ELEX ELEX RELEASE THREAD

[xuerebx]

Cheers guys - just started out using the mod.

 

[Ravielsk]

In case anyone is interested here is my version of the overhaul mod. I removed the nerf on elex and stat potions, added item vision to cleric helmet and boosted clip size on most guns(seriously 12-20 bullets is not nearly enough for pretty much anything). Also I packed into it the old weather system.
I also recommend checking the fog tweaker mod and the fog to something more reasonable(also it boosts performance because the fog has nothing to do with render distance).

https://mega.nz/folder/794AXAaI#XzG_bUHRFDj8kmI2wm2fpQ

 

[gurugeorge]

Cheers guys - just started out using the mod.

One thing I'd say that's a flaw out of the gate, is that the game doesn't do a very good job of explaining who you are as Jax at the very beginning, which I think is an oversight that leads to a clash in the way the developers view the rp in the game vs the way a new player is probably naturally liable to go.

What I mean is, as a new player, you get the feeling that you're just some kind of "space marine" type - maybe just an enhanced human or something like that - and there's a temptation to do the usual thing of exploring locally (and questing, building, upgrading, moving to the next area) and getting stronger before venturing further. And Edan, the area you start in, is quite pretty and you want to explore it. But I don't think that's what the developers intended - except that they don't really make it clear enough. (They do mention it in passing, but you know, it's like in all games - who actually reads and absorbs that kind of thing at the beginning of a game? Metaphorically speaking, it has to be put in 32pt bold red text, highlighted, underlined, and set with blaring horns, for people to notice, and the developers haven't done that.)

In this game, contrary to the usual pattern mentioned above, I think the thing is that you're supposed to go with the feel of being an Alb and, after a bit, you realize that the rp flavour of Albs is that the Elex has made them Vulcans squared, plus a nasty streak - they're really fucking weird, machines stuck in flesh, as one reviewer says. So effectively, you're a nasty Vulcan who's been pulled back to being a vanilla human, and who strongly wants to discover what happened to him. You're someone who's lost place and status in the extremely un-human society he was just in, and you want to know how you were brought down to that level (that's what the first few MQ quests are about).

That being the case, going strictly with the rp flavour the developers intended (I think) your most likely path would be to make a beeline for the MQ quests ("Survival" etc., getting your gear and robit back, etc.) - you would absolutely not be interested in the local troubles of the "Free Peoples." That should theoretically send you all over the map sooner rather than later, absolutely avoiding combat as much as possible while you discover wider areas of the map. That's one of the main reasons why you're given the jetpack, I think, to help you avoid trouble while you go all over the shop, and discover the basic lay of the land in the course of that. You'd also be moving mostly at night as much as possible (while quite a lot of the monsters are asleep, so you can sneak by them).

It's only once you've done the first few MQ quests you start off with that you're really off to the races, as you realize the hopelessness of your position and that the task of discovering what happened to you is going to require you to build strength, join a faction, etc.

In this connection, it's worth mentioning also that the Attributes aren't attributes as they'd normally be in rpgs or rpg-lites. They don't actually make much difference to your performance in and of themselves (they do a teensy bit apparently, but nothing noticeable), they function mostly as gating to equipment and training. And the developers have sinned greatly here in making the Attribute text suggest that they DO in fact function as normal Attributes would - it's hugely misleading.

 

[Faarbaute]

One thing I'd say that's a flaw out of the gate, is that the game doesn't do a very good job of explaining who you are as Jax at the very beginning, which I think is an oversight that leads to a clash in the way the developers view the rp in the game vs the way a new player is probably naturally liable to go.

What I mean is, as a new player, you get the feeling that you're just some kind of "space marine" type - maybe just an enhanced human or something like that - and there's a temptation to do the usual thing of exploring locally (and questing, building, upgrading, moving to the next area) and getting stronger before venturing further. And Edan, the area you start in, is quite pretty and you want to explore it. But I don't think that's what the developers intended - except that they don't really make it clear enough. (They do mention it in passing, but you know, it's like in all games - who actually reads and absorbs that kind of thing at the beginning of a game? Metaphorically speaking, it has to be put in 32pt bold red text, highlighted, underlined, and set with blaring horns, for people to notice, and the developers haven't done that.)

