Conquest of Elysium 3

[ShivaX]

Which also makes them handy at harassing an enemy.
Especially if you can start them early in the game.

They also provide a great view of an area to see army that sneak up on you

Sure, but they require a special unit that might not come forever and an Ancient Forest you might not be able to easily. A Troll Forest requires... a forest and about as much fungus as you'll easily make in a few turns. They do the same thing, only one side is easier to pull off and has more effective units to boot. And then they get dragons on top of it.

[HahaSoFunny]

Rejoice, what appears to be the Windows build of Conquest of Elysium 3 along with a serial has just been uploaded to ThePirateBay by an unknown benefactor!

Release notes:

This is a private citizen's, non-scene release of Conquest of Elysium III.

Genre: Strategy
Sub-Genre: Turn-Based
Developer: Illwinter Game Design

Conquest of Elysium 3 is an old school turn based fantasy strategy game. You start by choosing one of 17 different characters, e.g. Necromancer, Demonologist, Dwarf Queen, Troll King or maybe a High Priestess of Ba'al. The different character classes vary wildly in what special abilities they have and what parts of the world they should focus on conquering. E.g. the Demonologist needs sacrifices that you gain from towns and villages, but the Druid want special herbs that are found in forests. But of course gold is always good to have, so all classes can make use of a gold or silver mine, but only the Enchanter can make a Gold Golem out of it.

As always, I would like to ask you to buy this game, if you like it (I did), Illwinter is a really small developer and they need it more than EA or Valve.

Unfortunately, the Linux versions don't seem to be included.

The delay from store availability to release clearly shows that obscurity is much more effective than DRM at protecting copyright monopolies.

[Edirr]

Rejoice, what appears to be the Windows build of Conquest of Elysium 3 along with a serial has just been uploaded to ThePirateBay by an unknown benefactor!

Release notes:
Unfortunately, the Linux versions don't seem to be included.

The delay from store availability to release clearly shows that obscurity is much more effective than DRM at protecting copyright monopolies.

Hey, here's some HaHaSoFunny stuff for you, you goat-molesting leprous sack of shit:

Now that the torrent is out there, it will be easy enough to invalidate the key in the next patch, rendering that person's game useless. And once I find out who it was, I will ban him from the official forums so hard he'll still feel it next year.

Thanks for the notification, though.

To everyone else, apologies for the language. Is there anything that would prevent the powers that be from tossing that asshat out with a bootprint on his backside?

[HahaSoFunny]

If that key had been obtained by the web store, including it in the release was indeed a most imprudent step, as you wisely point out.

Professional release groups normally either release a key generator if possible, or modify the software to remove the copy protection, so that this kind of tracking isn't possible, and continue to apply this dedication to subsequently released updates.

Unfortunately, due to the obscurity of the game (which might simply be an indicator of low quality), there doesn't seem to have been any interest in the game from highly skilled crackers, leading to what might have been a suboptimal release.

[gp1628]

Heehee. "Professional Release Groups"
Isnt that like saying Professional Home Invasion Groups?
Or maybe Professional Rapists?

On the other hand, who is going to test this "free copy"?
Someone we dont know, has entered a game forum, and announced a torrent copy of the game. Simply download this anonymous file and run it. It will definitely be the game you have been reading about. Trust the anonymous poster. :)
(Im kidding. Dont do that! thats called social engineered hacking, to get you to install the invasion program yourself)

[KevinC]

Buh bye.

[BleedTheFreak]

Reported.

[lokiju]

Edit: Piracy anger gone...back on topic:

Just finished with Witches...the old ones rock! I may try Warlocks next...ran into them last game and they almost took me out with a crazy amount of ranged damage.

[Telefrog]

Is there any way to patch the game without the Desura client?

[BleedTheFreak]

Is the patch out yet?

[Kelan]

I must admit when I first purchased CoE3 I figured I would tool around in it for a few weeks and probably grow tired of it, but would still be happy to support Illwinter for all of the fun granted through the Dominions series over the years. But, I still can't put this game down even with many other high-budget AAA titles waiting for me in my backlog.

