New Patch (v.3.06) For Dominions 3: The Awakening!

[Annette]

News Release For Immediate Release


New Patch For Dominions 3: The Awakening!
Latest Patch Sure To Please Mac Users!


Hampstead, NC, 31 January 2007

Illwinter Game Design and Shrapnel Games would like to announce that there is now a
new patch available for the critically acclaimed fantasy strategy title, Dominions 3: The
Awakening. The patch brings the retail version of the game up to 3.06 and is available
for all operating systems that Dominions 3 is playable on.

While the version 3.06 patch includes a number of bug fixes and enhancements for mod
improvements, the most exciting aspect of the patch applies to Mac gamers. There is
now a universal binary available for Mac players! Not being Mac users ourselves the first
thought was that it had something to do with Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van
Damme, but then we realized that's Universal Soldier, not universal binary! Apparently
the universal binary will allow better performance for Intel-based Macs.

The complete list of changes found in the patch can be found on the download page, and
is also found below:

* Universal binary for Mac OS X.
* Fixed some typos.
* New spell for Man.
* Name fixes for late era T'ien Chi.
* Name fix for some Abysian humanbreds.
* Darkness did not work properly regarding demons.
* Modding: new commands: #domsummon, #domsummon2, #domsummon20.
* Modding: new commands: #summon1, #summon5, #makemonster1-5.
* Modding: #copy renamed to #copyspell in manual as well.
* --noscoregraphs works.
* Dreams of R'lyeh could hang the game if cast upon a province with only mindless
commanders.
* Hippocampoi Fields summoned a human soldier who immediately drowned, fixed so
it summons a hippocamus instead.
* Miasma dominion affected C'tis income badly as well.
* Modding manual updated.
* Modding: Resistances can be modded to exceed 100%.
* Modding: can disable nation with #era 0.
* Modding: new commands: #seduce, #succubus, #charge.
* --mapsbcol didn't work. (FIXED)
* Defense commanders didn't receive mirror image properly. (FIXED)
* Dragon mastery ability could disappear unexpectedly. (FIXED)

The version 3.06 patch for Windows, Mac, and Linux may be downloaded directly from:

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwinter/Dom3/6.htm

Dominions 3: The Awakening is the third game of fantasy religious conflict from
Swedish developer Illwinter Game Design. Turn-based in nature, and aimed at providing
strategy gamers with an engrossing multiplayer experience of up to twenty-one players
(though perfectly suited for the solo gamer), Dominions 3: The Awakening has been the
talk of critics and gamers since its release, from being an Editor's Choice at Computer
Games Magazine to CYBERSTRATEGE magazine's strategy game of 2006, along with a
legion of other accolades.

Packed with more strategy and gameplay than a dozen mainstream games, Dominions 3:
The Awakening is the perfect example of eclectic independent gaming at its finest. The
base game includes hundreds upon hundreds of unique combat units, spells, and magical
artifacts, with modders pushing the envelope every day with even more content.
Shipping with a random map generator, no two games ever have to be the same.

Of course a game this big deserves a manual that does it justice, and the Dominions 3:
The Awakening manual is the real deal. Spiral-bound with a page count over 300 pages,
this is what a manual should look like.

Dominions 3: The Awakening is available for only $54.95 for Windows, Mac, and Linux
operating systems. That's right, for $54.95 you get:

* 1500+ combat units, 600+ spells, and 300+ magic items.

* Fifty+ playable nations, three eras, up to twenty-one players (human or AI).

* Random map generator.

* Huge paper manual!

* Easy mod-making.

* Unlimited gameplay!

Cheaper than a typical date, weekend trip, or traffic ticket, Dominions 3: The Awakening
will also last longer and provide you with much fonder memories. Be sure to stop by the
official Shrapnel Games store, the Gamers Front
(www.gamersfront.com/xcart/home.php), to order your copy today!

More information on this great game, or any of our other fine titles, may be found at
www.shrapnelgames.com. (http://www.shrapnelgames.com.) Our titles are wide-ranging and sure to please the
discriminating gamer tired of the same old crap filling up the local retail chains.

