PBEM#4: The Terra Epos

[Claus]

Hi everyone,

is anyone interested in a long, epic PBEM? I think it can be done if we start soon.

--> 4 or 5 human players
--> 10 to 12 computer factions
--> "Terra" or "continental" landscape
--> "Giant" world
--> all other parameters set to custom

Important:
Such a long enterprise requires us to do our turns very regularly. I intend to get one complete turn done every day, in the beginning maybe more. Of course, that doesn't mean you're obliged to say good-bye to out world life. Everybody goes to the cinema now and then or goes on holiday. But the general idea should be to get things moving. So if you don't have internet at home, are regularly out of town for the weekend or if you are planning an expedition to the North Pole, then this should probably not be your game.

If we have different players from all over the world (I hope so!), then we should set the turn order in accordance to the time zones. That's pretty cool, because you can then do your turn in the evening, send it around the world and the next morning you have the following turn on your desktop.

Finally, I understand there is a built-in "handicap feature" which we should use. I.e., experienced players should choose a higher difficulty level to give newbees a chance. I personally will start as "nobleman", maybe "prince" (forth-/fifth-easiest level).

Ah, and of course cheating of any kind is strictly forbidden, even if the other players have no way of finding it out. Everyone should be mature enough to be trusted and to trust others. Cheating means hacking other people's passwords, replaying a turn multiple times before sending it on etc. Sorry, this sounds stupid, but I've had some very bad experience - cheating and mistrust can really crack a game.

Poo, that was long. Sorry for that, I hope, you're still interested in playing. :-)

I personally will take Germany under Frederick the Great. It doesn't really matter because I will lose any way. :-)

1. Claus, that's me :-) [Germany, Friedrich - Nobleman]
2. Redstar1 [Russia, Catherine - Nobleman]
3. MFCamillus [Random - Nobleman]
4. Sabrewolf [Hatche ... Heptchs ... the Egyptian Lady :), Nobleman]
5. Emperor_V [USA, G. Washington, ?]


[Edit:]
You could already send me your player account preferences. As you will probably know, I need the following data:

1. Leader name
2. Civ name [eg. "Swedish Empire"]
3. Civ short name [eg. "Sweden"]
4. Civ adjective [eg. "Swedish"]
5. Your secret Civ password (If you prefer I will choose one for you).
6. Your Email adress
7. The name of your SMTP server, if you know it.

(It's not a problem if you don't know your SMTP server or don't have one. That just means that you can't send on your played turn from within the game but have to do it "by hand").

As it is probably not a very intelligent idea to put the secret password into a public forum :D, you should send me your data via email:

Claus.Fritzenkoetter ät t-online dot de
Then, I'm thinking about taking Mahatma Gandhi instead of Frederick the Great. I haven't decided yet.

[redstar1]

Ah go on, will give me something to do in work:)

I'll take Russia, Catherine and Nobleman for me as well thanks.

[Claus]

Cool, thanks.:b:

[MFCamillus]

Why not. Need to break it in for PBEM sooner or later.

Random - Nobleman for me.

Thanks.

[Claus]

Very nice. Welcome on board. :-)

[sabrewolf]

i'd like to join too :)

sabrewolf {AT} blackhole {DOT} ch
the egyptian chick hatshupset (or whatever her name is) please :)

currently i am nowhere near the noble level but hope to be there soon enough.
question: how many AI will you be adding? 4?

[Claus]

Grüezi sabrewolf,

great to have to have you in the match.

1. I'm looking forward to many video conferences with Hatshepsut-cutie. Prepare for being contacted very, very often. :)

2. It doesn't matter if you're not on noble level yet. If you're not sure, feel free to choose one step easier, of course. Like I said, it will be a very, very long game, and beginners should feel equally at ease with the settings like the experts, instead of being overrun in the first hundred years. On the other hand side, this is very unlikely to happen, for the level differences won't be so much felt in the first turns. The main issue is about how aggressive an AI nations turns out to be towards your civilization, but this normally doesn't take effect before you've grown really strong.

