Guide: Changing Dominions 3 defaults

[Gandalf Parker]

This is a thread for discussing some of the many tips and tricks for changing the way Dominions 3 does things in order to personalize it abit. Im going to start out with desktop icons.

[Gandalf Parker]

There is a full list of "command line switches" for Dominions3 at this location...
http://www.dom3minions.com/docs/CommandLine.txt

Some are for the way the game displays things, some are for the way it generates maps, and many for are game variables inluding some which are not available on the menu from inside the game. All of them can be included on the same line that calls Dom3. Such as, if you are using windows, then there is an icon on your desktop that runs Dom3. At the moment that is all that it does. But, you can add any of these switches to that. If any of these are something you change every time you run the game then you should change the default instead. You can still choose to switch it off, but the automatic default when you enter the game will be your choice first with options for others instead of vice versa.

You can also have multiple desktop icons for Dom3. One with your playing choices. One for multiplayer games. One for generating maps. Even one for each game you are presently involved in which would speed up access and play.

Here are some you might consider turning on:
-d Increase debug level
--scoredump Create a score file after each turn (scores.html)
-c --nocredits Disables the end credits
-C --tcpclient Connect to a Dominions multiplayer server
-S --tcpserver Start a Dominions multiplayer server
--ipadr XXX Use this IP-adr when connecting to server
--port X Use this port nbr
--preexec CMD Execute this command before each turn generation
--postexec CMD Execute this command after each turn generation
--minutes X Set host interval in minutes
--mightyai X Nation ai controlled X=nation number (0-94)
--impai X Nation ai controlled X=nation number (0-94)
--mapfile XXX Filename of map. E.g. eye.map
--randmap X Make and use a random map with X prov per player (10,15,20)
--research X Research difficulty 0-3 (default 1)
--hofsize X Size of Hall of Fame 5-15 (default 10)
--indepstr X Strength of Independents 0-9 (default 5)
--magicsites X Magic site frequency 0-75 (default 40)
--eventrarity X Random event rarity 1-2, 1=common 2=rare
--totalvp X Vic. points available in the world 0-25
--capitalvp One extra victory per capital
--requiredvp X Vic. points required for victory (default total/2)
--summervp Vic. points are accumulated each summer
--richness X Money multiple 50-300 (default 100)
--resources X Resource multiple 50-300 (default 100)
--supplies X Supply multiple 50-300 (default 100)
--startprov X Number of starting provinces (1-9)
--renaming Enable commander renaming
--noscoregraphs Disable score graphs
--nonationinfo No info at all on other nations
--nocheatdet Turns off cheat detection
--era X New game created in this era (1-3)
-M --enablemod XXX Enable the mod with filename XXX
******* Random Map Options *******
--makemap XXX Generate a random map with filename XXX and exit
--riverpart X 100 = normal amount of rivers, 0=no rivers
--seapart X Percent of map that is below water level (default=30)
--mountpart X Percent of map that is mountains (default=20)
--forestpart X Percent of lands that are forests (default=20)
--farmpart X Percent of lands that are farm lands (default=15)
--wastepart X Percent of lands that are wastes (default=10)
--swamppart X Percent of lands that are swamps (default=10)
--mapaa Enable antialiasing for random maps
--mapsize W H Set width and height of random map (default=1600 1200)
--mapprov X Set number of provinces (default=150)
--passmount Don't use impassable mountains on random maps
--mapgcol RGBA Ground color 0-255 (default=170 146 116 255)
--mapscol RGBA Sea color 0-255 (default=54 54 130 255)
--mapbcol RGBA Ground border color 0-255 (x4)
--mapsbcol RGBA Sea border color 0-255 (x4)
--mapnoise X Ground color noise 0-255 (default 15)
--borderwidth X Border width 0-500 (default 100)
******* Video Options *******
-w --window Run Dominions 3 in a window
-u --fullscreen Use the entire screen
--bitplanes X Try to use a color depth of X bits per pixel
--zbuffer X Try to use a depth buffer of X bits per pixel (default=16)
-T --textonly Use this with --tcpserver to get graphicless server
--gamma X Set gamma function (brightness) 0.1 - 5.0 (default=1.0)
--opacity X Set gui opacity 0 - 100
-r --res X Y Set screen resolution / window size (default=1024 768)
--animback Use animated backgrounds
-a --noanimback Don't use animated backgrounds
--fade Use fade effects
-f --nofade No fade effects
--nopopups No helpful popups
--fps X Aim for this nbr of frames per second (default=20)
--maxfps X Maximum nbr of frames per second (default=50)
--filtering X Quality of OpenGL filtering 0-3 (default=2)
--maxtexsize X Max texture size in pixels 32-4096 (default=unlimited)
--treequal X Tree quality 1-5 (default=3)
--texqual X Texture quality 1-5 (default=3)
--nolightfx No light effects in battles
--partamount X Max nbr of particles 0-8 (0=none, 4=default, 8=max)
--nograss Don't draw the grass
--noarcade Don't draw floating damage numbers
--noglext Don't use any OpenGL extensions
--vsync Enable vsync
-V --novsync Disable vsync
--renderpath X Use different optimizations 0-1 (0=good for low mem cards)
-x --fastgrx Faster graphics (use 3 times for best performance (-xxx))
-p --perftest Run a performance test and exit
******* Audio Options *******
-s --nosound No sound effects or music
-m --nomusic No music
--musicvol X Set music volume, 0-100
--clickvol X Set mouse click volume, 0-100
--arts Route sound through aRts (default)
-o --oss Use direct oss sound output (best quality)
----------------------------------------
the hidden switches
-------------------
--fullgrx
--intro
--nointro
--noantialiasing
--superhost does HOST over and over very fast
--esd
--defsound
--directsound
--waveout
--windowed
--badmouse
--allai puts all of the nations for that era into a game as AIs
--comptrn generates a turn file for AIs so that you can see what they do
--badgl
--nocompression

