Mod Ren'Py Abandoned Time For Dragons - Defiler Wings: Deranged Dragon Mod [29-07-2020] [Jman]

3.50 star(s) 8 Votes

Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,295
958
Neat!

Note that the original request was for impregnating anyone currently in breeding pits or milking farms, regardless of whether they want it or not. ;)
 

Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,295
958
That would lead to some issues, like how rape increase rage...
I have some plans to tie lust to rage reduction. But for the time being, -1 rage per captive mated with?

...and can kill.
Spitballing, but one way to handle it would be to utilise the 'use all milk' option to heal the captives up first, and then do the thing. If not enough milk, that's the dragon's problem of not preparing ahead of time.

I'm almost sure when I get to doing this myself, it won't work quite the same, but well... :cautious:
 
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Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
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That is already an established mechanic.
Only for the quick actions. But fair enough.

By kinda I mean it also target cages and "free-range".
Eh, this might be going too far. At least prioritise the captives put into the 'breeder' rooms.

Otherwise, looks okay. (y) Well, the Witch's potion losing its effect is kinda missing and there's a lack of sound effects, but I guess the latter is intended.
 
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Drizzel

Newbie
Sep 5, 2018
24
2
so if i understood all the parts i read for help right- this seal system force trigger an end of the game at some point?
i couldnt find anything about how so stop them from going down or restore them?
is there a way for me to turn them of? so i have an endless game if i dont trigger the oder ends.
and are there other timers that force an end im not aware of?

about how much "days" ingame can i expect before the seals run out if i have no idea what im doing and dont know what triggers the seal rundown?
im at:
Total time in the kingdom: 637 days
slumbered away: 402 days

does the shame systeam has any effect on the game? i tried to hold it down but it makes the game much harder cause i dont loose infamy

i have seen some pic with dragons over 1k hp and thousands of gold coins jet i feel like im nearly stuck on an lover level and the time passes by and the seals make me belive i wont ever reach more then 100 hp or a 2nd evolution. i did not even reach 200 gold for an humunkolus --
- and i m playing on easy
 
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Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,295
958
...this seal system force trigger an end of the game at some point?
An endgame, not an end to the game. It takes the form of a demonic invasion, which you can either defeat or succumb to.

i couldnt find anything about how so stop them from going down or restore them?
Sacrificing captives, especially virgin ones. Requires an altar, for which you need to either find the right lair or do enough of Mom's quests.

is there a way for me to turn them of? so i have an endless game if i dont trigger the oder ends.
On easy difficulty, you can turtle indefinitely as a tiny dragon if you keep your infamy down by subsisting on animals and throwing fights.

You can have an endless game, if you manage your sacrifices well. You just can't have one without effort (too much manual effort, currently :().

You could also turn the mechanic off, but it requires you to change the game's scripts, and I'm not exactly keen on sabotaging my own work. Restart, persist, learn, adapt, overcome. It's more fun that way. Take a break if you need to, the game is not running away anywhere.

Or read this thread. Several others have had similar thoughts, and shared some of what they did.

and are there other timers that force an end im not aware of?
Not as clear-cut ones. Feeding yourself and knights coming to kill you are a bit similar, but without a specific numerical counter.

about how much "days" ingame can i expect before the seals run out if i have no idea what im doing and dont know what triggers the seal rundown?
666 seals means 666/0.25 days ~= 7 years on normal, 3 and a half years on hard and under 2 years on impossible. Easy has ~7 years + your "tiny and harmless" period.

Faster seal decay is triggered by the Kingdom being afraid of your dragon.

i feel like im nearly stuck on an lover level and the time passes by and the seals make me belive i wont ever reach more then 100 hp or a 2nd evolution.
Practice and savescumming. :p The mod is meant to be played with a Dark Souls-esque "this game is out to get me so I'm gonna show it who's boss" attitude.

i did not even reach 200 gold for an humunkolus --
- and i m playing on easy
What's your lair and how tough is the scaly guy? What's your minion situation? Do you have some Dragon Priestesses to do the heavy lifting for the goblins? Are you using gremlins to build stuff? Are the knights killing you? Can you beat merchants and take their stuff? How far are you with Mom's quests? Do you raid villages regularly?

