A fourth age

[HoneyBadger]

Here's, cleaned up a bit, what I originally wrote about the Dawning Age:

Technology is Late stoneage through copper to early bronze age, low magic as peoples first start coming together into nations (IRL something approximating the conditions between 14,500-6000 years ago). Undead always have stone or at best copper weapons, and no metal armor. Research ability is always locked in to very slow in this age, with low-powered mages overall, except for magical beings with strong affinities for a single path. Few sorceresses/rainbow mages, if any.

Cavemen and lizardmen replace humans as the dominant race, and lizardmen shamans are some of the better multi-path mages around. Humans are almost nowhere to be found-no random human independents. Of the handful of humans around, a large percent of the population have the ability to Watershape into dolphins. Monkeys and apes are everywhere, just to tick off the Creationists . Icthytosians and a race of intelligent crab-people (1: I couldn't resist, 2: they could be done in a way that I think would be cool, and 3: they could represent a nation in this era with good Prot.) are dominant in the oceans-Mermen are present, but not a dominant race, and some of them have been pushed out of the water permanently by stronger species-a few humans dwell among them-suggesting them as our evolutionary ancestors. Many independent provinces are guarded by SC monsters and powerful prehistoric beasts.

While magic is still on the rise, units are in general even more powerful individually than they currently are in Early Age. Jotun nations have access to recruitable trolls and more Niefel giant heroes. the Nephilim are present. Treelords are alive and well and in the prime of their power, as are the Courts of Faerie. Kailasan Devas, Devatas, Rakshasas, etc. are also in the full of their power-including the more powerful 4 armed breeds as recruitables-and don't yet employ monkeys. A Pre-C'tus Lizardman nation has access to huge, powerful dinosaurs, Caelum units average larger in size and employ large, vicious, flightless birds called Axe-Beaks. Mammoths are now controlled by a blood-magic caveman nation led by ogre kings who can shapeshift into giant bears. Agarthans and Fomorians start in the oceans, while Atlantis starts on land. Hydras are amphibious, and are worshipped by a merman nation with some pure human recruitables and shambler recruitables (suggesting Shamblers as an offshoot of humans, which atleast gives Shamblers a certain pathos, helping them to be a step above the "big dumb amphibous spearfodder" they usually end up being) There is also a nation of Elder Things (ala H.P Lovecraft-"At the Mountains of Madness") who are the most magically advanced at this time (The other nations stole the finer secrets of magic from them after their nation collapsed.) and have bonuses when using Crossbreeding and Advanced Crossbreeding. Thematically, they are supposed to be the originators of many of the most bizarre races in Dom 3-they create, for instance, Shuggoths, which will feature in this age. Aboleths exist basically unchanged. Tien'Chi is an empire of the undead and spirits ruled by Pennanggalan (a breed of vampires who can remove their own heads at night-the heads then fly around and bite victims) and various celestial demons-a bit like Late Age Ermor in practice, but ofcourse considerably more Asian-flavored. There are no longbows, crossbows, recurve bows, etc. in the game, except as forged items. Shortbows and crude shortbows are present and fairly widespread, as are javelins and harpoons. The Atlatl is the dominant missle weapon technology, enabling javelins to be hurled 2xstrength. Slings are ubiquitous. Swords are rare and short, axes, maces, knives, and spears are much more widespread. Tridents, glaives, and other polearms are almost non-existent. Calvalry is also rare, especially horse-calvalry (where present, it consists of units riding ponies-no kick). Tower shields are non-existant except as forged items. Wardogs are prevalent, chariots are present but rare. Apes are not the only ones who hurl sticks and stones-this is a common practice and some units specialize in this.

[Tifone]

Battlemechs Age?
Post-Nuclear Apocalypse Age anyone?

[Sombre]

I'm in favour of any age that actually gets made and works, but I'm dead set against hypothetical ages that get talked about but no-one does anything ;]

[HoneyBadger]

Hey, I'm making mod nations without an actual computer to even play them on, what more do you want?

[Sombre]

It isn't that I'm demanding people make mods, I'm just a little weary of the talk to action ratio around here sometimes. I know coming up with ideas is worthwhile, but there comes a point where it would be far more worthwhile to actually act on some of them. It seems like even the simplest easiest stuff to do which people are talking about they aren't willing to put the half an hour of effort into getting working (or finding out if it can work) but they are interested in making long posts about it.

It's especially aggravating when people start talking about mod commands that should be added for example, when they aren't making any use at all of the mod commands that are already there.

/vent

[Gandalf Parker]

True enough.
But there is also something to be said for making use of the pure idea people who are willing to give up ideas to anyone else who wants to make them happen. Some people arent into what goes with finishing the project. The credits, the comments, the updating and maintaining.

My hands are full with the Dom3 projects Im already doing but I dont mind adding to an idea conversation. And I definetly do not mind that most of the projects that I have done in the past (maps, mods, scripts, programs) have been taken up by someone else and carried forward. Anything I post to the forums here is pulic domain ideas for anyone who is more capable than they are creative and needs a project.

[Gandalf Parker]

True enough. And you have been a very big contributor.

But there is also something to be said for making use of the pure idea people who are willing to give up ideas to anyone else who wants to make them happen. Some people arent into what goes with finishing the project. The credits, the comments, the updating and maintaining.

My hands are full with the Dom3 projects Im already doing but I dont mind adding to an idea conversation. And I definetly do not mind that most of the projects that I have done in the past (maps, mods, scripts, programs) have been taken up by someone else and carried forward. Anything I post to the forums here is pulic domain ideas for anyone who is more capable than they are creative and needs a project.

[HoneyBadger]

I do understand, Sombre, and I know that I'm probably the biggest antagonist. But, there's literally only so many mods a single person can make, and unlike yourself, I'm not very good or very fast about it. So my position is that, if I can't make a mod myself in a given period of time, then atleast I want to get the ideas out there for other people to harvest, and be influenced by.

Amos-another superb mod maker-was saying just a few weeks back about how he'd run out of ideas, because everything has been done. I just don't agree with that.

[HoneyBadger]

Anybody is free to use any of my ideas, especially if they're willing to give me credit, but even that isn't really necessary, since I'm usually influenced by 10 different things, myself. It gives my ego a warm fuzzy though