Smac Dg Pbem

[Archaic]

Players:

• Archaic - University
• Cedayon - Morgan
• GeneralTacticus - Morgan
• Hercules - Deirdre
• Maniac - Pirates
• MisterWhereIsItAt - TBA
• TKG - Morgan

Game options:

• "Cloned Factions" allowed
• Do or Die: eliminated players are not restarted
• Spoils of War off
• Non-Blind (directed) research
• No random events
• All victory conditions allowed including cooperative. Coop victory is limited to two players (Not including any players made submissive to either of those two).
• Unity survey off - map is unknown
• Look first on

PBEM specific rules/restrictions on exploiting bugs:

• Multiple reloading of the game to try for different effects is forbidden. If a reload is necessary because of a game crash etc., an explanation should be posted to the turn administration thread.
• Multiple drops or orbital insertions using the right-click menu is forbidden. So is airdropping from outside a base/airbase, or after having moved (except on a magtube) using the same method. Using the 'i' key when you want an airdrop means you will automatically comply with these restrictions.
• Inserting Stockpile Energy into the build queue after a military unit is forbidden.
• If a player employs a tactic that causes a state of vendetta, they are not allowed to "accept" a pending diplomatic agreement with that faction in the same turn, causing a change in diplomatic status or the transfer of energy or knowledge.
• If an aggressive probe action (anything except infiltration) is used on a faction you have a truce, treaty or pact with, you must select 'Declare Vendetta' in the dialog box that appears afterwards, and notify the victim of your transgression, unless you have received permission in advance. No notification is required in other cases.
• Upgrading units with the design workshop is allowed at end of turn only. However, supply crawlers upgraded in this fashion can still be used to advance Secret Projects in the same turn.
• Communications only allowed between factions that have obtained each others' commlink frequencies in-game.
• Social engineering choice limited to one switch per line per turn. (no flip-flop within turn!)
• Psi units cannot be assigned multiple point patrol routes (avoid instant demon boil bug!)
• Whenever the planetary council is called, the caller (or the first player to vote if the AI calls it) should post a notification to the thread, including vote totals (if applicable) and who has already voted for what. The other players should post how they vote.
• No base trading with the AI. Extortion is allowed.

As soon as everyone confirms their faction, I'll go get us a CMN.

[Cedayon]

If a player employs a tactic that causes a state of vendetta, they are not allowed to "accept" a pending diplomatic agreement with that faction in the same turn, causing a change in diplomatic status or the transfer of energy or knowledge.

So the diplomatic stuff would not be allowed before or after the vendetta-causing act?

Also, are the standard conquest methods permitted against the other players? There was some discussion about this, I'm not sure where it ended.

In either case, I think I'll go with Morgan this time.

[Maniac]

Uh if you excuse me I'd like to have a discussion about a few points before we make the rules definite. I'd like to hear the other players' opinion regarding random events, the stockpile energy bug, and above all (!!!) the map size. Also I'm not at all certain Pandemoniak had given his place to General_Tacticus. It's the same to me who plays (I'll defeat you anyway ), but I wouldn't want this matter decided over Pandemoniak's head, as he posted this message some time back:

After feb 12.

Also before deciding my faction I'd like to know what map we are playing on (some premade by the CMN or a random - with which settings then?). This matter is rather important because I once played on a CMN-premade map with the pirates (one of the factions I'm considering now - for fun, I have no idea how to transcend fastest with them) where about all the sea tiles were -1999 depth ocean tiles. Tthe land part of the map was well-made, but the sea was a bit ignored.

[Archaic]

Originally posted by Cedayon
So the diplomatic stuff would not be allowed before or after the vendetta-causing act?

You'd be allowed to do it before, as then the Vendetta would still happen after you did the vendetta-causing act. The rule's to stop people attacking or whatever, then accepting a peace, treaty or pact they'd proposed in the diplo window.

Originally posted by Cedayon
Also, are the standard conquest methods permitted against the other players? There was some discussion about this, I'm not sure where it ended.

Yes

Originally posted by Cedayon
In either case, I think I'll go with Morgan this time.

Done.

Originally posted by Maniac
Uh if you excuse me I'd like to have a discussion about a few points before we make the rules definite. I'd like to hear the other players' opinion regarding random events, the stockpile energy bug, and above all (!!!) the map size.

