Re: Server down?
 

I like the joke on the game page Xietor. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Server down?
 

Can we go back to 48 hours on this game? I am reaching the typical phase of the game where multiple players team up on me in order to find a gameplay option that is easier than the AI and I will need more time to do my turns.

Re: No Problem
 

I have set the host to 48 hours.

The current turn has been postponed. If you have time to do your turns at a faster pace than 48 hours(and this goes for everyone), please do so.

But it appears war has reared its ugly head on Battlemap, and we understand the need for more time.

Re: No Problem
 

How's this game going? I'm not playing, but I'm interested. Anybody unhappy with their heroes? Anybody running away with the game with theirs?

Re: No Problem
 

I should clarify. My post is mainly in jest. I would rather be the single nation getting teamed up on than being part of a group of nations teaming up on a single nation. It's one of the reason I picked Vanheim this game and have been playing R'lyeh quite a bit lately.

I chose to live by the sword, I have no issue at all dying by it. And I will do it yet again in the next multiplayer game I am in. Eventually, I will find a way to win without depending on massive diplomacy to supplement skill http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif. For now, I am still teh suq as far as standing alone goes, but next game I will fair better, etcetera etcetera.

Re: No Problem
 

If you look on the Epic Heroes Mod thread(in mod forum), about 2 posts from the bottom are the tweaks coming in 1.5. Generally speaking so far:

Below par Epic Heroes:

1. Atlantis
2. Shinuyama

Regrettably I do not really play these races, and did not realize the injustice i did to them with the 1.4 Epic Heroes. Playing Shinuyama this game(1st time ever) gave me new insight to their lack of punch.

Atlantis Hero is basically just a slightly beefed up starspawn, such as the Rlyeh can buy at all of their castles.

Both of these races' Epic Heroes will be getting significant boosts in 1.5.

Epic Heroes that need a slight tweaking downwards:
1. machaka-will lose fear
2. Vanheim-tinker's hammer will lose its aoe attack effect(but will still have a 2ndary aoe of small area fire).

Epic Hero that is overpowered:
Rlyeh- he most likely is going to lose his life drain.

Re: No Problem
 

I'm not sure about power levels, but Li Bo is presently kinda redundant or boring.

He's rather like an existing hero Lu Ting-Pin (whom I also got) but with +1W, +2A, +1H, awe, magic being, the dominion spread, and he loses flight and the armor slot.

Maybe if he could domsummon the demon of the heavenly rivers (dom/10 would be plenty.) That'd be cool. Not sure what else he could do that would make him more 'epic" than Lu Ting-Pin except giving him more magic.

Anyway, I'm doing really well in this game but I think it's because of my position and skilled use of my military, not my hero. All he's done is search for sites, really.

Re: No Problem
 

Foodstamp, you are making it sound like you were the one who was peacefully standing around. You were the one who practically declared war on both of us. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: No Problem
 

I would like to submit that the epic hero for MA Agartha is sub sub sub par. He is basically a national troop with added w2. I just put him in the castle for research.

Re: No Problem
 

I am clearly the victim here sir http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

My first post was written jokingly, except I really needed the 48 hours because of my RL schedule right now.

Someone sent me a private message thinking the post was serious, so I made the second post to let the parties involved know that I don't mind fighting a multifront war. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Goodluck in the fights to come!

Re: No Problem
 

Lolo,

My hands are basically tied with respect to Agartha and Bandar Log's Epic Heroes made by Endoperez. He has been serving in his country's armed forces, and has not been available for dominions III discussions of late.

Endoperez made the 2 heroes he did for the Epic Heroes Mod, with the clear understanding that I could only tweak his heroes if they were OVERPOWERD, not otherwise.

While I technically breached the deal by adding a research bonus to Agartha, Endoperez gave his blessing to that change. I do understand that he thought the magic abilities of the Agartha Epic Hero opened up significant options not otherwise available to agartha.

You could send him a pm highlighting the imbalances you have observed. So he is not one of the 3 Hall of Fame commanders your race presently has?


And Dr. P, boring? Pleeassse. You made him. If you want a melee type hero, feel free to redesign him. I am not sure Tien chi needs a dominion summon for early expansion or defense.

Dr. P said:

"He's rather like an existing hero Lu Ting-Pin (whom I also got) but with +1W, +2A, +1H, awe, magic being, the dominion spread, and he loses flight and the armor slot."

The thing is, my good Dr., there is no guarantee you will get one of the very powerful Worthy Heroes. You begin the game with Li Bo.

And the Epic Heroes are supposed to be Epic, but some of the beefed up 1.7 Worthy heroes are sorta Epic as well. For some races it almost makes sense to take 3 luck to try and maximize your chancce of getting the Worthy heroes.

