Previews!

[Nerfix]

I shared my thoughts there.

[Nerfix]

Endoperez said:
It's not that strange a comment. Something very similar has been said in here as well. I disagree, and try to argue against such comments, but as long as others are seeing only new units and creatures and variables it's hard to comprehend how much has changed.

That's why we must point out what has changed and how much.

[DominionsFan]

RonD said:
To some, only a serious upgrade to the graphics engine would make Dom3 anything other than Dom2.5. I'd bet my copy of Dom3 that many of the same people would have whined about "Civ3.5" if Civ4 had used the same graphics engine as Civ3, regardless of the gameplay changes.

Depends on the playerbase. Personally I absolutely don't care about the graphics in a turn based strategy game.
In fact there is Dwarf Fortress, an ASCII based game. That is definitely the game of the year for me, and of course Doms 3...and maybe Heroes of Annihilated Empries.

[Agrajag]

I think that Dom3 does seem like more of an expansion than a full game, to the untrained eye.
That is because usually (that is, in the more commercial side of the industry ) expansions are merely modpack with a few more units and a new campaign, while often a new game just has less units and content (but better graphics).
Dominions 3 however, adds lots of units (and thus seems like an expansion) without adding new graphics (just seeming less like a new game).
In reality (rather than how things seem), Dominions 3 does add a lot, a new aging system, UI improvements, new shields, a random map generator, redone castles (and an AI that uses them), Dormant/Imprisoned gods, gameplay tweaks (costs/supply), much improved mod support, and I guess some more stuff I can't think about right now
That sure seems enough to me.

[Nerfix]

I made a big list of changes at Wargamer and I forgot stuff from the list. Like the Awakening.

[Arralen]

Annette said:
So what do you guys think of this comment?

Granted, it's posted over at Wargamer which is owned by the same interests who own a competing publisher.

Check out my comment from 28/03/06 here

I hope I find the time and energy to write something up about the lates 3.00gold version, but I'm pretty burned out atm concerning Dom3 and concerning writing .. .

In short - I've gotten used to the game, some of it's nifty new features and basic improvements which I don't want to miss - I really don't want to go back to Dom2 any more.

[Cainehill]

I suspect that part of the reason it seems like a mere expansion is because Dominions is one of the few turn-based strategy games of recent years that doesn't have any campaign play. Developers (and many players) seem to think that a new story line means it can be considered a new game. Look at Disciples & Disciples II for instance, which didn't have any substantial upgrade in graphics, nor do I recall Age of Wonders getting much of a graphical facelift.

But they did have new campaign storylines, whereas Dominions ganes can seem like random scenarios, which in a manner of speaking they are.

[DominionsFan]

Cainehill said:

I suspect that part of the reason it seems like a mere expansion is because Dominions is one of the few turn-based strategy games of recent years that doesn't have any campaign play. Developers (and many players) seem to think that a new story line means it can be considered a new game. Look at Disciples & Disciples II for instance, which didn't have any substantial upgrade in graphics, nor do I recall Age of Wonders getting much of a graphical facelift.

But they did have new campaign storylines, whereas Dominions ganes can seem like random scenarios, which in a manner of speaking they are.

Yeah, I think that if we talk about sequels everyone have their own opinions. Someone prefers graphical upgrades, the other one wants a new story etc. etc.
I think that we all can agree, that the most important part is gameplay. I am very happy that it wasn't changed for Dominions 3. If there is a game with a decent gameplay, a sequel must enchance it, not change it. This is why Dominions 3. is definitely a sequel...at least for me.

[PvK]

Heh, I think the level of comment here about one forum post by an unknown poster mainly shows how much Dominions fans like what this game series offers that others don't.

The new ages and nations and all the work that involves certainly constitute at least as much new story content as one finds in the likes of a scripted Disciples campaign.

And the graphics improvements may not be obvious to everyone, but there is a ton of new and improved graphics compared to Dom 2... it's just new and better 2d 2-frame sprites, though, but I'd sure rather have orders of magnitude more new units and use my imagination, than have a few 3D animated units.

PvK