I blame my success as a player on Sean and others who have posted some really good ideas, strategies, play-throughs, etc.  Since Tuidjy won't do it, I'll put up a saved game for all of us to play when .984 comes out.  That should address a couple of issues:

1)  You can call B.S. on someone cuz you'll be playing the exact same map as them.

or

2)  You can learn from all the different successful strategies, videos, screenshots, saved games, etc., that hopefully get posted in the forum.

and/or

3)  We can expose a few more exploits, cheese, AI malfeasance, etc., for Stardock to plug before release.

This already happens.

LOL!  Isn't Brad the only AI programmer?  Do you think Derek is tough enough to lock Brad up?  It would be like Relias vs. Verga.

I'd also like to tender my  Congratulations!  -- to Stardock and the E:FE Development team, on setting an official release date of October 23, 2012. 

This is pretty much the view that I have come around to.  With two more weeks and (probably) two more patches for bug-fixing and polishing, I think you will have an "Excellent" product at commercial release.  As things look now, I would predict a Metacritic score of about 85.  (What does everyone else think ?) 

I know that you will keep adding to this game; and I really think that you will have a major, long-running franchise with this "Elemental World".   It has been some  *Big Fun*  to play around with Beta-testing since the end of February; and watching the evolution of this game has been riveting too.   Thanks !       

Hmm?  I did put a save before I started my last AAR.  Didn't the link work?

Congratulations! Time to put those marketing people to work!

Congrats guys !

Even if i'm not in the beta, I read with an extrem regularity all that is linked with FE from the begining of the beta. The game seems more than great. I just hope you calculated well this release date in order to have the time to iron out the bugs left. Just take the time needed.

We are not at a few weeks up or down now.

On a second hand I must admit that the waiting up to 23th will be... Difficult.

Acutally I'm more interested in general tips on the leveling options/traits to look for that can allow you to survive the early game (first 50 turns) the only way I can do it now is to stack my sov with the hero and choose targets VERY carefully.

still I get creamed by any weak unit with more than 3 units (which is all of them other than trolls etc)

any tips?  I've gone through the walkthroughs you set up but the leveling/weapon choices are a little vauge.

I think I'm going to right a little guide about surviving the start.  It does not belong in this thread, though.

But as a rule, here are some quick and dirty pointers:

1. A weapon with counterattack is almost twice as good as one without for an early solo sovereign.  Rusty sword is a must.

2. Fortify + Blindness (Death 2) is a real life saver for someone from Krax.

3. Armouer + Stoneskin (Earth 2) makes a huge difference against basic mobs.

4. Really look at the move order.  Take EVERY advantage. See who moves next, try to get mobs to get in each other way, dash in an out between their moves.

5. If you have two heroes, see whom they chase. That one should run for as long as possible. The other one should separate one enemy, kill it, then move on to the next.

6. The equipment I get influences my choices.  In the last playthrough, Karavox became a dodger because I got the lucky skullcap and monk robe before turn 10. Nochd became a marksman, because I looted the Champion's lance, and Karavox was already a dodger.

7. As a rule, stack advantage over advantage, do not go for versatility: Fortify+Dodge+Blind / Frozen+Slow+High Initiative / Stoneskin + armor + hit points + gift of Iron

I just can't say "way to go" I have fiddled around with creating custom maps and watched too many ai games each patch to know there are serious ai problems. Not "the ai can't beat me" types of problems but the ai can stall out and not produce anymore units or cities, essentially turning itself off, or it builds 5 towers in a 5x5 area wasting an unreal amount of resources and time on pioneers.

There is a fundamental problem with simultaneous turns and monster vs ai-player strategic map movement and you can't really fix the other stuff cause that underlying problem will always be there. Anyone doing an in-depth review is going to crucify you guys, don't get caught up in the christmas cycle you need to fix simultaneous turns and spend at least a few more months on ai.

seanw3

reply 41

And release the mod tools!!!

What he said, I was waiting for the fantastic UI in the mod tool before taking a look at it, and would be nice to have a 7 day head-start to find a few of the possible bugs, and getting familiar

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

I bet with dedication somewhere near release guides like this will be widely asked for, and read.

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Pretty sure that was fixed in .983. It was on the changlog and Fb said he would do it personally. Monsters move after players now. 

The AI might have a few bugs like that. I don't see those kinds of bugs being the crucify type. I get a pretty good competition from the AI overall. And remember, the AI gets bonuses to their economy when idle. Hard to say that is a bug. Stacking outposts is in the changelog for .984.

Not going to discourage this type of criticism though, because at the worst, it will make the game that much better.

Having played the latest build released to us, and knowing you have a few weeks to tweak I can confidently say "You nailed it." TM, patent-pending.  Please do not stop the tweaks and communication so we can provide feedback up to the point of release.

As of now, I would give the game a solid 8.5-9.5/10.

FE is everything I wished WoM was, and way more.

Not yet ready.

Three major things that SHOULD prevent it from releasing.

1. Game still crashes for me after memory build up. Particularly after creating a new game (rare and slow when starting the gaming and loading from a save).
2. Monster AI is horrible. I'm not the first one mentioning this so read earlier posts.
3. When monsters do raze your town, the spot is lost forever to "salted earth" which should be fixed/removed.

Fix those three and I would say the game is launchable, though I will terribly miss not having a "vault" like Master of Magic did for items.