MP vs SP

[Paul]

King Richard's Crusade goes obsolete with Industrialization.

[rah]

I have never built KRC. SP or MP
There always seems to be something more useful.

RAH

[monolith94]

I agree with RAH, I hardly ever build KRC either. I only build it with a city that has 'nothing better to do'. It goes out to quickly!

[Ely McGreen]

Shakes and King Dick are still a powerful combo, as long are you have Dick and Shake in a shield rich city and an enemy in close proximity. But yes, Dick is not that valuable.

Sometimes, for the hell of it, I like to build Oracle, and build it when its useful to me. Usually this just drags me down, but hey, in SP you have to give the computer whatever advantage you can.

------------------
Elizer R. McGreen

[Ming]

Against the AI, Oracle isn't all that bad. The AI takes forever to finally research Theology. It is not a high priority for them. Yeah, you might get Theology accidentaly from a hut, but that's the breaks...

In a MP game, you can usually count on Theology being discovered, the turn right before or after you build Oracle.
I never build it, and I very seldom see it built in a MP game, and usually it was an accident, or out of desperation

[Ely McGreen]

Shoot- I thought I was building Marco Polo. That type of accident?

------------------
Elizer R. McGreen

[Ming]

No... But after a few beers, you could be right

I'm talking about those situations where you start building it with EVERY intent of switching it over to something better when the technology becomes available to you. And then forgetting to switch it over. (don't laugh, I've seen it happen before to somebody during a MP game)

Or, you are building it because you have mystism and no other wonder building science, and you are working toward some other goal... like masonary or pottery. And before you can get the science, somebody else builds the wonder so you can't switch off it! I've seen this happen too.

[Paul]

I have had similar situations happen to me. In one of my OCC games I started building SETI with the intention of switching to Apollo, but I forgot to switch and was very surprised that the map wasn't revealed and I couldn't build spaceship parts.

[East Street Trader]

Any advice on whether a newbie's first MP should be a duel or arena (incidentally what the hell is that?) or some other variant?

Also how do people generally go about lining up a game? I've noticed various boards which look as tho' they run or facilitate MP but have also seen folk issuing casual challenges.

Oh, and I forgot to ask - what kit do I need? I play with an old cd and a 2.42 patch. Pretty up to date pc tho' with an ISDN connection.
[This message has been edited by East Street Trader (edited June 24, 2000).]

[Smash]

Arena-4 players(usually).First 2 players to meet are allies.They then tell the other 2 who become allies.Object-Make your alliance more powerful and attack.

You need the Multiplayer version.Called MGE(mi=ultiplayer gold edition) this side of the pond.I think its called Ultimate Civilization Collection your side.Something like that.Should be fairly cheap.

[rah]

The original Arena games were also intended to be played on small worlds with the large continent options to encourage warfare early and often.

I can honestly say that I coined the term.

RAH
Lord of the Ferrets

[East Street Trader]

Only one thing to say to that Hurah for the ferret.

Also, thanks guys. See one of you in a game sometime - in about four years' time when my butt has aquired sufficient armour plating.

[Ming]

East Street Trader... why wait. The best way to learn MP is to just play. Sure, you might get your butt kicked at first, but you will learn much faster. Playing just against the AI will only teach you the basics, and probably a lot of bad habits too...

Plus, I'd rather be in a competitive MP game, and even lose, then play another boring game against the predictable and stupid AI

[DaveV]

EST - I think this site is the best place to set up your first MP game. There are a lot of people who hang around here that have (deservedly) good reputations for being patient with newbies. What worked for me was to post a thread on the Multiplayer forum with my preferred times and settings (11:00-12:00 Apolyton time, weekdays; 1x1x in my case).

I second what Ming said: MP is an entirely different game than SP. Reading the multiplayer forum will help you with some of the strategies and tricks, but there's no substitute for actually playing. An arena game might be a good idea for a first game if you find an experienced ally - you can then pick up some tips while playing the game.

Edited time of availability. Can't they fix this clock?
[This message has been edited by DaveV (edited June 28, 2000).]

[Ming]

Another good way to learn from a MP game is to save every few turns. Later, you can go back and load the files as regular game files, and use the scenario editor to take a look. You can then see what the good players were doing that was different than you