Answering the Critics

[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.

[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

[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.

[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

[NTJedi]

Horst F. JENS said:
Hi Mino,
... ... simple advice for you:
Don't try too hard. Some people will like the game, most people don't.

yes indeed... Dominions is a game which takes patience to realize its true value. Also true with Dragonballz... watching one episode won't be interesting, but after watching 15 episodes you'll eagerly want to see the rest of them. Yet don't watch the DragonballGT those are crap.

[SafeKeeper]

"The amount of units do not add depth, just complexity, to cover up the dumbed-down economic model, the mediocre and crude combat engine, and the lack of 'city buildings'."

I could just as easily accuse Civ 4 of "covering up the mediocre and crude units" with

And as was stated, if a Civilizations player came over to me and whined about Dominions' battle system, I'd snicker, shake my head, and walk away. Far away.

Dominions's battle system looks easy. But once you start getting magic-casting units, combined arms, et cetera, it becomes so infinitely deep that it's a joke.

They're partially right, the economics is very simple and city building is non-existant. Although, one trend I've noticed lately among RTS games is to get rid of the complicated resource management and micromanagement of peasants because it's not fun, so...

It depends on what you want. You like a focus on city-building? Play Victoria or Sim City or Civilizations. Want action and battle? Play Ground Control (highly recommended).

What's the difference between 'depth' and 'complexity' of a game in their view anyway? Without knowing that, you cannot answer them!

Indeed.

No to mention the fact that in the Civ games, a single primitive spearman can destroy a battleship or an aircraft carrier. That kind destroys any semblance of credibility for the game, imo.

Less of that in the last game. But boy, what a horrific feature.

I still think that all reviewers and news posters should pass IQ and anti-drug tests before they are allowed to post.

That would be really, really nice. I've read so many idiotic reviews that it's not even funny anymore.

[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!

[alexti]

Unwise said:

But that compares almost directly to the Civ research system. Your mages are the "tiles" -- do you use them to research, site-search, cast rituals, or lead armies? Once you decide what you want your mage/tile to be, you can set it up as a "specialist" with the appropriate gear (quill for research, boosters for summons, combat items for leaders, etc.).

Well, in Dominions after first few turns you usually set a mage to research and leave him there (and maybe give him research booster once). In Civ you reshuffle the tiles every turn. So while in purpose they're kind of similar, in Civ you have much more options to micromanage stuff. For example, instead of cty building scheme you could just pay fixed gold amount/resources to get a bonus to research, commerce or production (maybe proportional to some research). But that again would make micromanagement more shallow.