Caster of Magic II Brainstorming Megathread

[Suppanut]

I'm pretty sure very rare spells should be unavailable in treasure that early?

In theory this is the issue why the "elimination" feature was added to the game but it probably can't keep up with AI research speed on the highest levels of difficulty.

Even so 1410 to research a very rare is extremely early even on high difficulty for three wizards in the same game....unless the mod changes the resource balance of the game.

That said, adjusting the spell's formula to somehow include the number of players is a reasonable idea but maybe adding a (moddable) hard cap of maximal power is better? Also the spell formula is already way too complex and hard to understand, not sure I like the idea of making it even more complex. Any suggestions for a new formula?

Here is my suggestion about new formula of power link.

Power gains = (number of time opponent casting spell in that turn) x (base value) / (number of opponents)

Nolonger rely on spell cost but rely on thing link to cost such as number of time spell casting each turn instead. But if you think spell cost still should be a factor then...

Power gains = (power generate from spells) x ( attempt to cast spell with base cost lower than 1000/(number of opponents) )

[zitro1987]

The design for most global enchantments is that they scale and become more powerful with larger maps and more opponents.

I have 3 problems with power link myself:
*the extremely wild swings of power income make the power graphs fluctuate heavily and the domination rate to swing, sometimes giving you a 'win' button
*The math is simply too complicated with the 2 categories. We need to be more accessible than this to players.
*It is overpowered, even in a medium-size game of 6 players, it is a far better source of power than Armageddon and Roots of Genesis

We can partially or fully cover these weaknesses if we change the math while keeping a similar purpose: gain more power the more wizards focus on cheaper spells.

Power Link - "Whenever players cast an overland spell costing less than 500, you gain 100 power"

That's it! It can be this simple. Assume there's 6 AI left, they can probably cast 300-500 mana a turn. If they mass-cast unit buffs, it really really adds up like before, but the reward is more predictable than hoping the unit buff is 50 vs 90. If they focus on expensive spells, you might at least be gaining 500 power or so in that turn.

A cutoff of 500 mana spells bypassing the effect is also ok


I do miss the iconic ‘suppress magic’ it just needed to be tweaked like making it strength 400 and maxing the counter probability at 75%

[Seravy]

the extremely wild swings of power income make the power graphs fluctuate heavily and the domination rate to swing, sometimes giving you a 'win' button

That's true and I think the ideal solution to this is also fairly simple, power gained from Power Link does not count into your graphs (and/or is considered as an average of the previous N turns).

The math is simply too complicated with the 2 categories. We need to be more accessible than this to players.

True as well but if we change that, we also need to include "Except Summoning Circle" in the text so it doesn't really become much shorter.

I do miss the iconic ‘suppress magic’ it just needed to be tweaked like making it strength 400 and maxing the counter probability at 75%

Not really, there is a major difference.
With Power Link you have a choice. You can choose to use your spells and deal with the consequences (enemy gets stronger but in some cases you can ignore that, like when your ally has Power Link or the enemy who has it is really weak).
With Suppress Magic you don't get a choice. You effecitively pay (if we go with your suggestion), 4 times the normal cost to use your low cost spells so it's functionally the same as Evil Omens and feels like a curse - something you must get rid of or you lose the game (unless you don't rely on low cost spells in the first place). So with Suppress Magic you can't ignore it even if an ally or weak opponent casts it - you have to stop whatever you were doing and immediately start attacking that player instead.

[Slingers]

Someone had the idea that custom wizards from the Hall of Fame could show up in later games.

Also, images are attached for the luxury ideas list: The Cartographer screen shows wizards when you mouse over a city. Just the wizard name in the same color would suffice I think...

Edit: I added an image to show how crowded the MOM style display would be with all the opponents listed and that it might not fit that way.

[Suppanut]

May I request ability to cast spell at beginning of combat or  in combat by script? I want to create new spell similar to Cloud of Shadow or Philosopher's Stone that give combat enchantment in siege combat of enchanted city for free.

If it has already possible to do so, please tell me how.

[Suppanut]

May I request modding spawning of wildgame and nightshade spawning rate and which terrain it would appear? I want to mod wildgame to have chance to spawn on tundra too. If possible make new resource moddable would be good.

[Demiansky]

May I request modding spawning of wildgame and nightshade spawning rate and which terrain it would appear? I want to mod wildgame to have chance to spawn on tundra too. If possible make new resource moddable would be good.

I second this.  I wanted to be able to reduce the stats on forests but compensate by increasing the prevalence of wild game (thus making hotspots in woodland areas for development).

[Suppanut]

I think there should not be restriction of two tiles area of enemy city under wizard pact during Time Stop. I have wizard pact with wizard who cast Time Stop and he end up build a city near my troop during time stop and he keep poking as it is my fault that my troop near his city during his time stop and he say I break the pact and treat as if it is my fault that causing it.

[GMBarak]

Hi, I would like to suggest handling cases of attacking invisible/stealth units unintentionally.
maybe we can add a warning: "are you sure you want to attack?" or enable green retreat button only on first round so that if you retreat it will not start a cold war with that wizard.

[Seravy]

Forming a Wizard's Pact can protect from that situation. I believe that's good enough, as they say "Would you like to form a Wizard's Pact to prevent accidental conflict?".

Or you can offer a tribute to force a hostility reroll and clear the effect of the attack, assuming it didn't escalate into a real war yet.