[Gandalf Parker]

EXAMPLES:

dom3 -mwafc -r 1024 768 Run Dominions 3 in a window (w), at the resolution (r) of 1024x768,without music (m), no nice fading effects (f), and no credit screen when you quit (c), no animated backgrounds (a)

dom3 -d --scoredump creates a scores file like you see on servers like LLamaserver, and a debug file so you can see what the game is "thinking"

dom3 -preexec bakup.bat will run a file called bakup.bat just before it starts to process a turn. Good for automatically making a save of the game so you can switch back if things go badly.

dom3 --tcpclient 70.36.184.129 --port 9876 connects directly to a game, I tend to also set low graphics and no music just because its more business than enjoyment when I do this. I dont want to be distracted (my solo play icon on the other hands turns everything up)

dom3 YARG1 goes directly into the YARG1 game which I was playing. Actually later I switched it out for a batch file that put the pbem turn file into place, then opened dom3 directly to the game, and when I quit dom3 it automatically transferred the .2h file

dom3 -fwacd --clickvol 10 --magicsites 75 --renaming --scoredump --indepstr 7 --hofsize 15 --eventrarity 1 changes various default settings I got tired of and found myself wanting or changing for every game I created such as setting renaming on so I didnt forget and curse myself for it later. You still get the same game setup screen and can change it if you want. But this way instead of defaulting to rename off, it defaults to rename on, and still gives me the choice.

dom3 --enablemod stub.dm to set that on for that use, or to turn on mods such as Streamers and Standards, Worthy Heroes, Mytheology, Magic Site Mod, Watchers, and Single Age (doing it by icon means it turns off automatically when I leave). Or at least stub.dm so I can make changes to a long running game without having to start over.

dom3 --mapfile TinyTest.map --resources 10 --era 1 --impai 1 testgame1 uses the test map, creates a testgame1, with early era, low resources, and Ermor loaded as Impossible AI setting

dom3 --seapart 10 --mountpart 50 --mapgcol 50 100 50 250 --mapscol 20 50 80 255 --mapbcol 130 130 130 29 --mapsbcol 111 194 21 104 --mapaa --mapnoise 100
This is my settings for the randomly generated maps. Less water, more mountains (for more strategic chokepoints), green grasslands, lighter blue on water, different colors for the borders on land vs the color of borders over water. They tend to look like this...
http://www.dom3minions.com/RandomMaps/MegaMap.jpg

I also have one icon that generates a map with my favorite settings, then runs it thru a couple of programs to add surprises to it, then starts a game with this new map that I dont know anything about.

I like to keep separate icons on my desktop for each of the multiplayer games Im in. That way I dont have to mess with changing settings for different servers, and having one for each game in the same place reminds me to hit each one at least once a day. In a couple of cases the icon also swaps out the background screens and theme files to give the game a totally different look. Green (my favorite), or dark, or bright red. I find that it makes me play differently and changes the mood to match the nation Im playing for that game.

These examples are not meant to be copied exactly. And they do not have to be exclusive. ALL of these switches and tricks can be added to your one desktop icon for Dom3 if you want it that way.

[Gandalf Parker]

HOW TO

For a Windows XP user just right-click your Dom3 icon that you usually use.

You might want to select Copy. Then go someplace else on the desktop, right-click, and do Paste.

The right-click the icon you want to change. Select Properties. Under the General tab you can rename it if you want. And under the Shortcut tab you can add the switches you want. The "target" line might look like "C:\Program Files\dominions3\dom3.exe" with the quotes and all. Add the switches you want OUTSIDE the quotes. So it becomes something like
"C:\Program Files\dominions3\dom3.exe" -w -a -c -d --rename

Someone want to give an example for Vista? for Mac?

[Deathjester]

Thanks! I like the settings for defaulting HoF and renaming for example. Nice!

I'm using Vista 64 and it works the same as in XP.

[LumenPlacidum]

Oh good, this fixes the problem of going from fullscreen to windowed for me by never going to fullscreen in the first place. Thanks.

