A SMAC team for the Civ IV about-to-be-set-up Democracy Team game?

Googlie · October 31, 2005, 01:03

Over in the Civ IV forums I've put my name down for participating in the upcoming Democracy Game there.

I never was in the multiplayer loop for Civs II or III, so most of the forty or fifty names are just that - names

Any interest in a bunch of SMACers forming the Spacers' team (or whatever)?

Chaos Theory · October 31, 2005, 01:12

I'd participate, but would not be interested in actual turnplaying. I've done enough of that here.

binTravkin · October 31, 2005, 04:34

I would participate too, but cannot turnplay yet as well (due to lack of actual program).

After some more ppl gather, we should discuss the name of team.
Current proposals:

'The Spacers' [Googlie]

'Chironian Communistic Civilisation Consortium' a.k.a 'C4' [binTravkin] <- the words might be changed if someone comes up with better combination, but the idea is to have 4 words starting with C.

'The Pholus Mutagens' [binTravkin]

'The Alpha Centauri Team' a.k.a. 'T.A.C.T.', known for their determination to win the game thru Space Race, noun - TACTical, TACTician
( = member of TACT) [binTravkin]

'The Tank Killer Spearmen' a.k.a 'TanKS', known for their brilliant use of bronze age warfare throughout the ages [binTravkin]

'Alpha Centauri Democratical Group' a.k.a. 'ACDG' [binTravkin]

more to come..
(hope you like em

)

GeoModder · October 31, 2005, 05:54

binTravkin · October 31, 2005, 06:39

Like em, eh?

We should also discuss our civilisation preference (e.g. The Horde posted they will play either mongols or romans) and post our teams' proposal very soon, as 2 teams have already forming (BANANA Republic and The Return Of The Horde or simply The Horde).

Meanwhile there are some more:

'Roads Are Useless' team a.k.a 'RoArUs' (from the words 'roar' and 'us' - together make no sense, but still more than BANANA) - focusing on finding out how to win without building roads [binTravkin] (shame they dont have aquatic factions in C4..

)

'The Orbital Death Cannon' [binTravkin] no comments needed..

'Real Empaths Don't Need mIRC' team, known for their vast contacts with spiritual world [binTravkin]

'Gaian Omnipresent Obstruction Group' a.k.a. G.O.O.G., noun GOOGlie - a member of the GOOG team, Gaian because on Earth, but could be changed to say 'Geostationary' or smth [binTravkin]

Come on, Geo, think up some you too!

'Smacers Own [you] Brother!' a.k.a. 'SOB!' (any other good word which starts with 'B'? 'Baby' doesn't fit IMO) [binTravkin]

GFC is taken I guess, I'd better avoid legal issues..

Googlie · October 31, 2005, 09:04

I have the game, so could be turnplayer, screenshotposter, etc etc

Some others:

If we played as the Persians, we could be the Immortals (which is their specialized chariot unit, but also links to smacers propensity for going transcendent

Persians strengths are:

their special unit is a stronger chariot (the Immortal),
their traits are expansive (+2 Health per city & 1/2 cost granaries and harbours) and Creative (+2 Culture per city and 1/2 cost Coliseums and Theatres)
their starting techs are Agriculture (early farms) and Hunting (a prereq for Archery)
their favourite Civic is Representation - needs the Constitution technology (low Upkeep, but produces +3 research per specialist and +3 happiness in their 5 largest cities

I like the C4 concept, though - not sure of the relevence of Chironian, but the other 3 are good

Maybe the Creative Communistic Civilization Consortium, then choose a civ with Creative as one of its traits ((+2 Culture per city and 1/2 cost Coliseums and Theatres)

That would give us a choice of the Persians (see above), the Egyptians, the French (if under Louis), the
Germans (if under Frederick), or the Russians (if under Catherine) - it would exclude the mongols, who are already taken

Or a Civ with State Property as its preferred Civic (Communism a prereq tech). (no upkeep; no maintenance costs associated with distance from the palace, and +1 food from workshops and watermills)

That'd let us be the Chinese (under Mao).

