/domg/ pastebin - Dominions 4

GETTING THE GAME

It is available on Gamersgate and Steam.
http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-DOM4TA-STEAM/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/259060/Dominions_4_Thrones_of_Ascension/
It goes on sale from time to time, frequently on Steam for 50% off and sometimes 75% off.
Keys from either Desura (RIP) or Gamersgate should work on Steam.

Dominions 5 was announced recently (http://illwinter.com/dom5/index.html). You're probably better off waiting until it comes out (early November) than buying Dom4.


MULTIPLAYER

Multiplayer is played in two forms: Play by email (PBEM) games hosted on http://www.llamaserver.net/ which typically progress at a rate of one or two turns per day and can be joined either through the thread or steam group discussions, and blitzes hosted through the game client and typically played to completion in one or two sessions. Blitzes can be joined through the steamgroup chat, and require the port and IP of the host.

>Steamgroup
Join the steamgroup for multiplayer, though there are also anonymous games advertised in the thread.
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/vanheimageofvidya

>Group chatroom
Copy the URL to join the chat group directly.
steam://friends/joinchat/103582791434709795

>Play by email guide:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=202096551

>PBEM Manager
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/dominions-4-pbem-manager-new-stuff.104015/

>Blitz guide:
-Join chat.
-Select the ‘Connect to a Dominions Server’ under the ‘Network’ option in the main Dominions menu.
-Ask in chat for the IP and port for the blitz.


RESOURCES

>Dom4 Mod Inspector
This is a community resource that has every unit, spell, item, and event in the game in an accessible database. If you have any question about an item, unit, or spell, check the Inspector.
http://larzm42.github.io/dom4inspector/

>Dom4 Manual
Download the manual and search it before asking basic questions in thread. Note that the manual includes comprehensive spell descriptions beyond those found in game or on the inspector. However it also has some things which are no longer correct, and some which have never been correct.
http://jaffa.illwinter.com/dom4/manual_dom4.pdf

>Our work-in-"""progress""" wiki
If you can’t find something here, ask in the thread then post the replies into the wiki.
http://dom4.wikia.com/wiki/Dominions_4_Wiki

>Pretender/bless calculator
Helps you design an optimal pretender for any given nation.
https://bsielski.github.io/pretenders/

>Magic booster guide
Required reading. Useful reference.
http://www.moddb.com/games/dominions-4-thrones-of-ascensions/forum/thread/dom4-magic-path-booster-guide-by-telos

>Simple spellcasting fatigue calculator
Useful for planning out communions so you don’t kill your slaves.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MBXuACjAf3LpKxgTueO5wXraAy4AEYAMbPFq9eEDMFE

>Dominions 4 battlefield
Helps with troop placement and scripting.
http://i.imgur.com/TNClg9k.jpg


MAPS

Most maps can be downloaded either from the llamaserver or found on various sites:
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showforum=22
http://www.moddb.com/games/dominions-4-thrones-of-ascensions/addons
http://steamcommunity.com/app/259060/discussions/3/

To add maps, unzip the files and place the .tga and .map file together in the user maps folder:
C:\Users\’Username’\AppData\Roaming\Dominions4\maps
This can also be accessed from the main menu in game under ‘Game Tools >Open User Data Directory’.

You can also use a built-in random map generator.

>dom4mapgen
A front-end for the built-in generator. Adds aditional options.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3IGmBe9vPavOWEwZlZtcW82N1k/edit

>Cartographic Revision
An alternative map generator. Generates maps based on what nations are in the game.
https://corbeau.itch.io/cartographic-revision


MODS

Mods are installed in the same way as maps. The mod is unzipped, and the mod folder and .dm file are placed together in:
C:\Users\’Username’\AppData\Roaming\Dominions4\mods
Which can also be accessed from the in game menu in the same way.
The mods can then be enabled from the ‘Mods’ option in the main menu. This is only needed when creating games and they will be automatically enabled and disabled for unrunning games.

>Dominions 4 Mod Catalog
A comprehensive list of mods for Dominions 4.
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=2740

>Debug Mod
Essential tool for testing things.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eo3qbjlixfghvs4/Debug.zip?dl=0
How to use it:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=36453

>Worthy Heroes
The most widely used mod. Adds more heroes to some nations and tweaks other heroes. Is well made and low impact.
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=3237

>summod
An overhaul/balance mod by sum1won. Very popular in /domg/ games, somewhat less commonly used by other communities.
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=2764

>Magic Enhanced
Adds hundreds of new spells (both generic and national) and items, buffs some globals and generally adds a lot of flavourful stuff.
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=2927

