EXAMPLES:
dom3 -mwafc -r 1024 768 Run Dominions 3 in a window (w), at the resolution (r) of 1024x768,without music (m), no nice fading effects (f), and no credit screen when you quit (c), no animated backgrounds (a)
dom3 -d --scoredump creates a scores file like you see on servers like LLamaserver, and a debug file so you can see what the game is "thinking"
dom3 -preexec bakup.bat will run a file called bakup.bat just before it starts to process a turn. Good for automatically making a save of the game so you can switch back if things go badly.
dom3 --tcpclient 70.36.184.129 --port 9876 connects directly to a game, I tend to also set low graphics and no music just because its more business than enjoyment when I do this. I dont want to be distracted (my solo play icon on the other hands turns everything up)
dom3 YARG1 goes directly into the YARG1 game which I was playing. Actually later I switched it out for a batch file that put the pbem turn file into place, then opened dom3 directly to the game, and when I quit dom3 it automatically transferred the .2h file
dom3 -fwacd --clickvol 10 --magicsites 75 --renaming --scoredump --indepstr 7 --hofsize 15 --eventrarity 1 changes various default settings I got tired of and found myself wanting or changing for every game I created such as setting renaming on so I didnt forget and curse myself for it later. You still get the same game setup screen and can change it if you want. But this way instead of defaulting to rename off, it defaults to rename on, and still gives me the choice.
dom3 --enablemod stub.dm to set that on for that use, or to turn on mods such as Streamers and Standards, Worthy Heroes, Mytheology, Magic Site Mod, Watchers, and Single Age (doing it by icon means it turns off automatically when I leave). Or at least stub.dm so I can make changes to a long running game without having to start over.
dom3 --mapfile TinyTest.map --resources 10 --era 1 --impai 1 testgame1 uses the test map, creates a testgame1, with early era, low resources, and Ermor loaded as Impossible AI setting
dom3 --seapart 10 --mountpart 50 --mapgcol 50 100 50 250 --mapscol 20 50 80 255 --mapbcol 130 130 130 29 --mapsbcol 111 194 21 104 --mapaa --mapnoise 100
This is my settings for the randomly generated maps. Less water, more mountains (for more strategic chokepoints), green grasslands, lighter blue on water, different colors for the borders on land vs the color of borders over water. They tend to look like this...
http://www.dom3minions.com/RandomMaps/MegaMap.jpg
I also have one icon that generates a map with my favorite settings, then runs it thru a couple of programs to add surprises to it, then starts a game with this new map that I dont know anything about.
I like to keep separate icons on my desktop for each of the multiplayer games Im in. That way I dont have to mess with changing settings for different servers, and having one for each game in the same place reminds me to hit each one at least once a day. In a couple of cases the icon also swaps out the background screens and theme files to give the game a totally different look. Green (my favorite), or dark, or bright red. I find that it makes me play differently and changes the mood to match the nation Im playing for that game.
These examples are not meant to be copied exactly. And they do not have to be exclusive. ALL of these switches and tricks can be added to your one desktop icon for Dom3 if you want it that way.