2 Things this game desperately needs

[jimkehn]

thejeff:
Yes, this is a good point. I was thinking more in the line of another option. Like being able to perform Alchemy and it doesn't cost an action.....i.e. the mage may still do something else. Having an action like "Defend Territory". And once that is clicked, have that option change to "Defend Castle". That way, you could decide whether or not to retreat to the castle or stay outside to fight the abominable hordes that wish to see you dead.

Gandalf, your points are well taken, but still miss the point. Changing ownership is not a good option. How does this work when you are building 70 percent of an elephant per turn. Who gets the elephant when ownership changes...or does it disappear? Either way....

If you don't have a spell researched that does what you suggest or if you don't have stealthy units, or the units aren't stealthy that you want to allow....that won't work. I like the castle idea, but costs a lotta money, and leaves that province at risk.

[Gandalf Parker]

jimkehn said:
thejeff:
Gandalf, your points are well taken, but still miss the point. Changing ownership is not a good option. How does this work when you are building 70 percent of an elephant per turn. Who gets the elephant when ownership changes...or does it disappear? Either way....

It wasnt really meant as a good option. Id love to see more ally stuff in the game. But it was meant to point out that some creative options have been created by other players if someone needs a method now.

[WraithLord]

Endoperez said:

Isn't that modeled in as provinces with special sites and special defenders? Two Cyclops skilled in Earth and Death, one wielding Hammer of the Cyclops with 50% Forge Bonus, that mountain or hall or forge or whatever Of The Cyclops (death, earth gems)... or something like that. I don't remember the details any more.

Leaving aside the fact that this is very rare, I was referring to something more atmospheric. Maybe an example will help:

Your army enters province X and defeats the indie defenders. your water mages search for magic sites and find a layer of a blue dragon, the site is "locked" i.e. you don't get the gems from it or whatever other benefit it has. The site has an option "enter site" that is added as a possible command to commanders in the province. You order your army to enter the site. The battle then takes place in a scenery of a giant icy cave with very cold temperature against a blue dragon that is equipped with items and commands an army of say humanoid slaves. Only after you win the battle does the site become functional for you. That's my suggestion.

[jutetrea]

I use both Jack's site
http://dominions.realites.org/

and ballbarians tool occasionally to spice up my SP games. I generally use Jack's site and jack it up to 50% + starting provinces. So random commanders, buildings, and items sprinkled about the map...some so dangerous that they're still indy after 6 years of gameplay I also love having the starting province be randomized, so the AI and myself get a free commander, maybe some low level items, and a few extra troops. It can occasionally prove messy when one AI gets a really good pull and beats everyone else up...but that's the fun of it

I agree the game needs:
disband
some form of diplomacy
Hold and Fire command
Site search coordination

[MaxWilson]

Endoperez said:

Isn't that modeled in as provinces with special sites and special defenders? Two Cyclops skilled in Earth and Death, one wielding Hammer of the Cyclops with 50% Forge Bonus, that mountain or hall or forge or whatever Of The Cyclops (death, earth gems)... or something like that. I don't remember the details any more.

I'm not sure that I've ever seen a special defender with lootable magic items, other than Bogus, in my limited time so far playing the game. I think the difference between the current situation and MOM is that in MOM you're aware of roughly what the reward is for taking a node, whereas even if there's an automatic site in a province you don't know about it until you actually take the province. Plus, there's no map filter for sites.

I'm adding that one, actually.

3. A map filter for magic sites.

-Max

[MaxWilson]

jimkehn said:
Like being able to perform Alchemy and it doesn't cost an action.....i.e. the mage may still do something else.

FYI, just in case you didn't know--Alchemy doesn't cost an action. It happens instantaneously.

-Max

[Meglobob]

MaxWilson said:I'm not sure that I've ever seen a special defender with lootable magic items, other than Bogus, in my limited time so far playing the game.
-Max

Oh those are fairly common, when you come across a province with mages in, look at there stats, they sometimes have magic items on them. They are hard to get beause you after kill the mage before they retreat from the battlefield. Then you after be lucky again that one of your commanders/mages finds the magic items.

[Taqwus]

MaxWilson said:
I'm not sure that I've ever seen a special defender with lootable magic items, other than Bogus, in my limited time so far playing the game.
-Max

Oh, there are. Quite rare, but they exist... special groups of monsters, with pre-selected equipment (some of it unique and non-forgeable) and in some cases magic sites. There's a Paladin named Solaris with unique armor, helmet, sword and shield, for instance. One group includes three Cyclopses, if memory serves.

Might be noted that, unlike monsters hiding in a MoM node, they're vulnerable to remote spells. There's also no special 'one-time bonus' beyond the equipment, that's equivalent to an extra book or two of magic.

[thejeff]

Play with independent strength set to 8 or 9 and you'll find a lot more specially defended provinces.

[vfb]

Here's something that I would find useful in the game:

I'd like it if you could use a tool like the Battleground Editor to actually place two opposing armies on a battlefield, hit a 'go' button, and watch a simulation played out (like Kohan).

Or is that supposed to be part of the learning curve here ?