3. I thought about taking in quite a bunch of AI factions, at least 7 or 8. To my understanding it makes the game more colorful.
The problem is, if the map is too crowded, then we have the AI tribes knocking on our door when we're still in our piyamas. If we are too few, then it will take an eternity to get into contact with another civilization, which would be quite boring.
I played a single mode civ campain last weekend with eleven factions in total including my own, and found the number quite reasonable. You are distant enough to get your civ rooted with calm, but near enough to trade techs and not to neglect your defence.
Most important however, my theory is that AI opponents help keeping the balance of power. Normally an unexperienced player will hesitate to attack a strong, experienced one, which means the experienced player will get stronger and stronger. AI factions think differently: as much as I know from previous Civ versions, the stronger you are, the more hostile the AI gets. So I think a strong, experienced player will have more wars to fight than a novice (of course, if the strong one wins those wars he will turn out even stronger, but then he would have earned it).

Of course the number of AI factions depends on if we choose a "Terra" or "Continental" map. I'm not quite sure yet, but I think Terra has a higher land square percentage.

---------------------------

Btw, if anyone discovers that the difficulty level he chose is obviously to high, then the others could always help him out once in a while by some extra tech or so. Of course, it would be an exception.

More so, there should be an option that during the very first turns (say, the first three) every player has once the chance to call the game off and start over, if he's hit by a stroke of bad luck.
That wouldn't include bad location on the map, because that's part of the game (and normally the starting positions are well balanced), but a couple of truely unlucky events could really cripple you for the rest of the game - something like a barbarian tribe killing your first settlers or so. But as I said, this also should only be an emergency case.

[Emperor_V]

I would like to join the pbem pls

Leader: George Washington
tbvger@msn.com
smtp is shawmail

I'll set up my pw when you send it to me

tks for the opportunity

[Claus]

Very well, thanks for joining us!

So we're complete now and ready to embark on the great adventure ... I'm really looking forward to the game.

I could start it right now, but I need two more infos:

1. Emperor_V, what difficulty level do you choose?

2. Redstar1, what is your email adress?

3. Everyone, do you prefer "Terra" or "Continental"?
As far as I understand, "Terra" means that all factions start on the same "old" continent and there will be a new world do be discovered once we have large ships.
"Continental" would also devide the world into several continents, but starting positions would be equally divided among all parts of the world

I personally prefer "Terra" (hence the name of the game, "Terra Epos"), because it is an interesting chance to change the course of history for a nation who maybe finds itself confined to coastlines and small islands at the start of the game. But "continental" is fine with me also.

4. How many AI factions do we add? My suggestion is:
-- 6 random factions if we choose "Terra"
-- 8 random factions if we choose "Continental"
I would say, everyone has one wish free if he want a specific AI civ into the game. If there's no such wish I will set all AI civs to random.


For topic 3 and 4, please send me your comments (if any) until, say, 3 p.m. GMT.


[For all those who don't know it, you can edit your account data yourselves during the game, by pressing Alt-D on the keyboard.]

[sabrewolf]

go for terra... it's the topic ;)
but if someone starts on islands he's doomed anyhow. astronomy takes a very long time to reach by which time he'll be 2 eras behind...

maybe better not take "epic" game speed. these large games already go long enough, we don't need another 50% more ;)

AI: random for me is fine

[sabrewolf]

1. Leader name
hatsheptsustsppses (big eye chick)

2. Civ name [eg. "Swedish Empire"]
Apolyton Empire

3. Civ short name [eg. "Sweden"]
Apolyton

4. Civ adjective [eg. "Swedish"]
Apolytonian

5. Your secret Civ password (If you prefer I will choose one for you).
PMed

6. Your Email adress
sabrewolf{at}blackhole{dot}ch

7. The name of your SMTP server, if you know it.
why would you need this? anti-spam?

[Claus]

SMTP can be used (but doesn't have to) to let the Civ program send your savegame automatically to the next player. It's very practical.
If you don't use that option, then you will have to exit Civ, start your Email program and attach the savegame to a new mail.

