Mod Command Brainstorm

[Johan K]

Nice thread. I was just working on getting the modding operational in Dominions III and a mod thread is good for inspiration. Dom 3 is more mod friendly internally which should allow for more moddable things than previously. It is already better than dom2, but I think most of the new potential will have to wait for a patch. Have to finish up the game first.

[PvK]

I want to be able to add at least simple spells, such as:

* A spell that will recruit monster X in quantity Y in the caster's province. (Ideally, also the other types of summoning, such as combat-only, uncontrolled combat-only, neutral invasion, to a remote province, as an assassination attack, limited to target province of one terrain type, etc.)

* A missile spell. (Ideally, with the ability to provide a new missile graphic and/or sound.)

* A melee attack spell.

* Combat spells that set or add/subtract to various friendly or enemy unit attributes, such as Prot, MR, Defense, and Morale.

* Spells that alter scales in the target province.

Also I'd like to be able to add new magic items.

PvK

[RedRover]

Agrajag: These all look like a lot of fun. Here's hoping you put a special little notebook by your bed and write down some more of these!

JK: Thanks for the comment. You have the thread's purpose nailed exactly!

PvK: Thanks for posting, welcome aboard. I couldn't wrap my head around a few of your ideas. (Using the requested format might have helped--or maybe not--I get a little scattered during this season).

I'm not clear on the concept of "neutral invasion." Expand?

Also "melee attack spell"?

Also, assuming that magic items become as moddable as units, do you have any specific thoughts about what types of mod commands would be most useful as building blocks in constructing new items?

For example, do you have any favorite RPG magic item effects that could be ported into Dom2?

All: Once I clear a few current projects off my plate, it's my intention to go back into old posts and into the threads, and Wishlish, and copy all the old ideas to this thread just so they're all in one place.

Anyone who wants to get in on the action, but doesn't have any ideas immediately, should feel free to jump in and help with this part of the project--I stake no exclusive claim to the territory. On the contrary, it has to be done sometime, and all it requires is roving eyes, typing fingers, and just a little attention to format: Nation power, Unit power, Leader power, Pretender power, Spell power, Magic Item power, Event power, Misc power.

[Agrajag]

EDIT: Just to show you how my memory works - before I started writing this post I wanted to say something, but after clicking the quote button I completely forgot about it... So:
Just keep feeding my Ego and I'll probably have some more interesting(more or less...) ideas every time I enter this thread

RedRover said:
I'm not clear on the concept of "neutral invasion." Expand?

Also "melee attack spell"?

Just thought I'd hazzard a guess and say that by "Neutral Invasion" he probably meant something like the "Ghost Riders" spell, which sends "Neutral" unit to attack an enemy province.
And by "melee attack spell" I think he means something like "Burning Hands".


Here are a few more suggestions (some seem rather obvious to me):
#Summonally <name>|<id> <number>
Will grant this commander the "Summon Allies" command, which will summon <number> amount of the unit <name> or with <id> id number.
#Levyslaves
Will grant this commander the ability to Levy Slaves as a command. Like the Mictian leader.
#Autosummon <amount> <name>|<id>
Makes it so this commander can summon <amount> of units with the name <name> or id <id> Automatically.
/* I thought about adding the option to summon those during combat, but then again, you can do that with the #Freecast command I suggested ^_^ */
#Spellimmunity <chance> <name>|<id>
Will give this unit a <chance>% of resisting the spell <name> (or the spell with the id <id>. spells do have id's, right? And if they don't - they should).
- This one can be rather useful for making certain unit thematically immune to certain spells. You could make a creature made from Iron invulenrable to "Iron Skin", or a beast from the Nether immune to Nether Darts, or a completely devout and loyal believer immune to the Charm(s) of enemy mages.
#Spiked <name>|<id>
Units that attack this unit will suffer from an effect, as if they were attacked by the defender using the weapon <name>|<id>. That is, you could define a special weapon and its properties (damage, armor negation, attack, etc.), and whenever someone attacks the unit with #Spiked, it is as if the unit retalites using that specially defined weapon.
- This can be useful for creatures with, for example, spikes, which can be very sharp (Armor Negating or Armor Piercing) or dull (No Negation or Piercing), easy to avoid (So their attack will have less #Attack) or impossible to avoid (attacks from those spikes are very hard to avoid, so they have a high #Attack) etc.
This attack does not cause fatigue.
#Causefatigue <number> <area>
This command can be applied to units.
A unit with this attribute causes <number> fatigue to its enemies.
<area> would be the area this fatigue effects:
0: Whenever the unit with #Causesfatigue attack an enemy, the fatigue damage is caused.
1+: An area of this amount of battlefield hexes is effected by a fatigue-draining effect.
- This one could be interesting for some units, such as a demon which saps the strength from his enemies, or a unit with some draining element.

