Do we want another SP AU game?

[nbarclay]

Things have been almost completely dead here lately aside from sporadic posts to the MP game thread. Would there be any interest in another SP AU course, or has the impending arrival of Civ 4 killed all the interest?

One idea I've come up with - and it is definitely not for the faint of heart or of CPU power - is a true grand finale. The idea would be to play with the same oversized map size as in Gargantua (AU 402) but with all of the 31 civs now available in Conquests, and probably with 70% water instead of 80% water to give the extra civs more room. An archipelago map would make the most sense (since even 'pelago land masses can be decent sized on an oversized map), probably with the player starting on one of the larger land masses.

Edit: Thinking a little more, it would probably be better to go with 60% water and reduce the world size by a corresponding amount. That should reduce the CPU load a little while still making the game the biggest in AU history in terms of land area and of number of civs.

Warning: Turns by the end of such a game can get very, very long even on the fastest of PCs. It's only really playable if you don't mind doing something else while waiting for the AIs to take their turns.

Or we could do something more conventional, or both.

[Tassadar500]

I think it's definitely a good idea. Even if this course generates only a little bit of interest, it will still get the AU in better shape for when cIV comes out.

[Addled Platypus]

go for broke

and if you only get 15 polyners to sign?
still a go ?

dibs on China

[nbarclay]

Platypus, I'm talking about a single-player game here, not multiplayer.

[Krill]

I would love to play the game.

But the AI is naff at 'pelago maps, so perhaps a pangea would be better?

[nbarclay]

On a standard map size, archipelago settings tend to result in one or two AIs per land mass, with little in the way of opportunities for AIs either to trade or to expand through conquest. On a beyond-huge map with 31 civs and 60% water, judging from a couple tests I tried at a 220x220 map size, you actuallly end up with some of the land masses being bigger and having more civs than on a standard continents map. AIs can still be expected to show their usual incompetence in invading other land masses, but I think there should be enough contact, trading, and room for killer AIs to evolve for there to be AIs that provide credible competition in the tech race.

What I'm hoping for is a feel similar to a standard or large continents map, only with more continents. That makes the naval dimension of the game a lot more interesting than on a pangea.

[Krill]

OK, 'Pelago it is.

How are you are, Nathan? Life treating you fairly?

[Dominae]

Another game surely cannot hurt.

Huge maps are not my thing, though. I would only play if the map were Standard Pangea, or Small anything.

I'm much more interested in getting some discussion going regarding the future of AU in light of the upcoming CIV. I'll post a thread on this in the next couple of days.

[Addled Platypus]

just hoping to 31 players in one game


would that map be bigger than the one in civ contents
forget the game name, but same premise

[Tassadar500]

Originally posted by Dominae
Another game surely cannot hurt.

Huge maps are not my thing, though. I would only play if the map were Standard Pangea, or Small anything.

I'm much more interested in getting some discussion going regarding the future of AU in light of the upcoming CIV. I'll post a thread on this in the next couple of days.

How goes the post?

[vmxa1]

The map was 250x250 with 24 civs. Never tried a map larger than 250. I think it also had the tech rate changed. I can't remember if it was to slow down the pace in an attempt make it play like a smaller map or what.

[Tassadar500]

Check this thread out:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=138622

[joncnunn]

I would strongly sugest that someone creating a map designed for max number of AIs to keep it reasonably balanced.

Also, have we had an AU course where the prefered mode of victory was via the UN?

[Theseus]

Sorry, while traveling I had been using the "My threads" feature and hadn't seen this.

I say yes, Nathan, by all means lets do a blowout monster game.

[Dominae]

Originally posted by Lord Nuclear
How goes the post?

It goes...slowly.

I would like to have it up this week sometime.

By the way, great work doing some publicity in the CIV thread; it would be really neat to have people actually learn to play CIV with the help of AU...let's make it happen!