<font color="#5bebe5">EDIT: Changed thread title to reflect version number of the patch ~Edi</font>

[calmon]

Thanks for the patch mainly the miasma bug fix http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Wasn't there a commitment from devs to nerf vanheim/helheim a little bit? I didn't notice any change here.

[Edi]

The good news is that I should be able to finish the DB before the next patch comes out. The bad news is that I'm going to have to recheck a crapload of stuff that's already been done.

Fortunately, none of the stuff on that list seems to have too much of an impact. Except for demons, and those can be found with a simple sorting function.

Edi

[Reverend Zombie]

The Tomb Wyrms aren't back? *sigh*

[Actuarian]

Will patching to version 3.06 mess up ongoing version 3.04 games?

[Gandalf Parker]

I know that a player who upgrades will bomb a game if the host doesnt upgrade. Im not sure about other situations (host upgrades but not player, host and some players) but I suspect that answer is all-or-none.

Im also not sure if the exe can be copied off to oldDom3.exe and still used to host a game. There are othr files (such as the army library) that are updated in the patch.

[Meglobob]

Excellent another patch, thanks. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[PhilD]

Did the new patch change any versions of libraries it requires under Linux? I just patched, and the game won't launch anymore... (I, very stupidly, overwrote the previous files before testing anything; I could unzip the previous patch 3.04 again, but I'm not sure it won't break anything...)

[PhilD]

I'm not sure I understand what happened correctly, but if I do, I'm extremely unhappy: apparently patch 3.06 requires libc 2.4, as can be seen from this error message when I try to launch it:

dom3: /lib/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.4' not found (required by dom3)

I tried to look for it in the standard places for my Linux distribution (Ubuntu 6.06), and didn't find it - what seems to be the standard is libc 2.3.6, which is what I have.

Currently my dom3 won't run, and this is because Illwinter decided to use a brand new version of libc? What was so urgent with it?

[PhilD]

Update: I checked that patch 3.06 didn't patch any files that 3.04 didn't, and went back to 3.04. Now I can apparently play, but I won't be able to play correctly in my MP games if they go to 3.06, right?

[thejeff]

Upgrade to Edgy, it has glibc2.4.

Should be a pretty painless upgrade, from what I know of Ubuntu. It's been released for 3-4 months, so it should be stable.

[PhilD]

I'm not sure I like the idea of upgrading my distribution just because of this. I specifically selected 6.06 because it was the "long term support" version; I'm pretty sure there isn't much in the newest things that I need.

If I really have to upgrade my Linux distribution just because of Dom3, then I'll really be upset. I just checked the requirements on the original version, and it says libc &gt;= 2.1.92. Whatever really required the change, I'm pretty curious.

[okiN]

Cheers. I'll check it out right away. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[thejeff]

Understood. I'm also curious what required it. If anything actually required it?

I personally wouldn't worry about the long term support, unless it was some critical server type machine. (Which probably wouldn't be running Dominions). But I like having the newest things.

On the other hand, it doesn't look like Debian unstable has libc 2.4, either. &lt;rant&gt; What were they thinking, requiring it!!&lt;/rant&gt;

[NTJedi]

I saw a topic where cave provinces were listed as "junk"??
Are cave provinces still working or just not working for the DAWN map?

[BigDisAwesome]

the patch doesn't seem to be working for me. the installer keeps giving me the message

Dominions 3 has not been totally updated because of the following
reason:

CRC Error - cannot update the following file:
C:\Program Files\dominions3\dom3.exe

You will have to run this utility again to completely update Dominions
3.




and it doesn't matter how many times i run it, it does the same thing every time. and i tried running it fresh off a restart to see if any programs i had open were screwing it up.
i just got the game in the mail today and i can't wait to play AGH!

[NTJedi]

try installing a previous patch and then try the most recent patch.

===========

back to the questions:

I saw a topic where cave provinces were listed as "junk"??
Are cave provinces still working or just not working for the DAWN map?

[BigDisAwesome]

tryed that too. i updated to 3.04 from a fresh install then to 3.06 and the same thing happened.

[calmon]

And dom3 is closed while installing?
Try to update a 3.00 version 3.06 includes all patches.