Edit:
does the shame systeam has any effect on the game? i tried to hold it down but it makes the game much harder...
A-ha! Don't fall for this trap. Pride and shame are purely cosmetic, they're there to make you feel good about your accomplishments, like any achievement system. But this mod is out for your blood nerve cells, so you need to lean how to walk before trying to juggle torches behind your back. A new player's priority should be survival, not bragging rights.
 
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Drizzel

Newbie
Sep 5, 2018
24
2
*some pic below*

just reworked it when you already answerd XD
does the shame systeam has any effect on the game? i tried to hold it down but it makes the game much harder cause i dont loose infamy
savescumming
what does that mean?

An endgame, not an end to the game
does that mean i can keep on playing in some sort of sandbox mode after the endgame?

What's your lair
i only found: ruined manor house -till now

Do you have some Dragon Priestesses to do the heavy lifting for the goblins
never heard of that stuff till now XD whatever that is i guess no

Are you using gremlins to build stuff
i cant build stuff atm- no workbench and i found no material to craft till now

Are the knights killing you
1 knight is searching for me since about 300 days now but never found me. i did not even moved the place since then

the thief however found me a few times but i never was able to get her. she got some antidote as the 1st item and some stuff against my traps. evertime she gets in i reload a save and sleep again till she does something else- i read about the possibillity to let her get killed and that is supposed to be my way out

Can you beat merchants and take their stuff
only the poor pendler
i never win against the others
it feels like: the more i kill of them the less i see them. and they mostly only carry around 30- 90 silver with them just sometimes 2 gold.
that money goes rather fast on living expences

Do you raid villages regularly
till not long before i could only raid the lowest one. now i can raid the 2nd one with some loss
but somehow it doesnt really feel like its worth it. from the smallest one i can get 1 sheep or 1 girl
raiding the 2nd weakest prowides me with about as much as i need to heal my wounds and sometimes a girl
that doesnt really feel like a win

How far are you with Mom's quests
Blood awakens, tribes!, scourge of the plains, cold spawn and fiery spawn are my next quests
even though i try to get some offspring into the world it always get slaughteret instantly so im kinda stuck on: Tribes!

i have no idea where to get infos about the races of coldspawn and fiery spawn and i cant build the hatcherys
- i do have the smugglers den and there is something i can buy for 40 gold but since i want to get an humunkolus i did not do it till now. and i dont even know if that infos are the ones i need for it

how tough is the scaly guy
i only have seize evolutions and double jaw evolved
Time for Dragons_ Monster Kingdom 01.06.2021 22_45_41.png


Time for Dragons_ Monster Kingdom 01.06.2021 22_46_41.png
Time for Dragons_ Monster Kingdom 01.06.2021 22_49_12.png
Time for Dragons_ Monster Kingdom 01.06.2021 22_48_09.png

i have read about that its possible to go into the big city but i couldnt rlly till now
 

Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,295
958
savescumming
what does that mean?
Using your superpower of saving and reloading the game. :sneaky: The quicksave and quickload hotkeys are there for a damn good reason.

does that mean i can keep on playing in some sort of sandbox mode after the endgame?
No, but it means you can prolong the game pretty much indefinitely. The game essentially turns into a sandbox (with chores :() after your dragon grows big enough to do whatever the fuck he wants.

i only found: ruined manor house -till now
You mean you killed the poor old man who was living there and bothering no one. :p There are lots of lairs in the game, although most of the require you to kill the previous owner(s) first.

never heard of that stuff till now XD whatever that is i guess no
That's just a fancy name for captive girls who've been turned into minions. You do seem to have a few.

i cant build stuff atm- no workbench and i found no material to craft till now
The workshop is only used to craft shinier baubles. Gremlins help your action economy by letting you build some basic buildings for money instead of spending stamina and satiety.

