March Madness!

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by smellymummy
If my first start doesnt have a cow or wheat, I could just easily say restart. Everyone in a single game could. it can make for lots of potential restarts, and lots of time being wasted

I just think it would be a shame to have to allow delaying playing because one or more players wants to use the games randomness to get an edge over the other players.

Only one restart per player per game. The restart itself would not count as a new game. _If_ everyone happened to use their restart in the same game, it would be the equivalent of 2 extra turns per game, not really a factor considering the length of a total game (200-500 turns).

No desert islands here, just 4 tribes crammed on the same tiny continent. Your neighbors' warriors will be wandering around your porch probably before you can found your third city, maybe even before a second with poor land.

Having a single chance to restart would make each player decide: is this bad enough to risk getting stuck (most likely for good) with something even worse next time?

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by alexman
Can I play too?

I think so... You need Civilization3 and the Conquests expansion pack, along with an internet connection.

I like the idea of an AU MP mod for this.

The plan is to start the first round once we have 16 players and the 1.20 patch. Would it be a good idea to put a mod together in time for that? If not, my thought was to work on a mod on the side and have it ready for the the championship game.

Would we use another mod (MPTournament.biq or the first AU MP one) as a starting point? I haven't looked at the AU mod for PtW MP, just seen it mentioned in a few turn tracking threads. Could one of our AU gurus supply a link or a summary of how the process went?

I was looking over the 1.20 thread and noticed the new MPT mod forces 40% ocean?!? This would make for too much land for 4 players on a tiny pangea map wouldn't it?

[alexman]

MPTournament.biq seems like a good idea, at least for the first round.

Because of the big time investment of a PBEM game, and because the rules are stored in the save game, we don't want to experiment with an AU mod that has not been extensively play tested. We can certainly start playing around with an AU MP mod for the next round, or next tournament.

I think the lower percentage of ocean in the MP bic is because more land makes it more likely to get even starts - nobody gets stuck on a narrow peninsula. Of course, the best solution is to have somebody look at the map and make sure the positions are relatively even before each game starts. Also, some like more land to be able to expand a bit before fighting begins.

[Conqueror]

Thanks for the invite Rommel2D

I'll join with pleasure, as long as patch 1.20 is used, and it really has the advertised PBEM load fixes in it.

Proposed rules sound OK to me.

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by alexman
Also, some like more land to be able to expand a bit before fighting begins.

Sir Ralph was all about tiny maps with 70% ocean for four players, but I don't remember if he gave any reasons for it. This wouldn't be a corruption thing, would it?

I think more land and expansion for the players would prolong the game, something we should try to avoid in the first round at least. Tiny and 70% seems to be working well in game 1 of the first tournament. Is anyone having a different experience?

Another option would be to use elimination mode for first round games...

[Rommel2D]

If anyone has scheduling information (primary availability times or normal sleep hours or time at work without access) they want me to consider when making up the groups, post it here or PM me. I'll assume midnight-6AM local time as "down time", and 3PM-midnight as primary availability time unless otherwise stated, and try to get as much schedule overlap as possible in the final groupings.

[edit: I don't want to make this seem more complicated than it is.]

[marcuspeddle]

I'm in Korea. Oops! That's +9 GMT.

[Dominae]

Please count me out; I'm not sure I have the time for another PBEM commitment. Sorry.

Have fun!


Dominae

[Rommel2D]

Sorry to hear that. Thing are going to be a little dull here until the patch is released, but it will definitely pick up after that! For now, I'm trying to figure out how to address the issue of a possible mod and in-game rules/ettiquette, if at all.

Could I change your mind by revealing that the eventual winner will receive a Free Lunch?

[Dominae]

Originally posted by Rommel2D
Could I change your mind by revealing that the eventual winner will receive a Free Lunch?

Heh-heh, nice catch. All I can say is: TANSTAAFL!

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Rommel2D
Sir Ralph was all about tiny maps with 70% ocean for four players, but I don't remember if he gave any reasons for it. This wouldn't be a corruption thing, would it?

Corruption (the extra cities would be near useless) and the fact, that the game setup phase ("REX") should be accelerated for the sake of some "action". I played in games with abundant space and their medieval age (the most exciting IMO) was deadly boring, because the players were still busy REXing.

[Paddy]

Well said Masuro

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by Paddy the Scot
Well said Masuro

Are you referring to the 'restart' post or the "oops" post? ;-)

I've seen a few 'no restarts', some inklings about maps previewed for balance, and some thumbs up for the single restart option. Does anyone feel strongly enough about this one way or the other that we should call for a vote on it? Otherwise I'll just go with what we have for rules now.

Unless Jesse is setting up the most evil April Fools joke ever, the patch will be out this week. I'll do some more active recruiting to fill out the rest of the slots before the weekend. I'll also compile links to some past threads on PBEM ettiquette and exploits for reference before the games start.

Let's get this iron horse rolling...

[marcuspeddle]

I vote for no restarts but I won't mind if we do start over.

[Rommel2D]

* MPTournament: Tiny & Small maps can be played with 8 players
* MPTournament: Map sets Oceans to 40%
* MPTournament: Map Trading moved back to Map Making
* MPTournament: Enkidu cost raised to 15
* MPTournament: Ancient Cavalry defense lowered from 2 to 1
* MPTournament: Captured cities retain culture
* MPTournament: Turn slices lowered from 24(base)/3(per-city)/1(per-unit) to
16/2/1
* MPTournament: Scientific Leaders disabled

These are the supposed additions to the new patch for the MPTournament.biq. I have no idea if there are any such modifications in the current version (alexman, have you had a chance to scan through it?).

Does anyone find any of these controversial? The only one that I'm wondering about is the 40% ocean setting. This being Conquests, there are ways to deal with excessive corruption, but the extended building (REXing) period and larger empires would be nice to avoid for the first round games, I think.