Sounds like a necessary change to me but what to I know  (Had to say something being I was first)

Backwards compatibility just doesn't seem to be worth the price of it. You need to remember that Elemental needs to be playable 10 years into the future as well. Using old tech always has the risk of it becoming incompatible with new hardware. In my opinion the best option is always to use relatively high tech solutions during development.

So, my once powerful Nvidia 7300 is now .   Good .............time to start shopping around for something to last another 4 years........Oh Honey   guess what I need?

The odds of Elemental being played 10 years in the future is slim, and also bad for Stardock.  If people are still playing FE 10 yrs into the future, it means that Stardock hasn't come up with something better in those 10 years.

Thankfully my old laptop should be able to squeeze by, my newer one no problem unless it overheats.

Not true. I still play Balder's Gate II. Not because there is not a better RPG out there, but because it is still a good game. Good games are eternal. 

Difficult to complain. It sounds like the old approach would hurt more people than it helped.

*smashes hand into table!*

I WANT...NO!...I DEMAAAAND!!!....THAT YOU MAKE THIS GAME COMMODORE 64 COMPATIBLE! ! ! ! 


<---*stern eyes*   "get to work!"












but sounds good - i got good grafics card so no probs ...   *pushes commodore 64 forward and staaaares*

Bummer I've got 256MB (Radeon HD 2400 Pro).  Hard work just isn't paying enough.

Are you working or occupying?

Re the 10 years in the future... games I like are rare and I stick with them a loooong time.  Besides EWoM,  all I have played in the last year is Shogun 1 (about a decade old), and MoM (already old when Shogun came out).  I will be bummed if I am not playing FE or at least FE2 nth  expansion-pack 10 years from now.  

(EWoM --  well, I will be bummed if I AM playing that one in 10 years, because that would mean something horrible happened to FE)

If I don't have to post another memory leak or OOM error, me and Harpo will be happy campers.

Games like WoM tend to appeal primarily to those that are PC enthusiasts who tend to keep their rigs up-to-date as much as finances allow. Five years is a long time and if you are still chugging away with a graphics card powered by a hamster in a wheel then maybe saving up is a good idea. Surely even a moderate upgrade from a 5 to a 3 year old card from e-bay wouldn't break the bank.

If Pixel shader 3 halves memory usage then bring it on. It might reduce sales but at leaast the product will be more stable.

I'm glad the decision was taken. Although I won't be able to play on my netbook any more, I much prefer a better experience when I play on my real rig.

I think those times are changing though.  There's less need for high-end rigs now, as companies are making games with lower reqs (except for the AAA stuff, but AAA games are primarily console gamers)  

l think a big reason indie games have done well these past few years is primarily DD, but a secondary reason is consumers have internalized the cost of DLC into their game purchase.

As for my not playing in 10 years- that assumes Stardock makes another Elemental, or a Gal Civ 3 that's even better.  MoM didn't have a sequel, and Shogun 2's sequel was good but had some insanely high requirements.

I don't see how AAA games are for console gamers. COD etc are AAA and FPS are meant to be played on PCs with keyboard and mouse. I much prefer games that ramp up graphics for high end rigs so that you get to use your lovely dx11 cards etc while still having a playable game on older dx9 hardware