Elemental: Reforged News

[h2]Beta 3 brings a substantial visual overhaul, expanded campaign content, and reworked AI[/h2][p]View the Changelog | Join Early Access[/p][p][/p][h3]Visual Overhaul[/h3][p]The most immediately noticeable change is the updated character models. We've left the PlayStation 1 era behind with new models that apply retroactively to existing characters. We may still need to upscale some clothing textures, but the core visual upgrade is now in place.[/p][p][/p][h3]Campaign Updates[/h3][p]Beta 3 includes two campaigns: Fallen Enchantress and Legendary Heroes. We've not only ported this classic content but expanded upon it as well. The War of Magic campaign is coming soon and will be ready for our full release.[/p][p][/p][h3]AI and Balance Changes[/h3][p]The AI has received significant attention in this update. The original AI was designed to "lose well", throttling its own performance to ensure players could win while facing some early-game challenge. This approach has been reworked, with restrictions removed that previously prevented AI players from pursuing quests and exploration if the human player appeared to be struggling. We'll be lowering the default difficulty setting to account for these changes.[/p][p][/p][h3]Bug Fixes and What's Next[/h3][p]Beta 3 also includes extensive bug fixes, which occupied much of our recent development time. Following this beta, we're shifting focus toward release, with plans for a post-launch roadmap based on player feedback.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for your continued support, your enthusiasm is what drives us.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Happy New year![/p][p]We have been burning the midnight oil over here at Stardock to get Beta 3 out. Your support and enthusiasm is what drives us and we have been making the most of it![/p][p]So what’s in BETA 3 and when is it coming out?[/p][p]Besides a massive list of bug fixes we have 3 main focuses:[/p]

1. [p]The long awaited art overhaul[/p]
2. [p]The campaigns[/p]
3. [p]The AI/balance update[/p]

[p]As many of you know, I don’t love early access. I no longer even buy games in Early Access. I wait until they’re released.[/p][p]That’s because Early Access games, imo, tend to either be a marketing exercise or a permanent sandbox for an ever growing scope. On the latter side, we are definitely guilty of that here.[/p][p]We blew up the scope on Elemental: Reforged. We have no regrets in that, but I would prefer that we finish the game and get it out there and then release a roadmap in which NEW things can be looked at to be added in free updates. Remember, we’ve been working on this quietly for the last 5 years. Even if we don’t sell any copies of the game, we’re going to be working and updating this game for years to come.[/p][p]So let’s look at what we’ve done:[/p][p][/p][h2]The New Graphics[/h2][p]We have left the PlayStation 1 era graphics.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You don’t even need to create new characters to benefit from the new character models.[/p][p]I remember when I got the Diablo 2 remaster and thought “The graphics look the same as the original”. Blizzard was smart enough to have a way to instantly switch between old and new to make clear just how much better the remaster looks.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The increased visualization also gives hints as to why the Altarians in GalCiv have a blueish tint in their skin.[/p][p][/p][p]We still may need to upscale some of the clothing textures. Take a look.[/p][p] [/p][h2]The Campaign[/h2][p]The plan was to include:[/p]

• [p]The War of Magic[/p]
• [p]The Fallen Enchantress[/p]
• [p]The Sorcerer King[/p]

[p]Beta 3 includes two campaigns: Fallen Enchantress and Legendary Heroes. We've not only ported this classic content but expanded upon it as well. The War of Magic campaign is coming soon and will be ready for our full release.*[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]So I admit, I really didn’t think the character model update would make any real difference in game. I mean, look how small they are? I didn’t think anyone would be able to tell the difference. But yea, I can tell. So yes yes I was wrong. You guys were right.[/p][p][/p][h2]The AI / Balance Update[/h2][p]It’s hard to take screenshots of smarter AI.[/p][p]The original AI design for Elemental was for the AI players to “Lose well”. In effect, they would throttle themselves to ensure that the player won but with some challenge at the start. It didn’t age well and was a misplaced design because the reality is that it results in good players absolutely wrecking the AI.[/p][p]The hubris after coming off of GalCiv II and thinking we could easily make an AI that would beat everyone therefore the real challenge is to make it smart enough to be a “Good loser” is breathtaking in hindsight.[/p][p]So it’s about watching the AI and pouring over lots and lots of C++ code.[/p][p][/p][p]For instance, AI players were blocked from taking quests and goodie huts if they thought the poor poor human player was struggling.[/p][p]We will be lowering the default difficulty as a result of all these changes but I am hopeful players who are really good at the game will notice the AI plays a lot better.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Bugs[/h2][p]The bug fixing has been monumental. That’s one of the reasons we’ve been so quiet lately. Just head down fixing little bug after little bug.[/p][p][/p][h2]Stay tuned[/h2][p]We have some surprises in Beta 3 as well. We will discuss soon, but after Beta 3, the plan is to move towards release so that we can start thinking about NEW things in post release based on the level of interest from players in seeing where they want the game to go.[/p][p][/p][p]*Updated 01/19/2026[/p]

