🚀 go-pugleaf

Gandalf  Parker <gandalf@the.dead.ISP.of.Community.net> contributed
wisdom to  news:Xns9E70E007B7680gandalfparker@199.245.68.61: 

> the free Dominions 3 v3.26 patch/upgrade is now available for download
> at http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwinter/DOM3/DOM3_page.html

I should have waited and linked to this excellent press release by the 
company which talks about what is in the patch, and why you should care 
about patches for such an old game. :)

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=46939

Im 54 years old and still play games. Even more since I retired. Ive played 
A LOT of games. This is the most excellent game I have ever found (and this 
isnt even my preferred genre)


Gandalf  Parker

Il 18/01/2011 18:09, Gandalf Parker ha scritto:
> Im 54 years old and still play games. Even more since I retired. Ive played
> A LOT of games. This is the most excellent game I have ever found (and this
> isnt even my preferred genre)

I think that multiplayer is very good, but playing vs the AI a bit 
boring. What's your experience?

DeSangre <LOLZ@LOLZ.it> contributed wisdom to 
news:ih4iut$9qh$1@nnrp.ngi.it: 

> Il 18/01/2011 18:09, Gandalf Parker ha scritto:
>> Im 54 years old and still play games. Even more since I retired. Ive
>> played A LOT of games. This is the most excellent game I have ever
>> found (and this isnt even my preferred genre)
> 
> I think that multiplayer is very good, but playing vs the AI a bit 
> boring. What's your experience?

IMHO the AI is above average. Personally I play almost entirely against 
the AI. As I said this is not my preferred genre. I dont enjoy player-vs-
player. 

But in Dominions 3 the AI exceeds the average for such games which is 
usually barely capable of getting you past the tutorial. In this game it 
is well capable of of play for a year. Since the game is now 65 unique 
nations then just playing each of them until you have a firm grasp of the 
pros and cons of each is a lot of territory to cover. Also the game 
settings are widely variable. And it has a map generator which is 
adequate for solo play. Getting to the point of beating the AI with many 
nations against you, on its "Impossible" AI setting, on maximum maps, at 
extreme difficulty game settings, can be a long long time.

ON THE OTHER HAND... because the game has so much variety the AI was not 
capable of a ton of "IF" statements perfecting each action to each nation 
in each situation. The AI is rather general and non-specific in its 
tactics. Eventually you can learn how it does things. That doesnt 
automatically make the game a walk-thru but you can develop tactics that 
the AI cant handle. OR you can go onto the forum and find out what the AI 
does right and wrong, and what tactics to use against it. Also the AI 
tends to fall out in the late game due to too many variables. Its good 
for early expansion of the game. It can trudge thru middle-game. And 
tends to get clueless in late-game.

YET FLIPPING THINGS OVER AGAIN... just like MP portion of the game, the 
vanilla version of the game can eventually get old. Its FAR longer than 
other games Ive paid as much for and well worth the money. But even then, 
it doesnt have to end. The game has extensive command-switches for server 
mode, extensive map commands for scenarios, and majorly extensive modding 
commands. So as far as AI and Solo play the vanilla mode can be extended 
by use of settings, and maps, and mods that are designed specifically 
around the abilities and failures of the computer player. 

I still play solo in this game even after its been my favorite game for 6 
years. But in truth I rarely play vanilla (as originally delivered) mode. 
Such as, I like to create alliances within the AIs. All of the nature 
nations, and all of the fire nations, and all of the undead and blood 
magic nations. An alliance means they will no longer attack each other. 
And I now tend to play mostly with mods that add more pretender-gods to 
the game, more heroes, more magic sites, more spells, more summons. And 
adding modded nations as opponents. I also play on huge maps (1500 
provinces) with up to 95 nations. I also love the 3rd party programs of 
SemiRandom which adds surprise provinces to run across (Werewolve 
Village, Dragon Cave, etc) and the Chaos program which randomly gives 
everyone surprise units to start the game with. 

The End_Game tactics will still never equal human players so there is 
always somewhere to go to if the game gets stale for Solo play. When that 
happens I will let you know.

