Dominions 3 development news

[Johan K]

Here is a link to our Dominions 3 Progress Page For those interested in how the Dominions 3 development is proceeding.

We use this page to inform the beta testers of any fixes we have made as quickly as possible. We thought this would be a better way to keep you somewhat informed, than to write a diary for a few week and then forget about it.

Latest development news at the top.
http://ulm.illwinter.com/dom3/dom3progress.html

[Kristoffer O]

It will also serve as a way to make me feel guilty when I'm not doing anything and that is good for the progression. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Nerfix]

I'm so happy over this I'm incoherent.

[DominionsFan]

wow thanks!

[WraithLord]

"
30th sep
* Search spells defaults to a useful target province. Monthly casting possible.
"

This is awesome!
I'd say 20-30% of my turn time revolves around this (while taxes, blood hunting and finding scouts make almost all the rest)

[Oversway]

Thanks for the update page! This is really great.

[ioticus]

I see they removed Arcane Masonry. I know the spell did not work in DOM2 but it seemed like a cool spell and I was hoping it would make it into DOM3 in some form.

[Caduceus]

Every time you read "borked" take a drink!

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

From 25 Sep:
"Unequaled Obesity should work now."
[At least five expressions of shock and bewilderment attempt to land on my face simultaneously, resulting in multiple strained facial muscles. No permanent damage though http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif ]
Whaaaaaat????? This makes no sense! Is it a new Hall of Fame ability that has a bizarro downside? A spell to cast on an enemy province to drain their supplies? Something stranger yet?

[Alneyan]

Hmm, wouldn't that be a Hoburg spell? I could see them gaining that ability so that Jotuns cannot throw them around like they are wont to.

That, or it could just be a "No more Midget Smasher for ya!" thing. Or something meaner.

[Wick]

Let's cast it on some Iron Pigs and see!

[silhouette]

Etaoin Shrdlu said:
From 25 Sep:
"Unequaled Obesity should work now."
[...shock and bewilderment...]


I pondered this one for a while too. My guess is that it is a new affliction, either caused by old age, or perhaps some magic item/ritual/site. It would be neat if it was tied to Sloth somehow. Of course it could be a strange remote attack spell or a strat move debuff, or other wierdness.

Sill

[NTJedi]

My guess is it's either a spell or an old age affliction.

[Daynarr]

Maybe its heroic ability? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Caduceus]

"* Pillar of fire burns surrounding squares too."

Woohoo!

Ouch ouch ouch

Woohoo!

Ouch ouch ouch

[NTJedi]

Caduceus said:
"* Pillar of fire burns surrounding squares too."

Woohoo!

Ouch ouch ouch

Woohoo!

Ouch ouch ouch



I'm more curious about the " battleground editor ". http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[ioticus]

"Alaw sound compression, so we can squeeze all music onto the CD."

I'm chomping at the bit here. I *loved* the music (at least that one song that played over and over and over . . .) in Dominions 2, and I can't wait to hear the new tunes (that's plural) they squeeze on the CD!

[NTJedi]

POLLS are currently not working on the forums... hope Shrapnel knows about this issue.

[Gandalf Parker]

did you tell them? Probably Richard, or maybe Mindi.

[Caduceus]

No updates on the file since 23 May... Do you guys celebrate Memorial Day weekend over there? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Nerfix]

EDIT: To everybody who saw this post...I was tired when I made this. Forget it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[ioticus]

I await each update with bated breath.

[baby_arm]

"No updates on the file since 23 May... Do you guys celebrate Memorial Day weekend over there? "

Maybe they're just taking a short breather after getting the preview build out the door. That's got to be worth a 4 day weekend or so, right?

[Gandalf Parker]

Technically its not "time off" since this isnt their jobs.
And I figured they were taking time with the family. I can just hear the "your not spending more time on that *&@#$ game are you?!?" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Endoperez]

Gandalf Parker said:
Technically its not "time off" since this isnt their jobs.
And I figured they were taking time with the family. I can just hear the "your not spending more time on that *&@#$ game are you?!?" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



Summer is starting. I'm not sure about Sweden, but in Finland, the school ends next week. Teachers must be in quite a hurry...

[DominionsFan]

Endoperez said:

Gandalf Parker said:
Technically its not "time off" since this isnt their jobs.
And I figured they were taking time with the family. I can just hear the "your not spending more time on that *&@#$ game are you?!?" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



Summer is starting. I'm not sure about Sweden, but in Finland, the school ends next week. Teachers must be in quite a hurry...




Bah!! My school gonna end in mid june. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/fear.gif

[ioticus]

They better have a big update to make up for the 5 days of disappointment http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

[Kristoffer O]

There is indeed school ending here. Grades are supposed to be set tomorrow. I have a last couple of works to go through today.

Good to have you watching http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Makes me focus http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[DominionsFan]

No school -> more time to work on Doms 3.! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[ioticus]

I notice a lot of new content being added to the game, even though it is in late beta. (Witness the new spells added recently.) Is this unusual for game development? It would seem a risky proposition, since you may end up introducing more bugs as well as not having enough time to thoroughly test all the new content. I thought the purpose of beta testing was only for fixing bugs and polishing the program? I don't want this to sound like I'm complaining about added content, I'm just expressing concern and caring. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[NakedLunch]

Well, it's not like they're short of people willing to test it heh.

[DominionsFan]

Well you know how it goes. We live the world of patches. Usually all games are released with lot of bugs, but this is normal in 2006. The first 1-3 patch[es] are solving all bug related problems for most of the games.
Ofc I dont want doms 3. 1 month before the game would reach v3.0 and play with bugs until the first patch, but all gamers -including myself- wont argue if we spot some bugs in an unpatched retail game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

Oh we will definetly see bugs. There will be huge gapping obvious errors in concept and balance. Of course a more diplomatic person would call those opinions but we all know what this community is like.

