AU 502 Teaser

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by Thriller

2. If you were playing this, would you play emperor or demigod?

I'd be interested in ducki's thoughts regarding which level an Emperor/Demigod player should choose as well. I don't know how much experience ducki has on Demigod, but it can be a big step up, especially when the AIs are close enough that their second settlers cramp the player in before he can get his settler pumps moving.

[planetfall]

difficulty?

I didn't see anything about difficulty level. Does each player have the option of setting difficulty level or is this preset?

Never played an AU game, but this one might be interesting.

PF

[ducki]

I'll provide two zipfiles, one for the AU Modded games and one for Stock Rules, containing save files for all difficulties ranging from Regent to Sid(they really should rename this Aeson if for no other reason than to get my save files to sort in the right order), so you pick your difficulty level. It's not a competition, we're all about learning and fun and good happiness stuff.


I'm not ignoring your borderline difficulty question Thriller and Nathan. I don't have an answer now, but I'll have one before the game starts. I promise.

[alexman]

[broken record]
Continents? Archipelago? Pangaea? %water? Barbarian intensity? Climate? Temperature?
[/broken record]

I think knowing these things beforehand encourages players to make decisions based more on sound strategy and less on luck.

[Dominae]

I prefer less information, frankly. Surprise me.

[ducki]

[dull needle]
Since this is my first stab at creating a course, I've used Dominae's AU501 threads as a sort of template as far as which information to release, which to hold back, what to hint on, etc. I'll quadruple check tonight, just to be ultra-double-mega sure I'm sticking to that model. I think not knowing, having a bit of mystery, adds to the fun, forces you to adapt to situations as they come, gives a bit more excitement to any discovery.
[/dull needle]

But, in an effort to not be just simply stubborn, something old and something new.
New: Not archipelago.
Old: Yes, some barbarians. No, not raging hordes.

[nbarclay]

How about if we start a tradition of having a semi-spoiler thread where the more precise information about game conditions is available? I think it's bad for Apolyton Unniversity if people who really want more information are denied it just because others don't want it (or because a particular game's designer is in a mood to be enigmatic), but I'm also inclined to respect the wishes of people like Dominae who would rather be surprised. A separate semi-spoiler thread should be able to satisfy both.

An even more sophisticated approach would involve using a trick I've seen (but don't remember how it works) to hide text so you have to highlight it with a mouse to read it. If each piece of information would be labeled but the text hidden, people could find out what they want to know without being exposed to what they don't. That would let people go into games anywhere from completely blind to knowing the exact map and barbarian settings used to generate the map, and maybe also give the option of knowing the designer's guess at how easy or difficult the game is likely to be relative to its difficulty level to help players choose. (Some of us enjoy playing on a higher difficulty level if a game is going to be relatively easy but not if it's going to be relatively difficult.)

Nathan

[Rhothaerill]

Nathan try this...

Spoiler:

Just type (spoiler) The text (/spoiler) with the parentheses replaced by brackets.

[planetfall]

I'm assuming there will be a readme of the changes from default with the zip.

As Alexman keeps reminding, I would expect to know the world creation basic options used. We should also know the number of civs. It's ok to keep the exact civs non disclosed, but we should know the basics.

Refresh my memory please. As I recall from a time long ago and a place far away, the purpose of AU was to provide a learning experience of playing the same game [maybe on different difficult levels] to explore one or two aspects of the game. The assumption, nah, hope or expectation is by sharing our game play we can learn and have more fun next time we have a game to play. The goal is not to earn points or be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, ad nausem, but to simply have fun sharing and learning.

Is this a fair summary?

PF

[pvzh]

Ok. I am fed up with this "spoiling"! When are we going to play this friggin AU502? After 1.20f?

[alexman]

Tomorrow!!

Edit: And for the latest AU mod changes, see the topped thread.

[planetfall]

Originally posted by alexman
Tomorrow!!

Edit: And for the latest AU mod changes, see the topped thread.

Yeah, right. FYI for later there should be 2 topped treads.

Thread A-- closed list of changes in AU
Theard B-- discussion of changes in list of AU changes from default.

From what I can gather:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=2524165#post2524165

01-12-2003 14:00 Description of all changes
01-12-2003 14:02 Changes in 1.04

This is quite old, over 14 months.
01-12-2003 14:03
Discussion that has not (yet) resulted in changes

Amphibious units
The Explorer
Post-sail ship movement
The Military Academy
The Javelin Thrower
The Jaguar Warrior
The Army
The Agricultural trait
The Oracle
Resource Scarcity
The Gallic Swordsman
The Swiss Mercenary
The Ansar Warrior
The Hwach'a


Have any decisions/changes been made here? Is 1.04 the latest list of modes, or is there something I am missing?

pf

[alexman]

Look closer. The thread was last updated today.
(and 1-12-03 means last December, not 14 months ago)

Anyway, don't worry, the AU mod zip file for the AU502 game will contain a readme too.

[planetfall]

Hey it's getting near the end of the day, the old brain misfires a bit more!!!!

Cool about the read me. I'll probably give one of the versions a try. If I can just finish my current game.

PF

[cracky]

Me Too!

Ducki: Is it 'tomorrow' where you are yet?

...Just another 'me too' suggestion for the AU.

Do you have approximate events/dates for the different DARs? I assume we'll be following a pattern similar to AU 501's with slight changes, ie. First DAR at 2150 BC, second at (not Dromons this time but), the first Gallic Swordsman, that kind of thing. It's not really important, just something for people to keep in mind for taking screenshots to accompany their DARs....