A wise idea for IW?

[Ragnarok-X]

i actually disagree, i find EACH Nation should get at least 2 themes, i find it very hard to have one nation with 3 themes while others have none at all.


Given each nation had approx 2 themes then i think an expansion would be okay, to add i.e. another theme to each. And the price is VERY high for a game of this sort, no matter what depth or whatever it has, you can get games with the same amount and even GRAPHICS (which require LOTS of time and people to make) for less, usually 40-45 $. I wouldnt by an expansion by now, and to make it even worse i would AVOID getting another illwinter/shrapnel game which is sold incomplete, because to me the game is still incomplete, i expect more maps, 2 themes and most BIG bugs fixed, as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
i actually disagree, i find EACH Nation should get at least 2 themes, i find it very hard to have one nation with 3 themes while others have none at all.


Given each nation had approx 2 themes then i think an expansion would be okay, to add i.e. another theme to each. And the price is VERY high for a game of this sort, no matter what depth or whatever it has, you can get games with the same amount and even GRAPHICS (which require LOTS of time and people to make) for less, usually 40-45 $. I wouldnt by an expansion by now, and to make it even worse i would AVOID getting another illwinter/shrapnel game which is sold incomplete, because to me the game is still incomplete, i expect more maps, 2 themes and most BIG bugs fixed, as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

That's too bad. Every game has bugs - but with only two people working on it, I think Illwinter does a great job of addressing them. New user-created maps are coming out all the time. And graphics are unimportant to me - only gameplay matters...although I must say I actually really, really *like* the graphics in Dom II. But then again I've been gaming for over twenty years now.

I agree, though, if you don't like the game you shouldn't buy it. But you played the demo and hung out on the forums here prior to purchasing it, yes? So you must have known at least a bit about what you were getting into.

[Sly Frog]

"You know we will buy it."

No, I wouldn't. What's more is that I would actively warn other people off of the game. It's a good game, but I agree that the $50.00 price tag is already a bit of a stretch. Yes, I have purchased numerous other games that have given me as much pleasure for less (that does not mean that I do not love this game).

However, part of the grudging agreement for me to go for the $50.00 price point for a game that has its warts (for example, not really being able to tell what is going on in a battle without being a tremendously experienced player; not being able to control the speed of battle playback; not being able to easily tell an Ulm non-blackplate infantry from a blackplate infantry) was the feeling that I was not going to be gouged for even more money in the future, and the belief, based on my understanding of Dominions I, that this game would be supported and updated for a long time for free as a labor of love.

In other words, if you want me to buy into the "It's $50.00 for a game with poor graphics, etc., because it's two guys in a garage" then it has to remain two guys in a garage as a labor of love. Start throwing out $20.00 expansion backs, and they might as well be Microsoft, and this does not have the presentation, UI, etc. of a Microsoft product.

This really isn't a criticism of the game, just premonition that it would be a criticism if I start getting hacked with expansion pack purchase requirements.

[ywl]

Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
i actually disagree, i find EACH Nation should get at least 2 themes, i find it very hard to have one nation with 3 themes while others have none at all.


Given each nation had approx 2 themes then i think an expansion would be okay, to add i.e. another theme to each. And the price is VERY high for a game of this sort, no matter what depth or whatever it has, you can get games with the same amount and even GRAPHICS (which require LOTS of time and people to make) for less, usually 40-45 $. I wouldnt by an expansion by now, and to make it even worse i would AVOID getting another illwinter/shrapnel game which is sold incomplete, because to me the game is still incomplete, i expect more maps, 2 themes and most BIG bugs fixed, as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

Most nations which have no additional theme are new nations like Machaka or Mictlan. I guess they're so new that nobody know how to work with them. More themes will probably introduce more game-balance issuess. R'lyeh is old but with the Void summons, hybrid and automatic hybrids recruitment (everybody has found that out yet?), it's almost like a new nation.

Atlantis is the unluck one which has no additional theme in the original release or the subsquent patches. Even Arco has one .

[Kristoffer O]

Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
... as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

It was never promised, or even intended, but there was a huge demand for modding early after the release. We decided that it might be fun and added some modding. Seeing the results of this we decided to go further.

[PDF]

It's funny (or sad...) that some people have so much bad faith that they claim the game is "unfinished" ... because the devs added new, unplanned content to make the fans happy !
I'd be ok to give more bucks to IW to allow them to continue their great work for expansions - usually people get PAID when they make additional work, why should they work for free ? The game is pretty polished and unbuggy now, modding tools and new maps/themes are not part of support .

And about the price tag, I happen to have bought KotoR some time after Dom2 : with KotoR (40 EUR)I had maybe 20 hours of play, it cost me 2 EUR/hr. And it's over, I don't plan to play it again anytime soon. Even if I replay the game 1 time cost would be 1 EUR/hr.
With Dom I should have played at least 100 hrs, and spent the same time elaborating strategies, reading docs, toyed with modding, etc ... and I'll surely play it for another 100 hrs !
Best bang for the buck gaming investment, and it also made me meet new friends !

Graphics freaks should be incinerated or disintegrated

[Unwise]

as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

I wonder, what do you mean by "modding tools"? The devs have released fairly impressive documentation detailing how to do modifications to the various creatures, nations, etc. The only tool you need to use to implement them is a very basic text editor.

Is there a perceived need for a GUI that would help someone better output the dot-MAP or dot-DM files?