[Gandalf Parker]

Hmmm.... looking at this thread again (because someone asked a question about settings) I see something I said that was wrong. I need to correct it.

At least in some OS's it is NOT true that you can put all the switches you want. As I am famous for, I have hit a limit that most people would never come close to seeing. On WinXP it appears to be something like 255 characters limit on how much you can add to a command line. There are some tricks you can use to shorten things up and squeeze more in but if you get as insane as I did then you will still probably end up having to create specific desktop icons for specific uses of the Dom3 exe if you really want to tweak personal settings for each one. They wont all fit on one.

Gandalf Parker

[Gandalf Parker]

This post isnt really about defaults but it is about using command-line switches so this is probably the best thread to put it in since it will avoid having to explain HOW to do it.

For those who are curious about how the AI works (the computer's thinking when its told to play a nation) then the switches of interest are:
-dd
--statfile
--scoreboard
--superhost
--comptrn

Change your icon that calls Dom3 and add these to the command line.
-dd --statfile --scoreboard --superhost
now create a new game (I prefer a really huge map).
Select a nation that can hold out well (I prefer Neifelheim or Jotunheim, or use the Watcher mod)
Add computer players (you can select the setting for one, then hold the "n" key to add all the rest)
Set the game settings. Setting Indepts low will speed up AI expansion
Start the game. Eat lunch or Go to bed.

The SuperHost setting will cause the game to just host over and over and over without waiting for you to do your turn. The --stats switch with superhost will give you a superstats.txt file which will give you information such as the ai-script the nation is running on (aggressive, normal, defensive). The scoreboard switch will give you the scores.html which you can check every so often to see what turn the game has reached and how well everyone in the game is doing.

At any point, kill the game. Remove --superhost and add --comptrn. Now restart the game and do one turn. You now have turn files for EVERY nation in the game including the computer players. You cant do their turn for them but you can see what they are doing.

Contrary to the belief of some, the AI is not mindless.

For more on the subject of watching the AI check out the thread
Curious about Dominions? how the AI thinks? which AI is best/worst?
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=41845

[Ragnarok-X]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

I also have one icon that generates a map with my favorite settings, then runs it thru a couple of programs to add surprises to it, then starts a game with this new map that I dont know anything about.

Care to elaborate on this exact subject ?

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by Ragnarok-X

Care to elaborate on this exact subject ?

You sure? Its kindof jumping right to the very end of the subject. Thats an extreme example of trying to use everything at once.

You can add to a shortcut all of the switches for the way you like random maps to be run, amount of each terrain, color of land, colors of borders, etc. And you can put all the switches for games. Hall of Fame size, Rename on, mods, and naming the game. But it tends to hit the 255 character limit if you try to do everything on one. So I split it to two and use a scripted program to run both. I make my shortcut to that script (on WIndows its a batch file, on Linux its a shell script).

So, on WinXP I create a batch file for the various things I want to do, then create a shortcut to that.
Such as....

D:
cd \progra~1\dominions3

:---- make the map------------------------------

dom3 -Td --makemap QuickGame --mapaa --mapsize 200 100 --mapprov 300 --seapart 10 --mountpart 50 --mapgcol 50 100 50 250 --mapscol 20 50 80 255 --mapbcol 100 130 100 229 --mapsbcol 21 194 111 104 --mapnoise 50 --borderwidth 1 ">log.txt

:---- now modify it ----------------------------

FOR /L %%X IN (1,1,300) DO @(
  ECHO #setland %%X >>maps\QuickGame.map
  ECHO #poptype 90 >>maps\QuickGame.map
)

ECHO #computerplayer 23 4   >>maps\QuickGame.map
ECHO #computerplayer 24 4   >>maps\QuickGame.map

type AI-alliances.txt  >>maps\QuickGame.map

:---now create a game with that map--------

dom3 --mapfile QuickGame.map -mwafc --statfile --scoredump --preexec pre.bat --postexec post.bat  --indepstr 9 --hofsize 15 --magicsites 75 --renaming --era 1 --enablemod stub.dm --enablemod SingleAgeComplete.dm --enablemod heroes1_8.dm --enablemod "Epic Heroes Mod 1.5.dm" --enablemod mytheology3.dm --enablemod sitemod.dm --enablemod SRAI_1.dm

This one modifies the map to be No-Indy, adds 2 special AIs, and sets up interesting alliances between various nations if I include them as AIs in the game.

The game line enables mods because done that way turns them on for that game and I dont have to turn them off again. They are automatically on for that game, and off when Im done.

In that middle section you can also do:
SemiRandom: of course which can scatter interesting provinces thru the map
Chaoticized: scatters random armies with equipment
Mazed: a program to randomly remove neighbor connections

You can also run programs which modify mods in order to surprise you.

You can also specify ALL the settings and start the game but that gets trickier. With some more trickery you can also run the game thru 20 or 50 or 100 turns to give the AI a head start.