As long as it doesnt crash just when the game gets exciting then I will figure that the test group did their job. And if anyone can crash it, its me. I will definetly be playing with as large a map, as many provinces, and ALL of the AI's turned on maximum. Every maximum possible and any I can generate as map adds. (I will leave modding excesses to other people)

[NTJedi]

Gandalf Parker said:
Oh we will definetly see bugs. There will be huge gapping obvious errors in concept and balance. Of course a more diplomatic person would call those opinions but we all know what this community is like.


Well hopefully the bugs and balance issues won't be that extreme... that's what beta testers should be reporting.


Gandalf Parker said:
As long as it doesnt crash just when the game gets exciting then I will figure that the test group did their job.

Well as long as it doesn't crash to the point where the gameplay cannot proceed.

[NakedLunch]

I've been playing it for nearly 2 hours every day for the past two weeks or so and it hasn't crashed on me once.

[ioticus]

NakedLunch said:
I've been playing it for nearly 2 hours every day for the past two weeks or so and it hasn't crashed on me once.



Wow that's impressive. So, do you like it? Do you think it's a big step up from Dom2?

[NakedLunch]

I love the game so far. Can't wait to get my hands on a later build. I don't think it's so much as a "big step" from Dom2 as a pure refinement of it along with adding it's own nice touches and quirks. I'm definitely going to be purchasing it even if I do get a "press" copy simply because of the addition of a manual, which would be a great help to me when I'm reviewing the game. Coincidently, it's one of the few games I'm actually looking forward to review http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Hmm, maybe I should make an impressions thread so I can go over this in more detail...

[ioticus]

NakedLunch said:


Hmm, maybe I should make an impressions thread so I can go over this in more detail...



Yes, please do. That would be sweet!

[NakedLunch]

Alright, I'm heading out now so I'll post it sometime tommorow maybe. (I'll have to play through a new game and take some notes. I have a horrid memory http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif ).

[ioticus]

Awesome! Can't wait!

[DominionsFan]

wow lot of updates in the past few days! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Cainehill]

Cool - never made sense that mindless summoned beings (vine men / ogres) could be led by non-mage commanders.

[Morkilus]

8th june
* Version 2.83
* Maxmessages 1500 -> 2000.
* Hog knight strat mov e& size ->2



New Hoburg units, perhaps? Note the relatively small size vs regular cavalry.

[Agrajag]

Since this thread is spammy anyway http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif :
9th june
* LE tien chi PD no longer nobles.
* Ermor LE got ermorian castles.

Perhaps a new accronym for dominioners to get used to? Late Era, eh?


10th june
* Ichtycentaur barding fix

Are you sure you didn't meant Itchy Centaur? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Nerfix]

* Dreamlands only kills 5 promille per dom strength

Somebody calculate quickly How much Cultic Org...er, Grwoth scale you need to cancel out the pop loss?

[Agrajag]

That depends on how much population is in a promille O_O

[ioticus]

What's a promille?

[Nerfix]

You guys haven't heard of promille? It's one thousandth. So 1 promille from 1000 is 1.

[Caduceus]

How many angels can dance on a promille?

[Oversway]

However many you can summon per turn.

[archaeolept]

i would guess promille is exactly as it looks - "per thousand" - so 5 promille per dom str == 5% pop loss at dom 10...

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Nerfix]

archaeolept said:
i would guess promille is exactly as it looks - "per thousand" - so 5 promille per dom str == 5% pop loss at dom 10...

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Is it thta much? My maths suck but isn't it more like 0,5%..?

And no updates for three days. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

[Morkilus]

5 per thousand = 5/1000 = 0.005

so...

0.005*10 = 0.05 = 5%

[PDF]

5%/turn "only" ? That's an understatement ! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Agrajag]

archaeolept said:
i would guess promille is exactly as it looks - "per thousand" - so 5 promille per dom str == 5% pop loss at dom 10...

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif


Exactly as it looks?
Can you tell me what a Sah-Rahok is just by looking at the word? (obviously, you can't, since its in hebrew).

[Nerfix]

PDF said:
5%/turn "only" ? That's an understatement ! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Yeah. I wonder how smart idea it is to cram all these popkilling nations into late era.

[thejeff]

I'm not sure where Morkilus was going with his math, but 5 per 1000 is .5 per 100 or .5%

That's not too bad. Stronger than regular death dominion, but not even as bad as CW.

[Nerfix]

thejeff said:
I'm not sure where Morkilus was going with his math, but 5 per 1000 is .5 per 100 or .5%

That's not too bad. Stronger than regular death dominion, but not even as bad as CW.

Wait...so even one pick of Grwoth will cancel it out?

[Saber Cherry]

thejeff said:
I'm not sure where Morkilus was going with his math, but 5 per 1000 is .5 per 100 or .5%

That's not too bad. Stronger than regular death dominion, but not even as bad as CW.



.5% times dominion strength. That's very high.

[Endoperez]

Just tell the similar Ashen Empire variable, so that the non-math people have a comparison. I could calculate it, but I wouldn't know how much an impact it would have, so I quess I'm one of these no-math people. I hope it isn't as bad as Ashen Empire, myself.

[Fate]

Wait, this should make sense... percent = per-cent. Then shouldn't promille (or pro-mille) instead be permille (per-mille)?

[Kristoffer O]

In swedish it is not percent but procent. It might be called permille in english. I have no clue, but I didn't have a 'promille' on my keyboard.

[Saber Cherry]

Endoperez said:
Just tell the similar Ashen Empire variable, so that the non-math people have a comparison.



I don't know. But at dominion 5, you'd lose half your population every 27 turns (as Dreamlands).

[Agrajag]

"you can gain extra points by having your pretender god be dormant or imprisoned for a certain length of time, which prevents you from using him to improve your nation at the outset, but gives you a powerful god when it finally comes into your control." (from the new preview)
So that's what the whole awakening thing is about.