Don't worry if you would rather not communicate your SMTP adress, passwords etc to others. I wouldn't like to myself, because I also tend to use one or two passwords for different accounts. You can always edit your account yourself when the game turn is on you by pressing Alt-D on the keyboard.

So the only things I definitely need from you is your prefered faction (if any), your prefered difficulty level and your Email adress. Most of you have already sent all that to me.

I certainly do agree about the game speed. If we chose "epic" then I guess we wouldn't have it finished when Civ V is published :).

Regarding the players' starting locations, I'm confident we won't have one player starting in the middle of the ocean (would be funny, though - what a quiet life!) so that he wouldn't be able to move until rennaiscance.
Nor does the program seem to locate our first settlers on coastal islands, I think. However, if this does happen, one could live with that - at least it would provide you with a considerable "natural" defence bonus.
The greatest danger is that someone finds himself in the neighborhood of two or three fast expanding AI civs which give him little space to breathe. But of course, this is a threat each one has to deal with.

[redstar1]

I've pm'd my email address, apologies for the delay, having some puter problems at home:)

[Claus]

"pm'd" - funny word. :)

So the last detail I need is the Emperor_V's difficulty level. Apart from that I have all info I need to get the game going.

From your various messages I have deduced the following turn rotation:

1. Claus (Germany)
2. Redstar (N. Ireland)
3. Sabrewolf (Switzerland)
4. Emperor V (Canada)
5. MFCamillus (USA)

I have finally decided to play Mahatma Gandhi. So everybody can see how peaceful I am. No need to attack me.
:D

[redstar1]

Happy days... just installing Civ on my laptop now so I can play at home while I wait for my replacement BIOS chip:)

[sabrewolf]

thanks for the info email. looking forward to this game :b:


can you tell us all settings you put in?

cheers

[redstar1]

Is there a general problem with PBEM? I thought the problem might be my laptop at home but I'm getting the same at work... basically the saved game loads verrrryyy slowly, eventually it prompts for a password but will go no further, just appears to be trying to load.

Any suggestions?

[redstar1]

Additional:

After leaving it running for 20 minutes it has progressed slightly... hopefully will be able to play my turn this morning sometime!

[redstar1]

Turn sent.

[sabrewolf]

4000bc sent :)


btw guys... from the looks of my starting location i have either a really sad one or it's a highland map. i just hope those 60% hills i've got turn out to have iron, silver, and so on, otherwise i won't even survive the barbarian onslaught, not to speak of the AI civs around :tremble:

[redstar1]

I did notice a kind of 'Hilly' theme in the surrounding area:)

[Claus]

Hi guys,

sorry for not respondig yesterday. I wasn't at home all day until midnight.

The settings are:

-- "Giant" world, "Terra" landscape
-- 5 human players, 6 computer civs
-- All the rest custom, in particular:
--- game speed "normal"
--- all victory conditions
--- no special options activated (like "no barbarians", "eternal war" etc.)


I thought about activating the "permanent alliance" option, but in the end I didn't. Could have been interesting, though.

+++++++++++

Funny to read about your first map impressions. Sabrewolf from Switzerland located in the highlands, Emperor V from Canada located near the polar region.
There you can see how intelligent the program is. :D

I had hoped to start on the coast line with many islands around, but the Eye in the Sky has put me just in the middle of a very average-like somewhere. At least there's some water on the horizon.

+++++++++++

Redstar, the sluggish login speed you reported sounds not so good. I hope it was an exception, something like converting the file from the German version to the English one or so. If you have the same problem on the next turn, maybe we should do some testing with a dummy file.

Generally, I've experienced some speed problems when starting the game. In rare cases it takes three or four minutes for the program to start after I've double-clicked the icon. And naturally, the game speed slows down when the map is loaded with units and cities. But until we reach that point of the campaign, we will all have Pentium VIII with 10000 MHz an 4 GB RAM. ;)

[MFCamillus]

Emperor V could you please resend?

