I am crossing my fingers, but I doubt this...

Argitoth · #1 April 5th, 2006, 07:29 PM

Well, I am crossing my fingers, but I doubt this has been changed.

In dominions 1 and 2, each mage takes its own little amount of time to cast a spell. Mage 1: Casts flaming darts, Mage 2: Casts fire sheild, Mage 3: Casts vine arrow, etc etc. But what if in dominions 3 mages can cast at the exact same time? There are two different setups for this idea. Semi-synchronized and Completely-synchronized.

Semi: All mages casting the same spell do so at once, mages casting other spells have to wait till it's their turn. For example: 3 mages cast flaming darts at the same time, then 2 mages then cast fire shield at the same time.

Completely: All mages cast all spells at once.

Either one would make me verrrrry happy. I just hate that when I tell 10 sauromancers to cast Raise Skeleton or Disintegrate that they all have to do it one by one. Anyway, 10 mages casting a spell like Flame Darts at the same time would be a very cool sight and would ultimately be more realistic.

maybe this is for Dominions 4?

NTJedi · #2 April 5th, 2006, 07:48 PM

Yes this would be great idea... probably best to start with semi-synchronized at first... it's always best to approach new game features with caution.

Perhaps Dominions_4.

Taven · #3 April 6th, 2006, 12:38 AM

I too, would very much like to see this incorporated somehow. Having 25+ Anathemant Dragons casting fireballs takes quit a while.

And there doesn't seem to be any unbalancing factor here, as all of the enemy forces aren't moving or enacting, so it would have the same effect.

As NT Jedi said above, perhaps in Dom 4

.

Saber Cherry · #4 April 6th, 2006, 01:41 AM

I don't understand why it would be good to approach this with caution, since there is no 'danger'. The battle is already resolved when you see it. Spell sync would simply display the results much faster. Dominions 4? ... I see no reason to arbitrarily delay something useful. It wouldn't be a massive combat engine change, just a change in the order of displaying things. It sounds like a good idea, so if the devs have time, maybe they'll add it. Putting it in a hypothetical Doms4 wouldn't be any easier.

Argitoth · #5 April 6th, 2006, 02:13 AM

But there should be a certain organization of which spells can be cast at the sime time. As I try to write this post I run into so many problems of which spells should be cast together. Therefor to make it simple we should remain with the semi-synchronized idea which just only the *same* spell can be cast at the same time with the exception of:

Any self-targeted spells (resistances, shield spells, etc.) should be cast at the same time at the beginning of every round for example, regardless of if they are not the same spell. The fact they are self-targeting spells means they shouldn't be cast one by one. For example, Mage 1 casts magic resistance, mage 2 cast fire resistance, mage 3 cast fire shield, mage 4 cast rage on himself (STOOPIT MAGE!!!), but all those spells should happen at the same time.

Another example: We shouldn't have vine arrow and disintegrate cast at the same time because the vine arrow would have a possibility of targetting a target that JUST got disintegrated. Simple spells like Vine Arrow, Fireball, Flame darts, these kinds of spells should also be cast at the same time together. They are all spells that MOVE across the battlefield unlike some instant Area of Effect spells and disintegrate.

Any other exceptions you can think of?

Saber Cherry · #6 April 6th, 2006, 02:57 AM

As long as the casting is done in order, but the display of the casting is done simultaneously, there don't need to be any exceptions. However, I would prefer that only identical spells are simulcast.

Gandalf Parker · #7 April 6th, 2006, 10:49 AM

Personally I would really like a timeline that lets me jump to a frame. I know that the developers are proud of the animated battles but using the spacebar to catch something is rough. Sometimes I only want to see one thing, maybe the first from or the last one.

Ive been tempted to try and find a decent "movie" recorder that I can use to record the combats, and will give me more frame-control

Argitoth · #8 April 6th, 2006, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Saber Cherry said:
As long as the casting is done in order, but the display of the casting is done simultaneously, there don't need to be any exceptions. However, I would prefer that only identical spells are simulcast.

arrite, well if we can get the developers to make the same spells cast at the same time then I'll be very happy. I wouldn't want to dissuade this with my complex ideas of how it should work.

NTJedi · #9 April 6th, 2006, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Saber Cherry said:
I don't understand why it would be good to approach this with caution, since there is no 'danger'. The battle is already resolved when you see it. Spell sync would simply display the results much faster. Dominions 4? ... I see no reason to arbitrarily delay something useful.

This isn't some flip a light switch... hey wow it works. Based on the programming this could be a small or big task.

It is more realistic for battles to be more simultaneous so it is a good idea.

Argitoth · #10 April 6th, 2006, 05:16 PM

Quote:

NTJedi said:This isn't some flip a light switch... hey wow it works. Based on the programming this could be a small or big task.

Well, even if they can do it after the game is released, that'd be cool too. Maybe we can get some insight from one of the developers.

*Sends Prophet of Holy(5) to "Call God"*