the Mappers Wishlist

[Gandalf Parker]

<font color="yellow">#patrol</font>

This would allow for castles to be added to the map and the units placed there to be put on patrol instead of inside and on defence.

The way it is now, a castled province is actually weaker. It can be taken by a single scout and then taxed to death.

edit: this is no longer a major item since (A) the #defence command for maps does create PD as far as catching stealth units, and (B) the idea of defender vs patrollers inside/outside of castles seems to be able to be faked using a specific sequence of the #owner command.

<font color="yellow">terrain markers</font>

There are projects going on for automated naming or automated placing of provinces. We can find specific terrains but its hard to find specific features.

Such as DomMap added. Such as L4 would say that its bordered by 4 land. If its a water province then it can be named a pond or lake. If its a W4 marker on a land province then its an island. A W3L1 might mean a penninsula. It would also make it easier to auto-find chokepoints and dead-ends

Since the map-generator "knows" this info when it makes a map then it would be nice if it recorded it

edited: downgraded since various 3rd party programs have popped up to do most of this. They can read a map and add markers.

#ifavailable X

The map is "digested" after all of the gods are turned in, and a fthrland file is created in the game directory for the game to play off of. At the moment things are abit confusing because a game-start screen will show ALL of the nations available, and it will let you pick any of them. But if you select one that is set as an AI in the map commands then your choice is just ignored which you dont find out until later (this is on server games).

If we had a command that could set an AI into the game IF its not taken by a human player then some fun scenarios could be created. A map could fill ALL of the AIs allowing players to choose what they want and then filling in everything else with computer players.

Edited: this is very low if at all. Due to the sequence that maps are processed. In a local game, the map is selected and then the players join. In a server game the players join and then the map is selected. There are a number of map and server commands which act differently in local and server games due to this. It would take a major rewrite of the entire software to fix these problems.

[NTJedi]

#assassinate
These stealthy commanders will remain in a hiding status and will try to assassinate any commander which is not an independent. The commanders don't have to be stealthy if that would make it easier to add the command.

#break_siege
These units will attack any troops laying siege to the current castle in the province.

#travel
The commander and its units will randomly travel into another nearby independent province. Perhaps eventually it could made available for computer opponents. These units would only provide defense for existing provinces and never attack.

#mad_march
The commander and its units will randomly travel into any nearby province thus possibly attacking a human or computer opponent. Perhaps eventually it could be made available to work for computer opponents as well.

#summon_allies
Allows this commander to use his ability to summon allies at the start of the game. For example if used with the fire king elemental he would be summoning his units which would increase the strength of the province as each turn passed. Please note this only works for commanders which can summon allies.

#scale_(type)(#)
No matter what domain or magic sites exist the province always holds this scale.
Example: #scale_growth 2
This province would always have a growth scale of 2

[AStott]

#battlemap &lt;province nbr&gt; &lt;name&gt;
Use this command to specify a specific battlemap to be used for all combats in the province.

drool...

[Gandalf Parker]

AStott said:
#battlemap &lt;province nbr&gt; &lt;name&gt;
Use this command to specify a specific battlemap to be used for all combats in the province.

drool...



I like that. Im not much into the battlemap editor thing. But I can see where this would boost its use. I think that Johan would go for this idea.

[NTJedi]

#neighbor 10 + 11
The purpose of this function would be to allow one way access from province 10 to province 11. This would allow map makers to develop more creative maps. I can provide examples if Illwinter wishes.

#event_gold 12 player_Abysia 1005 "Troops have found an old crashed treasure ship along the shore and brought the gold to the castle."
This gold event would allow mapmakers to provide gold and/or a message to a specific player during the game. The example provided would allow anyone playing Abysia to receive 1005 gold on turn_12.

#event_gems 25 player_Ermor 33fire "Gifts from a strange cloaked figure were left at the fort entrance."
This gem event would allow mapmakers to provide gems and/or a message to a specific player during a game. The example provided would allow anyone playing Ermor to receive 33 fire gems on turn_25.

#event_attack 48 player_Man enemy_Atlantis Group_C province_33 "Some more sea creatures are attacking a province in your kingdom!"
This attack event would allow mapmakers to generate attacks and a message explanation during the game. The "Group_C" section provides the details for commanders and units which are attacking and the details of groups are created within the .map file. The example provided would cause a battle on turn_48 at province#33 where the attacking units belong to Atlantis... if province#33 is not owned by MAN then the attack event does not occur.