I got the message but nothing actually attached.

Thanks

[Emperor_V]

Resent, I changed my settings, there were a bit askew ;)

Looking forward to a warm blanket and a long game, the polar region looks more like an ICE age ;)

Emperor_V

[redstar1]

One question, we realise that there is a bug where the first player can't trade correct? Hopefully that will be fixed before it becomes an issue:)

[Claus]

Errr, what? ... The first player, that's me!

What kind of bug is it? Do you know any details?

[redstar1]

You not read any other threads in this forum mate? First player can't trade...

[MFCamillus]

3960BC to Claus.


Link to Arnelos thread on the trading issue:

www.apolyton.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=258

Arne is the only one that I have seen this from though but he is pretty good. I will check with a couple of others who have some games going.

[Claus]

First turn completed by everyone, next turn sent to redstar1.

Sorry, I really didn't check the rest of the forum regarding the trade bug. I was all busy with my plans for a new world order. :)

I will try to do some testing today to find out if that bug appears on my machine and if some of the suggested work-arounds do actually help.
If the trade bug should appear, and if the work-around should help, then I would be in favor to restart the game.
If the trade bug appears but no work-arround helps, then we will simply have to go on and hope that a patch will help before it becomes an issue in our game.

[Claus]

Important note to all "Terra Epos" players:

Please check your email. I sent you a message about a possible restart made nescessary by a bug.

[sabrewolf]

i didn't get any email yet.

well, we are just one turn in, so let's restart :)

[akulla]

Im a fast player, and am available if need be.

[redstar1]

I've been emailing sabrewolf but its been bouncing back... hopefully one will reach him.

[Claus]

Redstar:
The same happened to me yesterday with that last long email I sent to you all. More strangely, it took more than 24 hours before the mail came back to me.
I've tried to contact Sabrewolf informing him about this. If he doesn't have a second email account somewhere, then you could send me his file and I put it on my server where he could download it. Would be a rather quick work-around.

Akulla:
Thank you for your interest. As you see, we have already started though, and you will understand that we hope none will be forced to leave the game and are optimistic this will not happen. But in case it should it's good to know there are motivated replacement players around. Thanks again.

[Claus]

Sabrewolf:
I've received your game file from Redstar and stored it on my server.

I've sent you a PM with the link to follow.

Claus

[MFCamillus]

I sent him an eMail on another subject yesterday. I have not seen that one bounce yet.

Just in case I PM'd him on the issue.

[sabrewolf]

hi guys

sorry, our mailserver was down and nobody noticed. thanks for all alternative methods, via webserver, via email, via PM :) ... just missing attaching it here ;)

anyhow, turn played and sent to emperorV

allthough surrounding terrain doesn't look super, this time it sure is more acceptable than last time :)

[sabrewolf]

akulla: you can always start up your own game :) ...
and if you do, make sure to count me in ;)

[Emperor_V]

I haven't received this second game save yet? Can you check your smtp settings sabre, and/or resend it manually?

I believe I'm looking for game # 2 first turn still.

;)

Emperor_V

[Emperor_V]

still looking for turn 1 of game 2, vger (at) shaw.ca

[sabrewolf]

i sent it to your other address.
my smtp settings did not work anyhow from within civ4 because civ4 doesn't support secure SMTP protocols, so i had sent it seperately.

emperor: please in future write me PMs for important stuff like this. i do not always check all threads all the time, especially not the tracker threads. and your email was classified as junk email. fortunatly i found it today :)).

anyhow, 4000bc to emperor V ... again (3 times is a charm... or is that what one says? ;))

[Claus]

Okay, cool we're on track again. It's a bit of a bumpy start, but I'm sure we'll make it up soon.

[Emperor_V]

Hmmm, unable to decompress saved game file??? dang... looks like another issue has arisen.