[BigDisAwesome]

yep its closed.
and to make sure i'm not just crazy i even uninstalled it 1 more time, deleted the directory, put a fresh install on, and tryed to patch. same problem. i'm gonna try to redownload the patch to see if it got corrupted somehow.

[BigDisAwesome]

i just downloaded it from fileshack and this time it worked fine. thanks for the help guys.

[llamabeast]

Thanks for the patch guys! I really appreciate the continuing work you put in, the game really is getting better and better all the time.

The Ctis Miasma and Demons-in-the-dark changes in particular will make a really big difference.

Thanks again!

[RicoRico]

Hi

I am hosting a PBEM game and I am wondering when to apply the patch. We were playing at 3.04. So:
- patch BEFORE I host a turn
- patch right AFTER I host a turn
- or doesn't that matter..

Oh and can I get 3.04 somewhere still? As I just reinstalled the game, and still want to play my own turn at 3.04 before I apply 3.06.

Thanks!

[Ragnarok-X]

Hm. I was expecting new content.

[Reverend Zombie]

Ragnarok-X said:
Hm. I was expecting new content.



Eff new content; I'd be happy if the C'tis LE Tomb Wyrm were fixed.

[Jefke]

Hi,

G4 iMac with Mac OS X 10.2.6.

I can confirm that games bomb in MP if hosts upgrades and not yourself.
I just installed patch 3.06 over a working 3.04 install.

Now, the game doesn't run anymore :
% ./Dominions3
dyld: ./Dominions3 can't open library: /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib (No such file or directory, errno = 2)

Exept going back to Windows, what can I do to help solving this issue. My partners are waiting for my turn.

Cheers,

JeF.

[Ragnarok-X]

I guess reinstalling... ;(

[Johan K]

Jefke said:
G4 iMac with Mac OS X 10.2.6.

Now, the game doesn't run anymore :
% ./Dominions3
dyld: ./Dominions3 can't open library: /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib (No such file or directory, errno = 2)




This seems to be a quite common probelm with universal binaries. Not running on 10.2.x that is. I will try to fix it, or if not successful I will make an old PowerPC binary as well. Reinstalling will not help, but installing the missing library could.

[Manuk]

there's a dom3 bug that's still alive. If you disable the battle background via "w" key units dissapear until they move again. Also the grid dissapear.
I like to use this option sometimes because makes me see more clear the battle at some backgrounds.

[Johan K]

If anyone has problems with running the OSX patch on older macs then please try this one. And please pose your result as well.

http://jaffa.illwinter.com/dom3/dompatch306b_osx.zip

[Jefke]

Sorry Johan.

I could't try before today and now the server does not seem to be up and running.

JeF.

[Ballbarian]

I can confirm that the cave province icon is replaced by a "junk" icon upon upgrading to 306. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Remmy]

For some reason about 10 minutes into playing the game all the in-game interface disappears and I have to alt tab to quit the game. This happens with every computer i've installed this game on with the newest patch and doesnt happen at all with 3.04 or unpatched.

[Gandalf Parker]

Windows? Mac? Linux?
And what version of those?
What graphics card do you have?
Do you have any screen timer set for 10 minutes that might be in conflict with Dominions? Such as, does your screen saver set to kick in at 10 minutes? Maybe Dom3 isnt letting itself be "seen" properly with the new librarys.

[Remmy]

All three computers are windows with such varying specs that it really cant be some unique hardware problem. And the screen saver is turned off for all computers. It's not really exactly twn minutes but I'd say it varies from 10 to even 60 minutes before everything disappears. I can still click things and open menus (using esc) but I cant see anything besides the map image.

[lch]

Remmy said:
For some reason about 10 minutes into playing the game all the in-game interface disappears and I have to alt tab to quit the game. This happens with every computer i've installed this game on with the newest patch and doesnt happen at all with 3.04 or unpatched.


I had similar problems with 3.06 on Linux, I think it depends on your map screen. All text vanishes, you only see background graphics. Maybe I still have a savegame where this happens, I'll have to search for it.

You can get weird effects on the battle screen, too. Have lots and lots of units with natural aura effects like a Heat aura, and cast some more aura effects like Divine Bless, Heat from Hell and so on. This should mess up the graphics and either let one of your auras begin to cycle through all kinds of symbols before the game crashes with an error message, or displace all your units with big, honking, white A's which are rotated by 90° counter-clockwise.

