The Dominions 3: "Wishlist"

[Zapmeister]

I don't know enough about Windows to know how hard this would be, but ...

Mosehansen's server, including the web-based interface that manages registration and remote administration of each game, has been a tremendous asset to the Dom2 community. But it can only run on Linux.

If this kind of system were integrated with the game, or if hooks were provided so a similar server could be developed for Windows (or are they there already?) then we might see more public servers appear. Which would be great.

[Gandalf Parker]

Zapmeister said:
Mosehansen's server, including the web-based interface that manages registration and remote administration of each game, has been a tremendous asset to the Dom2 community. But it can only run on Linux.

If this kind of system were integrated with the game, or if hooks were provided so a similar server could be developed for Windows (or are they there already?) then we might see more public servers appear. Which would be great.

The switches to the game which Mosehansens server uses are stasndard to the linux and the windows version of Dom2 so it does already support windows servers (and Unix and Mac by the way). The reason that Mosehansen is a Linux web-based server is that such things are much MUCH easier to do on Linux. And much much cheaper to do on linux.

Im probably biased but I think I can safely say that as far as server things go, providing for Windows does not greatly increase the number of servers. For the playing of a game, Windows is an obvious boost if you support if for the player side. For server/hosting sites Linux holds that same position. A few if you only support Windows and a major boost if you support Linux.

[Come_Get_Some]

My initial inclintation was to offer to this list my wish that absolutely nothing be changed - this is just that good a game. However, there is one thing I would *really* like to see above all others - the ability for any race to more easily acquire or create heroes with assassination abilities. None of my favourite races have assassins.

[Chazar]

Pretenders have different path costs. Why does empowerment always cost the same for all kinds of units? (It might make balancing easier, if some units had a higher or lower empowerment cost or were prhobited from empowerment at all...)

[tinkthank]

OK I tried to sum up here all of the posts regarding UI -- but I had to visualize it a bit, so I ended up making a word.doc with colors and some diagramms, which I just have not been able to look right at all on this forum. So I am posting the word.doc with the UI optimization summary here, attaching it as a zip file (about 30 kb zipped). Sorry. But maybe it is better this way, as it is easily readable and, I think, somewhat comprehensive?

[Taqwus]

Better handling of undead. I'd like to see processes where a unit retains many of its characteristics including shape when being reanimated rather than becoming a Soulless, Mummy or Wight Mage. Add the Undead flag, add weak Fear, hm. Perhaps horror mark depending on the process... or ethereal for those bringing back a shade rather than a corporeal form. Oh, and with insanity being supported, it might not be unheard of for the beneficiary to be insane. The Outer Gods act however they choose...

Given the horror of necromancy possessed by many societies, I'd wonder whether reanimation and the presence of undead (except perhaps those hidden inside a fortress?) should be grounds for unrest for numerous nations.

One might wonder about necromantic divination, but unless the dead are tracked by previous owner, this would be tricky to implement well (e.g. reanimate and interrogate the dead belonging to another faction to learn about the extent of their empire, etc).

Perhaps different classes of immortality: e.g. several flags about it. Flag types might cover where respawning happens (capital, place of death), restrictions (died in own dominion, faction won battle, not killed by fire, not disintegrated), and speed (minimum number of turns of delay before resurrection, probability of resurrection every turn thereafter).

I could see a 'dark cultic' theme for R'lyeh: necromancers, alchemists, Dagon cultists, dreamers, the occasional inhuman assistant, perhaps even an avatar of Nyarlothep as a pretender type, and maybe Joseph Curwen or Abdul Alhazred (astral, death, blood, unholy... and insane) as the, er, "heroes". Less direct involvement of tentacles, perhaps chancy unholy prayers used for propitiating the somewhat unpredictable Outer Gods, and a fairly high rate of insanity.

[Olive]

Hi,

I've read that there will be a random terrain generator. Does that mean that with some parameters (random at the beginning), a map will be drawn ? If yes, a change in the parameters would change the way the map looks.

It woul be nice that the maps look change while parameters change. For example, if the climate of some provinces turns colder, those may become whiter on the map. Or green when temperate, or yellow/brown when hot. Other provinces parameters may be also displayed their way (ie : animals sprites for life, bones for death, stars popping for magic, etc...).

It would be nice that the map looking represents the real aspect of the world, much better than to look the provinces one by one to see if they are hot or cold. It permits to "feel" the world you're dealing with.

That would also permit terraforming spells (ie : suppressing/adding sprites for mountains, trees, volcanoes,etc...).

Do you think it is possible ?

[Endoperez]

That happened in Dominions 1, but it was all pixel-based. Green was forest, blue was sea, white was cold, and in cold province pixels turned to white. It looked ugly.

Illwinter has mentioned that that is one of the features, or even the feature, they miss from Dom1. I don't know if it is even possible to do for the pieces of art that are maps of Dominions II and III.

It is very hard to do, as even simple "snow in winter" should be per-province, and the program doesn't in fact know the province borders.

[Olive]

Endoperez said:
That happened in Dominions 1, but it was all pixel-based. Green was forest, blue was sea, white was cold, and in cold province pixels turned to white. It looked ugly.

Illwinter has mentioned that that is one of the features, or even the feature, they miss from Dom1.

Haven't played dom1 , but I have seen screenshots. It's not beautiful, but, well, it only can be improved . I'm happy they miss that feature .

Endoperez said:
I don't know if it is even possible to do for the pieces of art that are maps of Dominions II and III.

It is very hard to do, as even simple "snow in winter" should be per-province, and the program doesn't in fact know the province borders.

As far as I've understood, provinces are only points. There can be some frontier types that will be dispatched to give the province it's general aspect, but the result will be only graphical, and won't interfere with the province characteristics ( don't know if it's clear, I'm not fluent in english ). For forests or mountains, an arrangement of trees/mountains sprites would be looking great (most of domII maps have lot of sprites copied/pasted. For snow/desert provinces, yes, it seems a bit tougher. Maybe with textures .

Anyway, I'm happy to see that this feature is one of their concern .

[Endoperez]

Here is an old post where one of the devs discusses this. It is as an answer to a thread about improving Water Magic and to a proposed idea about a spell that would change a coastal province to underwater province.

Kristoffer O

The curse of atlantis spell is unlikely to appear in dom3. Not because it is a bad idea, but because it would probably be too powerful. Also because it wouldn't be possible to graphically represent it on the map the way it should be.

When we worked on dominions 1 we intended to have spells that would change the map. The pixelated maps of dom1 changed with temperature and growth. Initially we intended spells to change the map as well. Mountain ranges, forests etc. We also intended the atlantian dominion to flood coastal provinces by slowly replacing pixels into blue ones. The problem with this (one of them) was that the trn files would become huge as they would have to include changes to the maps.

This is actually the part I miss the most from dom1. The changing terrain. On the other hand there were not many effects of terrains on the game.