I've already ordered Dom3 so there's no need to compete over my sale, but I've got a few questions about the new incarnation of Dominions that have been naggling me. Perhaps one of the lucky posters who already has their copy can fill me in on some of the answers?
1. The Random Map Generator! How do they look (aesthetically) compared to the "normal" style of dom3 maps? How balanced are they in regards to starting positions and water races? How much control do you have over the generation a new map?
2. Horrors! Are they still so pathetic? I remember summoning a Horror to "annihilate any army not hiding in a fortress" and having it get its butt handed back to it by a few huskarls and a van. Not cool!
3. Is Tien'Chi a bit more... flavorful in any of its new eras? I'm a giant fan of HK/Chinese martial arts movies, and there's just so much material to draw on in that it seems terribly unfortunate to have the ancient Chinese-based faction come off so vanilla. Any Jiangshi, demon-summoning eunuch sorcerors, or ancient kung-fu masters to be found?
4. ... Which leads me to the modding tools. I created one of the first complete mods (including decent art!) for Dom2, the Ashikaga Shogunate (now replaced by Shinuyama, I guess), and might have interest in creating another such mod for dom3. How much more is it possible to mod now than before? Do you only need to replace one era of a nation? Can you mod sites to provide capitol-only units? Can you create new spells or rename old ones?
Thanks! And congratulations to Illwinter on what is apparently their most popular version of Dominions yet!