Can't think of any more right now, but I'd like you to notice something:
All of the command I suggested, since the begining of this thread, and probably until its end, should also be available for weapons/item modding, so anyone with the weapon with this command, will gain the ability as if the command was modded "into him".
So for example, you could mode a weapon with #Levyslaves so it will allow its bearer to... Levy Slaves!
The same should probably apply for all of the ideas here.
And the same should apply for spells as well, a #Levyslaves spell[ritual, in this case] will allow its caster to Levy Slaves, a #Periodiceffect could be granted by a spell etc.

[PvK]

RedRover, Agrajag was mostly right about what I meant.

"Like Ghost Riders" would be one good type to have. What I meant by "Neutral Invasion" would be similar except if the neutral army won, it would retain control of the province, like the random event neutral attacks sometimes do (Knights, Vampires, Troglodytes, etc.).

Melee Attack means a spell that attacks at close range, yes like Burning Hands.

RedRover said:
Also, assuming that magic items become as moddable as units, do you have any specific thoughts about what types of mod commands would be most useful as building blocks in constructing new items?

In addition to the existing item mod commands, the main ones I'd like to see are I think:

NewItem - creates a new item from scratch with a new item number and default properties

CopyItem - creates a copy of an existing item with a new item number, which can then be modified by later commands

SetPicture - changes the item's picture to use a bitmap file named in the SetPicture mod command line.

SetWeapon - makes the item behave like a weapon with the specified weapon number

SetHelmet, SetShield, SetArmor, etc. - like SetWeapon, sets the item to the specified armor type and to use the specified number describing that armor type.

SetBoots, SetMisc - sets the item to be a boots item or a miscellaneous item.

For example, do you have any favorite RPG magic item effects that could be ported into Dom2?

Different question than your previous question, I think.

Some ideas:

Holy Stake
- for finishing off immortals permanently, used after the battle ends, by the winning side only, before searching for magic items. Consumed on use.

Life Seal - Makes the wearer immune to all Life Drain effects.

Bag of Hahoo the Knave - Magic gems generated in the area (e.g. by magic clams) are stolen and given to the holder of the bag! Generally used to give to spies and send them into enemy territory...

PvK

[RedRover]

Agrajag: RAE all. Do keep them coming!

PvK: To expand:

RedRover said:
Also, assuming that magic items become as moddable as units, do you have any specific thoughts about what types of mod commands would be most useful as building blocks in constructing new items?

Yes, this was different from the first question. Looking at specific instances of adaptation might lead us to even more effective modding tools. What would be needed, for example, to let us mod something Skaven?

Or, for example, consider the AD&D Magic Item:

Rod of Cancellation

What commands would it take to mod this item into Dominions:

* #limituse (to 1, in this case, although variants with a set number of uses might be conceived.) The item must destroy/erase itself once used up. Perhaps this might be configured as a 0-range missile weapon with one shot.

* #destroyitem (This defines a special attack that destroys a magic item possessed by the foe. Maybe use a #d(nmbr) value, where nmbr is a percent chance of successfully destroying an item if present (like the current resistance/susceptability commands). The classic rod is d(100), of course.

Once these basic item parameters are in place, we can shade the item's power with additional sub-parameters.

Subparameters:
* #limitype ID | type
Inserting an item's number would target exactly that magic item. For example, a scenario might be set up in which the victory condition is the destruction of a key artifact with the special weapon, and whoever gets there first wins.

* #weaponpopup (This would let a short text message appear as a popup when the weapon attack is successful, useful for the above scenario.)

