Patch Improvements

[Talleyrand]

Daynarr said:
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.

That's just not true at all. It is the programming, plain and simple. Every other game I've played that has a random map generator takes split-seconds to generate one. Why is this game so different that it requires minutes? I have an AMD 2500+ with 1.5 gigs of RAM and you're telling me it's not powerful enough to efficiently create a small random map with two AIs? How much horsepower do you think such a task needs lol? I do agree with you that there are more important things for them to do deal with but as this thread is more of a wishlist than a practical list of what will go into the next patch, I don't see how my suggestion is anymore out of place than many others.

[Nerfix]

Good suggestions.

[ioticus]

Just want to say I agree with Sandman that the Dom2 way of representing armies, gold, and dominion was better than the current way. In Dom2 you could easily tell the dominion and gold of a province at a glance. The new way is not very clear. Also, you could quickly tell which armies had leaders and their relative size was easier to see as well.

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention, I also like the temple and fortress graphics of Dom2 better.

[Graeme Dice]

Talleyrand said:
That's just not true at all. It is the programming, plain and simple. Every other game I've played that has a random map generator takes split-seconds to generate one. Why is this game so different that it requires minutes?

Most random map generators are for games where the basic measurement is a single tile of a specific terrain, while Dominions uses arbitrary, semi-realistic looking maps. While it does take longer than I'd expect it to, the results make it appear that it's using a fairly complicated algorithm.

[Cainehill]

I suspect map-creation can be sped up significantly if the graphics / message updating code is tweaked.

[Agrajag]

Talleyrand said:
Every other game I've played that has a random map generator takes split-seconds to generate one. Why is this game so different that it requires minutes?

That's the difference between colouring 2,560,000 pixels and "colouring" 65,536 tiles.
Also, considering how Dominions maps use up to 32bit coloring, compared to maybe 200 different tiles in the richer games, that's 4,294,967,296 * 2,560,000 = 10995116277760000 different options compared to 256 * 65,536 = 16777216 with other games

[Olive]

Here's a suggestion that should be easy to implement. Since you can have lot of micro management to put the gems in the lab when you have units dedicated to gem/slaves production (that should drop their gems in the lab) and units that need to keep their gems on for combat purposes, I think those 4 buttons should be added in the global screen where you manage your gems :

- Pool bloodhunter's slaves : pool the slaves of all commanders actually bloodhunting.
- Pool clam's pearls : pool the pearls carried by commanders equipped with a clam.
- Pool fetish's gems : pool the fire gems carried by commanders equipped with a fever fetish.
- Pool stone's gems : pool the earth gems carried by commanders equipped with a bloodstone.

I think that's all the ways commanders can produce gems/slaves. It should remove a lot of micro management imho. I'm waiting for this feature since I've discovered dom 2. Pleaaaasssse.

[Chazar]

Cainehill said:I suspect map-creation can be sped up significantly if the graphics / message updating code is tweaked.

Yep, I too experienced that progress bars or indicators can slow down things enormously.

...but can't someone who has the full version yet easily try this out by running a graphicless server and connecting locally to it (and disconnect before hosting)? Or does even the graphicless server spit out useless progress comments?

[Manuk]

I think that the +3 attack +3 defense bonus of quickness is too much, should be removed. Acting 2 times the same turn is enough bonus. Right now it´s the same as dom2. no-brainer.

[Cainehill]

Manuk said:
I think that the +3 attack +3 defense bonus of quickness is too much, should be removed. Acting 2 times the same turn is enough bonus. Right now it´s the same as dom2. no-brainer.

Are you talking the spell? Or the blessing? Because the blessing isn't +3 attack / + 3 defense, nor is it really 2 actions per turn.

As far as the spell goes, it no longer allows casting two spells per turn, so it's already been down-graded. And it makes no sense for someone moving more quickly than everyone else to _not_ be harder to hit & have an easier time hitting foes.