Then we could be the Chinese Communistic Civilization Consortium

Also the ACDG concept

Maybe, if we chose the Aztecs - it could be:

Aztec Civilization Democracy Group

and they aren't a bad choice given that

their special unit is a stronger swordsman (the Jaguar),
their traits are aggressive (free promo for melee and gunpowder groups & 1/2 cost barracks and drydocks) and Spiritual (no anarchy and 1/2 cost temples)
their starting techs are Mysticism (headstart on founding a religion) and Hunting (a prereq for Archery)
their favourite Civic is Police State - needs the Fascism technology (but high upkeep, but produces military units 25% faster, and has 1/2 war weariness

Googlie · October 31, 2005, 09:20

Along the ACDG lines could be the Arabian Civilization Democracy Group

Arabians:

special unit is a stronger Knight (the Camel Archer),
traits are philosophical (+100% Great People birth rate & 1/2 cost universities) and Spiritual (no anarchy and 1/2 cost temples)
their starting techs are Mysticism (headstart on founding a religion) and the wheel (workers can immediately build roads)
favourite Civic is [i]Theocracy[i] - needs the Theology technology (medium upkeep, but new units start with +2 experience points if built in cities with the state religion, and no spread of non state religin in our cities

Maniac · October 31, 2005, 09:30

Simply: The Centaurians - and we draw our roleplay from Greek mythology and philosophy.

Note I do not have Civ4, so any participation of me would be mainly moral support.

binTravkin · October 31, 2005, 09:52

Okay, so we're now down to following options:

Immortals

Persians

Creative Communistic Civilization Consortium

Persians
Egyptians
French(Louis)
Germans (Frederick)
Russians (Catherine)

Chinese Communistic Civilization Consortium

Chinese (under Mao)

ACDG

Arabs
Aztecs

Centaurians

Greeks

I am symphatetic to the ACDG, whichever Civ it is (both sound nice).

But the C4 is very nice as well, because gives a good flexibility and is good as a name.

Googlie · October 31, 2005, 10:25

Centaurians

Greeks are good too:

special unit is a stronger spearman (the Phalanx)
traits are philosophical (+100% Great People birth rate & 1/2 cost universities) and Aggressive (free promo for melee and gunpowder groups & 1/2 cost barracks and drydocks)
their starting techs are Fishing (can create workboats from the getgo) and hunting (a prereq for Archery)
favourite Civic is Hereditary Rule - needs the Monarchy technology (medium upkeep, but gets +1 Happiness per military unit in a city

Googlie · October 31, 2005, 10:35

If we go with the C4 concept, I'm warming to the Chronian as being the first "C"

Trouble with C4 is that it's somewhat generic and doesn;t reflect what we hope will be our membership (smac/xers)

So I'd be in favour of choosing from among:

Chironian Communistic Civilization Consortium

or, if we don't want to be communist, then:

Chironian Co-operative Civilization Consortium

and

Arabian Civilization Democracy Group
Aztec Civilization Democracy Group

I suppose there's a third among that group:

American Civilization Democracy Group

and

Centaurians

Googlie · October 31, 2005, 10:45

Americans::

special unit is a stronger Marine (the Navy Seal
traits are

- under Roosevelt - industrial (+50% production rate when building wonders & 1/2 cost forges) and Organized (minus 50% civic upkeep costs & 1/2 cost courthouse and lighthouse)

-under Washington - Financial (+1 commerce on tiles produxing 2 or more commerce & 1/2 cost banks
their starting techs are Fishing (can create workboats from the getgo) and Agriculture (early farms)
favourite Civic is [i]Universal Suffrage[i] - needs the Democracy technology (medium upkeep, but gets +1 production from a town in the City radius, and can spend gold to complete production of units or buildings

Illuminatus · October 31, 2005, 10:45

Greeks

Googlie · October 31, 2005, 10:58

I like the Centaurians and the Greeks too

links with our Alpha Centauri "heritage", and as Maniac says, there is rich roleplay in history for the Greeks (we in Sparta have only scratched the surface in our ACDG3 faction)

I'll post a poll re a choice between a C4, ACDG and Centauri name

Who are our team? In order of posting:

Googlie
Chaos Theory
binTravkin
Maniac
Illuminatus

GeoModder : are you in?

Hercules · October 31, 2005, 16:41

Like others I don't have the game yet but very interested,

Count me in.

