Campaign Mode

[jatill]

Campaign mode allows you to play through some custom game-play scenarios following a basic storyline. The scenarios do not necessarily follow the same constraints as basic game play (for example, in the first scenario, you start with no cards in hand or deck, and only 4 supply piles are available).

Please post your comments about Campaign mode here, including whether you'd like to see it continued or not. I'm also open to new campaign ideas.

[Bog Wraith]

As I'm just learning to play the card game, I have been experimenting with your game in general. I find it a great way to take what I have experienced with the real game and work on better understanding the nuances of the game by the way of mixing & matching different Kingdom cards and the strategy to go about playing with those choices.

In as much, I have played the first 2 parts of the first chapter in the campaign and was able to win both on the first try. I really like playing this way and am eager to see how the upcoming parts & chapters present themselves as I continue with the campaign. This adds a whole different layer to playing Dominion, which in itself has so much re-playability designed into it via the vast numbers of Kingdom cards and the fact that they can be chosen in seemingly endless combinations.
The campaign just adds even more intrigue into playing this fascinating game. I hope that you will continue to build on these ideas and I might like to contribute to this when I have more knowledge and experience with playing the game.

You did this kind of addition to ManaLink with the challenges and now you've added to Dominion with this great campaign idea. Keep it going jatill, there are endless possibilities with it and all of the Kingdom card choices from all the expansions to keep creating many different scenarios.
Meanwhile, I will continue my journey into the world you've created and I will report on my travels!

[jatill]

Chapter 2 has been added.

The original goals were (1) 15 Ships, (2) Hide 4 Gold, (3) Score 0 or better.
So if you're looking for an extra challenge try those... I did the first 2, but the best I ever got on the Ghost Ship was -8!

[jatill]

Campaign mode is now complete with the addition of Chapter 4. Finishing campaign mode unlocks the Envoy card.

[Boom2010]

Campaign mode is now complete with the addition of Chapter 4. Finishing campaign mode unlocks the Envoy card.

Cool

[Drizzt893]

I'm having trouble with the Build 12 Ships level. I can't find a strategy that gets me 12 ships before they run out three piles. Could someone help me? Also, by build 12 ships you just mean have 12 of pirate ship, ghost ship, merchant ship and explorer,right? The best I've gotten is ten and that was after about 15 fails in a row.

[dmciivt]

Can anyone clarify the Goals for campaign mode?
I've purchased a mix of 13 ships, and still failed. What ships count?
Thanks,
D-

[jatill]

Can anyone clarify the Goals for campaign mode?
I've purchased a mix of 13 ships, and still failed. What ships count?
Thanks,
D-

Cards with 'Ship' in their title.

[kikuchiro]

Hi folks. Quick question regarding the scenario above: What are the exact conditions of victory? I placed all 10 Kingdom Cards in play under a Native Village in my last game to no result. What cards, precisely, need to be Village'd in order to beat the scenario?

[Drizzt893]

I've been having trouble with the native village level. is there a particularly good strategy for getting it done? I can usually only get 4 or 5 different cards under them.

[Luce]

There is a bug on level 3-4. I completed with 21 Estates, the most points, and fewer Curses than any of my opponents and it failed me.

e: It passed me this time, and suddenly ended when I bought my 20th Estate. I wonder if I had more Curses than others at the time I bought my 20th last time (I was Ambassadoring them away) and that's what happened?

Either way, 4-1 is tough. I feel like a lot of these levels are not so much strategic as they are just figure out what gives you the best chances of getting by and hoping for the best. It's still pretty fun, though.

[JudgeWhyMe]

Hello.

I'm at level 4-4, and I encouter difficulties to pass it (must reach 75 victory points).
The trouble is, some cards are in two different stacks. The scenario allows you to picks your kingdom cards, I choose only some cards (Gardens, Scout & Duke), and the 10 kingdom cards I have are:
Great Hall
Woodcutter
Islands
Islands
Garden
Scout
Duke
Duke
Harem
Nobles

Which is kind of a problem, since as soon as Islands (or Duke) and another stack are depleted (and it happens quite fast), three stacks are considered depleted, and the game ends.
I tried to select all cards at random, but then I have 4 stacks of copper as kingdom cards!
The zip I have is dominion_20100412.zip
Is it normal? Is it a known bug? Is there a new version correcting it?

Edit: just downloaded 20100813, there seems to be the same problem...

Thanks (and also thanks for the great work)

Also:
@kikuchiro & Drizzt893
You need to have at least one copy of each of the 10 action cards aside thanks to the Native Village. I had a hard time to accomplish it, the key to success is Lookout (it allows you to keep your deck to a minimum size while placing the card you want on top of it, and to have an extra action to play Native Village after)

[JudgeWhyMe]

Campaign finished yesterday (much easier to achieve 4.4 with Prosperity and the Colony cards).
After the last scenario (4.6), when asking me if I want to continue campaign, I click 'Yes', and I'm dragged back to the scenario 4.6 window, and I can only try again the scenario. Is it how it is meant to be? I'd suppose it would have an 'end story' window or something.

Thanks for these scenarios anyway, it's been nice to play Dominion with different objectives.

[bluefr]

I've been thinking a lot about the Campaign mode : I think it's what makes your game what it is. Dominion's a great game, but I like the storytelling and the possibilities the campaign mode can bring. Do you think it's possible to externalise scenarios so that other people can build scenarios to share ? (it's basically giving a description, a set of cards, and what kind of cards to count at the end of the round that could be stored in a txt/xml file)
And by the way, how did this idea come to mind ? did I miss some official solo play scenarios for dominion or is it just some great idea you had?!

[jatill]

I've been thinking a lot about the Campaign mode : I think it's what makes your game what it is. Dominion's a great game, but I like the storytelling and the possibilities the campaign mode can bring. Do you think it's possible to externalise scenarios so that other people can build scenarios to share ? (it's basically giving a description, a set of cards, and what kind of cards to count at the end of the round that could be stored in a txt/xml file)

I entertained this idea when I created campaign mode, but the logistics weren't working out too well. There were too many variables that went into the scenarios I created that I didn't think it made sense to proceed with a generic approach.

You're a programmer, correct? Would you like to hack around with my code and add this feature?

And by the way, how did this idea come to mind ? did I miss some official solo play scenarios for dominion or is it just some great idea you had?!

I'm a Magic Card junkie, and my PC game of choice if Manalink. I wanted something that felt like Shandalar, and Campaign Mode is what I came up with.