new patch announced

[Gandalf Parker]

The new patch is announced. That means its basically locked and in the hands of the beta testers. New games might want to hold off starting.
http://ulm.illwinter.com/dom3/dom3progress.html

[brxbrx]

Underwhelming from my perspective, but I'm happy for modders/mod users!

I guess the days of new nations appearing in patches have passed... Not like there aren't more nations than I know what to do with!

[Gandalf Parker]

Isnt it up to something like 73 nations now? And not counting more than that for modded nations. And 100 nation slots for one game? Spoiled arent we? :)

I think anything along that line is going into the new project. But as long as we keep getting more modding commands we should never go dry

[MartialDoctor]

How long does it typically take to get through the beta testing phase for a patch? Is it a fairly quick process or does it take a while?

[Talrivian]

Yeah, I'm curious about this too. I want to start killing MartialDoctor in our new game. :D

[Edi]

How long does it typically take to get through the beta testing phase for a patch? Is it a fairly quick process or does it take a while?

That depends a lot on what is found during the beta test process. If the patch doesn't require any changes in beta, it's quick. If it does, not so quick.

[Squirrelloid]

I will be quite glad when this patch is out. Insane bugs are not cool.

[Yucky]

Good to see. Looking forward to the additional screen resolutions! Illwinter is awesome.

[attackdrone]

The increased sprite and mod limits are particularly welcome, in my opinion. Being able to add path cost reduction to sites opens up interesting modding possibilities as well - difficulty mods (Normal, Hard, Insane) where the AI gets no bonus, -20% reduction, -40% reduction (in conjuration perhaps) to make the game more challenging in a more meaningful way.

[Squirrelloid]

The increased sprite and mod limits are particularly welcome, in my opinion. Being able to add path cost reduction to sites opens up interesting modding possibilities as well - difficulty mods (Normal, Hard, Insane) where the AI gets no bonus, -20% reduction, -40% reduction (in conjuration perhaps) to make the game more challenging in a more meaningful way.

...

You mean give the AI cost reduction sites so the player can go take their capitals and use them more effectively than the AI ever will?

[Edi]

The increased sprite and mod limits are particularly welcome, in my opinion. Being able to add path cost reduction to sites opens up interesting modding possibilities as well - difficulty mods (Normal, Hard, Insane) where the AI gets no bonus, -20% reduction, -40% reduction (in conjuration perhaps) to make the game more challenging in a more meaningful way.

...

You mean give the AI cost reduction sites so the player can go take their capitals and use them more effectively than the AI ever will?
That would probably be for single player games and if the human player is so lacking in self-control that he can't refrain from using the AI sites once he gains that capital, he has nobody to blame but himself for ruining the challenge.

For MP games such cost reduction sites would probably be game-breaking, since anyone starting next to such an AI would have a huge advantage if they focused on the AI.

[JonBrave]

That would probably be for single player games and if the human player is so lacking in self-control that he can't refrain from using the AI sites once he gains that capital, he has nobody to blame but himself for ruining the challenge.
Could you explain the correct "ethics"/"etiquette" for this one in SP, please?

And does the new "#homesick" command I see refer to the modder?

[brxbrx]

#homesick probably does dryad stuff. but I'm just guessing

[thejeff]

That would probably be for single player games and if the human player is so lacking in self-control that he can't refrain from using the AI sites once he gains that capital, he has nobody to blame but himself for ruining the challenge.
Could you explain the correct "ethics"/"etiquette" for this one in SP, please?

Correct etiquette: If you mod a change in to help the AI, don't take advantage of it yourself, because that defeats the purpose.
Of course, if you want to mod a change into SP to help yourself, go right ahead.

This one would be a little trickier, since not taking advantage of captured cost-reduction sites is actually even more of a restriction. It's not just that you don't take advantage of it, you can't cast spells of that school at that lab, which could be situationally important.

[Soyweiser]

Well if you want to make a mod that helps the AI. Give them immobile units that generate troops and gems each turn and die if they get in combat. (So you cannot steal them).

Sites is not the way to go.

[brxbrx]

it's out

[Jack_Trowell]

Thanks illiwinter for the patch ! ^_^

[Soyweiser]

Get it here:
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwinter/DOM3/DOM3_page.html

wiki page about patch is also up to date.

Apart from the changes to the dawn map and the urraparrand map. Anybody know why those where changed?

[Squirrelloid]

The increased sprite and mod limits are particularly welcome, in my opinion. Being able to add path cost reduction to sites opens up interesting modding possibilities as well - difficulty mods (Normal, Hard, Insane) where the AI gets no bonus, -20% reduction, -40% reduction (in conjuration perhaps) to make the game more challenging in a more meaningful way.

...

You mean give the AI cost reduction sites so the player can go take their capitals and use them more effectively than the AI ever will?
That would probably be for single player games and if the human player is so lacking in self-control that he can't refrain from using the AI sites once he gains that capital, he has nobody to blame but himself for ruining the challenge.

Sorry, i don't consider letting the AI cheat 'meaningfully' more difficult, which is basically what this is, especially if you're prohibited from using the sites yourself. I certainly didn't see any call for a ban on using those sites in the post i responded to - it seems a silly assumption to presume that the default state is the human player cannot use something he captures during a game of conquest...

Anyway, a _meaningful_ challenge would involve improving the AI so it plays better, not let it cheat more effectively.

I doubt giving the AI bonus sites would make it markedly harder to beat anyway, since it simply doesn't know what to summon, nor what to do with it once it has it. A lack of material is not the problem with the AI at present.