Edit: "teh" >_< I feel oh so 1337 >_<

[DominionsFan]

Agrajag said:
"you can gain extra points by having your pretender god be dormant or imprisoned for a certain length of time, which prevents you from using him to improve your nation at the outset, but gives you a powerful god when it finally comes into your control." (from teh new preview)
So that's what the whole awakening thing is about.




Yeah, this sounds interesting btw. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Nerfix]

Very interesting stuff there.

[ioticus]

NakedLunch said:
Alright, I'm heading out now so I'll post it sometime tommorow maybe. (I'll have to play through a new game and take some notes. I have a horrid memory http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif ).



Hey, NakedLunch, what happened to your impression thread?

[NakedLunch]

I'm turning it into an article for Tcancer which in turn is taking longer than it should because a) i have to cram for finals b) i suddenly started hanging out with my friends and c) i haven't really had that much time to work on it. when it does get done, which hopefully will be before the game is released, i promise it will shake the very foundations of your faith and belief.

[ioticus]

NakedLunch said:
I'm turning it into an article for Tcancer which in turn is taking longer than it should because a) i have to cram for finals b) i suddenly started hanging out with my friends and c) i haven't really had that much time to work on it. when it does get done, which hopefully will be before the game is released, i promise it will shake the very foundations of your faith and belief.



Good to hear, I just hope the shaking foundations is a good thing http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

[NakedLunch]

yeah, sorry it's taking so long and whatnot. I'll try to get it done sometime soon so hopefully my suddenly busy schedule will allow for it.

[DominionsFan]

NakedLunch said:
I'm turning it into an article for Tcancer which in turn is taking longer than it should because a) i have to cram for finals b) i suddenly started hanging out with my friends and c) i haven't really had that much time to work on it. when it does get done, which hopefully will be before the game is released, i promise it will shake the very foundations of your faith and belief.



I cant wait to read it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[NakedLunch]

Well, school for me gets out monday so I'd say expect it sometime next week.

[DominionsFan]

NakedLunch said:
Well, school for me gets out monday so I'd say expect it sometime next week.




School! I thought that you are working already. Ah well, good to see younger people here, I thought that only me and Nerfix are school the doods. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[ioticus]

I hope the 6 days of silence is a good sign. Like leading up to gold, maybe?

[Varjostin]

I definetely want to believe so. The other explanation being that they are having vacation.

[Nerfix]

Varjostin said:
I definetely want to believe so. The other explanation being that they are having vacation.

My money is on vacation.

[DominionsFan]

Just be patient guys. Johan is surely not on holiday, because he is posting almost every day on the Quarter To Three forums. Perhaps they were a bit lazy to update the development site. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Nerfix]

Or then they aren't developing the game at the moment. They can be keeping a break while staying in Sweden, within computer's reach.

[Edi]

The football world cup might also have something to do with this, if they are avid football fans.

Edi

[Kristoffer O]

No football. Some beers on my part (work is done now) and a hangover made me somewhat unproductive. There are also changes made at times that we forget to add to the dev log. Not sure if there were any of those this week though.

[Kristoffer O]

> Just be patient guys. Johan is surely not on holiday, because he is posting almost every day on the Quarter To Three forums.

Thats actually JO and hes not a developer. He's just my brother and a good source of ideas. I sometimes outsource some item describing or textwriting to him, but he's mostly not involved in the development.

[Nerfix]

Kristoffer O said:(work is done now)

Wait...is he saying that... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

[DominionsFan]

Kristoffer O said:
> Just be patient guys. Johan is surely not on holiday, because he is posting almost every day on the Quarter To Three forums.

Thats actually JO and hes not a developer. He's just my brother and a good source of ideas. I sometimes outsource some item describing or textwriting to him, but he's mostly not involved in the development.



Ohhhhhh I see. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Kristoffer O]

> Wait...is he saying that...

Schools over.

[Nerfix]

Kristoffer O said:
> Wait...is he saying that...

Schools over.

Ah, yes.

[Nerfix]

Aaah, new updates. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Endoperez]

* New Quagmire spell



A quagmire (from "quake" + "mire") is, literally, shaky, miry ground; as a political term used to describe a foreign military campaign in which there is either no foreseeable possibility of victory or the objectives are unclearly defined, and at the same time no clear exit strategy has been formulated in the absence of victory. The military campaign is likened to a kind of swamp or marsh in which the warring nation is unable to remove itself.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagmire

Does anyone else wonder how they can choose such fitting words for spells? I don't know what the spell does, but the name alone gives many hints of the direction, and with the other changes (swamp affecting battles; maybe other terrains are already implemented?) this could be very interesting spell...

[Gandalf Parker]

new changes are up..
http://ulm.illwinter.com/dom3/dom3progress.html
* Ancestor Vessel spear removed
* Barbarian HC weapon fix
* Zweihander improvement
* Monster fish
* Damage nbrs looks better
* Midgetmasher works again
* Khan, Noble sprites
* Noble commander TC EE
* Moss Body spell
*
17th june
* Some spell cost & lvl changes (Breath of winter, fireshield, magic duel, elemental kings, drakes, vine ogre, spectral mage, dai oni, summon scorpion man)
* Swamp affects units in battle
* New Quagmire spell
* New artifact Tome for Frankenstein aspirants
* Fortress fixes. All nations should have correct start fort now.
* Lightning rod increased corpse man construction
* Corpse men shock resitstant
* Spectral mage less random magic

[Nerfix]

I wonder what the "Moss Body" does. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[DominionsFan]

Nerfix said:
I wonder what the "Moss Body" does. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif



If you ask me...I think that it will be a "nature" spell, what will raise the def value of the units. There was a game with the spell "barkskin" and it was a defensive spell, I think it was in NWN. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Saber Cherry]

Funny, I think it was in Dominions http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Moss Body probably makes units camouflaged in forest battles, and allows them to photosynthesize so spells like Solar Rays and Stellar Cascades will give them energy instead of hurting them.

