Elemental: Reforged News

[p][/p][p]Join the AMA Now[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The developers at Stardock are going live on Discord October 22nd to answer your questions about the creation of Elemental: Reforged.[/p][p][/p][h3]📍 Elemental Discord[/h3][h3]🗓️ October 22, 3PM - 4:30PM EST[/h3]

[p]The Elemental series is, by far, the most expansive that Stardock has ever made; most of it was barely exposed to the player base in our quest to reduce memory. This time, not only can we expose it all, we can enhance it and integrate into Steam Workshop.[/p][p]The dated visuals of Elemental: Reforged do have one major advantage: It makes modding a lot more approachable and easier. Let’s take a look at what we have and what we want to do.[/p][p][/p][p]Every cup, every barrel, every table in this game is placed onto an area which then gets saved out as a tile. Quests, Goodie Huts, City Improvements, etc. all reference a tile. Under the covers, these are just XML files that reference the little 3D assets (now FBX files).[/p][p]Here’s me making a backyard BBQ…poorly.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I have a huge palette of things I can choose from to put in there, including little people, particle effects, furniture, buildings, you name it.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Here I’ve made a little keep. You can see the pieces at the top.[/p][p]When I’m done, I will have two options:[/p]

1. [p]Save it to disk.[/p]
2. [p]Upload it to Steam Workshop. (We do plan to support other modding platforms later.)[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Using Tiles for Quests, Improvements and Lairs[/h2][p]A tile design on its own doesn’t do much. It needs to be hooked to something:[/p]

1. [p]A quest location.[/p]
2. [p]A City Improvement.[/p]
3. [p]A Goodie Hut / Monster Lair.[/p]
4. [p]etc.[/p]

[p]Let’s start with City Improvements. [/p][p]Right now, it’s quicker for us to just make an improvement in XML. Here’s what the Merchant looks like:[/p]

    TXT_IMPROVEMENTS_MERCHANT_DISPLAYNAME
    TXT_IMPROVEMENTS_MERCHANT_DESCRIPTION
    1
    River
    SwampTerrain
    City
    Category:Land
    Forest
    110
    
      Resource
      Gold
      2
      1
      TXT_PROVIDES_GILDAR_PER_SEASON_2
      1
    
    
      12
      Merchant
    
    Art_Merchant
  

[p]Now, we understand some people might find this intimidating, so either we or someone else (here’s a good “Vibe Coder” thing) will crank out a little front end to make this even easier. [/p][p]The ArtDef at the bottom is where the tile design comes in:[/p]

      
            KingdomStyle
            K_Merchant_01
            K_Construction1x1_01
            Improvement_Merchant.png
            Improvement_Merchant_C.png
            K_Merchant_02_Thumb.png
            
                K_Merchant_02_Thumb.png
            
        

[p]The Tile Design is the file name of the thing you saved, plus you can have some icons and such for it that are just PNGs.[/p][p][/p][p]The map editor was a labor of love for us. We loved maps of Middle Earth, whether it be the Third Age or Beleriand, and you can tell on this map editor that we designed it to make fantasy maps.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Like with the Tile Editor, players will be able to save a map to disk or share it on Steam Workshop.[/p][p]You can create full-on stories with this by putting quest locations and such.[/p][p][/p][h2]Quests[/h2][p]Speaking of quests… They are super easy to make.[/p][p]When you see our quest format, we think you’re going to love it if you’ve ever had to…deal with other systems:[/p]

    TXT_QUESTS_QUEST_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_DISPLAYNAME
    TXT_QUESTS_QUEST_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_DESCRIPTION
    1
    TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_REWARDTEXT
    Armor_WardingKiteShield.png
    Minor
    1
    QuestLocation
    EventLocation
    1
    Rank_MorriganTheMad.png
    QuestLoc_Inn1
    
      
        Unit
        GiveExperience
        6
      
    
    
      
        Resource
        Fame
        10
      
    
    
      0
      1
      TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_OBJECTIVE0_DESC
      
        
          Map
          CreateGoodieHut
          Terrorized Workshop
          GH_Quest_Workshop
          6
        
