New info about ELEX
 

Piranha bytes updated their ELEX site today. I recommand checking it out. http://elexgame.com/

Also check out: http://worldofelex.de/en/site/news-a…first-hq-video

Piranha bytes released a short video, new art, new screenshots and Some new info about the game, like info about the guilds.

These are the four joinable (?) guilds.

Also what they're saying about Exploration in their site, really excites me. Its just music to my ears :)

Why are they mocking us? We're more than half a year far from the game.
And I want it today!

Common on joxer, don't be greedy, you got Technomancer and Deus Ex:MD coming up soon.

This weekend there is the RPC in Cologne, Germany, and presentations of Elex are scheduled to be shown there.

PB and Nordic were showing off ELEX at the RPC Convention in Cologne this weekend. There were live stage show presentations on Saturday and Sunday at 16:50 CEST and they were having play sessions at their booth for small groups of people at a time.

Here is a "mood" teaser trailer that the folks from WoE have recorded from a livestream (thus the poor quality).

Some community members have also shared their impressions from play sessions in this thread starting at post #20. The posts that might be worth running through Google translator for those who are interested are posts #20, #23 and #25.

More coverage will probably be posted to WoE tomorrow. They had issues with uploading more stuff from the RPC due to the crappy internet at their hotel.

I saw it as well.

The setting is a mixture between Sci-Fi & Fantasy, and it's more or less some kind of "post-apocalyptic" in which a huge astroid has destroyed a LOT of human civilization. If you have seen the setting in "New Horizon : Zero Dawn", then you'll know how it looks like. Only, that in this pre-alpha there were cars - albeit enormously rusty - to be seen some times, and equally rusty transmission lines, too.

There are heavily mutated monsters - and on top of that thre are a few mechanical monsters as well. It was possible to fight against that "mechanical monster" (my words) from the very end of the "mood trailer" - without it hopping around. It remained bound to the earth, so to say. Nevertheless it is enormously dangerous, and could only be defeated by the player with a long range weapon, and with the help of strafing - it fires bluesish streams of … something.

Some areas look more like "Fantasy", others look more like "technology", and there are 2 more areas, so to say. at least that's how I've understood it.

If you enter an open house, nothing happens at first.
If you place the mouse pointer over let's say a bottle filled with a drink, then you'll get a mouse-over tooltip saying "forbidden" in red after the normal white "steal" or was it just "drink" ? regarding the bottle.

Stealing is theft, of course, and soon guards will be after you. the dev team meber showing it to us killed a guard, and soon we were hunted out of town by the guards - thankfully the tiny jetpack ( ! ) helped the player character to get over a … dry river ? so that they couldn't follow anymore.

What still happened, was the message "someone reported your crimes" (quoted from my memory". So, now, so I understood it, the crime message will spread all over the game world, until the crimes were compensated.

Killing an NPC had another message :
"Killing [name of NPC] will change [or has changed ?] history."
Yes, simple as that.

Well, I'll try to remember more, but that's it for now.

Apart from that I was playing a bit with an Alpha demo of a new tactics game called "Shock Tactics". All offline, all turn-based. :D
www.shock-actics-game.com

Thanks Alrik for writing your first impressions! :)

Alrik, did you get the sense that "Killing [name of NPC] will change [or has changed ?] history" was of the measure that the game itself responded accordingly? In other words, will our actions have significant impact on game play or is to be more cosmetic in nature? I realize you have limited knowledge but what does your "gut" tell you? Thanks.

Eh, times like this I wish I continued my German lessons. Still, "Guten tag, mein fraulein" is usually enough. :P
How is music in this one? I think it contributed a LOT to Gothics.

Thanks, Alrik.

And yes, the music was definitely a highlight in the Gothics. I think KaiRo is still doing his KS album or some such thing?

We were told that it definitively has an impact - but that particular NPC could have been an important one, a quest giver, maybe, but we couldn't see what kind of NPC this really was. The only clue was that he had his own name, in contrast to the "guards" etc. going around there as well.

And yes, we were told that all NPCs have their own schedules. They do their own things, go to sleep, etc. …
They also have different ways of fighting.

The environment and everything is - so to say - "hand picked" or "hand crafted", and you can't destroy things [because of that], but you can plunder fallen opponents.

And, as far as I can remember, it is single-player as well.