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[h3]Stardock's remastering of its popular fantasy strategy game series, Elemental, combines War of Magic, Fallen Enchantress and Sorcerer King into one game to rule them all[/h3][p]View the full changelog[/p][p]Stardock Entertainment has released Beta 2 for Elemental: Reforged, the remaster to Stardock’s classic fantasy strategy series. This early access update introduces significant enhancements, featuring a new Dynasty system for character legacy, customizable modding tools including Steam Workshop support, a massive set of bug fixes and new content and support for non-English languages.[/p][p][/p][p]Elemental: Reforged is a 4X turn-based fantasy strategy game in which the player founds a kingdom, explores a devastated world going on quests, battling monsters and contending with other kingdoms and empires that are also spreading across the world.[/p][p][/p][p]The game is a remastering of Stardock's trilogy of War of Magic, Fallen Enchantress and Sorcerer King, all of which were limited by 32-bit memory limitations. Now, thanks to a rewritten engine, the game now supports modern graphics hardware with 64-bit memory space and can fully realize the original vision for Stardock's ambitious Elemental game design.[/p][p][/p][p]"The original Elemental game design was ambitious beyond belief," said Brad Wardell, lead designer of the Elemental series.  "The first game, War of Magic, was released in 2010 and supported a 'living world' where players could zoom in and see people living out their lives in cities. Every unit was unique, characters could be equipped with different weapons, armor and items and visually change on screen, characters could get married and have children that visually inherited traits from both parents; this is a game where a human and an Ogre could potentially have children together.  If that sounds too much to fit in 32-bit memory space in 2010, the answer is, it was."[/p][p][/p][p]The original design was famously mired with technical problems in an effort to fit into 2GB of system memory in 2010.  As a result the design was split into 3 games, War of Magic, Fallen Enchantress and Sorcerer King, each of which focused on a different aspect of the original design.[/p][p][/p][p]"Now, with Elemental: Reforged, we can take the entire design and put it into a single game, albeit, 15 years later than we wished," said Wardell. "This has been a labor of love for us as most of the original team from 2010 is still at Stardock. We've been working on this for the past 8 years in our spare time so players can get a glimpse of what we wanted to do."[/p][p][/p][p]Elemental: Reforged Beta 1 was released in Early Access in October.  Despite being very rough in terms of bugs and incomplete content, the game has received Very Positive reviews on Steam and a committed fanbase.[/p][p][/p][p]"Beta 1 was horrendously buggy," admitted Wardell.  "Not wipe out your hard drive buggy but still very buggy. We have been grateful to the fans for putting up with the glitches as we've been trying to bring so many lost features back together, as well as make the game available in non-English languages which has been a challenge unto itself."[/p][p][/p][p]Beta 2 brings back the most famous feature from the original design, the Dynasty System.  In it, player characters can get married, have children and those children can have children and so forth.  These new generated characters, in every sense of the word, can then be brought onto the game map as unique champion units with traits (both visual and gameplay abilities) based on the parents.[/p][p][/p][p]In addition, the built in modding tools, which support map creation, quest making, monster lair creation, dungeon creation, particle editing and much more have been brought into Beta 2. They are now localized and integrated with Steam Workshop so that players can make and share their creations.[/p][p][/p][p]"Someone could potentially make a turn-based RPG with these built in tools," said Wardell.  "Between designing maps, creating monster lairs, quests, items, etc. all of which integrate into each other, along with the use of common art formats like FBX and PNG files, players can create and share pretty much whatever their imaginations come up with."[/p][p][/p][h3]Elemental: Reforged Beta 2 Highlighted Features:[/h3]

• [p]Dynasties: Players can now engage with an innovative Dynasty system, allowing them to marry, have children, and nurture their offspring into champions, thereby expanding their legacy across generations.[/p]
• [p]Fantasy Studio: Players can create fantasy maps, spells, monster lairs, spell effects, quests, magical items, etc.[/p]
• [p]Steam Workshop Support: Right from the in-game main menu, a UI for managing mods and sharing them online is now available. [/p]
• [p]Localization Support: The original games were English only.  Beta 2 includes support for other languages including German, French, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Polish and more.[/p]
• [p]Computer Opponent AI. AI players have been substantially enhanced to intelligently craft items for their champions, design their own units, wisely use spells (including ones players make and share online) and much more.[/p]
• [p]Visual Update. While the remaster can't hide that this was a 2010 era game, the game's visuals continue to be refined and improved as the original high resolution art assets are restored and put into the game.[/p]
• [p]New Monsters, Champions, Quests and much more. Before War of Magic was released in 2010, a lot of content for it had to be removed in order to fit in 32-bit memory. This content has been brought back and restored; players will encounter many new types of creatures and quests that they didn't see before.[/p]

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[p]Let me start out with a thank you! As some of you know, I was against doing an Early Access, especially one this early. The game was just so buggy and so many people these days think “Early Access = polished release candidate”, which is NOT what Early Access was ever supposed to be. But nevertheless, here we are. Despite how buggy and janky Beta 1 was, you guys stuck with us and we appreciate it.[/p][p]This week I want to share with you what to expect in Beta 2.[/p][p][/p][p]Let me give you the high level changes first:[/p]

