Part 78: So You Want To LP Dominions 5

The LP World? It's a Mess.

So how did I go about this LP in a semi-technical manner? Well there are best I can figure like 2 or 3 major ways one does this sort of thing.

The first and probably the most infernally tempting is the VLP method which I have basically no experience in but if someone wants to go into brass tacks on it go wild. The pros are everyone gets to hear your Radio Voice, people can see the interface in real time and perhaps better learn how to navigate it, and you can edit things into your videos I guess??? Cons include everyone hearing your Radio Voice, people get to see the interface in real time and you might feel compelled to spice everything up with further editing. I never bothered to learn or get the software for VLP stuff and I am a curmudgeon set in my ways so fie!

So instead I opt for the SSLP because I don't know I like text and can better manage pacing and I know how to do it. But... you need those screenshots from your turns of course...

So one thing people do and maybe you can do it too if you like is they make copies of each of their turns. They go into the save games folder, make a copy, change the name of the file so that they can find it and they can revisit it at any time in the Continue An Old Game thing in the menu. I guess you might want to partition them off in a different file until you need them or your Continue An Old Game thing will have like 50 save games named like DominionsNoKremaths[integer]. I don't do that because lordy that seems like trouble. There are definite advantages to this though. You CAN go back to get additional screenshots or to turn fights into videos or gifs if that is your thing. If someone wants to get blow-by-blow about it go wild. You can also ask around in discord someone probably knows way too much about it.

So what I did was make use of the the LPix SSLP test thing. You can use it to make test things and edit them. When you Create a Test Post it creates a persistent URL for that post that you can see if you click the 'click here to edit'. So what I did was I took all the screenshots I wanted, uploaded them and created a draft LP turn with my notes and etc. I was able to view it to see how it looked, make sure my screenshots were in order and edit it later if I wanted. You could, of course, also do this with, like, notepad or something in that ballpark, but I found the ability to see my work in relative real time convenient.

So I took all the URLs to the various turns and organized them in a googledoc as I went, then when the time came I would do pass on the turn the night before I was going to post it to flesh out the commentary so I could just copy and paste the entire thing the next morning. A word of caution on using the SSLP site anyway. If you close the window (hitting x, computer crash, etc) it will not save anything since the last time you hit Create a Test Post. Anyway this is the system I used and I was able to keep a persistent daily post schedule despite the best efforts of fashy landlord sympathizers.

If you are going to undertake a Dominions 5 LP, GOOD LUCK TO YOU. My advice would be

1- Have Fun With It.
Not to be confused perhaps with 'stop doing it if it isn't fun anymore' exactly (but you know do whatever you gotta for your mental health in 2019) but just be ready to own the ups and downs of playing Dominions. If you are going down, do your best to die legendary on the fury road and take everyone along for your fatal ride Find your voice and own it. If you are going to have boring stretches do your best to keep it engaging even if you are just expanding underwater for like two goddamn years. There is a lot of colorful and weird cruft to highlight and explore in the world of Dominions when things are dull. throws up piles of bless discussions to distract from doldrums

2- It's Just a Game
Don't get mad at video games. If you get really mad and quit when the game doesn't work right (ha ha dominions) or you get insanely backstab betrayed (ha ha goons) um don't! Everyone is ultimately just here to have a good time watching Odin glass Anubis' soul-eating super dog while zoroastrian demigods drown because you took off the water booster robe that also gives UW breathing and why WOULDNT the daeva of sweet waters or whatever breathe underwater actually illwinter what the heckkkkk

There is probably other sage wisdom to be had, so if you have questions or want advice the discord channel is always there we are mostly nice!

In conclusion, Dominions 5 is a game of contrasts. Thank you all for reading along.