Patch Improvements

[Endoperez]

Maltrease said:Suggestion: Battle Log.

Basically a text file (viewable in game if possible) that shows every action and roll in a battle.

Like this?

Squad 148417 has 201 morale problems (fullss 23 limit 10)
leftplayer teamhp 208 max 242
Mrlreport (left): good21 broken0 autobreak0 turn4
1917 striking with weapon Spear. att25 def11
hitloc Velite strikes Dark Vines wl4 diff0 -> 4
hitunit 1917 317 dmg3 spec2097153 ba4
damage 317 dmg4 spec2097153 ba4
1918 striking with weapon Spear. att22 def14
hitloc Velite strikes Dark Vines wl4 diff0 -> 2
hitunit 1918 317 dmg3 spec2097153 ba2
damage 317 dmg9 spec2097153 ba2

Pythium starting troops fighting Dark Vines/Druids/Woodsmen. It is a text file written if you use -d parameter with dominions. I think multiple 'd's give more precision. This came with -dddd or so.

It is written to the log.txt in the main Dominions 3 folder. That is created during hosting, and contains other host information as well, and as you can see the format isn't that easy to comprehend...

1917 striking with weapon Spear. [/b]att25 def11[/b]
First, the unit ID number. Each unit in the Dom world has one. Second, those att and def values have already had the random roll added to them.

hitloc Velite strikes Dark Vines wl4 diff0 -> 4
wl -> Weapon Length

Not quite what you wished for, but here you have it.

[Quietly]

I would like the echo the improvements to magic site searching ... I think it wouldn't necessarily be too cpu intensive to keep a better list of targets.

I also wish there was a "Move and Search (for magical sites)" (monthly repeatable) option for commanders. Logic like:

searchvalue = [ ((commanderskill in fire {max 4} ) - (currently searched in fire {max 4}) + ((cskill in water {max 4}) - (currently searched in water {max 4}) + ... ]

Every turn: check search value in current province, if non-0 then search. If 0, check the search values of all provinces owned by the empire within 1 movement turn, and move to the one with the highest (non-0) searchvalue. Else, (depending on how complex you want it to be) either just switch to defend, or check the set of owned provinces within 2 moves and so on.

I'd also like to echo, monthly forge item.

Also: repeat recruiting of commanders? I suspect there is some serious design philosophy behind the descision not to allow this sort of queueing, automation, yet this is an "I wish" thread. And I do wish I could tell my province with sages to keep recruiting sages until I say stop. For that matter I wish I could tell the sages to immediately default to researching, but, well, que sera, sera.

[ioticus]

For me, the most tedious part of the game is having to keep moving leaders to the back of the battlefield since they default to the center. It would be nice if they defaulted in a line to the rear of the battlefield or if there were a hot key to automatically arrange the leaders in back and the armies up front. In fact, I think having several standard formation hot keys would save a lot of tedious movement.

[Sandman]

More:

Single screen magic laboratory: Like pretender creation, the items, global enchantments, gems and research could be combined onto one screen. Only the spell list need be seperate.

Better spell list: There's something to be done here, it just seems flabby. Two columns of spells, rather than just one, maybe? An option to view the path requirements numerically (i.e D4 rather than DDDD) would be nice; counting the icons for high level spells is a nuisance.

Better province info: The province info should contain the name of the nation that owns it. Yes, you can tell from the flag, but new players may not know which flag is which. And you should be able to view magic sites in enemy provinces as if you owned them yourself.

De-uglyfied provinces: The Dom2 province icons were nicer than the Dom3 ones. In particular, the single dominion candle of Dom2 was better, and the pile of gold representing money was FAR superior to the obnoxious gold infobox.

Better army icons: I liked the old crossed boxes army style - especially the way that commanderless armies were easily viewable as not having a cross. The new system hides this information. At a pinch, it would be nice if the army icon changed according to whether an army contained a commander, mage, priest, prophet or pretender.

Smarter independents: It would be good if indies were more unpredictable in their tactics, rather than always fighting the same way. Flanking, or anti-archer ranged attacks, for example.

Whole army positioning: Often, you will want to move your entire army forward or back, depending on the enemy you're fighting. This is a tedious task, which becomes more tedious the larger your army is. A way to move your whole army would be very nice.

[Nerfix]

Good suggestions.