• [p]Bug Fixes. Still buggy, but a lot closer to what modern “Early Access” is.[/p]
• [p]Dynasties. You can get married, have children, grandchildren. . . Basically another way to get champions and characters into the game.[/p]
• [p]Localization. The game is localized into German, Chinese, French, Russian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Korean, Italian. It’s not on by default because we aren’t yet certain how good the localization is. It’s all Greek to me (Which isn’t in the game ironically). We are recruiting people into our MVP program who speak any of these languages natively because we do want to turn these on by default ASAP.[/p]
• [p]Steam Workshop Support. Not only can you make mods you can also just download them and share them. [/p]
• [p]Gameplay Additions. To get War of Magic out, we had to pull a ton of characters and content from the game to fit in 32bit. It was heart breaking. None of that made it back into Fallen Enchantress or Sorcerer King either, but now it’s back. You will notice quickly a bunch of new types of monsters, monster lairs, quests, etc. Feel free to cry with us that all this amazing stuff had to be taken out before.[/p]
• [p]AI Improvements. I won’t call the AI smart yet, but it should play substantially better than before.[/p]
• [p]Balance. I won’t say things are super well balanced yet, but they are night and day compared to Beta 1.[/p]
• [p]Progression. There’s now a Dungeon Master AI that looks over the world and gradually places new lairs and other things as time passes. It should make each game feel even more unique. Eventually, we want to use this to put in chained narrative quests.[/p]

[p]Let’s take a quick look![/p][p][/p][h2]Modding[/h2][p]Players will be able to create and share the following:[/p]

1. [p]Maps[/p]
2. [p]Goodie huts[/p]
3. [p]Quests[/p]
4. [p]Tiles[/p]
5. [p]Items[/p]
6. [p]Factions[/p]
7. [p]Units[/p]
8. [p]Spells[/p]
9. [p]Particle Effects[/p]
10. [p]Recipes[/p]
11. [p]Monster Lairs[/p]
12. [p]Lots of other stuff[/p]

[p]We also include tools you can use. For example, the tool below lets you create Tiles which are referred to by Quests and Goodie huts.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The map editor lets you place starting locations, quests, goodie huts, [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You can deform the land however you want.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We’ll be taking feedback on how to make these tools easier to use and add new functionality. But if you want to make Mordor, than sure. You want to make your ultimate fantasy RPG game, go ahead. Make it and share with others.[/p][p]I’ll be making dev journals and uploading new tools to make doing this easier, because I’ll be right there with you.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Localization[/h2][p]I barely speak English. So I can’t tell you if this is written in correct Germanese or not…[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]For that reason, we’re not going to have the game come up in a localized language by default until you guys give us the “coast is clear” sign. To change the language, click on this:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Here’s Japanese:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Here’s Chinese:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Once we get an idea of whether this is acceptable or not then we can officially say the game supports these languages.[/p][p]Not only did the original game not support non-English, it didn’t even support non ASCII characters. This was a big effort.[/p][p][/p][h2]Dynasties[/h2][p]We’ve enhanced the Dynasty system that was in the original War of Magic. Now, your fame makes various suitors available for you to choose from. Until you have some fame, no one wants to marry you. As your fame grows, the higher the quality of characters you will have access to. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Female characters will give birth to children. How often you have children depends on how much time you spend with your spouse in a city. But your children can grow up and you can have marriages arranged for them, they will have children, and so on. You can spend 1 essence on a child to imbue them (you start with 10 essence) in order to bring them onto the map as a character in the world you can use.[/p][p]These characters inherit the traits of their parents, even how they look visually…and this is a game with non-human characters that can be bred with humans. DON’T JUDGE ME!!!!!![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]“She has her mother’s eyes…”[/p][p][/p][h2]Better[/h2][p]Beyond the obvious, what we hope players will notice is just how much better the game plays. More stable. Less buggy. Faster. Less memory use. More balanced. Smarter.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You will also probably notice more of the original art has been restored.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This has involved digging up old spinny hard drives from a very long time ago to find Photoshop v5 files and re-exporting. I know not everyone loves the art style in the game, but few games before, or since, have as much handcrafted fantasy art in it.[/p][p]While this is a strategy game, once players start using the tools, I suspect there will be more than one RPG style campaign made. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Confronting a werebard in her hideout.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Visually, we continue to improve the graphics bit by bit. It’s subtle in some places.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Spread the word[/h2][p]As you know, this started out as a pure labor of love for us, working on it in our spare time. Thanks to your wishlists and Early Access purchases, we’ve been able to have people work on it full time. We’d love to expand the team so if you like what we’re doing, spread the word! There is so much that can be done here. We can’t wait to see what you guys do with Beta 2.[/p][p]Beta 2 is scheduled to go out on December 16, 2025. Stay tuned![/p][p][/p]