ELEMENTAL:FALLEN ENCHANTRESS
Though not quite as dramatic as being offered the helm of the Titanic right after hitting an iceberg, Stardock’s new design lead on Elemental has a disaster to clean up. The fantasy strategy game released in August 2010 felt more like halffinished fan fiction than a full game. Stardock’s CEO, Brad Wardell, took the blows and then sought someone to look at Elemental with fresh eyes.
Enter Derek Paxton.
“I think there is a brilliant game in Elemental,” says Paxton. “I’m just one guy, but there is a great team here. Together, we’re figuring out what needs to be cut, what needs to be added, and putting processes in place to make sure that it happens.” He later adds: “If you can’t change the direction, what’s the point?”
A world builder himself (as the lead on the award-winning Fall from Heaven mod for Civ 4) Paxton was immediately drawn to the lore already in place. Fantasy gamers, he argues, need a strong backstory that’s linked to game mechanics in key ways. “Game design can’t be driven by lore, but taking any chance we have to tie the game to the backstory is critical. Elemental has a really good backstory—it just isn’t in the game.”
After bland factions, broken AI, poor interface and meaningless tactical battles, Stardock has made a peace offering to anyone who bought the game in its broken state: The first two expansions will be released free to those early adopters. Fallen Enchantress will be the first step in that act of goodwill, as well as Paxton’s chance to put his imprint on a world that was fractured in more than its mythology.
There are no campaign details, but Stardock promises new content to fill out the world and fix mechanics that needed tweaking. The big new feature is the addition of wildland areas that are hostile to settlement. These wildlands will be the homes of great monsters and Elemental Lords—imagine the danger of setting up shop beside godlike beings who’ve gone a little bit mad after the world-rending cataclysm.
“Before you can civilize them, a condition must be met. The Bhindami Fissure, for example, is a wildland chasm that will spawn monsters, demons and elementals that will harass you until you challenge Abeix, the monster that lives beneath it.” Defeat Abeix and you win prestige and treasure.
Patches have already repaired some of Elemental’s major flaws—especially its interface. Fallen Enchantress will add magic weapons and interesting spells to further ground players in a world where the factions actually feel different.
This is Stardock’s chance to get it right.
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