1 knight is searching for me since about 300 days now but never found me. i did not even moved the place since then
Huh, that's definitely weird, although a lot of reloading can lead to this happening for a while. People are usually complaining about the knights getting to them way too fast. Can you upload your save so I can take a look?

Edit2: 300 days and 7+4 per sleep cycle is about 30 slumbers. Not impossible at all, although (s)he needs to have rolled more than the average number of "kitten removals" for that.

the thief however found me a few times but i never was able to get her. she got some antidote as the 1st item and some stuff against my traps.
At least in the early game, traps and guards work by stacking a single type as high as you can and hoping the current thief is not specialised against that.

evertime she gets in i reload a save and sleep again till she does something else
That should not work indefinitely, because the 'find you' counter is still going up. The really evil way to get rid of a thief is to reload until she gets a fake sleeping powder, and then eat or capture her when she tries to use it. :devilish:

i read about the possibillity to let her get killed and that is supposed to be my way out
That works, too, but it's kinda expensive. And you can't capture her that way.

only the poor pendler
i never win against the others
...money goes rather fast on living expences
Hmm, you definitely need a source of income. Another one is to rob villages, captives, etc, stash your loot until you can visit the city (when doing the Witch's quest, if not earlier), and then sell it all to the jeweler. The fence on Smugglers' Isle can also work, although his prices are worse.

it feels like: the more i kill of them the less i see them.
Depleting encounters is indeed a mechanic in the mod.

but somehow it doesnt really feel like its worth it. from the smallest one i can get 1 sheep or 1 girl
raiding the 2nd weakest prowides me with about as much as i need to heal my wounds and sometimes a girl
that doesnt really feel like a win
Villages give all of: XP, loot, satiety, girls. No other easily repeatable encounter gives all that. And your dragon is not supposed to get wounded at all, at least if he's still kinda weak. Use minions, and especially goblins/snakes as disposable meatshields.

Although your party looks like it should be able to handle at least medium villages. Are you hiding your dragon in the back lines and using disposable minions to take the worst hits? Trading 2-3 goblins for a successful raid is not too bad a price.

You can also try to get mobilization down to 0 bu lowering your infamy and hunting down patrols. Why? Because then all encounters get weaker (because they're not expecting the dragon). Not letting your infamy grow faster than you can handle is actually something you should be doing from the beginning.

Blood awakens, tribes!, scourge of the plains, cold spawn and fiery spawn are my next quests
You should be able to build altars, then, unless you have a mana problem... which you do. :cautious: I hope you haven't spent the Sparks the Witch gave you, or are willing to savescum the forest like no tomorrow.

even though i try to get some offspring into the world it always get slaughteret instantly so im kinda stuck on: Tribes!
They always get slaughtered in the end, pay it no mind. What matters is releasing the right offspring (Crocs and Lizardmen are the easiest to get). You seem to have a Lizardman, have you released one and waited a month for the village to emerge?

i have no idea where to get infos about the races of coldspawn and fiery spawn and i cant build the hatcherys
That's a problem with the current release, the ice and fire giant lairs you need to get those are rather rare.

i do have the smugglers den and there is something i can buy for 40 gold but since i want to get an humunkolus i did not do it till now. and i dont even know if that infos are the ones i need for it
Buying the info and beating the elves or the dwarves is actually better as far as getting a good hatchery goes. You won't be completing the quests, but you'll be able to hatch much better dragonspawn.

i only have seize evolutions and double jaw evolved
Maybe branch out a little. Going for size evolutions first is not too hot an idea, since bigger size means you sleep longer, and at one point the seals also begin to go down faster because big dragons are scary.

i have read about that its possible to go into the big city but i couldnt rlly till now
That requires some mana. You can boost your mana with Sparks, which you can get from sacrifices, find in the Darkwood (rarely) or get drom the Witch (once).