      
      
        
          Mana_32.png
          TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_OBJECTIVE0_TEXT
          0
        
        Success
        ClearGoodieHut
        GH_Quest_Workshop
        RevealTarget
      
      TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_OBJECTIVE0_CHOICETEXT
      M_Darkling_Shaman_Card.png
      Gfx\\\\Medallions\\\\Medallion_Frame_01.png
      
        TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_CHOICE0_DESC
        1
        
          100
          DarklingShaman
          0
          0
          
            DarklingShaman
            Brunthus the Tenebrous
            5
          
          
            Darkling
            UnitGroupingType_Party
            1
          
          
            Darkling
            UnitGroupingType_Party
            1
          
        
      
      
        TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_CHOICE1_DESC
        0
        TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_CHOICE1_POPUP
      
    
    
      1
      2
      0
      
        
          Mana_32.png
          TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_OBJECTIVE0_TEXT
          0
        
        Success
        BattleFinished
        DarklingShaman
        Victory
      
      TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_OBJECTIVE1_CHOICETEXT
      Crates.png
      Medallion_Frame_01.png
      
        TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_CHOICE2_DESC
        2
        
          
            Resource
            Metal
            50
          
        
      
      
        TXT_QUESTS_FEARFUL_MERCHANT_CHOICE3_DESC
        2
        
          
            GiveItem
            KiteShield_Warding
          
        
      
    
    
      2
      1
    
  

[p]Like with the Improvements, someone, or us, will make some simple friendly front end for this, but making quests is ridiculously simple. BTW, you can hard code your text here…not that we did…cough.[/p][p]It may look long until you realize it’s just a recipe for what happens when and where. All the assets involved are either XML or PNGs.[/p][p]So, want to just make an RPG story to share with your friends or the general public? Here you go.[/p][p] [/p][p]How about particles? For spells, or ambient effects? Yep you can do that here.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]And you can attach these to pretty much anything you want.[/p][p]Here’s how spells are done:[/p]

    TXT_SPELLS_HASTE_DISPLAYNAME
    TXT_SPELLS_HASTE_DESCRIPTION
    TXT_SPELLS_HASTE_FORMATTEDDESCRIPTION
    T_Haste_Painting.png
    T_Haste_Icon.png
    1
    0
    Unit
    UnitEnchantment
    Tactical
    Defensive
    Buff
    FriendlyUnit
    Haste_Adept
    
      AbilityBonusOption
      Air1
    
    
      Mana
      5
    
    
      Unit
      AdjustUnitStat
      UnitStat_CombatSpeed
      1
      Hasted
      -1
      E_Celerity_Particle
      
        \[UnitOwner_GetNumAirShards]
      
      
        \[Calc] + 5
      
      
        \[Calc] + 5
      
    
    
      255
      
        IsTargetWorthy
        
          \[Unit_GetHPCurrent]
        
        
          \[Calc] > 10
        
      
    
    Spell_Haste_01
    Spell_Haste_02
  

[p]This is the Haste Spell.[/p][p]See the E_Celerity_Particle?[/p][p]That’s just the name of the saved file: i.e,. E_Celerity_Particle.xml. I kid you not. You just make your effect, save it to disk (or download it from Steam) and refer to the file. As long as it’s in the “data” directory it’ll find it (have you noticed you don’t have to put in file paths?).[/p][p][/p][p]This is an area of immense potential (now). Because Reforged supports FBX, there’s nothing stopping 3D artists from making their own unique races (and probably showing us up), but you can also make your own civilization.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]So, while we don’t intend to have Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and so forth in, modders will be able to do some crazy things.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Power Of 64-Bit[/h2][p]In the original War of Magic and Fallen Enchantress, we had these tools, but we didn’t dare look at them funny because we’d get out of memory errors if we added say too many chairs to a scene or made a map with one too many quests. It was extremely painful and frustrating. By today’s standards, this game has pretty small memory requirements, but in 2010, it was brushing up against the 2GB limit.[/p][p]My friend and, back in 2010, competitor, Dan Baker was dealing with this as the lead graphics engineer on Civilization V, which shipped a month later. They were pulling every trick they could to make Civilization V run on 32-bit machines without crashing. The change to 64-bit was, no pun intended, game changing, and now, thanks to it, you will soon have the ability to build your own fantasy worlds.[/p]

