Game of the Now: episode one.

[self biased]

i originally wanted to do this in three tiers: warlord, prince, and emperor, but i'm wholly ignorant on how to set up such a thing. the idea is that we all play a game, take notes, and compare how our games went after a preset time period, say a week or two.

now on to the settings:

Difficulty: Prince
Civilization: Mayan
Shape: Continents
Size: Normal
Climate: Temperate
Sea Level: Medium

No Tech Brokering
No Vassal States

consequently, if someone could show me how to set up a simple scenario so that we can all choose a difficulty that is appropriate to our skill level using the same civ and map that would be awesome. we'll start with a two week time limit, making games due on the nineteenth of December.

[self biased]

so, uh, who's playing this besides me?

[Theben]

I guess I could. I didn't see it the 1st time around.

[rah]

If I get some time this weekend.

[self biased]

so far it's been a very interesting game for me. what about the other four people who are playing?

[Garth Vader]

It's been interesting. I haven't played a normal speed game for a long time. Feels like tech is way fast and production sucks.

When you create a game is there any way to lock access to the World Builder? I can't help myself and peek sometimes

[Ming]

When you create a game is there any way to lock access to the World Builder? I can't help myself and peek sometimes

Yes... in the custom options menu, you can select "lock modified assest". This locks out WB. It is a perfect option for those that just can't help themselves I used to play practice games in MP mode to accomplish the same purpose, but the "LMA" option works and is a great way to keep yourself honest

[Garth Vader]

I should start using that. I usually use "New random seed" too. I should stop that as well

[Ming]

Yeah... that would remove any "temptation"

But then again, it's all about what kind of "fun" you want to have. Unless you are playing for records, tournaments, or some other type of competition, what difference does it make. It's all about fun, and the custom options allow you to set up the game pretty much anyway you would like.

[Garth Vader]

I have fun both ways. I had a LAN MP game with a friend where I had a horrible start, with a random Civ (Alexander) who I wouldn't normally play. But I fought hard and won.

But I also like checking to see if I am going to get screwed by the map resources, and playing a more orderly planned game. I have been getting to reliant on the WB though. Next game, I'll lock everything out!

[rah]

Yeah, I always played with no new seed so I couldn't reset combats that I lost, but when I'd lose a GG unit i'd go back and do the combats in a different order. So I'll fake mp games so It's harder to do that. hahahahaha

[Garth Vader]

I lost my GG healer in that MP alexander game at 99+ odds. No way I'd let that stand in a SP game!

[rah]

I'm more philosophical about those types of things now. Especially after my last game where I lost 8 combats in a row that were over 75%. Quite annoying but it happens.

[Ming]

I used to do some resetting when things didn't go my way, but that's not something I can do in MP, so I've stopped doing it so I don't pick up any bad habits. But there are a few times in MP games where I would love WB to be active

[rah]

When I first played CIV II I used to reset until I started playing a lot of MP