Dominions 3 vs. Dominions 4: Any significant difference?

[Baalphegor]

As someone who owns neither yet, but has interest, I decided to come ask the community here if there's any notable difference between this one and it's predecessor. Is this just a carbon clone of 3, or is it an improved version? Feel free to expand on anything you think is relevant.

[Lou the Lou]

I'm pretty sure the Thrones of Ascension are new to 4 (hence the subtitle). I'm sure there are also new spells, units, maps, etc.

I didn't play Dom3, but I played the Dom3 demo before purchasing Dom4, and they're pretty similar in playstyle. However, there's enough content difference between 3 and 4 to justify buying 4 instead of 3, in my opinion, especially since 4 isn't expensive.

[edirr]

I would say that the game is a significantly improved version. The base engine is the same, but it has been extended quite a bit.

There is tons of new content and there are lots of new mechanics. You have team play mode (disciple games) where one nation is god and the other nations on the team its disciples. The user interface has been overhauled, so while it superficially looks pretty much the same as in Dominions 3, it is much more streamlined and informative (almost everything has tooltips now as well).

The AI is much better, which makes single player games a lot more enjoyable. AI does not pick suicidal scales anymore and it has been told not to recruit certain crap units. There are also mods that take advantage of new commands to prevent AI from using independent units for even more boost.

The modding capabilities of Dom4 are several times bigger than those of Dom3. There is full item modding, all the new monster modding stuff and much improved site modding and nation modding.

It is a different game and in my opinion it is better than Dom3. It is not just a carbon copy. Your mileage may vary.

[Count von Bunnyhopven]

Differences:

Dom 4 have much more content, options, mechanics and a better UI. Its also arguably much better balanced. (Not that it is actually well balanced!)

Dom 3 have faster gameplay (faster research, faster map move, stronger mages, faster fort construction) and also better mods that might or might not get converted over to dom 4 over time.

Also, several exploity strategies that worked in dom 3 have been disabled in dom 4. (Overtaxing, reverse communions) Whether this is a good thing is still being debated because although these strategies were somewhat OP, they also added a depth of choices and tactics to the game that is now lost. Veterans feel less special now that there are no super hard strategies that only they can do.