In this game, contrary to the usual pattern mentioned above, I think the thing is that you're supposed to go with the feel of being an Alb and, after a bit, you realize that the rp flavour of Albs is that the Elex has made them Vulcans squared, plus a nasty streak - machines stuck in flesh, as one reviewer says. So effectively, you're a nasty Vulcan who's been pulled back to being a vanilla human, and who strongly wants to discover what happened to him. You're someone who's lost place and status in the society he was just in, and you want to know how you were brought down to that level (that's what the first few MQ quests are about).

That being the case, going strictly with the rp flavour the developers intended (I think) your most likely path would be to make a beeline for the MQ quests ("Survival" etc., getting your robit back, etc.) - you would absolutely not be interested in the local troubles of the "Free Peoples." That should theoretically send you all over the map sooner rather than later, absolutely avoiding combat as much as possible while you discover wider areas of the map. That's one of the main reasons why you're given the jetpack, I think, to help you avoid trouble while you go all over the shop, and discover the basic lay of the land in the course of that. You'd also be moving mostly at night as much as possible (while quite a lot of the monsters are asleep, so you can sneak by them).

It's only once you've done the first few MQ quests you start off with that you're really off to the races, as you realize the hopelessness of your position and that the task of discovering what happened to you is going to require you to build strength, join a faction, etc.

In this connection, it's worth mentioning also that the Attributes aren't attributes as they'd normally be in rpgs or rpg-lites. They don't actually make much difference to your performance in and of themselves (they do a teensy bit apparently, but nothing noticeable), they function mostly as gating to equipment and training. And the developers have sinned greatly here in making the Attribute text suggest that they DO in fact function as normal Attributes would - it's hugely misleading.

I think this is a side effect of the developers mistakingly expecting you to be familiar with how the Gothic formula plays out allready.

 

[xuerebx]

Thanks for providing your insight. I also felt that the begining area is a bit...rushed? I've just entered Goliet and started exploring the village. Seems like there's quite a lot to do.

As for the attributes - didn't know, thanks for pointing that out.

To be honest I have no idea what or how I should start focusing my points - melee or ranged, or "magic" etc. I'll start out with some melee points for now and then invest in guns later on. Hope that doesn't fuck anything up.

 

[gurugeorge]

Thanks for providing your insight. I also felt that the begining area is a bit...rushed? I've just entered Goliet and started exploring the village. Seems like there's quite a lot to do.

As for the attributes - didn't know, thanks for pointing that out.

To be honest I have no idea what or how I should start focusing my points - melee or ranged, or "magic" etc. I'll start out with some melee points for now and then invest in guns later on. Hope that doesn't fuck anything up.

I've actually restarted (on Ultra). It's my usual practice with RPGs to start with a char on normal, play for a bit and get a feel for the game, then start a "serious" run on the hardest difficulty, but it's doubly valid here, because now that I have a feel for who Jax is and a feel for the lore of the virtual world, I can actually roleplay as him.

For example, it's not made clear to you (until you chat to your robot in the Pit) that your mission was actually to discover about the Berserkers, Torvald, etc. Which means I'm now much more securely in character and my responses in Goliet feel natural - I still have some residual loyalty to the Albs, so my responses are more careful (I'm still feeling like I'm on that mission to some extent, even though I "failed" it - maybe I can gather info and use it to get back into my peoples' good graces?) and I'm dissembling somewhat - and at the same time my first priority is to get my gear back, etc., etc. (as per the MQ and sub-MQ bits).

I also feel like I'm one of those super-weird white-as-a-sheet, cold-dwelling hi-tech devils (as they appear to the Free Peoples) who happens to have lost all his weirdness and power, and turned into to a normie, rosy-cheeked schlub. (But at the same time, having discovered the Berserkers and doing some quests for them, I'm starting to empathize a little bit with them, and that may - or may not - continue, have to see how it goes.) The game feels much more coherent now in terms of rp and lore. (YMMV ofc, but I think that's how the developers intended you to start, and evolve from there however you want, it's just that they didn't make it clear enough at the beginning - although to be fair, it is all there in the texts and convos, it's just that when you start a game it's always a bit of a blooming, buzzing confusion, so I didn't really "get" it on first play.)

