Rules and Frequently Asked Questions

[RobWorham]

Please find below a list of the rules we, as a community, have agreed upon. Further down you will also find a list of Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.'s)

[RobWorham]

RULES OF THE GAME:

The Double Move Rule : 48 hour turns

1. No double moves during a time of war, except as noted below.

During times of war all concerned Civ's should allow for 1/2 the turn timer (24 hours) to pass between moves if the other Civs involved in the war have not moved since a concerned Civ has moved.

In other words: You cannot make moves during periods of war until either one of two things have occured:

i. All other concerned Civs in a war (being at war in game) have made moves/completed one turn since you have made your moves/completed a turn.

ii. 1/2 the turn timer (24 hours) has past since you made your moves/completed your turn.

The reason "made your moves/completed your turn" is worded that way is that a team can log in make some moves, log out, log back in and make more moves. Once a team makes ANY moves the requirement that says a team must make a move/complete a turn is fullfilled.

2. No moving of units after you have pressed 'End Turn'

3. No double moves of a Settler, at any time, if an opponents Settler is in the same vicinity as yours, and visible, except as in point 1.ii. above.

4. No double moves of a unit, at any time, if a goody hut is nearby, and an opponents unit is in the same vicinity, and visible, except as in point 1.ii. above.

5. Double moves should be allowed at all other times in order to help speed game play.

6. Play fair, be a gentleperson. We are all here to have fun and enjoy ourselves. Let's do just that and not screw our fellow gamers over by bending the rules to give ourselves an unfair advantage.

Thanks to Bigfree for his work in putting together this ruling in the Warlords DG

[RobWorham]

Reserved

[RobWorham]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (F.A.Q.'s)

What is a Team Democracy Game?
A Team Democracy Game (Demo game or DG) is a game played by a large community of players who split up into a number of teams, each team becoming one civilization. Each team gets to discuss their teams strategy in their own private forum. Quite how they operate within their private forum is entirely up to them, but as a general guideline, some form of discussion is held (via posting and/or 'live chats') to decide upon the best course of action for their civilization. Once they have decided upon a course of action, one member of their team physically plays the turn.

What version of the game are you using?
Civilization IV Beyond the Sword. (we are waiting for the next patch to be released before starting the game proper. In the meantime we are sorting out the pre-game issues.....)

Is this a single-player or multiplayer?
This is Multiplayer using the PitBoss technology to take the turns. People are split into teams and each team is assigned a single civilization.

What is PitBoss?
PitBoss (Persistent Turn-Based Server or PTBS) is a piece of software that enables people to login and play their turn at their own pace. It incorporates an internal timer that can be optionally used to set a time limit within people should play, ranging from an hour to days. The turn rotates as soon as all have played their turn or the time limit is reached, what ever comes first. If the time limit is reached PitBoss will automatically end the turn and proceed to the next one, so everyone that hadn't played up to that point will miss the turn.

You can read more about PitBoss by visiting 2kgames' respective web page here or by downloading snoopy369's guide in Word format here.

How do I play it?
That depends on how much you want to get involved. First you have to join one of the available teams. Then you need to decide what level of participation you wish to devote to your team. Participation can range from passively reading the posts made by other people and contributing your thoughts where appropriate, all the way up to actively posting and creating new threads in your private team forum, and playing the turn on a regular basis. Of course your level of activity could be anywhere between the above two extremes, but as a general guideline, the more you put into your team the more you get out of it.

How much work is involved after I join?
That is for you to decide. No obligations are made unless a particular team specifically demands more involvement from its members.

By joining the game do I commit to finish it?
I'm sure everyone in the game would love you to go the distance, but there are no contracts to sign, and participation is purely on a voluntary basis. Activity levels generally ebb and flow as real life commitments dictate.....

What kind of people play this kind of games?
Fun people, people who like to talk, people who like team play, people with ambitions, curious people, civ addicts, you name it!

