Making mods for Dominions II. [Basic editing/modding discussion.]

[Endoperez]

Mortifier: You said that "modding means that we can edit/add/remove units/pretenders/monsters, we can make maps, we can design races/nations."

We can, and could even in DOM 1, make new monsters. Same for maps. New monsters were harder to make, mainly because you needed two graphic files for them and it seems not many have artistic abilities. But while making a map, you can define almost anything.

And with themes, you can change the national troops. Even if Marignon is named Marignon, if the troops are the ones of Gondor, and the citadel is called Minas Tirith, and they are in war with Ermor who has Orcs, trolls, oliphaunts and what ever Sauron got under his forces... Is that not enough? Magic sites would then be about the only thing you could not customise. And the troops you are able to recruit from a given province.

So, modding themes is about everything you want that you don't yet have.

As said before, in a .map file, you can define almost anything. I remember doing my own .map-file while I only had demo, putting all kinds of interesting magic sites and items to my commanders and to my provinces. I was somewhat disappointed when I realised that I couldn't set my pretenders' magics over 19... I exploited the bug with which you could use astral gems to research paths over the level four that was normal limit in demo. In that game, I casted Wish for the first time. And second, and third, and fourth... It's enough if I say I wished for a Master smith, made him commander, empowered him in astral until he could cast wish and made him forge all the unique artifacts... But the map of Melnibone, made by Pocus, is much better example for the power you have when making a map.