The docs suck! (rant)

[PDF]

I agree that the docs aren't that good : 30 pages of user manual with some (basic) game workings/mechanics, then spell+item lists. No in-depth game doc, no tutorial, no advices, no unit lists, etc ...
I would have preferred to have a real detailed printed MANUAL, and some Excel or PDF files with spells, items AND units lists.

[Raen]

I think the docs are both good and bad (how's that for making a stand? )

For someone who never played Dom 1, those first 10 or so pages are actually rather useful; I found out a few things I hadn't known before. And at least, unlike some manuals I could mention, the rules in the manual and the rules actually in place in the game are more or less in sync.

However, the list of spells and magic items has some deficiencies. First, that it isn't in alphabetical order, and second, that it's there at all instead of a list of units and their stats by nation. Some description of themes would have been nice as well.

I see no particular reason why spell descriptions and costs should be ok, but unit specs, etc. are "pandering to laziness." The game is either opaque or explained....

See, that is a good idea and other games have used it.

It is perfectly acceptable to have a PDF or even some uglish Excel file cleaned up with some spacing with all the units, items, and spells.

There was talk before the release about a tutorial/quick-start on the forums, but it was too late and the game was already to CD and package generation and printing done.

For the future though, I'd hope that IW would follow that path.

Maybe it is those who didn't already play Dom1 that found the manual decent; because even though I had skimmed the PDF of the Dom1 manual it was of quite a bit of help nailing things down.

In the end; I was happier about having an early(!) release as opposed to the UBER manual.

[ December 06, 2003, 00:10: Message edited by: Zen ]

[Adept]

The manual doesn't suck.

I hope the Illwinter boys will eventually give us back the nice .pdf docks, in addition to the manual we get when buying the game. For one thing, a nice A4 print is easier to read, and for another I like to have the color pictures for the magic items.

The manual is ok though, and very useful for a new user, I'm sure.

I like the way the manual is written. It's makes a much better read than a dry tech. manual detailing every game mechanic. It's good that somethings have to be found out during play. Much more atmospheric. Dominions is not just a dry wargame. It has much of the feel of a good fantacy epic or a RPG campaign.

Those who need to know everything beforehand (asberger syndrome being common with techie-types, of course) can find their demon-lord stats from some fansite anyway.

[liga]

I like manuals a lot and I must admit that I was hoping something better for a so strategic game ... is not so bad (and sure, i prefer developers spent time in making good code and programming than making manuals) but it could be really better ... probably asking one of the people in the community (or in the beta tester group) to prepare a good manual for a free copy of the game and some money could be a better idea ...

i wasn't able to find on the manual quite anythinh about themes ... and I think is something important in the game ... a big miss

nothing about how to set up well a TCP server ... I know that there are command line sitructions (I use linux), but for a windows user ?

A more (not too much, but really a bit better) structured explanation on how the combat works and what exactly means a 2D6 open roll (you reroll every 6 or just if you got 12?)

I would have preferred units stats instead of magic items stats ... at least the starting units for each nations ... to be abble to understand strenght and weakness

But after all it's a niche game and people playing it usauslyy spent time reading forums and searching resources on the web ... of course if the aim of developers and shrapnel games was to reach a wide market, a good manual and a tutorial scenario are a must! ... and now come back to play!

There is a brief section about both TCP/IP and PBEM in the manual on page 6-7. The TCP/IP portion is a bit lackluster but the PBEM is very helpful. I think it mainly has to do that Illwinter can't know what type of settings you have for your computer or internet connection and chose the path of least resistance when coming to explaining it; hoping that people would know about their IP addresses, firewall problems, router issues and the like.

Though in the end I had to find the thread located here to host and serve on the same machine, which would have been a great inclusion.