If you take 3 mis like Pythium, you only get your Epic Hero. So if another player takes 3 misf with Tien Chi, maybe Li Bo's value to them will be greater than a player who had the good fortune to get an immortal Worthy Hero right off the bat!

I will add that I have yet to get any worthy hero, and yes i am jealous!

Re: No Problem
 

No worries Xietor, I'll try to work towards the advantage Endoperez had in mind.

Re: No Problem
 

I apologize for the stale turn. Something unexpected came up at the last minute and I was 30 minutes too late to submit my turn http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif. Just to let you know, the stale was an isolated instance.

Re: No Problem
 

Oh, you're right. He's +1F,+1A vs. the basic version. Okay, that's fair. I still think Li Bo should get his flight back - maybe trade fire for nature? The fire is a lot *better* but he's really very similar to the other immortal. He's sort-of a bard, maybe he should be a stealthy spy? With the dominion spread you might actually use him for that.

R'lyeh, the vile betrayer, must perish! After agreeing with me on a joint attack against Mictlan (but not to an NAP, I don't believe), he has stabbed me in the back, taking my only water province (held in reserve to cast underwater summons.)

Therefore, I extend the scaly hand of peace towards our mutual neighbors - Mictlan (jutetrea) and Atlantis (zoshan), may consider allying themselves with R'lyeh, but do you really wish such a poisonous snake at your side? The celestial empire promises true constancy.

Death to R'lyeh!
--Knife Bright Insight

Re: No Problem
 

Speaking of heroes, I have made no use of my angel except as H3 priest. Without
equipment he is much too vulnerable. I have played a few test games, and he
cannot be risked in front line combat even with Alt3 and Ench3. With some
equipment he becomes a bit tougher, but is still not worth risking against
barbarians, most of the tribe warriors, or lancers.

On the other hand, he may be a SC of note once he's equipped at Con4 Alt3 Ench3.
Unfortunately, the random generator seems to always give him the morale+leadership
trait. That has been the case in 4 out of the 5 games I started with him.

Re: No Problem
 

My hero has a squid face. Beat that!!!

Re: No Problem
 

The good people of Mictlan are a bit bloodthirsty; but after careful consultations with our Starspawns it was decided to leave the friendly (albeit blood-hungry) people of Mictlan alone.

We would never wish conflict with our friendly (albeit desirous of conquest) neighbors T'ien C'hi! However, we looked upon your control of the water province in question and were puzzled. Would it not be better for the tritons to be ruled by benevolent Illithids, who, as fellow under water creatures better understand their needs?!

And, while we are a trusting and peaceful race, we are cautious and suspicious of outsiders. We were concerned that perhaps a less-noble race than T'ien C'hi could some day come to control said underwater province and use it as a base from which they could summon all manner of dreadful things to use against our peaceful nation. So it was decided, albeit with a heavy heart, that we had to wrest control of it from our dear friends, the nation of T'ien C'hi.

Re: No Problem
 

Mictlan's diplomacy efforts have been weak this game, real life has been busy. To save effort, we'll get everything out in the open initially.

Mictlan has finished expanding to neutral territories.

Unfortunately due to our scales we will need to continue expanding somewhere, our income is already dropping and with no blood economy forthcoming we would be in dire straights soon.

We currently have NAPs with all of our neighbors other than T'ien Chi. TC has recently withdrawn their offer of peace, yet has made no direct assault on our lands (minus some unfortunate accidental meetings with their large god) (large, intimidating god)(with fangs, biiig fangs).

TC has a large army, large income, high research, and the forementioned large god. We have a largish army, good income, poor research, no SC god - but an SC hero and a very good bless.

While a confrontation with TC would be reasonable, it is not a foregone conclusion. Even with the heavy rumors of TC attempting to gain allies to attack us. We are an early stage threat, losing relevence as time passes. TC can be a very good late game threat if left unchecked. If willing to work together...

Again, Mictlan needs to start expanding again. Which will mean war with someone, within the next 4 turns. We would like to consider offers from our various neighbors in terms of temporary alliances and common foes.

Re: No Problem
 

It sounds like war is on the horizon for some unsuspecting nation........

Re: No Problem
 

No, they'll be suspecting. I'll formally declare war before doing anything of course, its just that we'll need a direction to expand. At this point there are just no directions better than any other (except fighting Ry'leh.. I hate water battles).

I'm just hoping it stirs the pot a bit, maybe find an ally or two - or an enemy or 3. If nothing happens in the next turn or two I'll see who wants to join up and pick on a common target. Right now it seems everyone in my neck of the woods is relatively peaceful. Terrible scales make peace difficult http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Problem
 

Can anyone tell me why when I open turn 21 I get the error message -

Nagot gick fel!
Myloadmalloc: can't open ./mods/.\ehspr\obsidianmedium.tga

Re: Problem
 

I can guess. For the first time this turn, you've met Agartha's obsidian medium, and Dominions can't find the graphics for it.

