A few general questions about Dominions 2

[Gargoyle]

PashaDawg said:

Hey! That's not true! I seem to ALWAYS lose in MP!! But, I still have a great time. I love playing the game and it's fun to interact with the other players... good banter. The constant variety of styles and strategies always impresses me.

Well, what I meant was the players on this board are above average players that wiil find the AI to be just an average opponent.

[GriffinOfBuerrig]

Ahhh, BTW: How to rename a comander? I have really no idea!?

[quantum_mechani]

Open the unit details screen, and press r.

[GriffinOfBuerrig]

Ah: The unit detail srceen! That was my mistake! thank you!

[Gandalf Parker]

If the AI is kicking your tail then set the dependents higher in the game. Thats one of the most common first errors because it seems to illogical that making the independents harder will make the game easier for you. But the AI does far worse against the indepts than you do because the AI will try to attack them all refusing to switch and attack another. Larger maps help also (another thing tht doesnt make sense at first) because you can make better use of a meandering approach, and a large buildup, and strategic fortressing, than the AI can

And as has already been mentioned, the game supports many styles. You will feel that one certain nation totally kicks everyone else. But if you continue trying them all you will figure out that they each have pros and cons which make them totally kick everyone else. Or actually, they tend to kick certain nations easily and others not so easy. But the overall picture is that they all have something going for them. The only all-killer trick in this game is... find the nation which best compliments your playing style whether its stealth, barbaric horde, defense, magic research, diplomacy, dominion, or whatever. Lastly, dont get cocky about it. When you start playing multiplayer games you will be playing against people who have found the bnation which best fits their playing styles and it wont all be the same one.

Gandalf Parker
--
In Dominions, if it looks like a killer strategy
then look at it again carefully.
In Dominions, if it looks like a total waste
then look at it again carefully.

[FarAway Pretender]

1) The AI is good (as far as PC games go, which is admittedly NOT stiff company). The lack of super-scriptable orders for your units means the human advantage isn't ridiculous, at least until later in the game. After 6 months of hardcore SP, I've figured out some of the AI patterns, but it's still fun to compete against.

2) Really, the game is DEEPER than it claims. So many of the factions play completely differently from each other. It's hard to explain how differently one faction plays from another until you try it. Each faction has its own replay value, because you have to puzzle out how to succeed with each one.

3) I don't have time to game every day (wife, job, etc.), so I enjoy just doing PBEM w/friends and play mostly just SP. That's a minority on this board, but as was posted here, I don't think it's a minority of all the Dom2 owners. The hardcore D2 players here are much more active--those games are much more competitive and fast-moving.

4) Best way to expand: Don't overexpand. It took me a long time to appreciate the value of not outstripping my own Dominion (this is especially true until you've mastered some of the tricks of the game). It took me almost as long to figure out the importance of not letting an AI army go romping through my backyard. Once they breach my borders, I can spend 5 or 6 turns chasing them. I generally like to secure all my borders and then expand in one direction for a while.