"Dominion of Darkness" - politically incorrect, RPG/strategy simulator of the Dark Overlord

M

Mezger7

kiwifarms.net
Joined
Apr 16, 2024
(I am an author of this game. I am not a shill, game is 100% free, there is no premium content, full game is avalaible without paying - this is work of passion and feedback is my main motivation).

"Dominion of Darkness” is a strategy text game in which the player takes on the role of a Sauron-style Lord of Darkness with the goal of conquering the world. He will carry out his plans by making various decisions. He will build his army and send it into battles, weave intrigues and deceptions, create secret spy networks and sectarian cults, recruit agents and commanders, corrupt representatives of Free Peoples and sow discord among them, collect magical artifacts and perform sinister plots. Note – one game takes about 1 hour, but the premise is that the game can be approached several times, each time making different decisions, getting different results and discovering something new.

Game is avalaible for free, online: https://adeptus7.itch.io/dominion

I am constantly improving the game, adding new content and mechanics, so Your feedback would matter.

If you are hesitant to play the game, I invite you to watch/listen to the reviews:

Indie Sampler (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM6f4UCEgWU

[BOKC] BlancoKix (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgNpSKToOSg

OK, so what's about this "politically incorrect"? Is it just a bait? Nope.
Although the game is not parody, there is some humour, usually black one and often, well, politically incorrect. There are some allusions to our modern world - ancient crazy sorcerer-king who demanded his subjects to pretend he is woman, very peaceful orc immigrants, riots in the name of bandits lives which matter, crazy druids who want to ban fires because they are warming the planet etc. There are are also sometimes some controversial themes like slavery, genocide, BDSM etc.
 
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Mezger7 said:
There are some allusions to our modern world - ancient crazy sorcerer-king who demanded his subjects to pretend he is woman, very peaceful orc immigrants, riots in the name of bandits lives which matter, crazy druids who want to ban fires because they are warming the planet etc.
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Is this all constrained to a particular joke route or something? Because if I was playing a straight-forward and serious dark fantasy CYOA and suddenly had this stuff show up, it would probably take me out of the game pretty quick.
 
Complete Reprobate said:
Did you forget to switch accounts?
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Nope, why asking?
Mr.Miyagi said:
Is this all constrained to a particular joke route or something? Because if I was playing a straight-forward and serious dark fantasy CYOA and suddenly had this stuff show up, it would probably take me out of the game pretty quick.
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It is in background, usually as some little mentions/easter eggs. As I wrote, it is not supposed to be parody game. It is supposed to be straight-forward dark fantasy game first, those allusions are just a bonus.
 
So if you had to sell me this other than your initial post what would you saw the core "gameplay" revolves around is it all decision based etc or are there other mechanics are there fail states, that sort of thing?
 
HyperboreanRightsActivist said:
Did you install glitterhoof as pope yet?
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Nope, my most succesfull gameplay was about restoring pagan Roman Empire.

Tims said:
So if you had to sell me this other than your initial post what would you saw the core "gameplay" revolves around is it all decision based etc or are there other mechanics are there fail states, that sort of thing?
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Hmm, core gameplay is making "basic" decisions - do you want to increase Your influence in one the Free Kingdoms (by creating cults and spy organizations, blackmail, corrupting persons of interest etc.) or do You want to recruit some warriors of given race. Influence is not only numeric indicator - sometimes you can chose in which direction you can push given nation. E.g. do you want inspire cult of strength emong the humans? It will make them more likely to start wars with neighbours, but strong army they will develop can be used against you too. Or maybe you prefer to fascinate them with occult, which will make them more likely to spawn sorcerers you can recruit? Do you want to make elves proud and hating other nations or maybe amoral hedonists or to sow discord between old and young elves?
Apart from that, there are more unique decisions connected to special events - some of them have instant effects - e.g. do You want to steal horses from the royal army? Do You want to destroy dwarven dam? Some of them are part of the longer questlines - e.g. there are rumours about Chosen One destined to defeat you, do you want to investigate it? And if you will detect him, how you will deal with him?
Some actions/quests allow you to obtain special characters you can use as your agents/lieuntenats. E.g. sometimes there is option to steal holy blade (it is easier if you established contact with Thieves Guild). You can desecrate it and secretly give it to paladin, to corrupt her. If you manage to drive her crazy, you can recruit her as an officer of your army or make her fanatical inquisitor who causes chaos in the kingdom, officially in the name of the Light. You can recruit half-elven pretty girl and use her to seduce one of the human princes, through her corrupt him and make him the king and your puppet. You can recruit pirate who can be used to harras trade or explore new lands etc. etc.
From time to time you can also raid Free People to obtain additional resources, weaken their armies and economy.
You can also sow discord between Free Peoples to make them fight each other and weaken themselves.
You can explore ruins of ancient civilizations with your most trusted minions to obtain forgotten knowledge and artifacts.
High influence, strong army and recruited special characters make new options possible and improve chances of positive ourcome during risky actions. Some actions can make enemy rulers more aware of danger you cause and motivate them for preparing defences. There can also appear some heroes who will be thorn in your side. There can appear religions and organizations opposing you.
There is also magic. You get mana which you can use to heal your avatar, raise undead, summon demons, use battle magic during fights, curse enemy countries etc.


