Welcome to the PBEM rules.

Below are described in detail the rules - plus recommendations and information - that apply to all games using the PBEM Rules.

Date: November 2002

Disclaimer: You may freely distribute this file as long as its content remains intact. If you are interested in publishing or modifying its content please contact the author. Commercial use of the content or part of it is strictly forbidden without the written permission of the author.

The purpose of the following rules is to aid people experience and enjoy their play time as efficiently as it takes and with the less possible problems. For that purpose a moderator must be used to administer & enforce the rules appropriately.

***ATTENTION*** Players and moderators that use PBEM Rules in a game accept to comply with all the rules described below unless differently specified and agreed by all participants in the game before it is started or during its process. Any special rule or exception must be known to all participants, current or future.

(Apply to all)

When someone joins a game commits to finish that game unless a serious reason arises. If you are not sure that you can commit yourself then DO NOT JOIN! A withdrawal can cause problems to the other players from short delays and diplomatic cancellations to long immobilization and balance turn over.

However a permanent replacement - player or moderator - has the right to test the position offered for up to 5 turns before a permanent decision is made. After the expiration of that period a choice between permanent continuation and withdrawal must be drawn. Either choice is respected.

Critical information passed between players and/or moderators that might hurt the credibility and the dignity of the sender is considered confidential and should not in any case been publicized or made known to other people without the consent of the sender.

A player cannot be temporary subbed by another player in the game unless it is a team game and he is his team mate.

Moderators should assign temporary or permanent substitutes as well.

A moderator cannot be temporary substituted by a player who is playing in the game.

Each player and moderator can optionally assign a permanent substitute for each PBEM game he is playing into (recommended). The same player can be assigned in all the games as long as he does not participate in the specific game(s). The permanent substitute will be used to temporary sub a player while on vacation, sickness or absence for other reasons. It is preferable that each player assigns two or more permanent substitutes in case the primary one can't sub or there are many games to be carried out and should be shared into two or more substitutes.

(Apply to players)

Each turn must be sent besides the next player to the moderator as well if any.

All emails referring to a specific game should contain the name of the game in its subject.

Emails that include the turn must refer to the game's name and the turn number in their subject to be easily recognized (e.g. Game x Turn y).

Players and moderators involved in many games have a hard time to recognize a game that doesn't contain the game name in the subject or find a specific turn if there is no turn number in the subject of the email.

When someone plays and sends the turn to the next player should post a notification in the respected thread.

This apply to the moderators as well when nexting.

Example: Turn x sent to Player y

If for a reason someone cannot post in the thread about turn sending then an email notification that the turn has been played and sent to the next player must be routed to all players and the moderator.

Example: Game x Turn y sent to Player z

Note that the correct way is to post in the thread and this solution should be used only if there is no way to reach the thread or if the connection is very poor.

Each player has to play a turn within 24 hours starting from the moment the previous player sends it.

Any differences that might arise between two or more participants (or the moderator,} should be kept in private. Posting flames in a thread could cause the frustration of the other participants. The opinion of the moderator on the matter can be asked as well.

Public accusations regarding cheating or any other form should be avoided. The moderator of the game should be asked to investigate the event and express his opinion instead. Optionally a third party that does not participate in the game, preferably an experienced and respectable person could be asked to ensure a fair judgment (recommended). Including one’s against the moderator.

Persistent public calls to the rest neutral player(s), to move against other player(s) or moderators in any form, should be avoided. It can lead to the justified frustration of the defensive player(s). However non-persistent calls to neutral player(s) or calls to allies in the spirit of diplomacy and role-playing can be freely made. Private emails are not under any restriction.

Civilizations that are orphans, caused by the disappearance of its leader and need a replacement should not get attacked while in the process of finding a permanent or temporary replacement. Note that a moderator is always considered as a temporary replacement/substitute so this rule would apply only in a permanent or temporary absence of a moderator, when the traditional nexting is taking place.

