Another Dominions thread

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by quantum_mechani

heh, thats what happens when you take ten dominion and fires of the faith (wouldn't want any nasty Ermor pop killing...)

Oh dear, Iron Faith and Fires of the Faith? Urgaia isn't big enough for two inquisitions.

Unfortunetly, I can't say that devotion to the Iron Faith is quite as fervant as yours, but I can assure you that the Black Priests are much more... methodical.

[Sandman]

Turn 4 out.

[Sandman]

Turn 5 is on its way.

And, solo, messages and diplomacy aren't against the rules, it's just that Jotunheim has no interest in any such arrangements with Arcoscephale. I was honourable enough to return your blood slaves, at least.

Marignon is on your doorstep, anyway.

[solo]

Okay, now I get what you meant by no agreements. Thanks for the clarification.

[General Ludd]

By the way, work on Dominions 3 is apparently underway. Has anyone heard anything about it?

[quantum_mechani]

I think they are aiming for late this year. They are adding three more nations, other than that they haven't said much about the new features.

[solo]

Here are some more details from the developer's diary:

Hmm, well, Hello!

There is to be a Dominions 3 developers diary, or so I hear. I have never written a diary and I have never seen a developers diary. So what should I write? Whatever comes into my mind I suppose.

My name is Kristoffer Osterman. I'm about 50% of the Illwinter crew. I am the master of the world (uttered in a booming voice). It is I who make the sprites and most of the unit descriptions in the game. I like to create worlds. I have done so since I was eleven years old and got my first RPG. So I am the master of the world. JK on the other hand is the watchmaker. He makes the laws of the world (he is the programmer). This makes division of labor easy. I make sprites, write descriptions, add new units and spells, and JK makes everything else work. Unless I find the inspiration to make a new monster it will not appear. So, I have a veto on the world, but JK has a veto on everything.

So, Dominions 3 is announced. The contract is signed etc. But what do we have in mind? What are we doing? What am I doing?

We began work on Dominions 3 late spring. We had some ideas that would take some efforts to incorporate in Dom2. Better start with something new. Or at least partly new.

During Origins we had some discussions with Shrapnel about were we wanted to go. They were all ears. We went home, took some well earned vacations and resumed work.

So what will Dom3 be like?

Hard to say at the moment. We rarely work after a plan. Changes are mostly done when we get a good idea or at rare occasions when something seems necessary.

The game basics will be the same. Nations, pretenders, battle orders, magic research etc. Those who have played dominions before will feel at home.

Dom2 was apparently not an easy game to get into, so we will have to work a bit on user friendlieness. This is scary. I'm friendly, but I don't know too much about Users.

Nations and themes:
Themes will be reworked and rebalanced. Many of the ideas from the forum has proven useful. Caelum now has it's three themes almost finished. Now I like the raptor theme, not just the idea. There are also some major changes in theme/nation setup. We are still experimenting here.

Currently three new nations are in the works, but it is likely that more will come. I have a year to go and I'm almost finished with these.

I like arms. Most Indian gods have several. Thus I like Indian gods. This month I have delved into Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana, some other books, and Online resources to find more about Indian spirits and supernatural beings. Bandar Log, a new Indian inspired nation will have themes with additional mythological content and unique summons. Celestial apsaras and gandharvas as well as malign rakshasas and daityas will be available for the Bandar player.

There is also a couple of new gods. Some of eastern appearence others of mediterranean, northern or southern dito.

Some other stuff:
Morale system is remade. Perhaps we will be able to explain how it works now. Life drain altered, probably not for the Last time. Shields parry instead of adding to prot and def. Strikes in head dangerous. Keep your helmet on. Insanity instead of feeblemindness in the void gate. Nation specific researchable spells and summons.

Current unit count 1347. Thats 252 new ones. 17 new gods.

/Kristoffer Osterman

---

This month I have been working mostly on the battlefield graphics. Dominions 3d engine has got a well needed update. There has been significant speed improvements for modern 3d cards. Forests now consists of thousands of trees and bushes, so if Dominions III were a FPS you wouldn't be able to see the end of the forest because of all the trees. Also new is the grass that covers the ground and will blow if there is a storm going on.

Other than graphical stuff I have been beefing up some old spells that weren't as featureful as we wanted as well as implementing a few new ones. Since most simple spells were already created in Dominions II any new spells that are added now usually involves quite a bit of coding. I try to stay away from recycling spell effect, because it is way more interesting with a different effect than another name and 10 points more of damage.

/Johan Karlsson

Stay tuned for more developer diaries in the future. Same Shrapnel channel, same Shrapnel time!

[Sandman]

Turn 6 is out.

I wonder what the Bandar Log will be like? I'd expect elephants, throwing discs instead of javelins, and a broad, T'ien-Chi-like magic spread, possibly more slanted towards fire and earth.

[Sandman]

Turn 7 has been done. Marignon is looking scary.

[LDiCesare]

Nation specific researchable spells and summons.

This looks interesting. Only Tien Chi had specific summons (and good onse, particularly for Spring & Autumn). It's a bit sad they work on the 3D things. I always hit 'w' when I look at battles, to get rid of the terrain, except sometimes for sieges where terrain has a purpose.
As to Man, I like their witches when you can up their air power a bit so they can cast lightning bolts and summon air elementals. Nature only helps me with bags of wine and supplies to maintain huge forces.

[quantum_mechani]

Originally posted by Sandman
Turn 7 has been done. Marignon is looking scary.

Hmm... just ran smack into Ermor... crusade time

[Sandman]

Turn 8 delivered.

[Sandman]

I've not yet got quantum's turn (or maybe I deleted it by mistake)...

[quantum_mechani]

Originally posted by Sandman
I've not yet got quantum's turn (or maybe I deleted it by mistake)...

I'm very sorry about the delay, I've been having modem problems. Anyway, turn finally sent.

[Sandman]

Turn 9 has been sent.