There are many ways to win. Two most obvious are to conquer Free People with brutal force and/or infiltratet them so they will voluntarily surrender. But there are other options - you can steal dwarven superweapon, change world into your own Mordor, awaken eldritch abomination, obtain artifact of doom, research ancient magic and make great ritual which will crush free will, desecrate elven protective wards and start zombie apocalypse etc. Not all option will be avalaible during each gameplay - it is partially random, partially depending on your decision. Also, not every character (you choose profession, elemental focus and sex) can carry out every action.
 
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Sounds good and all, but can you drive around and pick up hookers and then kill them and get your money back like GTA?
 
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Sparkletor 2.0 said:
Sounds good and all, but can you drive around and pick up hookers and then kill them and get your money back like GTA?
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Sorry, there are no cars, so no driving around (you can fly a dragon mount though). Speaking about hookers:
- You can have slaves used as workforce, sacrifices and entertainment of your warriors,
- You can use your minion to seduce enemy heroes,
- as female Temptress you can seduce human prince and/or demon-god of pain,
- you can allow orcs to have fun with subjugated people,
- as male Tempter or Warmonger you can make one of your female lieuntenats your consort,
- as male Despotic Tyrant you can kill your ex-wife.

As above, not all options will be avalaible during each gameplay.
 
Sparkletor 2.0 said:
Sounds good and all, but can you drive around and pick up hookers and then kill them and get your money back like GTA?
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Wow! I was just going to ask this same question. Are you psychic? Also I love your posts. You are a values member of the community.
 
Did two playthroughs of the game, first one I tried to raise my influence among the kingdoms and build up my army as well. The humans willingly joined my cause, the elves surrendered without a fight, and the dwarves got their asses kicked. Unfortunately I lost because the frost enemies swooped in, and I had no way of countering them.

Second run was much more sucessful - I raised my influence with the elves and humans to where both joined my cause, and I steamrolled the dwarves without the frost enemies coming in to fuck me over. Not taking much of the extra mana at the end probably helped.

It's a solid game, reminds me of those flash games I'd play when I was younger. Keep up the good work!
 
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Mezger7 said:
OK, so what's about this "politically incorrect"? Is it just a bait? Nope.
Although the game is not parody, there is some humour, usually black one and often, well, politically incorrect. There are some allusions to our modern world - ancient crazy sorcerer-king who demanded his subjects to pretend he is woman, very peaceful orc immigrants, riots in the name of bandits lives which matter, crazy druids who want to ban fires because they are warming the planet etc. There are are also sometimes some controversial themes like slavery, genocide, BDSM etc.
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The problem with this is that culture war shit just takes you out of the experience and makes absolutely zero sense.
 
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AFAB said:
Did two playthroughs of the game, first one I tried to raise my influence among the kingdoms and build up my army as well. The humans willingly joined my cause, the elves surrendered without a fight, and the dwarves got their asses kicked. Unfortunately I lost because the frost enemies swooped in, and I had no way of countering them.

Second run was much more sucessful - I raised my influence with the elves and humans to where both joined my cause, and I steamrolled the dwarves without the frost enemies coming in to fuck me over. Not taking much of the extra mana at the end probably helped.

It's a solid game, reminds me of those flash games I'd play when I was younger. Keep up the good work!
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Thank You very much for playing and feedback!
 
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I'll definitely give this a couple playthroughs in a couple days when I've got a day off. I like middle earth games but the newer stuff has been very hit & miss so this seems like a fun little gap filler. Thanks for sharing big guy!
 
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