Re. where to put points: re. Attributes I'd recommend holding off till you get a feel for what Training and Equipment you want, because that's what the Attribute gating is all about. Attributes really won't make much of a difference to your power level at the beginning, so it's best to hang fire, be a bit patient and commit when you have a clearer Training/Equipment path in your mind. I think you can indeed safely pump up just enough to get the first melee/ranged Training damage bump, and be able to equip a better weapon than the Rusty Axe or the Cultivator Bow, but beyond that I think it's probably best to go for the first points in economy things like Animal Trophies, maybe a point in Lockpicking, then maybe Chemistry, or the Personality (Charisma with the mod) skill that gives you an extra Attribute point (which means rushing to 50 INT - but I think it makes sense, since the extra Attribute point per level, while not spectacular initially, is going to mount up, and it's not retroactive (unlike the Health bump, which is, and you can pick up later - also, rp-wise, my new Jax may be weak, but he's hella smart ), or maybe the Group skill (since your companions will do more damage than you intially) - then once you've got those kind of foundational things right, start seriously mulling your combat skills path.

 

[xuerebx]

I also feel like I'm one of those super-weird white-as-a-sheet, cold-dwelling hi-tech devils (as they appear to the Free Peoples) who happens to have lost all his weirdness and power, and turned into to a normie, rosy-cheeked schlub. (But at the same time, having discovered the Berserkers and doing some quests for them, I'm starting to empathize a little bit with them, and that may - or may not - continue, have to see how it goes.) The game feels much more coherent now in terms of rp and lore. (YMMV ofc, but I think that's how the developers intended you to start, and evolve from there however you want, it's just that they didn't make it clear enough at the beginning - although to be fair, it is all there in the texts and convos, it's just that when you start a game it's always a bit of a blooming, buzzing confusion, so I didn't really "get" it on first play.)

In my case, as of yet I cannot empathise with the Albs because my experience thus far is having my plane shot down (I think Jax was sabotaged by his brother), nearly killed by an Alb and basically left for dead, and losing all my Alb powers. Berserkers seem too rigid in their views of not using technology, but also seem infinitely better/nicer than Albs.

Re. where to put points: re. Attributes I'd recommend holding off till you get a feel for what Training and Equipment you want, because that's what the Attribute gating is all about. Attributes really won't make much of a difference to your power level at the beginning, so it's best to hang fire, be a bit patient and commit when you have a clearer Training/Equipment path in your mind. I think you can indeed safely pump up just enough to get the first melee/ranged Training damage bump, and be able to equip a better weapon than the Rusty Axe or the Cultivator Bow, but beyond that I think it's probably best to go for the first points in economy things like Animal Trophies, maybe a point in Lockpicking, then maybe Chemistry, or the Personality (Charisma with the mod) skill that gives you an extra Attribute point (which means rushing to 50 INT - but I think it makes sense, since the extra Attribute point per level, while not spectacular initially, is going to mount up, and it's not retroactive (unlike the Health bump, which is, and you can pick up later - also, rp-wise, my new Jax may be weak, but he's hella smart ), or maybe the Group skill (since your companions will do more damage than you intially) - then once you've got those kind of foundational things right, start seriously mulling your combat skills path.

Yep, good points. That's what I'm doing in fact - holding on to the attribute points for future use.

 

[pOcHa]

elex fan fiction when? ("the taming of an alb")

 

[JDR13]

elex fan fiction when? ("the taming of an alb")

Elex 2 when?

 

[JDR13]

In case anyone is interested here is my version of the overhaul mod. I removed the nerf on elex and stat potions, added item vision to cleric helmet and boosted clip size on most guns(seriously 12-20 bullets is not nearly enough for pretty much anything). Also I packed into it the old weather system.
I also recommend checking the fog tweaker mod and the fog to something more reasonable(also it boosts performance because the fog has nothing to do with render distance).

https://mega.nz/folder/794AXAaI#XzG_bUHRFDj8kmI2wm2fpQ

The overhaul mod doesn't add anything new to the game right? It only adjusts the stats of weapons and armor?

