Patch Improvements

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Archonsod said:
It would be nice to have gem income displayed alongside the gem types in the upper right of the screen, rather than needing to go into the lab to see your income.

Mouse-hover over the gem type, details will pop-up at the bottom of the screen.

Improvements to battles

Flee definitly needs to e improved. Make units stay in a province if they fled but the battle was won anyway. If they flee for a few months, there should be way enough time for the commander to send someone after them.
This DEFINITLY should apply to units who were scripted to flee. This command could make archers a bit more useful (or rather a bit less risky) but as it is now it is completely useless since fleeing units are scattered worse than sakura petals an a samurai movie.
Also, let them flee as intact squads. I'd often rather lose a whole army than go through the micromanagement hell of collecting all my troops from 4+ provinces. Ok, when there's a BIG army with a lot of squads this would stay the same even if they fled as squads, but in that case there should be enough commanders around to make regrouping take less than half a dozen rounds. (since my favorite nation is Soulgate Ermor this is really annoying)

Now as for things i'd like to see but don't deem that necessary:

If possible get a list of spells for commanders where it can be marked which spells they're allowed to cast and which not. I don't know how much data would need to be stored to have this list for every commander seperately, but it can't be that much, can it? I mean, with modern internet transfer rates an MB or two isn't that much. If that's not possible at all, how about making it a single list? Like a checkbox besides each spell in the magic menu so spells can be disallowed for all casters at once. I sure know a few i'd like to turn off.

If even that is impossible, how about at least a new order for casters "repeat specific spell"? It makes me cringe when i see my agarthan casters slam a bladewind into the meelee that hurts my troglodytes much more than the enemy, while they could have used that round to caste a 100 accuracy smite instead.

Similarly, how about a command for troops that tells them not to use any ranged weapons in battle? That would be very useful for archers, especially if it's not possible to change flee so that they stay in a province despite fleeing orders. Not to mention many of the javelin-wielding ground troops. Those javelins are quite nice for the first strike when the enemy is literally a throw away. In the next round of battle there's usually a few casualties by friendly fire because the rear decides to throw into the meelee.


All in all, you guys did a terrific job improving the strategic game. Now if the tactical combat could be improved a bit more i'd call this game perfect. d-(o.o)-b

[Ballbarian]

Like a checkbox besides each spell in the magic menu so spells can be disallowed for all casters at once. I sure know a few i'd like to turn off.

I have suggested this before and would greatly appreciate it's implementation.

If even that is impossible, how about at least a new order for casters "repeat specific spell"? It makes me cringe when i see my agarthan casters slam a bladewind into the meelee that hurts my troglodytes much more than the enemy, while they could have used that round to caste a 100 accuracy smite instead.

On this one, I would rather it remain a little out of control. Sometimes the combat ai surprises me with the perfect spell for the occassion that I would have never scripted otherwise. But I do feel your pain.

[BigJMoney]

I am very happy with the ability to mouse-scroll and scroll-wheel zoom on the main map! Now... when are we gonna have that capability on the battle map, too?

[Edit: Oh yeah, I second the Multiple Victory Condition idea. I don't know about the game code, but as far as the interface goes, make it possible to check multiple conditions simultaneously]

=$=

[BigJMoney]

Here are some simple ways to streamline the Dominions Interface:

I) The ability to "page" through unit statistics within a squad.
Example If a squad of 10 crossbowmen are assigned to a commander, and I right click one of those crossbowmen, I can view his statistics. I'd like to be able to use the arrow keys (or click an arrow icon) to instantly page to the next crossbowman in that squad.

II) The ability to see basic statistics instantly.
Example Add these lines of small text somewhere:

Commanders: 40 [11]
Scouts: 5 [2]
Mages: 20 [0]
Priests: 10 [7]

This small amount of text could be toggleable with the press of a hotkey. The numbers in brackets represent how many of these types of troops are either set to "defend" or "hide", or when set to "preach" but they've reached their pinnacle.

III) The ability to set default orders for all commander types from the recruitment screen.
Example I would be able to right click on a spy commander type (from the recruitment menu), then right click on "behavior" and set him to retreat. Every spy I hire afterward would be set to retreat automatically.

IV) When you give a command to multiple commanders that are selected, if any of the commanders cannot accomplish that command, they should immediately become unselected.
Problem If I select 4 commanders and order them to move 2 provinces, but one of them can only move one, it appears that the command was successful, but I end up with a mess on my hands.
Example Instead, if that one commander would become unselected (not white) automatically because he cannot move 2 provinces, then it would alert me to the problem.

V) The message that says, "Research in XXX Complete" ought to say what level of research was just completed!

=$= Big J Money =$=

Ballbarian said:
On this one, I would rather it remain a little out of control. Sometimes the combat ai surprises me with the perfect spell for the occassion that I would have never scripted otherwise. But I do feel your pain.

You are not presenting a logical argument here. If you think the AI can handle it, you could just ignore the checkboxes. Having the option for more control is never bad. (Unless it disrupts game balance, like "attack commanders" would)

[Ballbarian]

I was not trying to present an argument. Just stating my personal preference. Via the checkboxes, I would not have the patience to disable a hundred spells, but I would be very tempted to select bladewind (for example) as a "cast infinite" spell. If the majority wanted it, fine. I just hope that I can resist the temptation.

It would however be VERY nice to be able to remove breath of winter from the mage's arsenal in most situations, but not all. I still find use for it on occasion so modding it out doesn't suit my play style.

Options are always good.

[DominionsFan]

BigJMoney said:
I am very happy with the ability to mouse-scroll and scroll-wheel zoom on the main map! Now... when are we gonna have that capability on the battle map, too?


=$=

Yep good suggestion.

[Fate]

Why can't the "fire and retreat" order be changed to something like "fire and withdraw"? The unit would fire for 2-3 turns, and then act like the commander's "stay behind troops" command.

[Tortanick]

I don't know if its been recomended before but I'd like resarch to replace defend as the default where applicible.

And I'd also like that turn off spells feature, too many mages waste time charging their body when behind a wall of heavy infentry.