Will there be a Dominions 4

[Gandalf Parker]

The amount that would have to be put in versus the amount that could be made?
The more "fix" the less profit.

As for SourceForge and 1%, yes you have that pegged. But like I say often, everything has its pros and cons. The idea of open source and program by democracy are wonderful concepts. There are some fantastic success stories. But most dissolve or just fade out from in-group bickering.

Also against going that route is the idea that this projects goal would be to update Dominions. The more people, and the more discussion, the longer it takes to get things done. And time is why Dom is the way it is now that this project wants to fix. By the time an open source project for a Dom4 got done, the "updated UI, graphics and sound" would be as old-hat as Dom3 seemed when it came out. (not for the same reason, but the same symptom would occur)

I think Im an optimist and I love Dom. But I cant feel that what it would take to drive such a project thru in good time would be able to recoup the costs. There are a number of different routes that could be pursued (paying developers, or a big-boy style publisher willing to advance-invest, or both by letting someone with development studios and teams in place take it over) but I cant picture an improved Dom3 or even a Dom4 being a guaranteed result. It would be a gamble to break even.

Just my opinions of course.

[weimaar]

sounds all very reasonable and well thought through. Gandalf, may i ask what you do for a living? Would you want to become the head of a dom4 (dom3 with graphics makover, the way you describe it) project? Can you become the head of a dom4 project?

Woud it be possible to run this part time project based on donations? One can buy different part of the engine perhaps from other games? or use it from other games? Or ask of permission to get it from other sourceforge games?

[Gandalf Parker]

Ive done many jobs in wildly different fields. Email me if you want a list.
Im now multiply retired so I dont do anything. I have managed such projects in the past and might at one time have been tempted, but health issues make it impossible now to take on new commitments. In fact Im trying to pull out of the ones I still have.

As to the second paragraph...
Managing donated things has a headache factor to it. Managing donated moneys against donated resources against donated time and skills in a way to stay clear of any suspicion of misuse is something only a few people can do well. Ask any charity admin how 'easy' their job must be to get an earful of that. Its easier to use one donated factor to fuel the others as non-donated factors. Not sure if that was clear or not.

You can purchase engines which can vastly cut down the programming time. Some are specific for games. Im out of touch with that area so I cant recommend one. But I remember that the problem falls into the choice of language. Would you prefer to select the language and then search for libraries and programmers? or the other way around? AND what about operating system? Will you maintain the "Linux game ported to Windows and Mac" or go with the easier Windows environment then headache trying to avoid win specific things that might not port well to the others?

SourceForge is a good place to look. What is being used, what they might have developed for themselves. Asking there should be no problem. After all, they are all supposed to be open source so even asking is just a courtesy. (Id never recommend not asking, Im just saying that refusal is unlikely compared to other directions)

[WraithLord]

python has good libs for game dev. SPQR is a good example.

[TheConway]

Eh, I don't think modern games are that terrible. Also, lets not pretend that all or even necessarily most games of the 70s-80s were super great (Daikatana). I look forward to the release of Diablo 3 right now, and personally I think Battlefield Bad Company 2 is great in its implementation of believable destructible environments. Or the very interesting and tactical play of League of Legends. There's not really any good RTS games that have held my attention recently, but I like SC2 from an SP perspective. I personally refuse to play any game that charges a monthly fee, which means I don't play any MMOs, but they're not all WoW. So forgive me, but I believe you're not giving modern game designers an even chance, and are letting nostalgia hide the absolute hideousness of some of the games from the days of yore.

[Stavis_L]

Originally Posted by TheConway

Also, lets not pretend that all or even necessarily most games of the 70s-80s were super great (Daikatana).

Um...Daikatana was released in 2000...

[WraithLord]

Ahmmm. let's see, MOM, CIV, LoM, starcon, dune, warcraft, HoMM, UFO, MOO, DotC, Disciples, Warlords, Kohan, AoW just to name a few. Show me same or even close level of innovation, creativity & content in a main stream game today.

I gave modern games a chance. Some are passable (HoMM V, Disciples III, Warhammer, Total War). Most IMHO are mediocre at best and downright crappy at worst. Oh and GFX has improved a lot no doubt - GFX is amazing but I'd rather watch a good movie than play a shallow click-festi game.

Perhaps the times have changed and I remain trapped in anachronistic expectations. Fact is, I only play old games: dominions, disciples, AoW & chess although I have a number of new games installed on my hard drive. Typically I'd start new game X, say wow to amazing gfx, play a bit, then get bored and annoyed by bugs, inconsistencies and shallow mechanism and end up never playing it again.

[sansanjuan]

Originally Posted by WraithLord

Ahmmm. let's see, MOM, CIV, LoM, starcon, dune, warcraft, HoMM, UFO, MOO, DotC, Disciples, Warlords, Kohan, AoW just to name a few. Show me same or even close level of innovation, creativity & content in a main stream game today.

I gave modern games a chance. Some are passable (HoMM V, Disciples III, Warhammer, Total War). Most IMHO are mediocre at best and downright crappy at worst. Oh and GFX has improved a lot no doubt - GFX is amazing but I'd rather watch a good movie than play a shallow click-festi game.

Perhaps the times have changed and I remain trapped in anachronistic expectations. Fact is, I only play old games: dominions, disciples, AoW & chess although I have a number of new games installed on my hard drive. Typically I'd start new game X, say wow to amazing gfx, play a bit, then get bored and annoyed by bugs, inconsistencies and shallow mechanism and end up never playing it again.

Funny how I own 9 of those listed. That makes me wonder about the others..
-ssj

[WraithLord]

You should get them, they're great

Also, to prolong the list here are some more names: Archon, AdoM (+ angband, nethack etc), Dungeon keeper, Total annihilation, starcraft.

Also, dom I PPP with the so lovely feature of maps actually changing to reflect your spreading dominion - It's really nice to see your cold dominion creeping over ever larger stretches of the map

And Lords of Magic is worth another mention as it has a nice "groove" to it.

krpeters & Executor, I think your explanation makes sense. It seems I share your point of view.

thejeff, if it's 90% crap then where are the 10% quality games?- Please, please point me to a good FTBS made lately. Or let's raise the bar, to a good FTBS made by a big company lately.

Zeldor, there's an extra value to the playing an innovative game for the first time. It doesn't have to be perfect or polished but it would leave a lasting impression - like reading a great book with a twisting plot. It gets worst when the sequel is dumbed down or more buggy than the predecessor.

[TheConway]

Originally Posted by Stavis_L

Um...Daikatana was released in 2000...

Really? I never actually saw it, but the gaming mag I used to subscribe to talked about it like it was back in the mists of time Still, I'd rather play Red Alert 3 than C&C 1.

Edit: I didn't play a number of those games, but Civ just got better and better with the sequels. Warcraft was terrible, I would never subject myself to that now, or Dune. As for modern games, I think that the issue is more that you seem to prefer a genre that doesn't really exist anymore. Turn based games just aren't very common anymore. Just because a game like Starcraft 2 doesn't have the incredible amount of minutiae that a TBS can have doesn't make it a mindless clickfest, its just a constraint of the RTS genre where the player doesn't have TIME to micromanage as many features as a TBS has.

I highly doubt that the number of bugs and inconsistencies has really changed dramatically, that's just the way computer gaming is.