Likewise, specifying a "type" (1 Trinket, 2 Lesser Item, etc.) we allow a "Least Rod of Cancellation" that would only kill Trinkets, while the classic AD&D version can destroy anything up to and including one-of artifacts.

*#greaterartifact (This command would seal a one-of artifact against being destroyed by a Rod of Cancellation. In the AD&D system, expectations with respect to magic effects go out the window when deity-level entities become involved. There is no comfortable "this always works" magic effect--making this assumption inevitably trips you up at some point.)

* #weaponpopsound (Like the text popup, but inserts a .wav file that plays only on a hit--In a lighter moment, maybe South Park's Eric Cartman saying "Hah! hah! Hit you, a*[bleeeep]*e!" in the upcoming South Park Dominions Mod. (Ahem, not really. )

* #path <number> (This destroys magic items that include magic of the indicated path, where the number is the path ID from the Modding Manual.)

* #pathonly <number> (This destroys magic items exclusively of the indicated path. Items combining the path with one or more other paths survive.)

* #deactivateitem/#reactivate item (Instead of destroying the item, the item is rendered powerless--maybe until taken to a specific site or subjected to a specific spell.)

More later...

[Agrajag]

Here are two ideas from last night :
#Recruitif <number> <number> <name>|<id>
This command, given to a nation allows it to recruit the unit <name>|<id> only if:
The first <number> refers to a number from a table:
0: Pretender Dominion
1: Order Scale
2: Productivity
3: Heat
4: Life
5: Luck
6: Magic
7: Pretender Fire Magic
8: Air
9: Water
10: Earth
11: Astral
12: Nature
13: Death
14: Blood
The second <number> is how much of that thing (say... how much in Order scale) you should have to be able to recruit that unit (for values over 0 - its an EqualToOrGreaterThen condition, for value under 0 - its an EqualToOrLesserThen condition).
This could open up some really fun modding, like adding special units depending on your starting dominion. A pretender with Luck 3 might be able to recruit "Lucky Man", a unit which is so lucky it always somehow avoids death (=is immortal).
You could even make a mod erasing all nations and replacing their troops with pretender dependant troops, so all of the players can choose from the same "pool" of troops, depending on their initial pretender design.
#ScaleImmune <scale>
This command, applied to a nation makes it completely immune to the effects of the scale <scale>.
You could use this command for thematic purposes (like a race of Diamond Golems - they don't care how hot or cold it is), or just for some whacky fun. (This command will also be useful with the mod I suggested in the previous command idea)

[Aeshi]

Idea for item....

Name:Cloak of Midnight
Needed4?
Description:Makes the bearer stealthy.If worn by an already-stealthy creature it lowers their chance of being caught.

[Endoperez]

Crazy_Bonvine said:
Idea for item....

Name:Cloak of Midnight
Needed4?
Description:Makes the bearer stealthy.If worn by an already-stealthy creature it lowers their chance of being caught.

As this thread is about modding commands, I'll reformat your idea:

Item ability:
#stealthy <nr>
Item with this number makes commander wielding it Stealthy, or improves his Stealthy ability. The new ability starts at <nr>, and an existing ability is increased by <nr>.

Similar commands for every ability listed for units in modding.pdf would also be great, and as those encompass most special abilities it is probably better not to post each of them separately...

[RedRover]

Here's another:

Unit/Commander Ability

#blindimmune
This command makes the unit immune to blinding attacks. It would be used mostly for those blind units that suffer no combat penalties for being blind. Such units traditionally have other heightened senses that compensate for blindness, and take no game penalties for their blindness. Examples:

• bats of various types,
• killer shrews
• the Lost Immortal (from the oral history Indaba, My Children by Credo Mutwe),
• Zatoichi (the blind swordsman of Japanese cinema--incidentally, this is a compound word: zato=blind, ichi=masseur. There were 26 dramas in the series, running roughly 90 minutes each--my vote for series best goes to Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, with Toshiro Mifune, which is sort of the Japanese equivalent of Clint Eastwood meets John Wayne--awesome).

In addition, consider:

#blindimmune2
This alternate command additionally bars the use of magic eyes of all types, so that these can be excluded if the designer deems their use nonthematic for the unit.