Mods to use!
 

Pardon me here...I am not comfortable using the search function here, and I would like some help.

I have the full version of Dominions 3 on its way, I expect to receive it early this next week. This is OK, as I need to spend some time researching the races, skills, and strategies before I actually start playing.

My question is an easy one...what mods are considered the most important to install and use for this game?

I keep reading a reference to CBM 1.6, and I have no clue what it is, or what it does, or where to find it.

I would also be interested in a play-balancing mod, one that makes more of the huge number of races more viable to play.

Again, sorry I couldn't find the answers to these questions, I realize that they have probably been asked more than once!

Re: Mods to use!
 

CBM is good as you say. I'll say "the most recent version" rather than 1.6 which I believe is still current.

Endgame Diversity is becoming popular and I like it. It improves end-game SC and thug summons, diversifying paths and making more good summons available at different (higher) levels.

The Debug Mod is excellent for testing things.

I also like

Streamers and Standards usually just in SP because the banners look cooler.

Worthy Heroes because it improves the value of Luck scales and makes the national heroes more interesting.

There are also a lot of interesting "race" and pretender chassis mods that I like. Nova Deus II, Immortal Pretenders (that's a shameless plug for mine). As for races I like Mistica (a new one I'm testing), and Nosophoros.

Re: Mods to use!
 

The developers have continued to provide free patches thru the entire life of the game (and another in the works). So unlike other games, there arent any must-have player created fixes IMHO. What is a very VERY large factor is that you download the latest patch (only the latest is needed to catch you up) and install that.
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwint...DOM3_page.html

CBM is the only one that might be considered IMPORTANT to install and use. And maybe EndGame Diversity.

But even thats a split opinion. CBM is supposed to balance the game but it makes so many changes that it becomes a choice of either knowing how to play with it, or without it. EGD is considered to be a fix for the limited end-game strategies that seem to show up with the cbm crowd.

My personal opinion is, why shorten the game? Dont be in a hurry. You can enjoy a year of solo play learning each of the nations and its quirks. If you find its imbalanced then take a look at one of the (3 at the moment) balance mod projects. If you decide you like solo and want a better AI then use one of the AI improvement projects. Or just the mods that add more nations into the game. More maps, more nations, more spells, more equipment.

And of course, once you find a nation that totally fits your gaming style, and some strategies you feel work well for you.. then there is always multiplayer games. Stretch it out. Enjoy it.

Re: Mods to use!
 

I'm going to do the completely expected and disagree with gandalf about vanilla and CBM not being cross compatible. Personally I've played with CBM in almost every single game I've ever played in multiplayer. But, I've played a few games under vanilla, and was never unduly affected by the differences in them because there's not too much that shifts around that is important to remembering how to play. Basically anything that works in vanilla will work in CBM. Going backwards is a bit harder, because CBM makes a larger number of strategies viable than are so under vanilla. You can still use them, but they are not going to be as efficient So to a certain extent, it does make sense to get a decent grounding in vanilla Dominions. However...

A) This is not super important in this community, because nearly every game started runs the latest version of CBM.

B) Most games that do not use CBM are noob games, so it's not really a big deal if they're not completely cross compatible :D You're not expected to do well here anyway!

And for the record, CBM stands for Conceptual Balance Mod, you can find it in the Scenarios, Maps and Mods subsection.

Re: Mods to use!
 

Thanks guys...this is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

I have the demo, and am busy playing the four factions available...up to game number 9 at this point, having got my backside handed to me each time.

Sure...yuck it up! I really don't have a strong clue on how to set up my pretender, or how to use the forces tactically.

Well...I will say that I looked at the wiki, and read just about everything there, except the 2100+ unit descriptions. That helps.

Re: Mods to use!
 

If you're having problems developing strategy, try one of the strategy guides:

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=38122

Re: Mods to use!
 

I do tend to forget.
Its true that over half of the MP games played in this forum use CBM. In one other forum, all of them do.
In two other forums it tends to be very very rare. I think about 1 in 10 of the mp games I play use it. But the forum you play in will make a large difference.

Re: Mods to use!
 

In the vein of teaching you to fish, I'd suggest that rather than attempt to use the forum's inbuilt search feature, you instead use Google. Just add the keyword "site:forum.shrapnelgames.com" (without the quotes) to your search expression, or use the Advanced Search link to the right of the main search input field and specify the shrapnel forums site in the "Search within a site or domain" field at the bottom.

If you've got a different favorite internet search engine, they all have similar options, although the syntax may vary.

Re: Mods to use!
 

The manual also helps with viable strategies for each nation. They're never *great* strategies, but they can help you beat a computer on normal or even hard. The manual says a little about thugs and SCs, but if you've read the whole wiki, then you may know more about them than the manual goes into.

There is one major strategy that works in Vanilla that doesn't in CBM: gem generators. CBM has limited their use drastically, so don't come up with a viable strategy with them, and then expect to play under CBM.

Re: Mods to use!
 

On the subject of strategy guides:
Ive seen complaints. But something to keep in mind is that we dont have guides the way other games have guides. We dont have step-by-step instructions that will work every time and get you to the place it says. The game is just too variable for that. Whether you consider that to be a good thing or a bad thing is point of view. Personally, if we DID have such guides then I dont think this would be the game that has lasted for years on my machines.

But I do wish every Dom3 strategy guide had a tiny print disclaimer at the bottom
"NOTE: Tested in (solo or mp) with xxxxx mods, on a ##-per-player province ratio,
and only if not starting next to xxxxxxxx nation"