Wish-List for Dominions 4

[DrPraetorious]

Spell effect predicate logic.

At present, there seems to be a single field for each spell to have a secondary effect. I'm not sure if you can chain these together ot have more than two effects for a spell or not (Unfrozen seems to indicate yes,) but you should be able to do so.

Spells should instead have *six* secondary effect fields.
Secondary-effect-each-effect - EACH effect generated by this spell also gives this spell if that effect returns TRUE, hitting/centered on that target (if applicable).
Secondary-effect-once - The spell also generates this effect. This is equivalent to the current secondary effect field.
If-TRUE-secondary-effect-each-effect - IF the predicate of the spell returns TRUE for any given target, generate this effect on that target.
If-FALSE-secondary-effect-all-targets - IF the predicate of the spell returns FALSE for any given target, generate this effect on that target.
If-TRUE-secondary-effect-once ; If-FALSE-secondary-effect-once - likewise, but

Spells with magic resistance return TRUE if the magic resistance fails, and FALSE if it succeeds, on a target-by-target basis.

Otherwise, most spells just return TRUE.

However, we'd have new effects which all they do is check predicates. There'd be an effect to check for the presence of magic paths, an effect to check the size, etc. etc. Most of them would take bitmasks in the damage value.

With this, we could make a spell which, if it targets an earth mage, tries to kill him, and if he fails his magic resistance check, summons an earth elemental in his square, for example. You could do all kinds of interesting and complicated stuff.

[HoneyBadger]

That sounds fun, DrPraetorious.

I like complex spells and magic systems-and as complex as this game is, the magic system is woefully over-simplified.

I know, plenty of people argue that it isn't, but in relation to the rest of the game, it really is. Around 2000 different creatures in the game, 50+ nations, who knows how many Pretender-types, and only 8 areas of magic?

Just to keep on the same level as the rest of the game, there should be atleast 16-24 different areas, 3+ more spell levels, a few dozen more magic items, and a couple hundred more spells.

It's over-simplified, along with being lopsided (plenty of really broadly useful spells, plenty of spells that are over-specialized and aren't very useful at all, not that many that fall in between-and this disparity is occurring at all magic levels), unbalanced (I don't know about you, but I'd take Gift of Health-level 5 enchantment-over Dragon Master-level 8 enchantment-every single solitary time in any conceivable situation), and underincorporated.

Why do we have a total of 4 well-developed elemental fields of magic, and only 4 other fields of magic-each of which is potentially as broad as the entire *area* of elemental magic?