Strat Guide and other stuff

[Fitz]

Vel, I agree that another color, preferably one that prints really close to black in B/W put looks quite different in full color, will do the trick. Play with colors a bit. It'll take your mind off the stress in your life.

[Solver]

After I remember the horror of combining it all into Word and printing out, I'd like the book. If someone would ship it here .
Vel, very good work - really. I'm a verteran civer, and story writer, must admit you've done excellent work both in terms of SMAC and writing.
Said Solver looking at those 100 pages on the table.

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Solver the "Running Beer" - http://www.aok.20m.com

[Velociryx]

Good ideas here...thanks guys!

Solver, thanks for the boost...needed that after having spent most of the day in the guts of the strat guide, tweaking and polishing.

I have no idea how many pages it'll translate to in book form, but the manuscript is a whopping 217 pages long (and that's single spaced type, with double spacing between paragraphs).

It may fluxuate slightly as I finish editing and polishing, and I do have one more section to add near the end...prolly no more than a page or two, so I'm guessing that when I finish this thing off, it'll be sitting right at 220 pages, looseleaf.

As to the internal linking, I'm now pretty happy with the look and feel of it. The text links are of a slightly smaller type than the surrounding text, and blue in color which means that when the book goes to press, there won't be a notable difference on the printed page--certainly nothing to upset the eye. The only thing I cringe at now is the fact that I've put page numbers next to all the links, which will allow people with the bound edition to also "jump" to the same sections that folks with the electronic version will be able to, but when the manuscript goes to Formatting, all my carefully laid out page numbers will be ruined, and I'll have to go back and do that part again. ::shrug:: Good way to spend a weeknight...lol

::sigh:: Okay, break's over....just had to come up for another breath of air...back to editing. Still got almost two hours left of the work day....

D'oh! I almost forgot! Solver, I think getting a bound copy on "your side of the pond" won't be a problem! The company has just finalized agreements with a press in England which will be responsible for print and distribution to that side of the Atlantic! (don't know the name of the company there, or the first thing about them, but that's the buzz)


-=Vel=-
[This message has been edited by Velociryx (edited May 10, 2001).]

[Solver]

Vel, looks very promising. I also hope to see you playing rated PBEM games someday, it would always be a honor for me to have contact with such a genius SMACer you are. You're probably one of the best playrs hanging our there. And well, over 200 pages seems excellent.
But, will it also be availble for free download in MS Word format? Anyway, many thanks, and I look forward to the new version. Just what I do with CtP 2...

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Solver the "Running Beer" - http://www.aok.20m.com

[Rynn:]

Hey, rumor has it that Vel's hard at work on a Strat Guide for CtP2

Not

R.

[Solver]

Rynn,
What's the point of message? Didn't get it :confused". Can't imagine Vel playing CtP 2 .

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Solver the "Running Beer" - http://www.aok.20m.com

[mark13]

Solver - it was a joke

Anyway, this looks *really* promising. And it's coming to England? Woohoo!

[Thantos]

Looking forward to seeing the new strat guide Vel

[Velociryx]

Wow....came back from a long weekend to find lossa new messages on the board!

Rynn...LOL...yeah...::as he grumbles something about not getting caught dead playing CtP::

Solver....much as I appreciate the compliment, I must disagree with your assessment...I think it can be fairly said that I'm the most verbose SMAC-er hanging out 'round here, but as to the best....nahhh....I leave that to the true diehards in the game.

What I DO consider myself is....a Professor? See....there are a group of people who seem to take an almost sadistic delight in utterly rending new players (MP), then bragging and gloating about it--I'm sure you've all been exposed to the type. You don't find that so much any more with SMAC....it seems to be a cyclical phenomenon, most common when a game first comes out, and then fading with time. My hope with the guide has always been to get players thinking in unconventional ways in an effort to prepare those players for an eventual run-in with one of the gaming trolls. In that regard, perhaps....Ramerez from the Highlander movie? LOL....or perhaps not. Anyway, my thinking behind all that goes something like this:

The aforementioned gaming troll tends to hunt down players new to MP and just run them into the ground, then rub it in and gloat about how talented they are....not only is that boring to listen to (and hey...in the final analysis, no matter how outstanding it is, it's still just a game, so how valuable can the "skill" of crushing unsuspecting opponents really be?), but it hurts the game itself in the sense that the new player who just got trounced and gloated to stands a chance of getting so frustrated he'll decide not to play further. That sucks, no matter how you look at it, and preventing that or at least making it more likely that the newer player won't be completely blind-sided has been a hope of mine from the start. Whew! How's that for waxing philosophic first thing in the morning....