[Twan]

Some ideas to reduce the amount of fixing each map needs :

- in the map editor give a different flag to all plain provinces (makes easier to see if you have forgoten to give to some provinces the right terrain type)

- add an icon on provinces with no neighbours (would also make easier to find superposed provinces due to 2+ whites pixels instead of one)

- a general command #nostartif (a number) making nostart all provinces with fewer than x neighbours (avoid to forget some bottlenecks)

[DrPraetorious]

How about two map commands.
#fixed_behavior &lt;num&gt;

where -
0 = default behavior (defend)
1 = hide
2 = patrol
3 = pillage
4 = reanimate
5 = contact allies
6 = capture slaves
7 = search

and then
#hide_behavior &lt;num&gt;

Which gives a (hiding) commander new orders when his province is conquered.
0 = default behavior (keep hiding)
1 = assassinate (as described above)
2 = instill uprising
3 = preach

[Leif_-]

I'd like to see the ability to place constraints on #neighbour definitions, particularly turn limits and limits on what abilities units must have pass.

Something like:

#neighbour 100 101 turn&gt;30,unit=fireres

wich would mean you could travel between province 100 and 101 only after turn 30, and only with units that all have fire resistance.

Secondly, a brief (one to two lines) description of a province that could be shown in-game would be nice for flavour stuff.

[NTJedi]

Currently a mapedit command exists called
#startspell &lt;player&gt; "spell name" &lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;Broken= Only works for one turn&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

I recommend adding the exact opposite which could remove a spell from being researched by a nation.
Something such as #deletespell &lt;player&gt; "spell name"

This command would allow mapmakers to customize what spell options are available to an AI opponent.

[Singularity24601]

I would love it if a map generator could randomly place a moddable list of scripted provinces such that eg, we might encounter "The Pillar of the World" (creatures, sites, map icon) from Orania in any map -&gt; a scenario generator. Each scripted province should have specific requirements (no forests + no mountains, underwater only, etc) and a rarity level.

[Gandalf Parker]

We can actually do that on our own. There was a project for it in Dom2 but it didnt get very far.
http://www.dom2minions.com/SemiRandom.shtml

I was going to ask for peoples special provinces and create a directory for them which would allow them to be randomly selected and inserted into random maps.

[Singularity24601]

Interesting. What is the status of the project for Dominions 3? You could use the Orania special provinces as a default database for testing. I don't know much about the program, but other than rarity, terrain required, etc, would it be easy to define each special province simply as you would in a .MAP file, which the generator just copies and pastes?

Perhaps a program the analyses a plain .MAP file with its terrain types and outputs a .MAP file with some randomised special provinces?

[Gandalf Parker]

That was the concept.

Terrain, neighbors, and nostarts could be analyzed. That way special recognition could be given to
forest
mountain
swamp
combos such as forest/mountain
lakes (water with all land neighbors)
islands (land with all water neighbors)
nostart (not enough neighbors, possible choke points on map)
dead ends (only one neighbor)
cut offs till late game (no neighbors)

It doesnt matter to me how long it takes or how much "thinking" the programming needs to do. I can leave it running on my server and make the map available each time it finishes. It can take a full day to generate a map. It could take a week.

[paradoxharbinger]

the things you mentioned analyzing the *.map for don't seem like they ought to take that long, unless i'm missing something. why would this ever take more than a few seconds to run, even with many provinces?

[Gandalf Parker]

It wouldnt. Im just saying that Id be willing to pile on as many rewrites as I can. They could all be worked up seperately and then chained to run one after the other on a randomly created map (the really large ones can take 2 to 3 hours to generate just the initial map)

Such as examining terrains and adding logical names for forests, swamps, islands, etc etc as you saw in another post of mine.

Or resetting the native populations to different balances.

Or adding additional armies to independent provinces logically based on the terrains or the native populations. Giving them each helpful additional leaders. For some a mage, others a priest, and others a combat leader depending on what was lacking. Possibly giving the additional leaders a full load of randomly selected equipment.

Or adding specific sites, such as some minor cave site, and declaring it to be a secret passage from a province to another matching cave site far away. (anyone remember playing chutes and ladders?)

Or matching it up with a randomly generated MOD and working them both in together for a surprise game that no one can be prepared for.

Hmmmm what else can I come up with to extend the processing time. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

Is there a reason that some commands work as MODs but not as MAPs?