It looks like you might not be using cages to train your minions. Do so, even a 40 HP goblin is better than most of what you have. A fully trained peasant gal even more so. And stick some snakes in your lair, they're possibly the cheapest form of thief repellant in the game.

Edit: You have positive Attack Mastery, did you buy it from the trainer? If you hadn't, you'd probably have a Homunculus already, and getting the first one is a large boost to your party's power.
 
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Drizzel

Newbie
Sep 5, 2018
24
2
damm after reading that all i really need to restart XD
fells like i did everything wrong i could possible change

Gremlins help your action economy by letting you build some basic buildings for money instead of spending stamina and satiety.
just found that part. i can build cages and traps there. will there be more while progressing?
otherwise i need to get to much more satiety(thats why i evolved myself bigger) to build stuff like that or the alter wich costs 250

the knight was at 94 progress
the thief at 99 progress. she had something against amost everthing XD

Hmm, you definitely need a source of income. Another one is to rob villages, captives, etc, stash your loot until you can visit the city (when doing the Witch's quest, if not earlier), and then sell it all to the jeweler. The fence on Smugglers' Isle can also work, although his prices are worse.
i need to wrok that out somehow

You can also try to get mobilization down to 0 bu lowering your infamy and hunting down patrols. Why? Because then all encounters get weaker (because they're not expecting the dragon). Not letting your infamy grow faster than you can handle is actually something you should be doing from the beginning.
that was something i did not understood at the beginning till it was too late. i didnt know i could hunt animals in the forest till then cause they didnt appear in the first few encounters. only ranger and other stuff. i also seem to cant find the tresarue if i encounter that scenario

You should be able to build altars, then, unless you have a mana problem... which you do. :cautious: I hope you haven't spent the Sparks the Witch gave you, or are willing to savescum the forest like no tomorrow.
for the altar i need 250 satiety and i can only have 200max so not only the mana is a problem.-- i did not know i could use sparks to go over the limit.
if i only have limited sparks doenst it makes it a waste to use them to get into the town? how much mana do i need to get in?

or are willing to savescum the forest like no tomorrow
is there a way to get mana in the alves forest?

What matters is releasing the right offspring (Crocs and Lizardmen are the easiest to get). You seem to have a Lizardman, have you released one and waited a month for the village to emerge?
i got my 1st lizard 5 min ago and i did not want to give it up that fast- no i havent tryd that one. goodto know its about what minion i release

It looks like you might not be using cages to train your minions
i just searched the infos but i couldnt find a place that tells me that if could improve the minions-though it say they drain the slave. i did not understand that right. i only thought that they will raise the affection futher then 49 in exchange for some stats.
and i did not want that to happen so i could use them at minions so i did not even try it.
damm i really missed a big part

A fully trained peasant gal even more so
is there a limit of how much they can grow? and how do i know the limit?

Edit: You have positive Attack Mastery, did you buy it from the trainer? If you hadn't, you'd probably have a Homunculus already, and getting the first one is a large boost to your party's power.
yeah i bought some cause i lost all ealry battles vs dogs and i did not know about the Homunculus to that point


i started the new round now. lets have a look if it works better
 
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Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,295
958
fells like i did everything wrong i could possible change
i started the new round now. lets have a look if it works better
Nah, your situation was still quite salvageable. And the whole thing isn't particularly well-documented, so all the 'expert' ways of doing things aren't that easy to find. That being said, I do think restarting is quite a bit of fun on its own.

i can build cages and traps there. will there be more while progressing?
No, they just build traps, cages and guard towers, i.e. buldings that (mostly) don't require mana. Building an altar is a big deal, so it doesn't get delegated. Building 10 cages, well, your dragon can outsource that shit.

