Strat Forum PBEM: Game 3 - Page 2

BRC · January 18, 2003, 15:23

I'd play, but I would really like to commit to other things this semester. (schoolwork and sleep, to name a few) I'll let you guys discuss.

Can you let me know by tonight, because I'm going back to school tomorrow, and I know you want the game by Monday??

Thanks.

alva · January 18, 2003, 15:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Dominae
Quite right BRC. Here are the alternatives:

1. One game, 6 humans, 2 Deity AIs.

2. One game, 6 humans, no AI.

3. Two games, 3 humans, 3 Emperor AI in each.

4. Two games, 4 humans, 4 Emperor AI in each.

Dominae

sorry to not mind my own bussiness.

Don't forget you'll end playing chieftain, IMHO any AI will unbalance things big time.

Dominae · January 18, 2003, 15:33

Well, in Strat PBEM 3 we're up to 1700BC and the difficulty is still set at Emperor. PTW is buggy, but there are definitely ways of not screwing everything up (apparently not all teams knew this when we began the PTW Demo. game).

BRC or alva, if either of you are willing to join, you're more than welcome. We'll split this one off into Strat PBEM 3 and 4, in that case, and I'll do one of the maps.

Dominae

DaveMcW · January 18, 2003, 16:40

If we drop down to 4 players, we can have up to 8 AIs on a large map. That will make the tech rate very similar to single player.

jshelr · January 18, 2003, 16:47

Dom

If you want my 2 cents, the games i've been in that have ai civs included have not been as much fun or as interesting as those that have not included ai civs.

Another small point, 4 humans on a land mass will produce much more interesting outcomes than 3 humans just by the nature of the interactions involved. 3 is actually a bad number to have gathered on one land mass, IMO, maybe it's the worst number. Five is probably even better than 4.

So, I would be willing to tolerate somewhat slower turnaround time to get the additional interest of real muliplayer diplomacy. Cooperation won't be considered "ganging up" in a true multiplayer environment.

Russ

Dominae · January 18, 2003, 17:05

Ok, I seem to be hearing two types of preference for this game: with AIs, and without AIs.

Personally I think the AI "experiment" would be interesting, but the limit on the number of players in MP makes the idea less appealing. And, given the number of players that have signed up, playing with AIs is no longer feasible unless we split into 2 groups.

Thus, unless anyone strenuously objects, I'm going to set the game to be without AIs. Everything else remains the same. I'll get BRC to do the map soon, with settings as listed in the (updated) first post.

Let me know ASAP if there are any problems.

Dominae

Dominae · January 18, 2003, 17:05

Quote:

Originally posted by DaveMcW
If we drop down to 4 players, we can have up to 8 AIs on a large map. That will make the tech rate very similar to single player.

AFAIK, there is a limit to 8 players (human or AI) per MP game.

Dominae

DaveMcW · January 18, 2003, 17:15

Doh! I forgot about that

BRC · January 18, 2003, 17:32

Allright. I will have the map up by tomorrow night. I have some ideas that might take a little time. Chime in if you object.

Quote:

Originally posted by jshelr
Cooperation won't be considered "ganging up" in a true multiplayer environment.

I will try to make this statement come true as much as possible, ok.

Dominae · January 18, 2003, 17:43

Quote:

Originally posted by BRC
I have some ideas that might take a little time. Chime in if you object.

Try to keep it as close to a normal Civ3 map as possible. Although the map for AU203 was well-suited for the goals of the course, I'm not everyone here wants the same types of "tweaks". I trust you'll use your judgement, and that should be enough.

The order of play should begin with Sir Ralph...everyone else appears to be in the same time zone.

Dominae

jshelr · January 18, 2003, 18:21

Stick me after Sir since I inhabit crazy early hours and am sound asleep when you guys just get warmed up.

Think of me as living in Bermuda without the warmth.

Nor Me · January 18, 2003, 20:10

Quote:

Originally posted by Dominae
The order of play should begin with Sir Ralph...everyone else appears to be in the same time zone.

Really? That's news to me. jshelr, I hope you can cope with the indignity of playing third.

BRC · January 18, 2003, 21:09

The play order will be:

SR
Nor Me
jshelr
Dom
Alex
Dave

is this ok??

jshelr · January 18, 2003, 21:39

"Really? That's news to me. jshelr, I hope you can cope with the indignity of playing third."

Hey, I'm Irish, we're used to it

BRC · January 18, 2003, 21:42

Hey you guys....

Game is ready. The only thing missing is Sir Ralph's password. I will let him decide if he wants one.

SR: PM me if you want one, otherwise, just post so that I can get you the SAVE.

Dominae · January 18, 2003, 22:00

Ok great, let's get started!

A big thank you to BRC for getting us set up.

As with the other games, let us post here when we send our turn to the next player.

Good luck everyone!

Dominae

BRC · January 18, 2003, 22:34

I need Sir Ralph's E-mail, so that I may send him the first save. Can someone PM me??

P.S. He's sleeping now, isn't he?

BRC · January 18, 2003, 23:23

Game to Sir Ralph. Have fun everyone.

Harovan · January 18, 2003, 23:35

Turn played. Now if I had Nor Me's email, I could send it.

He's probably sleeping now. So should I do.

Harovan · January 19, 2003, 09:01

Turn sent to Nor Me.

Nor Me · January 19, 2003, 09:14

jshelr's email might be helpful at this point.

Dominae · January 19, 2003, 11:30

I'm hoping everyone contacts the previous person with their email individually. When your turn is up, please send a PM to the person who is sending to you.

Dominae

jshelr · January 19, 2003, 11:40

sent an email earlier but I'll pm now and, anyway, the super secret email address is

jshelr@aol.com

Nor Me · January 19, 2003, 14:29

turn hopefully sent.

jshelr · January 19, 2003, 15:21

Sent

Dominae · January 19, 2003, 15:42

Ok, there is a problem with the game: we're playing Chieftain now.

There is a bug with PTW that concerning loading MP games. The easiest way to avoid this (that has worked great for me thus far) is to always use 'Load Game' immediately after starting up PTW. So here are the steps:

1. Close your current PTW program(s).
2. Start up PTW.
3. Select 'Load Game' (not from the MP menu).
4. Find the file the previous player sent you.
5. Load it, type in password, play, etc.
6. Do not save during the turn.
7. When your turn is done, click the 'Done' button (or hit Enter).
8. The game will prompt you to save. Do so and exit.
9. Email the game to the next person.

So what we need to do now is figure where the game got changed. Sir Ralph, Nor Me and jshelr, could you all check your turns to see if the game is still at Emperor?

Dominae

jshelr · January 19, 2003, 16:48

For a change, it looks like I am innocent, just unobservant. It was chieftan when it got to me.

BRC · January 19, 2003, 16:49

I sent it at Emperor, for sure.

Dominae · January 19, 2003, 16:54

Ok, no worries, it's either Sir Ralph or Nor Me. Good to catch these things now instead of 20 turns after the fact.

Dominae

Nor Me · January 19, 2003, 17:19

It was chieftain when I received it too. Still, it's useful to know I've been doing what is allegedly right. I know BRC has the first save but surely someone has an excuse to restart completely so I can have a decent start.