What Im thinking is... on a map I can name a province, name a commander, name a god. But I cant name a nation. If I could give a name to the empty modding slots then that would be great for the games Im planning. Much easier than having everyone download a mod just to play that game with.

[Singularity24601]

I would like the option of turning off certain decorative sprites (volcanoes, etc, that have no bearing in terms of game mechanics) in the map generator.

This way, a "scenario generator" can randomly generate special provinces and draw in any relevant features on to the .TGA (eg, a volcano for "Father Fire" from Orania).

Speaking of which, how is your "Semi Random" project going Gandalf Parker? Is it still progressing? Because I think it's an excellent idea. I'd write one myself, but I am quite busy and may not have time until this Christmas, or even Christmas 2007 :-/.

[NTJedi]

Singularity24601 said:
Speaking of which, how is your "Semi Random" project going Gandalf Parker? Is it still progressing? Because I think it's an excellent idea. I'd write one myself, but I am quite busy and may not have time until this Christmas, or even Christmas 2007 :-/.



Yes I would also like to know the progress...

I'm right in the same boat as you Singularity24601... my life is so busy and chaotic I rarely have time for games.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif
I can't even take a day off from work... long story, but even if I could take a day off from work it would be spent doing boring/annoying errands.

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Currently a command exists called #allies &lt;nation#&gt; &lt;nation#&gt; for setting computer opponents as allies.

I recommend an opposite command called #war &lt;nation#&gt; &lt;nation#&gt; which would place two computer opponents to always be at war. Also it could be used to instantly create a permanent war between a human and computer opponent.

[Edi]

What I'd like is some improvement to scripting sites and populations.

Currently, the way site scripting works is that first the game creates the map, randomly assigns sites and populations and adds provncial defenders and only then does it execute map commands such as #feature or #knownfeature. This means that if random site allocation fills up a province, scripted sites will not be added.

There is a way to ensure that the scripted stuff happens, which is #killfeatures. The problem is that it removes everything and then you add scripts.

So it's either script without #killfeatures and hope for the best (rather chancy of site frequency is high) or get guaranteed scripted sites but no randoms whatsoever.

And the whole bloody point is being able to script something that appears with certainty and then maybe getting something extra. Not the other way around.

It'd be much the same with the province defense. Better that the poptype scripting runs before assignment of native defenders, that way you won't get amazons defending some measly militia/light infantry combo as is liable to happen otherwise.

Edi

[HoneyBadger]

I'd like the ability to add special abilities to units in certain regions. I'm thinking airshield for all units while they're underground-different levels for different provinces, like 20% to represent open caverns or 80% for tight, twisting tunnels, or certain provinces boosting ability in a certain path for any unit who happens to wander in and jungles where if you stay too long you get a disease-think Tsitzi-fly infestation, only it might be microscopic imps or atomies with elfshot etc. If there was a global command #underground_airshieldR then the computer would randomly assign 20%-80% airshield for all underground provinces. Samd thing for jungles- #jungle_diseaseR and the computer would randomly assign say a 1-10% chance for every unit in a jungle province to catch a disease each round they remain there. The magic bonus could be handled something like #magic_allR and #forest_magicR where the computer would give each province or each forest province a 1% chance to boost magic by 1 in 1 specific path, with maybe a 1 in 500 or 1 in 1000 chance to boost more than one path or one path by 2 points, etc. Other commands could include #desert_fireR where the computer would give each desert a 1% chance to boost fire magic by 1 point. These random abilities or detriments should come accompanied by a short message describing that they're in effect. I wouldn't mind just having a special site that could duplicate these abilities, but I don't know if such things currently exist or can be modded in.

[Endoperez]

There are too many variables for it to work like that. It won't work, not that way. Adding magic spells to certain provinces is much more feasible. Arrow Fend for both sides of the battle in all provinces that are caves, as an example.

[HoneyBadger]

I don't care how it would work as long as it works. What about the possibility of certain creatures who can't leave certain types of provinces, such as underground, forests, deserts, mountains...in the same way as water-breathing creatures can't leave the water unless they're amphibious or have magical support? Mythologically, this would make a lot of sense for a LOT of creatures.

[Endoperez]

HoneyBadger said:
I don't care how it would work as long as it works. What about the possibility of certain creatures who can't leave certain types of provinces, such as underground, forests, deserts, mountains...in the same way as water-breathing creatures can't leave the water unless they're amphibious or have magical support? Mythologically, this would make a lot of sense for a LOT of creatures.



