Dominion of Men 3.2 Patch General Feedback

[CountMRVHS]

Thanks for the kind words!

I don't believe it's possible to vary arrow quantities for a single unit. Making a note of how many arrows each unit has is a possibility, of course. But I'm not sure it's a necessary feature. There is one exception I'm aware of: the Company of the Black Arrow has double the amount of arrows that the Black Arrows unit has, and that is indicated in the unit description.

Population has been tweaked quite a bit over the mod's development. Overall, we wanted growth to be low, and there are only so many 'steps' to population growth. I think it unlikely population will be tweaked further. But thank you again for the feedback!

[Appoanaxis]

Just wanted to drop in and say thanks for the mod, it's excellent! I come from playing TATW, but I was getting frustrated by how awful the pathfinding and AI generally is (not sure if that's an engine issue or a TATW thing). I was surprised to see just how much smoother the gameplay in Rome is (I hadn't played either game for years). Maybe it's just in my head, but units feel much more responsive and quicker here than in M2TW based stuff. Also, I absolutely love all the detail in the campaign map (it looks incredible for running on such an old engine)! This might just be the best Middle-earth mod I've played.

[webba84]

Hi Appoanaxis, welcome to the forums and glad to hear you are enjoying the mod! We also find the core gameplay in Rome to be much smoother and more responsive than in Med 2, which is the main reason the mod stayed with RTW instead of porting over after the newer game came out. We do occasionally find ourselves wishing for some of the newer features that RTW lacks, but only occasionally.

[Wambat]

I have not played M2TW, but from what I see in TATW LPs, I get the impression that there is not so much a difference in responsiveness, but the greater movement speed of the units means their delays are far more likely to end badly. I feel like the infantry in a M2TW mod move as fast as the cavalry in a RTW mod.

[webba84]

I've play both recently and there is a significant difference in the responsiveness of units to movement commands, especially noticeable with heavy cavalry. I think it's intentional, in M2TW they might have been trying to make units respond in a less robotic and more realistic fashion, and it's possible to adjust it with modding, but it's definitely there.

[athanaric]

Just a minor point - why was the Axes of the Mark body armour nerfed from 10 (IIRC) to 7? Last time I asked about their armour value, I was told it was brigandine (plus iron helmets, etc.) and therefore about equal to mail (which the Shields of the Mark wear). But now it seems to have gone down to the level of other tribal axemen, some of whom don't even wear helmets (BTW, seems a bit odd that Axemen of Tharbad have very high armour yet don't wear helmets).

[webba84]

IIRC it was discovered/decided that this armour was not supposed to be defined as brigadine but rather leather - the new stats are a result of this change.

Axemen of Tharbad on the other hand, do have metal plates in their body armour iirc. Personally I think it's a bit silly that they don't have helmets (shield and helmet are the first items anyone going into melee on a budget would want), but that's the way they were done. Balance-wise, they are fine, so I'm disinclined to make changes for such a minor thing at this point.

[Wambat]

BTW, seems a bit odd that Axemen of Tharbad have very high armour yet don't wear helmets

The Axemen of Tharbad are famously thick-headed.

[Beorn]

The Axemen of Tharbad are famously thick-headed.

[athanaric]

IIRC it was discovered/decided that this armour was not supposed to be defined as brigadine but rather leather - the new stats are a result of this change.

Hm. TBH, I'm not the biggest fan of (certain types of) "leather armour" and its ubiquity in games (and TV shows about ancient Rome, but that's a different story ), but well. They don't seem to particularly underperform. I'd just warmed to the idea of them wearing brigandine, though...

Axemen of Tharbad on the other hand, do have metal plates in their body armour iirc. Personally I think it's a bit silly that they don't have helmets (shield and helmet are the first items anyone going into melee on a budget would want),

That's exactly the point I wanted to make.

but that's the way they were done. Balance-wise, they are fine, so I'm disinclined to make changes for such a minor thing at this point.

The only change I'd like to see for them is to wear some sort of headgear (any submodders here?). No stat change.

[Beorn]

Aradan's EDU-matic files take account into Th. Axemen's def rating and costs a simple head cap, if the version is up-to-date there won't be a need to change even 1 line of code in the edu, just the modelling/ui files

[webba84]

...just the modelling/ui files

Which is the annoying bit, tbh (unit cards are always a pain, even with optimised workflow).

[Wambat]

As the info books on the map are, I guess, a kind of character, they prevent construction of camps/lookout posts in adjacent tiles. This is preventing construction of camps at certain choke points on the map. Perhaps, in 3.3, we could make sure these info books are not directly next to fords or mountain passes where a player is likely to want to place a camp.

[CountMRVHS]

Hmm, I think that is doable. Those characters are set up by an initial campaign script if I recall; it could be just a matter of changing the coordinates in that script file.

[webba84]

Yup, no problem to move some of those around. Wambat, if you wouldn't mind taking the time to put together a list of ones you think need changing, that would be very helpful.

[Wambat]

I may be able to get to that this weekend. What would be the best way form to reference them for you? Tile coordinates?

[webba84]

That would be easiest, the tile coordinates they are now and where they should be moved to.

e.g. 142,74 -> 143,74

[Wambat]

Here are the ones I could identify:

159,170 -> 158,170
161,168 -> 162,168
118,128 -> 117,128
136,115 -> 136,116
138,109 -> 139,106
134,79 -> 134,78
160,72 -> 162,72

Some of these would move books to more elevated tiles, so I am not sure to what extent this would distort their apparent position. I suppose you will have to use your discretion.

Of course, there is a cluster of them in the Shire, but there is no room for moving them, for the most part, and I don't see the Shire being of major strategic interest in the typical campaign in any case.

I do notice a large number of areas on the map which could have markers, but which do not. I expect we can add as many of these books as we please. Perhaps we could solicit suggestions from players; what do you think?

[CountMRVHS]

I do notice a large number of areas on the map which could have markers, but which do not. I expect we can add as many of these books as we please. Perhaps we could solicit suggestions from players; what do you think?

It wouldn't take too much for me to write up the descriptions for more of those markers. I admit I can't think of places that don't currently have them but could use them (keeping in mind that these markers are I believe for locations that are specifically named in Tolkien's works). What places did you have in mind for additions?

[Wambat]

I was mostly thinking of touristy type things, like: "Bilbo Baggins slept here." But, basically, points of historical significance, and particularly to do with Bilbo's and The Fellowship's journeys. I was really more interested to see what others might find interesting to include.