Things said about Dominions 3 can be found under the Dominions 3 link at 
the top of http://www.Dom3Minions.com


Gandalf  Parker
-- 
WARNING: this game is NOT suitable for students, interns,
apprentices, or anyone else who is expected to pass tests on a regular
basis. Do not think about Dominions strategys while operating heavy
machinery. If you find that your game has continued for more than 36
hours straight then you should consult a physician immeadiately (Do NOT
show him the game!)

Il 19/01/2011 15:25, Gandalf Parker ha scritto:
> Things said about Dominions 3 can be found under the Dominions 3 link at
> the top of http://www.Dom3Minions.com

Thanks Gandalf, very informative.
Marco

On 18 Jan 2011 17:09:23 GMT, Gandalf Parker wrote:

> Gandalf  Parker <gandalf@the.dead.ISP.of.Community.net> contributed
> wisdom to  news:Xns9E70E007B7680gandalfparker@199.245.68.61: 
> 
>> the free Dominions 3 v3.26 patch/upgrade is now available for download
>> at http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwinter/DOM3/DOM3_page.html
> 
> I should have waited and linked to this excellent press release by the 
> company which talks about what is in the patch, and why you should care 
> about patches for such an old game. :)
> 
> http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=46939
> 
> Im 54 years old and still play games. Even more since I retired. Ive played 
> A LOT of games. This is the most excellent game I have ever found (and this 
> isnt even my preferred genre)
> 
> 
> Gandalf  Parker

Awwww, crap: now I'll never get anything done. Thanks to your posts I
finally broke down and bought it last night. Bastard.

Bret

Bret Ripley <ripley@gotsky.com> contributed wisdom to 
news:9gbiys23uq9a.7iespk9mpk8y.dlg@40tude.net: 

>> Im 54 years old and still play games. Even more since I retired. Ive
>> played A LOT of games. This is the most excellent game I have ever
>> found (and this isnt even my preferred genre)
>> 
>> 
>> Gandalf  Parker
> 
> Awwww, crap: now I'll never get anything done. Thanks to your posts I
> finally broke down and bought it last night. Bastard.
> 
> Bret

I do hope you tried the demo first and didnt just go by my obviously biased 
opinion. :) The demo is way out of date with the patches and updates but 
can still give a good idea of what the games hook is. 

WARNING: this game is NOT suitable for students, interns, apprentices,
or anyone else who is expected to pass tests on a regular basis. Do not
think about Dominions strategies while operating heavy machinery. The
demo has built-in protections which should not be bypassed. They are for
your health as much as for monetary reasons. Do not begin on the full
version without first making arrangments for someone to check on you
daily. If you find that your game has continued for more than 36 hours
straight then you should consult a physician immeadiately (Do NOT show
him the game!)

Gandalf  Parker

On 28 Jan 2011 13:56:59 GMT, Gandalf Parker wrote:

> Bret Ripley <ripley@gotsky.com> contributed wisdom to 
> news:9gbiys23uq9a.7iespk9mpk8y.dlg@40tude.net: 
> 
>>> Im 54 years old and still play games. Even more since I retired. Ive
>>> played A LOT of games. This is the most excellent game I have ever
>>> found (and this isnt even my preferred genre)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Gandalf  Parker
>> 
>> Awwww, crap: now I'll never get anything done. Thanks to your posts I
>> finally broke down and bought it last night. Bastard.
>> 
>> Bret
> 
> I do hope you tried the demo first and didnt just go by my obviously biased 
> opinion. :) 

Sorry, I'm kind of busy at the mo -- I'll try to respond just as soon as I
finish researching level 4 Alteration. But to do that I really should start
recruiting more Druids ... if I can remember which province I saw them in.
Oh, and I really do need to try to remember to use resources more
efficiently. Hold on: there's a neighboring province that looks ripe for
the picking ... 

Eh, did you say something?

> The demo is way out of date with the patches and updates but 
> can still give a good idea of what the games hook is. 

There's a demo?

> WARNING: this game is NOT suitable for students, interns, apprentices,
> or anyone else who is expected to pass tests on a regular basis. Do not
> think about Dominions strategies while operating heavy machinery. The
> demo has built-in protections which should not be bypassed. They are for
> your health as much as for monetary reasons. Do not begin on the full
> version without first making arrangments for someone to check on you
> daily. If you find that your game has continued for more than 36 hours
> straight then you should consult a physician immeadiately (Do NOT show
> him the game!)