This idea would require some work, but it's very interesting because at least Hama Dryads already have a somewhat similar ability: they can't leave their home province without getting weaker (losing hp).

[Edi]

According to the description, Blood Guards and Blood Lords also share that same drawback. Home province only or they start dying.

Edi

[HoneyBadger]

So you could have for instance a Will'o'the'whisp creature that can only be found in swamps and cannot-by itself anyway-leave the swamp it's in, but you could still recruit it.

[Endoperez]

Will'O'Wisps are battle summons available at about Conjuration 7. Fire 1, 1 gem, appear in the edges of the battlefield.

[HoneyBadger]

I wasn't aware of that spell.
Well then something a little less powerful would probably be appropriate. How about dinosaurs? they're always fun.

[Gandalf Parker]

We have
#nostart
#start
#specstart

But I have some scenarios in mind where it would I need to be able to specify those as applying only to Human or Computer players. Im not sure how many of them or what form would be simplest.

[HoneyBadger]

Gandalf, to save on confusion, is your last post a reply to mine or are you just starting a new request? If it's to me, then I'm not sure what you mean. Thanks.

[Gandalf Parker]

It was a new request.
I was playing with the Tower map and I wanted to set it up so that the human player always started at the bottom. The description would be "fight your way to the top of the tower. You only have to fight one enemy at a time but that last one is going to be a whopper" or something like that. But with the commands we have now, I cant figure out how it can be done without selecting the nation that the human plays.

[HoneyBadger]

Just two quick questions: 1 is it possible to create (or does there exist) a land/province/special site that heals the afflictions of units on it?

2 is it possible to create (or does there exist) an amphibious type of province, so that land only and water only units can move over it?

Thanks a lot!

[NTJedi]

Great ideas, but No for both.

[Jack_Trowell]

Gandalf Parker said:
It was a new request.
I was playing with the Tower map and I wanted to set it up so that the human player always started at the bottom. The description would be "fight your way to the top of the tower. You only have to fight one enemy at a time but that last one is going to be a whopper" or something like that. But with the commands we have now, I cant figure out how it can be done without selecting the nation that the human plays.




Hum, maybe by pre selecting all AI nations and giving them #specstart provinces. Then just add a #start province and th e human player should have it.

But of course this means having non random opponents

[Gandalf Parker]

Right. I could do it if I create a map for each nation that people can play.

[Jack_Trowell]

Singularity24601 said:
Interesting. What is the status of the project for Dominions 3? You could use the Orania special provinces as a default database for testing. I don't know much about the program, but other than rarity, terrain required, etc, would it be easy to define each special province simply as you would in a .MAP file, which the generator just copies and pastes?

Perhaps a program the analyses a plain .MAP file with its terrain types and outputs a .MAP file with some randomised special provinces?




I started such a project recently, and it is now available online at http://dominions.realites.org
(you can also download the whole source code if you wish)

The project has started recently so the list of special provinces is still small (http://dominions.realites.org/?action=list_special_provinces), but you're welcome to make suggestions of new provinces and their terrain types requirements.

[Gandalf Parker]

To my counting there are now 3 such projects being actively worked on.

[Jack_Trowell]

Gandalf Parker said:
To my counting there are now 3 such projects being actively worked on.




How advanced are the 2 others and are they still active ? (link ?)

I'd be happy to exchange ideas with fellow developpers.

I started my project inspired by your YaBasic script, feeling that there was a need, but if there are already others project that are more advanced that mine, maybe I should turn my effort to other features (I could for exemple make an online mod editor, I don't think there's already anything like that currently for dom3).

And of course I'm ready to accept any suggestion as to what features the community would need from fan made scripts or online tools.

[HoneyBadger]

Seeing as how they're not currently present in the game, I'd like to request officially a land/province/special site that heals the afflictions of units on it, and an amphibious type of province, so that land only and water only units can move over it. Thanks.

[Jack_Trowell]

HoneyBadger said:
Seeing as how they're not currently present in the game, I'd like to request officially a land/province/special site that heals the afflictions of units on it, and an amphibious type of province, so that land only and water only units can move over it. Thanks.



Sorry, but this is not possible with the current map modding commands. We'll have to way for illwinter to expand the commands.

[HoneyBadger]

Yeah, I'm hoping they can add them soon, so that's why I'm requesting them, so the Devs know there's a demand for such sites.

[NTJedi]

Jack_Trowell said:
We'll have to way for illwinter to expand the commands.


