ELEX - Website online

HiddenX

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The ELEX-website is now online with a lot of information:

Science-Fantasy

Advanced in technology, civilized and with a population of billions, Magalan was a planet looking to the future. Then the meteor hit.

Those who survived are now trapped in a battle to survive, a struggle to decide the fate of a planet. At the center of this fight is the element „Elex”. A precious, limited resource that arrived with the meteor, Elex can power machines, open the door to magic, or re-sculpt life into new, different forms.

But which of these choices should be the future of Magalan? Can technology, or magic save this world? Or will this new power destroy all those left alive amongst the ruins? [...]

The Berserkers in Edan

Wiping the planet clean, the meteor has given the people of Magalan a chance. The world can be regrown again. [...]

The Albs in Xacor

Where the meteor destroyed, it also gave the people of Magalan their future – Elex. Harnessing its power for technology [...]

The Clerics in Ignadon

The site of the meteor’s impact, Ignadon is riven by constant volcanic activity. Thought to be devoid of life, Ignadon [...]

The Outlaws in Tavar

A rocky, desert wasteland, Tavar is home to the Outlaws. Scavenging the ruins for weapons and equipment, the Outlaws will [...]
More information.
 
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Thank you for the info, Xian & Dez!
 
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Agreed, it does look promising.

However, on the idea of "open world", I'm not sure if Piranha Bytes has joined the majority of RPG developers who define the term as "go anywhere you want in the world, even at level 1".

I'm hoping the Gothic and Risen style of open-world returns, where stronger enemies gate your progression into certain more dangerous, higher-level areas.

Otherwise, it's going to be a level-scaling fest, which I really don't want to see.

But, they have a real chance here to show their cleverness from past games and help to redefine "open world" to mean something more resembling the older games than the newer ones.

We shall see! It does sound pretty interesting. :)
 
However, on the idea of "open world", I'm not sure if Piranha Bytes has joined the majority of RPG developers who define the term as "go anywhere you want in the world, even at level 1".

"Has joined"? They have invented exactly that type of open world gameplay with Gothic :) . It was one of the most advertised features back in the day. Was it very dangerous to go everywhere as a level 1? Yes. But it was absolutely possible and even encouraged with NPC escorts who took you from camp to camp at very low levels.

I'm hoping the Gothic and Risen style of open-world returns, where stronger enemies gate your progression into certain more dangerous, higher-level areas.

Risen 1 was actually the first game where parts of the original world (chapter 1 accessible world) were truly gated via those ugly red "magical" barriers. The Gothics were more open. If you ask old time PB fans at the WoR forums then this is among the most criticized issues of the Risen series. PB games became more and more linear over time.
 
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Oh, I agree that Gothic is more open than Risen. Still, Risen 1 had a pretty well-built open world.

Gothic 1 & 2, yes, you *could* go most places, but you wouldn't survive long on your own. There were strong enemies scattered in many different places that you would quickly learn which areas to stay away from and which were safe to explore.

The point is, I'm not talking about Gothic-style open world when I talk about the modern design. Take Skyrim as more of an example of the more modern open-world. Go anywhere, enemies scale as you level up, etc.

Whereas Gothic was more, go anywhere, get killed by stronger enemies and learn which areas you had to come back to when you were stronger. :)
 
Ah, I see. Yes, Jenny from PB has confirmed some time ago that they will (try to) make the world more dangerous again (and not a joke like Risen 3).
There is now a fixed starting point for the player in ELEX (as opposed to being able to go to any random island in R3 from the start) and this will facilitate their intention to make the world increasingly dangerous the further you stroll from the "newbie grounds".
 
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Ahh, great. :)

The dangerous world of the first 2 Gothic games is a big part of what makes them so good, in my opinion. Especially the first game.

I mean, how many games have built worlds based on the principles PB invented? Not many recently that I can see.

Heck, when was the last time you saw a deadly forest right next to the level 1 road in an RPG?

As Bernie would say, these are not radical ideas. :D They've just been forgotten.

Can't wait to check this one out! :)
 
"Has joined"? They have invented exactly that type of open world gameplay with Gothic :) . It was one of the most advertised features back in the day. Was it very dangerous to go everywhere as a level 1? Yes. But it was absolutely possible and even encouraged with NPC escorts who took you from camp to camp at very low levels.



Risen 1 was actually the first game where parts of the original world (chapter 1 accessible world) were truly gated via those ugly red "magical" barriers. The Gothics were more open. If you ask old time PB fans at the WoR forums then this is among the most criticized issues of the Risen series. PB games became more and more linear over time.


Oh good lord, open world existed way before Gothic. Gothic 2 was a good game but let's not get carried away.
 
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Oh good lord, open world existed way before Gothic. Gothic 2 was a good game but let's not get carried away.