Basically you just need to check the graphics files are in the right place. You should have a folder called 'ehspr' in your mods folder, and it should have a load of tga files in it. If you don't, extract the Epic Heroes zip file again, making sure everything ends up in the folders it's meant to.

Hope that helps.

Re: Problem
 

Reinstalled mod...all is good.

Re: Problem
 

Luckily the nation of Mictlan's decision was made for us. Tien Chi has invaded our lands with no formal declaration of war or provocation.

We extend peace and goodwill to everyone opposed to Tien Chi's rise to supremacy.

Re: Problem
 

I love the free scouting reports!

Check message of the day on the website for the newest lawyer joke.

Re: Problem
 

Poll:

I need this information for development purposes.

Who made their Epic Hero a prophet?

Please send the information to Llamabeast, who will provide me with only the raw data in terms of how many of the 12 nations made their Epic Hero a prophet.

In other words, Llamabeast will not tell me what nations made their Epic Hero a prophet, but how many nations out of 12 did.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Re: Problem
 

Anyone who does not think that Late Game Mictlan is a threat has been seriously misinformed. They get the best deal on researchers in the game, and very efficient site searching out of their capital. Gems + research = late game threat. The fact that they can boostrap into powerful, summoned sacreds should not be discounted either.

We are, in any case, generous. We will be happy to eliminate Mictlan's main force, before they grow into their obscene late-game power - taking the brunt of the fighting ourselves, we would not begrudge anyone who wished to take Mictlan's lands.

In any case, as we have an NAP with one of our shared neighbours - and the treacherous serpent R'lyeh is welcome to invade us, we have more than enough reserves to intercept a land invasion - we encourage everyone else to wait and see. When we slaughter the early-game armies of Mictlan, you can feel free to loot them at that time without ill will from us.

Re: Problem
 

I have you all beat-MA Shinuyama is a threat to no one! I can even quote you excerpts from Dr. P's threads ranting about how
underpowered MA Shinuyama is.

Save us for LAST.

Re: Problem
 

Move me to AI. I haven't even had a chance to look at my turn I just staled and I have a feeling it is going to be that way a while.

I do have one bug to report.

It seems that Machaka's Assassin has an ability called "Back Stab". I believe the range on this ability has not been set, causing it to have the default range of 100. I am guessing by the name of the ability it is supposed to be a touch ranged attack?

Goodluck with the rest of the game, I apologize I got so caught up in RL stuff that I had no time to play this one out. As a side note, both turns I staled I made it home minutes after the turns hosted lol.

If we only catch you, buddy!
 

Some despicable coward sent a Seeking Arrow at our prophet, but a brave optio
threw himself in the path of the projective. His armour saved his life,
but he is gravely injured. His centuriae is clamoring for blood. The Empire of
Pythium is at war with no one, and has received no declaration of war this turn.

Now, there is an air nation that borders us, and they have not answered our
latest diplomatic overtures. The other air nation seems to be paralyzed by
internal strife and it would be rather strange if someone without a stake in
our neighborhood is wasting air gems shooting at us.

Thus, the Empire of Pythium is asking the leaders of Man:

Do you solemnly swear that no magician under your command fired that arrow?
Should we look elsewhere for our villain?

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

As the other major air power, I state officially: I do not even know where you are, and certainly have not been firing arrows at you.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

The backstab ability of the Machaka Assassin is no fluke, but a carefully devised simulation of a true backstab ability.

Skilled assassins have historically been given a backstab to start a battle. Since that ability is not capable of modding, I gave the assassin a ranged attack with 1 ammo to simulate the backstab ability of an assassin.

Machaka's assassin is armed with bane blades that cause decay, thus his "backstab' ability also has decay, as the 1 shot ranged attack is designed to be the equivalent of an attack with his daggar.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

I did not make my epic hero (c'tis) a prophet.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

I was not asking for public disclosure http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

That was why i requested just sending Llamabeast a pm. But since you did, I will also to be fair:

My hero is not a prophet either. But there is no need for anyone else to make a public disclosure.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

My limited admin. powers do not allow me to set anyone to AI.
Maybe Foodstamp can do a turn and set himself to Ai, or maybe Llamabeast can do it.

When Foodstamp is gone, I would like to set the turns back to 24 hours if no one objects.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

I do not object to 24 hours during the week, but on the weekend it's a pain.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

ha, exact opposite here. Weekends are easy (would love to find a game where a bunch could sit for 4 hours or so and just bang out turns... at least till the baby comes). Weekdays are tougher, that whole work thing gets in the way.