Method · October 31, 2005, 16:53

Originally posted by binTravkin
'The Orbital Death Cannon' [binTravkin] no comments needed..

binTravkin · November 1, 2005, 10:17

Hey, I've compiled a list of interests in our team (you're welcome to add/correct me where needed):

Code:

Person		Interests in team
---------------------------------------
Googlie		turnplay, strategy
Chaos Theory	strategy
binTravkin	strategy, roleplay
Maniac		strategy
Illuminatus	roleplay, represenation
Hercules	strategy
---------------------------------------

So, how about Illuminatus and Googlie being our top figures?
I don't know, the greekish position names and structure of government out of head, but will look up against books.
Illu could help here too.

Idea is to have
1.a civ representative, the authority, which could be Illuminatus
2.an executive officer, the person doing the actual governing of our civ - Googlie
3.several High Council members / Advisors (Strategoi), who'd be the forgers of strategies (not excluding the above two from the process, of course) and would also give some contribution to roleplay.

I just can't think of very much advisors we could have:
Navy advisor - Maniac

Army advisor - Hercules
Economics advisor - Chaos Theory
Diplomatical advisor - bT

All those could of course be changed, it's just a proposal.

dmm1285 · November 1, 2005, 13:42

Originally posted by binTravkin
Hey, I've compiled a list of interests in our team (you're welcome to add/correct me where needed):

Code:

Person		Interests in team
---------------------------------------
Googlie		turnplay, strategy
Chaos Theory	strategy
binTravkin	strategy, roleplay
Maniac		strategy
Illuminatus	roleplay, represenation
Hercules	strategy
---------------------------------------

So, how about Illuminatus and Googlie being our top figures?
I don't know, the greekish position names and structure of government out of head, but will look up against books.
Illu could help here too.

Idea is to have
1.a civ representative, the authority, which could be Illuminatus
2.an executive officer, the person doing the actual governing of our civ - Googlie
3.several High Council members / Advisors (Strategoi), who'd be the forgers of strategies (not excluding the above two from the process, of course) and would also give some contribution to roleplay.

I just can't think of very much advisors we could have:
Navy advisor - Maniac

Army advisor - Hercules
Economics advisor - Chaos Theory
Diplomatical advisor - bT

All those could of course be changed, it's just a proposal.

I could be regilion advisor

Illuminatus · November 1, 2005, 16:25

Originally posted by binTravkin
Hey, I've compiled a list of interests in our team (you're welcome to add/correct me where needed):

Code:

Person		Interests in team
---------------------------------------
Googlie		turnplay, strategy
Chaos Theory	strategy
binTravkin	strategy, roleplay
Maniac		strategy
Illuminatus	roleplay,
Hercules	strategy
---------------------------------------

So, how about Googlie being our top figures?
I don't know, the greekish position names and structure of government out of head, but will look up against books.
Illu could help here too.

Idea is to have
1.a civ representative, the authority, which could be Illuminatus
2.an executive officer, the person doing the actual governing of our civ - Googlie
3.several High Council members / Advisors (Strategoi), who'd be the forgers of strategies (not excluding the above two from the process, of course) and would also give some contribution to roleplay.

I just can't think of very much advisors we could have:
Navy advisor - Maniac

Army advisor - Hercules
Economics advisor - Chaos Theory
Diplomatical advisor - bT

All those could of course be changed, it's just a proposal.

Bad binTravkin

I'll probably refrain from any decision making and positions, as I work on too many things on ACS to have time for getting deeply involved. I'll lurk to learn, chime in with a potential advice and perhaps engage in roleplay later.

You are however right about names and structure, I can certainly help here.

We should decide which ancient greek organisation would you like to mimic? Unique Spartan military state? Cleisthenian democracy? Solonian timocracy? A generic ancient tyrany or oligarchy?

Considering the democracy theme, perhaps a Pericles era Cleisthenian democracy is the best choice. But then again, I would say such organisations can't apply to democracy games without modifications of the system. Perhaps only take it as inspiration for position names. What do you say?

BTW, I will probably be unavailable the rest of the week, but should be back with Sid Meier's Civilization 4

this weekend.

GeoModder · November 1, 2005, 18:09

I vote for a sybarchy as model organisation, Illuminatus.

Maniac · November 1, 2005, 18:35

Originally posted by binTravkin
Navy advisor - Maniac

W00t! I suggest we build a bunch of galleys and raid and pillage the coasts of anyone we can find.

