Nosferatiel wrote:
You can see the number of votes when looking at the same poll from the devblog.

The average number of votes/voter is 4.76, right now, so people take their time and vote for many factions. I voted for 10 factions, myself, yours included.

Thanks, you're sweet <3



Yeah, I like that the number of votes per voter are increasing. I'm pretty sure it was around 3.4 a few days ago, at least that's what someone posted. Looks like people are finally taking their time to read all the entries. Might be a bit late though Still, better late then never and I surely won't complain!

PANCZASU wrote:
Thanks, you're sweet <3



Yeah, I like that the number of votes per voter are increasing. I'm pretty sure it was around 3.4 a few days ago, at least that's what someone posted. Looks like people are finally taking their time to read all the entries. Might be a bit late though Still, better late then never and I surely won't complain!

Actually, the 3.4 were due to a missing refresh of voter numbers on my side. It was 4.6, even then. So people were already voting for many options, at that time. I edited the wrong 3.x number, long ago.

Lynx_gnt wrote:
My apologies, but looks like you haven't noticed the "Despising the other nations" trait.

It also affect the relationship between Dreamers and minor faction (sorry for not describing this part well enought). In such ways, as: you need to spend more money to bribe them, or you will get a more harder quest (two parts, instead of one) to pacify - because they simply not believe, that you come in peace.

Umm, just to ask since this is something I still don't get... How does that fit the minor faction theme if they in fact have harder time utilizing minor factions than other factions? <_< That sounds more like penalty or that its just better to wipe out minor factions.

ResonanceMask wrote:
Umm, just to ask since this is something I still don't get... How does that fit the minor faction theme if they in fact have harder time utilizing minor factions than other factions? <_< That sounds more like penalty or that its just better to wipe out minor factions.

This is one of their two serious penalties (-1 food per hex and harder to establish peace/ pacify minor village). I just said, that Seekers of Knowledge not only one Dreamers feature, related to minor factions.

And yes, with those two penalties, it is "better" to destory and then rebuild villages, because you will have hard times with populations at the beginning.

Lynx_gnt wrote:
This is one of their two serious penalties (-1 food per hex and harder to establish peace/ pacify minor village). I just said, that Seekers of Knowledge not only one Dreamers feature, related to minor factions.

And yes, with those two penalties, it is "better" to destory and then rebuild villages, because you will have hard times with populations at the beginning.

But how does that fit the theme? <_<

ResonanceMask wrote:
But how does that fit the theme? <_<

You mean, what is the reason why this penalty exist? Well, the Dreamers just doesn't count all other races as equal to them ("And just like their islands towering above ground of Auriga, Dreamers believe that their race dominates over all other races living on the planet").

Lynx_gnt wrote:
You mean, what is the reason why this penalty exist? Well, the Dreamers just doesn't count all other races as equal to them ("And just like their islands towering above ground of Auriga, Dreamers believe that their race dominates over all other races living on the planet").

No, I meant that theme of the faction in this competition is "Minor factions". If the dreamers should avoid dealing with them, then how do they fit the theme? That is what confuses me.

ResonanceMask wrote:
No, I meant that theme of the faction in this competition is "Minor factions". If the dreamers should avoid dealing with them, then how do they fit the theme? That is what confuses me.

Oh, sorry for misunderstanding my bad. I just thought, that "Minor factions" theme should include not only bonuses for race/ new game aspects, but also penalties you have.

Lynx_gnt wrote:
Oh, sorry for misunderstanding my bad. I just thought, that "Minor factions" theme should include not only bonuses for race/ new game aspects, but also penalties you have.

Hmm...*shrugs* I personally thought it meant that faction's playstyle should revolve around minor factions, but not many factions ultimately worked like that, so I dunno <_< Ah well, up to devs in the end.

ResonanceMask wrote:
Hmm...*shrugs* I personally thought it meant that faction's playstyle should revolve around minor factions, but not many factions ultimately worked like that, so I dunno <_< Ah well, up to devs in the end.

The more I read the more I wonder just how much game-play is missing from the entries regarding the minor faction.

I don't know how anyone else designed their minor faction, for me it was to work from the ground up on minor faction use; their units; bonuses; and mechanics of resource management (influence/dust/food/etc)

Then I looked at what was possible and blended in a storyline giving little details but not fixing it.

Of course that means very little if like me the presentation didn't grab peoples interest, or wasn't shiny enough as I put it



Some of the entries here are great, creative, and possibly unworkable. A real shame but then only one is going to win anyway



Not to worry though - head off to this thread and comfort yourself if you have less than 80 votes - /#/endless-legend/forum/6-game-design/thread/2959-bump-ai-modding-above-other-features

indigav wrote:
The more I read the more I wonder just how much game-play is missing from the entries regarding the minor faction.

I don't know how anyone else designed their minor faction, for me it was to work from the ground up on minor faction use; their units; bonuses; and mechanics of resource management (influence/dust/food/etc)

Then I looked at what was possible and blended in a storyline giving little details but not fixing it.

It was the same for me. After finding out about this competition I took a long, cold bath and thought about how I can center my faction entirely around minor factions. After finishing the bath, I already had most of the proposed gameplay ideas already designed and I knew that I want my faction to be parasites. Then I just added some extra gameplay-flavored elements that were less crucial but fitting for the theme of the competition and my faction, thought about the lore that could be written about such organisms, looked up a greek word for "parasite" and altered it slightly to form "Mesaima" and voila! Mesaima were born!



