Initial Civ IV AU Courses

[Dominae]

Re: I would love to help...

Originally posted by padillah
I would love to help but what are we talking about?

Welcome!

Check out this thread. In the third page (currently, near the end) I've listed some of things we need to get done.

[padillah]

I would like to volunteer to Create and maintain the "How-To" thread (for the AU reports.

I'd also like to offer my services in helping with the AU Mod. Are we going to wait till the SDK comes out or try and do this in Python? Do we even know what can be done in Python vs. the SDK?

Tom P.

[duckilama]

Do we even know what can be done in Python vs. the SDK?

Slashdot had a Q&A with Soren posted today where Soren explains the difference. I don't recall it very clearly, but basically, if you want to change the core of how the game works or the AI, you'll need the SDK, which will come with all the files needed to recompile the dll written in C++ that defines, for example, the AI behaviors.

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by Arrian
I have the game and I could probably figure out how to create that sort of basic scenario, but I'm NOT sure I can correctly identify a decent starting spot yet!

Should we go for shorter games (small maps), or standard settings across the board?

Since standard maps are themselves smaller than in previous versions (from what I've read), I'd rather not go smaller than that. I think using standard settings across the board sounds good for our first game. As for the starting position, my main point is that it should not be an unusually bad one (e.g. very little food or an unusually small amount of resources); we can study how to deal with those kinds of situations after we're more used to the game. You might try generating a few scenarios and looking at the starting positions to get a better feel for what's normal, and anything within the "normal" spectrum would be fine. So I guess you've been appointed to the honor of developing the first ever Civ 4 AU scenario, assuming you're willing. Congratulations!

[nbarclay]

Can the people who have experience with the game please suggest what the cutoff points should be for the DARs (During Action Reports)? In Civ 3, as I recall, they tended to be something along the lines of:

DAR 1: 4000 BC - 2150 BC
DAR 2: 2150 BC - 1000 BC
DAR 3: All Civilizations Contacted
DAR 4: Steam Power Discovered
DAR 5: Flight Discovered
DAR 6: Endgame

As I recall, the cutoff for the first DAR was based on the year when 50 turns had been played.

Anyhow, we need to figure out what the DAR pattern should be for the first Civ 4 AU course, and since I don't have the game yet, I'm not the best one to do it.

[Jon Shafer]

Make sure you guys advertise... there are tons of October Settlers who I'm sure would be glad to participate.

[DeepO]

Originally posted by nbarclay
Can the people who have experience with the game please suggest what the cutoff points should be for the DARs (During Action Reports)? In Civ 3, as I recall, they tended to be something along the lines of:

DAR 1: 4000 BC - 2150 BC
DAR 2: 2150 BC - 1000 BC
DAR 3: All Civilizations Contacted
DAR 4: Steam Power Discovered
DAR 5: Flight Discovered
DAR 6: Endgame

As I recall, the cutoff for the first DAR was based on the year when 50 turns had been played.

Anyhow, we need to figure out what the DAR pattern should be for the first Civ 4 AU course, and since I don't have the game yet, I'm not the best one to do it.

The initial game is a lot slower, but an important point to report on the situation would probably be 1 AD. I'm not sure if you want to report before that. I've found that the moments when you reach the different pop levels in your empire (1 million souls, etc.) also tell something about how your expansion goes, that might be useful.

Further important events: circumnavigation of the globe, first caravel meet (either done by you, or 'to' you), the discovery of the 7th religion, gunpowder,...

DeepO

[Aeson]

An easy way to generate a "random scenario" with different difficulty levels is to set the random seed in the INI:

; Random seed for map generation, or '0' for default
MapRandSeed = 0

Then start a map once for each difficulty, keeping all the settings (and civs) the same except for difficulty.

[Arrian]

Do I have a deadline, Nathan?

Aeson, I may ask a question or two in setting things up.

I assume you can use a map that's already been generated - like the map I'm currently playing on? It's a solid start location, but not at all without its challenges. It's quite the balanced map, I feel. I think it would work quite well for an AU game. Standard across the board, including world size, Nathan

If I access the worldbuilder, can I load up that map, start a game in each difficulty and save it... and *presto* I'm done, or is there more to it?

-Arrian

[DeepO]

For a first game, or perhaps for one of the first courses, allow me to suggest you look into the concept of specialisation. I think it is one of the harder things to get right, and it simply put is everywhere in CIV. It would also make nice course material, as everyone would come up with their own examples (one going for a GP-strategy, somebody else looking into specialisation in combat, somebody else explaining science and commerce cities, etc.)

DeepO

[Arrian]

I think that's a perfect choice for the first "themed" game - in other words, the second game. I know I'm struggling with specialization.

The first game is for most of us to experience the game w/o specific goals and get back into the AU concept.

-Arrian

[ZargonX]

I think that sounds like a good idea. Specialization has been a difficult concept for me to hammer down, as well. So many options that picking one road to travel is such a challenge!

[Dominae]

Originally posted by DeepO
The initial game is a lot slower, but an important point to report on the situation would probably be 1 AD. I'm not sure if you want to report before that.

A lot can happen (does happen) before 1AD!

Since people are still learning the game, I think it be would be fruitful to put another landmark somewhere between 4000BC and 1AD. The early-game in CIV is vasrtly different from Civ3, it will be interesting to see how different players are managing it.

[Arrian]

Why not 2000bc, then? Or whatever the half-way point is by turns (I haven't paid any attention to that).

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Anyway, what do people think about:

1) When we want a scenario up & ready to play; and
2) My idea of using the map I've played my last game on? I think it's a good standard-sized map with a good (possibly great) start spot. I've played it on Noble, have done rather well by score but I'm going to lose the Space Race unless the AI totally screws up!

-Arrian