Player controlled battles???

[Taqwus]

To clarify my thoughts on manual control, magic and balance:

Consider the assorted "instant death" spells (soul slay, disintegrate, et al), certain other vicious bits of nastiness (nether darts comes to mind, as does leech and perhaps even Hand of Death). A magically talented pretender, especially one that could fly, would likely be used to kill leaders with rather extreme efficiency. Imagine one capable of flying behind enemy lines and tossing Blade Wind on the hapless AI commanders, or flying back and forth while doing Shimmering Fields from behind the enemy. Or fly to rear, summon lammashastas or other nasties, return. Even without strong magic, a pretender might be much more efficient; e.g. targeting commanders with the Black Bow of Botulf or the lightning bow.

I'm not at all sure that encouraging such dominance would be a good thing, especially if the AI weren't as good at using such tactics. It would certainly affect balance significantly, and that's something that deserves careful consideration before trying.

[PvK]

Sure. That's why it would be best as a single-player option. Players who want to try to use personal tactics to win games against the AI could then do so.

PvK

[HJ]

Originally posted by PvK:
Sure. That's why it would be best as a single-player option. Players who want to try to use personal tactics to win games against the AI could then do so.

PvK

And that was the only thing that I was saying.

[-Storm-]

Originally posted by MStavros:
I think this is a subjective thing.
Personally I prefer diplomacy or a new weapon system over new units and spells as well...
The new UI looks cool. The question is, the gameplay will be better? I think yes, but propably it won't be 2x as good. New units and spells are a nice addition, but maybe more complex stuff like diplomacy, armor & weapon system would be lot better for the gameplay.

I think Zerger had some valid points. I do not agree with him however.

Diplomacy must be nr.2 on the "to do" list.
Dominions II. needs a lot better AI, than the current one. The devs must work on this first of all.