Thanks for the great info, Alrik! :)

I still hope this open world is built in the traditional Gothic style. I have some hesitations about that, since they stress "go anywhere, anytime", which seems like it might feature more level-scaling approach. Ack.

But, then they turn and say, "only thing stopping you is monsters", which makes me smile as that sounds more like the Gothic style I love. :)

Oooh, this is going to be a fun one!! :)

I backed this as I'm sure many other Gothic and Risen fans here did too - although it has been awhile since Kai gave an update. I wrote a message of support and encouragement to him around a couple of months ago. I'm sure it's all good and we'll hear from him again soon for a new update. For him, I'm more than patient. :)

World of Elex have now posted their exclusive video of the Elex presentation from the RPC convention in Cologne. Subtitles are supposed to be coming up so make sure to check back if your German is kinda rusty ;) .

Our staff was present at Piranha Bytes' presentation of Elex at RPC 2016 in cologne to bring you this exclusive video! Filmed by ArthusoKD. Subtitles are in preparation.

Our website, for the latest Piranha Bytes and Elex news: http://worldofelex.de/en/

Yeah, I backed it as well. I guess he's got other stuff to do in addition to the album.

A friend brought me a little (hardcover) book with ELEX concept art from one of these game fairs. Very pretty stuff.

I'm getting more and more excited about this game.

German mag Gamestar visited PB recently and they have now posted some hands-on impressions. They're saying that this could become the best PB game since Gothic 2 but IIRC they've said the exact same thing before the release of every Risen game, too ;) .

Anyway, it all sounds great from a gameplay point of view but personally I still can't get over the weird setting *sigh*.

I think the setting is actually quite exciting. I'm really happy that they're trying new ideas and not just rehashing same fantasy concept (Ofcourse I wouldn't say no to gothic 4, but maybe the team is not ready for such project yet). And PBs genuinely seem more excited this time around. Or atleast i've gotten this vibe from some of the answers Jenny has posted in their forums.

Imo Pbs finally have a potential masterpiece in their hands, perhaps even a gothic 2 killer. They just need to design the whole experience coheisive and not gimmicky. I think they've realized what kind of mess risen universe was.

Atleast the little bits of lore I've read sound quite impressive and orginal. There is definitely much untapped potential in this kind of setting.

For the record, I don't have a problem that Elex is not a fantasy game. I'm fine with a SciFi setting if it's well done. Post-apoc is not really my cup of tea but here it's just the backdrop. The apocalyptic event has happened quite some time ago so it's not really a focus.

Anyway, what I find disturbing with Elex is the wild mix of settings. It's like they are forcefully trying to appeal to Fallout (post-apoc setting), fantasy/Skyrim fans (the Berserkers faction), SciFi/Mass Effect fans (the Clerics) and Mad Max (the Oulaws) fans all at the same time.
Add to that some heavy "inspiration" from movies such as Equilibrium (the Albs) and you have quite the wild mix of derivative stuff right down to the art style (armor, characters, architecture etc.) and features (e.g. FO4 jetpack), all of which heavily "borrows" from all of the above mentioned franchises.

Personally, I wish they would have gone with ONE setting and done it right. Sure, do SciFi instead of fantasy for a change of scenery, but then stick to SciFi and come up with your own unique designs. At least try to make it look like you're not ripping straight from other source materials :biggrin: .

That's my gripe with the setting in a nutshell. I fear that PB might be trying to please everyone, fantasy/SciFi/postapoc fans alike, and might end up pleasing… well, not no one but a limited subgroup of "everyone".
Ironically, as I said, this will probably be their best game in terms of gameplay in a long, long time but will it all come together in a way that makes sense and is fun to explore? Only time will tell…

What do you mean by please this, please that?
If they keep up their design style sign (no timewasting on trashmobs, no checkpoints in openworld, doors are not props) I think I'll be easy to please.

If there is something they desperately need in their games, that's more humor!

Well it doesn't look like anyone is translating them, since it still says on the video that subtitles will be added "later".

Here is some first impressions (positive) from E3 at MMORPG.com:
http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cf…e/10950/page/1

I want Elex to be a good game, but from what we've seen it has decade old looking graphics, it has pretty awkward looking animations and it has a combat system that could do with some work. I really hope that the final product is a lot more polished.

Yea I couldn't care less about combat.
Instead, I need those characters to grow some proper hair.

You mean combat doesn't matter to you much in general or just that the combat in this game looks fine?