Random Events - They're not actually random, but seeded by the game on the first turn.
Stockpile Energy Bug - You were arguing earlier that it favours Builders, but this isn't the case. You actually have to go and insert it into the queue for the bug to have an effect. Simply having no queues and only the thing currently being produced active completly eliminates the bug.
Map Size - As a frequent player of huge maps in PBEM, I can tell you that we'd be meeting rather soon anyway regardless of the map size, especially if a CMN has tried to spread us out equally.

Originally posted by Maniac
Also I'm not at all certain Pandemoniak had given his place to General_Tacticus. It's the same to me who plays (I'll defeat you anyway ), but I wouldn't want this matter decided over Pandemoniak's head, as he posted this message some time back:

He'd said a few posts later that "It's obvious you and I will never play a game" if you'll recall.

Originally posted by Maniac
Also before deciding my faction I'd like to know what map we are playing on (some premade by the CMN or a random - with which settings then?). This matter is rather important because I once played on a CMN-premade map with the pirates (one of the factions I'm considering now - for fun, I have no idea how to transcend fastest with them) where about all the sea tiles were -1999 depth ocean tiles. Tthe land part of the map was well-made, but the sea was a bit ignored.

Probably CMN, though we could always use a random map or even DDUBM.




Oh yes, and before I forget. Transcend difficulty everyone.

[Method]

DDUBM

[Maniac]

Random Events - They're not actually random, but seeded by the game on the first turn.

So?

Stockpile Energy Bug - You were arguing earlier that it favours Builders, but this isn't the case. You actually have to go and insert it into the queue for the bug to have an effect. Simply having no queues and only the thing currently being produced active completly eliminates the bug.

Are you sure? I heard from rather veteran players (I thought it was MoSe - don't know sure) that after a building is finished, the production automatically switches to stockpile energy, and therefore you get the extra energy from the stockpile energy bug, just the same as when you put stockpile energy in the queue yourself.

He'd said a few posts later that "It's obvious you and I will never play a game" if you'll recall.

He said this to be exact:

It is obvious there will be no game that will be played
between us.

Notice he put played in italics. I therefore thought he wanted to say there will be no playing with you in the sense of making fun together. But that he didn't say he no longer wanted to participate. Or it could of course be like you say and I might have an overimaginative mind. Only Pandemoniak knows!

Probably CMN, though we could always use a random map or even DDUBM.

DD's map is even worse for pirates. Half the water is gone!

[Hercules]

Well for me I guess it's young Deirdre or Cha Dawn.

[Pandemoniak]

No, I wont play in this PBEM, since I may move in march -- I currently live Avenue Maurice Thorez, first french communist senator, and I'll move avenue Vladimir Illitch Lenin, you know the guy, quite a promotion -- and if I do, I'll lose my internet connection, so I wont be able to continue a PBEM during march april and probably june.

I was rather thinking of another challenge to Archaic. Simply take the first save of this DG, MY 2101, play with it by ourselves and see who finishes with the more points. The thing is that it might make us play ahead.

And when I said Archaic and I woulnt most probably not play a game together, remember I insisted on the word "play". Like in playing a game, etc... Do you get what I mean ?

[Archaic]

Well, I've got plenty of free time from Monday this week. I suppose I could go back through the threads and find the 2101 turn. How many turns should we play? Up to the current year or so?

In any case, back to the PBEM, GT, would you please stick this thread for the others to see please?

[GeneralTacticus]

Done.

Re: Pande's challenge & playing ahead - given that we know where all the other factions are, and pretty much know the layout of the map, you won't be playing ahead. Pod results, randomnly made decisions by the AI, different battle results, etc, will create a different situation from the one we have right now.

[Archaic]

Domo Arigato.

Ah, good. We can play this through to completion then. Most points by victory by Transcendance. I'd be going for a quick finish anyway, but I suppose I can hold off and Transcend in the last turn just to see how many points I can rack up from all the pop and research.

[Pandemoniak]

Ok, so be it. Do we fix a deadline to give post the results of the game ?

[Archaic]

No. Just post up the results of your game when you finish. I'll be keeping a comprehensive turn log for mine (Saves of every single turn, along with text notes of what I did and why), so I suggest you may want to consider keeping one yourself.

[Pandemoniak]

Ok, I'll do log. I already thought of a title : "Birth of a Faction".

[Maniac]

In case some of you don't feel like digging into pages of threads, I attached the 2101 save. I have a folder with all the current save files until now. I knew it would turn out handy some day.