I got display errors in one Dom3 window when I launched the game a second time, too, the screen went messy with lots of colors and only restarting the program helped.

[Murph]

I'm having this same problem. Every 2-5 turns the GUI just disappears. I'm running a 1.7 gig pentium with windows XP. The problem only started with the new patch, and it's basically making the game unplayable for me. I have to ctr-alt-del and end process on the game to get it to quit.

[Yrkoon]

I have that problem too. I noticed that the GUI disappears ONLY when I have a look at a commander (I rename a lot of them) from the main map, then go back to the main map again. I doesn't always happen, but every 2-5 turn is a good approximation.

There is a easy fix to this, at least in my case : I don't look at the commanders from the main map. Instead, I open the army setup for the province where the commander is (shortcut : t) and I look at the commander from there. The GUI never disappears when I close the army setup.

So to sum up:

Main map -&gt; Commander view -&gt; Main map : GUI disappears
Main map -&gt; Army setup -&gt; Commander view -&gt; Army setup -&gt; Main map : No problem at all

I hope this works for you.

[Edi]

It's rather bizarre. I've had no problems whatsoever with the new patch. I patched to 3.04 originally and then to 3.06 and never had anything at all. The only thing that I sometimes see disappearing is the commander actions menu when you click on the orders button, and that because the game displaces the action menu off the screen. Esc --&gt; try again brings it back onscreen every time.

Edi

[Murph]

Yes, I noticed the bug only occurs when I'm coming back to the main map after selecting a commander, but going in to the commander view through the army setup isn't a workable long-term fix, I'm afraid. I'm often working with provinces that have lots of commanders, and I tend to sort them by what they're doing, which is not something that I can see from the army set-up screen. Also, I don't usually bother to rename commanders, so trying to remember if its Xutholchi or Xuchantipi that's supposed to be the one I'm giving the jade knife to isn't something that I'm really interested in doing, although I suppose it would be a helpful memory training exercise.

Basically, though, I'm not that interested in a difficult work-around - I think for the time being I'll go back to the 3.04 patch, which worked fine for me. I hope this is something the devs can fix, though.

[NTJedi]

Edi said:
It's rather bizarre. I've had no problems whatsoever with the new patch. I patched to 3.04 originally and then to 3.06 and never had anything at all.
Edi



I agree... no problems at all after patching to 3.06

[NTJedi]

This topic should be unstickied... so the next new patch can have a new start.

[Edi]

It'll get unstickied in time. After we actually have a new patch and that one is still in the works. Patience.

Edi

EDIT: NT Jedi's reply to this post moved to the Bug Discussion thread

[Electro808]

Game worked fine for me before this patch now i get the same problem as described before everything going invisible except for the map.

Is it possible to go to the previous version without reinstalling the game?

[Electro808]

I think ive found a fix for it on another thread. i deleted a key file in the dom directory and re-entered my cd key and it hasn't happened again so far, so hopfully thats it fixed.

[Gandalf Parker]

Sometimes a patch can change files that were not changed in the previous patch. Patching backwards would cause different strange results

Try deleting the key then typing it in from your manual.
If that doesnt fix it then contact support

[TheMenacer]

Dunno if anyone else is getting this bug, but now that I have the patch, whenever I end a turn the game crashes and gives me a message of "ConvArmyNbr: error!"

[Edi]

Menacer, that one sounds like there are units there that shouldn't be, possibly due to modding or some other reason. Or some related issue. The only times I've seen that is when I've tried to use map commands to assign units to a map that don't exist in the game. Please post a more detailed issue report in the bug discussion thread so that it can be hashed out in better detail.

[Gandalf Parker]

TheMenacer said:
Dunno if anyone else is getting this bug, but now that I have the patch, whenever I end a turn the game crashes and gives me a message of "ConvArmyNbr: error!"


Thats the kindof thing Ive seen from patching backwards. It might not be your problem but I wanted to mention it earlier and couldnt remember the error. The units are in a seperate file. If 3.04 doesnt have a replacement for that file, then 3.06 does change it... then changing back to 3.04 wont put things back completely. Just one example of what back-patching can do.

