Elemental: War of Magic v1.1 Update Released

Stardock's ambitious plans for the future of Elemental: War of Magic are finally coming to fruition with the release of a new v1.1 update that refines the game's interface, adds new spells, rebalances unit, equipment, and monster stats, improves the AI, and much more. It's even worthy of its own press release:
Elemental: War of Magic Version 1.1 Released

PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN - December 14, 2010 - Stardock is releasing a massive update to its fantasy strategy title, Elemental: War of Magic today. Fans will be able to download it via Impulse, the digital distribution platform (www.impulsedriven.com).

"The 1.1 patch for Elemental: War of Magic is an opportunity to enhance and refine the game.  In a limited timeframe, the team was able to implement major features. As a result, the game has been rebalanced to remain fun and challenging throughout.  It impacts nearly every aspect of gameplay, the interface and most significantly the role of Magic," said Derek Paxton, lead producer of Elemental: War of Magic.

Elemental: War of Magic is a PC strategy game set in a fantasy world that puts the player in command of a growing Kingdom or Empire bent on expanding their influence across the world. Players build cities, raise armies, research technologies, go on quests, recruit heroes, negotiate treaties, learn spells and much more in this epic strategy game.

The full change log can be found here: www.elementalgame.com and a summary of updates is below:

'¢ Global Mana System- Instead of having mana per unit, mana is a player resource.  Players must balance between using their mana to enchant their cities and units, summoning creatures, attacking their enemies, or saving up for powerful late game spells.

'¢ New Spells- New spellbooks and spells have been added to make magic more unique and strategic.  High level spells can wipe out cities, raise volcanoes and hit enemy armies with powerful tornados that scatter their units across the countryside.

'¢ Population as a resource- Players must consider how their population should be used.  Population is the primary factor for the player's economy through taxes and each improvement and unit the player builds requires population.  Players have to choose if they want to allocate people to a study researching techs, a workshop producing materials or as a scout to explore the world.

'¢ Dramatic update to the UI- Nearly every screen and interface has been improved to be more useful and intuitive for the player.  Important information has been brought to the main interface, and greater detail is provided in the detail screens so the player can see exactly how his empire is running.

'¢ Rebalance of the game- The core stat mechanics were reworked and every unit, equipment and monster stat was reviewed and tweaked to make for a more balanced and even playing experience.

'¢ More monsters from the beginning- Exploring the early world is a dangerous prospect and bandits and animals roam the world looking for weak groups to pick off.  Some creatures may form powerful armies and travel the wastes together looking for victims to kill and cities to raze.

'¢ Multithreaded AI- The AI now has a separate thread so it can plan its strategy while the player is taking their turn.  This dramatically reduces the between turn wait time (the time a single threaded AI has to spend planning their turn) and improves the AI by allowing us to have it factor in more conditions that would slow the game in a single threaded model.

Players who purchase the game by December 31, 2010 are eligible to receive the first expansion pack free of charge. Elemental: War of Magic is available at most retail outlets or can be purchased and downloaded via Impulse at www.elementalgame.com.

About Impulse

Impulse is a digital distribution platform that allows users to purchase and download the latest PC games, software applications, utilities, and much more. Its partners include Electronic Arts, Activision, Ubisoft, Paradox Interactive, Bethesda, Atari, and many more. Visit www.impulsedriven.com for more information.

About Stardock

Stardock is one of the world's leading developers and publishers of PC games and desktop software. Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire as well as the Galactic Civilizations series. Its desktop software includes Object Desktop, WindowBlinds, and a host of other programs for customizing the Windows experience. Its software can be found on most new Dell PCs as well as HP and other PC makers. Learn more about Stardock by visiting www.stardock.com.