New Aussie role playing (possibly diplo style) game starting this Aust Sat night

[deity]

Marcus and I were talking about this the other day. I said I'd start a thread and here it is!

Please post your interest and whether you want a normal game or diplo game; Earth map or similar terra map or random.

Your preferred settings etc.

* I'd suggest that the level would be at least Noble or Prince
* No AI's
* Epic speed
* No tech trading but allow diplomacy and trading of resources etc (honour system)
* Maybe need to discuss chopping - there is a setting in config that allows "Tree region chopping" to be turned off

OK, come on Horse, Hydey and any others!

POST YOUR INTEREST!

[Otherwise me Trev and Marcus will just continue our 3 way game]

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

Count me in . Earth Map Diplo game is definitely my preference, with perhaps the size based on how many players are in the game. As for which civ, I would love to be Mali or Egypt.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[deity]

Oh, and you must have the 1.52 patch installed...

[KunojiLym]

What time would that be in GMT terms?

And hmm... put me down for Cathy (Russia), China (Qin) or India (Ghandi), in that order. (If the timing is right that is)

And why Epic? Marathon, baby!

[deity]

Originally posted by KunojiLym
What time would that be in GMT terms?

And hmm... put me down for Cathy (Russia), China (Qin) or India (Ghandi), in that order. (If the timing is right that is)

And why Epic? Marathon, baby!

Hi there!

It's GMT plus 11 hours, so 8pm (2000) Aust EDT = 9am (0900) GMT.

Epic is slow enough but let's see what the consensus is.

BTW I'd prefer do this game without using a mod map (too many issues with downloading and installing to all players). So a terra map might be more workable?

[KunojiLym]

Mmm, that'll make it 5 pm here (at GMT +8)... dang, that's not too convenient, seeing that I've dinner at 6+ and a 2-hr tuition at 7, heh.

Sunday! (I can hope ;p)

[Deity Dude]

Is it for Aussies only? And what time is it? GMT 9am is 5 am here - which is a little early or late, depnding on how you look at it, for a Sunday morning. So it probably doesn't work for me. But whe u agre on a final time Ill consider it.

[gakkun]

Hey everyone this is my first civ MP game so I don't have many preferences. I would like to play as Hatty, Napoleon or Kublai.

btw since I'm new to MP can someone explain to me how diplo games work?

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

The idea behind diplo is that Roleplaying is MORE important than WINNING. This means that just because an opponent is weak, that you just invade him and take all his cities. Instead, you might help him out in order to become a thorn in the side of one of your rivals. At the end of the day, all things being equal, war should always be a LAST RESORT-you can still sneak attack a person or declare war on them, but only because it is what your CIV/LEADER would do-not just because you-the player-wants to win.
Oh and, also, there is the story component. Most Diplo players try to write stories, from a roleplaying perspective, of their games.
Hope that makes sense.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[gakkun]

Okay I get it. Does that I mean the player has to research what the leader was like in real history? I had idea who Hatshepsut was before I played CIV.

Also what happens if a player doesn't 'roleplay'? Say warmongering as Ghandi. Does he get kicked out?

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

Its not about 'roleplaying' how the leader really was in life, but roleplaying along the lines of your leader's traits, and the specific situation you find yourself in the game. Really, all you need to remember is that WINNING is not the true goal of the game-beyond that all bets are kind of off. You will pick it up as you go, I promise !

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[deity]

Well said Marcus! You picked it up well

Just quickly...

Here's the link to the Civ2 diplogame FAQ thread - almost completely applicable to Civ4.

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101988

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by gakkun
Okay I get it. Does that I mean the player has to research what the leader was like in real history? I had idea who Hatshepsut was before I played CIV.

Also what happens if a player doesn't 'roleplay'? Say warmongering as Ghandi. Does he get kicked out?

Roleplaying different leaders is part of it. If you play as the Mongols, you don't (or shouldn't) use Kublai Khan the entire 6,000 year span of the game. The diplo is about creating a timeline for the game, and for your civilization. So typically I'll try to have a new "leader" every session or two. It doesn't affect the traits of your Civ leader, but it affects your role play.

For example lets say I pick England, and I pick Victoria as my leader. In the first session I'm not going to say, in my stories, and in my relations to other players, that I am led by Victoria. I'll instead say something like Beowulf. Then the next session I'll say King Arthur, then King Richard I, then Oliver Cromwell, then King George III, then Elizabeth, then.... you get the idea.

Each leader then is a character in the game and you can assign them real or imaginary traits to roleplay. Often they are historical based, but its not iron clad. Like in the current Friday night game I'm India, so I'm definitely not going to roleplay Gandhi (whenever I reach the modern age) as a warmonger. Of course if I intended to make a war, I would have made someone else leader instead of Gandhi in the first place. Gandhi could be another character waiting in the wings, and perhaps criticizing and protesting the current goverment of India that was laying waste to its Mali neighbors.

So you've got some flexibility. Having different characters allows you to change directions and not be locked into one path or strategy or outlook for the entire game. It gives you more control in the game.

Sometimes, when your nation becomes a Democracy you could even hold elections for who will be your next leader. In the game History of the World 2, I started an actual poll here in the forums asking other players to vote on who should be my next leader. I had a wide field of candidates each with different priorities. One an industrialist, one a warmonger, one who favored allying with Australia, one who favored allying with China, etc. So in this case I was actually giving up control in the game. Allowing other players (and onlookers) to determine what path I would take.

But yea, check out the FAQ that Deity linked to. Lots of stuff explained there.

[deity]

Can everyone be online by 8pm Aust EDT tonight please.

Trev is hosting.

We need handles (MSN, icq) for:

* gakkun

Players confirmed:

Trev
deity
Alex (defcat)
Marcus (Aussie_lurker)

[deity]

Where's Hydey and Horse??