Answering the Critics

[Agrajag]

FAJ said:
...
there are actually a few things I miss from dominions I, like the light/dark way of showing dominion strength...

I never played Dom1, so I'm just wondering what you mean by that.
I think I read somewhere on the dom2 forums that the game map used to change in color according to dominion and other stuff, am I right about this?
Either way, if it was possible to somehow extract information about the provinces (such as dominion and scales) it would be possible to make a program that will recolor the map for and run it --postexec, though I don't know how to get that information.

[FAJ]

You could set the map to be shaded in by dominion. The lighter it was, closer to white, meant a higher friendly dominion. The closer to black meant a higher enemy dominion. You had to click on the province to get the exact number of candles, but looking over the whole land, it gave you a much better idea than haveing to count each candle on the main map.

[Nerfix]

I also miss the light/dark Dominion view.

[Gandalf Parker]

The graphics were done differently back then. The new graphics mode didnt support it.

Of course NOW with the shift to an RGB format, it might be able to be done with an alpha layer. But thats a conversation to be had between better graphics people than I, and Johan

[Endoperez]

Agrajag said:

I never played Dom1, so I'm just wondering what you mean by that.
I think I read somewhere on the dom2 forums that the game map used to change in color according to dominion and other stuff, am I right about this?
Either way, if it was possible to somehow extract information about the provinces (such as dominion and scales) it would be possible to make a program that will recolor the map for and run it --postexec, though I don't know how to get that information.

Dom:PPP maps were pixel-based. Pixels were changed by things. Dominion over-lay made provinces brighter or darker, depending on dominion. Cold areas got more white. Hot areas got more sand-like-color.

Dom:PPP GUI was also beautiful. It was! It didn't work, and was micro-management hell (Order allowed you to set taxes to 130% without unrest penalties, no effects otherwise), etc. But the GUI was beautiful. It also had the Cube. Turn-generation never looked so beautiful.

[Nerfix]

Oooohhhhh, memories of The GUI... It was indeed beatiful. Dom 3 is a step back to the right track. But Dom 2 looked so, so....clinic in comparison.

And the Cube! The Cube! No-one still knows what eldritch mysteries it holds!

[Eduardo_X]

I'm actually surprised at all the criticisms of Dominions being too deep to get in to. I figured out the demo for Dom3 in almost no time and have been playing the game non-stop since getting it Monday.
Maybe the interface is much improved, but I was fearing a backward interface from all the comments my friends had regarding the game.

[Nerfix]

I learned to play Dominions with Dominions I and it's arcane GUI. And I was 13 or so.

[FAJ]

Nerfix said:
Oooohhhhh, memories of The GUI... It was indeed beatiful. Dom 3 is a step back to the right track. But Dom 2 looked so, so....clinic in comparison.

And the Cube! The Cube! No-one still knows what eldritch mysteries it holds!

I used to do Astral Wishes for the enigmatic cube, and I was never rewarded with anything but horrors and broken dreams!

[atul]

Endoperez said:
Pixels were changed by things. Dominion over-lay made provinces brighter or darker, depending on dominion. Cold areas got more white. Hot areas got more sand-like-color.

The advantages of being able to find Abysia, Caelum and Ermor on the first turn and then rush one of them straight away. The memories.

My favorite feature was the ability to turn off the terrain, reducing the map into chessboard-like gray map with only borders visible. I still find the current dominions maps a bit visually heavy. They're beautiful, no doubt, but when going gets rough, all you need to know which provinces connect to your target. :E