Players should not suicide their civilization in order to end their presence in a game. If for any reason the player wants to get off the game then the choice of a permanent replacement should be preferred. There are lot of newer players that would possibly like to give it a try. This is essential for a player who has taken control of a civilization for few turns only. However in special occasions like having lost almost all of his cities he can evacuate the remaining to allow allied forces have them. Alternatively that civilization can be turned to AI.

By the term suicide is meant to disband all cities or units, adjust the sliders accordingly to cause cities to revolt, or evacuate all cities for the enemy player to easily conquer them.

(Apply to moderators)

The purpose of the existence of the moderator is to observe and maintain the correct progress of the game by enforcing when needed the rules - PBEM rules or special rules.

His primary role is the maintaining of the turn flow and speed and the handling of an orphan civilization where the player has disappeared until a permanent replacement is found, without affecting the turn flow.

His secondary role is to retain the game clean and fair for all and the appropriate relations and actions between the players and towards the community itself.

Moderators are obliged to keep a neutral attitude toward the game and the players participating when ever the rules do not prompt otherwise. Therefore they cannot flame, promote flame or hate, influence negatively in any form another player or the relations between the players or with the community, encourage any player(s) taking any action against other player(s) in game terms or trigger any event among participants in interpersonal terms, affect regard between players and pass any information related with a participant to another participant or person. This rule should apply to players against moderators also.

Moderators must be as objective as possible avoiding taking place according to personal sympathy or dislike. This rule applies to players also.

Moderators are not permitted to play in the specific game they moderate. Exceptions for an extended temporarily playing can be done under special circumstances like no permanent replacement has been found for some time or the civilization is in a very disadvantageous position and the moderator is an experienced and reputable player and can successfully lead it to a more advanced position. However after a long time and if no permanent replacement have been yet found the specific civilization should be turned into AI. Any use of knowledge that have been acquired during moderating cannot be used against another player or inform another one about it.

Moderator's primary obligation is to retain continuing turn flow and acceptable turn speed. This can be done by enforcing the 24-hour rule when a player hasn’t played the turn within the specified period (24 hours). Moderators enforce the 24-hour rule by using the method of nexting described below.

When a player exceeds the 24-hour rule the moderator has to next him. He opens the player's turn, plays it and sends it to the next player.

When the moderator next a player, all queued actions (building queues & queued unit moves) should be respected unless he judges differently for a serious reason. Any diplomatic offers should be declined unless specified differently from the player or judge that can benefit the player nexted. The rest are up to the moderator’s taste. However he is not permitted to start a war with another civilization unless specified differently from the player.

A notification must be posted within the thread. It must specify the turn number and the player to whom it has been sent to, followed by the player who has been nexted and the word "nexted" after him.

Example: Turn x sent to Player y (Player z nexted)

In case that a player haven't played the turn and is reaching the time limit the moderator should resend the turn to him followed by an email warning to all participants that the turn has been resent to the specific player (e.g. Turn x re-sent to Player y). The reason for resending the turn is the case that the player hasn’t received it. The reason for the warning email is to inform everyone that a player is subject of getting nexted and that the turn has been resent from the moderator therefore a slight delay might occur.

If the nexted player does play and send his turn after he is nexted and if the next player in order hasn’t played his turn yet then the latter should play the turn sent from the previous player and not the moderator. Players can not next other players unless no moderator is present. Then it must be posted for the players vote to next the player or wait. Moderators will participate in the vote.

If a player resigns or disappears a permanent replacement must be found. This originally must be done by the resigned player but if for any reason isn’t done then the moderator must find one. It is recommended that a newer player with the list games in progress is chosen rather than the first who applies. Reliability should also be considered a positive qualification. Players that have a history of irresponsibility and tend to withdraw often should be avoided. Recruitment Center is the most appropriate place to advertise for replacement.

Note that a player is considered missing and must be permanently replaced after 3 weeks of absence without notification. Within that period and until a permanent replacement is found a temporary substitute can be used. When a player is in contempt of the rules repeatedly a moderator can replace them. A vote goes to the players and the moderators will participate in the vote.