:/

Darn you to heck, Mr. Parker.

Bret

On Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:36:57 -0800, Bret Ripley wrote:

> On 28 Jan 2011 13:56:59 GMT, Gandalf Parker wrote:
> 
>> Bret Ripley <ripley@gotsky.com> contributed wisdom to 
>> news:9gbiys23uq9a.7iespk9mpk8y.dlg@40tude.net: 
>> 
>>>> Im 54 years old and still play games. Even more since I retired. Ive
>>>> played A LOT of games. This is the most excellent game I have ever
>>>> found (and this isnt even my preferred genre)
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Gandalf  Parker
>>> 
>>> Awwww, crap: now I'll never get anything done. Thanks to your posts I
>>> finally broke down and bought it last night. Bastard.
>>> 
>>> Bret
>> 
>> I do hope you tried the demo first and didnt just go by my obviously biased 
>> opinion. :) 
> 
> Sorry, I'm kind of busy at the mo -- I'll try to respond just as soon as I
> finish researching level 4 Alteration. But to do that I really should start
> recruiting more Druids ... if I can remember which province I saw them in.
> Oh, and I really do need to try to remember to use resources more
> efficiently. Hold on: there's a neighboring province that looks ripe for
> the picking ... 
> 
> Eh, did you say something?
> 
>> The demo is way out of date with the patches and updates but 
>> can still give a good idea of what the games hook is. 
> 
> There's a demo?
> 
>> WARNING: this game is NOT suitable for students, interns, apprentices,
>> or anyone else who is expected to pass tests on a regular basis. Do not
>> think about Dominions strategies while operating heavy machinery. The
>> demo has built-in protections which should not be bypassed. They are for
>> your health as much as for monetary reasons. Do not begin on the full
>> version without first making arrangments for someone to check on you
>> daily. If you find that your game has continued for more than 36 hours
>> straight then you should consult a physician immeadiately (Do NOT show
>> him the game!)
> 
> :/
> 
> Darn you to heck, Mr. Parker.
> 
> Bret

I noticed on the Dominions 3 forums that you've created some mods. I'm
still getting my feet wet with the (patched) vanilla game, so I think it'll
be a while before I'm ready to start messing around with any gameplay mods.
However, if there are any mods that offer improved graphics or sound I may
give those a try. Any recommendations will be appreciated.

Bret 

Bret Ripley <ripley@gotsky.com> contributed wisdom to 
news:kbt6yqzhiunv.o52e4dublgdc.dlg@40tude.net: 

> I noticed on the Dominions 3 forums that you've created some mods. I'm
> still getting my feet wet with the (patched) vanilla game, so I think
> it'll be a while before I'm ready to start messing around with any
> gameplay mods. However, if there are any mods that offer improved
> graphics or sound I may give those a try. Any recommendations will be
> appreciated. 

I dont know of any mods that improve graphics. Many of them use the game 
images and rework them into something better. But they also tend to go 
beyond that to changing its colors and stats making it an entirely new 
unit. Those are usually in mods which create completely new nations or 
summons spells to add to the game.

The only sounds mod I know of isnt really a mod either. Its Ballbarian's 
file of replacement sounds for elefant.smp (oliphants) f_death.sw (1 of the 
female death sounds) fear.smp (R'lyeh mind blast & several death/fear 
spells) sling.sw (slings) vasande.smp (Wyrm, etc). This is definetly a life 
saver if your significant other is irritated by some of the sounds the game 
makes.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6048&d=
1203692178

There are some theme collections which change the background screens and 
colors. 

Other than that the mods I play with tend to be in the "more More MORE" 
category. More pretenders, more heroes, more magic sites, more spells, more 
nations, etc.

Gandalf  Parker
--
per peer-pressure preoccupation
My maps, mods, and mullings can be found at
http://www.Dom3Minions.com

On 30 Jan 2011 14:18:33 GMT, Gandalf Parker wrote:

> Bret Ripley <ripley@gotsky.com> contributed wisdom to 
> news:kbt6yqzhiunv.o52e4dublgdc.dlg@40tude.net: 
> 
>> I noticed on the Dominions 3 forums that you've created some mods. I'm
>> still getting my feet wet with the (patched) vanilla game, so I think
>> it'll be a while before I'm ready to start messing around with any
>> gameplay mods. However, if there are any mods that offer improved
>> graphics or sound I may give those a try. Any recommendations will be
>> appreciated. 
> 
> I dont know of any mods that improve graphics. Many of them use the game 
> images and rework them into something better.