[DominionsFan]

Saber Cherry said:
Funny, I think it was in Dominions http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Moss Body probably makes units camouflaged in forest battles, and allows them to photosynthesize so spells like Solar Rays and Stellar Cascades will give them energy instead of hurting them.




There! I knew that it was an NWN spell also.

http://nwn.stratics.com/content/statistics/spells/spells.shtml

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Anyways your idea about the spell sounds very valid. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Oversway]

Are we still on target for going gold in july?

[Nerfix]

Oversway said:

Are we still on target for going gold in july?

My money is on "no".

[Sandman]

Perhaps there'll be a 'vine creature' attribute with resistances to certain spells and vulnerabilities to others. Say, boosted hitpoints and resistance to most nature spells. The downside - no fire resistance EVER. Moss body simply confers this bonus onto the castee.

[DominionsFan]

Nerfix said:

Oversway said:

Are we still on target for going gold in july?

My money is on "no".



I tend to agree with Nerfix.

[Gandalf Parker]

I dont know why. The changes seem to be mostly "good idea" changes and little thematic tweaking. Nothing that couldnt have been released in a game. It really only has to be crash-free in order to make the release date. As long as no large changes are made that add crash-bugs I think we are ok.

If you think Johan will hit a gap of no changes at all prior to the release then you havent been paying attention during the previous 2 versions. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Saber Cherry]

It can't hit gold until 3.00, which will be a while at the current patch rate. Version 2.84 would still be Dominions II. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Nerfix]

Saber Cherry said:
It can't hit gold until 3.00, which will be a while at the current patch rate. Version 2.84 would still be Dominions II. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Yup.

Oh and as for the current delay I think it might have something to do with scandinavian midsummer traditions...midsummer is celebrated in Finland (ok we're not scandis) and I remember swedes had their own "midsommaren" funs.

[DominionsFan]

Nerfix said:

Saber Cherry said:
It can't hit gold until 3.00, which will be a while at the current patch rate. Version 2.84 would still be Dominions II. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Yup.

Oh and as for the current delay I think it might have something to do with scandinavian midsummer traditions...midsummer is celebrated in Finland (ok we're not scandis) and I remember swedes had their own "midsommaren" funs.



I celebrate all day in the whole summer period on the beach. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[ioticus]

What's a "skybox" and why are they having so much trouble with it?

[Johan K]

The skybox is a 3d cube with a sky wallpaper on it. It makes it look like you can see far into the distance instead of that boring fog/darkness that makes it look like you are inside a steamy sauna.

And it's working fine now.

[ioticus]

Johan K said:
The skybox is a 3d cube with a sky wallpaper on it. It makes it look like you can see far into the distance instead of that boring fog/darkness that makes it look like you are inside a steamy sauna.

And it's working fine now.



Sounds nice, do we have a screenshot of it?

[Johan K]

Dominions 2 has a skybox too, so it's nothing new.

[Nerfix]

It's the sky in battles, right?

[Johan K]

Correct

[Nerfix]

0.16 versions or so to go. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Kristoffer O]

One a day http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Kristoffer O]

Hmm, sorry, don't take that literally. It's not entirely true.

[Gandalf Parker]

heehee. Dont give THIS crowd a promise like that!

[Caduceus]

I love the 1 minute (probably less) between posts by Kristoffer. Heh.

[ioticus]

I have a hard time believing that they would decide in advance how many updates the game should have before it goes gold. How can you arbitrarily decide that? It would seem to me that you would simply decide to go gold after most all known bugs (at least the major ones) are fixed.

[Nerfix]

Kristoffer O said:
Hmm, sorry, don't take that literally. It's not entirely true.

Twice a day? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Archonsod]

ioticus said:
I have a hard time believing that they would decide in advance how many updates the game should have before it goes gold. How can you arbitrarily decide that? It would seem to me that you would simply decide to go gold after most all known bugs (at least the major ones) are fixed.



Um, you set a given criteria for a version increment, then say the game will be ready for release at version xxx

[DominionsFan]

Aw..I wanted to try out Dominions 3. before I go on holiday in mid july, but I guess the game wont be out before august. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[ioticus]

Archonsod said:


Um, you set a given criteria for a version increment, then say the game will be ready for release at version xxx



Are you saying the list of bugs is known in advance and then it is decided which and how many of those bugs would constitute a new version number? For example, if there are 10 known bugs, it could be decided to fix 2 bugs (those bugs and correponding version number(s) being selected in advance!) per version, thus going gold after 5 versions? If that is the case, then how do you handle bugs that crop up unexpectedly? I would assume new bugs would be "tacked on" to new version numbers as needed.

[ioticus]

DominionsFAN said:
Aw..I wanted to try out Dominions 3. before I go on holiday in mid july, but I guess the game wont be out before august. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif



Yeah, the game looks to be at least another month away http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Nerfix]

I told you guys not to get too optimistic.

[NakedLunch]

Must...finish...preview...before...game is...released!

[Agrajag]

Well, hurry up before it turns into a review http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[NTJedi]

With the change of vine men and vine ogres needing magical control... that's fine, but I'm wondering will there be more cost effective summoned troops which don't need magical control ?
Regular commanders for most nations don't have much use already so I was just wondering.

[Varjostin]

Nerfix said:
I told you guys not to get too optimistic.



Yeah yeah. It's sad that the cynics and pessimists are always right in the end. It would be fair and equal, if the optimists were right even once. World would be a better place too. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Fate]

ioticus said:

DominionsFAN said:
Aw..I wanted to try out Dominions 3. before I go on holiday in mid july, but I guess the game wont be out before august. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif



Yeah, the game looks to be at least another month away http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif



The way I was told to make timelines (I have done some small programming) was to estimate how long it would take and triple it to account for debugging.