[h3]Elemental: Reforged combines War of Magic, Fallen Enchantress and Sorcerer King into a single unified 4X fantasy strategy game experience[/h3]



Stardock Entertainment announced today that its remaster of the Elemental fantasy strategy game series, Elemental: Reforged, will enter Early Access on Thursday, October 23, 2025. The classic sandbox turn-based 4X game series puts the player in the role of a sovereign of a fledgling kingdom in a world that has been devastated by a war of magic.

The original game’s release, Elemental: War of Magic, was limited by the constraints of 32-bit technology, which unfortunately wasn’t able to execute the game’s ambitious mechanics and design in the way Stardock planned. Now with Elemental: Reforged, modern computer hardware is fully capable of delivering the fully realized vision of the series in a package that includes content from all three previous Elemental games.

“In Elemental, every character is unique. Every unit, every animal, etc. doesn’t just have its own stats, but even looks unique,” said Bradley Wardell, CEO of Stardock and designer of Elemental: Reforged. “Back then, having a game where players could design units, build family dynasties, terraform the terrain, go on quests was just too much to fit in memory in a stable way.”

As a result of the technical limitations of the day, Elemental was released as War of Magic, Fallen Enchantress and Sorcerer King, each with its own subset of the original design.

“Each game had certain key features that the others couldn’t fit. For instance, War of Magic has family dynasties where characters could get married, have children and the children visibly carried a blending of the parents. That meant even trolls and humans could have children. Probably best not to dwell too much on that,” said Wardell. “For Fallen Enchantress we focused on detailed unit stats and well-paced tactical combat. For Sorcerer King we had crafting and quests.”

The single integrated game, Elemental: Reforged, blends the best of all three with Dynasties, Unit Design and Crafting by moving to a 64-bit game engine and a modern version of DirectX.

“Thanks to having a modern engine, we’ve been able to support bigger maps, improved visuals, better performance, deeper gameplay and smarter AI,” said Wardell.

The October 23 Early Access Build is designed to showcase the new combined game and give players the opportunity to give feedback on which parts of the game they want Stardock to further develop and enhance.

“We didn’t originally plan on having Early Access,” said Wardell. “We assumed we’d just finish the remastering and release in February 2026. But fans’ interest has been much greater than anticipated. With Early Access, we have the opportunity to refine the game alongside our players and prioritize what they want us to focus on.”

[h3]Elemental: Reforged Key Features include:[/h3]

• Ultimate Fantasy Sandbox. Players can create their own leaders, their own factions, and build a fantasy civilization with its own history and lore.
  
• Unified Elemental Experience. Brings together the strategic depth, smart AI, and rich gameplay from Fallen Enchantress, the immersive crafting and quest systems from Sorcerer King, and the dynasty-building, terraforming, and innovative mechanics first introduced in War of Magic.
  
• Rich, Dynamic Worlds. Enjoy endless replayability through procedurally generated fantasy worlds filled with lore-rich quests, evolving environments that respond to your magic, unique fantasy civilizations, and bustling cities populated with individually simulated characters.
  
• RPG-Infused Unit Design. Customize heroes and armies through an intuitive RPG-style character designer, crafting each unit with their own unique history, stats, equipment, and abilities, growing stronger with experience.
  
• Compelling, Short Tactical Combat. See how your designed units and characters fare in battle in highly refined tactical battles that reward strategic thinking, or leverage a sophisticated auto-resolve system powered by advanced AI for streamlined empire management.
  
• Deep Quest and Story Integration. Embark on rich, narrative-driven quests seamlessly woven into the empire-building experience, influencing diplomacy, unlocking secrets, and offering meaningful rewards.
  
• Modernized UI and Graphics Engine. Explore enhanced visuals powered by DirectX 11, seamless zooming from strategic cloth-map to detailed tactical view.
  
