A Brief History of Elements the Game by Zanzarino
Snapshot version:
- May 10, 2009 - Beta Launch
- May 19, 2009 - available through Kongregate games
- July 22, 2009 - 1.0; PvP functional
- December 17, 2009 - Forum is launched
- 2010
-Community structures develop: moderators, event managers, ‘Masters of Elements’
-PvP leagues are active: beginner and championship league levels
-First trials and war are held shortly after 1 year anniversary
-First Council hiring - July 19, 2013 - 1.4 is the last update by Zanzarino
- Sept 14, 2014 - a letter to Zanzarino that goes unanswered
- December 31, 2020 - Flash end of Life
May 10, 2009 Zanzarino launches beta version of “Elements. Fantasy cards game”. An announcement (https://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?794854-Elements-Fantasy-cards-game) is made on Flash Kit forums, a resource for flash developers.
(https://i.imgur.com/oLzbmnxl.png)
May 19, 2009EtG is launched on Kongregate. A week later, there are around 25,000 accounts (https://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?794854-Elements-Fantasy-cards-game&p=4174245&viewfull=1#post4174245) two weeks after launch. Due to rapid popularity, folks even suggested it become a Kongregate ‘Premium’ game.
(https://i.imgur.com/OcbVAvrl.png)
May 22, 2009 First deck, first love: "Pure" Fire (https://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?794854-Elements-Fantasy-cards-game&p=4173515&viewfull=1#post4173515)
(https://i.imgur.com/eQVczual.png)
More than 14 years later, Pure Fire is still livin' (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=1411.msg6402#msg6402)
(https://i.imgur.com/hWWEIuUl.png)
June, July, August 2009Zanzarino is busy receiving feedback from players and peers on matters ranging from game bugs, card ideas, game mechanics, UI/UX, balance, economy, implementing a mulligan system, cheaters, and copyright concerns. Deckbuilding theory crafting is active: Deck types, turns to win, power of rare weapons, multi-color (aka rainbow) prominence in top decks, player life points 100 vs 200, etc., are eagerly discussed. Players note the dominance of Dimensional shield and Nova; players take sides; Camp Dim vs. Camp Nova.
Carry steal and deflag they say.
Poison will bypass Dims! There are concerns about bonewall with 3 ‘charges’. A series of patches and updates are in motion. PvP beta is tested mid-July and included in the launch of 1.0 (https://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?794854-Elements-Fantasy-cards-game&p=4189241&viewfull=1#post4189241) on July 22nd, 2009.
(https://i.imgur.com/MGeZV5cl.png)
Screenshot (https://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?794854-Elements-Fantasy-cards-game&p=4177653&viewfull=1#post4177653) of Game - June 8, 2009
(https://i.imgur.com/iIUfyhSh.png)
December 2009 and year of 2010- Announcement of the New Forum (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/forum-news-and-announcements/previously-banned-users-and-the-new-forum/)
- Hirings (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/forum-news-and-announcements/552/) of moderators, managers, Masters of Elements, and a Council.
- PvP leagues (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/forum-news-and-announcements/elements-pvp-league-12010-has-ended!-next-pvp-league-has-started!/) are active: beginner and championship league levels
- First trials (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/forum-news-and-announcements/trials-are-starting-today!/) and war (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/forum-news-and-announcements/war-has-started!/) are held shortly after 1 year anniversary
July 19, 2013 1.4 (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/patch-notes-and-development-news/elements-1-4/) is the last update by Zanzarino; the community carries on but lack of game development leads to stagnation and diminishing community participation
Sept 14, 2014A letter (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/elements-council/elements-council-general-discussion-and-feedback/msg1155331/#msg1155331) to Zanzarino that goes unanswered (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/pcvideo-games/oetgs-1st-birthday-current-stat/msg1174412/#msg1174412)
December 31, 2020Flash End of Life (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/elements-council/end-of-adobe-flash-and-what-to-do/)
Open Elements the Game: A 10-year history
(https://i.imgur.com/gzQwxqCl.png)
art banner credit: Timpa
November 29, 2013
Serprex, lead game developer of oEtG, commits first lines (https://github.com/Fippe94/openEtG/commit/bb1985e0bbddb24beb5e1986ea868b5376c060a5)of code
(https://i.imgur.com/ifzAWwSm.png)
December 7, 2013
oEtG is available (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/) to public play
December 21, 2013
New cards (https://github.com/Fippe94/openEtG/commits/e7df079de17c9dfef375d04de9afb2d7beb411ee?after=e7df079de17c9dfef375d04de9afb2d7beb411ee+244&branch=e7df079de17c9dfef375d04de9afb2d7beb411ee&qualified_name=e7df079de17c9dfef375d04de9afb2d7beb411ee): Gift of Oceanus, Neurotoxin, and Monk
(https://i.imgur.com/WzZfyehl.png)
January 12, 2014
Paris Mulligan implemented (https://github.com/Fippe94/openEtG/commit/012701ba1eef990706c2511c9a6eb3706611d799)
February 19, 2014
Fippe takes the lead on development for a time; Serprex is inactive for 2 months but picks up again in May and continues to lead development to present.
February 24, 2014
Open EtG is welcoming (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1127353/#msg1127353) of community contributions.
