[PBEM] Chaos Theory

[HitAnyKey]

Ok, I'm looking to start a PBEM game. This'll be my first one on here and with multiple people.

I'm pretty open to ideas of what options people will want, so if you want to play, let me know. Currently my thoughts are this:

Continents (I tend to be partial to this, but I'm still flexibile if other people want something else)
Size: Standard or Small (depending on # of players)
Climate: Temperate

Everything else probably just using the defaults unless people want something else. I'd prefer Random choice of Civs.

Anyone that's interested let me know so some decisions can be made and a game started.

[sabrewolf]

i'd be up for another game if we start with a non-ancient start (the first turns are very tedious in PBEM)...

[HitAnyKey]

Non-Ancient works for me. I'm up for something different. I'll just have to re-read up on how to set up a good non-ancient game as I havn't done that yet with Civ4 and it's been awhile since I did it with Civ3.

Any other settings or stuff you'd prefer?

[sabrewolf]

it's very simple to set it up. you just select it from the dropdown

and the cool thing: the "later" you start, the more you get. i've got 2 non-ancient PBEMs going:
- classic: you begin with an archer, a scout, a settler and a worker.
- industrial: 3 settlers, 3 riflemen, 2 explorers, 2 workers. your cities also start at size 3 and have 2-3 improvements already built in it.

so something else than these two starts would be preferable for me. medieval or renaissance or modern are all fine!

one downside of the "later" starts: the religions get distributed randomly after about 3-5 turns. if you are lucky to get one of them, it's great. otherwise you'll have to get stuff that usually is not high priority (such as philosophy, theology or divine right)


other stuff: not too easy AIs otherwise they can be exploited too easily with trades and alliances. a tougher AI (they are weaker in MP than in SP) such as monarch makes it less likely that he'll be misused to one player's advantage...

[HitAnyKey]

Cool. I'll start looking into more specifics tonight and deciding which way to start things out.

We still need a few more players though, so anyone else that wants in toss a reply!!

I've love to get this game started either Saturday night or sometime Sunday.

As an FYI, I'm in the EST timezone and can do turns after 7pm EST or right at 7:30am EST during the week. I'll figure out turn orders once we get a couple more players and I know everyone's timezones and normal connection times.

[koningtiger]

I am in if you want. I would vote for medieval start.

Random civ is ok for me.

My timezone is GMT+1 and i usually play after 23:00(GMT+1), my email is Gildor_Calafalas[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Thanks.

[sabrewolf]

i usually play my turns until 23:00 GMT, which overlaps with the play time of koningtiger. so i'll in future prioritise this game ahead of others. so put me in before him in the play order.

as for the civilisation choice: i first need to know what game type before i can choose the civ...

[HitAnyKey]

Well my game title pretty much says it all. I was thinking of doing as many settings as possible as Random.

Per your suggestions, I think I'll go with Midieval.

For Game type, I'm thinking of taking a few of the map types (Continents, Terra, Pangea, Inland Sea) and putting the names in a hat and drawing one randomly. Give me suggestions of other ones you might want tossed into the random mix or if you want any taken out.

Sea Level & Shoreline would be Random.

All the Civs (including ours) would be Random, and also using the Random Personalities option (though still don't fully even know what that does...but it has 'random' in it, so may as well try it ).

I'm thinking of keeping it at Temperate climate, since the others might just be too annoying for this type of game.

I'm also thinking 3 AI's, with the difficulties at Prince or Monarch (probably Monarch as requested).

If it stays just us 3 players then I'll make it a Small map. If we get another player or two, might make it a Large map. Or if everyone prefers, I'll keep it at the small map and just remove some of the AI's.

[sabrewolf]

small, standard or large are all fine for me. the more AI, the more fun, but we can also play with less than full spots (more space). it's up to you!

random personalities basically means that the traits are random. for instance saladin could be organised and aggressive instead of spiritual and philosophical. but he'd still have the same unique unit.

looking forward to this game

[sabrewolf]

by the way, my email address is sabrewolf AT blackhole DOT ch

[HitAnyKey]

Ok, I'm going to give it until as late as possible tomorrow night and then I'll start up the game. That'll leave time for one or two more players to jump in just before I start it up.

So anyone reading this thread, let me know your timezone and normal playtime so I can set the play order and also toss me your email addy.

My plan is to probably toss out the turns around midnight'ish EST Sunday night. Unless no one else joins up tomorrow and you both want to wait another day or so for more players. But I'm cool with just the three of us and a handful of AI's if no one else joins.

[sabrewolf]

it looks like no one else has been looking. if you want, i can ask somebody else. there are some very reliable players that i know of...

[HitAnyKey]

Go for it if you want. I'm going to start the game up whenI get home from work tonight, so if anyone joins up in the meantime then I'll add them to the game.

[HitAnyKey]

Since you guys are already into the wee hours of the morning and won't be doing your turn until tomorrow (morning or night) anyway, I'm going to hold off on starting the game until later tonight for myself.

If no one else decides to join between now and then, I'll kick off the first turn to Sabre.

If anyone else wants to play, let me know before 11pm EST, which is when I'll start this game off.

[koningtiger]

K, ready when you want.