I should have been more precise when I mentioned graphics. What I would
find helpful is if during recruiting and army setup I could more readily
identify units without having to constantly click on them. Maybe I just
need a larger monitor or better eyes.

Also, at one point during the tutorial the manual mentions that the temple
I built in Cape Brumal would appear on the map (the manual even includes an
illustration). Hover, none of the temples I have built have appeared on the
map (I can verify that they are indeed there by right-clicking on the
province). Probably not a big deal, but odd.

> But they also tend to go 
> beyond that to changing its colors and stats making it an entirely new 
> unit. Those are usually in mods which create completely new nations or 
> summons spells to add to the game.
> 
> The only sounds mod I know of isnt really a mod either. Its Ballbarian's 
> file of replacement sounds for elefant.smp (oliphants) f_death.sw (1 of the 
> female death sounds) fear.smp (R'lyeh mind blast & several death/fear 
> spells) sling.sw (slings) vasande.smp (Wyrm, etc). This is definetly a life 
> saver if your significant other is irritated by some of the sounds the game 
> makes.
> http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6048&d=
> 1203692178

Cool, thanks!

> There are some theme collections which change the background screens and 
> colors. 
> 
> Other than that the mods I play with tend to be in the "more More MORE" 
> category. More pretenders, more heroes, more magic sites, more spells, more 
> nations, etc.

Thanks. I'll probably check them out later, but for now I need to get a
firmer grip on basic game mechanics before I start tweaking anything.

Cheers,

Bret

Bret Ripley <ripley@gotsky.com> contributed wisdom to 
news:12mld4w6aebzy$.1basv5a6sxp1b.dlg@40tude.net: 

> Also, at one point during the tutorial the manual mentions that the
> temple I built in Cape Brumal would appear on the map (the manual even
> includes an illustration). Hover, none of the temples I have built
> have appeared on the map (I can verify that they are indeed there by
> right-clicking on the province). Probably not a big deal, but odd.

That is odd.
Maybe you pressed one of the numeric keys? They toggle various screen 
displays. I think the temples is 5?


Keypresses is one of the biggest lapses in this game. The 2 developers 
would add things to the game all the time and forget to mention them. For 
some stuff that was kindof fun. But keypresses were the worst. It 
apparently was easy for them to add one and forget they added it. 

This is an almost complete keypress chart compiled by the players over 
the last few years.
http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Hotkey

Have fun trying out the many nations. They are all (63 now?) very 
different to play. In role playing games what do you tend to play? I tend 
to think of the nations in those terms (fighter, mage, priest, thief, 
barbarian, druid, paladin, assassin, archer, necromancer, researcher, 
seducer).

Middle era Man is a good learning nation. Hard to win with but everything 
is pretty clear what it does so you can concentrate on learning the 
basics. Neifelheim seems a good learning nation to win with easier. 

New player tip: Dont negelect to pay attention to your dominion. That is 
after all the name of the game.

New player tip 2: When the game seems too rough new players tend to turn 
the independents strength down. Wrong direction. That just lets the AI 
nations rush you. Turn the independents up and it will slow down the AIs. 

Glimpse years into the future: I now play Dom3 with  Mytheology and 
Immortal Pretenders and Nova Deus mods(more gods), Worthy and Epic (more 
heroes), CPCS (more spells), the Magic Sites mod (more sites), Elemental 
End Game and End Game Mod (more & bigger monsters). And then throw in 
SingleAgeComplete mod so I can play with all 3 era's nations at once and 
maybe fill the extra nation slots from 73-95 with modded nations. All on 
a 1500 province map!
AND THEN RUN THE GAME THRU THE CHAOS PROGRAM MUHAhahahahahaa!


Gandalf  Parker
-- 
After years of trying I think I can say that there is no absolute 
"winning" strategy for Dominions 3. However, I have personally discovered 
100's of losing ones.

