Newb Impressions

[Mightypeon]

Hi there,

after some gaming around with Dom 3, I would like to share my impressions of the game:

1: The breadth of the game is quite jaw dropping, the multitude of options available is huge, although it appears that for a number of nations some options are significantly better than others, however, balance appears to be quite good for a game with this amount of options.
In the same manner, it is absolutly clear that the AI will be likely be abysmal, as it also has to consider an overwhelming amount of options under incomplete information, very few AIs do well under such circumstances.
Single player games can offer a certain testing ground for early setup strategies, I would however recomend the addition of a "battle simulator" capable of setting up tactical battles. It would also be interesting to get a more detailed stat sheet after the battles.

2: What I find to be more problematic is the "micromanagement hell" that seems to kick in past turn 30 or so. It would appear that comparably simple additions as in "repeat recruitment orders next turn", "go to waypoint after being recruited", "Set general combat orders for newly recruited units" could have a significant effect on reducing micromanagment tedium. One could also have a look at something Heroes of Might and Magics "caravan" mechanic, which lets you send units from other castles to a castle, quicker, but with disastrous results if intercepted by raiders.
To an extent, after a certain amount of turn a large amount of the time one spents if composed of doing things that could (perhaps should) be automated.
From reading the forums, it appears that some of these functions are not in due to pecularities of play by e-mail game setups, I have no experiences with PBEM (other than some Bloodbowling on Fumbbl), yet it would appea that those issues should not be insurmountable.

3: After the criticism however:
Dominions three is a very enticing game (which I really shouldnt play with a Major Exam upcomming), with quite a bit of "one more turn" potential, endless replayability, good developer support and an active community.

Cheers,

Mightypeon

[Gandalf Parker]

Your praises and comments are spot on.

Some quick notes:
The AI does tend to fail in mid-game due to the number of options. With various maps, mods, game settings it can manage mid-game but still tends to fail in late game for being a truly difficult opponent

There are various versions of battle sims available. One in game, and others created by us using the map and mod commands the devs gave us.

As in most games with micromanagement much of it can be fixed using 3rd party macro programs.

There is a way to save and restore unit orders. Here is a fairly complete keypress chart.
http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Hotkey

and you might want to take note of my sig as far as exams

[thejeff]

Honestly, for me the micromanagement you refer to: recruiting, shipping new recruits to the front, default orders, etc is swamped by the micromanagement you'd always have to handle personally. Scripting a dozen mages for the next major battle. Rescripting them to take advantage of newly learned spells, or just for an expected change in opposition. Forging the right dozen items for next turns thugs and SCs. Making sure I have enough of the right boosters on tap to cast the spells I expect to have researched next turn.

Even in a big game, it's 5 minutes at most to recruit and schlep units around. I'll often spend an hour or more on a late game turn. Assigning orders and positions takes longer, but you'd want to change the defaults anyway.

The part of the micromanagement that you can't handle with macros is the part that keeps me out of any big MP games. It's also a big part of the depth and complexity I love about the game. This does frustrate me, but there is no easy fix for it.

[Mightypeon]

Concerning the AI, it appears that Ashdod can be quite a challenge on impossible, the extra design points mean awesome scales, and there will be a lot of giants too.

What would be a good midgame counter to an insane amount of giants for MA Ulm? Destruction? Clockworks? Using Crushers as a "tank" and Magma erupting the heck out of them? Petryfy?

I have one field army (with a bunch of guardians and Black knights, backed up by 15 Smiths) that can deal with the Giant hordes, but my upkeep couldnt allow another such army, especially since Black Knights need critical mass to do things.
My other armies are a bit out of position

It also seems that my enemies sometimes take my castles without fighting for them...

[Kobal2]

MA Ulm will always be challenging to play as, but Iron Blizzard spam is fairly staple. It costs almost no fatigue to cast and does some sick damage. Armour piercing blade wind ? Yes please :]

Depending on whether you're playing vanilla Dominions or with the CBM, I would also consider adding a few Iron Angels to the mix. Once they're properly geared up regular giants probably can't do much to them, and while of course Ashdod has some sick SC material of its own, the AI doesn't know thing one about gearing them, nevermind using them well.

Besides that, an important thing to understand about Dominions is that you really don't have to fight battles to win, or even to oppose those huge armies. Nor do you really need huge armies of your own. When you get right down to it it's not a game about battles, it's a game about territory control.

A huge army costs a lot to build and upkeep, but it can still only take one province a turn. Meanwhile, a thug costs about one turn's worth of gems and can take one province a turn. So can a handful of Smiths hiding behind 10 plate infantries. As long as you take more from him than he takes from you, you win in the long run. And if one of your raiding parties or thug gets crushed by the aforementioned huge giant armies, who cares ? You'll have a new one next turn.

Eventually you'll have to kill off his huge armies to finish him off - but there's no need to be hasty about it. Only fight when you are sure to win. If you aren't, move away and strike somewhere else. Be flexible, give more than you take and endeavour to make the assured win situation happen.

Barring colossal and spectacular mishaps, once you're taking in more gems and gold than he is, it's only a matter of time before you win. Even more so against the AI, because you're most certainly using that gold and those gems smarter.