Rate of feedback on nation mods

[Morkilus]

I don't play too many nation mods because I've not even tried out all of the Dom2 ones yet, let alone the Dom3 nations. But the really wacky/cool mods I absolutely have to try, such as the insects one. I don't want to discourage anyone from making nation mods, though! They're pretty enjoyable, but I feel like I spend my time better learning the vanilla nations for multiplayer practice. The Epic Heroes mod and the Black Tome mods are neat because of their potential use in multiplayer. I'm also trying out global mods like the No Indies mod for increasing difficulty... it seems to work so far!

[SlipperyJim]

I think I said this on another thread, but my main problem with nation mods is that the "stock" Dom3 nations offer so much variety. There's really very little reason for me to play a nation mod until I exhaust the unmodded game, which will take a very long time....

Except for Ulm Reborn, which is just cool. Very, very cool.

[Sombre]

What about if the mod brought something which was already familiar to the game?

I'm making a mod based on the Tharoon from SSI's warwind game and I made one based on Exile by Spiderweb. Those aren't that familiar to people.

However warhammer or Lord of the Rings is, so would people be interested in seeing nations based on these in the game? I don't much like LOTR but I could do warhammer nations no problem, provided there's some interest (other than my own).

[Gandalf Parker]

A problem with mods "based on" is that if you artist them yourself then you get more criticism than usual. And if you use the game graphics then you have to have permission.

[Sombre]

Well you couldn't really use graphics from warhammer,.. but I get what you mean. I'm no artist, but I could graphic up a pretty nice looking Warhammer army in dom3 no problem.

If I did, I think I'd probably start with something that has a very clear playstyle and is different from the national mods we've had so far, such as Skaven. Actually a lot of the warhammer skaven units would transfer very well to dom3, such as poison wind globadiers or warpfire throwers. Stuff like the ratling gun and jezzails would be left out.

Rudimentary army list in dom3 would be like,...

UNITS

Skaven Slave
Clanrat (spear and shield, sword and shield)
Gutter Runner (shuriken, net and baneblade)
Stormvermin (black fur, halberd)
Council Guard (white fur, sacred stormvermin)
Poison wind globadier (AN poison missiles, str range)
Warpfire thrower (like fire drake breath)

LEADERS

Chieftan
Assassin
Warlord
Packmaster (spawns/calls rats etc)
Master Breeder (calls rat ogres)
Warlock (FDE)
Warlock Engineer (FDE)
Grey Seer (sacred, DS mostly, some FE)
Screaming Bell (Grey seer on big bell carrying juggernaut type thing, spreads dom, H3 priest in addition to seer powers)

SUMMONS/SPAWNS
Rat swarms
Giant Rats
Rat Ogres

I'm sure there's some other stuff, like the doomwheel and whatnot that I've missed out. Point is warhammer armies translate very well and almost directly to dominions - there's plenty of source graphics to get inspiration from, you can pretty much convert the stats over to dom3 without much thought,... hey you even get 5 or so heroes premade for each nation.

Well it's easier than making an entirely new nation and maybe people would enjoy it more. I know I'd enjoy playing with all the warhammer armies.

[lch]

Recruitable Dom spreading commanders? That's mighty overpowered. There's a reason why the juggernaut is so high up in construction that you have to research alot to get it, you know... Otherwise, that nation sounds quite interesting ("rat ogres"? awesome!), although I don't know any Warhammer.

[Sombre]

It would either be very expensive, or possibly a summon. Either way I'd make sure it was balanced,.. IF I did the nation.

What I'd really like is someone interested in warhammer to help me with the coding - at the moment I'm into making graphics, but the coding of nations and units is getting to be a bit of a headache. Actually that goes for a few of my mods - a helping hand would not go amiss :]

[llamabeast]

I think warhammer nations would be a bit... flat, somehow, compared to dominions nations. I don't quite know what I mean, but I think there's a reason that Kristoffer avoided the typical fantasy stereotypes, and why the nations in dominions seem so interesting.

I think that's also the reason that I think I like, say, Ulm Reborn and Arga Dis a good deal more than Sylvania and Teutanion. They just feel much more dominions-y.

I guess the difference is perhaps links to real-world cultures? I'm not sure. If you could come up with a dominions-style nation consisting of rat-men though, that might well be awesome. It could even draw on warhammer for many of the units, but would have a different feel. Exactly what culture you might base a ratmen nation on though, I'm not sure. I'm sure there are plenty of very interesting possibilities though.

[MaxWilson]

Sombre said:
What about if the mod brought something which was already familiar to the game? [snip]

However warhammer or Lord of the Rings is, so would people be interested in seeing nations based on these in the game? I don't much like LOTR but I could do warhammer nations no problem, provided there's some interest (other than my own).

I think this idea of importing content is sound. I'd be more likely to download and use a mod nation (for myself or the AI) if I already had some kind of emotional connection to the nation. I'd LOVE to use a mod based on any of the following:

* Malazan Book of the Fallen (I've got a bare-bones version that I made for the T'lan Imass)
* David Eddings' Belgariad (Angaraks, Alorns, Arends, Nyissans, Tolnedrans, etc.)
* Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar and/or Serpentwar series. (Kelewan, the Kingdom of the Isles, the Saaur, Dreadlords)
* Something from Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Maybe not a nation, but perhaps a couple of heroes or summons, or a poptype if poptype modding becomes possible.

To a certain extent, balance takes a backseat to flavor with some of these, especially the "bad guy" nations. If the Angarak units are slightly too cheap, well, evil Angarak hordes traditionally outnumber the good guys anyway.

Alternatively, I'd love to read a book based on one of the mods in this forum. But it's probably easier to go the other direction.

-Max

[Kristoffer O]

I would love to play some warhammer mods. Skaven in particular. It was a while since I played WFB, but I still have a Dark Elf army somewhere. Screaming bell could be a national construct much like the juggernaut.

I think I personally prefer cliché-mods and rip-off-mods, since I can get into them quickly and get a grip. Since I do not play very much dom3 nowdays I would probably not give myself time to get into an entirely new nation, i.e. I'm lazy when it comes to dom3 playing.

If I were to play seriously and with other players I would probably prefer a game with new ones, if balanced that is.

A lotr mod would be great. During the development of Dom PPP a friend made a six player (3 vs 3) scenario on a homemade middle earth map. It was a very fun, but not fully balanced game. It was unmodded, but fun anyway. Ermor was placed in Mordor, Jotun in Isengard, Vanheim in Lorien and Rivendell, Ulm in Gondor and Man in Rohan. Not sure who the last one was. Abysia as Haradrim perhaps.