Moderators should periodically check the turns for possible cheats. If an accusation is made then a detailed study of the turns must be made. And if someone is caught cheating and is 100% confirmed then this event must be publicly announced and the cheater been replaced. By the moderator.

Moderators must prevent players from publicly flame each other. Public flames can frustrate the other participants. Moderators must prompt them to solve their differences in private and can volunteer to help them out to resolve the difference. This rule should apply to players against moderators too. Get a third party non involved to solve the differences by email only..

The moderator is responsible for posting the related thread in the forum. Player list, rules, exceptions, settings, related threads or any additional information should be added in the first post of the thread for easy and fast reference. When the thread riches the 150 posts limits - set by the Apolyton owners - a new one must be started and linked with the old one. The above can be done by another person if agreed.

Moderators should post the ratings - if the game is rated - every 10 turns in the respective thread unless someone else is assigned to do so.

(Apply to creators)

The creator is responsible for setting and starting the game. He can be the moderator of the game, a participant or a third party not participating in the game at all.

He collects all the information needed like the preferences of the participants and assigns any special rule or exception or uses any special setting or mod. The above can be predefined or determined during the preferences gathering process but must be known to all participants, current or future either by been posted in a thread (recommended) or sent by email. Predefined rules, exceptions or settings are "de facto" pre-accepted by the players that join the game while the ones determined afterwards can be settled and agreed upon by the participants. In any case someone that doesn’t like a rule or setting can decline joining the game. Simply as that :-)

He may search for participants as well if needed.

He launches the game, puts the players in the correct order, assigns to them the correct civilization and leader name, saves and sends the turn to the first player in order unless he is the first player so he plays it instead.

Any alteration or modification of the game files or saves before or after is started, that might give additional benefits to another player without the knowledge and acceptance of all participants is strictly forbidden and is considered as a cheat regardless if the creator participates, moderates or none of the above in the game.

It is recommended that instead of putting the email address of the player in the email field when starting a game, you put the leader name or civilization or both. With players changing their email address or been replaced by others any original email address in this field is rendered obsolete therefore useless and sometimes can lead to mistakes. But a civilization or leader name or even both can help people with many games to faster define where to send the turn in case of multiple turn playing.

Generally PBEM games are very slow in resolving and a typical game can take more than 2 years for completion. However some settings can increase or reduce the total amount of time needed to finish a game.

The rule is simple: The fewer participants the less time for completion. If role-playing and diplomacy are important then a 6-player game is recommended. It can combine a relatively fair speed and great diplomacy. If speed is what’s important then a 4-player or less - even a 2-player - game is recommended. Usually turn resolutions at these player numbers are pretty fast and can end in half or even less time than an typical 6-player game. An 8-player game should be avoided unless a 3 year period for completion is not scary :-) These games tend to break pretty often and take ages to finish if not die in the process. The main reason for that is the weakness of most of the players and moderators to efficiently follow up with all turns in time in an extended period of time.

Another factor that can affect speed in long term is the size of the map. The smaller the map is the faster the game will end. Small maps force players to meet earlier and fight for land, and end up to total wars. Therefore these games have high chances to end by conquest rather than Alien Life Project. For a long diplomatic 6-player game a huge or even gigantic map is recommended. For faster games up to 6 players a regular or small map is recommended. Sometimes a huge map can have relatively fast resolutions as well.

Non-tested custom mods that modify original files and use extended modifications should be avoided because unexpected and unresolved errors might arise later and prevent the players from continuing.

The English version of the CtP is preferable as the localized versions (German, French, Spanish & Italian) generate localized messages to other players who do not know the specific language and have to guess what the message says. It won't be hard for an experienced player, at list most times ;-)

The players in a PBEM game are recommended that they are sorted according to their time zone for faster turn cycles. For example in a 3-player game you could have an American, a European and an Australian sorted that way or in the reverse order. Mixing time zones can cause significant delays in case some players have limited or specific time they can play their turns.