otherwise i need to get to much more satiety(thats why i evolved myself bigger) to build stuff like that
You can go for the 'big belly' evolution instead of size. Makes it easier to lay low and stay below the radar, while not sleeping most of the time like bigger dragons do. When I played on impossible last year, getting the belly was one of my main goals.

the knight was at 94 progress
the thief at 99 progress.
They ought to come knocking very soon, then. Tell me if they don't.

she had something against amost everthing
Yeah, that's the problem if the pests have a lot of time to prepare. You should actually aim to fight them ASAP, but it's currently kinda hard to pull off.

i also seem to cant find the tresarue if i encounter that scenario
It's random, and bigger and badder dragons have a higher chance to sniff it out.

for the altar i need 250 satiety and i can only have 200max so not only the mana is a problem.
Having a big belly solves a lot of problems. :)

i did not know i could use sparks to go over the limit.
Yeah, that's something pretty obscure. Maybe I should put a hint in there somewhere, but where? Do you actually read Mom's tips (AKA chatting)?

if i only have limited sparks doenst it makes it a waste to use them to get into the town?
Your first Sparks are better spent on an altar, so you can make more of them. But after that, getting into the Capital and selling your loot for much better prices than elsewhere is a very good use of Sparks.

how much mana do i need to get in?
5 mana. You can always charge yourself up to 5 mana, but usually no more than twice your maximum.

is there a way to get mana in the alves forest?
No, the deeper reaches of the forest actually require mana, quite a bit of it in fact. The only place that has Sparks just laying around is the Darkwood, and it's a rare encounter in a dangerous place, so probably not worth going for.

Sacrificing your captives is supposed to be your main source of Sparks.

i got my 1st lizard 5 min ago and i did not want to give it up that fast
If you have one, getting another or a Croc should be much easier. But your first Lizardman is indeed quite nice.

i just searched the infos but i couldnt find a place that tells me that if could improve the minions-though it say they drain the slave. i did not understand that right. i only thought that they will raise the affection futher then 49 in exchange for some stats.
No, getting affection to go higher mostly requires your personal attention, like torture or 'making frictions'. ;) Guards don't do anything for that. Guarding a cage is not about blocking escapes, it's about providing fun and levelups to your minions. Which includes former captives. :D

and i did not want that to happen so i could use them at minions so i did not even try it.
Sacrificing one captive to level up a minion and just capturing a new one is actually how the mod is supposed to be played. You have limited party slots, so beefing up your current roster is much better than having lots of backups. And captives become less useful as breeders after their first pregnancy (although repeated pregnancies make for better milk cows :sneaky:).

Minions also get a bit of experience from just surviving fights, but that's very slow compared to leveling via torture.

damm i really missed a big part
Yeah, minions and their training are very big 'hidden' mechanics. I'm not sure how I should make this info more accessible.

is there a limit of how much they can grow? and how do i know the limit?
Currently, twice their starting stats for the most part. There's no real indicator that they're maxed, but I think you can deduce that by comparing their current stats and the (+X) value on their lair info screen. If the former is twice the latter, that stat is maxed.

I am going to nerf the hell out of minion stat progression at some point, because leveled minions are quite OP right now.

yeah i bought some cause i lost all ealry battles vs dogs and i did not know about the Homunculus to that point
Fair enough. Note that Attack Mastery is not as useful as Attack for damage, since it just boosts your max damage, and damage is random. On the other hand, having better AM than your opponent gives the ability to parry some of the damage.
 

Ambjorn187

Newbie
Sep 9, 2020
82
28
I noticed another bug, minions can't use their secondary attack.
I noticed this first when bringing succubi against the everything-but-soundproof archmage and again with chimeras against the dwarves' golems.
But I don't just report bugs, I fix them.
 