How they number the versions seems quite simple. When you think you have done enough to qualify for a new version, you say it is a new version. Bugs get fixed easily? That version comes faster. New bugs crop up? That version comes slower.

[Nerfix]

Varjostin said:Yeah yeah. It's sad that the cynics and pessimists are always right in the end. It would be fair and equal, if the optimists were right even once. World would be a better place too. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Neh, I am *less* pessimistic than many of my fellow countrymen.

And if the optimists were to be right once I hope it would be a more important matter than the release of a game. (nevermind that we are talking about *the* game here)

[Fate]

World peace or Dom III? hmmm...

[ioticus]

The June 27th update changes vine men back to magical beings. The June 6th update made them magical beings in the first place. I'm no programmer, but how does such a bug crop up, when there are no apparent changes to vine men in the interim? Really strange.

[Nerfix]

ioticus said:
The June 27th update changes vine men back to magical beings. The June 6th update made them magical beings in the first place. I'm no programmer, but how does such a bug crop up, when there are no apparent changes to vine men in the interim? Really strange.

Maybe they missed a bracket or semicolon somewhere in the code and thought it was working, but it wasn't.

[Oversway]

maybe they forgot to hit 'save' the last time the changed them http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

Or a previous library got included in a patch

[Nerfix]

The list is updating every time I hit refresh. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[ioticus]

Nerfix said:
The list is updating every time I hit refresh. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif



LoL, was just going to post the same thing. This warrants another version methinks.

[Nerfix]

Also, what are Death weapons?

[ioticus]

It would be interesting to read, from a programmer's perspective, how the versions are calculated. For example, between versions 2.83 and 2.84, there was a huge list of fixes, but between versions 2.84 and 2.85 there was a small list.

[Kristoffer O]

Most improtant is when the save format is changed. Different save formats make different versions incompatible.

Apart from that the version number is increased when we want the beta group to get a new version to test. Rather random in other words.

[Nerfix]

What's the Ancestor Vessel?

[DominionsFan]

Nerfix said:
What's the Ancestor Vessel?



OMG machinery in Dominions?! Nah it cant be that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/stupid.gif

[ioticus]

Wow, and the updates keep coming. By the way, a vessel is a container. Maybe it releases a powerful ancestor when you rub it?

Edit: Sweet, we have a new version!

[Kristoffer O]

Its an ancestor ghost possessing a living warrior. The warrior becomes a vessel for the riding ghost.

[Kristoffer O]

Bed time!

[DominionsFan]

Kristoffer O said:
Its an ancestor ghost possessing a living warrior. The warrior becomes a vessel for the riding ghost.




Ah sounds great! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Archonsod]

ioticus said:
[Are you saying the list of bugs is known in advance and then it is decided which and how many of those bugs would constitute a new version number?



Nope. You set what you want implemented at what version number. If there's some bug which stops it working, then it isn't implemented. If it turns out there's cosmetic or other minor bugs it doesn't matter, you can fix them as you go along or even post release.
You don't design around bugs, you design around what you want the finished release to do.

[Gandalf Parker]

It is true though in standard programming rules that 2.86 is considered to be a version of 2. And you can run the version as deep as you want, like 2.86a1b2 until you decide that its finally 3.00

Most programmers have their own rules such as +.001 for tweaks, +.01 for a feature add which might add crash bugs, +.1 for upgrades which cause it to not read previous versions files so that test games have to start over. And of course +1 and a .00 for a Gold release.

But this is all just FYI since I dont know what Johan uses as a guideline.

[Psitticine]

I always use dates as part of version numbers. I'll start with 1.(date), like 1.070106 for something compiled today, and will go up to 2.x, 3.x, and so forth when there is something truly major changed in the beastie-in-question.

Actually, I start with 0.x, until I have something that actually works. 1.x is the stage where it is supposed to work but has a bunch of bugs, and 2.x is when I think I've gotten all the vile stuff out of it. If there's ever a call for a major rewrite or a ton of new stuff gets added (or, more commonly for me, the graphic assets are redone), the major version number will go up one.

It's not entirely traditional, but I've seen others do the same thing, and it works for me.

[ioticus]

"Flail and morningstar new mechanic (+2 att vs shields)"

Awesome! You guys warm my cold, wargaming heart!

[Nerfix]

12 versions or so to go.

What is a Serf Warrior?

[NakedLunch]

Well, serf, IIRC, were like toilers on a monarch's land so I'm guessing a serf warrior would be akin to a militia or peasant army.

[ioticus]

I hope this trend of a new version every couple days continues.

[Kristoffer O]

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[ioticus]

I hope that's a good smiley as in "yeah, of course the trend will continue" as opposed to a bad smiley as in "are you kidding, a new version every couple days!?"

[Kristoffer O]

It's a pretty good smiley as in 'probably more versions this week, but fewer after that while JK is away'.

[Nerfix]

....don't say that Helheim is late Vanheim?

[Kristoffer O]

Nope. Helheim is another early nation of the vanir race.

[ioticus]

What are all these "fatigue fixes" about?

[Gandalf Parker]

Im guessing spell fatigue. That must be hard to tweak so that its a factor you need to pay attention to, but not a killer of mages or your heavy elite troops.

[Endoperez]

ioticus said:
What are all these "fatigue fixes" about?



They seem to have fixed 1100 'things'. I'm not sure if that can be anything other than units. Gandalf's quess of spells is more reasonable if there are that many spells, though.

[ioticus]

Fatigue fix is now at 1500. It seems to me it means fixing something when fatigue reaches 1500.

[Blofeld]

My guess is that units up to unitnumber 1500 have been reviewed w/r to fatigue.

[RonD]

Ugh - if they've had to fix something individually for 1500+ units that sure sounds tedious.

So, think twice before you next complain about micromanagement while *playing* the game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Nerfix]

I think IW has gone through the units many time. Age, bodyparts, fatigue etc.

Also, 0.10 versions or so to go.

