Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Here it is. I must say I like the result. Hope you will like it too.
The changes include:
- starting locations for 19 players of which most are at least 3 provinces away from each other (there seems to be only one exclusion that I couldn't handle)
- "dead regions" made not so dead. Also, starts there are placed so that wastelands/swamps should not cripple a player.
- "rich regions" made a bit less rich but not much. Central "rich" region is nearly untouched but noone will start there and at least 4 nations will be able to fight for it.
- some more terrain/movement changes based on my experience.

The biggest problem with this map is, IMO, that you can't really 100% rely on graphics to know what terrain is there. Graphics will be correct in most cases but not always.
The second problem is that it is impossible to distinguish border mountains (passable) from regular mountains (impassable) but that's the problem of original map. To know for sure which mountain is there you should open the map in map editor.

Starting locations are:
146, 184, 260, 47, 126, 252, 197, 181, 214, 101, 127, 38, 27, 21, 138, 200, 88, 68, 248.
I also attached the screenshot where starting locations are well seen (Eyes of Debug cast). Please note that they will be randomly assigned between nations. The nations positions you see on screenshot are by no means determined.
:)

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

To check whether mountains are mountains or border mountains, you can just hover over the mountain symbol in-game.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Thanks a lot, llamabeast. I never knew that:)

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

You make good points here that are hard to dispute. I'm all for creating a level playing field with a semi-equal chance for anyone to attain victory. The modified map you made looks good, and thank you for doing it. The starting locations seem well-placed.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

I have been informed that two of the pretenders are using the same email address. I would rather not specify which nations due to the secretive nature of rand-type games. I would like an explanation from the player(s) involved, hopefully you know who you are.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

rdonj
Ask Zeldor to PM you a list of the players with nations assigned.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Hmm, yes, I should have done that in the first place. When I hear back from Zeldor I'll pm them and figure out what's going on.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Nations identified and PMs sent. I will report with my findings when they are made available to me, unless the players do so first.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

rdonj
Thanks for the efforts. By the way don't forget to change the map to the one with Ano's design.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Done as well.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

One of the down sides of having known preplaced starting positions is that it takes some of the fun and surprise out of the game that comes from not having any idea where your enemies started. It eliminates some of the mystery right off the bat. For me, that is a lot of the fun, not knowing which way to go or what you might find.

Also, for nations that have good early ritual spells like Blight or Hurricane, they can target their opponents' home provinces with foreknowledge of the locations. That to me seems somewhat of an unfair advantage to those nations. So, on the whole I think I'd prefer to start with random start locations, even though this may give some nation a "bad start location". You take what you get and you try to make the most of it. Some games are better than others. Although I am content to play with pre-placed starting locations, my preference is for them to be placed totally randomly.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Surely if you're at war with someone early it won't be too difficult to find their home province regardless? I can imagine it lets you fire off a blight or hurricane slightly earlier in some cases but I don't see this as more important than having equitable start locations

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

StrictlyRockers
First, in this game home provinces will have VP's and so will be visible regardless of anything else.
Second, no early rituals because of difficult research.

So, while it may be arguable in general, for this game, I think, predefined locations are a perfect option.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

ano, thank you very much for the making the fixes.
I've changed the game settings to use your map.

rdonj, I trust you will check the the matter and act accordingly. If you wish you can consult with me w/o revealing identities.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

That is a very good point.

That's also a good point.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Everybody please make sure to run some tests of initial expansion. Indies 9 are much stronger then default indies and could be a real problem even for elite blessed troops and SC pretenders.

I just hope everyone here is experienced enough to laugh at my post. :)

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Very generous of you, WindgedDog, to warn your future opponents of the dangers that await them:)

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Haahahahaahh, I laugh at your post!
Yeah, indie 9 can be very crippling, some nation need unorthodox approaches with indie 9.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Alright, the problem has been identified and taken care of.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Heh, so long as I don't have to do quite as well as I would against weaker indies, I'll be ok. Then again, it may be that everyone else has expansion strategies that are robust enough that it doesn't make a difference what indie strength is, but it seems like it would have to slow people down at least a little!