[ioticus]

Just want to say I agree with Sandman that the Dom2 way of representing armies, gold, and dominion was better than the current way. In Dom2 you could easily tell the dominion and gold of a province at a glance. The new way is not very clear. Also, you could quickly tell which armies had leaders and their relative size was easier to see as well.

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention, I also like the temple and fortress graphics of Dom2 better.

[Sandman]

An unlikely wish:

Single screen pretender creation: The pretender creation interface is rather convoluted; everything could easily be combined onto one screen.

[tibbs]

Here's my request -

Give the option to edit preveiously made gods Gods using the Pretender creation tool. Make Pretender passwords viewable in plain text in case you forget them.

[MrMorden]

Well, I know that this is probably far too ambitious for a patch, but if ye shall not ask, ye certainly shall not recieve. Here goes...

User-scriptable AI for spellcasting with decisions

I'd REALLY like to be able to load something like this into my priests.

if(theBattlefield.contains(UNDEAD))
cast(BANISH) //GET RID OF THOSE *%$@#@* UNDEAD! ARGH!!!

While I'm asking for the moon, why not ask for the stars along with it?

getFriendlyUnits(int radius)
getHostileUnits(int radius)
getUnitStrength(unit theUnit)
getUnitResistances(unit theUnit)
getUnitAfflictions(unit theUnit)
&c...

Yes, I'm aware that this is, in all likelihood, utterly unrealistic. But I, and those few of use who can and/or would be willing to learn how to write code would be immensely thrilled. Well, okay, at the very least I would be immensely thrilled.

[kimmitt]

Okay, I'm interested in the game, but I'm going to wait until the patch hits, to see if I buy it. The deal-breakers for me:

1) Long times for map generation and turn processing.
If you can't come up with a random map generation algorithm which is both fast and good, generate a couple hundred or so templates using your slow map generation algorithm and bundle them with the software or something. I don't want to have to choose among the maps, as that takes away the fun, but it's boring to wait for the map to generate.

The same thing applies to the turn processing. I don't know if you're drawing every battle before it starts or if the AI is hopelessly bloated, but I'm running a machine which is can guide a rocket to the moon. More to the point, I'm running a machine which is more than capable of guiding fifty rockets to the moon simultaneously. Graphics are one thing, but work with me here. Figure out where the bottlenecks are and get some damn optimization done.

Not deal-breakers, but likely to influence my decision as to whether to purchase the game and/or recommend it to friends:

1) Pretender generation. This should all be one screen, simple as that.

2) The map. I'm sorry, but the icons and such are still ugly. When it was ugly and minimalist, as in Pretenders II, that was cool -- it was what it was. But this intermediate level of ugly is atrocious. At absolute minimum, make the part of the map that flashes when I click on a province less enormous, and get rid of that absurd arrow extension. I don't need to see a sizable chunk of my screen flashing every time I click an area, and I don't need the game pretending that it's dynamic in an area where it isn't. Plus the arrow is ugly.

3) Menus in general -- get a dang GUI expert to go through and clean house, making all of the backgrounds get along with all of the sprites for the various units, et cetera. This isn't an enormous task, and it would vastly improve playability.

4) Various report options. Let me know how many x's I've killed or gotten killed. That's called flava, and it makes games fun. Let me know how many people died in a siege or assault. If a commander was killed in a battle, let me know which one. Those suckers are expensive. If critters which cost more than 100 GP per were killed in a battle, let me know. Don't make me watch every battle to see if it was my Sorceror or my Water Mage who ate it, because I can't remember who all I committed. When I whack a Pretender, throw up a summary screen of the Pretender's accomplishments (units created, etc.) and a couple of paragraphs on how I threw my enemy down before me. If you're feeling clever, tune the paragraphs to what kind of unit killed it -- if a militiaman finished the job, emphasize ignomy. If it took Joe Stoic, Holder of the Sacred Flame of Badassery, emphasize the heroics. But something. Seriously.

The game still has its overall amateur feel, which isn't a terrible thing; the idea that it is the creation of people who love gaming to give to other people who love gaming is fine. I feel the love. But you gotta take away the un-fun parts, or I can't get at the delicious nougatty center underneath.

Finally, now that Dominions 3 is out, you should totally start selling Dominions 2 for some ridiculously low price on download. Think of it as the first hit being free.