I don't know, the greekish position names and structure of government out of head, but will look up against books.

You need not search further for my title. You may address me as Poseidon, God of the Sea.

Originally posted by Illuminatus
Cleisthenian democracy? Solonian timocracy?

Eh?

Do we need to stick with one though? As our civics change, our government structure could also change, and pick another theme from the varied Greek political history.

Hercules · November 1, 2005, 20:56

There are several ways to succeed in CIV 4 from what I can determine: For us we could be a Greek hermit gathering: Spartan spartans, or militaristic spartan Spartans, or well, a democracy even, or maybe even a Greek orthodox sect.

Googlie · November 1, 2005, 22:02

If we followed the suggestions above, and took ancient Sparta as our model, then:

Illuminatus and Googlie would be the 2 Kings

binTravkin,
Chaos Theory
Hercules
dmm1285
Maniac

would be our 5 Ephors, each with a specialty (or such five as get elected by the people)

and collectively, with additional members, we would all constitute the Gerousia

see here

Vev · November 2, 2005, 01:29

Autonomous Chironian Democratic Greeks

----

Person
Vev

Interest in Team
Part-time Spamer and nutcase

binTravkin · November 2, 2005, 03:04

You are however right about names and structure, I can certainly help here. We should decide which ancient greek organisation would you like to mimic? Unique Spartan military state? Cleisthenian democracy? Solonian timocracy? A generic ancient tyrany or oligarchy?

Considering the democracy theme, perhaps a Pericles era Cleisthenian democracy is the best choice. But then again, I would say such organisations can't apply to democracy games without modifications of the system. Perhaps only take it as inspiration for position names. What do you say?

Illu, there's an answer. We just need to take a look to what civics is similar or close to which government type of Ancient Greece.

Do we need to stick with one though? As our civics change, our government structure could also change, and pick another theme from the varied Greek political history.

You need not search further for my title. You may address me as Poseidon, God of the Sea.

This is a fun suggestion.
For the sake of roleplay, maybe we should adapt this one to our needs.

How about:

Code:

Person		Deity		Desc
-------------------------------------------------------------
Googlie		Zeus		The Leader Of Deities

Chaos Theory	Ares		The Deity Of War

binTravkin	Hermes		The (Instant) Messenger Deity

Maniac		Poseidon	The Deity Of The Oceans

Illuminatus	Apollo		The Deity Of Intelligence, 
				patron of many good things.

Hercules	himself		A legendary hero, known for his 
		(Heracles)	immense physical strenght.

dmm1285		?		Give me a short desc of your
				RP personality in previous DGs
				(so to have smth to start with)

GeoModder	Hephaestus	The Deity Of Fire And The Forge
				(one who sits in
				his underground Forge, and 
				hammers the Steel Of Lurk
				and The Thoughts Of Plot)

Vev		Dionysus	The Deity Of Wine
				(gets very upset whenever you
				call him - 
				'Hey you, old drunkard!')

Jamski		Hades		The Deity Of Death
				(he who devises all kinds
				of vile ways how to make 
				our enemies perish)

Archaic		?		?
-------------------------------------------------------------

GeoModder · November 2, 2005, 05:57

Why, thank you bT... Thought I was left for good in the stables of the helotes.

At least I can bed Aphrodite as the Master of Fire!

Vev · November 2, 2005, 06:09

The greek lots have fair split of guys and gals gods. There is starting to be a shortage of guy gods, even the minor ones. Might be a good idea to break out the Heroes.

Well since my character is a fickle, Dionysus might fit. Esctasy to violent rage. And loads of xenowine.

binTravkin · November 2, 2005, 06:21

Well since my character is a fickle, Dionysus might fit. Esctasy to violent rage. And loads of xenowine.

No problem, update incoming!

Googlie · November 2, 2005, 08:29

And, actually, the Deities theme works well, 'cos that in fact is what we are - in game - "gods" making decisions that affect the mere mortals below (on the screen)

binTravkin · November 2, 2005, 10:00

And, actually, the Deities theme works well, 'cos that in fact is what we are - in game - "gods" making decisions that affect the mere mortals below (on the screen)

Yea, I thought that too, but I didn't name them simply 'gods' because I wanted to make a reference to a difficulty level title ('deity'), thus futher showing that we're striving to be the best..