How many teams are participating?
This has yet to be decided, but a rough estimate would be a good handful.....

Are any rules in effect?
Each team will have a set of rules consisting of their constitution and there will be another set of rules common to all. They are all yet to be defined.

Do I have to own a copy of the game?
No, but it would be useful to own a copy in order to have a better view of the game. Unless of course you want to be a turn player, in which case you must have the game installed.

Do I need to install any special software or alter my files?
No.

[RobWorham]

Reserved #2

[RobWorham]

Please feel free to ask any questions if you are unsure about something.

I, or another member of our helpful community, will endeavor to answer your questions as soon as possible.

[b44b]

hi,
i am new to multi-player games but love playing bts.
i am curious as to what happens to game play if an entire team abandons a game.
what happens if there is a major dissent amongst team members as to strategy. ie research path, diplomacy. what if the dissenting member(s) switch the technology being researched or declare war / make peace.
as a side note, i feel that large teams could be unsatisfying to most members who would start to feel a disconnect with the team due to the path the team takes in the game and the path they would have wished.

thanks for listening / answering

[Dale]

Originally posted by b44b
hi,
i am new to multi-player games but love playing bts.
i am curious as to what happens to game play if an entire team abandons a game.
what happens if there is a major dissent amongst team members as to strategy. ie research path, diplomacy. what if the dissenting member(s) switch the technology being researched or declare war / make peace.
as a side note, i feel that large teams could be unsatisfying to most members who would start to feel a disconnect with the team due to the path the team takes in the game and the path they would have wished.

thanks for listening / answering

That's when you and your followers take over the Government and run the country in your stylings!


*cough* *cough*

Sorry. But that's why its a democracy game. Players vote on the issues/actions and majority rules. Everyone enters a demo game knowing this simple fact. So if they disagree with the democratic process of the demo game, then they disagree with the whole principle of demo games and probably shouldn't get involved.

[Whip[lash]

It's up to each team to manage their affairs as they see fit. Part of the fun in a Demo game is the internal politics of arriving at consensus.

These games are usually won by the team having the best political skills for resolving internal differences and developing diplomatic strategies to deal with the other teams.

[Zoid]

Shouldn't this thread be topped?

[RobWorham]

[RobWorham]

Double move ruling entered into post #2

[RobWorham]

Originally posted by ruff_hi
Well, sure, they will be answered but not by me. The will be asked by me (and others) ... questions like:

1. how is a pitboss game different from a regular civ game?
2. how do you load a pitboss game in civ?
3. what is the best way to exit from a pitboss game?
4. what is civstats?
5. why use civstats?
6. how do you use civstats?
7. ok, I have a userID as civstats ... now what?

[RobWorham]

Originally posted by snoopy369
1. PTBS is a persistent server game that can be logged on to at any time; it is a normal MP game except it has one turn a day (or any increment of hours). It is essentially a cross between a normal MP game, and a PBEM.
2. If you are not the host, you connect as if it were a normal MP game, either DirectIP or Internet depending on how it is hosted, and then enter in the IP if it's DirectIP, or select it in the Gamespy list otherwise. If you are host, this is a more complex answer; click the link in my sig for a document that talks about it.
3. Exit by selecting "Exit to Main Menu".
4. Civstats is a fan-created web program that tracks the PTBS game and when the turn is over, so you can see when you need to play your turn.
5. See 4.
6. www.civstats.com, then find the game in the listing, then register your leader (big link on top) if you are the team leader (then you get emails when turns are done); otherwise, you can watch the game progress and see when turns are over even if you don't register your leader.
7. See 6

[dacole]

Ok thinking about joining a team, one with few members since the ones with a lot of members probably wont need me. Couple questions...has the game all ready started if so is their any team in an incredibly bad position (the historian thread seems to have no game history yet). If it has started how many turns have been played about, and where can I get general setup stuff, do I have to go through each of the poll threads above I don't want the discussion just the final result.

Thanks!