The Dominions 3: "Wishlist"

[Gandalf Parker]

Check out some of whats on www.dom2minions.com

I ran into the same problem. I have a couple of maps there where I rewrite the .map file just to randomize much of it. It definately adds much to replay.

Since so much of it can be done by assigning a number ts not really that hard to whip out something that will choose a random number for the commander with random troops in random provinces. It can be done in basic, or word, or excell, or whatever.

I was going to offer a few up as executables but there never seemed to be much interest.

Gandalf Parker
-- People complain that free things arent done on the net anymore.
Thats because so many have forgotten how to pay for free things.

[Chazar]

Rewriting the mapfile does not really help if I want to post my map here and give it away though...

[NTJedi]

HUGE IMPROVEMENT OPTION

Before Hosting a game I highly recommend an Advanced Options Tab where the Host can disable specific spells, building of forts, and/or artifacts.
This will solve many concerns and issues such as people who complain about clam hoarding, mass-castling, ghost rider spell etc... .
And if someone doesn't want to be part of a game where one of these are disabled then they can go host their own game or find another game being hosted.

[Endoperez]

When one wishes for very powerful creatures (like Maker of Ruins the Doom Horror), he should not automatically be FRIENDLY! He would still arrive, of course.

Same should work for uniques that already exist, but they would come with their items and scripts intact.

It is probably fairer to make the battles not Assasinations, but I would still like it to happen inside forts.

[Zooko]

In general: the state should be visible to the user.

In specific of game control, e.g. whether the battle is paused or not paused should be indicated, e.g. with a "paused" string in place of the "fast forward" string. Currently I have to toggle it and wait and see if things start happening...

In specific of strategic state: how many Calls to God have I accumulated so far? I shouldn't have to remember state from previous turns -- the state should be displayed.

In specific of turn events: if some troops and/or commanders die, for example due to a lost battle or an artillery spell or some other magic, the game should display exactly who died. I shouldn't have to try to remember who was where and then discover who isn't there any more.

In specific of tactical events: all tactical state of units should be visible by right-clicking on the unit. For example, whose side is this unit currently fighting for, or it is enRaged, or what?

[Gandalf Parker]

Chazar said:
Rewriting the mapfile does not really help if I want to post my map here and give it away though...

True. Thats what I ran into also. I can set it up like mine are where my server rewrites the .map once a day and makes it available for download. They download fast. Ive been tempted to do the same for some slightly-randomized mods.

OR the randomizer can be made available as an executable that they can run whenever they want just before starting a new game.

[sushiboat]

Many of the higher level magic items are not used often. Although some have cool effects, there is a small set of almost-must-have effects: life drain, quickness, luck, magic resistance, reinvigoration, being ethereal, flying, elemental/poison resistance. A supercombatant or thug without a few out of this set of effects is unheard of. Isn't it strange that every SC/thug has a starshine skullcap? Every SC/thug has either a lucky coin shield or a luck pendant. Unless the SC/thug can cast quickness, it is very likely to have either boots of quickness or jade armor.

I would like to see these effects become more common (with the possible exception of life drain, depending on how much Dom 3 scales it back). If there are more items that give quickness, we won't see jade armor and boots of quickness as much. And so on. The rarely forged unique items should definitely have one of these effects added.

[Edi]

tinkthank said:
I think this would be a great one:

GAME SETUP: MASSIVE PARAMETER VARIABILITY

<snip>

4. Under Alliance Settings, we find a screen in which we can decide:
- Whether alliances can be allowed at all (default: Off). Clicking the "off" button opens up a new screen from which we can select Alliances Allowed from Start and Alliances Allowed During Game
- Whether AIs can be pre-allied with one another or not (Default: Off). Clicking the "off" button opens a screen in which we can see all of the AI nations in the game on the left hand of the screen. On the right, there are 8 "team" pull-down menus; we can add any nation from the pull-down menu to any one of the teams, thus creating 1-8 pre-allied "sides" of AI alliances pre-set and unchangable for the course of the game.
- Whether Humans can be allied with AIs: Similar to the above screen, this default is Off, but one can make pre-allied Human and AI "teams".
- Whether Humans can be pre-allied with Humans: Default is Off. Clicking "On" will set up "teams" which are unchangeable for the course of the game. Options here include: Any one team member who wins the victory conditions will win the victory conditions for the whole team, or Cumulative Victory (all VPs, Provinces, Research, Dominion, etc. is counted together)
- Whether Humans can ally with Humans during the course of a game via the Alliance Interface: Default is Off. Clicking this will open up a screen in which you can stipulate
the minimum number of turns you must remain allied before you can select "Break Alliance" from the Alliance Interface in-game (default: 2)
the maximum number of other human players that can be allied with one another at one time (default: 2). Any players that have agreed to an alliance can move through the others' provinces unharmed and are treated as one nation for combat purposes (Nation 1's troops in Nation 2's province will fight together with Nation 2's troops and PD on the right side of the battlefield against any non-allied attacks; all buffs work for both sides.)

