DOOM

parone · September 03, 2013, 05:35:07 AM

turn extended 36 hours to accommodate phobos.

alastair is going to try to continue on, so no sub needed as of yet. he has asked that the turn interval be increased to 60 hours, which I have done.

extra time means more time to get your turn in, but always runs the risk of people getting disinterested as the game loses momentum. so try not to let that happen! :)

Haerdalas · September 03, 2013, 02:46:35 PM

Hello everyone. I just bought Dominions 4, which while it not quite finished yet, is currently in beta for anyone who preorders it. Just started a game as Ur, the first city. Tomorrow, I will play some more of it. Anyone have any questions about it they want me to look into?

alastair · September 03, 2013, 05:15:46 PM

High level summons/SC chassis across paths. Also, gem gens. Are they in or out?

Haerdalas · September 04, 2013, 12:24:18 AM

I am not quite sure I understand your questions, let me try to clarify: are you asking is SC chassis' are available through spells of magic paths other than Conjuration? If so, I will look into it, but I believe it will be like Dom 3 - a few here and there, but mostly only Conjuration and Blood.

If by Gem Gens you mean magic sites giving gems, pretty damn certain that is still present. If you mean items giving gems, I dont know but will find out. If you mean spells giving gems, I dont know but will find out.

They do have a new global spell which gives you gold/turn though. You summon a rainbow and give yourself gold and your dominion gains luck. Sounds quite interesting.

alastair · September 04, 2013, 09:24:18 PM

Oh, I meant gem generators like clams, bloodstones, and fever fetishes.

And more SC and thug chassis for other paths than death, blood, /elemental royalty.

Wingedflamez · September 04, 2013, 10:38:43 PM

I am currently in the process of making a full list of generic spells, and will be looking at making a full item list as well. Its really slow though. Holy Crap.

Wingedflamez · September 05, 2013, 08:28:56 AM

I swear, I had been working for like 2 hours, and was almost done and ready to start making an item list, and then my dom4 decided it was a good time to crash, and of course I hadn't saved.

parone · September 05, 2013, 12:10:13 PM

good to hear dom4 is stable... :-[

W8taminute · September 05, 2013, 01:15:08 PM

whoa hold the phone. Dominions 4 is out now?

Haerdalas · September 05, 2013, 01:40:44 PM

Kinda sorta. It's actual official release got delayed until the end of the month, but if you preorder, you get to play the beta, which is about 95% complete afaics.

I havent had any problems with Dom4 stability, except ones due to my laptop being crapper than a sewer. But as this thing crashes sometimes with -Dom 3- I think I can ignore any slight issues to now.

Thrones of Ascension add quite an interesting element to the game. Some just act as Uber temple, bt others do stuff like make you bless stronger (eg +2 strength to blessed troops) or affect your dominions... both positively and negatively. In one of my games, I started right near one of the thrones, which I have yet to claim due to it adding 2 levels of Death Scale to my dominion, in return for a large temple check and something else I cant recall of hand. I think a bless boost or something.

Bronwell · September 05, 2013, 01:44:10 PM

Yeah. Beta access started a few days ago for those who preordered. I have downloaded it but haven't had time to try it out yet. I will finally get to try tonight after getting my turn in.

Bronwell · September 05, 2013, 05:35:54 PM

I think what has surprised me most are all the tweaks to pre-existing mechanics which I had not expected. Substantial changes to blesses for death, blood, nature, and minor tweak to earth bless. Change to magic scale. The biggest surprise to me was large increase to base research. Just those changes will affect the balance between nations. Nations with cheap researchers would seem to be even more useful.

Wingedflamez · September 05, 2013, 08:59:24 PM

Part of that as well is that some of the heavy hitting casters were setup at 2 turn recruitments, which really throws a wrench in the gears.

For instance, in dom3, the mainstay of the shinyu mage guild is the sorcerer, he is expensive, has a decent spread in paths with decent numbers, and is the only caster that shinyu has that is worth a damn for research. In dom4 the sorcerer gets jacked up to a 2 turn recruitment. If the research numbers had stayed the same, shinyu would never be able to compete, because they wouldn't be able to keep up with research. I'm already having a hard enough time as it is. So what they did was the made the Uba, which from what I can see is actually really good as a mobile support caster in dom3, into one hell of an awesome researcher. At least that is what I thought when I started writing this post.

Dom3

Uba - 150g for 7 research. not sacred. which I think means it is 15g upkeep
Sorcerer - 300g for 11 research. sacred, which I think also means 15g upkeep.

2 Uba 300 for 14, 30 upkeep
2 Sorcerer 600 22, 30 upkeep

2 Uba 300 for 14 research 30 upkeep
1 sorcerer 300 for 11 research 15 upkeep

Dom4 *BETA*

Uba - 145g for 13 research, not sacred, which I think means 15g upkeep
Sorcerer - 400g for 21 research, sacred, which I think means 20g upkeep. But takes 2 turns to recruit. So...

2 Ubas at 290g for 26 research, and 30 upkeep.
1 Sorcerer at 400g for 21 research, and 20 upkeep.

*original Thinking* In dom3 gold-research the sorcerer is the most efficient, hands down, as well as the only worthwhile researcher. In Dom4 The Uba is much more gold-research efficient, and you can get 2 of them in the time it takes to get 1 sorcerer for less in initial cost, and then it takes 11 turns before the total cost after upkeep is matched.

Looking at it now The Uba is actually probably a better gold to research ratio, but isn't nearly as fast a research start, which shin needs to get to its site searching and summons.

The sorcerer still has his place as a ritual caster/crafter. But the flexibility of 2 Ubas, makes them better for research.

Yeah so enjoy that :D

Haerdalas · September 06, 2013, 03:44:42 AM

Yeah, But one thing is I think there are different base research rates for different units. I think those units which take two turns to build actually have double the base research, before it is changed by path levels etc.

Playing as MA Tien Chi (to better check for differences) one of the strange things I have noticed is a slightly odd balance with the top two casters. Celestial Masters and Alchemists. In dom3, ALchemists were more powerful and could move faster, and could heal, but cost more, had mch higher upkeep (not being sacred) and were not priests. Still, the only thing stopping you from getting them instead of Celstial Masters every turn was the costs. In Dom4, the stats of both are pretty much the same as before, with Alchemists also being better researchers than the Masters, but this time they cost much MUCH less. about 100g less than the Masters, in fact. I cant relly see, given that they have better stats and now cost less too, why anyone would want to get Masters instead of Alchemists, except for a few to give you astral.

Haerdalas · September 06, 2013, 06:40:32 AM

Huh. Not 100% sure, but it seems in dominions 4 old age doesnt prevent the healing of afflictions. One of my old mages just had his crippled chest healed.

This being said, it is harder to get true healers. Most of the ones I have seen (such as my alchemists) have been demoted to "Disease healers" who can only cure diseases, but I had a hero unit who still heals. Also, healing is now not a % chance but a garentee of X number of attepts to heal an affliction. It also happens automatically, you dont have to stop your healer from doing other things. Seems fairly good to me.