When I first looked over the list of races in the manual and in game I wasn't real impressed. I started with a few games as Baron was having a pretty good time figuring things out (I never did play any of the previous CoE titles). It wasn't until I forced myself to try out some of the Trials and tried out the Druid and Witch that I am completely hooked now. I am now trying the Hoburgs and each time I now try a new race for the first time they become my new favorite. There are strategy levels that aren't initially apparent when you first start the game and it has taken me 10 or so full games to start to appreciate them. You also start to appreciate the special abilities and attacks of each creature as some that seemed underwhelming at first glance can become very powerful if used well. Initially it seemed to just be a land grab/hold and whomever held the most would win. Now I am realizing that single powerful casters or creatures can take out entire realms if being used against the right enemies (with the right support). I must admit that I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so much and am glad I stuck with it when it initially seemed a little lackluster.

Anyway, I tip my hat to the Illwinter folks and all of you beta testers that have helped make this a pretty damn enjoyable game! I am just glad it is out now so that I can hopefully get through most of the races before Diablo 3, Secret World, and Guild Wars 2 come out later this year.

[rezaf]

Is the patch out yet?

Anyone?

Also, is there a curse on the "Ring of the Dead" item?
I have a leader carrying it and a lvl 3 scroll (he can't use cause he's not a caster), and he's being attacked by some crazy (but oddly not death related) monsters every few turns.
What's going on?
_____
rezaf

[KevinC]

I don't believe it's out, no. You can follow the progress here but thus far it just mentions releases to beta testers.

[DeForrestation]

* Hellhound can no longer bite and breathe at the same time.

Awesome :)

[Edirr]

Regarding the patch, there are a few issues that need to be sorted out before release, mainly a couple of important statfixes. Johan (the programming guy for Illwinter) is off on a holiday and will be back in a few days and we shall see then. So not long now.

[rezaf]

Heh, I found a funny bug of sorts - maybe it's wad, dunno.

When your last leader dies in a combat in which items can be captured, the popup message says "John Doe found xyz", but the items that are listed this way are actually lost.
The items the killed leader held are NOT lost, though - they're appearently handed over to a random member of the stack.

As for patching ... the notes are not terribly exciting yet.
I hope for some serious rebalancing and, further down the line, some actual modding possibilities.
_____
rezaf

[gp1628]

More Modding is coming down the line (personally Im hoping for way down the line).
As for rebalancing, we are still taking suggestions altho at this point many of the suggestions change as people play more of the nations and higher AI levels

[rezaf]

(personally Im hoping for way down the line).

Why's that?

As for rebalancing, we are still taking suggestions altho at this point many of the suggestions change as people play more of the nations and higher AI levels

At the moment, the worst offender - as discussed a little upthread - is the Senator's weaksauce, he needs to be buffed somehow.
The Baron, on the other hand, could use a nerf. I've since played a Baron game, and it was effortless beating the Troll King's stacks of a number of trolls and up to three Dragons. I didn't even have to hire a mage - hordes and hordes of ranged units with hordes and hordes of swordsmen and spearmen (many of them free) as meatshields - win.
_____
rezaf

[lokiju]

Yeah, I don't know if Illwinter did it because of the lack of magic, but giving Baron a big bonus on the two resources he needs most, on top of free units, is just way too OP. If they get some wizards in the back row, it's game over behind a legion of soldiers. Maybe take away magic access for Baron, or at least get rid of powerful wizards who can take out entire rows. That and no more free units.

As for Senator, as stated multiple times, he may get gold doubled as well, but his trading bonus would be much more powerful if the class had some other resource to use the trade on besides getting iron from the extra gold income (which seems to defeat the purpose).

[gp1628]

Why's that?

Id like to see a lot more effort toward doing interesting things with the scenario commands to make some fun campaigns. And some suggestions on how to expand it. More triggers, more events. Those could vastly add to the game.