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Drizzel

Newbie
Sep 5, 2018
24
2
my game just died while i was about to pressd on a place travel
but i dont know anymore with one it was cause i was so perplexed o_O:eek:

edit:
also the trief doesnt seem to like me cause ne never reached me till now
and i missed the event month for the witch quest. it said i can do it 1 year later.
i dont know if im over it already but im already in the next year and i couldnt do it again
how much "months" are there? i counted seven already but i had a few before i starte counting and the time i got the witch quest

i tryd to get the save data into this post but somehow it doesnt work like it should :/
View attachment 1-1-LT1.save View attachment 1-1-LT1.save View attachment 1-1-LT1.save
 
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Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,295
958
my game just died while i was about to pressd on a place travel
Try the attached script. Edit: Try the one from here, instead. /edit I think I've posted an update before, but it never made it into a proper patch.

also the trief doesnt seem to like me cause ne never reached me till now
It's pretty random. She's halfway there, and needs another 50 points to get to you, but can be led astray by all the adventures she's having. I'm going to introduce a method of 'inviting' thieves and knights once I get a new version out.

As an aside, the knight would be fighting you pretty soon, but you've moved lairs since... Sneaky. (y)

and i missed the event month for the witch quest. it said i can do it 1 year later.
i dont know if im over it already but im already in the next year and i couldnt do it again
You can only do the quest during the same month next year, when the real King goes away again.

how much "months" are there?
Still twelve, but they have weird names.


I peeked at the save, and I'm not sure if it's a problem with my updated version, but you seem to be having problems with minions eating your captives. If you don't, you will once I get to making an update.

You also have your homunculus in the back row. She's uniquely qualified to be a front-liner, since she's better armoured than the others you have right now, and her high HP means she heals fast.

I also don't know why the Breeding Pit is empty. Otherwise, looking good, you even have a Wyvern egg that should be hatched ASAP.
 
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Drizzel

Newbie
Sep 5, 2018
24
2
I think I've posted an update before, but it never made it into a proper patch.
does the patch have "new" content or is is "just" a fix?

As an aside, the knight would be fighting you pretty soon, but you've moved lairs since... Sneaky
i needed to move for more space. i wasnt shure if i should wait till the knight comes or not and in the end it took too long so i moved.

You can only do the quest during the same month next year

Still twelve, but they have weird names.
then i should be able to do it in the next 2 or 3 month. thats a relief

but you seem to be having problems with minions eating your captives
yeah i do have that problem- but why? im not sure if its the numer of slaves, minions or the strenght of the minions, me or some stats from me that arent good enough.
i did figure out if i release a few minons i doeesnt happen anymore


You also have your homunculus in the back row. She's uniquely qualified to be a front-liner, since she's better armoured than the others you have right now, and her high HP means she heals fast.
i used her as last safe for me cause i didnt know she heals faster. the other ones are replacable so i let them catch the initial dmg.
is this in reneral that higher hp heals faster?

I also don't know why the Breeding Pit is empty
i only put the nobles in it close before they lay the egg so they dont die cause it also drains themXD. i dont like drained slaves
i do put the peasent in it for the rest of the time cause i will dispose them later


you even have a Wyvern egg that should be hatched ASAP.
it doesnt appear in the green hatchery so i guess i need a better one for that egg. i just dont know where to get the better one atm so i have to wait, play and hope
the green one is limited to strenght 5 and the egg has 7- the wywern in the army has 8
 

Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,295
958
does the patch have "new" content or is is "just" a fix?
What 'patch'? Hotfixes mostly don't have anything big, and this singular script just fixes your error and maybe some others.

i wasnt shure if i should wait till the knight comes or not and in the end it took too long so i moved.
The knight is pretty leveled, but nowhere near maxed. It would probably have been a better idea to wait and fight him/her now, since he's about 2-3 sleep cycles away from finding the (old) lair.

yeah i do have that problem- but why?
Read this. It's a moderately complex mechanic.

the other ones are replacable so i let them catch the initial dmg.
That's a valid starting tactic, but you should be moving away from disposable minions as the game progresses. You can have several squads set up, so you can rotate your minions and let others rest up.

is this in reneral that higher hp heals faster?
Yes. Monster minions also heal thrice as fast as females, but your Homunculus both takes less damage and has a lot of HP.

i only put the nobles in it close before they lay the egg so they dont die cause it also drains them.
That's a good idea, but this can also make them lay eggs much faster.

i dont like drained slaves
Most of your captives should be disposable. Think like a dragon, these females mean nothing to you. :p Pick some who you like, and drain the rest. You can even drain one for a while and then let her drain others back.

