Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Ok...now that I am up and running...when is the host time for turn 3?

Then from what I understand its 16 hours from host time for the next turn.

Am I correct?

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

According to the first post of this thread its "First 10 turns @ 32 hours, 8 hours will be added every 10 turns thereafter with the maximum to be decided by consensus."

The status page now has a countdown.
http://www.dom3minions.com/~nav/bin/nav_chk.cgi

Altho Im not sure if the hostings are going to happen EXACTLY on the mark.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Ye gods! :shock: We are getting close to near Llamaserver functionality. Good show.

The current hosting interval is 32 hours, we will switch to 40 hours when we hit turn 11, 48 hours when we hit turn 21, etc, etc.

The good thing about Gandalf's server, there is no twilight zone period between your actions and the actual changes to the games, as you notice on Llamaserver. As soon as you e-mail your turn in, you can see your turn has arrived immediately. When creating games on Llamaserver it can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour for the game to actually show up on the server, but don't think this will be a problem with the Dom3 server. Not running down the Llamaserver or anything, but I do like the speed improvement. Now if we can get a front-end that is as functional as Llamaserver, look out! :D

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

On a practical matter that just isn't true ss. Email is not guaranteed delivery - so occassion delays will occur.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Not bad, Gandalf and Sept. You guys might turn this into a true PBEM server.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

i am going to montreal and will be back on sunday. Please allow for this.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Still working on it with hosting though. I can easily set it up to host every 32 hours. And I can easily set it up to host whenever all the turns are in. Its getting the two to recognize that the other has already taken care of it that is the problem in order to avoid double-hosting. But its fun so I will continue working on it. :)

You mean something like this?
http://www.dom3minions.com/lab/MakeGame.htm
I showed that to LLama back when he was ironing out the details on his server. I was headed toward an all-in-one game option which would support turns by direct-connect, email, ftp, web-browser. And notifications by any means possible which now includes email, irc, IM, text message to cell phone, twitter, and RSS feed. I was also looking at it autocreating a forum and chat for each game possibly to include voice-chat with microphones. Whiteboard was on the list also which would be great for teams.

Ahhh the advantages of having your own server. BUT the hangup was that I could not trust users to auto-create games. Direct-connect means running a copy of Dom3 full time for each one. Not as bad with pbem since it runs then quits but my server wasnt going to support having a hundred copies of Dom3 running continually and many of those not really being played. Its impact enough on the other online worlds on the server doing it the way I do now.
http://www.dom3minions.com/HostedGames.htm
and for special games like this I just offer hints and tips on what can be offered altho I really should work on that more.
http://www.dom3minions.com/HostingGames.htm

I would like to see more direct-connect since I think its easier for new people than pbem

Gandalf Parker

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Noted, please advise your team.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Quite true, e-mail is not always 100% nor instanaeous, but I was speaking in general terms.

Gandalf, yes that make game page looked nice, too bad you could not/had reservations about implementing it. An admin console for easily altering game options of existing games was more what I was refering too.

The good thing about direct connect, is it should make switching in alternates a breeze (less headaches for the admin). Just hand over your PW to your sub or your team and your good to go.

6 hours to hosting, waiting on 5 turns, ACGHHS mostly.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

I haven't heard from Sauro, or either of the alternates, this turn.

At work. Will try to get it in on time. You know the difficulties.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

If anyone is curious, at the moment, judging purely by score graphs, ACGHHS is the team to beat (I'm keeping organized records and will provide a breakdown on turn 5).

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Posted.

Hey also, the staled link isn't working...

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Sorry about going quiet for a day or so. I am still about and playing :)

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Hm... quickhost still doesn't seem to be working, also, I think that the timer is off... as it is 5PM now in California and the timer says it will host in 0 hrs... at midnight tomorrow.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

yes I still need to work on that countdown thing. I hate math. I especailly hate epoch math.

Luckily the last turn came in and kicked off the hosting anyway.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

I see the turn has hosted, but I don't seem to have gotten my turn yet.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

None of the ACGHHS Team has gotten a turn.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

I haven't either.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Why not...
Incomeing directory...
Outgoing directory

Once all 16 files are in incoming directory (or turn time has arrived) archive contents into Turnx. copy to outgoing directory, process turn.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Hmm, good job of you all getting in your turn files (I assume on time) seems no one has received a turn file yet though the turn has apparently hosted. I take it Gandalf is still ironing out the kinks. We will have to wait on him to get those turn files out and correct the issue. If I am not mistaken the score graphs have not yet been updated. I believe we should be on turn 4.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

well its weird, there's no files in the submitted files directory

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Yes, we should be on turn 4. Both of those links should reflect that. There wouldn't be any files in the directory if we had actually hosted, unless someone has sent in something since then.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

My apologies (again)
It looked at my end as if everything had gone right. I took my son out to a party. I just ran the post.sh again. Hopefully it went allright? Has anyone gotten a file yet?

