Games like Dominions

[denyasis]

I do enjoy Dominions a lot. I also enjoy science fiction/fantasy a lot too. I sometimes wonder if there is a "Dominions in Space!!!"

I'm not really into RTS, so I've bounced off of games like Star Ruler 2 and Stellaris (more the latter than the former). I also tried Aurora 4x and it seemed needlessly complicated. Distant Worlds seems cool, but it doesn't jive with my OS and is rated borked/garbage. I guess dominions hits that sweet spot where the game play loop is pretty tight (no diplomacy, no unit design, simple research system), making it not too hard to get into.

I think the closest I've come to finding a similar game is Space Empires IV + mods.

Do you have a side-TBS for when you're not feeling in a Dominions mood? What do you like about it?

[Mount Nomad]

The only matches I'm aware of for Dominions are Dwarf Fortress and Aurora, which both make Dominions look outright user friendly. It's too big and too deep. As someone earlier said, Stars! was great for its time, albeit unbalanced - it's the closest corollary I can think of for Dominions multiplayer (had my CD Key memorized for over a decade). Total Annihilation Spring had the unit count and depth of combat (more, really), but was multiplayer only, and peaked over a decade ago.

Sword of the Stars Complete Collection is in space, has dated graphics, and Real Time with Pause combat, but it's kind of amazing (first one only - second one sucked).

Wish someone would make a RTS / RPG that was sprite based like Final Fantasy IV, where you get to live in the world you're trying to conquer. Sit on the throne and issue commands. Participate in invasions by wandering into them within a set timeframe (Final Fantasy VI style castle siege). Like a 4x Shining Force.

Also, a note about Star Ruler 2. While it was weird and hard to get used to, it had the most phenomenal multiplayer potential I'd seen in years. Staged simultaneous attacks in multiple arenas (start a bidding war to seize a system while invading another - your victim can't ignore either, or you win). Genuine impact from ship design (not just from different weapons, but angles of fire and deflection, and freeform size scaling could change everything). Racing across a galaxy with a fast tractor beam ship to try to snag a Reaver part before your foes see it, only to overshoot and fly past it, trying to turn and snag it as the enemy spots you and you're screaming at your ally to distract them! Real pity it never took off. =)

[Maerlande]

Oh I forgot about Sword of the Stars. I really enjoyed that game.

[Mormacil]

SotS was cool, I liked the diversity in space engines between the factions.

[Tzyder]

Godking, Master of Rituals and Deity Empires are the only Dominions-like game I'm aware of. I dont recommend them though. Conquest of Elisium and Godhood have some similarities. If we are taking about turn based strat I like Age of Wonders Planetfall with all the DLC fleshing it out, the newest Master of Orion with lots of fan patches, Maybe Warlock 2, Massive Chalice, Halcyon 6...Sword of the Stars #1 is excellent if you can get past the dated UI. Same with the Urquon Masters versions of Star Control 2

[denyasis]

I do agree that Star Ruler 2 was a different one, but to be perfectly honest, I liked its rules and mechanics, even if they were a little abstract (like diplomacy). I honestly think it was one of the better diplomacy systems I've ever seen, especially since a computer could feasibly play it. Most other 4x's' diplomacy wasn't much more than an exploit against the computer. Sadly, It was the Real Time part that I bounced off of a bit. Towards the end it seemed like it was all down to speed, especially if you were trying to do some complicated political\military scheme. I'm not much of a MP person, but I imagine it could be pretty fun.

I know there is a graphically updated version of MOO1 out there made as passion project, Remnants of the Precursors. That could be interesting. I loved MOO1+2 when they came out.

The review of Shadow Empire makes me really interested in that game. The notes about the competency of ones leaders kinda reminds me of MOO2 or Rome: Total War's leaders from back in the day. Having your governors/generals/leaders be more than a checkbox is something I really like. I'm going to put it on my wishlist. Funds are a bit tight and I'm a little hesitant on the need to alter a file to be playable. I'll probably wait a little bit for more wine/proton reports to trickle in.

I"ve never heard of Deity Empires. I'll check it out. What didn't you like about it, Tzyder?

[Tzyder]

gfx are primitive 2d sprites and most of what Deity Empires does Age of Wonders does better.

[CHOO CHOO]

Escrito originalmente por denyasis:

The review of Shadow Empire makes me really interested in that game. The notes about the competency of ones leaders kinda reminds me of MOO2 or Rome: Total War's leaders from back in the day. Having your governors/generals/leaders be more than a checkbox is something I really like. I'm going to put it on my wishlist. Funds are a bit tight and I'm a little hesitant on the need to alter a file to be playable. I'll probably wait a little bit for more wine/proton reports to trickle in.

