Mods to use!

[Gandalf Parker]

The developers have continued to provide free patches thru the entire life of the game (and another in the works). So unlike other games, there arent any must-have player created fixes IMHO. What is a very VERY large factor is that you download the latest patch (only the latest is needed to catch you up) and install that.
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwint...DOM3_page.html

CBM is the only one that might be considered IMPORTANT to install and use. And maybe EndGame Diversity.

But even thats a split opinion. CBM is supposed to balance the game but it makes so many changes that it becomes a choice of either knowing how to play with it, or without it. EGD is considered to be a fix for the limited end-game strategies that seem to show up with the cbm crowd.

My personal opinion is, why shorten the game? Dont be in a hurry. You can enjoy a year of solo play learning each of the nations and its quirks. If you find its imbalanced then take a look at one of the (3 at the moment) balance mod projects. If you decide you like solo and want a better AI then use one of the AI improvement projects. Or just the mods that add more nations into the game. More maps, more nations, more spells, more equipment.

And of course, once you find a nation that totally fits your gaming style, and some strategies you feel work well for you.. then there is always multiplayer games. Stretch it out. Enjoy it.

[rdonj]

I'm going to do the completely expected and disagree with gandalf about vanilla and CBM not being cross compatible. Personally I've played with CBM in almost every single game I've ever played in multiplayer. But, I've played a few games under vanilla, and was never unduly affected by the differences in them because there's not too much that shifts around that is important to remembering how to play. Basically anything that works in vanilla will work in CBM. Going backwards is a bit harder, because CBM makes a larger number of strategies viable than are so under vanilla. You can still use them, but they are not going to be as efficient So to a certain extent, it does make sense to get a decent grounding in vanilla Dominions. However...

A) This is not super important in this community, because nearly every game started runs the latest version of CBM.

B) Most games that do not use CBM are noob games, so it's not really a big deal if they're not completely cross compatible You're not expected to do well here anyway!

And for the record, CBM stands for Conceptual Balance Mod, you can find it in the Scenarios, Maps and Mods subsection.

[Eximius Sus]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

The developers have continued to provide free patches thru the entire life of the game (and another in the works). So unlike other games, there arent any must-have player created fixes IMHO. What is a very VERY large factor is that you download the latest patch (only the latest is needed to catch you up) and install that.
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwint...DOM3_page.html

CBM is the only one that might be considered IMPORTANT to install and use. And maybe EndGame Diversity.

But even thats a split opinion. CBM is supposed to balance the game but it makes so many changes that it becomes a choice of either knowing how to play with it, or without it. EGD is considered to be a fix for the limited end-game strategies that seem to show up with the cbm crowd.

My personal opinion is, why shorten the game? Dont be in a hurry. You can enjoy a year of solo play learning each of the nations and its quirks. If you find its imbalanced then take a look at one of the (3 at the moment) balance mod projects. If you decide you like solo and want a better AI then use one of the AI improvement projects. Or just the mods that add more nations into the game. More maps, more nations, more spells, more equipment.

And of course, once you find a nation that totally fits your gaming style, and some strategies you feel work well for you.. then there is always multiplayer games. Stretch it out. Enjoy it.

I see a number of opinions expressed here Wrana.

1) There are no must-have player created fixes. Only the official patches are must-have.
2) CBM doesn't balance the game. It just changes it.
3) EDM is really only needed if you play CBM.
4) Play lot's of single player to stretch out your gaming of Dominions 3.

Which of these are you agreeing with? Or is there another in that post?