Why Dominions 3 isn't just another computer game. - Page 2

Strider · #11 July 12th, 2008, 12:11 AM

:Moderator Hat On:
Negative comments about the game (if posted appropiately) are welcome.
Negative comments against someone is not. This is part of the forum rules, as Gandalf points out.

CUnknown · #12 July 12th, 2008, 12:44 AM

Yeah, dominions is a great game. It has a vast number of strategic and tactical options and different factions, it's moddable, it has a great turn structure for multiplayer ... and ... well, that's pretty much all you need.

Oh, and the balance is in fact very good, despite complaints. It's not like if someone takes nation x, they are completely doomed against nation y or anything like that. The skill level of the players means much more than the balance factor. The skill factor takes years to build up, and can always improve, whereas the balance factor is fairly small in most cases (esp. using CB mod).

HoneyBadger · #13 July 12th, 2008, 12:52 AM

RenoJustin, Monkeyfinger, ofcourse you're entitled to your opinion, but I'm sure there are better ways of expressing them than to attack someone so blatantly, personally, and obviously, in a public forum. I'd hate to see you get in trouble.

sum1lost · #14 July 12th, 2008, 12:55 AM

HB, I'm going to suggest, as a non-moderator, that you edit that last post to be a great deal less inflammatory and insulting. And drop the elitism. It isn't terribly becoming.

HoneyBadger · #15 July 12th, 2008, 12:57 AM

I'm the least elitist person you'll ever meet in your life. I am, however, an enemy of willful, destructive ignorance, particularly when it's directed at me.

Jazzepi · #16 July 12th, 2008, 01:03 AM

My only major beef with Dom 3 is the wretched interface. There's a really funny parody to be found here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg7Xh0m_Oco

"I don't feel like I'm operating the mac so much as I'm just there sharing the mac experience"

That's how I honestly feel when I'm playing Dominions 3. The interface is a real tragedy. At least a quarter of each turn is spend fighting with the interface. Here are a few of my major complaints.

1. Sending gold/items doesn't allow you to see what you've sent, or do anything to modify those. Instead of some kind of GUI allowing you to click and drag items/gold to trade nations, you have to delete every message/item/gold sent whenever you make a mistake.

2. Transferring items between commanders is awkward. Generally I just stick it in the lab and then move it to the commander. The worst part is that the "destroy this item" option is right next to the lab. If you destroy an item, your only recourse is to restart the entire turn. Once I destroyed a flame helm after 25 minutes of a turn, and had to do /everything/ all over again.

3. Sending commanders on long routes is a pain, especially if they're map move 1. I'm not even saying that you should have to build a pathing algorithm into the game, but just being able to hold down shift and que up orders so that they'll move to a far away destination automatically would be great.

4. There is no command to give a commander that allows you to skip them while they're hiding, or while they're doing nothing. Sometimes I have guys just sitting around, and I have to scroll through all of them.

5. This is probably the most irritating. There are NO ARMY STACKS?! In a game when you can field 30+ commanders in the later stages in a single army, or God help you if you're playing LA Ry'leh or Ermor, it would be extremely beneficial to be able to move armies as stacks instead of clicking each commander individually. I must spent 5-6 minutes just double checking my orders each time I send a large stack in to prevent the stealth units from sneaking in and thus not being part of the combat, and to prevent someone from not being selected, or having deleted orders.

6. Scripting. I always have to reinvent the wheel each time I pickup a nation. 0 becomes retreat for all my spies. 1 becomes smitex5. With nations who have easy access to Earth, I always end up with "summon earth power" "blade windx4", with some variations. I would really like to be able to store generic scripts in a text file, and load them in through some kind of click and drag interface rather than creating them each and every time. Scripting is definitely /manageable/ ATM, but it still gobbles up more time then it should.

One more change that would make it more useful. Since you only have 10 scripting slots. Allow the computer to understand the difference between storing a script for a set of units, and for a commander. For instance, the 0 slot could hold the command (Hold->attack archers) for UNITS, and (Retreat) for COMMANDERS. This way you could store twice as many orders. The game can figure out if you're issuing a command to units or commanders based on context and then go fetch the right one.

