What do you like most about Dominions (top 5 list)

[Particle]

I like the complexity of it. I also love the lot of spells and units.

[tka]

The most important thing IMHO is difference between nations.

[georgevtucker]

All the items. All the spells. All the units. It's as if half a dozen average strategy games as been crammed into one package. How can you not love it?

[licker]

Its hard to say what I like most about Dom2, it comes quite close to being my 'holy grail' for a TBS. Rather than singleing out what it does that I like I feel I'm better off leaving it all as a package, as the elements come together so well, I'm not sure how well they'd do seperately.

However, ...

I do not like the manual (blasphemy! )

Oh yes, its fine as manuals go, and its packed with information, but I find the information to be poorly organized and that there is not enough redundancy on the pages (am I looking at Evocation 3 or 4?) Also some information that I'd like to see is missing, like gem costs for items...

There is also not alot of game mechanic information which while not strictly necessary, is nice.

Its merely 'ok' in my book, certainly not 'great'.

[LordArioch]

I don't have the manual myself, so I can't say. It still sounds nice to have even if it isn't setting any standards in manual writing.
But gem costs for items directly follow from required skill level
lvl 1 5 gems
lvl 2 10 gems
lvl 3 20 gems
and so on, IIRC

[Taqwus]

Forge costs, if memory serves, are based entirely on the path/level requirements.
Level 1 = 5 gems, each level thereafter doubles (thus an item which requires level 5 in some path needs 80 units of that magical resource. A level 3/3 two-path item would require 20 units of each of the two corresponding resources, etc.)
Certain units (Master Smiths, and the new Ulm Iron Faith priest/mages) get innate forge bonuses (25% generally), certain items give forge bonuses (25% for dwarven hammer, 50% ea. for Hammer of the Forge Lord, Hammer of the Cyclops IIRC), spells might as well (never tried Forge of the Ancients, but description suggests it would help.).

[Saber Cherry]

My favorite part is, as mentioned by Jasper Phillips on the IBM strategic games forum, the adult treatment of mythology. The spell descriptions are wonderful, the battle wounds are annoying, nasty, and realistic, items have amazingly cool effects and imaginative descriptions - no Swords of +3 here!

Things have drawbacks - spells cause fatigue, armor adds encumbrance an lowers evasion, long weapons are unwieldy. Crossbows pierce armor, but destroy your own valuable heavy troops. Single, vast armies starve and get hammered by spells, small armies get defeated en detail, and blood hunting destroys your tax base.

Well, those are all nice. But what I really like is the epic, realistic feel, where a lone soldier is just a lone soldier, and all units risk death... not cute death by falling of the screen or being cartoon-flattened like mushrooms in Super Mario Brothers, but horrible, bloody death, the kind you read about in non-childrenized mythology, and non-super-happy fantasy or SF books.

There're no good guys or bad guys - religiously zealous Marginon can pillage as effectively as Ash Ermor or Pangea, and paladins can rack up as many human kills as undead unkills.

I think that as a mythology simulation, Dominions is ideal. If some improvements could be made to the strategic/tactical and economic components to make them deeper (without adding MM), and of course AI, I think it could be much better... to be specific, I think it is already the best strategy game ever, but it has the potential to become the perfect fantasy strategy game, rendering all others obsolete.

-Cherry

[ November 17, 2003, 20:50: Message edited by: Saber Cherry ]