Re: A fourth age
 

Alright, my thoughts for a fourth age nation; the bastard child of Ulm and Marignon.

Model: the 30 Years War and the wars in and around the Reformation.

Guns? Well, maybe an armor-nullifying 1/3 turn fire arquebus, -1 precision and medium-range.

Some Ulm-style heavily-armored units- but armor is starting to be reduced in the face of firearms. Truckloads of pikemen. Zweihanders. Landsnecht with 1-shot pistols.

Fitting with the reformation theme (priesthood of believers,etc), most of these units have a recruit-anywhere sacred version. Same statistics, except maybe +1 morale. Balance it by raising the costs to recruit. "Devout Zweihander", "Devout Arquebuser", etc.
"In the turmoil and bloodshed of the coming of the new god, devout followers and fanatics are to be found in all walks of life in Ulm."

Should be a capitol only sacred- maybe stealthy troops that work with the spy/assassin?

Fanatic/Ranter- lvl 1 priests with stealth and spy.
Theologians- lvl 2? priests with random level 1 (100% FAES+ 10% FAES) magic. Close to old age. Research bonus or penalty? (Bookish, but do they have a research-hindering attitude?)
Natural Philosopher- Capitol-only mages. 2 levels of random magic (100% chance FAWEN times 2+ 10% FAWESN, research bonus). Immune to drain scale.
Capitol-only spy/assassin.
Capitol-only cannon. Hellaciously expensive. 1% chance of exploding each time they fire (which is only 1/3 rounds)

Heroes:
Melancthon- With a misshapen head and a weak body, he is the greatest of Ulm's theologians, and a powerful earth mage to boot.
Maxwell Oldtown- Genius inventor. Stat him like the maker of the maze but young and with a research bonus.
Götz von Berlichingen- Mercenary knight with the iron hand. Just a tough, skilled guy with good leadership. Maybe awe and an iron-hand zero-range attack.

Re: A fourth age
 

Space battles, Dom3 style, would be a hell of a lot of fun.
For instance, instead of water nations and land nations, you've got, say, normal space and hyperspace, with some nations able to cross between the two. Each province would be a planet, and gems would be substituted for rare resources, like anti-iron. Units become ships, space monsters are easy, sites would need some extensive reworking, but the maps themselves I would think would be a lot of fun to design (round "provinces", instead of mountains, asteroid fields, forests become organic infestations or Gaia-type planets, whatever). Forged items...I dunno how they'd be handled, but instead of regular helmets, armour, etc. you'd have various weapon and defense systems, special abilities, whatever. Spells become futuristic special technologies, summoned units become special projects. Stealth is pretty self-explanatory, but seduction becomes computer override.

It would ofcourse be a huge amount of work for one person to design, but the possibilities are wide open, and a space scenario, done well, could probably outdo MOO2.

Re: A fourth age
 

Yes, the -possibilities- really got my imagination moving. Total lack of modding experience, and realization of the scope (the fact that the entire game would need to be redone, even if the shell would be capable of doing this), started to stack up fast as a big disadvantage.

What I had been envisioning was "systems", that would be a cluster of planets, so that "starbases (castles) would get a good resource bonus. However, between the systems, would be "deep space", which would be like water provinces. So all actual starships would be amphibious, transport carriers could have "sailing", and atmospheric forces would of course be necessary for true control of any given systems.

I'm not sure the gem types can be changed in name, but imagination can cover that, Dilithium Crystals, Antimatter, Indurium, all the fantastic materials needed for space warfare. And of course, a totally new array of items, analogous to technological upgrades. BUT, there could in fact be magic in this scenario as well..... indeed, some people would actually want to convert it to a Spelljammer scenario (I never got into that one myself), but actual "magic" could play a part in the universe to a lesser or larger degree depending on the types of "spells" one wanted to include in the mod.

Oh and you left out: Assassination = Sabotage! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

The options are staggering..... Maybe I'll break out of my daydream reverie to actually try to start on it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: A fourth age
 

I would say creating the specifics, writing the texts, balancing, and doing the sprite work is 95% of the actual work involved in a Dom3 mod.

I'd wager the actual writing of the mod is cakewalk compared to actually developing the content.

Re: A fourth age
 

Screw balance. IMHO
We have plenty of balanced mods now. Its time for some unbalanced ones. Bigger Badder AIs.

Re: A fourth age
 

Maybe we could design it together, Jim-I don't really want to tackle something like that alone, honestly I'd never finish it-I've got so many unfinished projects and half-conceived ideas as it is.

I could do some graphics though, and I've got atleast the experience of 1 mod nation under my belt. So I'd be happy to help and supply advice, if it's something you're really interested in, and want to commit to.

Re: A fourth age
 

Well, I think it could be an incredible amount of fun not only to play, but to build.

But it is a bit scary - it's not just 1 race, but an entire universe! Would need at least 10 "species" to play I think, and a full array of items and spells, plus at least one map to start.

Maybe if we poke around we can find a third team member, and it will all start to look more plausible, in our lifetime. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif I do have an awful lot of spare time, but I'll need a lot of help/supervision to do it right. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: A fourth age
 

It would be MoO 4 ^^

Maybe Dom3's engine is not the most perfectly fitting for a project like this.
But indeed it would be fun ^^

Re: A fourth age
 

I'd like to be that third team member http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif I haven't even touched the modding guide yet, but I'm sure I could try, and even if I can't, I could at least help with ideas and concepts.

Re: A fourth age
 

As long as you're only discussing things, everything's going to be fine. Actually starting the project will probably cause lots of trouble. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif