Another version? Not asking too much, eh? Good lord, we still have a ton of beta testing yet to come...

Surely if someone wanted to, they could put together a package of heros that could be downloaded like an Expansion Pack.

Making the most use of the heros available is part of playing the game well; new heros are just window dressing- the gameplay's the thing...

I say remove the white houses from the first pick

The second is good

Don't necessarily remove them.
I think you could "clump" them together by type or nationality.
There is enough historical evidence of this in many cultures where permanent settlements or enclaves of non-indigenous people built what was familiar to them to live in and comprise their settlement. (While I certainly do not believe in being a slave to history, it certainly does provide us with guidelines...)
I am not referring to the classical definition of a ghetto, but rather the cultural mix as evidenced by ruins and traces unearthed at sites of trading towns where cultures mixed freely.
In a TC map, you could easily justify buildings of four or more cultures by putting them on different sides of the city or tower/stronghold/fort. You could get more than 4 by mixing buildings of cultures likely to tolerate each other, or reflect alliances, etc.
Just a thought from someone that has always felt that the TC maps are one of the weakest points of AoW, all iterations.

New Topic/Question along this line:

Is there any means of designating which TC map will be used for a particular city? If so, capitals would not necessarily be mixed architecture, but other cities, based on the storyline, could be of mixed construction.
I would like to see TC maps with lots of different buildings and terrain features that could pose new tactical problems for the attacker.

What are the limitations here?

Another thing that Dwiggs should address if it doesn't already---
How can units heal burn damage while in a burning hex? It chaps my cheeks that I can Wildfire a stack of elephants in a tower (Baff. Inten.), get minimal effects (lousy karma), and then watch them heal up the next turn while still in a burning tower. Doesn't this strike anyone else as odd? Does/can Dwiggs address this? I would really like to see them continue to take minimal damage every turn they remain in a burning hex. I would be happy if you couldn't heal while in a burning hex. Could you Mod the code to treat units in flaming hexes as though they are Cursed?

[This message has been edited by kaskoid (edited 01-30-2006 @ 06:53 PM).]

I would have no problem with upping the mana for all of a players nodes, those of his magical bent.

I could even live with converting those nodes within the player's borders.

Disjunction would now have different uses, like removing road enchantments or haste spells or even the doom and gloom spells that effect everyone in a player's realm.

EDIT: Also, how hard would it be to make two sets of resources appear for choice in the setup, one with and one without terrain changing spells? Those really hurt PBEM play and actually make it so no one can have any crops while using them.

[This message has been edited by MitchK1989 (edited 01-31-2006 @ 05:42 AM).]

I've been working on updating the excel/readme files, which are nearing completion.

In regards to some of the topics posted here:

1. The burning/healing question. I don't think it's possible to prevent healing here, without actually switching cursed with burning. However, I will look into it and see what I can do. If the burning units are in a city with a sanctuary, they will heal regardless, of course.

2. Mastery spells. I don't like them much either, and wouldn't mind removing them. They are, though, a decent way to end a long game and/or make the AI more competitive on big maps. I'll have to think a bit more about this, but my inclination is to remove them if that seems to be the desire of the majority of players. It's a pity that we can't alter the mastery spells but they are hardcoded as far as I know.

3. Mitch, which terrain changing spells did you have in mind? It would be pretty easy, actually. You could do it yourself if you wanted

regards,

BJ

Now, the one problem I have is that in a few games I have played the mastery spells have been available from day 1. That seems bad to me. I much preferred how AoW 1 did spell research - you had to have I think at least 2 spells of a level before it would open up any spells of the next level for a given sphere - its been a while, but a system like that would prevent this problem. But I guess we can't change that.

Upkeep is a different kettle of fish, depending on the individual map. 100 upkeep might be more than the net gain on a Small map that is node-poor, but not enough on an XL map loaded with nodes and other mana producing structures.

