Patch Improvements

[Endoperez]

kimmitt said:
Okay, I'm interested in the game, but I'm going to wait until the patch hits, to see if I buy it. The deal-breakers for me:

Very good suggestions. Most of the changes would be closer to "Dominions 4" than to "a patch", but still very good suggestions.

[Daynarr]

I seriously don't see a problem with 'long map generation times' issue. Some things to consider about it - generation times are directly related to PC power so not everyone has problems with it. Remember that time to create random map is insignificant compared to the time you will spend playing on it and having fun.

Another thing to consider is that there are nice premade maps that come with Dom3, new official maps will be released with patches and modders will make even more. So in short time you will have a host of maps to play with even if you don’t want to mess with random map generation.

Last but not least; there are OTHER random map generators already made by other people and there is already random map site from Gandalf Parker who generates a host of new maps of various sizes on daily bases. All you have to do is pick the one you like and unpack it in maps folder.

Personally, I'd prefer if devs focus on things that are broken then on trying to improve random map generation for few seconds and risking even more things get broken in the process.

[Twan]

Some little suggestions to speed up pretenders testing and customisation :

- make possible to delete pretender gods without creating a game

- add an "edit an existing pretender god" option in the create a pretender god screen

- allow to cancel game creation / go back to the last screen at each stage of the process (not just at the beginning and the end)

- when loading a pretender in game creation, give access to the pretenders stats by right clicking on the names (with of course password verification before, if the pretender has one) ; or better, once a pretender is loaded, allow to modify it before launching the game (and re-save him eventually)

- give access to the current player's pretender stats during the game even if he's not awaken, by clicking on him in the list of pretenders gods

[Chazar]

Suggestion: Alternative 'HIDE TRULY'-order, which does the same as 'HIDE', but commanders set on 'HIDE TRULY' are never selected by hitting the 'n'-key. I hate to cycle through all those stationary scouts.

Supports:

I strongly support 1) 6) 7) 15),
and I like the ideas 9) 13) and E).

-----

I am a bit disappointed by Dom3, especially because of the lack of 6) & 7) for example. Don't get me wrong, I'll buy it nonetheless, since Dom2 is a good game and the tax-advisor and the 'y'-key shortcut are so useful, but for Dom3 I would have really liked to see something new that excites me, like a twist and tweak to the tactical setup, which would challenge me to rethink all the tactics I used in Dom2. From playing the demo I found that it just plays the same.

Furthermore, there where many simple and optional things in the Dom2 wishlist (like the suggestion I repeated above - which is not originally mine BTW), which were sadly ignored. Instead we got animated movement arrows... And there were many more, e.g. I cannot imagine that it would have been much work to add one or two alternate shapes to tactical setup, apart from a slight disadvantage to the AI nations.

I even doubt that a new shape would make that much of a difference in the end (unless shape affected commands would be added, like keep formation), but I would be tempted to play around with new setups nonetheless and find out for myself!

[Nerfix]

I like Dominions 3 very much, it's a great game, but 2 more months under development would have propably made it a lot better game. Less bugs, more features. Some of the stuff that is still plaguing it is old. I can't belive that for battles still generate "We captured the fort!" without details.

Creating Pretender Gods that can be loaded later is counter-intuitive. It would be so much easier, or rather sensible, if you could just save a Pretender design you made when starting a game and if you could edit previously saved designs.

More detailed battle reports that would show types of units involved, the commanders who died etc etc etc would also be nice.

Or creating a mechanic for "nation enchaments" like the Carrion Woods spell that would be cast once and permanently change the nation without eating a global spell slot.

Or heck, creating new standards for Raptors, Aboleths etc. and writing up new descriptions for Early Caelum and so on. As of now quite a number of the nations feel just like exported Dom 2 themes instead of nations mostly because they share the same banners, same unit descriptions etc etc. And the kitbashed late era nations, ugh...if they had no trouble discarding Serpent Cult Pythium they could have disbanded either of the DF/CotS, IF/BF and NE/CW pairs and not unastheticaly kitbash togather Hochmeisters and blood cultists, devils and sailors, manikins and armored minotaurs.