On 31 Jan 2011 13:05:47 GMT, Gandalf Parker wrote:

> Maybe you pressed one of the numeric keys? They toggle various screen 
> displays. I think the temples is 5?

Thanks, that was it. At one point the tutorial mentions that F5 is a
shortcut for "Research", but I think I probably pressed 5 by mistake.

> This is an almost complete keypress chart compiled by the players over 
> the last few years.
> http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Hotkey

Wow. I guess I'd better stop the kittens from walking over my keyboard.

> Have fun trying out the many nations. They are all (63 now?) very 
> different to play. In role playing games what do you tend to play? I tend 
> to think of the nations in those terms (fighter, mage, priest, thief, 
> barbarian, druid, paladin, assassin, archer, necromancer, researcher, 
> seducer).

Huh. RPG is my favorite genre, so I can relate to that approach.

> Middle era Man is a good learning nation. Hard to win with but everything 
> is pretty clear what it does so you can concentrate on learning the 
> basics. Neifelheim seems a good learning nation to win with easier. 
> 
> New player tip: Dont negelect to pay attention to your dominion. That is 
> after all the name of the game.
> 
> New player tip 2: When the game seems too rough new players tend to turn 
> the independents strength down. Wrong direction. That just lets the AI 
> nations rush you. Turn the independents up and it will slow down the AIs. 

I appreciate the tips.

> Glimpse years into the future: I now play Dom3 with  Mytheology and 
> Immortal Pretenders and Nova Deus mods(more gods), Worthy and Epic (more 
> heroes), CPCS (more spells), the Magic Sites mod (more sites), Elemental 
> End Game and End Game Mod (more & bigger monsters). And then throw in 
> SingleAgeComplete mod so I can play with all 3 era's nations at once and 
> maybe fill the extra nation slots from 73-95 with modded nations. All on 
> a 1500 province map!
> AND THEN RUN THE GAME THRU THE CHAOS PROGRAM MUHAhahahahahaa!

I knew it ... you are an evil bastard.

I am enjoying DOM3 so far. It seems odd, but I find I enjoy thinking about
DOM3 almost as much as I enjoy playing DOM3.

Bret

Bret Ripley <ripley@gotsky.com> contributed wisdom to 
news:ux50org19zkj$.1s9rjjqq40qnq$.dlg@40tude.net: 

> I am enjoying DOM3 so far. It seems odd, but I find I enjoy thinking
> about DOM3 almost as much as I enjoy playing DOM3.

OK I wont mind continuing then....

As an old RPGer and DnDer I have fun with Dom3. It totally sparks my 
creative side. Firstly because I dont get the feel that all Im doing is 
finding my way thru what the developer planned for me. Its very open-ended. 
Much of what is in the game gives you the impression that the devs werent 
really sure WHAT the players might do with it and thats cool.

The other thing is that I love putting storyline to the games actions. The 
"serious strategy wargame" crowd just laughs at that but I think its fun. 
On various Dom3 forums they have writeups called LPs or AARs that are great 
reading. Like reading an SF/Fantasy novel. Taking the games actions and 
adding dialog to it is a blast as far as Im concerned.

I keep saying that if someone were to do one with story on the left page 
and game-actions on the right page, Id help them get it published at no 
cost.

Gandalf  Parker

On 02 Feb 2011 16:36:38 GMT, Gandalf Parker wrote:

> Bret Ripley <ripley@gotsky.com> contributed wisdom to 
> news:ux50org19zkj$.1s9rjjqq40qnq$.dlg@40tude.net: 
> 
>> I am enjoying DOM3 so far. It seems odd, but I find I enjoy thinking
>> about DOM3 almost as much as I enjoy playing DOM3.
> 
> OK I wont mind continuing then....

Oh, by all means.

> As an old RPGer and DnDer I have fun with Dom3. It totally sparks my 
> creative side. Firstly because I dont get the feel that all Im doing is 
> finding my way thru what the developer planned for me. Its very open-ended. 
> Much of what is in the game gives you the impression that the devs werent 
> really sure WHAT the players might do with it and thats cool.

That is consistent with my impressions so far (noob that I be), and I agree
it is cool. I too was a D&D player and DM (back in the heady days of AD&D
and 2E), and while "open-ended" requires more work and creativity it is
infinitely more rewarding than perpetual plot-hammering.