Increase the cost to cast a bunch and increase the upkeep; even a higher upkeep might be worth it for the control that it gives you around the converted nodes.

Wetlands, Darklands, Ice Age and Rejuvenate can stay, IMO, because what better way to screw somebody up than by blighting their crops? If the hardcode bugs still exist that effect this, then get rid of the spells and eliminate the bug.

for high spell cost of mastery everyone can easily use 1 or more catalysts.

if you don't like this spell its better to remove it from all spheres.

[This message has been edited by DarkMystery (edited 02-02-2006 @ 00:58 AM).]

The ideal solution would be to increase the cost a little - say, to 666 as Warlord suggested...a sense of evil being done.
That said, I have never seen a Mastery spell cast in any of the Dwiggs games I have played.

[This message has been edited by Webusver (edited 02-02-2006 @ 04:14 AM).]

Also, I like Webusver's idea of adding more summoning spells - if its possible. I certainly vote to remove Black/Gold Dragon and add them to fill the empty summons slots for Life and Death.

let's start with latest posts first:

Time, I just sent the message. I'll comment more on your work below, as I think many people will be interested.

On the summoning spells. I've already replaced the Dire Penguin and Magic Servant spells with a Life and Death summons. You'll get to see what they are shortly, but I think Mitch will very much like one of 'em . I've also added a single high level summons as a reward for each spirit. The two dragons have been kept for this purpose, but two more units have been added. They were original units from AoW:SM that needed a home after the new races were added...for Nature and Magic spirits, respectively.

On Mastery and terrain changing spells. A PBEM patch could easily be released after the mod comes out. I would need specific feedback from PBEM players, or one of them could do the necessary tinkering. But for the purposes of single and multiplayer, I really like having most of the terrain changers. And, with the new races, especially the Lizards, a spell like Wetlands is going to be much more useful. Build a war shrine, get units with water concealment, cast wetlands, and let the fun begin In regards to Mastery, I'm a bit more torn. I like the idea of having 5 spells for each level for each sphere. Removing Mastery could accomplish that. However, I also like a bit of randomness in the spell book. Also, I think making Master a touch more expensive to cast as per someone's (was it Air?) idea might do the trick. I'll have to think more about this, as both sides are making good points. Unfortunately, as Zyl suggests, we can't make any prerequistes for researching these spells.

For the potential writers here: as the beta approaches, a batch of new heroes will require their deeds and histories to be published to the credulous world! Hence, I'll be posting 'em above on monday or so.

On Timelord's work: some things you will probably see in the new version: A leperchaun hurling magic bolts that confuse and amaze his foes; an abomination with really sticky spit; a Yeti that can cause an opposing army to truly chill out; upgrades to many abilities at silver and gold levels (trap, entangle, control animal, turn undead, seduce, dominate, strangle), some Dwarvish fire that makes enemies very hot under the collar, flaming arrows (not those posted by certain flamers on the forum ), and perhaps some other surprises. All this will be documented, which, by the way, I am working on finishing.

Best regards,

BJ

but it would be nice if there is any way to make the mastery spells less possible (perhaps putting them as 4th level cosmos has been suggested - it sounds odd, but if it worked...)
i'd be up for the 666 price raiase

The increase in the casting cost of Mastery doesn't bother me a bit, and I wouldn't mind implementing this change. As Zyl writes, in a multiplayer game it is quite hard to cast it and requires substantial investment by the caster. I've seen it done a fair amount by players who are isolated on the map, though, which is one reason why we need to make more balanced pre created maps

Timelord is busy as beaver updating the ability list, and it looks very, very good. Many heroes will have one of the unique abilities, and there will be some interesting items lying around as well.

I'm still working on the readme files, and Joep is stil (I hope ) working with the city bit map images. If anyone else would like to try their hand in this area, I think he and I both would appreciate the help, as I believe he's only started the Fey Folk and not the Demons or Lizards.

Pushing forward,

BJ

Sent another bunch of unused graphics!