 

[Ravielsk]

The overhaul mod doesn't add anything new to the game right? It only adjusts the stats of weapons and armor?

No. Its basically just a rebalance mod. Mostly it changes stat requirements on weapons/armor.

 

[gurugeorge]

It's funny, I kind of agree with a fair amount of the very negative points made by DWTerminator in his blistering YT vid. If you look at the various components of the game, they're poor to average individually, and if you're taking the most dyspeptic view of the game, his criticisms are accurate.

But despite that, it's more than the sum of its parts, and 1/5 is ridiculously harsh. It's definitely a 3/5, maybe 3.5/5 in places. Stick a pair of headphones on, fire up a spliff (*ahem,* not that I would endorse such degeneracy ), and moments of really deep immersion and presence are possible, as well as some cracking combat gameplay. I just did the

Spoiler

last but one robit part quest and decided, what the heck, might as well take own the Converter while I'm at it - baby's first Converter shutdown

with my new char (now at lvl 9), and boy was it intense.

I'm just starting to catch the combat curve now and finally starting to get a real feel for it (Ultra, using sword and board, so actually doing the tanking while my companions wail on the mobs, since at the moment they do more and more consistent damage than I can - I went the 50 INT route so I'm still a schmuck with a Hatchet). The feeling of being in that well-presented s-f environment, with the weight of the rather horrific and disturbing lore hanging over it, and the sense of my character as he's developing - it was really quite something, a gaming "moment," with the game's (average, but suitably elegiac) music accompanying a tremendous sense of victory.

For all its faults, for all the jank, it's the real deal, it really is a third-person action RPG, and you can't say that about many games other than the earlier PB games (certainly not Bethesda games, unless heavily modded, and even then ... ).

It's just a shame they can't go all out on the PC side and make it even deeper, pay for some professional writers and just up the quality a tad. (It's also a shame I can't stand pirates, because Risen probably gives a similar feel.)

It's a bitter thought, thinking of how much money is poured into making absolute AAA codswallop, when these people are struggling to make real games. Such a waste of resources that could be spent on making games like this, but at a 4/5 or 5/5 level.

 

[JDR13]

It's funny, I kind of agree with a fair amount of the very negative points made by DWTerminator in his blistering YT vid. If you look at the various components of the game, they're poor to average individually, and if you're taking the most dyspeptic view of the game, his criticisms are accurate.

I'm not familiar with the guy you mention, but he must be one of those mainstream faggots if he rated Elex a 1/5. He probably rates games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age 5/5.

As far as the individual components not being great, that's true. It's been that way for all of PB's games since Gothic. It's the sum of the parts that matters though, and no one puts together a world and atmosphere like PB.

 

[xuerebx]

I'm level 6 now, and if it wasn't for Duras I would not be able to venture too far out of Goliet as I get one-shot killed by most mobs. Weakened Albs, getting the 6 compactor (sp?) parts, retrieving the weapon from the pit - nope, I die EVERY TIME!

Still having fun, I just need to level up and get better armour and a gun I think.

 

[gurugeorge]

It's funny, I kind of agree with a fair amount of the very negative points made by DWTerminator in his blistering YT vid. If you look at the various components of the game, they're poor to average individually, and if you're taking the most dyspeptic view of the game, his criticisms are accurate.

I'm not familiar with the guy you mention, but he must be one of those mainstream faggots if he rated Elex a 1/5. He probably rates games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age 5/5.

As far as the individual components not being great, that's true. It's been that way for all of PB's games since Gothic. It's the sum of the parts that matters though, and no one puts together a world and atmosphere like PB.

As part of the preamble, he says he was a huge fan of Gothic I and II, and had been hoping that Elex would represent a "return to form" for PB after Risen 3 (which he couldn't even bear playing). It's worth checking out the review because, as I say, it's actually quite accurate in its criticism for the most part, and one can see what he's getting at. But the game obviously rubbed him the wrong way in a personal sense, so his critique is out of all proportion.