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

i got mine. all good

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Well I hate to quibble with you melnorjr but by the two most important ratings at this point - Provinces and Income - on both turn 3 and 4 the leader was - as expected - Deva's Darlings :)

With ACGHHS second, Mysterios third and the Blessed Ones back in forth.

So far this mirrors Sept's adjusted forum age rankings, Sept's initial rankings, QM's Dominions Nations Evaluations rankings and the Global Warming rankings :)

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

For some reason, the server send out the same .trn file twice. They're exactly identical, so is not an issue.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

If you would notice that the tortoise (lol, used spell check is tortoise a turtle, pretty bad when you don't even recognise a correct spelling:o), has been plodding along getting those turns in (patting himself on the back).

Stupid rabbits....:p

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

yes, the deva's are running the privinces and income charts, but in the long run, gem income and research usually winds the game, not provinces, and ACGHHS is running both gem income and research. If the deva's can turn that around however, that's another matter. ACGHHS is sitting at over 3x anyone else's research.

ACGHHS also has the largest army, and thus good expansion potential.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

In the early game, provinces and gold is far more representative of being ahead than research and gems.

Ultimately, gold will turn into mage recruitment and thus research, and provinces will turn into gems once they are site searched.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Don't worry I'll be pulling the Deva's down enough if things don't change.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

The counter is back on the status page.
My head is swimming with numbers :(
Does that all look right for a 32 hour count?

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Good work getting things back on track.

Hmm, let see:

The game last hosted on Fri Nov 6 17:07:54 PST 2009
And will host again on Sun Nov 8 01:07:54 PST 2009 (now 10 hours)

The interval appears to be correct, 9/6 17:07:54 + 24:00:00 = 9/7 17:07:54 + 08:00:00 = 9/8 1:07:54. :up:

10 hours from now PST (currently 14:22:00 +10:00:00) = 00:22:00 9/8, but I am assuming the hours are rounded. Good approximation anyway.

Even though the turn may have hosted 9/6 at 5:00 PM PST (8PM EST) , there was a space of time before anyone actually received a turn file, around 6 or 7 hours. We will need to add a few hours onto the host, to account for this and to allow Immaculate time to get a turn in.

Melnorj, I look forward to your report next turn.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Gandalf, please delay the current turn by 14 hours (6 or 7 for the missed time, plus a little bit extra for Immaculate). Hopefully people will get their turns in (including Immaculate) before then and fast/quick host will kick in.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Jeez! What is it? Turn 4? How long does it take to do a turn. Hopeless.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

I'm good- i'm back from montreal and first thing i did is play. Sorry for the slight delay.

I.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Welcome back. So lets get that single turn in for Pangaea and we won't have to use up the extra 8 hours that remain on the clock as of this post.

Lingchih's job as Turn Enforcer, reminds me of a bit of the Roman Optio, who standing in the rear of the century or maniple, would help the Centurion in keeping order. The Optio might assist a wavering/dithering solider with his resolve by means of his stout staff of office (hastile).

Also reminds me of the subway "pushers" in Japan, who's job it is/was to shove the last people into the already jam packed subway cars.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Um, Sept.

Pangaea's turn is in ... and again it looks like the game has hosted.. I just don't think we're getting turns.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Then it is time to dispatch another message to Gandalf. I had hoped he would have gotten the quickhost/fasthost and the email thing ironed out. Thanks for getting the turn in though.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Actually the outgoing turns and the incoming email about no turns crossed each other. But thanks for the reminder anyway.

PBEM isnt instant like direct-connect games. But the gaps should start getting shorter between actions as we tweak it.

Gandalf Parker

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Ah, so there's a slight delay in processing and so forth. Perhaps that is why the score graphs are not coming up yet (getting forbidden error).

Edit: There they are. Sheesh, fortune has not been with me so far :(, hopefully this will change soon. :)

Note: Though, I know it's early yet, I've created the map and start locations for game 2. I'll probably post a sneak preview later today.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Actually that was a tweak I needed to do. A linuxy thing. The post.sh was moving the stats and score files but I failed to notice that the game creates them giving only the owner permission to read them. I had to add a line making them publicly viewable before moving them to the webdir.

Also linuxy is that as a server for multiple users linux is really geared toward multi-processing. It has a tendency to read a script and do many things in it at the same time. I have to put "sleep" commands thru scripts, and "wait for" options, to make sure that necessary items happen in order. Im gradually tweaking those smaller as we go. Direct-connect makes alot of that unneeded so Im still experimenting abit with the pbem needs.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Here's the map with proposed starting locations for NaV II as I promised for those who may be interested.