I dont mind mods that add to the game but Id hate to see mods already that declare themselves to "fix" the game. Most of the fix impressions Ive seen so far are just early impressions.

IMHO of course

[gp1628]

Baron gets 25% bonus on gold and iron. Unless thats because I am playing with the patched version. It seems to do well as an early blitzer

Senator getting a gold bonus and a trade bonus might be more because its thematic to greek/rome. For some reason it still seems to come out high on tests.

Both also rate well on AI tests. But it might be that the bonuses pile on with the higher level AI bonuses.

[Thasero]

The Senator could use help. If I were king for a day, but had only jurisdiction over Conquest of Elysium 3 balance changes instead of, say, a kingdom...

1. Add 1 armor to each of the Senator's basic units.
2. Change javelin-equipped units to have more than one shot - possibly by just adding another javelin to the list of attacks, so they throw a javelin multiple times in the first round.
3. Let temples increase the chance to recruit all of the Senator's unique mages, not just the Serpent ones.
4. Recruited Gladiators and Retiari come equipped with magic items.
5. Ballistas fire every 3 rounds in normal combat, not every 4 rounds.

I like the idea of the Senator - you have mainly strategic advantages, and must leverage those into the ability to win tactical battles rather than using raw power - but in a game that is about having your dudes go over and kill their dudes, it just doesn't work if your absolute best "elite" 3-move infantry is a guy with 2 more hitpoints than a standard swordsman.

[gp1628]

I can see where in a game of "your dudes go over and kill their dudes" Senator would not be top dog

[rezaf]

Id like to see a lot more effort toward doing interesting things with the scenario commands to make some fun campaigns. And some suggestions on how to expand it. More triggers, more events. Those could vastly add to the game.

I dont mind mods that add to the game but Id hate to see mods already that declare themselves to "fix" the game. Most of the fix impressions Ive seen so far are just early impressions.

IMHO of course

Well, who'd make those fun campaigns you are talking about?
I didn't even know there was a way to have campaigns - are there already examples of this?

If it's fans creating the campaigns, and you want their set of available scenario commands improved, isn't that expanding modding possibilities as well?

Whatever, we're probably splitting hairs here.
_____
rezaf

[ShivaX]

I can see where in a game of "your dudes go over and kill their dudes" Senator would not be top dog

Considering all games eventually become that, that kinda says the Senator is crappy.

[BleedTheFreak]

Yeah, lol, that's a weird statement by gp there. :)

[Kelan]

I can see where in a game of "your dudes go over and kill their dudes" Senator would not be top dog

I can only speculate, but I think I may know what he is getting at. There are certain classes that seem to be better early game as opposed to late game. The summoning classes that can upgrade and summon powerful creatures if the game goes on longer are arguably stronger end game. The senator and baron that get gold bonuses and mostly generic troops may be stronger early game and better at rushing and taking out opponents before they can ramp up their end game summoning. Other classes are better at moving around the map and can raid settlements easier and avoid stronger stacks. He may just be saying that in the end game you wouldn't want to go toe to toe with a strong summoning class as a Senator.

I should say I haven't played the Senator yet and a balance fix may be necessary, but I am finding that the more I play the more I understand why things are the way they are. I do like the idea of some type of trample unit or increased armor for the Senator, though, if they need some help later in the game.

[BleedTheFreak]

Try the Senator out, then come back and we'll have a chat.

[Edirr]

The Senator is best played on small maps and in short games. Large maps and long games he will always lose, because his military just doesn't stack up against anything really in the long run.

Individually his troops are tougher than standard infantry, even significantly so, but the problem there is that they are all infantry. It would significantly boost the Senator to have mercenary archers available from time to time. In batches of ten like the dwarves.

[Tony M]

If I could make one change to this game, I wish the number of archers that can engage was limited, as it is for the melee troops. Late game battles can see absurd numbers of archers, on both sides, dominating the combat.