Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I may tell you that our common biggest wish (though not all realize it) is the completely reworked game engine. It is absolutely obvious that the terrific amount of bugs and lack of scalability are the results of the program being written by mainly one person, JK. Well, maybe very talented person, but it is a huge project and should be handled in another way. I don't speak of graphics here and I'm not a fan of graphics at all. Just about the numerous bugs that we here got so used to that we now don't even treat them as bugs. Their numbers are many. Should the project once be completely reworked (with proper architecture), all you, guys, request may become completely possible without much work. And now (I'm absolutely sure of that being a programmer myself) each change like this means a big amount of work, a big headache and may normally result in the bugs like the recent one with the Maggots spell (changing the description resulted in completely another spell effect or even the mix of effects). Also, when the only reliable source of information on the game mechanics is the code, it is a sign of poor architecture as well. And many, many other things.
But all this doesn't mean I don't like Dominions. This is the best and the deepest strategy multiplayer game I've ever seen, been here since Dom 1. It just requires more love from the developers to be superb. And that is my only wish for Dominions 4 if it ever happens to appear.

p.s. I don't know whether or not the old Dominions 1 engine is still used but I strongly suspect it is because most things look very similar

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Is there a Dominions 4 in the works?

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

NO, not that we know of.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Illwinter IS very involved in a new project.
We dont know if its a Dom4, we dont if its not.
Anyone who knows anything about it is tied up tight with NDA's (non-disclosure agreements).

But Dom3 has lived years on my machines as did Dom2 and Dom1. Heck I still sometimes play the game before ALL the doms (Conquest of Ellysium III, available as a free download). Whatever the new project is I am sure that I am looking forward to it. :target:

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Their new game is more of a Dominions meets Alpha Centauri meets La Blue Girl.

There will be a lot of customization of how your religion, your overall civilization, your military, and your supernaturally-motivated orgies interact. There will also be a lot more diplomacy; obviously, if your worshippers are in the same orgy they don't always try to kill each other.

Another thing like Alpha Centauri (or older versions of Dominions) there will be the ability to change the terrain, so you won't be able to use arbitrary images as custom maps. However, the dynamically generated landscapes will be visible in each sex dungeon, which will have a powerful, user-modable 3D engine so when you create a mod with new demons or schoolgirls you'll be able to supply fully realized models.

I'm not sure about the relationship between "Shrapnel Adult Interactive" and "Shrapnel Games" but I gather they're actually two different companies with purely historical overlap, so I'm not sure if the game will be called dominions 4 or not.

I hope that answers your question.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Are you being facetious?

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I thought THAT version of Dom was waiting for Google to finish their holodeck project.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

If that's a real game this might not be the place for me.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Didnt you see the Dom3 ads on this site?
Dont you wonder how they can possibly kick it up a notch for Dom4?

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

That's just implied sex. Sort of geeks can get laid too. Not!

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I've always thought how glorious it would be if Illwinter teamed up with Creative Assembly and made Dom4 in their new Total War-engine.

For a slightly more realistic wish I'd like a drag-and-drop system for items, and possibly spells too, improved graphics for the map so you can have visual representations of extreme cold/heat, magic sites present and the like. A robust diplomacy system could be interesting too. That way it'd be easier to keep track of NAP, and maybe some other interesting stuff could be included, like a trade agreement where both sides get a gold boost, or a small gem bonus of the type your trade partner has the most of (without actually cutting into his gem production).

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Isnt that engine Windows only?
Dominions is a Linux game. They would probably want to team up in a different direction.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I really dislike that idea. Dom3 is good because it doesn't try to be another 3d mess that uses up computer resources to do flashy 3d stuff and skimp on gameplay. I've only played one total war game and it didn't do a lot for me. But most every great game I played that got shifted to 3d was turned into crap. The prime example to me is HOMM5. A complete disaster and the destruction of a brilliant series.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

HOMM4 was a disaster, and it didn't use (extensive) 3D.