[Kristoffer O]

> Ugh - if they've had to fix something individually for 1500+ units that sure sounds tedious.

Indeed it is http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Fortunately most units doesn't need a fix. Only 200 or so to go.

[Nerfix]

What Magisters are?

[Kristoffer O]

Learned men, scholars, theologicans, mages of LA Man. Guys with white hair or wigs.

[Gandalf Parker]

Late age man? So they are less mage and more scholar? And early age man is more shaman/mage and less scholar?

[Wick]

The EA Man is probably celtic (the sidhe), MA Man would be Aurthurian, and LA could have the be-wigged Magistars, sea dogs singeing the beards of foreign kings in distant ports, cavaliers and pikemen, but hopefully not muskets & cannon.

[Psitticine]

L.A. Man? That's nothing like Encino Man, I hope! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Agrajag]

MA Man, with a little letter-bending, becomes Middle Aged Men.
Can't wait to see a bunch of middle-aged men prancing about in armours and swinging PVC swords http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Daynarr]

* Basic magic site modding.



Woohoo. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[ioticus]

How many nations are left to complete?

[Kristoffer O]

None. There are some descriptions left, but all units are there. Some heroes might be added as well, but that is of secondary importance. All nations are now fully playable and finished.

In the first patch there might be a new nation or two , but those I have not started on (apart from thinking that is).

[ioticus]

That's great news! Thanks Kris!

[Nerfix]

Kristoffer O said:
None. There are some descriptions left, but all units are there. Some heroes might be added as well, but that is of secondary importance. All nations are now fully playable and finished.

In the first patch there might be a new nation or two , but those I have not started on (apart from thinking that is).

Ooooh, sounds good.

[DominionsFan]

Nerfix said:

Kristoffer O said:
None. There are some descriptions left, but all units are there. Some heroes might be added as well, but that is of secondary importance. All nations are now fully playable and finished.

In the first patch there might be a new nation or two , but those I have not started on (apart from thinking that is).

Ooooh, sounds good.



Hell yeah! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Varjostin]

* Some beer needed. Fixed



http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I was wondering, why there were no improvements yesterday, but that explains everything. Mental healthcare for developers, I guess... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Nerfix]

Best update ever. Ahaha!

[ioticus]

No more beer for you until you're gold, OK?

[RonD]

ioticus said:
No more beer for you until you're gold, OK?



What!?! Are you nuts http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

Beer drives the whole process. Without beer, Dom3 would simply vanish in a puff of logic

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

Beer might explain alot about such an unusual game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[DominionsFan]

Nerfix said:
Best update ever. Ahaha!



Agreed. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Pocus]

Hi!

How the new possibility of creating custom battefields can be used by scenario makers? Does a possibility exists to specify that a given region used battlefield xxx ? And does the doodads which are added can be more than roadblocks (trap, damage by fire, etc.)?

[Caduceus]

No updates in five days...

/me removes hot brand from the coals of a highly stoked fire...

[ioticus]

The wait for this game has been more painful than any game I've ever waited for. It's especially hard when days go by without any updates.

[Gandalf Parker]

Oh well, life happens.
It has been known to get in the way of my virtual fun in the past

[Nerfix]

Maybe we'll see...

* Yet more beer needed. Fixed.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[NTJedi]

I'm getting by just fine... I recommend playing TitansQuest, SpellForce_2 and Civilizaton_4 until Dominions_3 arrives.
And of course Dominions_2... I always have a game or two going.

It's working for me.

[Gandalf Parker]

I jsut want Dom3 and SE V to not come out at the same time.

Hmmm I still need to look into TitansQuest, and Oblivion also.

[Varjostin]

ioticus said:
The wait for this game has been more painful than any game I've ever waited for. It's especially hard when days go by without any updates.



I definetely second you in this.

[Amos]

If there are no major bugs left they could release it right now.

[Saber Cherry]

No, they still need to add the Leech People. I expect them to be another Blood nation.

[Amos]

Leech People? Is this a joke or did you read it somewhere? I thought Kristoffer said that he has finalized the races for the release.

[Varjostin]

Saber Cherry said:
No, they still need to add the Leech People. I expect them to be another Blood nation.



Oh cheese! That means more waiting time. I'm crazy enough already... They could add that in patch 3.01 or something. It's not that a new nation wouldn't be fun or anything, but for me the game is that what I'm waiting for. Thanks for Illwinter for all the work they have done.

[Nerfix]

*Zen levitates smugly as he could expect this*

[Gandalf Parker]

I think that might have been a joke. Altho I do remember Kristoffer saying that the nations are set but he had some in mind already to add later. I dont remember if it was mod or patch. Knowing him, Im instantly real curious about who he has in running around in his mind. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[NTJedi]

ummm... I noticed july12th is listed twice in the development list. Does a spell let you redo a turn/day?

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Agrajag]

Varjostin said:
It's not that a new nation wouldn't be fun or anything, but for me the game is that what I'm waiting for.


And for me the new nations is what I'm anticipating most http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif
My biggest beef with Dom2 is that I feel there isn't a nation that I can fully empathize with and enjoy their style of play. Therefore new nations are probably what will help rekindle the passion in the best way.
Atleast, that's me http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Dhaeron]

Gandalf Parker said:
Oh well, life happens.


No it does not! Not without Dom3! And i expected by mid july! We're doomed! We're all doomed!
*breakes down in tears*

[Amos]

My biggest beef with Dom2 is that I feel there isn't a nation that I can fully empathize with and enjoy their style of play.



You could always make one for yourself. What style do you look for in a nation?
My question stands, if there are no major changes or bugs to be fixed then why dont they release it. Is it because they are waiting for version 3.00?

[ioticus]

I honestly don't see how you could not find a nation that suits your style out of all the varied nations in Dom2.

[ioticus]

Amos said:

My biggest beef with Dom2 is that I feel there isn't a nation that I can fully empathize with and enjoy their style of play.