[TheMenacer]

I'd report more on the bug if there was more to report. I don't have any mods enabled and I went straight from 3.00 to 3.06. I'll also throw this in the bug discussion thread too.

[Baalz]

Suggestion: Could the posts announcing new patches include the version number in the title? Can't tell you how many times I see this thread and think I need to go get a new patch...then realize it's still the 3.06 patch being announced as a sticky at the top of the first page.

[Cor]

Baalz said:
Suggestion: Could the posts announcing new patches include the version number in the title? Can't tell you how many times I see this thread and think I need to go get a new patch...then realize it's still the 3.06 patch being announced as a sticky at the top of the first page.



I am in the same boat. Patch number would be very helpful.

[Jazzepi]

I agree with Baalz.

Jazzepi

[Edi]

Ask, and ye shall receive, was the quote I had in mind...

[NTJedi]

Edi said:
Ask, and ye shall receive, was the quote I had in mind...



Lets have Illwinter temporarily hire one extra individual to fix all the bugs they don't want and/or have time to fix.
We might have to cast "Wish" a few dozen times before this will work, but it will be worth it.

[MaxWilson]

I know you're kidding, but there would be a nontrivial time investment in bringing the new person up to speed on the code. Small projects don't scale well just by adding people--it can even hurt productivity. It might be better to Wish to buy out the school Johan works at and pay him ten times as much money to work on Dominions. In fact, if you can convince everyone you know to convince everyone they know to buy a copy of Dominions 3, we might be able to do that. That's what, 2.5 million copies? (Most people know about 5000 people, but there's a fair bit of overlap.)

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

-Max

[Gandalf Parker]

I get the impression from people who have seen the code that letting people into Johans code is above averagely a problem. Its taken us years to get him to answer in more than a sentence so I doubt the code has document remarks. And even if it did its probably swedish. And the variables also.

This game is a project of love and has grown over the years. Ive had to evaluate many of those. Projects like that dont tend to open up to others very well.

[Edi]

I've seen some partial snippets of the code (units, sites, weapons, armor), and even for those fairly straightforward portions it requires pretty extensive explanations and examples before it's (relatively) easy to read.

I have no idea of what the rest of it looks like, but I am inclined to agree with Gandalf's assessment.

[Ewierl]

I see on the Progress page that 3.07 has been completed! I've been looking forwards to a lot of the changes in this version, any word on when it'll be available for download?

[Dedas]

I don't think they release any patches with an odd number. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

You have to wait for 3.08.

[Gandalf Parker]

From mention on the progress page it goes to beta-testing. Each new feature has to be tested under Windows, and Mac, and Linux at least before it can be released.

[Dedas]

How long is the beta-testing?

[Gandalf Parker]

How long?
Its a bunch of VERY dedicated people who use their free time to try out the list of things that have changed, and try to find if they impacted other things also. Its kindof hard to put times on that.

[Dedas]

I'm sorry, didn't mean to sound impatient or anything. Just curios that's all. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

No prob. People dont know so I grabbed the chance to mention it. Im amazed at our bunch of beta testers. They played this game almost daily for a year before anyone else saw it, and yet here it is almost another year and they still jump as soon as its posted that there is a new patch for them to test. I wasnt that dedicated even when I WAS paid to do it.

[Dedas]

Yes, much love to the beta team. You are doing a grand job guys. Thank you! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/beerglass.gif

[Kristoffer O]

Odd numbers are replaced by an even number if the beta group finds anything that must be fixed before release. There seem to be a few things that should be fixed, so a 3.08 is likely, but not too far away. A couple of days or a week. I'll be gone for the weekend, so I'm not sure what JK decides while I'm gone.

Anyway, nex patch after this one will not take as long as this one. Fomoria is almost done, but was not included in the 3.07 patch. Thus the next patch is already on the horizon so to speak.

[llamabeast]

Cool! I'm really excited about the new patch, really looking forward to it.

[Edi]

Just to whet some more appetites, the DB is also going to get an update after the new patch, to include all the new units, statfixes, corrections of my own mistakes and other stuff. It'll also handle the oldage issues correctly now that the aging mechanics are fully known.