> The other thing is that I love putting storyline to the games actions. The 
> "serious strategy wargame" crowd just laughs at that but I think its fun. 

I don't do storylines, per se, but I do tend to play strategy games as if
there were an underlying narrative. A simple example: back when I used to
play Medieval: Total War, if a formerly allied faction began attacking my
territories I would go out of my way in my attempts to wipe them off the
map (even if my form of "national vengeance" wasn't strictly the best
strategic move). I haven't done anything like that yet in DOM3 because I'm
still messing around with the Tutorial scenario, so it's just independents
and only one real (and so far rather timid) enemy.

> On various Dom3 forums they have writeups called LPs or AARs that are great 
> reading. Like reading an SF/Fantasy novel. Taking the games actions and 
> adding dialog to it is a blast as far as Im concerned.

I noticed that there were "after action reports" on the forums, but didn't
check them out. I'll have to take a look at them one of these days.

Bret

Please excuse me for butting into your conversation...

I'm playing the demo (tutorial and a few games on my own...) , and I have a 
few questions to ask. Of course I have a ton, in fact, and I know that I'm 
quite likely to come round and buy the full game soon - juicy 300 pages 
maual and all - unpleasant as I find not being able to get it at a a 
physical place [well, 56 and still playing games, here - small 
eccentricities are  my cup of tea :-)]; and I know that with patience and 
luck I might be able to find some answer, at least, in forums and other 
on-line resources; but these few ones are bothering me right now... Answers 
would really be appreciated. And GP, after all, is *the* Propet - or at 
least a very good spreader of the word...

1) What are the standard victory conditions? In  other words, what is my 
final goal? Killing all other pretenders? (but then, some of them seem to be 
immortal!) Spreading my dominion to all provinces (and maybe reach a given 
minimun level on each) of the map ? Or what?
2) Is there, at least for the sake of learning & experimenting, a way to go 
back to a previous situation and try something different? - apart from 
exiting the game, making a copy of the savegame somewhere else and copying 
it onto the current one when needed - which is a littlebit, let me say, 
clumsy? As it is, a single wrong click (say, on "end turn") may be enough to 
dash all hopes to see how viable a whole set of choices is.
3) Is there a way, for learning purposes, to eliminate random events (or at 
least the big ones, such as having a pivotal province invaded by unstoppable 
indipendent heroes out of nowhere)? I may agree that a main part of strategy 
is the art of turning the unexpected to your advantage, but when you don't 
even know what kind of unexpected you can expect...?

TIA and good gaming!

Alfredo 

"Alfredo Tutino" <MI0307@mclink.it> contributed wisdom to 
news:iicqg7$qr1$1@newsreader1.mclink.it: 

> [well, 56 and still playing games, here -
> small eccentricities are  my cup of tea :-)]; 

Ahh I turn 55 in a couple of months.

> and I know that with
> patience and luck I might be able to find some answer, at least, in
> forums and other on-line resources; 

TIP: the forum searches tend to stink. But you can use google and limit the 
search to a particular forum with the site: tag. So if you were curious 
about the Tower map for newbies you would go to google or yahoo and put in
tower map site:forum.shrapnelgames.com

Also there is a wiki (that goes up and down alot) at 
http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Main_Page

> but these few ones are bothering
> me right now... Answers would really be appreciated. And GP, after
> all, is *the* Propet - or at least a very good spreader of the word...

In full disclosure, I am biased. Im mentioned in the credits as a beta 
tester which due to continued patching and upgrades I still do. And Ive 
worked for the publisher. Altho I dont think it would have changed my love 
of this game. But I no longer have any ties or benefits from sales. :)
 
> 1) What are the standard victory conditions? In  other words, what is
> my final goal? Killing all other pretenders? 

The standard game tends to be a King-of-the-Hill regular old wargame 
strategy thing. Or in more RPGish terms "There can only be ONE!". (I like 
naming some of my gods "Juan, for there can only be Juan!"

In the developers storyline the Pantokrator was ruling the universe and 
decided to leave. Now many "pretenders" have gained enough power to 
consider themselves worthy of the position but to become a full god they 
have to get the others out of the way. Newish players often ask the chat 
channels "why cant my god bless himself or use holy powers like my 
priests" and the answer is "Because they get it from belief in you but you 
know that you are not a god. Not yet. Just a pretender."