And so on. I do enjoy the game a lot but I also have a nagging feeling it could have been better with some more time under the works. It's good that Illwinter supports it's games really well, so we have at least a slim hope of seeing some of these things addressed.

[tka]

Twan said:
Some little suggestions to speed up pretenders testing and customisation :
- make possible to delete pretender gods without creating a game
- add an "edit an existing pretender god" option in the create a pretender god screen
- allow to cancel game creation / go back to the last screen at each stage of the process (not just at the beginning and the end)
- when loading a pretender in game creation, give access to the pretenders stats by right clicking on the names (with of course password verification before, if the pretender has one) ; or better, once a pretender is loaded, allow to modify it before launching the game (and re-save him eventually)
- give access to the current player's pretender stats during the game even if he's not awaken, by clicking on him in the list of pretenders gods

I second everything Twan said here.

Also points 8 and 11 get my vote.

[MythicalMino]

I agree....

- casualty reports on castle storming should be a must.

- Multiple Victory Conditions I strongly agree with

- AI doing bidding wars for Mercs

- greying out Items that you do not have the resources to make

- Castle Fort Status....maybe every turn....every other turn....in the messages at the start of each turn, list what provinces has a fortress being built, and how much longer until it is completed

- fleeing units SHOULD stay if you win

- I think any nation that does not have nation specific spells should be given spells for that nation. Not sure what nations other than Marverni that does not have them, but they need at least a couple

- maybe this one was listed in another form, but a mouse-over on the map screen when you place it over a commander to show what items, and what troops he is commanding.

- really, any UI improvement....anything that makes the game interface more transparent....so any UI improvement listed, I agree with!!

Those are the ones that I saw that I STRONGLY want to see...but really...any and all I would agree on....

[Hadrian_II]

I support:

6 (i'd like a command like "cast spells without to use gems"), 8, 10, 14 (or atleast target all provinces that arent a capital, i noticed that conquered provinces are almost never searched, and i dont think the AI did it [ or let me know what the AI already searched in that province ] ), 15, 16 (maybe to deactivate priest spells non mage/priests or vice versa), 22.

[dirtywick]

This is a big thread, so I might have missed it.

For an additional victory condition, I'd like to see a research win. Where you research all paths fully, and then spend an obscene amount of gems and bloos slaves from all paths to cast a spell that ascends you into godhood after a certain amount of turns. Like building the spaceship in Civ 4.

Or something to that effect.

[Sandman]

More:

Single screen magic laboratory: Like pretender creation, the items, global enchantments, gems and research could be combined onto one screen. Only the spell list need be seperate.

Better spell list: There's something to be done here, it just seems flabby. Two columns of spells, rather than just one, maybe? An option to view the path requirements numerically (i.e D4 rather than DDDD) would be nice; counting the icons for high level spells is a nuisance.

Better province info: The province info should contain the name of the nation that owns it. Yes, you can tell from the flag, but new players may not know which flag is which. And you should be able to view magic sites in enemy provinces as if you owned them yourself.

De-uglyfied provinces: The Dom2 province icons were nicer than the Dom3 ones. In particular, the single dominion candle of Dom2 was better, and the pile of gold representing money was FAR superior to the obnoxious gold infobox.

Better army icons: I liked the old crossed boxes army style - especially the way that commanderless armies were easily viewable as not having a cross. The new system hides this information. At a pinch, it would be nice if the army icon changed according to whether an army contained a commander, mage, priest, prophet or pretender.

Smarter independents: It would be good if indies were more unpredictable in their tactics, rather than always fighting the same way. Flanking, or anti-archer ranged attacks, for example.

Whole army positioning: Often, you will want to move your entire army forward or back, depending on the enemy you're fighting. This is a tedious task, which becomes more tedious the larger your army is. A way to move your whole army would be very nice.