One of the main new commands needed is #patrol otherwise gamers can use stealthy commanders to sneak past independents and acquire items and units placed by the mapmaker from a castle currently under siege by independents.

[Jack_Trowell]

I agree, having indeps able to patrol would add spice to the game.

[Gandalf Parker]

At the moment, the castles scattered on the map can be horribly abused by nations like Pangaea and Caelum. Crank out scouts and find the castles, have the scouts "seige" it, get a watchpoint where you can see anyone coming for 3 provinces around it, crank up the gold. I think Ive been asking for #patrol since Dom1.

[HoneyBadger]

While we're on the subject of castles, how about the ability of natural fortification?

Natural fortification works like this:
In a forest, a cave, a mountain, a kelp bed, a coral reef, any place that happens to offer the right conditions for a defender to have a distinct advantage over an attacker (and not every forest, cave, etc. qualifies) you can "hide" troops behind such a thing, like a castle, but without the Defense factor.

So, in one province with Natural Fortification, you can have 1 set of units "patrolling", and one set of units "defending".

The "patrollers" combine with the PD and are attacked first, while the "defenders" (researchers, blood-hunters, what have you) remain safe behind the trees, stalactites, high ground, whatever it is that makes that particular province special.

Attackers can still seige the place after they've beaten the patrollers+PD, and can immediately attack the Defenders, but can't hurt defending units before that happens.

Defenders don't get a defense bonus, a supply bonus, administration, or any of the benefits of a castle, except the ability to split their forces and delay an enemy an extra turn.

Now, if you DO build a castle on that particular province, you get a bonus to the castle's defense of 25% to reflect taking advantage of the natural suitability of that particular province for defense.

[paradoxharbinger]

HoneyBadger said:
2 is it possible to create (or does there exist) an amphibious type of province, so that land only and water only units can move over it?

Thanks a lot!



was just thinking about this, what if one of the water flags were set and one of the land flags were set (i.e. somewater/swamp or ocean/swamp, etc). havent tested, just a thought

[DrPraetorious]

It's an ocean province if you set both flags - so aquatic/amphib units only, regardless of what other flags are set.

I asume that the concept is you can have underwater mountain ranges, underwater forests, etc.

[NTJedi]

paradoxharbinger said:
was just thinking about this, what if one of the water flags were set and one of the land flags were set (i.e. somewater/swamp or ocean/swamp, etc). havent tested, just a thought



It's a great idea to have a province which both land and water units can travel. The new terrain would have to be added by the developers since it's currently not possible. Since swamp already exists one suggestion for the new province name
"Rain Forest" since water levels can vary drastically for this type.

[Gandalf Parker]

Coastal swamps, mangrove swamps, deltas. All of those would be examples of water/land if it got added.

[HoneyBadger]

Don't forget Fjords! Inland bays, lagoons, and shallow seas, for that matter.

[Edi]

I want to be able to assign items to commanders by number. otherwise the item numbers are all but useless.

Edi

[Gandalf Parker]

That would also make for a very interesting game variant if I could assign items based on a random from 1 to 2000. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Ballbarian]

What I'd like is some improvement to scripting sites and populations.

Currently, the way site scripting works is that first the game creates the map, randomly assigns sites and populations and adds provncial defenders and only then does it execute map commands such as #feature or #knownfeature. This means that if random site allocation fills up a province, scripted sites will not be added.

There is a way to ensure that the scripted stuff happens, which is #killfeatures. The problem is that it removes everything and then you add scripts.

So it's either script without #killfeatures and hope for the best (rather chancy of site frequency is high) or get guaranteed scripted sites but no randoms whatsoever.

And the whole bloody point is being able to script something that appears with certainty and then maybe getting something extra. Not the other way around.

It'd be much the same with the province defense. Better that the poptype scripting runs before assignment of native defenders, that way you won't get amazons defending some measly militia/light infantry combo as is liable to happen otherwise.



I would like to ditto Edi's observation and add the ability to define custom population types on a per province basis.

For example:
#land 96
#clearpop
#custpop 1 970 -- hybrid trooper
#custpop 2 967 -- hybrid
#custpop 3 968 -- hybrid
#custpop 4 969 -- hybrid
#custpopcom 1 972 -- hybrid lord
#custpopcom 2 443 -- star child
#custpopcom 3 971 -- hybrid soldier
#custpopcom 4 331 -- illithid

#setland 97
#poptype 33 -- Lt. &amp; Hvy Inf, X-bow
#custpop 1 523 -- Fire Drake
#custpopcom 1 389 -- Fire Lord

[Edi]

That's a somewhat bad idea, as most summoned creatures have a recruitment cost of 0 gold, 1 resource. It would be more appropriate to have poptype modding added to modding possibilities and then modding the monsters you want to add into that poptype. Then assigning poptypes to provinces.