So...all that to say....I'm probably not the best player here....there a lots of other folks who are playing every day, continuing to hone their skills, and they'd prolly kill me in a heartbeat, but I'd like to think I'd give them a surprise or two before they trounced me outta the game....::grin::

Okay, and before Thantos or any of the others who are anxiously awaiting the newest version of the guide tar and feather me, I'm gonna subit this post and get back to the painful process of editing....painful, but I love it....

-=Vel=-

[LoD]

Hey there, Vel - great to hear you're nearing completion of your guide - can't wait to read it (finally )!

quote: Quite right you are, and upon further reflection, I see no reason why I should not go ahead and make v3 of the guide "freeware" as well. Howwzat?

Absolutely great, especially since I had v3 on my site for weeks now .

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I love the smell of Nerve Gas in the morning. It's the smell of... victory! - MichealtheGreat

LoD - Owner/Webmaster of

THE CHIRONIAN GUILD SMAC Site
Chironian Guild's Discussion Forums

PS. I you'd ever need someone to do marketing for the Central European region - you know who to call .
[This message has been edited by LoD (edited May 14, 2001).]

[Solver]

Vel, my appreciation also goes to your amazing knowledge of game theory. But, not saying I'm better than you, I believe I'm better at one part of SMAC, that is the meta-game.

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Solver the "Running Beer" - http://www.aok.20m.com

[Velociryx]

And you may well be, Solver! Kudos for it in any case. The metagame is the most elusive of all the concepts covered in the strat. guide, but in my book, also the most potent trick up anybody's sleeve. Anybody who has a firm grasp of the metagame would be an exceedingly tough opponent to beat, because such players often do things that defy all logic, but work out perfectly nonetheless.

Players fluent in metagame concepts can control the map in ways that make them appear almost like ghosts, appearing at exactly the right moment (or wrong moment, depending on which side of the fence you're on), doing tremendous damage, and then vanishing before any retributive strike can be organized.

Mostly, it's about control of every element of the game. Making your opponent believe he's following his own game plan, when actually he's playing right into yours. Seeing to it that battles occur on exactly the terrain you dictate, and of course, making sure that every advantage belongs to you when the fight begins. In this way, the fight is effectivly over before it begins.

Cool stuff, that....

-=Vel=-

[bondetamp]

I'm somewhat unsure what is ment by the term 'meta game' but if it means 'winning by screwing with the opponent's head', the only game I've even been close to master on that level is Othello. The simplest board game in known history. And even that was years ago.

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-bondetamp
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
-H. L. Mencken

[Solver]

Yes, metagame and diplomacy are my loved parts of the game. Actually, I agree with you that it's pretty impossible to teach someone the metagame, but through experience, that is gained. I really liked your example with Lal and his crawlers. In Multiplayer, MetaGame is probably even more important. Feint takes less effect vs. the AI - it's too dumb to think about being attacked, but humans might well panic.

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Solver the "Running Beer" - http://www.aok.20m.com

[Thantos]

To me Bonedtamp the metagame can be summed up with this philosophy very good players go into the game believing they are going to win. A master of the metagame goes into the game knowing that he is going to win. To the player of the metagame you are no longer looking at each individual game but at the game itself. Its about playing for the endgame as each setting is chosen on the selections screen. It is about controlling the other players perception of what is happening in the game. It is your ability to indirectly channel your opponents in ways that even if they understand what you are doing they have only a choice of bad decisions to make in order to protect themselves.

It is about the proper execution of combinations. For instance Naval crawlers add a tremendous amount of energy for an economy that makes enourmous use of them.

And Finally Vel shouldn't you be getting back to work