EDIT: The moral of this story? Bath/shower in cold water

I also designed the faction around how they would use minor factions <_< In the end seems like it didn't pay off.

PANCZASU wrote:
EDIT: The moral of this story? Bath/shower in cold water

I really loathe cold water. Rather I went brainstorming what would be an interesting idea and could be the ideal precursor of the Fal'Hadei. For the latter, I needed two powerful beings with rather severe restrictions on applying their powers.

Out of the restrictions and the settings, a one-city religious faction was the logical result that I fleshed out, more and more, fitting it to the ES/EL lore and into the gameplay, throwing in and out lots of ideas and permutations of traits, until I was satisfied that I had a different and valid gameplay that was reasonable also in lore-terms.



And I cannot say often enough: I hate cold water.

PANCZASU wrote:




EDIT: The moral of this story? Bath/shower in cold water

Having lived in the UK for a number of years, I've learnt that having a cold shower is a reference to the general weather here lol



I've read some of the entries and they come across as what they would "do to" a minor faction rather than how they would "work with" a minor faction. Anyway we no longer need worry - the competition is what it is, the entries have been made, the public are voting, the game develops.



And as the 98 also rans will kick the stuffing out of the winners faction in game, everyone is happy (Did I say that out loud?)

PANCZASU wrote:
It was the same for me. After finding out about this competition I took a long, cold bath and thought about how I can center my faction entirely around minor factions. After finishing the bath, I already had most of the proposed gameplay ideas already designed and I knew that I want my faction to be parasites. Then I just added some extra gameplay-flavored elements that were less crucial but fitting for the theme of the competition and my faction, thought about the lore that could be written about such organisms, looked up a greek word for "parasite" and altered it slightly to form "Mesaima" and voila! Mesaima were born!



EDIT: The moral of this story? Bath/shower in cold water

Shower and bath are usually the best places to get new ideas. Me? I've been planning my own sci-fi video game for a some time now. One of my dreams is to bring this game to life, so I have thought a lot of its lore. I mixed the concept of "fish-like" humanoids (Cievers), who are allied to a multi-cultural, but mostly human, alliance of planets. Because I had no name for these fish-people, I took the name "Cievers" from an another race that is at war with humans. The irony is that Cievers in this universe are mammals, and have sturdy legs (high gravity homeworld). I then took some historical greek concepts, like Athenian democracy and the idea of polises (minor factions), and mixed them together. The Maori-styled culture evolved as I was looking for names for sea-monsters, And I found the Taniwha. I then took major parts of Maori mythology and mixed them (like The Sky Father Rangino or viewing sea and land as different realms). The major concept of floating disctrics came when I thought that how to take advance of Cievers' aquatic form. I then added penalties regarding inland.



So, for me, most of the ideas I got came to me on fly. Even the name Cievers is an enigma to me. I recall thinking "sewers", since they have water in them, and then just made up a word that is pronounced almost the same way

Lynx_gnt wrote:
Oh, sorry for misunderstanding my bad. I just thought, that "Minor factions" theme should include not only bonuses for race/ new game aspects, but also penalties you have.

I don't think that having a minor faction theme, prevents the faction from having some negative stuff about them too. Don't units possesed by Mesaima die in few turns?

indigav wrote:
I don't know how anyone else designed their minor faction, for me it was to work from the ground up on minor faction use; their units; bonuses; and mechanics of resource management (influence/dust/food/etc)

Then I looked at what was possible and blended in a storyline giving little details but not fixing it.

Thought about minor faction related stuff that I'd like to see in game and built up something that fitted it. Added some triclops flavor just because I could (and after discarding flavors like plantfolks or frost zombies).

While I do like the Cutlists and the Nereides I have noticed people seem to just be voting for the ones at the top and bottom :P I mean just by being at the top mine has gained 30 odd votes and it's a terrible design! Whereas there are some great gems in the middle with less votesthan they deserve

>.> Well see, I got a backup plan. If the Maskari don't make it, there is always the Replicants <.<

When I came up with the rats I initially designed them around the idea of exceptionally high population growth and suicidal battlefield tactics. Then I went back and reread the contest criteria and realized that they had no special minor faction traits, and rewrote them completely.



In retrospect the weird way I had their cities work would probably have made them impossible to balance with the other factions, but it was still fun to think about.

ResonanceMask wrote:
I also designed the faction around how they would use minor factions <_< In the end seems like it didn't pay off.

Don't blame yourself, you had a terrible spot. With #41 you're almost exactly in the middle of the poll - no way you were going to win that competition from that position I'm afraid. At least not without some hardcore advertising. As much as we want people to read through all of the entries, most of them probably don't. And it's the middle that usually has the least attention. It's possible to get to top 10, sure, just look at the Elders. But top3? I seriously doubt it.

If it makes you feel any better - you had my vote <3

Then again, the entry just above mine is 24 and it did get to #3 which ruins my whole argument <_< But it did suddenly gain 19 votes in less then 2 hours so maybe it had something to do with a distortion in space-time-continuum or something :3

Then again, I was #3 before that... but I did advertise a lot so that could explain some of my earlier success

Nosferatiel wrote:
And I cannot say often enough: I hate cold water.

But it's awesome! And good for your health