Can we help the devs?

[Ivan Pedroso]

Gandalf Parker said:
And back to the original question...
the devs have shown interest in a number of things. You can search for Kristoffer and JohanK to see.

(Ohhhhh I've done that - been a lurker since February.)
But now that we have Dominions 3 on the horizon, it would be interesting to hear (from the devs themselves?!?) what we could help with. There are a lot of creative and talented people in the community, and who knows, someone might get a brilliant idea that perfectly captures an aspect the devs were looking fore. And I would think that everyone would be SO proud if their idea made it to the final Version.

I remember they were interested in people who are actually willing to TEST the things they kept saying about the AI's. A number of plans were developed for how the AI should decide to build castles or decide to build troops. I think one person finally decided to try and prove the troop building (play a nation as though an AI doing only the decisions in the formula) but I'm not sure how far they got

Yeah - the thread on the troop/castle-building-algorithm (thread) is an example of an idea that is backed up by a clean and scientific test.

I would like to state (perhaps more clearly than previous): This is not an "I wish this", "why don't the devs do that"... thread.
It is a reversed wish-thread: From the devs to us.

(hehehehe, if I was working on this awesome game, I wouldn't want any help - I would enjoy it too much to share But on the other hand: We do represent a resource that could be utilized.)

[Ivan Pedroso]

By the way: If this ball ever gets rolling and we generate some spin-off threads. I'll take on the responsibility of maintaining those. That is: The first post will include a clear and updated list of the best ideas in the thread. "The best" will be those ideas that (in my opinion) are well thought-out, and/or ideas that get applause from serious forumers.

[Kristoffer O]

Hmm, a difficult question. It's not like we can ask you to do coding or graphics.

Actually, what I would like to see is more mods, maps and scenarios.

I wouldn't mind playing a lord of the rings scenario. Chris Byler started one such project once IIRC, but it never was finished. We would not want to make a LotR mod ourselves as it could cause copyright problems, but I think players would like it. Much like there is a Star Trek mod in SEIV.

[Alneyan]

Kristoffer O said:
Hmm, a difficult question. It's not like we can ask you to do coding or graphics.

Why not? That looks like a marvellous concept; you get paid, you have your benevolent players do most of the work, and you can concentrate on design while leaving such mere concerns like "length needed to implement that great idea, and the difficulties thereof" to said players. Sounds like the perfect deal!

Ah, I see the problem. For the idea to work, you would have to trick the players into doing your bidding unbeknownst to them. So revealing the whole scheme might not have been such a good idea. But then, who knows with all the conspiracies going on. Hmm... *Stops digressing, and being silly*