This presupposes an Alliance or Alliance Interface screen in-game. Using this would allow players to form Alliances within 2 turns time in-game. E.g.: Opening this screen would allow you to send a (binding in contractual sense) offer to another human nation for an Alliance for X number of turns, whereas X is a number between /minimum stipulated/ (see above) and "indefinate". The human player to which this offer is sent will receive notification in his Alliance screen next month, and she can choose to accept or deny. If players accept, the Alliance takes force on the start of the next thereafter as the very first event. If more than one Alliance is sent per month (e.g., if both nation 1 and 2 send an offer to the other at the same time), and both are accepted, the offer with the highest number of minimum turns of alliance is considered valid. Conflicting Alliances cannot be made -- the computer checks at the beginning of each turn whether an alliance can be legal or not, and if Alliances are accepted, making other offers sent in the meantime invalid, then these will be returned with the appropriate message (e.g. "Your offer for Alliance has been deemed invalid.", such as would be the case if Nation 1 allies with Nation 2, and Nation 2 offers an alliance to Nation 3, which is an enemy of Nation 1 -- in such a case, BOTH nations 1 and 2 must send an identical Alliance Offer to nation 3 simultaneously to have a valid contract.)

Easier to have a table similar to the Warlords games which has all nation banners on rows and columns and the intersection indicates the status between the nations: neutral (default), war or alliance. Making an alliance with someone at war with your allies would be impossible, but somebody in an alliance declaring war on his own would not automatically break alliances if you are already allied to both sides of the conflict.

Obviously one would have to choose sides at such a point, but it should happen through negotiation about which alliance to break and which not to, or if one can remain neutral in the conflict.

If such a grid system was used, sending proposals would also be easy, just bring up the grid, click on the intersection you want to change status, which would bring up the meny to send the proposal/declaration you want to that particular nation.

Edi

[Endoperez]

sushiboat said:
Many of the higher level magic items are not used often. Although some have cool effects, there is a small set of almost-must-have effects: life drain, quickness, luck, magic resistance, reinvigoration, being ethereal, flying, elemental/poison resistance. A supercombatant or thug without a few out of this set of effects is unheard of. Isn't it strange that every SC/thug has a starshine skullcap? Every SC/thug has either a lucky coin shield or a luck pendant. Unless the SC/thug can cast quickness, it is very likely to have either boots of quickness or jade armor.

I would like to see these effects become more common (with the possible exception of life drain, depending on how much Dom 3 scales it back). If there are more items that give quickness, we won't see jade armor and boots of quickness as much. And so on. The rarely forged unique items should definitely have one of these effects added.

I don't think the solution is to make it easier to have these effects AND something else. Illwinter should make other items more viable, so that having neither Boots of Quickness and Jade Armor would be viable because the boots and the armor used in their place are worth using even if it means lack of quickness.

I wish that there were more items, mainly for boots and helmets but for other item types too. As an example, there are only two non-artifact helmets with protection more than 2: Black Steel Helmet and Flame Helmet. Flame Helmet is only usable with way to quickly recover lots of fatique, and that means life drain.

If there were more options, there would be more diversity. I would like to have items that have great story and that add new mechanics, new little things to consider, new possibilities.

e.g.: Full Helmet.
It grants protection 4, defence 3, precision -5.
Gives 'blind' affliction and #blind ability, so that the loss of eyes/blindness and eyes of aiming do not affect the wearer of the helmet.
E3S2, needs Construction 6

This closed helmet was first made for mage Oedipus, who was blinded when an Abysian mage punished him for casting a powerful enchantment. With the aid of mighty spells casted on the inside of the helmet, its wearer can sense the world around him even without the help of his eyes. With this magical sense, it is difficult to precisely target anything far away, but the mage is overnaturally aware of everything moving near him, being able to evade most attacks.

[Sandman]

Some generic theme ideas;

Hostile Forests: The growth scale is inverted for the purposes of calculating eney supplies. In other words, a strong growth dominion will cause enemies to starve like a strong death dominion, a bit like Mirkwood in the Hobbit. Carrion Woods should have this ability as standard.

Warrior Cult: All frienly units in your dominion gain experience faster. You also start with an Academy of War in your capital.

Mercenary Kingdom: All mercenaries cost 25% less to hire. Mercenaries will join your cause permanently if you hire them for nine turns in a row. This theme allows access to some special mercenary bands, and also has a chance of attracting unique mercenary heroes.

Engineering Feats: All fortresses under this dominion have a defensive bonus, as well as a look-out tower (better patrolling) and escape tunnel (units can leave or enter a beseiged fortress from neighbouring provinces).