victory story and How to make the end game interesting

[Ygramul]

Hi all,

I just won my second game of Dom2 SP.
The first was Ryleh in Aran and I played
to the bitter end ousting the Last AI.
This one was with Pangea standard. I realize
that by the time I could easily declare victory
there were a few idiosynchrosies about the
late games in general:

Dom2 has a fascinating early game with various
themes. Ulm plays so much different then
say Mictlan or Pangea. Mid game still has
some variance depending on early choices
and the luck with independent sites.
Late games however tend to be uniformized.

By the time you have extended enough to have
a chance at winning on a medium map [Aran or
Desert Eye for example] You have probably a
decent gem income and good research. You can
swing every which way and empower whichever
branch of magic you wish. Except for
special cases like Ermor I feel that the
endgame virtually identical for all nations.

A greater problem is that AI really doesn't
put out a credible endgame. I either get
crushed early or midgame or if I do survive
I can kick AI butts even against overwhelming
odds, it seems, using synergistic magic and
research combinations.

Add to that the exponentially increasing
micromanagement issues, late game is rarely fun.

It is true that late is rarey fun Alpha Centauri
was much better in this regard.

One other quirk that can be helped is that
the message interface needs to be generally
improved. Especially a Stars!-like
"Suppress Messages of this type" option
will help to filter many "Guptlon has found
3 blood slaves" Messages you get.


In short: having a bLast, hoping Dom3 will
be better.

So long,

Yg.

[Gandalf Parker]

You didnt mention all the settings. Larger maps and harder independents will let a game move heavily into the "magic phase" where armies become only half of the war. That shift can breath a whole new life into the game with AI's who were concentrating on research can suddenly shoot from losing to major problems.

Then there are maps which can offer more challenge with strogner indeps and boosted AIs

All of this to prepare for the MP games where alliances, trades, and backstabs can totally change the direction of a game.

[Adept]

Play with victory points instead. 1 / capital and set the limit as high as you want. I can't recommend the standard victory conditions. We have never finished a game with those in my group.

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
You didnt mention all the settings. Larger maps and harder independents will let a game move heavily into the "magic phase" where armies become only half of the war. That shift can breath a whole new life into the game with AI's who were concentrating on research can suddenly shoot from losing to major problems.

I've never noticed this to be the case: When the game enters the high-magic phase, the AI certainly becomes more annoying, but he starts to lose ground that much more rapidly due to the AI's inherent inability to devise synergies in spell use. Actually, I'm not even entirely sure why he even uses "Eyes of God", considering that he's omniscient to the point where can attack provinces that he's never even been close enough to look at. You've seen it before: One of your mages is going for a stroll through the interior of your empire and suddenly....ARROWED! Now what were the chances of that?

[ February 07, 2004, 01:21: Message edited by: Norfleet ]

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
When the game enters the high-magic phase, the AI certainly becomes more annoying, but he starts to lose ground that much more rapidly due to the AI's inherent inability to devise synergies in spell use.

Quite true. But it's so much fun ...

Typically, by the time you have the magical muscle to cast global enchantments, the AIs are doomed.

Actually, I'm not even entirely sure why he even uses "Eyes of God", considering that he's omniscient to the point where can attack provinces that he's never even been close enough to look at. You've seen it before: One of your mages is going for a stroll through the interior of your empire and suddenly....ARROWED! Now what were the chances of that?

About the same as the AI knowing precisely which provinces in my deep rear are weakly defended by PD and hitting those with Imprint Souls ...

I'm sure that IW will tell us that it happens because of AI spies. Perhaps it's even true. Hmmph.

[ February 07, 2004, 01:39: Message edited by: Arryn ]