Not that I know of. There was an earlier 24 hour 75% discount sale there a few months back and another 50% discount just a week or two ago. Gamersgate may very well have held this sale without being told. It is a Swedish outfit, so no idea if Illwinter has been talking to them. Only the beta group knew that Dom4 was going to get announced today and that was a tentative date until Johan actually went ahead and posted it on the Illwinter home page.
For what it’s worth… In both Dominions and the more recent Elemental, I find that I can create a world in which I am easily the master of all I see and I can create worlds in which it is very difficult for me to survive. Finding the balance point where I am personally challenged and interested is what I’m really after and sometimes I can find that balance solo and sometimes It’s a bit tougher to find.
Fiddle with the number of computer players, their nations, the mods, the size of the map, my own pretender and nation…I can find plenty of interesting single player experiences.
Now, put me on a huge map and give me plenty of time to expand or get to the end of the spell list and I’ll mop the floor with the AI, so…tighten up the map, reduce the spells I can cast, since the computer players don’t use gems well, then limit the number of gem sites on the map…
There’s a lot of game there.
Hopefully Dom4 will be an upgrade not just to the mythology, but to the underlying code as well.
I thought this was another one of those “HEy is Illwinter going to make Dom4?!?!” “Nope! They haven’t announced any plans for it/CoE3!!!” Threads.
I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised.
And by “pleasantly surprised” I mean I’m freakin out. This is great news. Great news.
If it’s in beta then release can’t be too far off … right? RIGHT!? Fantastic news, this has made my day.
I want this.
So, Brooski, you going to write the manual again?
Also, please dear god, I hope they avoid Shrapnel.
Yay!!
Great news! I had Dominions 2 and never really learned to play it. I recently bought Dominions 3 and haven’t yet learned to play it. I am looking forward to getting Dominions 4 and not playing it too!
Since Dominions 3 is no longer on Shrapnel it’s a pretty good bet that Dominions 4 won’t be either. Desura is the likely initial candidate given that CoE3 and D3 are both on there, but I will be hoping in vain for a Steam release.
And my guess is that Edirr will be doing the manual; I for one would be all too happy to “proof-read” it… ;)
Best PC gaming news I’ve heard all year. Can’t wait, Dominions is my favorite strategy franchise.
On the other forum whose name shall not be spoken Johan Osterman stopped by to say that two of the people who did the Dom3 music, Erik and Anna, will be back for Dom4.
Also he says, “the graphics will not be hugely improved.”
This is music to my ears.
I will indeed be writing the manual. I have been working on it in my “free time” for the past several (six?) months.
Edirr will be writing the modding manual - and from what I have seen so far he will be doing an excellent job!
I hope they provide a link to the progress page soon, Dom3 progress page has been my home page for years.
That is just too awesome!
Yeah, that’s awesome. The Dom 3 manual and tutorial took a big chunk out of the learning curve, and I think it really helped bring people in.
It’s great to see Illwinter and Digital Eel have life after Shrapnel. With any luck, I’ll join that club someday myself as well.
If there is anything that people would like to see in the manual that wasn’t there last time, feel free to make suggestions. I can’t promise they’ll make it in, but I wrote the last one kind of in a bubble, and this time I’d like to incorporate some things I hadn’t thought of before. Specifically, I wanted Kristoffer to give me more “fluff” about the world of Dominions. As long as it is strictly historical. I think someone posted here a long time ago about that same thing, and it was a great thought. Although that’s really at the discretion of Kristoffer. He seems to be supportive of it, though.
:D
I can’t think of much in the way of suggestions for the manual. More fluff would be nice - Dom3 has some of the best worldbuilding of any game ever made.
Thanks for this info, Edirr! I’m glad to hear it - I love Dom3 but I find the late-game micro prohibitive.
Bookmarks/ToC links in the pdf. Not a big problem (for me) last time since I have the excellent spiral-bound physical copy, but I did notice the digital version had no proper bookmarks. They are essential for reading large manuals on digital devices. I would love the index to be hyperlinked as well. :)
I skipped 3 because I chose not to invest the time. I don’t think I can avoid this one.