Otherwise chaos ensues.

Edi

[Ballbarian]

Ok, add #goldcost and #rescost to the list of commands. The ability to do it in a mod would be nice, but I would prefer to have it within the map for a bundle of reasons. Or if it is easier to implement, add a command to enable a given mod from a map.

[Endoperez]

Yeah, I've been wishing for a map command that enables spesific mod for a long time now. It'd be great for scenarios.

[Gandalf Parker]

Hmmmm there is a command-line switch for enabling a mod but I didnt consider a map command when I requested the switch. It would make sense for scenarios though. And I suppose there might be room for a mod command that specifies that its meant to be used with a particular map only.

[Gandalf Parker]

Apparently the Map Editor in the game will recognize nostart terrain bits but not the #nostart command.

[Gandalf Parker]

Apparently #startspell only works for one turn?
Do we have second and third confirmation on this?

[Gandalf Parker]

If its not majorly prefereable for this not to happen, I would like a switch on map generation (command line switches) to do the random name assignments that is avaiable inside the map editor.

Unless having 1500 provinces named is a cpu drag making it a good idea for the default to be leaving that off. Then the extra steps to get it would make sense.

[Gandalf Parker]

I would like a map switch (menu and command line) to set how many neighbors means nostart.

And then if it could let me know how many starts we ended up with that would be great also but not if thats too hard to add.

[Gandalf Parker]

Im pasting the original first message here. Hopefully I will get around to editing the first messge to be more in style with the prefered format for wishlists and bug reports.

#patrol

This would allow for castles to be added to the map and the units placed there to be put on patrol instead of inside and on defence.

The way it is now, a castled province is actually weaker. It can be taken by a single scout and then taxed to death.

terrain markers

There are projects going on for automated naming or automated placing of provinces. We can find specific terrains but its hard to find specific features.

Such as DomMap added. Such as L4 would say that its bordered by 4 land. If its a water province then it can be named a pond or lake. If its a W4 marker on a land province then its an island. A W3L1 might mean a penninsula. It would also make it easier to auto-find chokepoints and dead-ends

Since the map-generator "knows" this info when it makes a map then it would be nice if it recorded it

#ifavailable X

The map is "digested" after all of the gods are turned in, and a fthrland file is created in the game directory for the game to play off of. At the moment things are abit confusing because a game-start screen will show ALL of the nations available, and it will let you pick any of them. But if you select one that is set as an AI in the map commands then your choice is just ignored which you dont find out until later (this is on server games).

If we had a command that could set an AI into the game IF its not taken by a human player then some fun scenarios could be created. A map could fill ALL of the AIs allowing players to choose what they want and then filling in everything else with computer players.

I will think of more later.

[Gandalf Parker]

Or someone else that wants to can start a proper one for stickiness and this one can be unstickied as the dicussion thread

[Gandalf Parker]

I wish that the terrain "fresh water" when used by itself would mean fresh water. Lake or pond, not seawater. At the moment, it means there is some freshwater in the province such as a river or pond but you also have to flag it as some other land terrain. IF you set it for fresh water by itself, the game cosniders it to be plains (the default no-tag terrain) and puts land poptypes in it.

[Saint_Dude]

I wish it were possible to modify maps such that each player can only see the portions of the map where they have either positive dominion or a physical presence (province control or scout). Neighboring provinces to those under control would also be visable.

In this way it would be possible to simulate a dungeon or labyrinth, where one truely does not know the layout of the land prior to exploration. Scouts would be at a very high premium.

The only significant impact on game mechanics would be that it would be impossible to target spells at provinces that one did not know about.

[Gandalf Parker]

Of course we dont have that but to get closer to it, keep in mind that the game doesnt care much about the graphic image of the map. On the graphic, the only thing that HAS to be there are the white dots. You could make the dungeon a completely black map.

Hmmm that wouldnt work that well because the white dots would be pretty obvious. You could scatter lots and lots of grey dots for the white dots to hide in.

Or make the entire dungeon part of the map into one big almost-white square. No walls, no borders etc. The white dot has to be 255/255/255 and I think that in usual single-minded computer program logic that is not the same as 254/255/255. Too bad we cant do it with black instead of white but it still should be interesting.