Also note that the nobles are not quite as useful if they've already given birth once. If you aren't making milk cows or minions out of them, draining and perhaps eating them is perfectly fine.

it doesnt appear in the green hatchery so i guess i need a better one for that egg. i just dont know where to get the better one atm so i have to wait, play and hope
Oh, yeah, right. Invading the elves is probably easiest in the current release, unless you manage to raise poverty somewhat and luck into a special encounter in the mountains.

the green one is limited to strenght 5 and the egg has 7- the wywern in the army has 8
Actually, 8 is right and 7 just means it's a sub-par egg that will hatch an initially weaker Wyvern.



I also noticed a new 'review', which looks more like bitching that the game isn't handing everything to you on a silver platter. Which is quite the opposite of Drizzel learning from his mistakes and trying to do better. Maybe there are some valid points in there, but I kinda feel the need to vent a bit...

So:
dudeness said:
The original game throws you right into a world with loads of choices and possibilities, which the author of this mod has gone to great lengths to thoroughly eradicate.
All the possibilities are still there, and a bunch of new ones besides. You're confusing gating with removing or marginalising, which are not even remotely the same thing.

It's an instant gratification mentality does nothing to endear you to anyone and quite possibly blocks you from enjoying a number of games because you go into them with completely off-kilter expectations. You want instant gratification, cheat your head off. This thread has enough people who've made the game fit their tastes that way.

DDM is, first and foremost, a resource management version of TfD/DW. It no longer even pretends to be a story-focused game, and says so upfront. There are a lot more meaningful choices in the game now than there were in any of its predecessors. But it now takes some thought to play (or inhuman patience to reload yourself out of bad decisions).

dudeness said:
...even on the lowest level of alert possible, you encounter enemy patrols more often than you encounter animals...
Not true. When mobilization is 0, all roaming patrols disappear and all static defenders are downgraded.

dudeness said:
...people who know what a trophic level is...
I know what a food chain is. The dragon is in no way part of any natural food chain, and even a small one tends to scare off most smaller animals. Furthermore, your ability to even run into small wild animals is something that was added in DDM and wasn't part of the originals.

dudeness said:
You cannot get money, because stealing it requires you to be able to win encounters...
Also not quite true. Magical dragons can get milked by the Witch from the start, which provides a level of income independent of combat capability. There is also the ability to go for a fear build and just intimidate peasants into giving you tribute, although that's not a particularly strong starting strategy.

dudeness said:
...all three shops are locked behind the same questline which requires you to have already made significant progress in order to complete.
The Witches' shop is unlocked by developing magic and getting milked 10 times, no questing necessary. The head selector when you set up your game warns you that some dragons (namely those without magic) have a more difficult start.

You can also enter the Capital anytime you have 5 mana, which needs only the first quest, and that can be done pretty much immediately upon developing magic.

dudeness said:
Even owning trinkets or any other form of wealth will cause the thief to pursue you relentlessly, even if you kill her...
So? You're a dragon with a hoard, you need some security to deal with thieves. And if you kill her, she's dead, and a new thief will take her place. New thieves are generally (much) weaker.

dudeness said:
She will shortly be followed by the knight, who will travel to the ends of the earth with pimped out death squad in tow...
The pimping-out takes quite a while, knight spawns can be disabled by managing infamy, and low-level dragons get a much weaker version of the knight.