Map Key:

Purple X(s): Special magic sites
Solid red circles/elipses: Primary AI starts
Hollow red circles/elipses: Secondary AI starts
White, Green, Blue, Yellow circles/elipses: human team starts

The map is square, waterless, 1700 x 1700 with 270 provinces.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Has anyone heard from Chris?

There are files to be sent in and its not like him to go incognito...:confused:

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Yep, he's been busy getting support for The Alliance.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Turn 5 report:

Provinces:
The Deva's took an early lead on...taking things and are now at 27 collective provinces. However, ACGHHS is not letting them run away with it by any means, trailing by only one province. THe AI menace, for reference, has 24.

Furthest behind is the blessed ones, at 11 provinces, and vanheim, why do you only have 19 men in your army?

Presumably state secrets. Moving on,





all player nations are tied with 4 forts, the AI menace has a total of 5.






The deva's are also leading on income, at 2836 to ACGHHS' 2462, however, over the course of the game, they have only earned approximately 467 more gold. The mysterios and the blessed ones trail behind at 1982 and 1831 income, respectively.
The AI menace sits happily at 2777






in the realm of gem income, ACGHHS is the clear breakaway, at 30 to the deva's 25, and everyone else's 24.






In the realm of magical research, ACGHHS is again the clear breakaway at 153, with the blessed ones, deva's, and mysterios trailing at 64, 56,and 37 respectively.

the AI menace is at 2081. with a research count of 130 on turn 2, Agartha seems to have started the game with either 15 mages, or a god with 16 in every magic path. :p




The largest standing army award goes to arcoscephale, and then mictlan, both on ACGHHS.





Provinces:
Deva's, 27
ACGHHS, 26
AI menace, 24
Mysterios, 16
Blessed ones, 11


Net income:
AI menace, 9920
Deva's 9000
ACGHHS, 8533
Mysterios, 8075
Blessed ones, 6262


Net gem income:
ACGHHS, 115
AI mencae, 110
Deva's, 100
Mysterios, Blessed ones, 96.


Research:
AI menace, 2081
ACGHHS, 153
Blessed ones, 64
Deva's 56
Mysterios, 37


Using a completely arbitrary and largely meaningless ranking system based on relative position within the graphs, the teams come to collective points thusly:

Blessed ones, 8
Mysterios, 9
Deva's, 18
ACGHHS, 21
AI menace, 24

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Thanks for that report Melnorjr. Seems the Deva's and ACGHHS are leading the pack in different categories. We can expect the AI team to start heading towards the bottom as time progresses (hopefully), but it'll be nice to see what surprises might be in store for us.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

AI Ermor's Grenc is dead :rip:, killed in the arena death match by his AI kin. What a shame! Who shall weep? Maybe Gandalf will. :p

Alas Grenc, we hardly knew ye ...

"... and if you find yourself alone riding in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled, for you are in Elysium, and you're already dead! ..."

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

It is my hope that teams are not ignoring the AI team and their provinces completely. As of turn 7, there were still 79 indies provinces without owners and 31 provinces in the hands of the AI team up for grabs before you absolutely need to attack another human player. There is a slight danger in the human teams decimating each other first and being overcome by the AI. Or at least that is what I was hoping.

Can anyone share some feedback on the performance of the AI teams nations and the BI mod so far.

Are you seeing the AI fielding large armies of national troops?

Does it appear the AI is being bankrupted, not producing units, not making use of any other types of units such as indy archers, or any other issues that you see?

Do you feel the mod is too limiting for you? Are there certain units you'd like to build and cannot? Chaff units do have some uses for human players, as seige meat, arrow fodder, and so forth.

I have noticed there is at least one variety of militia that is recruitable though they seem inferiorly equipped compared to the unrecruitable version, however reading through the mod thread and the mod itself, it appears Edi included them because they are used in an event and so could not be disabled.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

Team ACGHHS cannot upload turns.... email is not accepting, and gandalf's server is not accepting from a different address....

I can send the turns to gandalf directly; can we delay to get these in.. I've been trying for more than 2 hours....

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Running.
 

I at one point was going to recruit some wolf tribe warriors to flesh out an army, since they can do quite a bit of damage with their dual daggers. However, they cost 9,000 gold a piece with the mod :(. Oh well, I don't really use independants that much anyway, it's more just an inconvenience that they're not available.

I think the AIs are doing fine. I'm not going to name names, but one of them has some summer lions they've summoned and a fort+temple they've built nearish me. They're a lot stronger than I thought they were going to be for this game.