HOMM5 has the best balance and gameplay of the series, and those 3D graphics look frickin' fantastic, man!

I agree that it's a shame - and there is no principled reason - why the game can't be run in flat-sprite "mode". But HOMM5 is still a great game.

That said, I agree that more thoughtful, play-by-mail-type, high content/low footprint games are needed, and that these are clearly J+K's strengths.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I couldn't even get past the first 5 missions in HOMM 5. All that fiddling around moving my view and trees blocking the terrain? I hated it. So the result was a change of basic art and style for the sake of flash destroyed the game for me. And the cut scenes were bloody awful.

I loved HOMM4. Very much my favourite although I know that's a very rare feeling. Probably why I liked HOMM4 so much was the brilliant maps made by folks like Sarvi. Still it's predecessors were all fine games without great flavour. Like Disciples 2 a game can be great without a pile of flash. HOMM 3 had that brilliant map Sander's Folly. Just loved that.

But your last sentence totally sums up my feelings on this matter. The big studios do a brilliant job of making beautiful games with crap content and zero replayability. Let the indies do what they do best. Produce games full of content and long life.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Dominions 4 wishes ...

- More Nations always more !!!
- A faith scale
- More Holy sites and unholy sites with specific effects
- Temporary magic mythic sites not stable in the world, appearing a few turns as an event when dominions conditions are met,
- A syncretism effect for a new nation, for example if you gain a province with a temple this temple still exist and is counted in your temples, or a nation don't loose morale in an enemy dominion
- More religious events for example one that convert a unit in a sacred unit and vice versa
- Nations with specific laboratories with bonuses/penalties or special locations where you can summon or forge national items
- Specific effects when you have a laboratory and a temple in a same province
- holy items

and and and...

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I've been thinking lately how it would be cool if, instead of certain nations getting units with a bonus (like a forge bonus is what I'm thinking here) if the capital just had a forge bonus as one of its sites. Then when you captured a capital, it would be more important. Maybe one would grant scrying, one would do forge bonus, one would do evocation bonus, one would let you enter to summon stuff, one would let you enter to cast something (like a free call of the wild) and things like that. Just a random idea.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

And who's going to shell out some $5 millions on modelling and animating two thousands of creatures, Illwinter or Creative Assembly? :re:

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Interesting ideas, cwkjc.
Some are already available in mods, and others can be. But its an interesting list to consider modding. :target:

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Didn't they already state that they were NOT working on Dom4?

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Santa! This is the Wish-List, not the reasonable suggestions-list.

And

As for HOMM4 vs HOMM5 I prefer HOMM4 myself. I didn't like how long the turn-time became in HOMM5, and even with see-through terrain objects it was still hard to see what stuff was a lot of the time. Balance wasn't really a concern for me since I never played against anyone decent.

A graphical upgrade can be made without being cluttered or confusing, and a dom3-fight modeled in TW would probably look very similar to how it looks now.

And I personally think that commanding all the units, summons, mages etc on a real-time battlefield would be completely awesome. It'd be a completely different game, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be great.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Such upgrades have killed some games in my opinion. It would trash all the mods, and most of the ability to mod. Im not sure the payoff would balance out.

And again, to even consider it, it would need to be Linux. Not Windows. To have a Windows company and WIn engine do it would probably mean that the whole game title would be sold off which would not end up being what we want then. IMHO

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

You're all so negative! Since when are wishes made of whining? Imagine the best-case scenario instead!

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

My number one wish for all game developers is "don't break it". Almost universally, it goes unheeded.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

My view of the best case is radically different than yours. One of the critical things that makes Dominions special is the inability to micro manage battles and rely only on preplanned battles with limited commander control. That's pure genius and any suggestion to replace that with direct control is a huge fail in my opinion. There are plenty of strategy games out there that let you shoot the bow of each unit independently exactly where you want them to shoot. Fun, but utterly unrealistic in real battle conditions.