[Edi]

Uh, Gandalf, it doesn't show in the game. The game actually reads the color of the pixel next to the white pixel and overlays it on the white pixel in the map display, so you won't see which province is where on a completely black map.

[Gandalf Parker]

Kewl. I always have those flags showing so I took it for granted that it was under the flag. Even better. We can make the dungeon section of the map black on black.

[Saint_Dude]

Sounds like that would be fun to experiment with. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Saint_Dude]

Are there any sites that could be added to the provinces (or any other map modding mechanism) in order to make all battles in those provinces subject to darkness. I am thinking along the lines of the Agarthan cave city, but without the fortress or other effects. Dungeons should be dark, no?

I am not thinking about an entirely black/dark map, but rather a map with dungeon sections.

[Gandalf Parker]

The new terrain of cave should do that. Im not sure how much its been implemented but thats what its supposed to be fore.

[Gandalf Parker]

If a god is added to the map file, and the nation isnt in the game, the game creation blows up. That means that you cant add gods for nations or eras which might not get chosen for the game. I would rather that a god added was more "used IF the nation is chosen". Putting a #computerplayer line doesnt seem to help either.

[Gandalf Parker]

How about map commands for temperature of a province. That would help maps that are trying to create a world with polar, temperate, tropical zones. For simplicity maybe make it match the games temperature ratings -3 to +3. And of course not be cumulative.

edited: hmmm for playability it might be best to make that -2 thru +2. That would mean that a -3 temp nation could drive a +2 temp province to -1. Still a hassle but not deadly.

[lch]

There are sites that fiddle with the scales, yes? Aren't there some non-unique ones that increase heat/cold, too?

[paradoxharbinger]

i second the province temperature commands

[Gandalf Parker]

lch said:
There are sites that fiddle with the scales, yes? Aren't there some non-unique ones that increase heat/cold, too?


There are. Its a useable workaround. But I wouldnt want to put a specific site into every polar or tropical province. So I wouldnt say this is a "bug" thing. Just a "wishlist" thing.

[llamabeast]

Could you create a new site, called "Tropical clime" or something, that just increases heat and nothing else, and place it in every tropical province. That wouldn't be too awful.

Disadvantage (apart from clunkiness): Less normal magic sites in those provinces. And yep, very clunky.

[Ballbarian]

I third the province temperature commands... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

Some error checking is needed. Some of the commands create errors due to Dom3 adding eras. Personally I would prefer that the game allow a map to be usable for multiple eras. I dont see it being a problem for users if the game just ignores references to nations which are not in the game.

At the moment if I use commands referring to an early era nation on a map, and I create a game in late era using that map, it crashes. I would prefer putting anything I want into the map and having the game use early era references if its an early era game, and use any late era lines if I use the map to play a late era game.

If you want to test this, I have been irritated most by this with #computerplayer and #allies

[YuanShi]

Centered land mass surrounded by sea.

This means that the map generator would convert the provinces directly on the border into sea/deep sea provinces.

The desired effect would be to be able to generate random maps that would generate perfect wrap-around giving the impression of a globe and avoiding the ugly and unrealistic "border province" effect, that makes the playing experience less inmersive as it makes you think that you are playing on a virtual game board instead of transporting you to a virtual world.

[Gandalf Parker]

#enablemod &lt;mod.dm&gt;

We have a server command for this...
-M --enablemod XXX Enable the mod with filename XXX
(yes devs I remember being a thorn to get that one http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif )

Now I would also like to see a map command for it so that we can build more extensive scenarios http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif

[Aezeal]

ah dammit I just wanted to ask about it (my niefelheim giant prov (which I was asking all those questions about) on the wrap around water map kinda needed - 3 cold scales..)

[Gandalf Parker]

There are some notes thru this thread that can help you.

There are sites which affect temperature of the province

And you can set scales for a nation by map commands but the map commands also have to put it in the game as an AI. It will unfortunately show as a player option for selection but once the game is created on that map it will ignore their choice and make it AI.

[Xietor]

I have not read the entire thread, but i would love to be able to code a map so that a castle could not be build on certain provinces.

[Gandalf Parker]

Hmmmmm Should that be castles only or all structures?
I guess only castles. I would cry to find a supersweet magic site offering me a lab goodie and not be able to build a lab there. So something like...
#nocastle
or maybe yet another bit? (I hope not. I hate math and I cringe at more bits.)