You could always make one for yourself. What style do you look for in a nation?
My question stands, if there are no major changes or bugs to be fixed then why dont they release it. Is it because they are waiting for version 3.00?



That's what I don't understand either. That's what I was getting at when I was trying to determine how they can arbitrarily decide on a target version number in advance.

[Gandalf Parker]

Thats not unusual. Everyone does that. A full version change is a full number. There are unlimited unmbers in-between so they can have as many versions as they want until they feel its ready.

As for "not finding a nation" then maybe with over 60 nations there will be a better chance with Dom3. Or like someone said, make your own. Maybe a "Monty Haul" nation? All the pretenders that no one wanted have banded together to make their own nation? (Im kidding)

[Agrajag]

Dhaeron said:

Gandalf Parker said:
Oh well, life happens.


No it does not! Not without Dom3! And i expected by mid july! We're doomed! We're all doomed!
*breakes down in tears*


You got it the wrong way. If you have dom3, then you no longer have a life http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Caduceus]

I have two kids under three years old and work 60+ hours a week. I didn't have a life to begin with.

[silhouette]

...if there are no major changes or bugs to be fixed then why dont they release it. Is it because they are waiting for version 3.00?


Did someone actually say there were no major changes or bugs to be fixed? We don't have access the the bug database, so we don't know what the remaining bugs may be. I am also not assuming that there is anything magical about the version numbers. It's just a version and subversion number, not a fraction. What comes after 2.99? maybe not 3.00, but 2.100 and then 2.101, etc, or maybe 2.991? You don't release the product when the number is right, you change the number when the product is right.

Sill

[Amos]

Given that there was no progress report for 7 days now, it is a valid assumption that there is nothing major left to do. Also, when you analyze progress reports you can see that the changes listed in them are mainly cosmetic. Its either that Kristoffer is in a final crunch mod and doesnt have time to post reports. Or that he is busy doing something else entirely. Take your pick according to your preferences. If he had released the Gold already we would have heard about it.

[ceremony]

Amos said:
Given that there was no progress report for 7 days now, it is a valid assumption that there is nothing major left to do.


This is the problem with trying to read the tea leaves from posted docs. The actual fact is that the programmer is out of town.

[Agrajag]

It might as well mean that they are having some trouble with development, such as not being able to motivate themselves enough to work on the game, or having other things to do.
I know that when I'm programming games (for my entertainment) I often find myself unmotivated or too busy to work.
Obviously its not the same when you program for a job, but I suppose that could be it.

[Ballbarian]

Kristoffer O said:
It's a pretty good smiley as in 'probably more versions this week, but fewer after that while JK is away'.

[Gandalf Parker]

They have said that they do it mostly for fun. And they do both have other jobs, family, etc I believe.

But on the good side the latest changes all seem to be tweaks and fill-ins of descriptions. Nothing game-killing. And from the news releases Im seeing it looks like Scott is doing his usual excellent work at getting the PR out there. So Im guessing that there is no "wait. hold up on stuff" order going on in the wings.

[Nerfix]

OMG. It's an update.

[PashaDawg]

Yay!

[Nerfix]

It's not vapourware. W00t.

[NTJedi]

Gandalf Parker said:
They have said that they do it mostly for fun. And they do both have other jobs, family, etc I believe.




Well hopefully DOM_3 sales will crank enough money for Illwinter to consider growing the company before proceeding with DOM_4.

[JaydedOne]

NTJedi said:

Well hopefully DOM_3 sales will crank enough money for Illwinter to consider growing the company before proceeding with DOM_4.



Within realistic parameters (let's face it, Dom plays to a limited audience), I don't think that Dom 3 can possibly bring in wheelbarrows of cash that'll cause J and K to quit their day jobs and work Dom full-time or hire other employees. It's largely a labor of love for them (or so I've gathered) and I'm not sure that they'd want to grow the company even if they theoretically had the means.

It'd be great to see (again, assuming that'd be something they'd even want), but my plan's just to remain satisfied with supporting them in their current incarnation. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

Yeah, and I dont know if I can really wish for them to grow it beyond "doing it for fun".

[ioticus]

Can you picture a Polypal Mother doing a death wail? Me neither.

[RonD]

Last description made. Wohoo!



Wohoo indeed!

Have another beer, on me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif

[Agrajag]

RonD said:
Have another beer, on me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif


They already fixed that on July 11th

[Morkilus]

I think I'm going to move to california to start a band called the "LA Sauromancers". Ooh, and I learned a new word today: Apotropaic. Nifty!

[Gandalf Parker]

Heehee. You know that Shrapnel is about to release a game just like that? Check out "Rising Star"

[Nerfix]

Gandalf Parker said:
Heehee. You know that Shrapnel is about to release a game just like that? Check out "Rising Star"

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

And ahhh, progress.

[Agrajag]

*checks progress*
Ziz, ha? So maybe there is hope for an ancient hebrew faction http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif
What is that, some sort of construct? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[ioticus]

Do you think that removing all cheat detection means they are close to gold? Also, what is the significance of putting the operating system after the version number? Is that a good sign?

[Gandalf Parker]

Probably. It looks like balance and stuff coming from play-testing (like cheat detects). That means the testers are playing full games. Good sign.

I think the version thing with OS just means that he didnt do all the versions at the same time.

[ioticus]

False Horror now level 3 air is a pretty major change. Should all but eliminate false horror spam.

[Endoperez]

* AI of higher difficulty settings get supply bonus corresponding to income bonus



I'm really surprised this wasn't implemented yet. I thought more powerful AIs already got more supplies. We know their large armies starved most of the time, but was the supply bonus just too weak, or was there a bug of some kind?