I've had this problem before... from a beta tester who used the wrong version to play the turn and then sent it... could this be a similar case?

Emperor_V

[Claus]

If you can't open your turn then you could send it to me. I could see if I can open it (of course I wouldn't open it, it would be enough to reach the password input). Through this we could test if it is a matter of different language versions (German / English).

Or has the gamefile just been crippled by Sabrewolfs Email problems?

[Emperor_V]

Sent to you Claus...

Hope there is an answer!

Emperor_V

[Claus]

Thanks for the turn, I got the same error message.

However, things are even more weird. With that error message on my screen I waited a little bit longer, and then the game asked Claudius IV. (NOT Emperor V!) to type in the password. I did it and saw a beautiful landscape, but without units!

Well, here's what we can do:

1)
Sabrewolf should replay his turn and send it once more to Emperor V. The game file could have been damaged with all those Email server problems. I will send Sabrewolf an Email.

2)
If that doesn't work, then I set up a third game, doesn't matter. However, I won't be able to do it before this evening, because I'm all day busy today.

3)
In the meantime one could check the forums if anything is known about problems with players using different language versions.

I'm sorry for all that delay, but I'm sure it's just a big stroke of bad luck. We all seem to be highly motivated, so we'll get it running.

[sabrewolf]

hi guys

i had the same decompressing problem too, twice actually. but after that i could load it.
i can guarantee... the mail problems have NOTHING to do with potential file corruption. there are checksums and parities on all levels of the TCP/IP stack as well as in SMTP. if the file gets corrupted it usually means it's totally busted.

this is surely another civ4 bug.
regarding different versions: i do play the european DVD-version while emperor_v probably is using the north american 2CD-version. i hope that is not the problem, but one never knows :(

anyway emperor: how did you get to play your turn? did it -like with me- work a later time?

and if we do replay completely, MFC should also redo his first turn because that is where it seems to have started for the first time.

but seriously guys... how can these flaws not have been seen in all the betatesting? i know PBEMs that some time, but at least 20 turns should have been played by the beta testers...

[Emperor_V]

I've tried loading the game save 6 times... still will not decompress.

Sorry Guys!

I'm Still Highly Motivated!

[sabrewolf]

i'm gonna replay tonight...

alexman of firaxis (one of the best players i know and probably the best PBEM player in total) will take a look at it.

MFC: can you replay your turn too? as i already had a problem with yours maybe a part of the corruption came from your installation.

[Claus]

Emperor V, let's try the following:

During the next hour or so I will send you a couple of dummy games. Ie, I set up five games with two human players. I send the savegames to you and you try to open them, and send them back to me.

We'll count how many times we're unable to open the file, or if anything else stupid happens. This may be a hint to wether there is a conflict between the German and the English version.

So don't be scared if you get bombarded with savegames soon. :)

Sabrewolf:
Just a correction, Your turn was sent to you by Redstar1, not by MFCamillus.
So Redstar, maybe you should replay your turn and send it to Sabrewolf.

[sabrewolf]

oh sorry... redstar of course... i'll PM him...

[Emperor_V]

Sounds good to me claus.

[Claus]

Six test game files have been sent to Emperor V.

[sabrewolf]

i replayed the turn and sent it to emperor. if this does not work i'll need to get the turn replayed from redstar, and so on...

cheerio!

[Emperor_V]

Did you send to vger (at) shaw.ca?

or to who?

[Claus]

I sent to tbvger at msn com.

I hope this adress is correct?

[Sorry, that message was previously truncated]

[sabrewolf]

yes, i sent it to the shaw.ca address. now i have done it a 5th time and this time sent it to both of your addresses.

now this is slowly getting a bit annoying :rant:

emperor, please either adjust your spam-filter rules that my emails are let through or get yourself a decent email-provider such as gmail...

[Emperor_V]

Well, 5 is the number for grace, and it finally worked :)

Sent the game on...

Hope this works, I really do, and I'll try whatever it takes to make it work.