I wonder if it would be too much overhead to ask for a server setting for this also.

[Gandalf Parker]

I would like for #god to be split to #godai which means "add this god only if AI player".
I suppose we would also need an ai version for scales also. At the moment, using a #god in the map forces the change on both AI and players.

[Gandalf Parker]

Some commands to set actions when placing units. Such as #hide and #instill and maybe #seduce. But mostly hide.

[Zeldor]

I made a map recently and while testing I noticed that #randomequip is really unreliable command. At richness 4 [max] it can either give slave collar + ring of water breathing or 4 artifacts...

I think we could use a new command [or adjust #randomequip to work like that, I think most people expect it to work that way]:
#randomput <rich> - with rich 0-4:
0 - randomly fill ALL item slots on a commander with trinkets
1 - with items up to const2 level
2 - with items up to const4 level
3 - with items up to const6 level
4 - with items up to const8 level

Also other command that could work well would be #comtype - setting a purpose of commander, with options:
- melee: if he has magic skills, he casts spells up to max 50 fatigue and goes into melee [if not possible, just going to melee without casting would be fine]
- evocator - casts offensive spells
- summoner - spams summons, like skelly spam, elemental spam
- buffer - casts buff spells on troops
[if those 3 not possible, simple 'spellcaster' would work too, it would be even better if it could affect what items commander will get from #randomput]

I'd really like to see that first command to be implemented, best if in next patch. Because as for now, if we want some balanced and solid gear, we have to place all items by hand [which is a nightmare if you have multiple commanders to gear].

[Gandalf Parker]

I re-noticed the #cannotwin command, which is pretty cool.
But I really could also use a #cannotlose (nation-number). It would help in some scenarios and in testing. Also might make a nice server feature. Sometimes I need a nation to remain in the game until its over even if its just to be able to enter the game and check on some things from the inside, get a map view, grab an image of the scores graphs, send messages to everyone, etc.

[rdonj]

I would love it if a map made from an image by the map editor had the data for each province seperated from that of the other provinces, to make it easier to begin making modifications to the map file... I don't even want to think how painful it would be doing that for a 1500 province map.

[Gandalf Parker]

Im not sure what you mean but there have been many programs written to "pretty up" the .map file to various peoples preferences. There may already be one, or one might be easily done for what you want.
PM me.

[lch]

See http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?p=663521#post663521 -- it would be nice to have a hotkey in the ingame map editor that would show the current mapzoom, so that it could be set as a #defaultmapzoom. This would prevent restarting the game client countless times just to find out a good #defaultmapzoom by trial and error.

[Herode]

Looks like there is no #makeprophet command to transform a commander into a prophet. :angel

[Gandalf Parker]

Looks like there is no #makeprophet command to transform a commander into a prophet. :angel
That would really help the ability to give AIs pre-built settings.
Good idea.

[Gandalf Parker]

This is a minor request, and has the advantage of being in Kristoffers territory for a change.

At the moment the "blank" nations have ALMOST enough workable defaults to
play reasonably well when they are put in a game by map-accessable
commands. They have a default god list, default castle structures, default
starting units, default PD. Would it be possible to get some default
recruitables? They dont have to be great, they can all be the same. Even
just 1 commander and 1 or 2 units would help. It can even match the PD.

[Gandalf Parker]

Server --switches added as #commands for maps (and maybe mods) would make the #scenario switch worth using IMHO

[Casual Killer]

I'm on a quest for the forgotten eventide map. Anyone know where I can download it?

[Gandalf Parker]

the search function here isnt great but Google to your rescue. You can search for anything and include site:forum.shrapnelgames.com with the words. Such as:
site:forum.shrapnelgames.com eventide map
gives this....
https://www.google.com/webhp?rls=ig#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&rls=ig&site=webhp&source=hp&q=site:forum.shrapnelgames.com+eventide+map&pbx=1&oq=site:forum.shrapnelgames.com+eventide+map&aq=f&aqi=&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=6150l16260l0l16609l41l36l0l0l0l0l522l7454l0 .24.9.1.0.2l36l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=68c06283a2517fd&biw=1280&bih=867

[Casual Killer]

Thanks, but I already tried that. There seems to be a single missing link:

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=35244


http://67.66.187.69/dominions3/bigDom3maps_1.00.zip

[Gandalf Parker]

ooh archive files from the previous forum. The upgrade of the forum software and a new machine made the original links not work. I used to know how to access that. You might ask Annette