• Integrated Modding Tools. A comprehensive built-in modding and map-editing tools, and a fully redesigned user interface optimized for modern PC gaming with Steam workshop integration.
  

Elemental: Reforged now fully realizes Stardock’s original vision, bringing a richly immersive fantasy strategy experience to fans and newcomers alike, and is available to wishlist now - Early Access begins October 23, 2025.

[p]This Dev Journal covers what we are doing and what we are thinking of doing with Elemental: Reforged. We want to hear your thoughts![/p][p][/p][h2]Change #1: There are NO premade characters[/h2][p]Procipinee, Relias, Verga are still in the game, but they are no longer playable characters. We want this game to lean much more heavily into the sandbox, so you start the game by creating a character.[/p][p][/p][h2]Change #2: You start out alone[/h2][p]No entourages. You are alone.[/p][p][/p][p]The starting area monsters have been rebalanced with this in mind.[/p][p][/p][h2]Change #3: Rushing[/h2][p]I was surprised that we didn’t have this, but yes, you can now “rush build” in your cities.[/p][p] [/p][h2]Change #4: Crafting[/h2][p]Elemental: Fallen Enchantress didn’t have crafting but was in Sorcerer King. Crafting allows players to not be reliant on the RNG for buffing up their units.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Change #5: Unit design will have more depth[/h2][p]One of the ongoing themes of this game is that this is a sandbox game. The reality is that this game lives in a world where Age of Wonders 4 and Endless Legend 2 exist. I recommend both games and for different reasons. Contrary to what some people might say, those two games don’t compete against each other; they scratch different itches. We need to ensure Elemental: Reforged is very distinct from them. If it’s just “Endless Legend” with uglier graphics, then I might as well play Endless Legend. Similarly, if it is just Age of Wonders 4 with simpler tactical battles and I’m really into tactical battles, I might as well play AOW4.[/p][p]One of the mistakes game developers make is that they think being 90% as good as some other game should get them some % of that user base. The reality is you get nothing, 0%, because people should always just get whatever is the best.[/p][p]Our objective is to be the best as a “fantasy Civ-style sandbox game”.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Change #6: Terrain and Buildings[/h2][p]We still have work to do on this, and it won’t be ready any time soon, but we really want individual buildings to get benefits based on where you place it in the city.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]So, pretend this screenshot has three rows of dots: Food, Materials, and Magic. Farms will produce more if you put them in tiles with more food. Studies do better if you put them on a tile with more magic. Workshops do better if you put them on a tile with more materials. We have a lot of UI work to do to make this simple.[/p][p][/p][h2]Change #7: Free Champions are going to go away[/h2][p]In Fallen Enchantress, once got enough fame, Champions would just show up. This is going away. Instead, Fame is what will let you unlock the ability to recruit champions and other bosses around the map if you can pay for them.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Would you like to try recruiting Korgon, the Lord of Ogres? Have enough fame and treasure and he will join you. Note that recruiting a champion will require imbuing them with your Essence, which you have a finite amount of. You also don’t get their minions, but if you want a giant Spider as one of your champions, then go for it.[/p][p][/p][h2]Change #8: BIGGER map sizes[/h2][p]We supported pretty big map sizes in Fallen Enchantress, but I wouldn’t call them massive either. There’s going to be a new map size: Massive. We also plan to have additional map generation options.[/p][p] [/p][h2]Change #9 Diplomacy is better[/h2][p]This is pretty basic currently, but now that crafting is a big deal, swapping crafting ingredients is going to matter a lot. We are going to stay away from trading units, but crafting ingredients seems like a pretty obvious win.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Change #10 Units can get equipment[/h2][p]This isn’t a game with huge armies. You can equip your units with items now to make them better, even after they have been trained.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The downside, of course is that if they are killed, you lose the item, so use carefully.[/p][p]There are 10 things players will probably notice quickly, but some of these things are not in our current build. We’d love to hear from you![/p]

[p]Wishlist Now[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][h2]Get up to 80% off Elemental titles during the 2025 Autumn Sale[/h2][p]View Entire Sale[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h2]Other Elemental deals:[/h2][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]