"Fire" Developer Diary

[Kael]

Amaaaaaaazing!!! ​

I don't know in detail the whole storyline behind this game but... Will there be a good counter for Hyborems in the future? Angellical forces descending from the heavens to help whipe out the otherwise overwhelming demon armies... either as a civ, or 'buildable' angel units, or even random apparition of angels (a 'Divine Invocations' civic / Temple of the Order could raise the chances of apparitions)...

"We come to wage war with the Infernal, your fate is inconsequential." - Basium, renegade angel and leader of the Mercurians

 

[Bad Player]

Will AV civs get some kind of bonus (e.g. food/production/currency) bonus on hell tiles?

Does Hyborem's army strength get affected by what stage of play he enters the game?

 

[Nero's fire]

This may be a bit early to speculate about possible stratagies but you mentioned that fire can burn down both forests AND jungles. So would it be possible to fireball your own lands in a primative (or just faster) method for removing jungles? I always felt sanatation came too late in the tech line if you bordered a large jungle.

 

[Kael]

This may be a bit early to speculate about possible stratagies but you mentioned that fire can burn down both forests AND jungles. So would it be possible to fireball your own lands in a primative (or just faster) method for removing jungles? I always felt sanatation came too late in the tech line if you bordered a large jungle.

Hmm... kinda. The only thing that makes this difficult is that a fireball has to hit an enemy to explode (and its only a 20% chance of catching fire each turn). So though its possible, it wouldnt be a very easy solution.

 

[Jean Elcard]

Hmm... kinda. The only thing that makes this difficult is that a fireball has to hit an enemy to explode (and its only a 20% chance of catching fire each turn). So though its possible, it wouldnt be a very easy solution.

In a jungle world with raging barbs you should have enough valid targets to burn down the entire planet. If I imagine the resulting global warming, though ... oh my gods!

 

[J-S]

Kael, I was just wondering... is it possible to have cities 'cast' spells? Or is that impossible to code...

 

[TheBoatman]

"We come to wage war with the Infernal, your fate is inconsequential." - Basium, renegade angel and leader of the Mercurians

Will Mercurians be "Hyborem for good ones"? Do they come later as well (with order) or do they get units for good souls? Maybe Valhalla wonder would be nice: whoever builds it (with the Order as a prerequisite) gets the good souls (you already got einherjar in the game).

EDIT: Is there any other link between terraforming and hell or only the spring effect?

 

[Kael]

Im not ready to talk about the Mercurians. But, they are not simply the Infernals for good (we tend to dislike patterns and think each civ deserves unique mechanics to help it stand out).

 

[JDexter]

Your implementation of Hell and the Infernals is unbelievably great!
With this FFH gets again even more depth and immersion.

/bow to the team

 

[Quetz]

Can fire spread to cottages? muahahahha

 

[Chandrasekhar]

Kael, I was just wondering... is it possible to have cities 'cast' spells? Or is that impossible to code...

The Malakim can get a building that creates a fireball if an enemy unit is within two tiles of the city, I think.

Man, this is looking better and better. So many exciting new features...

 

[MrUnderhill]

This certainly gives a whole new meaning to "BURN, BABY, BURN!"

One question, though. How exactly do Hyborem and the Infernals "come into the world"? Does he take over the Ashen Veil holy city, rename it Dis, and go from there? Or does he just take up shop on any unowned tile on the map, like the barb heroes? If that's the case, what happens when the map is full?

 

[Kael]

This certainly gives a whole new meaning to "BURN, BABY, BURN!"

One question, though. How exactly does Hyborem "come into the world"? Does he take over the Ashen Veil holy city, rename it Dis, and go from there? Or does he just take up shop on any unowned tile on the map, like the barb heroes? If that's the case, what happens when the map is full?

We are working on this, right now he pops us beside the city that founded the veil with his army. If he doesn't have room to spread into he better start fighting and take a city (even as the AI hes not afraid to turn on his summoner and take one of theirs).

I dont know if this is how it will stay or if we will change it.

I do know that I don't want Hyborem to last in every game. He should take off and become dominant in some games, and suffer a quick death in others. Part of the goal of FfH is to create a dynamic game and that doesn't happen if the same things play out everytime.

That will probably be a bit of a dissapointment to some because Im sure people will be anxious to see the new mechanics play out full force in their first game. But it just going to depend on how it goes. The screenshot of the flaming infernal lands is because I was playing on an Oasis map and things got very hot when Hyborem showed up. They won't always have that much flame.

But we have to make sure Hyborem has all the tools he needs so that he is able to become dominant in the player and AI hands in a significant portion of the games.

 

[Civkid1991]

I do know that I don't want Hyborem to last in every game. He should take off and become dominant in some games, and suffer a quick death in others. Part of the goal of FfH is to create a dynamic game and that doesn't happen if the same things play out everytime.

but you also said...

The player that founded the Veil has the option to abandon his civ and begin playing as Hyborem.

 

[MrUnderhill]

Ah, but you don't have to play as him.
I could see some good civs deliberately found the Veil (though not adopt it) in an effort to kill Hyborem before he gets a chance to become a major power. It'd be risky if you're not prepared for it, but it would also eliminate a potential (and powerful) rival.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Here we go, already plannign strategies for this

 

[loki1232]

Ah, but you don't have to play as him.
I could see some good civs deliberately found the Veil (though not adopt it) in an effort to kill Hyborem before he gets a chance to become a major power. It'd be risky if you're not prepared for it, but it would also eliminate a potential (and powerful) rival.

Sure. It works great to kill the 12 strength hero and his entourage that spawn next to a random city with swordsmen.

But it could potentially be a good strategy.

 

[MrUnderhill]

Better than having to kill a 12 strength hero with a whole civ-worth of backup and the leftovers from every other evil civ, right?

 

[Maniac]

Cool hell features!

Does the AI know how to counter burning forests?

 

[Kael]

Cool hell features!

Does the AI know how to counter burning forests?

Not really, it will cast spring to put them out if they are nearby but won't go out of its way for them. Right now thats the best way, better to left them burn out than have an AI constantly running back to put out a forest on the infernal borders (and will just catch fire again anyways).

But after we release, you guys do all your playtesting, we tweak and get everything working as we want we will look at teaching the AI to do the same kind of tricks you guys do.