> (but then, some of them
> seem to be immortal!) Spreading my dominion to all provinces (and
> maybe reach a given minimun level on each) of the map ? 

And therein the tip to not forget that the name of the game is dominions. 
Your pretender gains power (hit points, strength, and magic resistance) in 
your own dominion based on its strangth (how many white candles are in the 
province if you have that display turned on by pressing "3"). It also loses 
those in someone elses dominion. So for really troublesome enemies you can 
build more temples on his border and send more priests there and have them 
pray. If you can convert all his dominion to yours he will die, or at least 
be very weak when you attack.

> 2) Is there, at least for the sake of learning & experimenting, a way
> to go back to a previous situation and try something different? -
> apart from exiting the game, making a copy of the savegame somewhere
> else and copying it onto the current one when needed - which is a
> littlebit, let me say, clumsy? 

Sorry about that. There are many reasons that is "clumsy" at best. Its turn 
based, PbEM, a Linux game, and the developers own dislike for do-overs. 

For PbEM games (multiplayer Play-by-EMail) the save-games are automatic. 
You always have all your previous turns in your mail. For solo gaming there 
are various player-made utilities. I have a really simple WinXP shortcut on 
my site http://www.dom3minions.com/utilities.htm
Others by other people are more intuitive, or menu driven, or just written 
in various programming languages of choice.


> 3) Is there a way, for learning purposes, to
> eliminate random events (or at least the big ones, such as having a
> pivotal province invaded by unstoppable indipendent heroes out of
> nowhere)?

When you create a game you can set Random Events to Common or Rare.

But it wont quite remove them entirely. They are considered a basic part of 
the game and its (strange) concept of balance. When you create your 
pretender you can see how some of the settings affect random events. 
Setting your dominion to spread Order or Turmoil will help. More order in 
your domain will help avoid random events while Turmoil increases them. And 
the Luck setting can affect if they are good events or bad one. The type of 
events often have multiple triggers. Such as if you took a dominion boost 
to Magic and Luck. Or to changes in the Growth/Death scale. One of the 
effects of any extreme settings in the scales tend to being events to 
match.

Also those events are part of the built-in pro/con balance of some nations. 
Some such as Bogarus can increase misfortune (and events) in the provinces 
near there. Some such as Tien Chi get special pretenders they can choose 
which can increase the good fortuen events in their presence. And some 
nations get special mages (often calle fortune tellers) who can foresee 
events (help to avoid bad events in their provinces). 

So Im afraid its too much a part of the game to have any switch for taking 
it out completely. Its your prise of punishment for the choices you made.


Gandalf  Parker
-- 
Of COURSE you have found the perfect winning combination...
but keep in mind that they have also, and theirs is different.

Many thanks for your informative and sociable answers (and comments).

> Also there is a wiki (that goes up and down alot) at
> http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Main_Page

Yes, I had noticed (and used) it...

> In full disclosure, I am biased. Im mentioned in the credits as a beta
> tester which due to continued patching and upgrades I still do. And Ive
> worked for the publisher. Altho I dont think it would have changed my love
> of this game. But I no longer have any ties or benefits from sales. :)

I wouldn't mind if you did, in fact :-) And I have dim recollections of 
several posts on the matter, in some dim past...

> The standard game tends to be a King-of-the-Hill regular old wargame
> strategy thing. Or in more RPGish terms "There can only be ONE!". (I like
> naming some of my gods "Juan, for there can only be Juan!"

A bilingual pun! (I had to read it 3 or 4 times to get it - but I'm no 
native speaker of  English nor Spanish).

> Newish players often ask the chat
> channels "why cant my god bless himself or use holy powers like my
> priests" and the answer is "Because they get it from belief in you but you
> know that you are not a god. Not yet. Just a pretender."

A sort of "degré zero" of theology (this is French, but you asked for it! - 
and wait: I may get to Latin!): it is the faith that matters, not the god! 
It's temtping to speculate on a mod that might let you do entirely without a 
real pretender - a conspiracy of high priests, a pretended pretender, all 
the more present because absent, entirely shrouded from the faithful, 
impossible to destroy because it doesn't exist in the first place... its 
form, probably, a sort of spaghetti monster...