Managing your infamy is a big part of the mod. If you overreach, that's you playing badly, not the game being mean to you for no reason.

dudeness said:
...the lair of a newly born dragon no larger than a dog.
What did you expect, a knight will come, take a look at the dragon who's been causing all the trouble and say "Oh, but it's so small and cute! I'll just leave alone, it can't possibly be that bad." Even if said dragon has a dozen captives recently kidnapped from nearby villages, all screaming to be freed.

Edit: Infamy is your PR, and bad PR has consequences. The knights might be surprised when they find out how small the dragon really is, but tales and dragons grow in the telling.

dudeness said:
When this happens, consider your playthrough over, as you will either die or be forced to flee and abandon any of the resources you had that might let you attempt stop the next attack.
When you flee, most of your minions carry over, so you're not starting over with zero resources. And moving lairs also lets you keep most anything except buildings. But it's basically a fail state, one you should be playing to avoid.

dudeness said:
...you are forced to click through ever more frequent filler encounters...
You aren't forced to go out and adventure. If you don't want to explore, then don't. Buy your food and victims, if you wish.

There are no 'filler' encounters, since there is no overarching storyline, period. There's a world the dragon can explore and interact with. Some interactions are more worthwhile than others, and you have a lot of freedom to go about it.

dudeness said:
...despite the fact that you can't do anything besides mash the attack button...
False again. Bigger dragons have three mana-based special abilities. And CTRL-clicking gets you through battles fast enough to be comparable to auto-battles. There's certainly room for improvement, but this is a mod, not a new game. The fights in DW were certainly a lot worse, with you clicking until a random number killed either the dragon or his opponent.

dudeness said:
...not even choose which enemies your units target...
You do that before the battle by arranging your party, a la Dominions. Edit: The idea that a small-scale combat allows you to freely switch targets is a modern thing. You aren't turning your back on someone you're in melee or close contact with and live, unless you're part of a formation. And the scale of these fights is well below that.

dudeness said:
...and impregnate literally hundreds of women (again, clicking through the menus one at a time) to muster a lategame army strong enough to finish things out.
That's the point of the game, to play an evil dragon impregnating women. If you dislike that, why are you still playing? And you can stop once you have your desired minions, and put the dragon on an abstinence regime if you wish.

Edit: Furthermore, there are 'quick-rape' buttons and the ability to quickly cycle through captives. There will be auto-mate and auto-sacrifice options in the future as well. A large chunk of the army can be bought outright, although the corresponding quest probably needs some revising.

dudeness said:
...the low frequency of meaningful encounters (almost all <1%)...
I don't really know which are these 'meaningful encounters', since that's quite dependent on the current state of the game. And you have a great deal of control with the specialised 'hunt for' options, compared to how it used to be.

Some potential lairs are too rare, that is true.

dudeness said:
...to the constant deaths of your captives...
Which are mechanics that existed back in the originals, and are meant to be overcome by managing your lair, minions and captives better.

dudeness said:
...engineered to make progression as slow and infuriating as possible.
Slow is true, DDM is not meant to be played in a few days, just like you can't blow through Darkest Dungeon in a few days. Frustration is personal.

dudeness said:
The mod author himself has said that this game is designed to be an exercise in frustration, that he's only making the mod for himself and that you shouldn't play it.
... if you can't handle it. Some people find it fun. You obviously don't, or expect the mod to be the same CYOA game as the originals.

All in all, this looks like bitching that Rimworld makes for a poor RTS, or that Amnesia is a bad FPS. Combined with unwillingness to learn the finer parts of the game. :rolleyes:

There might be some valid points in there about too much clicking, and it certainly portrays the difficulties one will have when they treat the mod like many modern games or most VNs that basically play themselves on auto-pilot. So I guess it's not wholly misleading. :cautious:
 
Last edited:

Jman9

Engaged Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,295
958
Yes. Orders - release. This puts Dragon Priestesses back among the captives.
 
3.50 star(s) 8 Votes