Diplomacy Challenge

[Fistleaf]

Ideas for Peacekeeper Diplomacy:
1. Play like "UN peacekeepers".
2. No threatening to "crush you like a bug".
3. Must accept all requests from other factions to talk. Must accept all unconditional truce or treaties.
4. Cannot win by conquest or Economic victory.
5. Cannot build PBs or commit atrocities.
6. Must always vote to uphold UN Charter.
7. Must resign if UN Charter is ever repealed, as punishment for your failure to uphold the UN Charter.
8. Newly captured bases that obviously belong previously to a friendly faction must be returned as a gift.
9. Must persuade factions at vendetta to end the war.
10. No espionage attempts on faction not at vendetta with. No framing of other factions for espionage attempt.

This challenge can be played as a normal game too.

[Meister Flo]

Fistleaf,
if it was only a 10 bullet list for the PK's with such trivial conditions....

Brother Flo out

[Velociryx]

Hehehe.....awwwww, you know you love it, Brother Flo!
-=Vel=-

[Jasonian]

I'm interested in joining up on scenario, even though I've never played by e-mail and I'd probably end up as cannon fodder and free bases for the rest of the people... but hey. SOMEONE has to be the cannon fodder!

[Googlie]

Jasonian:

Exactly how I feel having just started two PBEM's

But the beauty of Vel's Diplomacy concept is that maybe preventing any faction from being overrun is a secret victory condition for someone - or pacting or even co-op transcending with your faction is the secret condition for another.

So maybe the Spartan Rover Rush won't make mimcemeat of us (unless of course if it's their victory condition )

Googlie, a fellow PBEM newbie.

[DinoDoc]

I would be willing to join a game. It sounds like it would be fun.

wrlang@dixie-net.com

PBEM newbie

[Googlie]

^

[Velociryx]

Okay, since there is some interest in re-visiting this topic, I'm willing to put another game together. I need four volunteers. I've got one, in the form of DinoDoc. If we get more than four volunteers, then we'll form up a queue til we get another
"set" of four (if we get three players, and they're all in agreement, then we'll run another game with just three humans).

The games will be run SMAC-style, unless it's the unanimous decision of all players in that game to run it SMAC-X.

Anyone interested, e-mail me at Felestro@aol.com with the following four bits of information:

1) The e-mail address you want to have your game sent to

2) If you have SMACX, and, your preference to playing a SMAC or SMACX PBEM

3) Your faction choices in both a SMAC and SMACX PBEM environment

4) What part of the country/world you are in, and how often you will be able to check mail for turns.

"Teams" (the term loosely used here, since all victory conditions will be secret) will begin forming up as soon as I start getting e-mails....

[Velociryx]

About the map: There will be no need for an "outside agent" as I have made a map for us to use. It containes none of the usual landmarks (I've made new ones, using what tools were available in the editor).

-=Vel=-

[zsozso]

I'd like to join the game.

I just emailed it to Vel, but repeat it here for everybody to see and comment on it:

I'd like to play SMACX with the data angles, drones and cyborgs fixed (faction txt editied) so that there supposed but buggy special abilities are operational.

Furthermore I have an idea for a balanced 3-player map:

For a 3 player game, the most balanced map I can imagine is the
following setup. Three identical islands, placed at equal distance
from each other along the equator. No landmark on them, the HQ is
pregenerated with population 3 in the centre of the island. It
should also have some basic infrastructure: recycling tank, creche
and recreation commons (for playing transcend difficulty level).
Each player should start with 5 extra colony pod, 3 scouts and 3
terraformers and all level 1 techs known for everybody. I would
also add 2 big land masses along the north and south edges of the
map containing all the landmarks and an AI faction each (it could
be the Caretakers and the Usurpers in SMACX - just for fun). The
AI factions should be in a lot more advanced infrastructure, e.g.
10 well equipped bases each - but not too many units.

The human player islands should be big enough to hold at least 10 bases.

zsozso

[Googlie]

I'm in - any faction, any game

Googlie

[Chowlett]

This sounds really quite groovy, but before I sign up, I want to check something. My main reason for interest is that "Diplomacy" sounds like an American title for what we in Britain know as "Risk", perhaps with some minor modifications. Can anyone confirm this? Risk is played on a map of the world divided into continents and then further into territories. Missions would consist of such conditions as "Control Africa nad Europe" or "Control 24 Territories" or "Destroy the Red Army, or if you are the Red Army, Control 18 Territories with at least 2 units each".

I presume that if they are the same, the rule about reinforcements is left out as impractical (and anyway, that's why you build them )

If I'm interested, I'll mail Vel.

[Velociryx]

Chowlett: Similar but not the same. Diplomacy is centered in Europe and focused on each player's bid for empire under the pressures of World War.

The meat of the game (indeed, the thing that can make the game utterly fascinating or completely ruin it) are the "backroom deals" that happen during and between each turn. THAT is the feel I'd like to introduce into SMAC.

My goal will be to set up a web of conflicting and yet secret victory conditions for each player (and some of them are quite Byzantine and complex), then turn everyone loose on the map. Of course, since no player knows for certain what the other players' victory conditions are, no one will know what specific actions are bringing the rival player(s) closer to victory, and what actions are meant to be desceptive. Because of that, nearly EVERYTHING will seem desceptive at first.

A caveat to the original idea: If and when you achieve infiltration of another player's datalinks, you come to one of the elements of that player's secret victory condition (though not the entire thing). The Empath Guild does NOT grant this knowledge, as it would make it far too unbalancing in the game.

Remember too, that the game can ONLY end when a player achieves his/her secret victory conditions. None of the usual "win" methods are valid, unless they are tied in with the player's secret win conditions in some way (thus, the game might well continue on past 2500).

Once we get the first group assembled, I'll set the game in motion. The last person in the game round (one complete mission year) will mail me the turn, and I'll log on to the game to check everyone's progress and see how close the players are to satisfying their victory conditions.

Once a player has all but one of his secret victory conditions satisfied, a notification will be sent to all players that infiltrated that player's datalinks....what they do with the information is entirely up to them, but as you can imagine, a piece of information like that can cause new alliances to form in an instant, and old ones to break apart.

Also consider the value of infiltration information....player A and B infiltrate player C's datalinks and each get one of his secret victory conditions. A and B later meet, and in diplomatic discussions B discovers that A has some potentially valuable information. He arranges to purchase the information to get a better assessment of C's victory condition and set himself up to stop him. "A" could care less about C's victory condition, but knows he has something of value, sooo.....

You see how it can go....and it has the makings of a fantastic game!

-=Vel=-




[This message has been edited by Velociryx (edited December 16, 1999).]

[DinoDoc]

I have one question, if the game turns out to be SMACX would you allow selection of any of the alien factions?

Oh and check your mail, I just sent my information.

[Velociryx]

I think for the sake of balance, we'll stick with the human factions only.....in light of all the Alien abilities, I think that might upset the proverbial apple cart.....

-=Vel=-