 

[Latelistener]

I've been butthurt about the lighting changes, but luckily there is a mod that brings back the old weather: https://www.nexusmods.com/elex/mods/55

I honestly have no idea what the fuck happened, but I think they wanted to make the nights brighter because someone complained.

Doing so, they've completely broken everything they've been tweaking for so long during development. Daytime became dark with broken contrast, indoors became even darker with broken HDR and nighttime became too bright.

 

[Fluent]

I'm level 6 now, and if it wasn't for Duras I would not be able to venture too far out of Goliet as I get one-shot killed by most mobs. Weakened Albs, getting the 6 compactor (sp?) parts, retrieving the weapon from the pit - nope, I die EVERY TIME!

Still having fun, I just need to level up and get better armour and a gun I think.

Correct. Use your companion to help kill most things until u can handle yourself. It's even mentioned in the intro tutorial - the world is a dangerous place. PB doesn't make your typical level-scaled worlds where u can just kill every enemy u encounter at the first time u encounter them. ELEX on Ultra difficulty especially is a lot of running away and evading enemies for hours before u can handle yourself in a fight. Enjoy the journey, forget about the destination. Enjoy! <3

 

[Citizen]

Kruno, any ELEX2 news?

 

[fantadomat]

Kruno
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Kruno
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Kruno
Kruno
Kruno
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Kruno
Kruno
Kruno
Kruno
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Kruno
Kruno
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Kruno

What is the most expensive train sim on steam?

 

[xuerebx]

I'm level 6 now, and if it wasn't for Duras I would not be able to venture too far out of Goliet as I get one-shot killed by most mobs. Weakened Albs, getting the 6 compactor (sp?) parts, retrieving the weapon from the pit - nope, I die EVERY TIME!

Still having fun, I just need to level up and get better armour and a gun I think.

Correct. Use your companion to help kill most things until u can handle yourself. It's even mentioned in the intro tutorial - the world is a dangerous place. PB doesn't make your typical level-scaled worlds where u can just kill every enemy u encounter at the first time u encounter them. ELEX on Ultra difficulty especially is a lot of running away and evading enemies for hours before u can handle yourself in a fight. Enjoy the journey, forget about the destination. Enjoy! <3

Yep, level 10 now and it's a bit easier. I'm a big fan of their works, but it's been a while since I've played a PB game. Anyway, great stuff!

 

[Fluent]

Yep, level 10 now and it's a bit easier. I'm a big fan of their works, but it's been a while since I've played a PB game. Anyway, great stuff!

Definitely! Glad to hear you're having fun. ELEX is pretty special.

 

[xuerebx]

Question for those who have completed the main quest:

Spoiler

I found a candidate to lead the army for the Clerics against the Albs - am I close to finishing the game? I've still not yet explored most of the map, so I want to hold off for now. I feel like I inadvertently progressed this far. Hopefully I'm wrong, but in any case I'll just not continue this quest line.

Also, if I have one complaint, it's the quest markers highlighting the exact location of certain individuals who I either have no clue who they are (so how did they come up on my adjudicator?), or who realistically I shouldn't know where they are exactly, such as the defected berserker to the cleric mine. Or the components which Falk needed.

A quest area 'circle', rather than an exact marker, would have been better.

Anyway, level 15 and still sometimes get my assed kicked if I don't time my attacks exactly :D

 

[Darth Roxor]

Also, if I have one complaint, it's the quest markers highlighting the exact location of certain individuals who I either have no clue who they are

why would you even leave quest markers on

 

[JDR13]

Question for those who have completed the main quest:

Spoiler

I found a candidate to lead the army for the Clerics against the Albs - am I close to finishing the game? I've still not yet explored most of the map, so I want to hold off for now. I feel like I inadvertently progressed this far. Hopefully I'm wrong, but in any case I'll just not continue this quest line.

No, you still have quite a way to go.

 

[gurugeorge]

Also, if I have one complaint, it's the quest markers highlighting the exact location of certain individuals who I either have no clue who they are

why would you even leave quest markers on

Some of us have got homes to go to