>Better Arena
This is a mod replacing the standard arena reward items with a random artifact awarded to the winner. This also means the winner doesn't have to keep their reward or compete in the arena in future deathmatches.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/259060/discussions/2/490123832544949537/

>Chocolate Thrones
Mod that both tries to increase the power level of thrones, and bring the balance of thrones more in line with each other. Good for games where you want the thrones to be major points of contention. Apparently there is a version in the works that aims to balance the thrones without increasing the power level.
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=2197

>thrones.dm
Another throne mod. Replaces all default thrones with new ones. Some of them allow recruitment of new units or have events associated with them. Unbalanced, but funny.
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=3066

>Cataclysm
Replaces all vanilla nations with 12 identical, generic ones and adds magic sites which allow for recruitment of vanilla units/mages.
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=2249&st=0

>Nationgen
Pretty amazing mod that generates random nations. Has been used to good effect in some recent and ongoing games. Is not used like a typical mod. Read the thread.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/259060/discussions/2/648816743164577764/

>Mod Nations
There are a lot of mod nations out there, but games that allow them are pretty rare due to balance issues. Probably the most commonly used are the various Warhammer nation mods, which tend to have their own games, and the various CoE nations, which are balanced such as to be somewhere close to vanilla nations or weaker. There is also a highly prolific /domg/ user who creates a lot of nations. Some recent examples are LA Sssla, EA Alee, and EA Neritia.

>UI
A kind anon created and uploaded various interface mods.
https://mega.nz/#F!slcSECKR!3w21BNllKxxEZOXgC--41g


THE BASICS

>Beginner's Guide
http://dom4.wikia.com/wiki/Beginner%27s_Guide

>Multiplayer 101
http://web.archive.org/web/20150430021604/http://www.desura.com/games/dominions-4-thrones-of-ascensions/forum/thread/core-mp-concepts-that-i-wish-somebody-had-told-me-about/

>How to start
Start by downloading the manual and doing the tutorial presented in the manual, ignore the fact the pretender it asks you to make isn’t possible anymore.
If you can you should then read the rest of the manual.
Play a few games against the AI. Familiarize yourself with the mechanics and understand that the AI has no real idea how to play the game. Check the inspector and the manual a lot.

Use the single player games to focus primarily on getting good at expansion. You should be aiming to have around 12+ provinces and a second fort finished or close to completion at the end of the first year. There is not really much point in practicing anything further then that against the AI.
At that point you might as well dive into multiplayer. No matter what the initial jump to multiplayer is going to be tough, putting it off to play more single player won’t really help.

>What nations should I learn with?
Human nations with a lot of magic diversity and mundane troops: T'ien Ch'i (any age), Arcoscephale (any age), EA Ermor, LA Bogarus.
Giant nations: EA Niefelheim, EA Fomoria, MA Ashdod
Heavy infantry nations with simple magic: MA Ulm, Abysia.
Necromancy: C'tis (any age), MA Sceleria, MA Ermor, MA Asphodel, LA Lemuria
Blood: EA/LA Xibalba, EA/LA Mictlan, MA Jotunheim
It’s worth trying out each of these playstyles at least once.

Newer advice about starting includes a bit more SP (formations, learning how the AI reacts to PD and armies because EVERY game someone goes AI, and learning the basic lesson of MAGIC=GOOD), that some of the ‘easier’ nations such as Ma Ulm, Abysia and Niefelhiem lack late-mid to endgame without extensive planning and so aren’t that newbie friendly as going from doing well early but then getting stomped to having an endgame with them is a fair leap, and that MA Ermor plays differently from any other nation.


TIPS

>Use "?" in any screen to display a full list of hotkeys, learning the hotkeys is essential to keep the micro under control, and there are a number of commands that can only be performed through hotkeys.
>Try and have a concrete plan for your pretender. Remember that they can only do one thing at a time, so having them good at lots of things is not a great idea. Generally good options are awake Dragons with dominion 9 for Awe, and imprisoned immobile pretender with a major bless and good scales. Try to avoid ‘rainbow’ pretender or other multipurpose designs until you really know what you are doing.
>Always be recruiting mages everywhere you can. Recruit commanders from indie provinces. Mages and research win games.
>Try and figure out concrete research targets for your nation.
>Don’t focus on spells that kill things. Buffs and debuffs are the real game changers. Unless the spell kills EVERYTHING, then it’s the buffs that make your troops not also go up in smoke that help.
>Pay more attention to combat magic then ritual magic. Yes reread that sentence because on first glance it reads incorrectly.
>Read the manual, yes even the wrong bits.
>Remove Elves, Bats, Burds, Skeletons, Ragha, etc.


DISCORD

A general (not /domg/'s) Dominions-related discord server.
https://discord.gg/WQWJTrM