u/RammaStardock

Tech trees are one of those parts of a strategy game that look obvious from the outside and turn out, every single time, to be one of the hardest things to get right. Game designers have been struggling with how to present technology research to the player since the early 90s, and three decades in, nobody has really solved it. There are good answers, there are interesting answers, and there are answers that work for one game and fall apart in another. There is no settled answer.

Treasures of the Magi is the first DLC for Elemental: Reforged and it's launching May 21, 2026. The whole thing is built around the First Age and what actually happened to the Magi after they went into hiding.

Quick recap of where the lore lands: the Magi were sorcerers who shaped the earliest civilizations of Elemental and built stone and iron golems to defend their cities. When the Titans came, the Magi went into hiding. Their golems went dormant where they stood. Their enclaves were sealed off. The Cataclysm came later and buried most of what they had built.

Now the reawakening of the Fallen Enchantress is sending a pulse of dark magic across the surface, and the old places are starting to wake up. The DLC drops you into them.

Featuring:

• New monsters, including several varieties of awakened golem.
• New treasures and items recovered from Magi-era ruins, including artifacts and enchanted equipment.
• New quests that send players into the fissures to uncover what the Magi left behind.
• New encounters and lore.

A free v1.1 update for all Elemental: Reforged owners is launching the same day. Community feedback changes, bug fixes, quality of life improvements, and some new features. We'll have full update notes closer to launch.

Wishlist HERE

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Hello all,

The Galactic Civilizations IV: Federations & Empires Expansion launches June 11, 2026, alongside a free v4.0 update for every existing GC4 owner.

The design thinking on this one: in previous GalCiv titles (and in most strategy games of the genre), picking a government was a stat decision you made when you unlocked the next tech tier. We wanted the form of government a player picks to change the way the game is played, not just hand out a numerical bonus, so each government in Federations & Empires runs on its own user interface with its own resources, ships, and political mechanics.

Here's what's coming in Federations & Empires and the free v4.0 update:

• Five distinct government forms, each with its own UI, resources, and ships (four from the expansion, one from the free v4.0 update)
• Four political parties pushing back on your decisions
• Elections, coups, revolutions, and secession crises driven by game state
• Vassals, decrees, and rebellions in Empire
• Optimization Grid with simulation previews in Technocracy
• Council-driven market politics in Oligarchy
• Consensus partner worlds in Federation
• Refreshed governance UI (free in v4.0)
• Tech tree refinements (free in v4.0)
• Mini map (free in v4.0)

Run an Autocracy poorly enough and the people rise up. Let your military faction grow too strong during an unpopular war and your general may seize power. You always have a meaningful choice in the resolution.

Watch the Trailer Here
Wishlist Here
Read More Details Here

https://preview.redd.it/wj9hmrbyzjzg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=8722ad8dcc069f82c8d56584d22a4bf27d2a7b20

The front-end UI has been rebuilt from scratch. Proper faction selection screen now with a 3D unit preview you can rotate around, all the old faction portraits have been replaced with new custom, 2D hand-painted versions, and the lobbies and random map screens have been redone. Player colors finally have saturation and brightness sliders too. The in-game map editor is back, and anything you build drops straight into your local map listing.

Every faction is getting new defense platform abilities, Advent picks up two new Transcencia Starbase items, and the Advent AI has a new controller for Unity abilities so they should actually use them now. There's also a Vasari balance pass and a solid round of engine and performance work.

Learn more: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1575940/view/567032011043111980

https://preview.redd.it/maoom15ujcyg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=c946e72ca4d52cfb8743a2af90a261e0c5b1bb41

What civ are you guys playing the most these days, any you think don't get enough attention?

I feel like I play the Altarian and Phalenoids the most since I prefer going for culture and tech advantages

The v1.03 update is focused on maintenance to resolve issues, improve performance for longer games and tighten tooltips. Here are some Highlights:

• The biggest one is Fire magic scaling. A group of Fire items and abilities weren't scaling the way their descriptions said they would, which had been quietly weakening Fire builds for a while. That's fixed now, so if you've been avoiding Fire or feeling like it was underperforming, worth another look.
• Stability was the other focus. Several of the crashes players have been flagging, particularly ones showing up deeper into longer campaigns around AI turns, map interactions, and save and load, are resolved.
• There's also a round of gameplay adjustments, tooltip and quest text corrections, and localization updates for all supported languages.

Read Full Changelog Here (Steam)

Read Full Changelog Here (Forums)

https://preview.redd.it/aozkw3qk6zwg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=12691d1e7ea0bb7d4eab60cf824d2cc2f6ea5a8b

v1.02 is now live and brings a host of new improvements including Battle forecasts, expanded modding tools, and stability fixes.

Battle Forecast: the pre-battle screen now shows a predicted outcome before you commit, from Crushing Victory to Likely Defeat, color-coded green to red. Warns you when champions are at risk.

Modding: all game data can be replaced by internal name, new IfExists options for handling duplicates, RemoveDef tools for removing core definitions or skipping files entirely. Modding guide is up on the wiki and Steam guides.

Stability: fixed crashes on save, load, battles, city destruction, and tile design loading. Fullscreen is now borderless windowed.

Builder's Forge: save duplication fixed, favorites persist, Ctrl+C duplicates selected parts.

Read Full Changelog Post Here

https://preview.redd.it/4p3s65h26lvg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=0db5b83d24948489f7aa155a6066c0a9faa48c07

The first post-launch update just went out. Smarter AI, balance tuning, stability improvements, and a lot of bug fixes based on what you've been reporting since launch.

Key Features

• Improved Performance & Stability: Added in lots of optimization improvements by fixing memory leaks, improved frame rates, and resolved numerous crash scenarios across the game
• Smarter AI Opponents: AI now makes more strategic decisions by settling on better terrain, smarter spell usage, and improved outpost construction
• Refined Gameplay: Resolved quest and combat issues including battle freezes, missing rewards, and unclear quest text throughout the game and campaigns

Full Changelog Here
Read More Here

https://preview.redd.it/voa63ay878sg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=a3ed381c3ba596bc1fa5d6f01cdd2c49e0b90afa

Hello all,

To help with Search Engine Optimization we will be moving over to the r/ElementalOfficial subreddit and restricting this one. See you all there!