Got home, got manual, got disappointed!

[Zurai]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
What other data did you blatantly falsify as well?

Not sure I can output enough rolleyes smileys for that statement. Cherry made a joke that was extremely obvious once you LOOKED at the formula, and you accuse him of falsifying stuff in his other, very valuable to the community, works? Get off your damn high horse man. It was a joke. J-O-K-E.

[Chazar]

Well, in addition, when I asked about a formula, I was rather referring to the mechanics used to determine the divergence from the target square, not for a closed formula...

I assume that the "mechanics" might be something like for every square that the projectile flies, there is a chance based on weather (strom/rain/snow), precision and basic weapon range whether the projectile goes astray from its designated course a bit...

But leaving this aside, my real problem is that I'm still lacking a feel for precision-values in relation to range, especially when it comes to mages that won't shoot they lightning bolts in such a mass like archers. It just seems to me that scripting spells that affect only a single square is almost useless without wind-guide, aim, eye of precision, etc. against foes that are not packed densely on the field...

[Skanvak]

Yes, the manual is very bad , mine lack even the victory conditions. It would be nice of Illwinter to put a complete manual Online (and re-edited the one which is dsitribute).

Very un-happy with the manual.

[Leif_-]

Originally posted by Skanvak:
Yes, the manual is very bad , mine lack even the victory conditions. It would be nice of Illwinter to put a complete manual Online (and re-edited the one which is dsitribute).

Very un-happy with the manual.

While I'm not going to sing the unmitigated praise of the manual, is the Dominions II manual really any worse than what's usual for strategy games these days? IMO it's somewhat better than average - of course, with Dominions II being the game that it is, that isn't really sufficent.

*sighs* Oh, for a return to the golden era of computer games - back when the Amiga was Queen of World and games actually came with large, well-written manuals (and extras.) The likes of Ultima V, or Flight of the Intruder - or even Eye of the Beholder.

[PDF]

Originally posted by Gateway103:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:
Oh, I should mention that I just made that up. Ha, ha! I didn't really think anyone would take it seriously...

Finding the formula would be tough, since it doesn't even exist in the game code - the precision formula just tells the projectile where to land; it does not give it a probability of hitting a given square.

What! And we trusted you!!!

That'll teach us to trust the "reputable" Saber Cherry

-Gateway103

---

Moreover the formula wasn't that stupid, and gave credible results for a good range of outcomes !
Anyway there HAS to be some kind of formula/model determining where the stuff land - IIRC Dom2 doesn't model a full physical world !

[Tricon]

Originally posted by Skanvak:
Yes, the manual is very bad , mine lack even the victory conditions. It would be nice of Illwinter to put a complete manual Online (and re-edited the one which is dsitribute).

Very un-happy with the manual.

Have to agree with LEIF here. It is a general problem with strategy games, that "good manuals" as we oltimers know'em are almost nonexistant nowadays. (But times change. Back when I started (pc)gaming, strategy gides came out a few months after the game was published.)
The dominions manuall isn't that bad compared to others.
Now, that doesn't mean I wouldn't like an updated manual. And if this were a big company, maybe I would be more vocal. But the producers of this game are busy making new patches - changing the game even further. But that's OK with me. I'ld rather have a few bugs removed, maybe a new theme or five, than have a first rate manual with a weakly supported game (thinks of moo3, screams with rage!).

In all honesty, seeing the strong fan base, it wouldn't surprise me if one (or a few) of the forum members created his/their own updated manual, in time.

[Chazar]

To my surprise, I've found that the Dom I-manual, which can be downloaded from Illwinters Website, is a bit more verbose than the Dom II manual.

I dont know Dom I, but much of the deleted text from Manual DomI to DomII seems to be integrated into RightClick-PopUps now, which is very useful generally speaking (although it nerves me that you just cant look up the descriptions of the nations in the DomII manual), but there also seems to be other information which might not have become obsolete in DomII...why did they delete it?
Saving pages to reduce printing cost? Then rather skip the grimoire, as this is less useful IMHO, since you need to know a spells school/level in order to look it up, which is difficult if you are new to the game...A spreadsheet-file for sorting/filtering was much more helpful for me, and certainly much more uptodate with those patches...

But as I said: I guess I dont really want to know more of the mechanics, I just want to know that everybody else I might play does not know that much more than I do...

[ March 17, 2004, 14:28: Message edited by: Chazar ]