[sabrewolf]

:dance:

[Emperor_V]

Claus, I got the practice games... will play them tonight or tomorrow when I have a few mins

Looking forward to many great games together ppl.

:)

[Claus]

Emperor V:
I got the first test game back. I could open and play it, but again my name was set back to Kassandra, my workstation's name. And the file was labeled "Emperor_V_to_Emperor_V...".
Really strange indeed. Let's see if it is the same with the other test files.

[Rommel2D]

If you care to verify this, it looks like 'hot-starting' the game from the save replaces the first player's name with a field name from the .ini file. Loading the save from the PBEM menu in the game should keep the name as is.

[Claus]

Thanks for the hint.

I tested it and started the turn via "load game". Indeed, there was no Kassandra this time, so my machine didn't change the name. However, the game file I received was already labeled the wrong way, so we should test if the same way works for the computer which sends me my turn.

[sabrewolf]

so where is the game now?

[Claus]

Somewhere in the forum I read that MF Camillus has been on vacation this week. So I guess he will return tomorrow and then play his turn.

It's not too bad, though, because this has given Emperor V and myself the time to verify Rommel2D's idea: the last player in the group (in our case MF Camillus) has to load the game file the "traditional" way, ie he has to start Civ4 and then load the file, instead of double-clicking the email attachment. The same is true for me, the first player.

If we don't do it, then otherwise the program changes the first player's name to the name of the local machine.

[Emperor_V]

I've noticed that if I load the pbem instead of launch it fromt he save... most bugs,
like players name changes,
inability to change email settings
trade for first player and of course the dreaded
unable to compress data error

are no longer issues!

Maybe it's just me, and your just you and we'll be who we are and try to get along!

hehe

[Emperor_V]

I moved this turn along about 2 days ago.

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by Emperor_V
I've noticed that if I load the pbem instead of launch it fromt he save... most bugs,
like players name changes,
inability to change email settings
trade for first player and of course the dreaded
unable to compress data error

are no longer issues!
Have you been able to trade as player 1 in a game? This was originally reported by someone playing hotseat, so I didn't think the save would play into it...

[Claus]

Well, I've tested this several times, but I couldn't verify this error. I tried to start in several ages, and all worked fine: I could trade maps, techs, border agreements etc.

However, I played those test PBEMs against myself, so if that player1-trade-bug has something to do with different workstations communicating, it's logical it didn't occur to me while testing.

[Emperor_V]

Well, scratch my theory... it seems it doesn't matter how you load it, I still have some bugs show up, haven't seen the player1 can't trade one yet though ;)

[Emperor_V]

What happened to this game? Where's the file at?

[sabrewolf]

we should have mandatory tracker postings (eg 4000bc to xyz) so we always know the culprit ;).

and it gives some "easy" posts to all the newbs to quickly reach that prince level without spamming ;)

[Ollywood]

hello fellow PBEM players,

I am trying to start a new PBEM and wondered if any of you enthusiasts are interested in joining in on that one as well next to your current game.

pls see this thread

http://www.apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143603

[Emperor_V]

I sent this game along the other day... where is it now?

[Claus]

MF Camillus sent it to me. However, he obviously started it from within his email attachment, not "by hand" from the PBEM menu, so my leader name was changed to his computer's name again. I wrote him to send his turn once more, but until now I didn't receive a reply.

I could change back my name and just send it on, but I prefer playing with a "clean" file (in the end, this bug is the reason why we restarted the game in the first place).

Generally, we all could improve our communication between one player who sends a turn and the one who gets it. We know that for the time being there are those technical problems, so please don't just send your file away and then switch off. Check your mail instead or this site wether the following player has got it right.

[sabrewolf]

whoever has been active at apolyton in PBEM uses the "tracker" posts which are legal here (ie not considered spamming). every time you play your turn, post here. minimal information is the turn you are sending and to whom, although even a "sent" is better than nothing...

claus, did you PM / email MFC?