7. Building. The game really needs an autobuild option that lets you repeat build commands just like you would ritual spells. It would also be a huge boost if you could see the /discounted/ prices in the building window instead of the base prices. Or maybe both would be better, actually.

Anyways, there are still many more issues that I have, but these are the big ones I can think of. Let me say that I have played no game more than I've played Dominions 3. I still get thrashed by players on a regular basis, and the competitive MP is the heart and the soul of the game. And it's an /amazing/ game. The best 50 bucks I've ever spent. If Dom 4 came out tomorrow, I'd put 100 down for it.

But the game has serious issues. Ones that, IMHO, keep the game being adopted by more people. Dom 3 is extremely, *extremely* complicated. I'm still learning new stuff every time I play. So that alone makes the game less accessible to most people, but the interface acts like a multiplier (for good or bad). Something that is a simple problem of learning to play the game becomes that much harder when the interface you're using has to be fought with.

Jazzepi

HoneyBadger · #17 July 12th, 2008, 01:20 AM

There, that's long enough for my purposes.

Monkeyfinger, I don't mind people complaining about things they don't like. I do mind it when people like yourself-and since you read my earlier post, I'm sure you can paraphraise what my opinion of you happens to be-take it upon themselves to attack me for expressing a positive opinion, in a way that would suggest they think they know anything about me, and yet make it obvious to anyone who does, that they don't have a clue. It's not hypocritical to go against one line of thought, while espousing another. I've never complained about the cost of the game, for instance.

And Sum1lost: I'm sure if your opinion is ever required, you'll be duly informed by whomever requires it. In the meantime, purely for purposes of educating the ignorant (and I hope that does sound elitist, as it's meant to), there's a difference between acting in an "elitist" fashion, and kicking a couple of dogs back down, when they act above their place. And I hope that last sounds positively snobby.

If you or they have a problem with me defending myself against direct, personal attack, then perhaps your best efforts ought to go towards furthering some pacifist philosophy, that we can all hope to live in some shinier, happier world.

Jazzepi · #18 July 12th, 2008, 01:20 AM

For the moderators.

I don't see why HB is allowed to lambaste large groups of people who criticize Dom 3 by saying

"Lately, we've had a few posts complaining about the cost of the game, the instability of various servers, problems with the forum, etc. *****, *****, *****, go whine to your mommies, says I."

but others are not allowed to criticize him.

Not that I think that the way Monkeyfinger said what he did was appropriate, but I agree with /some/ of it.

Jazzepi

HoneyBadger · #19 July 12th, 2008, 01:27 AM

It has to do with my not mentioning any names, or making any personal attacks. It deals with an event that has happened, not the ones who caused the event to happen. I could say, for instance, "forum trolls are dumb" and that wouldn't be against the rules, because it's a general statement that doesn't go against any race, religion, nation, etc. Ofcourse, anyone out there who happened to recognise themselves as forum trolls might take insult, but they aren't required to. It's your choice whether or not you identify yourself with the negativity of the statement, on a personal basis.

sum1lost · #20 July 12th, 2008, 01:29 AM

Quote:

HoneyBadger said:
There, that's long enough for my purposes.

Monkeyfinger, I don't mind people complaining about things they don't like. I do mind it when people like yourself-and since you read my earlier post, I'm sure you can paraphraise what my opinion of you happens to be-take it upon themselves to attack me for expressing a positive opinion, in a way that would suggest they think they know anything about me, and yet make it obvious to anyone who does, that they don't have a clue. It's not hypocritical to go against one line of thought, while espousing another. I've never complained about the cost of the game, for instance.

And Sum1lost: I'm sure if your opinion is ever required, you'll be duly informed by whomever requires it. In the meantime, purely for purposes of educating the ignorant (and I hope that does sound elitist, as it's meant to), there's a difference between acting in an "elitist" fashion, and kicking a couple of dogs back down, when they act above their place. And I hope that last sounds positively snobby.

If you or they have a problem with me defending myself against direct, personal attack, then perhaps your best efforts ought to go towards furthering some pacifist philosophy, that we can all hope to live in some shinier, happier world.

I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. I'm sure that Monkeyfinger and Renojustin posts stung you in some personal way. I do have some trouble seeing how that entitles you to pee in my formerly delicious cheerios.