Europa Apolyton: Eu2 MP Game

[aeturneus]

Update: I've realized that I need to give more time to people to join this game and that the 28th works better for a couple people, so rather than start with only 3-4 players I'm delaying the start of the game to May 28th

This will be a long term game, starting Saturday the 28th of May. Players of all skill levels are welcome! The point of the game will be to have fun and play Eu2 with fellow 'Polytubbies. If you haven't MP'd before, you are *most* welcome, however, please ICQ me so we can work out the technical details beforehand! (See setup instructions at the bottom of this post.)

You can get ICQ at ICQ.com or use the free Trillian client, which has no ads and can run all your instant messenger connections. Very easy to setup either way.

If you are unable to attend the weekly session for whatever reason, you may find a sub or have the AI play for you with reasonable repairs made afterwards.

Day / Time: Saturday, 14:00 GMT (09:00 EST, 07:00 MST, 06:00 PST)

To convert this to your time zone, use the Time Zone Converter.

Scenario: Ryoken's Balanced 1492 Scenario

Players & Countries:

Spain: available
France: available
England: 123John321
Austria: available
Ottoman Empire: Chegitz Guevara - ICQ: 432-356-86
Muscovy/Russia: Sandman
Portugal: Aeturneus - ICQ: 272-638-308
Poland: available
Venice: available
Sweden: available
Brandenburg: available

Rules: (somewhat debatable )

No map trading with the AI

No galleys outside Europe

Maximum 3 provinces ceded in a peace deal

Maximum 2 points per alliance: Spain, Austria, France, England, OE, and Russia each count for 1 point, all other player countries count for half a point. This may be amended depending on turnout. No permanent alliances, please.

Keep chat civil, and remember, it's a game, with friends, for fun!

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Please choose your country before Saturday morning. I am fine with people joining in at a later date, but I hope we can limit the amount of prep work to be done Saturday morning!

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Setup Instructions

1 - Install patch 1.08 1.08 patch
2 - Download the latest beta patch 2 feb 2005 and unzip it to your Eu2 directory.
3 - Check your version code. It appears in the upper left corner of the main menu. It should be APR212005-(TZBV). If the last four letters (TZBV) are different, you need to do a clean install of Eu2 and start from step 1.
3 - If you have a router, you have to know which port you need to forward to your computer. ports 2300 to 2400 AND port 47624 . Find a friend to help you if you don't understand this sentence. Otherwise, you won't be able to play.

[chequita guevara]

I think I'll take the Ottomans.

Are we using any of the 21 options?

[aeturneus]

I'm thinking of turning extra cores and same primary culture on. Not sure about the Spain/OE boost - I think it might be too much. ToT will be on if the boost is off, or vice versa.

[chequita guevara]

I don't want to be boosted.

[aeturneus]

OK, boost will be off, but Treaty of Tordesillas will be on, and hardcore pagans will be off. Extra cores and cultures will be on, giving everyone cores and cultures for expansion. Southeast asian nations will be on. Tax, manpower, and goods mods will all be turned off.

[aeturneus]

Update: I've realized that I need to give more time to people to join this game and that the 28th works better for a couple people, so rather than start with only 3-4 players I'm delaying the start of the game to May 28th. Should be enough time to get a good group of players together. If necessary, we can even advertise in PIF to get some people from the Newbie game over here

[Sandman]

I have a decent connection now, so I might be able to play... but is it really necessary to have all these rules for a simple game?

[aeturneus]

Glad to have you, Sandman!

The rules are intended to prevent certain strategies that unbalance the game - for instance, someone can take a few hundred galleys and dominate the Carribean, and that distorts the naval combat unrealistically, or someone, say Austria, can trade for maps all the way to China, which eliminates the natural advantages of exploring nations like Portugal and gives Austria (for instance) too much power. The alliance rule is really just common sense, so that people don't gang up on one or two countries unfairly. These are standard rules for multi-player Eu2, not excessive at all in my opinion. Of course, if you disagree I'm interested in your opinion!

What is necessary is the whole patching thing - make sure you get that all straightened out in advance, it drove us all nuts last time trying to get everyone to the same version

Eu2 games can't be finished in a couple of sessions, the good ones take quite a few sessions to complete, so it's important that the game doesn't get screwed up too badly or people sometimes feel like they wasted a lot of time. For that reason, the game master's (GM's) word is law in Eu2 games, but I am totally open to suggestions and help from all players, especially since this will be my first time as GM.

This page helped me get started, all of two weeks ago - LOL! Multiplayer Newbie Help Center

[Sandman]

Ok... I will sign up for Mother Russia.

I also vote for no extra stuff. No extra cores, no extra cultures, no nothing. I'm not keen on the scenario, really. Seems geared towards producing techno-paradises.

As for the alliances... how does one police the rule with regards to secret deals, AI-triggered wars, obvious badboys, etc?

[Dinner]

I see no reason to limit galley's to Europe. It's part of the game and everyone can do the same so why not allow it? I'm also not cool with the 3 max provience peace deals because if you spend the energy beating someone then you should get the reward.

[Dinner]

I'm also going to say I don't like the "balanced" mod because it is unhistoric and distorts reality. Yeah, that means small powers have to be smarter and try harder but that's life. There are enough big powers available that we don't have to worry about it.

[aeturneus]

Well, we did run a poll - I'm open to changing the scenario but would like to see some consensus. If you want historical, the AGCEEP is the way to go. If you want MP balance, then one of the balanced scenarios is the way to go. Vanilla rarely works out historically and is mostly AI-bashing, but I think that could be a lot of fun too - I just want everyone to have a game they can enjoy.

Sandman's down for Russia - what country do you want, Oerdin? Can I put you down for France again?

The 3 province rule helps ensure the longevity of the game, but I'm open to changing that as well. Would you be against turbo annexation of human players (taking all but one province) but in favour of a limit that depends on their size?

One of the problems with allowing people to kill human players in one or two wars, which could be as short as 10-20 years, is that players get disgusted with MP and don't return for another game. Not sure if we would have that problem or not - some of the things they need rules for in PIF might not be necessary given the decent sort of people we have on Apolyton

[mrboo123]

If its not this weekend, (21st check PM aeturneus) I'll be England or Austria, don't care.

[aeturneus]

Great, John! I've already pushed the start date back, so it should be no problem. I've put you down for England - I think you'll like it.

[chequita guevara]

My ISP service is out for the week.Count me out.