[Claus]

Yes, I mailed him.

[Emperor_V]

I'm wondering why most pbems are so afraid of the name bug... it doesn't affect gameplay.. although it can change settings, as I've found, my name and my pw were missing in one... but the game is still playable, and to me, that's all that matters, style is not as important as substance.

Emperor_V

A turn will never be stuck at me!

[Rommel2D]

Keeping track of games and the next player is half the battle for most people with multiple games going, and will stay that way until SMTP SSL support is added. The games will likely get stuck enough with the correct names in them. If this is nothing more than a problem with the names, its a bit like having a pebble in your shoe- try walking a few miles, then see what you think of the 'little' pebble. :crook:

[sabrewolf]

rommel: keeping track would not be a problem if the filename would include the game name. eg: "The Terra Epos - 3900bc to Emperor_V" or similar ;)

[sabrewolf]

i posted the request in the "easy and simple changes" thread :)

[Emperor_V]

hehe, but if you have the ingame emailer working, it doesn't matter who is next in the game... as long as the game is sent to him. Otherwise... it's just a name.

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
rommel: keeping track would not be a problem if the filename would include the game name. eg: "The Terra Epos - 3900bc to Emperor_V" or similar ;)
Well, CIV saves to a unique folder for each game, so I think this would be redundant. Its the 'to ...' field that I use once I'm in the folder to remember who the email should be addressed to...

[sabrewolf]

Originally posted by Rommel2D

Well, CIV saves to a unique folder for each game, so I think this would be redundant. Its the 'to ...' field that I use once I'm in the folder to remember who the email should be addressed to...

redundant in the folder structure, yes. but not in emails.

the FROM part however is really redundant ;)

and in-game email: not until SSL is integrated (no high priority according to alexman). and i do anyhow not like autosends as i am not always online (notebook when travelling).

[Emperor_V]

Well gents,

I was in 12 pbems, and now that the incredible geniuses at Firaxis or 2k or whever the bureaucracy of this game screwed up, every one of the 12 games is unplayable due to several issues:

unable to enter pw and press enter,
pw's are no longer needed and when I enter the game, it just sits there saying waiting for other civilizations,
unable to perform any actions... game is frozen.

Looks like every pbem has to be scrapped, and I will not be starting any new ones, because I'm sure the so called geniuses at Firaxis and 2k or wherever will have overseen these issues and any new ones which will rise up at the next patch... until they make us buy an add on pack, which of course will have to be patched at least 2 times, before they make us buy another add on pack, which of course will have to be patched 2 times before civ5 comes out promising better things.... lol, and we're the idiots who buy these games and get addicted to them. What geniuses.

[sabrewolf]

come on, E_V, don't give up so easily! they failed this time but you've got to have faith this it will not happen again...

lets give it a try!

what do the other guys around here think?

[sabrewolf]

ok, it looks as if we are a-go for the 2nd version :b:

4000bc to emperor-V this morning

[sabrewolf]

fyi: turn yesterday, ~18:00 GMT to el newell
the first sending was in the morning but he didn't receive

[sabrewolf]

it everybody would post here, we would know where the game is delayed!
please guys.. claus is making an effort.. help getting this once fine-running PBEM back on track.

thanks :b:

[Claus]

Okay, I got the turn from MF Camillus.
I've sent it on to sabrewolf.

[sabrewolf]

3960bc to emperor

let's roll :)

[sabrewolf]

(bump)

by the way, patch is out (try hitting update within the game. mirrored files download of the v1.52 update will probably be available soon...)

i vote for patching immediately, but will only do so when a majority of the PBEMs decide to do that.
from what i have read, this patch is great and improves many things!
what do you guys think?


and with that we can restart the game, hopefully keeping it running for more than just a few turns ;)

[Claus]

Of course I'm ready to try again, on condition that we really keep it going. However, it'll have to wait until Dec 30th. I'm here at my parents' and tried to install civ on my notebook, but it wouldn't run.

Merry Christmas everyone!