[Agrajag]

HoneyBadger said:
Agrajag, "your idea", atleast the one you seem to be referencing, is the one the developers had, namely dual-path spells. Which is great, because that's already in the game, and you're right, it wouldn't be very much trouble to code in, because again it's already there in the game. Fully coded. If it is the point you're trying to make, then I thank you for the information, but I already figured that much out. I think it took me almost an hour of actually playing version 3.0, but I might have picked it up when I was paging through the manual. I've misplaced my manual though, so I can't confirm that for you at this time.

I'll just comment that this paragraph seems very hostile to me.
I'm not sure if you are intentionally being hostile (in which case you should beware the ban-bat), a bit too excited (which is usually not very bad), just unintentionally being hostile (in which case, just say so), or maybe I'm just reading it wrong.

Now, if their are spells in the game that do at this time utilize/require more than two paths, then maybe I have missed them or just have not been paying attention, but I believe that currently-insofar as my limited knowledge extends-there are no spells which require 3+ areas of knowledge to make use of them. Am I right? Again, I don't know where my manual's gone to, I think it fell behind the little fridge next to my work computer, and their are too many wires back there for me to casually do a hunt with the barbeque tongs. I'll get to it one day when I have time and am not feeling particularly lazy.

Nope, no multi-path spells.

If you are, however, referencing multi-path spells, "multi" in this case meaning 3 or 4 or 5, providing they're not in some secret level of the game, ala Mario Underworld, and depending on the type of language the developers write in (like most languages, it's one I'm not directly "hands-on" familiar with), and the way an individual programmer works, chances are that yes, it would be more difficult to add in spells which require more than two types of magic than it would be to just rename and/or add more than two types of magic. The reason for this is programs are like a house. They have four walls and a roof. The 1 or 2 types of magic per spell is like one of the walls. It's a major, "load-bearing" concept that the program recognizes, and the program probably (again, conjecture, but an educated guess) has not been written to accommodate adding multiple, unlimited "walls". Having a spell which made use of 3+ magical paths could mean major rewriting of primary functions within the program itself. Now, the number of paths, as we already know, is already a multiple. A large and arbitrary number. Expanding them would be more along the lines of adding a new unit to the game. You might have to "build a few shelves" here and there to hold and accommodate the expansion, but it's not going to cause the roof to cave in.

I realize the principals of programming, I program a bit myself.
The truth is that without looking at the code, you can't tell how hard it will be to make any change.
Changing maximum of dual-path to multi-path could be just a matter of changing a few constants, and perhaps find-and-replace a few lines to include a "for" loop.
Changing maximum of paths could also be a huge project, just like you describe.
So unless you have access to the code, I seriously doubt your estimations of how hard anything would be to code.

As for adding confusion for "newbies" or anyone else, I wasn't confused by the game, as is. I'm not confused now, and the only version of Dom I've played has been Dom 3.0. I never even played the demo, and I'm the one suggesting the "confusing" ideas here.

It doesn't really matter who is suggesting it.
Just like if I suggested to kill all the Jews, it still would be a bad idea. (me being jewish, ofcourse)

Why is everyone so desperately protective of the "poor, fragile, stupid newbies"? I'm still a newbie. It's a big, big game and it takes a while to learn. I'm just happy to have the chance to learn it. Expanding the magic system, even drastically, isn't going to effect the learning curve that much. I hardly see how one of your so-called "newbies" is going to be more lost in a game with 27 magic paths than they already would be in a game which has 1500+ units, dozens upon dozens of concepts, spells by the score, etc etc etc.

Heck, I'd be confused if the game had 27 paths, especially if as you say some would branch off from others.
If you are suggesting that the number of magic paths can be changed just like that, like the number of units, then I'd have to disagree. When you play the game, you don't have to be aware of all 1500+ units to do well, it is enough to check the stats of a unit when you see it in combat, or remembering some general details (like abysia has heavy units). Magic however is quite different, you often have access to many paths, and many possibilities to consider, which would make it more difficult to handle.

I understand that you like the game as it is. I do too, very enthusiastically, which is why I'd like to see it grow and expand and live. If it doesn't grow, and expand, and add new ideas and concepts and continue to evolve creatively, then it's going to...well maybe not die, but it will stagnate. Someone, somewhere, is going to be writing the very best, ultimate, end-all-be-all turn based fantasy strategy game, and if it's not Illwinter, then it's going to be someone else. Now I already put my money down and spent the time and effort to involve myself in this game. I'd really rather not have to go through all that again. Just don't expect that I'm going to be satisfied with a game that stops.

That's true. The question however is in what areas the game needs to grow. I don't think that what you are suggesting is the right direction.

I guess my problem-and I admit I have a problem-is that you're telling me that my ideas aren't any good, but nowhere in this thread can I find a place where you've expressed an original, creative idea of your own.

I'm not saying your ideas aren't any good, I'm just saying that I don't think they would do good to Dominions.
Having many magic paths, especially stuff like time magic is indeed a cool idea, I agree, I just don't think Dominions is the right place to have it as things are right now.

Infact you've only posted twice and yes, you did ask for more dual-path spells, and I agree with you, but other than that, once we've accepted that this can be a confusing, unwieldy game because of it's size, you're criticizing in a not particularly productive way. I honestly don't have a problem with the critique, though. If you don't see a point to doing it, that's fine. You're happy with the game as it stands. "Not even remotely worthwhile to code" is a little harsh, and I take it a little personally, since I put a lot of effort and passion into my ideas, but that's fine and I can't expect everyone to agree with me.

Well, I may have been a bit too harsh, and if you took it personally, then I'm sorry.


As for what my idea regarding this is...
Well, what I'm saying is that we already have 36 possible combinations of spell paths (8 basic + 28 pairs of dual-path), and we can already utilize them in a way similar to what you suggest (though not exactly the same. And you might even consider it very different).
Is there really a reason why you have to have "life magic" and nature+astral won't do?
Is there really a need for a specific name for something that can already be represented by dual-paths?
I think not.