Wishlist Why magic paths are like mod Nations. - Page 3

HoneyBadger · #21 December 7th, 2008, 05:46 PM

Sex magic on the battlefield works in a similarly unlikely, far-fetched way that blood magic works.

HoneyBadger · #22 December 7th, 2008, 05:52 PM

Honestly, if we didn't already have multiple excellent mod Nations, if we didn't already have those tools, and I suggested that Nations be moddable, I suspect I'd be getting the same overly conservative, under-imaginative arguments.

I'm not trying to offend anyone, but half of my rebuttals are boiling down to "please actually read and consider for a moment what I've actually said so far".

JimMorrison · #23 December 7th, 2008, 06:01 PM

To be fair, what you've said so far is "wouldn't it be great if we could do some really interesting things, that we can't even do".

And I've not said that it would be impossible to do it, IF you had everything open to modding (which I don't think is possible with Dom3's architecture), only that it would be an incredible amount of effort to take to the level you are suggesting, and would be profoundly hard to rebalance, once implemented on the level you are suggesting. Nothing is impossible, but things can approach a degree of difficulty approaching 100%, when certain factors are looked at realistically - such as your likelihood of having access to implement the sorts of changes you want to discuss. Because let's be honest here, essentially what you are saying is that you want to change much of the fundamental foundation of the magic system. It's fine and good if you say it's because you want to expand on it and play with it, rather than simply replace it, but whichever way you look at it, you still lack the tools, and it's a valid assumption that those tools are not going be provided. Therefore you don't need modders to actualize this, you need hackers and coders.

HoneyBadger · #24 December 7th, 2008, 06:05 PM

Endoperez: I'm aware of the former holy/unholy priest situation. I'd make a Blasphemy path do things like harm sacreds and angels, remove permanently remove sacred status from sacred units, do "black halberd" effects to sacred units, boost independent power, and destroy temples and dominion at distance. Things that are harmful to any holy power. This path might be confined to independents, making them more interesting and dangerous.

HoneyBadger · #25 December 7th, 2008, 06:07 PM

What I'd need would be support from the forum community, and the willingness of the Devs to provide the necessary tools. That's-once more with enthusiasm!-the whole point of this post.

HoneyBadger · #26 December 7th, 2008, 06:22 PM

And honestly, very little is impossible, or "approaches impossible", even within the scope of the game, as long as the proper tools are provided. Some of the mods that people have come up with are downright unlikely, and that's only using the basic stuff that comes with the game.

JimMorrison · #27 December 7th, 2008, 06:53 PM

Seems to me that a quick PM to KO asking whether or not it is even mechanically possible for these things to be opened up to modding, would avoid some of the need for discussion.

You could open up a petition to the US government stating that everyone with a driver's license should own a tank, but even with 200 million signatures, it won't accomplish much.

HoneyBadger · #28 December 7th, 2008, 07:02 PM

That's true, and something I'd considered, but I thought it polite to present such an idea to the community, before hurling it at the devs. If they loved it, and added it "behind your back", there might be a passing sense of betrayal, outrage, etc. and if they didn't initially love it, then a show of enthusiasm and support could only help. Plus, there's always the possibility that someone might have something really constructive to add to the idea, that would make it better and nicer.

Illwinter isn't the US government, fortunately, and I like to think that we have some effect on their policies, as consumers. Maybe not a great deal, but that's usually a good thing.

JimMorrison · #29 December 7th, 2008, 07:27 PM

The intent of my metaphor wasn't to relate the organizations, but to relate the logistics of the request. Even though the government would be compelled to comply with a request from 200 million citizens, they can only do what they are capable of.

Something like this, is pretty huge. I wouldn't worry about it being "stealth added". In all likelihood, it falls under one of two categories, the "not possible", and the "well maybe, if enough people want it". There are integral parts of the UI associated with the current paths (from gem display, to sorting hotkeys in spell lists, etc), so my money is on it simply not being possible.

HoneyBadger · #30 December 7th, 2008, 07:36 PM

I disagree that it's as big as you seem to think and imply that it is. The same thing I'm suggesting has already been done a total of 9 times. So it's something that can indeed be done, and done often enough that the process itself fails to disrupt the game. And, to put it another way, if someone were to remove Blood from the game, would that really destroy the balance of the game, for those Nations that don't use blood? Sure, it can be a useful path, but unless you're Mictlan or Lanka, the absense wouldn't exactly cause the game to become unplayable.