Dominopedia

[HoneyBadger]

Ok, my idea here is that every unit, spell, concept, etc. in the game should have an accessible in-game description, similar to the "-opedia" in that OTHER turn-based game (but better). Obviously, the one for Dominions will be far superior in every way, but in order to make this happen without stretching the designers like a rubber band, I figured the forum could write the descriptions, design icons, post pictures, etc.

First of all, this is my idea, it's nothing official from Illwinter, and there's no guarantee it'll ever see the light of game, so post to this thread at your own risk of time and effort.

Secondly, I only want the highest quality stuff here, so please do your research (and spell-check), and be prepaired for debate, because a lot of the things in the game-especially mythology-is going to be open to interpretation, and it'll sometimes be difficult to come up with a description that most people are going to agree on.

Thirdly, please please please only use your own original work, and understand that if used your material would become the sole property of Illwinter, not only as per the forum rules, but as a prequisite for posting to this thread. Illwinter would not in any way, shape, or form be responsible for recompensing you for the use of this material, in whole or in part. Neither would I, for that matter. I could use some help from any good lawyers out there in stating this clearly in a legally-binding way under the copyright laws, so if anyone wants to help with that, I'd appreciate it, but I think my intentions here are clear and easy to understand for most.

Good reference materials are in the Wikipedia, the Wiki mythology project (I forget the name of it), the Encyclopedia Mythica (if it still exists), the H.P. Lovecraft online library (I think their are several), and Project Gutenburg. I recommend www.google.com as a search-engine.

All help with this is welcome and appreciated, and I'll be posting to it as much as my time allows me. Thank you!

P.S. If anyone can come up with a better name than Dominopedia, please do. I'm just using it as a reference, and I'm thinking, for instance, the "Akashic Record" would be worlds better.

[Uh-Nu-Buh]

I think the Dom III Wiki might already fit the bill here. Take a look-see. Don't want to duplicate efforts.

[HoneyBadger]

I've read through it, and it's good, but it doesn't have the legaleze or the purpose I'm intending for this thread. Otherwise, it would be great to use, but I don't want to take what isn't being offered, if you see my point?

[Frostmourne27]

We COULD use the info from the wiki but...

1) Wiki is good, but far from complete.
2) Don't wiki's have a license agreement that grants free use, but only to people that don't intend to profit from it? If we attach this to the game, I think wiki would be out. That applies to wikipedia atleast.
3) Supprises are fun. Seriously though, EVERY unit? EVERY spell? EVERY item? With analysis / description? No matter how limited, thats THOUSANDS of entery in the dominopedia. Maybe start with pretenders or nations or something. Something a little less ambitious. (Not that ambition is bad, but this is like, not diving off the deep end, but skydiving into the mariana trench or something.)

Still, I hardly have a life worth metioning, and I'd be happy to help. Also, somebody should look into the wiki.

[HoneyBadger]

I wasn't thinking analysis nearly as much as I was thinking evocative description and reference material. And I agree with you, my life is my wife, my job, and Dominions 3. Hmmm...I read and cook a little too I guess...I really need to start working out...and I've always meant to write a novel...and I should watch the latest episode of Jericho so I know what's going on...great! now I'm all distracted!

[Horst F. JENS]

@HoneyBadger:
i'm still at work to make more nation descriptions and will hopefully find the time for a complete spell / item list in the strategywiki.
I'm not sure what the goal of your proposed wiki is (and how it differs from strategywiki). In the strategywiki, you can make links from each topic to external sites (like wikipedia).
All content is under the Gnu Free Documentation License 1.2 , see: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

[B0rsuk]

I didn't want to announce anything just now, but aside from my spellbook script I plan something bigger. I'm going to build a raw text list first (spells, national units... undecided). Then I'll make a python script which transforms it into a database. Most likely sqlite. Sqlite is just what I need here. A database in a single binary. A database you can put into zip/tar file.
It could be very interesting to see what can you come up with once you can use SQL queries....

I study IT and need some practice unless I want to get out of touch.

[HoneyBadger]

What I'm really going for is something the Devs could put into the game so that you have an ingame reference at your fingertips, along with interesting information and background to enhance the roleplaying "feel". Larger and more detailed "glamor-shot" pictures of the units, magic items, etc. would also be nice. I certainly don't mind using any reference sources out there, so long as they wouldn't cause Illwinter any legal headaches.

[Horst F. JENS]

Now i get it: You want something like in the "Age of Wonders" serie, where you click on a unit and get a fancy description with picture ?

[HoneyBadger]

Sounds about right, but I don't care much for Age of Wonders. I own Age of Mythology, but I didn't really care for it, and it would be the one I'd likely enjoy the best (the hydras are kind of fun, so are the heroes, but it's a click-fest, which always turns me off, except for Starcraft.). If I had to pick a perfect model, I'd pick Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri "data-logs", but for Dom, I'd suggest doing the opposite, rather than getting down to the "nuts and bolts" of any specific topic, have a more legendary/fantasy "mood" feel where the "Dominopedia" (I'd prefer the term "Akashic Record" to be used in the game) meshes with the game's art and music into something a little bit more artsy, a little bit more surreal, and ideally grabs hold of the player's imagination rather than intellect, not always providing a specific unit's name, rank, and security number, but better describing that unit's place in it's society, belief-system, and world-view.
The game lacks a bit in eye-candy, even in areas where that eye-candy could be provided at limited cost/trouble, like when you're waiting for a turn. I think an in-game library tool could advance this a lot without relying in any way on advanced processor speed or graphics capabilities.