Time should be reported according to the international format (day/month/year) in the international spirit and avoid misunderstandings.

Standard: Standard games where both conquest and Alien Life Project are enabled. Recommended for role-playing and diplomacy funs and for micromanagement freaks.

Deathmatch: War games where each has to eliminate all his opponents. Recommended for warmongers and faster resolutions.

Team: Standard or deathmatch games where players are divided into teams and compete and win as teams. Recommended for team spirit funs.

Special: Games with special rules and/or settings that belong to any of the above categories. Recommended for players that are looking for something different.

The description below is for Windows users.

1. Insert the CD-ROM disk into the CD-ROM drive. If auto play is disabled or not supported run the game by clicking on the Start Menu's shortcut or by manually running the "civctp.exe" file located in the installation folder.

2. Click on the Start button.

3. You may skip the introduction by pressing the space key on your keyboard or any mouse button.

4. Click on the Email Game button.

5. In the "New Game" screen select the settings of your choice which are the same as in the single-player game and click on the LAUNCH button.

6. You will be prompt to select each player's civilization and determine how many of them will be controlled by humans or the computer AI by selecting Human or Computer in the Type column. For any human player you will have to enter the leader name (Name column) and the email address (Email column) as well. When done click on the OK button to start the game. You may save the game now and send it to the first player in the list or play it if you are the first player.

The description below is for Windows users.

You may open the turn by double clicking at it. The turn should have the .csg extension. If for any reason it does not, change it and add it manually. When you are done with your moves hit the END button. In the small dialog box following click on the Quit Game button. Next player's turn is automatically saved in your desktop. Attach it as is in an email and sent it to the next player. Note that sometimes you might get a message regarding a settler that is about to be built in a city of population 1 and whether you would like to disband the city or not. This message comes from the next player and you should always click on the "No" button.

A PBEM game can be rated according to the PBEM Ratings & Rankings. The ratings are based in a ladder system that ranks players in a periodical basis and weights the wins and losses against rated participants in the same game that has as a result the rise or drop of the rated players in the ladder.

Cheating is the most brutal action taken against fellow players!

It is severely condemned by all!

1. Open another player’s turn and intentionally watch it.

2. Reload a turn and try different results.

3. Utilization of a bug without the knowledge and acceptance of all the participants. The "rush buy" cheat belongs to this category.

4. Modifications that may give additional benefits to a player or reveal sensitive data of another player without the knowledge and acceptance of all participants.

5. Alteration of the data of the original - CtP or modification - files that may give additional benefits to a player or reveal sensitive data of another player without the knowledge and acceptance of all participants.

6. Illegal use of the CtP Editor/Cheat Mode to reveal the map, move through the rest of the civilizations and study them, acquire additional units, cities, advances, gold and public work, reduce another player’s total number of units, cities, advances, gold and public work, take better starting location than the others without the knowledge and acceptance of all participants.

7. Receive information from a third party who doesn't participate in the game (e.g. the moderator or a temporary substitute).

8. Illegal use of the chat window commands.

9. Use of a program to exploit a save or turn.

10. Hacking in any way the save or turn.

Generally a replay of a turn is possible under special circumstances such as in the case you made a mistake or forgot something as long as it does not happen in purpose and does not reveal different information in the map whether it is unexplored territory (dark tiles), fog of war (shady tiles), ruins or stealth units of another player. If that is the case then a replay is not allowed. Any move or action that had been taken before the replay must be played exactly as previously had with no change.

Common sense must be used.

The penalty for those that break the rules varies from simple reprehension to permanent ban from the game. It is the responsibility of the moderator to warn the transgressor. If the offence is serious the moderator should call a council formed by the rest participants - known as the war council - to decide for his permanent ban and replacement. The final decision will be drawn by the majority of the votes of the participants. The offender and the moderator do not vote.