Forthcoming patch notes

[llamabeast]

Today has probably the best set of fixes I have ever seen:

20th july
* Improved move order validation.
* Battle enchantments expire when caster retreats from battle ground.
* New switch: --nocheatdet.
* nation mods are now properly recognized when starting network games.
* Increased maximum number of maps allowed in the map folder.

The first two fix probably the biggest two gameplay bugs remaining - excellent news I think. But the 4th one - well, I am absolutely over the moon about it. I don't imagine it means much to anyone else, but it means that the LlamaServer will be able to start games with mod nations itself. Previously I'd have to start them manually through the GUI, and that was the one outstanding thing that could not be done automatically. Now everything can be automated! w00t!

*dances*

Honestly I'm sure you'll all think I'm mad, but that's the fix I've been dreaming of. It may also be really helpful for the making mods more mainstream in the long run.

[Foodstamp]

This whole patch is shaping up nicely. I am pretty excited about the new mod commands and the attention the devs are giving modders in general, great stuff .

[HoneyBadger]

Yep, great work, guys!

[Herode]

Huh ? A new patch ? Where ????

[WraithLord]

In the oven.

And the aroma is great

[Herode]

Haha ! The title has been edited !
I was wondering why I didn't see anything about the Thing

Yummy then. There comes an Age of Revelry

[Sombre]

Interesting re: mod nation games.

I don't think that was the main reason they don't happen though. They just don't seem very popular.

[Gandalf Parker]

Really?
I thought they were great. I figured it was just that solo players arent really as interested in deadly AIs as they say they are.
Not being able to play multiplayer allied against killer new nations kindof held it up. Now the cap is off the ceiling. There is no need to design a nation that can be beat by a single player but is harder than the AI that comes with the game. Now we can have nations that REQUIRE a pantheon of player gods to beat it.

[mac5732]

I would like to see hard AI nations to beat, most games I play are SP (time restraints etc) So i love to see challenging AI players, the harder the better, makes for a lot more fun if the AI can beat the human player, makes the human player have to really work to win, instead of taking it for granted that he'll eventually beat the AI....

[Micah]

I'm going to go on record to say that I'm really not a fan of the BE change, outside of the effect it has on MoD. I have always liked Dominions because it wasn't just a matter of two huge armies beating on one another. Even with all of the magic and options the game often comes down to a game of resource management, and I believe this change takes away some of the most powerful tactics available to deal with an enemy in an elegant fashion.

The current tactic of teleporting a BE caster which can then flee the battlefield and a unit to stick around and entertain the enemy army while the BE does its work is one of my personal favorites. While it can be brutally effective it also carries a lot of risk, as a reasonable blocker unit will have to be fairly well equipped, and if the blocking unit is taken down the BE will end. I don't think many people have a problem with this working the way it does.

The current 50-turn battle limit is another reason this tactic is so important. Having an army that's simply large enough to absorb the losses inflicted by an SC should NOT be a valid tactic, but it becomes one as soon as this change goes live. It's a joy seeing golems at full HP evaporate on turn 50 in the middle of chasing down a couple of crippled stragglers from the enemy army, believe me.

By forcing the caster to stick around (necessarily behind a large wall of chaff to keep them alive) the game devolves more towards a phyrric style of play, in which tactics become a secondary concern to resources. It becomes quite difficult to defeat an opposing army without suffering significant losses unless you have appropriate resistances on your troops, and the ability to respond to a distant threat is severely curtailed, since mobility spells become insufficient to move enough chaff to protect the caster.

Granted, many of these things aren't bad in and of themselves, but they certainly change the flavor and balance of the game in a major way beyond what a simple bug fix ought to, IMO, and it does it by removing a large section of available tactics, not by adding or adjusting ones that are in place.

I don't think this will change the minds of those in charge, but I wanted to at least have a eulogy for one of my favorite things about the game.