In any case, yeah, testing things out is a wonderful thing.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

The status page shows Ermor as having uploaded a pretender... I thought they were going to be banned from this game!? :confused:

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Probably, either a mistake or again our "chinese" friends. I think that this should be clarified and Ermor kicked.
p.s. Ultra-slow starts are no fun.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Btw, if Ermor was the last to send his pretender, the game would start. Probably (unless llamabeast introduces password-protected games) autostart should be turned off.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

I agree. Automatic start is now off. No player is assigned ermor as a nation, so I will delete that pretender. That makes the third (at minimum...) false pretender submitted.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

server gives gives the option to: "Set game to start once all pretenders are in"

I assume this means auto start is currently off.

edit: ninjad by rdonj :)

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

I have deleted Ermor pretender.

Ermor is banned from this game. I am concerned that someone may be trying to mess up our game.

Sent a PM to rdonj ano re. that concern.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

I think that when we're about to start everyone should check that pretender for his nation is correct.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Seems like we're full at last.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Uploading pretenders]
 

Game page says:
"
Late Age, max 19 players
Players so far: 19
"

However, admin options says:
"
Pretenders so far: 18
Max pretenders: 19
"

Am I missing something here?

ok, I went to the delete pretender page and verified all 19 pretenders are there.

I'm starting the game now :D

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Glanced at first turn. It says that Atlantis was cheating and that it's pretender is too powerful.

Guys, can you please double check that you have indeed created your pretenders with all mods disabled?- If not, please notify rdonj.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Will there be a restart then?

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Well, according to the player who staled the pretender was created with no mods enabled. I am having him verify that that is the case and that his version of dominions is up to date. After that I have no idea why his pretender would cause a problem. The pretender in question lost all its magic paths, so it would be best to unstart the game until he can get his fixed pretender in.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Yeah, the game was restarted. As far as I know at this point the second one should be fine. I have not heard back from atlantis' player whether their god came out alright this time around yet, but since atlantis' turn seems to be in and there were no complaints, I think it's safe to say the game is looking fine to play now.

Edit: Now I've heard back. The pretender is fine, the game may proceed.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

What the???

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

What are you talking about?

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Nothin' much, just the legions of knights encircling my capital.:)

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

A question, since I've never actually tried a VP game before.

The line in the score graphs above all the nations for VP, that's how much is needed to win?

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Yes.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Hm... I have problems with turn file №5, the game says it is corrupted. I tried a resendet turn file. Same. Does anyone have same problem?

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

mine's all good

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

It happends sometimes at the point you save turn file from your e-mail to destination folder. Try to redo it.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

I've redone this many times, but it's still doesn't works

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Have you tried requesting a turn resend Strabo? As maybe your email got corrupted somewhere along the lines.

When I have that problem I usually get a fresh turn file resent to me, and then save it in a completely new folder. That's usually gets it working for me.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

2Calahan, yes, I tried this too, but doesn't work for me

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

@ Strabo - That's annoying. Can you by any chance type out, or cut and paste, the exact error message you are getting. Since that might help identify what the exact problem is.

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Message: "Turn file is corrupted"

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Hhhhhmmmm, not much to go on is it? To be honest I'm not sure what else you can do to try and solve the problem.

All I can suggest is one or more of the following....

1. Try to get hold of llamabeast to see if he can identify and solve the problem his end.
2. Email your turn file to someone to see if they get the same error message when they try to open it. Maybe email it to rdonj, the admin, for him to check. And I'd suggest emailing your file rather than switching emails address on the llamaserver (so that someone can get the turn file via a resend). As the change of email address will be recorded in the logs, hence giving your nation away.
3. Contact rdonj and ask for a delay until you sort the problem out.

Hope you get things sorted Strabo :) and sorry I couldn't help solve your problem :(

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Strabo
Try removing all mods and reinstaling dominions, sometimes it helps with this problem. You don't have to actually delete the mods, just move them into another folder, and try without them.
If it doesn't help try to post in Dom3 section - perhabs the devs would help you.
Do you have the last patch, 3.23b?

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

Yes, I have 3.23b
I'll try what you suggest asap

Re: YARG - Yet Another RAND Game [Running]
 

2 Strabo
You have 2 options
1) Change e-mail (if you have gmail account, use it - never saw the problem on gmail but quite often with mail.ru).
2) If you're familiar with hex editors you can manually repair the file. The problem comes from the fact that last 2 or 4 bytes of the trn contains checksum wich gets truncated in some cases by some mail servers. When I had the problem on mail.ru box I asked the host to send the trn in archive and compared 2 files, and if I remember right the last 0x00 was missed from corrupted. Not sure, however, about that last part, but I was able to repair the next corrupted file in this way.