It's a good change, but I wonder why it hasn't been done earlier. Well, at least we got another update of the OMIWCOOL rank yesterday. Namely:


* Bind Demon Lord causes caster to age 10 years



...OT SERAD OHW http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

[Agrajag]

* Ashen ermor can no longer get living legionaire as hero


Does that mean that SG was scrapped? Is there a substitue*?
*-that is, another nation which similar gameplay to that of SG (if its scrapped http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif)

[Folket]

Bloodslave collection dependent on site frequency

Great equalizer.

Aslo, Agrajag, Soul Gate are still around. From posts it seems to be a special dominion of Ashen Empire (LE Ermor).

[ioticus]

Does "manual input" mean they've actually started writing the manual or are they only coming up with ideas to put in the manual?

[Gandalf Parker]

What do you mean by manual?
They had documentation in Dom2 but the best manuals were written by the players. And if you mean strategy guide then these forums are it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif It would take a strategy encyclopedia set to cover dom2 and it was small compared to dom3.

[ioticus]

Gandalf Parker said:
What do you mean by manual?
They had documentation in Dom2 but the best manuals were written by the players. And if you mean strategy guide then these forums are it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif It would take a strategy encyclopedia set to cover dom2 and it was small compared to dom3.



I'm talking about the paper manual that comes with the game. It's supposed to be bigger and better this time. I'm really looking forward to it.

[Agrajag]

* Shadow tribune and other soul gate priest have correct priest lvl.


I guess that answers my question.
That does raise the question of how AE and SG coexist, their tales are of alternate endings for Ermor, they don't fit together. The only way that makes sense is SG being a theme of AE (or AE a theme of SG), but I thought themes were ditched in favor of eras.

Oh, and 2.94! W00H00!

[Caduceus]

I'm not going to lie - a manual that I can really cut my teeth on would make my day.

[Oversway]

My guess is that anyone who has played dom2 will be able to pick up dom3 fairly easily, manual or no. Hopefully with the nicer manual there will be more (new) people that will join the mp community.

[Annette]

Caduceus said:
I'm not going to lie - a manual that I can really cut my teeth on would make my day.


How does this sound...a manual written by Bruce Geryk, author of the essential Dominions II Walkthrough? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Caduceus]

Annette said:
How does this sound...a manual written by Bruce Geryk, author of the essential Dominions II Walkthrough? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif



Sounds good to me... How about that release date?

[Annette]

We'll announce an expected ship date as soon as we can - when we receive the final code from Illwinter. Won't be too much longer, we promise. I think the last day of summer is Sept. 21?

P.S. Has anyone picked up the September issue of Computer Games Magazine ?

Edit - I originally posted "August" issue when in fact the preview appears in the "September" issue.

[Endoperez]

Annette said:
P.S. Has anyone picked up the August issue of Computer Games Magazine ?



http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

I wonder if I could find one from Joensuu. It's one of the bigger cities here in Eastern Finland.

[Annette]

I don't know about that, Endoperez. But here is what Troy S. Goodfellow, author of the preview, has to say of the manual (which is not yet complete and was not provided to him as part of the preview code):
Illwinter has passed the manual off to Bruce Geryk, the author of one of the most comprehensive walkthroughs for the last Dominions game [and a contributor to this magazine. -ed]. Given how much Dominions III has to offer...he has quite a job to do.



I should also make note of the correction to my earlier post. This preview appears in the September issue, not August.

[Agrajag]

Annette said:
I think the last day of summer is Sept. 21?


Over here the last day of summer is Jan 1. And the first day of summer is Jan 2.
Or atleast so it seems... *sigh*

[Caduceus]

Thanks for the teasers, Annette...

[Caduceus]

* Dormant gods of dead nations still awaken!!. Fixed.


I'm not going to lie, that was going to be my only saving grace in multi-player.

[Nerfix]

Endoperez said:I wonder if I could find one from Joensuu. It's one of the bigger cities here in Eastern Finland.

I'll have to czech out if I can find a copy of the CGM...

[Edi]

Agrajag, as far as I am aware from my conversation with Kristoffer, there are no themes in the same sense as there were in Dom2 where you get a completely altered nation by choosing a theme (e.g. Ulm and BF Ulm), so Soul Gate would have to be a different nation than AE Ermor (perhaps different era). Or IW may have made an exception in that case.

Edi

[Caduceus]

Kristoffer, just to weak your nose that you haven't updated the progress sheet like you promised. I hope that means good things, like a version 3.0 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[NTJedi]

After it reaches the final version some heavy testing should be done to capture as many bugs as possible and then fixing the bugs before sending out the game. I estimate another month... which will hopefully be enough time so RAM drops in price for my new powerful computer. /threads/images/Graemlins/Lightning.gif /threads/images/Graemlins/icon13.gif /threads/images/Graemlins/Lightning.gif

[Folket]

NTJedi, is that not what they are doing right now?

Once they reach 3.0 they have concluded that enough bugs are fixed for a release.

[Agrajag]

Prices drop all the time, so even when the game is out you could just wait a few more days for a bit of a discount http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif



Once they reach 3.0 they have concluded that enough bugs are fixed for a release.


Once they reach 3.0 I hope they have concluded that all the bugs have been fixed :X

[Varjostin]

18th august
* Version 3.00
* Fixed bug that could destroy map province borders and probably other things as well.
* Niefel giants had 3 chills too much.
* Mound Fiend fixed for the 4th and final time now.
* Some mictlan specific bug fixes.
* Disappearing map arrows fixed.



HOLY SMOKE!!!
I just did an ordinary development check and there it was!! BOOM!! The dream come true!

VERSION 3.00!!! Dance til your dead!!



P.S.Sorry for my crazy spam.

[NTJedi]

VERSION 3.00!! Dance until someone casts Burden of Time!

[ioticus]

It would be interesting to read how the Mound Fiend got hosed 4 times in a row.

[Nerfix]

VERSION THREE DOT ZERO ZERO!
OMPG YAY
VERSION THREE DOT ZERO ZERO!
OMPG YAY
VERSION THREE DOT ZERO ZERO!
OMPG YAY

*DANCES*