So suggestions that turn Dominions into something like a Total War clone fail big with me.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Direct control over battles would also drastically change MP. No more email turns, everyone would have to be simultaneously online to fight each battle.
Scheduling anything but duels and very small blitzes would be impossible.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Those things make sense. I hadn't fully thought through the implications for MP.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I'm being too unclear I think. For dominions 4 I agree, I'd prefer it to stay turn-based but with a completely overhauled UI and improved graphics. But, I would also like a new game with similar complexity where battles happen in real time. People throw around "clone of..." too much. A game with all the spells, summons, global enchantments and monkeys of dominions would not play like a total war game at all, but like something no one has ever seen before. :)

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I believe I understood you were interested in a real time game. In general, I dislike real time strategy. There are a few exceptions. Real time strategy is not strategy.

A game using the Total War engine seems to me to clearly be another Total War clone. And it's not like they haven't made quite a few of them. Change the setting and you get another Total War game.

Taking the content of Dominions 3 and putting it into another form of strategy like real time does not interest me. The content is not why I think Dominions 3 is a great game. By content I mean the nations, history, and mythology.

Using the Dominions 3 type model of game play for other content such as science fiction greatly interests me.

There have been a few fantasy real time strategy games. There's that classic if I remember correctly. Oh yeah, Warcraft.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Thats kinda my take on it also. I dont mind people wishing for variations.

But something I will step into is if they feel Dom3 should be changed into some other type of game. Especially when they base it on something like "look how well xxxxxxx has done". If other games have done so well with it, then there are other games. We dont need to lose one of the few really good ones in a limited territory in order to gain alittle in an already busy one. Whether thats losing the turn-based method, or the pbem support, or being a linux game, or easy modding, or multiple OS support.

(But I do think it would be world shattering if they came out with it as an iPhone app)

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I don't think anyone wants dom4 to be a real time strategy game.

But don't be so quick to dismiss real time games. Does anyone remember the great game Warhammer: Dark Omen? :)
It came out two years before the first total war game and it already contained all the tactical aspects of Shogun. In my opinion Dark Omen did the "realistic battles" better and on a more suitable scale for real time. A dominion spin-off made with the Dark Omen engine is a game I would certainly buy :happy:

But Eximius Sus is right. What makes dominions such a great game is the game model. Still, it has many nicely made nations with a great a great feel to them and that certainly helps.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

But but... Having hundreds of units and spells, earth-shattering global magic and only a moderate interest in balance... I can't remember that being in any of the warcraft games. I'm talking about the feeling of starting a game and having no idea what you're going to face, even if you're up against the same nations as last game. :)

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Give up, Dectilon. This thread has changed from "wish list for Dom 3" to "how to give enthusiastic and creative people cancer through incessant negativity". Bravo all. :rolleyes:

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

I don't dismiss real time strategy games. I just generally dislike them and I wouldn't be here if Dom3 was real time.

Re: Wish-List for Dominions 4
 

Vey Clear to me

1. iPad app, devastating to work productivity, but very cool

2. End destination feature. When the games and armies become large, it is difficult to track all that you wish. Rather than move, province by province, each turn it would be better to set a destination province and then have a scroll (or automatic unit by unit scroll) that just enables yo to confirm he destination.

3. A few more unit options on the battlefield, "hold until relieved", that sort of thing.

4. As undoubtably pointed out earlier, a bit prettier graphics (I realize that their are limitations to this based on file sizes and processing speeds).

5. A few more nations. Perhaps an integration of the best modded nations.

If others have mentioned these ... sorry for the duplicity.

One really wonders if, that after all these years, they are really interested in that. After all, they must consider a cost benefit analysis. Which expenditure of time yields the greatest $ return. Dominions probably isn't it. If I knew a bit more about the code I'd do it myself, especially, items 1 & 2.

Just 2 cents

Y