As I posted in a recent Elex news thread, there is an ongoing Let's Play series with German YouTuber Gronkh (the guy has 4+ million subs) spanning about three hours in total. PB's Björn Pankratz joined Gronkh for these sessions.

So far, there are three ~40 minutes/each parts so there is one or two more to come.

For those whose German is a little rusty here's some comments:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znOieSu_PRI
Summary: Part 1 shows the intro (English intro here) and how our player character, a high ranking infamous Alb general (the bad guys) by the name of Jax a.k.a 'The beast of Xacor', crashes with his glider.
On the ground, Jax emerges from the burning wreckage and is soon confronted by an Alb execution squad who kill him for failing his mission. Of course they don't really kill him because the game would be over then :biggrin: so instead Jax falls off the cliff and lies unconscious in the forest for a day or two. An outlaw comes by and steals his stuff. We also learn through a Jax monologue that a guy (Alb) named Kallax betrayed him.
Jax then makes his way through an abandoned installation which sort of serves as the tutorial area and here he also finds his jetpack.
As he walks out of the installation, he comes across a lone berserker who is sitting at a fireplace. A scripted scene shows how Jax is trying to attack the berserker but Jax' powers are very weak due to Elex deprivation so the berserker, Mr. Duras, easily averts Jax' attack.
They do some talkie-talkie and Duras offers Jax to take him to the berserker city of Goliet. He offers him two routes, a safer one and a more dangerous one through some ruins where a group of clerics went MIA and where Jax might loot their stuff.
Gronkh chooses the more dangerous route and off they go exploring the ruins, picking up the stuff the clerics lost and getting into fights.

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLLwrbCkbeY
Summary: Part 2 continues with more exploration of the ruins but then Gronkh refocuses on the main task which was to join Duras for the trip to Goliet and so at around the 11:00 minute mark Duras and Jax finally continue their journey. There's more exploration, fighting and at 22:10 or so Jax and Duras arrive at their destination, the gates of Goliet, where Duras leaves the party.
Gronkh does not enter the city immediately but explores the surroundings some more until at 24:30 he finally decides to enter the city and speaks to the guard at the gate.
Jax gets to enter the city and then Gronkh demonstrates the somewhat awkward theft system.
He explores the city some more and has a conversation with the guy running the tavern as well as another berserker in town and at 39:40 we get to see the berserker's trash dump where they dump all the stuff (e.g. weapons from the clerics) after extracting the Elex from it.

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYLEaYyoWtc
Summary: Part 3 starts with a rather lengthy conversation with Ragnar, the berserker head honcho (at least of this clan… I'm not sure if he is the overall boss or just this clan's boss). It's standard PB stuff like 'how can I join you guys' etc. etc. and Jax picks up Ragnar's joining/goodwill quest throughout the course of the conversation.
Next up there is more exploration in Goliet and another longer talk with Akira who is a berserker healer.
More talkie-talkie follows with Bertram who is an undercover cleric (which for some reason he immediately reveals to Jax) in Goliet. He offers Jax money in exchange for the cleric weapons he found on his way to Goliet but Gronkh refuses.
Next he makes his way to the top of the city where he meets Ragnar again in his throne room and later on we also get to see Diego errr… Duras again.

Thanks for the links and the summaries. I wish there was some footage of the English version somewhere. These videos look a little more polished than any footage I had seen previously, and I'm definitely looking forward to playing this. I hope the translation and English VO are solid.

Who did the soundtrack? I like what I've heard of the BGM so far. It reminds me of Gothic 1&2.

I still hate the UI though. The bright blue seems really out of place against the gritty visuals of the game world. It's jarring in a bad way.

Yes, the UI is not exactly pretty and also quite convoluted with the tabs and sub-tabs.

Tonight the fourth and final part of the LP went online. Additionally, WoE posted the (almost) full world map based on what could be seen of the map throughout the LP videos.

Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w02EO5XvfVs
Summary: This video begins with the exploration of the berserker's Elex shrine, i.e. where they convert Elex into mana. Then Gronkh moves on to solve one of Ragnar's quests which is to find Irdor, a berserker whose task it is to protect one of the world's hearts south of Goliet. A world's heart brings back the flora, plant life and fertility to the world (regions polluted with Elex fallout are frozen instead since Elex is a freezing cold substance).
On the way to the world's heart he jumps off the berserker's trash dump site and meets Jax' former droid (whom we last saw in the intro) who reveals quite a lot of spoilerific info about Jax' primary and secondary mission objectives which -in a nutshell- were to spy on the berserkers. Jax sends the droid off to a repair station in Abessa because the droid's software has become corrupt.
At 12:20 Jax meets an Outlaw -Bigby- who is hiding near Goliet and who is naturally involved in some shady activities.
Then there's lots of exploring and finally at 26:00 Jax arrives at the world's heart to meet Irdor.
Jax was tasked by Ragnar to find out what Irdor is up to and so there is a lot of talkie-talkie about his problems. It ends with a rather generic PB quest which is to find food for Irdor. You can either go back to Goliet to get supplies for him or go and harvest 50(!)… yes f-i-f-t-y… shrooms from the surrounding area (timesink quest confirmed ;) ).
Gronkh is kinda shocked at the quest requirement and instead of plucking the 50 shrooms he just screws around doing some fighting and exploring near Irdor's position for the rest of the video.

There is now an official (English language!) Berserker Faction Gameplay Trailer on WoE's YT channel.

Is it possible to tell someone from Pluto13 somewhere that UI sucks and beg them to make it at least a bit better?

I'm still buying the game, but I can't really "advertise" it to my friends.

Elex will be shown at the RPC (role-playing convention) this upcoming weekend so there will probably be a lot of coverage (YT shaky cam videos of the stage presentations and of play sessions etc.) in the very near future.

A new trailer has already leaked online via WoE and it is showing off Ignadon (home of the clerics and very close to the impact site of the meteorite that hit Magalan) for the first time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REkCsF-WDqA

While you're there at WoE's channel, you might also want to check out the
ELEX - Summary & Analysis of Recent Video Previews

I'm starting to wonder if most of these videos are of the game being played in Easy mode. Otherwise, it doesn't seem like the default difficulty is much of a challenge.

Argh, it sure gets my vote for ugliest UI/HUD of 2017!

Presentation videos are usually made with unkillable protagonist.
Keep in mind it's still PB game, there's a good chance in this game what's ridiculously easy to you is an impossible obstacle and unwinnable set of fights to Angry Joe. ;)

I love what I'm seeing in that RPC gameplay video. Especially the environments are very cool. Personally, it looks a lot more interesting than Risen. I'm kinda hyped.

There's some great ideas going on here. Looking forward to it. I never managed to get into Risen but the concepts here sound ace. Just hope they sort out a decent combat system.

Well, the RPC video obviously has some cheat enabled because you can see that the hit bar does not (or only very barely) budge when the character is hit. They have either given the main character millions of HP or turned on god mode for that demo.

In the LP with Gronkh, however, we could see that you can die very quickly by getting one-shot or one-hit in the early game (as it should be). Especially in the final part of the LP, he died a lot towards the end when he was just messing around and about Edan's outskirts.

That said, I am convinced that -just like the Risens- the game will still be very easy, even on hard, for us PB vets who know this engine and the typical weak spots inside out by now (like the poor AI and pathfinding).

You have awesome mobility here with the jetpack and the evasion roll. Both have a limited pool and sort of a cooldown mechanic but it should be easy enough to manage your overall mobility and to apply kiting strategies.
Just don't get hit to avoid the one-hit/one-shot death. Easy.

The environment and world looks atmospheric. I like.
Still not sure how I feel about the scifi element, but let's see how it works out.

Moar Elex news (all credit are belong to WoE):

- You can follow (German) RPC live presentations of Elex on LetsPlay4charity at 11:30 CEDT (09:30 UTC) on Saturday and Sunday, May 27th and 28th.

- Elex is the cover story of German print mag's PC Games' upcoming issue. They got to play the game for five hours and, contrary to Gronkh, were able to try out all three factions via pre-made save games.

- The release date appears to be narrowing down on August according to the PC Games article. The THQ Nordic producer mentioned September a few weeks back at PAX so it may be coming out a little bit sooner than expected.

- Speaking about PAX, there is a video roundup on WoE with lots of footage from the event.

- Finally, there is also some pretteh new 4K res screenshots, secondly it's been announced that Koch Media (yep, the same Koch Media as the ones who own the Deep Silver label so that's kinda funny in an incestuous way) is going to distribute the game (physical boxed versions) in DACH, Italy & Benelux, thirdly there is a Collector's Edition on Amazon for PC, PS4 and Xbone and fourthly there's also some new faction artwork.