February and March 2014
AI Naming: Commoner (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/192/), Champs (https://github.com/Fippe94/openEtG/commit/64baddc64ceb4b354ec8110dc8f4fa455271c171), and Demigods (https://github.com/Fippe94/openEtG/commit/dec93a6cb5911c12135aa3821a27c2990ec28d5f); Dawn to Dusk designs earliest DGs; Mages added (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1129043/#msg1129043)
(https://i.imgur.com/yEeIvrLm.png)
April 9, 2014
Image of early (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1132441/#msg1132441) user interface
(https://i.imgur.com/oUe99Rih.png)
June 21, 2014
Recognition (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1141389/#msg1141389) of contributions: programmers (https://github.com/Fippe94/openEtG/graphs/contributors), artists (https://etg.dek.im/artcredit.htm), testers
July 15, 2014
New Menu (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1145636/#msg1145636) interface
(https://i.imgur.com/kP92u5nh.png)
July 22, 2014
Interface develops (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg-tournament-dodrio/msg1148648/#msg1148648)further
(https://i.imgur.com/PMQQ799h.png)
July 25, 2014
First Quest: Proving Grounds (https://oetg.boards.net/thread/73/proving-ground-series)
August 1, 2014
Challenges of development
(https://i.imgur.com/YibrDdXl.png)
August 16, 2014
Plans (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1151299/#msg1151299) to develop OpenEtG-vanilla branch
August 25, 2014
ColorlessGreen Gets the community organized (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=12.0) with Demigod prediction counters
November 30, 2014 :chroma :chroma :chroma
First birthday (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=160.0) of OpenEtG!
Fippe summarizes the highlights of the first year:
- 100+ new cards
- Significant balancing of old and new cards
- PVP Events
- New feature: Booster packs
- New feature: Player to player trading
- Improvements to User Interface (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1130142/#msg1130142)
- New feature: Colosseum (https://oetg.boards.net/thread/72/colosseum-daily-quests?page=1&scrollTo=282) - designed by ColorlessGreen
- New quests
- Card Rarity (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1128562/#msg1128562)
2014 Georesonator (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=181.msg672#msg672) vs 2023 version
| (https://i.imgur.com/YQTg6rh.png) | (https://i.imgur.com/7y1l3bdm.png) |
OETG achieves a solid stage of maturation (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=376.0).
August 4, 2015
Another iteration (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=719.msg3719#msg3719) of UI
(https://i.imgur.com/OO7RZnZl.png)
September 2, 2015
Deck editor User Interface (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=744.msg3821#msg3821)
(https://i.imgur.com/9MtP9S7l.png)
December 13,2015
Another iteration (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=775.msg3993#msg3993)of IU
(https://i.imgur.com/8qDBJ0ml.png)
November 2, 2017
Another iteration (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=797.msg4074#msg4074)of UI
(https://i.imgur.com/zQqusfol.png)
May 4, 2018
After a 2-yr period of low activity (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=803.msg4095#msg4095) and slow development, ColorlessGreen notes that development picks up again (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=864.0)
July 20, 2019
ColorlessGreen creates an FAQ/Guide/walkthrough (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=985.0) for players transitioning to OETG
July 27, 2020
First team PvP launched: Quad Team Battle (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=1062.0)
October 3, 2020
Legacy mode implemented (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/openetg/msg1303171/#msg1303171)
December 25, 2020
Server is rewritten (https://github.com/serprex/openEtG/commit/e26a92eab81dbb53f247a2a6040a7491e727ee62) in Rust
February 01, 2021
In addition to designing 9 new card art, Sael creates art for card packs (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=1175.msg5448#msg5448). The following graphics and forum thread (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=1175.msg5373#msg5373) showcase the 'community involvement' that is emblematic of OETG:
Here's what it used to look like:
(https://i.imgur.com/cSAErNBh.png)
The artist's initial sketch:
(https://i.imgur.com/S7tYRVml.png)
After art is proposed, another member -Timpa- suggests (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=1175.msg5397#msg5397)additional UI enhancements.
(https://i.imgur.com/xJztTxWh.png)
Here's what it is now:
(https://i.imgur.com/hAL0QyKh.png)
2 new cards added (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=2.msg5485#msg5485): Stasis and Bloodmoon
November 2023
Plans to add 8 new shields (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?topic=1438.msg6493#msg6493) and additional cards. Each element will now have 3-shields.
| :death Plague Mask | :earth Stonewall | :life Slime Shield | :fire Wicked Shield | :water Mist Shield | :air Stormshield | :time Appreciation | :aether Hush |
| (https://i.imgur.com/Dk3ziL5t.png) | (https://i.imgur.com/BclwBPLt.png) | (https://i.imgur.com/jTefYEnt.png) | (https://i.imgur.com/TsUWNxLt.png) | (https://i.imgur.com/c9kJpVbt.png) | (https://i.imgur.com/xEk31f5t.png) | (https://i.imgur.com/ZXhfjJkt.png) | (https://i.imgur.com/hDtPAKUt.png) |
Open Element the Game's 10th birthday
Thank you, Serprex
(https://i.imgur.com/BuTbjYPh.png)
Contributors:
Lead Developer
Serprex
Major Contributors
Fippe94
ColorlessGreen
Art & Sound
https://etg.dek.im/artcredit.htm (https://etg.dek.im/artcredit.htm)
Sources:
Original forum (https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php)
Old oEtG forum (https://oetg.boards.net/)
Current oEtG forum (https://etg.dek.im/forum/)
Zanzarino's posts on Flashkit (https://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?794854-Elements-Fantasy-cards-game/page2&s=5d5517852f71aee5813ec6c2a257f2c3)
Zanzarino's Kongregate posts (https://www.kongregate.com/accounts/zanzarino/comments?page=2)
OETG Github (https://github.com/serprex/openEtG)
Developer's Journal (https://etg.dek.im/forum/index.php?board=8.0)
| Reluctant Hare | (https://i.imgur.com/IEazMv4.png) |
(https://i.imgur.com/gzQwxqC.png)