week we plan to release Beta 2-A of Elemental.
Once Beta 2-A goes out, we will be closing the beta for new users until Beta 3. To join the beta, simply pre-order the game.