I think he specifically meant open-world with that level of detail. Gothic was one of the first to do it in true 3D. Ultima IX is the only game I can think of that came earlier and was of similar scope.
 
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I believe that the Gothic-style open-world could be used SO much more in modern gaming than it has been.

Lots of ideas Piranha Bytes implemented in the first 2 Gothic games were incredibly unique and creative. Just think about some of the specific unique mechanics from the first 2 Gothic games, such as:

1 - Non-level scaled open-world.
2 - Hand-placed enemy encounters of varying strength in all areas, including dangerous areas nearby to low-level areas (such as the dangerous forest area in Gothic 1), or a specifically dangerous creature being found in a more mundane area.
3 - Armor made a profound difference in defense and was difficult to obtain, often involving joining a faction and paying a huge price for it, but made a huge and noticeable difference.
4 - Raising levels of weapon skills or other skills generally impacted the game in a very large and noticeable way.
5 - The multi-factions approach to story progression, with 3 very unique factions, often related to if you were to eventually learn magic or the path of the warrior (which has been successfully used by games such as the modern Fallout series with 3 factions, etc.)
6 - The player character at the beginning of the game is very weak and takes a good while to get decently strong (compare to Skyrim or something where you're killing dragons by level 3)

And many more that I'm surely forgetting right now. :)

Elex might be exactly what they need to push some of their ideas a bit further and get response from a wider audience. Really intrigued by this game. :)
 
And many more that I'm surely forgetting right now. :)
No endless trashmob respawns.
However, once you proceed to next chapter, the world gets repopulated. With new/harder trashmobs.
Basically, trashmobs you didn't kill are still there till the end of the game, those you did kill will never ever return unless you replay the game.

Was Ultima 9 designed like this? Honestly, I can't remember.
 
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I think he specifically meant open-world with that level of detail. Gothic was one of the first to do it in true 3D. Ultima IX is the only game I can think of that came earlier and was of similar scope.

Arena and daggerfall both spring to mind when I think open world games...
 
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Arena and daggerfall both spring to mind when I think open world games…

They weren't proper 3D though, nor were they anywhere near as detailed, which is what JDR is pointing out.

As for ELEX, the concept actually sounds quite interesting. I read up on the factions, and they have a lot of potential. I really hope they nail this one.

Edit: Actually, M&M, LoL and Daggerfall and so on are fully 3D in a sense, even though they're quite flat. They're nowhere near Gothic in terms of details though.
 
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I don't remember which level the player character in the demonstration had, but he could go basically anywhere - thanks to his tiny "jetpack" (which has a cooldown).

For some foes, you had to switch between weapons and combat styles to beat them.
 
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I believe that the Gothic-style open-world could be used SO much more in modern gaming than it has been.
Lots of ideas Piranha Bytes implemented in the first 2 Gothic games were incredibly unique and creative.

If I remember it correctly… I think that first precursor of this kind of worldbuilding was oldie goldie Ishar. The first one. Of course, it has dungeon crawler mechanics, but design of the world….

- world was smaller, but non-linear… until the final linear dungeon. There were always more areas or dungeons to explore. Or one bigger open area.
- some passages were blocked by bosses, some had stronger enemies


---------
Elex - mood teaser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVcjXLigx5g
 
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The "mood trailer" is now also available in a HD version by the way. The WoE YT channel will also be updated with videos of the RPC live stage presentation of ELEX (including fan Q&A sessions) later tonight or tomorrow.
 
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The "mood trailer" is now also available in a HD version by the way. The WoE YT channel will also be updated with videos of the RPC live stage presentation of ELEX (including fan Q&A sessions) later tonight or tomorrow.
Thanks for all your hard work with the fan site, and I can't wait to watch more videos. As for Elex the setting has me very intrigued with the new screenshots & information.

Hopefully those mechs in the images can be ridden by your character in the game.
 
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A rocky, desert wasteland, Tavar is home to the Outlaws. Scavenging the ruins for weapons and equipment, the Outlaws will worship no god, they will not pledge themselves to the strict laws of the Berserkers, or surrender to a life of emotionless conflict. With the meteor came a chance for freedom, choice, a world where anyone can rise to the top. The Outlaws live by the motto, that life may be brutal, but it’s free and easy, and that all shall be rewarded for their strengths.

Yep, this is the faction I want to play. Dreaming of Gothic...
 
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PB tend to have great world builders and atmospheric design, so this is an instabuy for those reasons alone. They will need to refine combat design though. Risen 3 was okay compared to Risen 2, and they were both bad compared to Risen 1 (which I thought nailed the style of combat these games go for). With games like Dark souls/Bloodborne showing how good combat design can be, it will be painfully obvious if Elex has clunky combat.
 
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