Altering a file? I didn't have to do any such thing.

[meglobob1]

I find it interesting how some people don't like Deity Empires, its really weird, those that like it, really, really love it, well some just seem to bounce off it.

I am guessing that those that don't like DE, don't like Master of Magic too or were perhaps to young to ever play Master of Magic and thus don't get it.

[denyasis]

Escrito originalmente por CHOO CHOO:

Altering a file? I didn't have to do any such thing.

Looking at the reports, it appears you need to resave a png file in a different format to avoid a setpixel error. The rest of the reports are a little vague on even if the game will run with that fix. On top of that the reports seems to hint the most recent proton won't work. Not sure on wine. There's only one entry in the AppDB.

Out of curiosity, What distro and wine/proton are you running? I don't minds tweaks like GDI and DotNet or changing config files. I'm a little hesitant on resaving media.

[CHOO CHOO]

Windows 10.

[denyasis]

I see. That would be the key difference there.

Escrito originalmente por meglobob1:

I am guessing that those that don't like DE, don't like Master of Magic too or were perhaps to young to ever play Master of Magic and thus don't get it.

I must admit, I came to MOM very late, like 15 years late. I really like the concept, but I think the UI and a few little things hadn't aged well. I'm my mind, Dominions I kinda equated Dominions as a spiritual successor of sorts

[Twogun]

Escrito originalmente por meglobob1:

I find it interesting how some people don't like Deity Empires, its really weird, those that like it, really, really love it, well some just seem to bounce off it.

I am guessing that those that don't like DE, don't like Master of Magic too or were perhaps to young to ever play Master of Magic and thus don't get it.

oddly enough, i LOVED MoM. i remember being totally immersed in it.

to me, for some reason that's EXACTLY WHAT de is missing: immersion.

it all feels so sanitary, businesslike. it's not fun. there is zero urgency to do anything in any time frame. it's just a slog to me. where as i don't remember that at all in MoM. i remember being very excited for 'the next turn'.

i literally played like 230 turns and nothing really happened. i finally started taking dumb chances with my uber heroes trying to make anything occur. then they died and the idea of trying to rebuild felt a lot like starting my taxes over!

[meglobob1]

Escrito originalmente por Twogun:

Escrito originalmente por meglobob1:

I find it interesting how some people don't like Deity Empires, its really weird, those that like it, really, really love it, well some just seem to bounce off it.

I am guessing that those that don't like DE, don't like Master of Magic too or were perhaps to young to ever play Master of Magic and thus don't get it.

oddly enough, i LOVED MoM. i remember being totally immersed in it.

to me, for some reason that's EXACTLY WHAT de is missing: immersion.

it all feels so sanitary, businesslike. it's not fun. there is zero urgency to do anything in any time frame. it's just a slog to me. where as i don't remember that at all in MoM. i remember being very excited for 'the next turn'.

i literally played like 230 turns and nothing really happened. i finally started taking dumb chances with my uber heroes trying to make anything occur. then they died and the idea of trying to rebuild felt a lot like starting my taxes over!

What map size did you play on? Because of DE's sandbox nature, this is something players often struggle with. In MoM you couldn't control map size as much, so yeah every turn was exciting because stuff was close together. Also up the number of lairs / dungeons on the map, you can literally start the game with a lair / dungeon on every hex, except where your first city will be. I would put strength to 1 if your new but I have done a str 10 all map dungeons / lairs, alot of fun and very challenging, especially at the start. You can even turn wandering monsters up, so they spawn more often.

You can easily re-create it by lets say playing a 40x30 map with 4 AI's (ideally on hopeless for a decent challenge but down to hard if your still learning).

DE is just like MoM but with more stuff and the fun is achieving insane stuff (just like MoM) like getting a Ancient Dragon army and going around stomping everything, or collecting greater heroes and equipping them with godlike artefacts or flying around with Archangels or (for fun) taking a weak ogre hero and turn him into Shrek!

[meglobob1]

Btw about MoM, Slitherine Ltd. bought the rights and brought out Caster of Magic, a expansion that requires MoM, so you can have fun playing MoM again. Caster of Magic is dirt cheap and makes MoM a lot more challenging, fix's some of the OP broken stuff in MoM.

Also, Slitherine Ltd are working on a new modern Master of Magic with a lot better graphics, sound effects etc..., here's hoping they nail it.

[meglobob1]

Anyone who fancies giving Deity Empires another go or may be interested in picking up at sometime in the future, a new update has just dropped. Note you can play the 'complete' version (no / few bugs) or the new beta, just r-click on the game and select properties, beta, to switch between the two, really quick, only a small download.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/889080/discussions/0/3104638636530190358/