Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

After a long hiatus, I'm finding the time to pick up Dominions III once again. While I'm waiting for my new copy to arrive from Shrapnel, I'm playing with the demo game (partly to ensure that Dom3 runs on my new system). I've discovered that if you type "U" (capital-U) in the middle of a battle replay, you can add any type of enemy units to the opposing side. It obviously doesn't affect the outcome, but it does let you simulate some interesting battles. Does this still work in 3.14 of the full game? And does anyone know any other interesting debug commands?

-Max

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Just tried it. Still works with current patch. Interesting command.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Nice. And "K" kills the units under the cursor.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Works for me too. Very interesting. I'm not aware of any other easter eggs though. But a more full featured battle simulator would be a nice thing to have.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

You can type in numbers to summon units instead of typing in it's name. But you'd need to know it's number of course.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Max! Good to see you again! I was just thinking the other day it was a shame you weren't around any more. Hope you're well.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

What the what what? Why isn't this in the "Did you know" thread?

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Perhaps no-one knew about this? I don't remember this ever having been brought up before, and I've been in here too much from the very beginning.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Thanks, Llamabeast. I had to pull in my horns to work on my thesis. Now I've got a real job and more time on my hands than when I was in school. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Seattle is pretty.

Ich, I'll mention it in the "Did you know" thread, but first I wanted to check whether it was 1.) well-known, or 2.) only in the demo.

-Max

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

I've been around these forums longer than most other members... and don't remember any posts about the battle simulator. I will have to meet with Kristoffer and Gandalf(The_White) on this forgotten gem before the next full moon.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

It is a debug command, and is probably only working if you run the -d switch.

I have only used it in our debug console to create nice screens etc, so I had forgotten about it.

It is not too useful as a battle sim, since every new unit is in a new squad IIRC.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

I use the Macintosh version of the game. Do I need to do anything special to activate the debug mode? What other commands are available?

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Each unit is a new squad? Hmm, that's interesting. At minimum, I think this will reduce my frustration when I have a nice SC and I'm running around the map trying to find large armies for him to kill--because it's fun to watch--and yet the large enemy armies keep dodging. In other words, if I can blow off my hunger for carnage on simulated units, I can concentrate on actual strategy for the "real" moves.

Edit: P.S. Dyar, activate debug mode by adding "-d" on the command line. There's probably a MacIntosh property or something that tells you the command to execute when you click on the icon. On Windows you would change "C:\Program Files\dominions3demo\dom3.exe" to "C:\Program Files\dominions3demo\dom3.exe -d". I don't use a Mac, but if you're Mac-savvy that should be enough to help you figure it out.

-Max

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Very curious!

I tried running Dominions3 with the -d command, but it refused to run. Then I ran it in regular mode, and both "K" and "U" functioned, or "K" did in any case. I used "U" to add 10 Lords of Corruption to the battlefield, but they didn't do anything, and both sides seemed to attack them. Then the application crashed!

I think the problem was that I had more than one unique unit on the battlefield. I then, in subsequent battles upon reloading the game, added an Abomination of Desolation, a King of the World, an Eater of Dreams, and a Maker of Ruins. The latter actually disappointed me horribly: it got killed by chaff infantry! However, I seem to have some issue with which side whatever I create is on when it fights. Usually, things I add seem to fight for the attacking player, unless of course they are the aforementioned doom horrors, in which case there seems to be an about 50% chance of joining the attacker's side or being, well, independent horrors.

I tested every other capital letter on the keyboard, and am sad to say that there doesn't appear to be a create commander command, because I would like to explore some commanders now...

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

It might be that added units are on side 3, that is neither attacker nor defender. Not sure. Horrors are always unpredictable and might attack anyone.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

I stumbled upon this apparent easter egg: Shift+C when viewing a commander's stats on the strategic map shows their current battle orders. It could be more useful if you could actually assign orders in that screen since viewing everyone's orders with T can result in a lot of spam. :\

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

Funny. I can't make Shift+C work. I'm at the stat-viewing screen, and I hit Shift+C, and nothing happens.

-Max

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

You probably need the -d (debug) switch

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

I told myself to first be cautious and conservative when using this command.

Five minutes later, half the battlefield was covered with Wyrms.

Re: Battle simulator debug commands? Easter egg?
 

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Another nice thing is that adding a unit changes the pseudorandom generator, which means you get a different outcome. So if you fight battle, you can re-run it a couple of different times to see if the outcome was close or pretty much inevitable, whether you were (un)lucky or using a good strategy. Just add a random archer or something somewhere and see if the battle outcome changes--repeat a few times. (Probably more useful in the late game with lots of units on the battlefield and lots of spells. In the early game, adding an extra unit can divert calvary formations and otherwise change the nature of the battle.)

-Max