Civil War multiplayer?

[techumseh]

I have to say, I've been inspired by civ2units "Union" scenario and by McMonkey's giant map of the US. I think a multi-player scenario of the US Civil War on the full US gigamap might be a lot of fun. While it would be a 2 player scenario, it might lend itself very well to team play - say Lincoln, Grant and Sherman vs. Davis, Lee and Beauregard.

Does this sound interesting to anyone? Are there any pbem players out there who would be willing to try a ToT scenario? Let me know.

[McMonkey]

I was planning to do the exact same thing (6 player team game) on the map I built specifically for PBEM. I was planning to make it for MGE but goodness knows when I would have found time to make it! I for one would love to try out a ToT PBEM game. I will see how many of the guys at Civ Webring own a copy of ToT and would be interested.

[McMonkey]

I have already had replies from four of the guys at Civ Webring who own a copy of ToT and would be interested in playing this scenario. I expect some of the others will be interested too, even if they have to be press ganged into purchasing a copy of ToT

[techumseh]

I have already had replies from four of the guys at Civ Webring who own a copy of ToT and would be interested in playing this scenario. I expect some of the others will be interested too, even if they have to be press ganged into purchasing a copy of ToT

That's great. I know this is super optimistic, but if we could find 12 people, we could field 4 teams and hold a tournament.

[McMonkey]

Finding 12 people may be possible, but getting them to stick around for long enough could be problematic!

[techumseh]

McM: The beast is coming along very well. I'll need another week. Shall we arrange a playtest?

AGRICOLA, would you head up the SL side?

[McMonkey]

Wow, quick work! Do you want a six player PBEM playtest or just individuals to check it out first. I am more than happy to take a look at it first as (blowing his own trumpet rather arrogantly ) I have quite a bit of recent experience in designing and playing multiplayer games and I might be able to give some valuable feedback. The dynamics are quite different from single player, though I believe you have played multiplayer in the past. Looking forward to this

[techumseh]

I'm happy to send you a copy when it's ready to playtest, but you would need to find an opponent, or play both Union and Confederates yourself. It simply won't work as a single player scenario. The events aren't designed for it, and the thing is so huge that the AI will just mill around uselessly.

It's a 2 player scenario, with the rest of the civs controlled by the AI. They are the Neutral States (Kentucky, West Virginia and Missouri), the British (neutral and off limits), the Civilized Tribes (Oklahoma), allied to the Confederates, the Sioux -possibly at war with the Union at some point, and the Plains Indians, who are neutral.

Did I say a week? As usual I'm overly optimistic - say two.

[McMonkey]

So you decided against a three a side team game. If its two players I will test it against a human opponent. Last year I played a head to head game of Pablostuka's 'Spanish Civil War' against Jerec and it was a huge amount of fun and we managed to play a turn a day, sometimes two until I was eventually defeated. I will try and find someone with a bit of spare time on their hands so we can play at a fairly brisk pace.

[techumseh]

It would be great to have 3 or more players to a side; lots of fun because it is a huge map. But for a playtest, one player per side would be quicker, I think. Thanks for offering to do this.

[AGRICOLA]

AGRICOLA, would you head up the SL side?

Apologies for not replying sooner, but I haven't been monitoring this thread at all. My eyes tend to glaze over more than usual when I see the terms multi-player or pbem.

This is very bad timing for me as we are starting the final countdown to fleeing south and are waiting for swine flu shots to become available within the next few days. Once we get there and back on fiber optics I have to reformat my hard drive because because all the updates to Windows Live etc. have messed up some of the things I like. I have resisted making changes up here because a large download usully takes overnight rather than just a quick lunch break.

Best of luck with your project.

[McMonkey]

Any news Tech?

[techumseh]

Yes, it's coming along nicely. As always, I greatly underestimated the time to finish all the bits that are required, but progress has been steady. The map, rules and most of the events are done. Remaining events include those affecting the 3 Indian civs, possible British recognition of the Confederates, and the 1864 election.

I've started playtesting the first few turns using a 2-player hotseat game. It starts in Jan 1861, so there's a tech race and build-up for a few turns before hostilities are initiated, usually by the Confederates. Human controlled civs are, obviously, the United States and the Confederate States, and AI controlled civs are the British (strictly off limits), the Neutral States (West Virginia, Kentucky, and parts of Missouri), the Civilized Indians (in Oklahoma, allied to the CSA), the Souix, and the Plains Indians (remaining tribes).

Key events so far are: the Blockade, based on Union capture of Confederate ports, the Neutral States, which join the CSA if the Union attacks or builds the Emancipation Proclamation too soon, and the Emancipation Proclamation (Women's Sufferage), which, in addition to its effects as a wonder, creates black regiments and freed slave (settler) units. It also gives the guerrilla warfare tech to the CSA.

[McMonkey]

These things always take longer than expected, especially when real life interrupts. All the fiddly finishing touches and endless testing can take up ridiculous amounts of time and effort. I always find the final bit of the creation the most frustrating as I keep finding things to do at the last minute and I never feel 100% sure I have done everything!

Good luck, I'm really looking forward to playing this

[civ2units]

Your multiplayer scenario sounds very interesting.
I´m mostly working without Tech research during my scenario, ok, it begins in April 1861, immediatelly after the attack of Ft. Sumter.

I´m currently testing the Confederacy game, looking how everything works. Special thing by playing with the Rebs; you can´t build the normal infantry. During the game many different state volunteers are spawned by events. For now it works very well and should make a special challenge for the player.