>> 2) Is there, at least for the sake of learning & experimenting, a way
>> to go back to a previous situation and try something different? -

> For solo gaming there
> are various player-made utilities. I have a really simple WinXP shortcut 
> on
> my site http://www.dom3minions.com/utilities.htm

Thank you. I have downloaded and already used it (I did something very 
foolish - with hindsight - and lost my pretender...)

A last question (if you know and can be bothered): is there a way of paying, 
downloading the game immediately, and still receive the boxed version with 
the printed manual by mail later ?  I did that with GalCivII from Impulse, 
but can't find this piece of info in Shrapnel's site, and transoceanic 
shipping to Italy can sometimes take really long (when GalCiv box finally 
arrived, I had had the time to decide that I didn't much like the game 
anyway - which, by the way, I should have known, after playing GalCivI).

Thank you again, and happy gaming

Alfredo

"Alfredo Tutino" <MI0307@mclink.it> contributed wisdom to 
news:iifeq6$18vp$1@newsreader2.mclink.it: 

> A last question (if you know and can be bothered): is there a way of
> paying, downloading the game immediately, and still receive the boxed
> version with the printed manual by mail later ? 

Not that I know of. I also get people asking about buying the boxed set but 
still wanting the manual in PDF form. Or about the fact that the download 
only seems to give you one of the 3 versions (Linux, Windows, Mac) unlike 
the disc which gives you all of them.

The digital download thing is kindof new on Shrapnel and they still may 
making decisions. Also Shrapnel is a small family run business. So Id 
suggest asking them directly. The official and posted for everyone to use 
or abuse answer might not be the same as you would get if you ask 
personally in a nice way. Just my opinion.


Gandalf  Parker
-- 
THE ASCENSION IS YOURS!
(some assembly required)

Thank you again.

Playing the demo, last night I managed to score my first  win. Nothing to 
boast about, really: easy AI, Arco vs Kailasa, small map (due to spell and 
time limits off the demo) and I think the AI "chose" a low-dominion, 
slumbering pretender - I won when she had no believer left). but satisfying.

Alfredo


"Gandalf Parker" <gandalf@the.dead.ISP.of.Community.net> ha scritto nel 
messaggio news:Xns9E8239C544924gandalfparker@199.245.68.61...
> "Alfredo Tutino" <MI0307@mclink.it> contributed wisdom to
> news:iifeq6$18vp$1@newsreader2.mclink.it:
>
>> A last question (if you know and can be bothered): is there a way of
>> paying, downloading the game immediately, and still receive the boxed
>> version with the printed manual by mail later ?
>
> Not that I know of. I also get people asking about buying the boxed set 
> but
> still wanting the manual in PDF form. Or about the fact that the download
> only seems to give you one of the 3 versions (Linux, Windows, Mac) unlike
> the disc which gives you all of them.
>
> The digital download thing is kindof new on Shrapnel and they still may
> making decisions. Also Shrapnel is a small family run business. So Id
> suggest asking them directly. The official and posted for everyone to use
> or abuse answer might not be the same as you would get if you ask
> personally in a nice way. Just my opinion.
>
>
> Gandalf  Parker
> -- 
> THE ASCENSION IS YOURS!
> (some assembly required) 

"Alfredo Tutino" <MI0307@mclink.it> contributed wisdom to 
news:iijcmg$2bth$1@newsreader2.mclink.it: 

> 
> Playing the demo, last night I managed to score my first  win. Nothing
> to boast about, really: easy AI, Arco vs Kailasa, small map (due to
> spell and time limits off the demo) and I think the AI "chose" a
> low-dominion, slumbering pretender - I won when she had no believer
> left). but satisfying. 

A win is a win.

One of the Pros (and Cons) of the game is that the AIs selections are 
almost completely random. On the one hand it provides ultimate 
replayability. And no matter how good you get, the AI still has a chance to 
surprise you. On the other hand, the AI can often come out stupid. It can 
create domain settings that actually kill it before you ever find it.

There are however many maps, mods, and 3rd party programs that provide 
various levels of boost to the AI later when you get tired of the randoms. 
After years, I still enjoy the Solo games with Dom3.


Gandalf  Parker