Looking for PBEM game!

[Belvadave]

haha, i don't mind if the games cmn'ed.... not quite sure what that is, but if that's the plan someone else is going to have to handle it, since this is my first pbem game. (personally i like random starts, even if it screws me over), but whatever you guys like. so in short if you guys don't mind random starts, i can send the game out right away, otherwise someone else is going to have to start it. just lemme know!

[Mr. Harley]

I have a preference for cmn'd - but I'm willing to go with random, and would defer to Belvadave, he started the thread. I definite prefer traditional start, but if the majority go with fast start, again I'll be OK.

Shawnmmcc

email - hjcarr01@athena.louisville.edu

[Googlie]

Well, a "faststart" needs a CMN to set it up with the extra colony pods and scouts, etc, which is different from the "accelerated start" option when you self-start a game - that one (the latter) just puts you somewhere between 2120 and 2170, with an SP each and a bunch of headaches with the AI's mismanagement of your faction for x years.

A regular player in the game can't act as a CMN, as then he'd know all the start positions, etc, so it would need a neutral 3rd party.

but ............. it does take time to set up a CMN'd game - 2 to 3 days or so, so if we want to get off the ground quickly, then the Gaians should just kick it off and get it going.

but................ (and there's always a "but" ) it relies a lot on the honesty of the first six players in passing on the completed turn (which at that point isn't password protected for the next faction) without just hitting enter to see where that faction is starting (the only exception is the poor PK's who come last in sequence, when everyone's passwords have by then been set. The Gaians would know all players start positions, the Hive just the next five, etc as the turn moves along until it reaches the poor PK's who would be playing "blind")

Hence the desireability of having a game CMN'd. That temptation is removed.

As well, the CMN can disable the Empath Guild, which in multiplayer is almost a gamebreaker (postgame analysis shows that the player whio gets the EG wins over 80% of the time)

So the 3 questions really are:

1) do we want it CMN'd?

2) if yes, do we want extra colony pods and exploring units?

3) if yes, do we want the EG disabled?

I vote "yes" to all 3, even if it means a slight delay in starting - worth waiting 2 or 3 days in a 300-day game to get it "right" first time

There also needs to be some agreement on rules such as stockpiling energy, probe actions, SE flips. etc etc - see the topped thread on Apolyton PBEM rules.

G.

[Mr. Harley]

I would prefer the straight Apolyton PBEM rules. Honors system on the Probe/rating 4 glitch - for the benefit of the Miriam player, only fair.

Prefer CMN.

No extra pods and exploring units - it helps momentum types more :P

Quick question, Googlie. From your experience, is it that the Empath Guild gives them the win, or that good players go for it? I would suspect the Weather Paradgim is almost as big. Thanks for the tip on players cheating on random starts - didn't know about that.

Game parameters - medium everything, no tech via conquest (that's why you build probe teams ), no restart. Again, most of this is only preferences and I'm pretty flexible, but I'm definitely against the fast start, though I'll work around it if we vote for it. I'm also pretty new to PBEM, I've started up once, and then dropped because of some medical complications. I have tried to read some of the threads, though.

[Belvadave]

like googlie said, i would rather wait a few days to get the game started right.
but i'd still prefer a traditional start, and i was kind of just assuming no one would look at the start positions, so either way is fine.
as far as disabling things goes, i'd prefer to not, if something is a strong tactic in the game, i'd prefer to have to deal with it. (and since i'm basically a newbie, i'm sure i'll end up on the wrong end of that)
i'm also curious what the "Probe/rating 4 glitch" glitch is. probably a good idea to make me aware so i don't end up exploiting it, heh

[Jamski]

Trad start, CMN, etc etc

Probe rating 4 should make you immune to probes, but it rolls over to -3(?) so we must be honourable and not probe people who have probe rating 4.

EG disable fine by me.

-Jam

[Phat Tire]

Since I'll be unable to continue playing after school gets out in May, and this game looks like it will be far from completed by then, I'm going to withdraw now. Looks like this will be a good game when it gets off, but I'd like to get into one that I could actually finish after starting.

Sorry for any inconvience,

Phat Tire

[Mr. Harley]

Gaians - I'll take Gaians!

So far
CMN yes 3
tradional start 3 fast start 1
Empath Guild for 2 disable 2 (I'll vote for)
probe +4 glitch workaround - 3 for
tech by conquest. 1 against
all victories enabled 1 for
look first 1 for
unity survey 1 abstain
bell curve (no random events) 1 against

planetary conditions? I request medium everything (OK, I'd like abundant lifeforms if I get Gaians - I'm also not going to get it).

[Themonger]

Like I said I prefer to have the game CMN'd. I would like no tech by conquest and no random events. Everything else I am impartial to really.

[Mr. Harley]

Looks like CMN it is - 4 is guaranteed majority. Googlie, can you please contact Drasnan, as you apparently know him?

[Toiletman]

Errrm, is there a hive spot open coz Phat Tire resigned? If so, I'd like to play
email: rDOTcDOTwitATstudentDOTutwenteDOTnl

[Belvadave]

ahh, good, looks a full house again then. as soon as we have a CMN and have all voted on the rules we can get started i guess.
for my part i'm for random events, for all victory conditions, against unity survey , against look first, and against tech conquest.
mmm, tastes like democracy... just like us peace keepers like it.

[Toiletman]

As for rules and bugs and stuff,
I advice everyone who isn't aware of the bugs to read this doc:

http://www.civgaming.net/smac/acad_buglist.shtml

As for rules and stuff
I'm in favor of a CMN
for the rest, I favor using the tournament rules for random maps, that is:

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 non-submissive players.
Unity survey off - map is unknown
Look first on
Normal starting conditions

What kind of map are we gonna play?
What version of SMAC are we using? I Got SMAX installed here atm, but I got the SMAC CD here, so do I need an install of that with patch, or can I play using SMAX?

[Belvadave]

unfortunately i haven't been able to find smax, so it will have to be smac. unless i find it within the next little while i suppose... (doesn't seem likely)

[Googlie]

I've e-mailed Darsnan to see if he'd be willing to do the honours as our CMN

G.