Is there a 36 hour quickhost setting?

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

It seems like some may still favor the 48 hour setting. Let us just leave it on 48 hours, and it will quick host if everyone gets their turns done earlier.

That way we can get the best of all worlds, a lot of time to do your turn, but a quicker host if everyone happens to be able to find the time to do them earlier!

* I did not try and find a sub for Vanheim, because his scales are not ones I personally would want, and his demise is fairly certain, as my pathetic armies are 2 turns from his capital. And Vanheim's decision to declare war on 2 nations(albeit weak ones) has taken a toll.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

I set Vanheim to AI. Soon this will be possible in a long-winded way via the admin options (change nation's address to your address, resend their turn and set them to AI), when I get round to adding the 'change address' function.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

The option outlined above is not an ideal one if the admin is also a player in the game.

Though I am sure Llamabeast hates to babysit games, he may have to continue doing it unless a way can be devised of doing it without the admin seeing the player's nation while setting it to ai.

It is subject to potential abuse. The admin. could send himself all of the players items, gems, gold etc. While I personally would take no satisfaction in a win achieved by cheating, others may.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

Well, the admin would just have to send the turn to some trusted third party. Once that option is available then my position will be no different to that of any other third party.

I am very keen to make sure that I don't have to remain alert for all the games to run smoothly, once I've finished the server off - keeping track of ten games or more could quickly get overwhelming!

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

Note that this is the same for all MP dominions games by the way. The way it should be done is that the departing player sets themselves to AI - that's how it's designed. Unfortunately sometimes people disappear without doing so.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

Actually, I think an admin cheating is very remote. The more commonly encountered problem would be a player believing erroneously that he has been cheated. So the more prudent course of action would be to not have the potential for cheating at all.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

Yeah LoloMo, I think you are right.

When I add the option to change a player's e-mail address, I will have the server e-mail the old address to inform them that it is being changed. This will prevent an admin from sneakily changing the address, resending the turn and changing it back to peek at the player's turn. And that is the only way I can think of that an admin will be able to cheat. Non-admin players should be completely unable to cheat on the LlamaServer so far as I can think.

As for setting players to AI - that's a bit tricky because you actually need someone to take the player's turn. As I say, I think finding a trusted third party (me, Gandalf, lch, Dr P or quite a number of other people) to take the turn and set them to AI is the way forward.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

Another Seeking arrow was fired at the greatest water mage of Pythium. As a
powerful and respected functionary of the Empire, he had been gifted with a Robe
of Shadows, and laughed at the threat. Unfortunately, many of his younger
colleagues are getting quite uncomfortable at the thought that they may have to
dodge a Seeking Arrow themselves, without the benefit of etherialness.

One of our barbarian shamans has tried some of his divination methods, and
according to him, the culprit is Man, who is trying to draw our armies east, so
that his ally C'tis can rush to our capital unopposed. That of course is too far
fetched and no one's listening to the shaman...

But after all is said and done, whoever is doing the firing is an enemy, and he is
wasting four air gems per turn for a chance to kill a junior magician. Risky for
the Theurgs and Acolytes without a robe, but not necessarily bad for the Empire.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

Everyone pause and take a deep breath.

Take one turn off from the hostilities and send me gold! My pathetic armies are fighting 80 double 9 blessed vans, and 5 watchers, that despite having 0/2 movement are part of the traveling circus through my lands!

These watchers also have a 25 precision and cast orb lightning(: So we are also accepting rings of lightning protection.

Who was it that claimed that Vanheim's Epic Hero was underpowered?

For those that do not know me-I have a warped sense of humor. I do not really expect any gold! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

80 double blessed vans?

Vanheim is still in better shape then I thought. Maybe we should have found a replacement for Foodstamp.

Those watchers hsould not be able to move. Is this an AI bug?


And send some of those vans my way. Machaka is still itching to take down more vans.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

I think it is too late to switch back to a player. I had no idea he had 80 either, but he does(:

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

The watchers moving is an AI bug. The AI ignores 0 map movement.

My position was not all that bad. I didn't have time to check the turn after I staled last time, but the time I staled before that my guys actually won battles http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif. I built the nation pretty solid, I just don't have time to play it.

I suggested turning it over to the AI because I thought you guys would be more capable of dealing with a normal AI Vanheim and I did not want to place the replacement in a hopeless position.

Goodluck.

Re: If we only catch you, buddy!
 

I will be out of town from 7/11-7/18.

Llamabeast has graciously agreed to do my turns during my absence. I will brief him as to my diplomatic situation when i depart.