Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I thought I would give a PBEM host a try. This would be my first time doing this.

I would like to start a game which will be explicitly slow and relaxed; since I have both a family to tend to and a job which requires that I travel and be away from the computer every now and then, this will be a game with 5 turns in the week at most.
I will *never* host a turn unless all members contribute; we will go at the pace of the slowest and avoid stale turns at all costs. (It would be nice, however, if anyone drops out to let us know and just go AI.) So this is something for patient people.

A smallish number of people (2-6) with similar time constraints is also welcome.

I would like to play the maps Reemergence of Urgaia, Karan, Zen's Europe, or Orania, depending on the number of people joining.

If possible, we could try something unorthodox, such as: Victory by Dominion, but we don't have to. Otherwise would be keen on all normal settings, Independents to 5 (and renaming).

I would also like to play with Wauthan's Sacred Salamander mod, but if anyone else wants otherwise, also fine.

Other suggestions? Should anyone be interested in playing, feel free to post here or PM me.

Thanks much in advance.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'm interested. Don't really have the time constraint, but it will be my very first MP game, so the idea of a more patient and relaxed game sounds good.

Uhh, if we're going to use the sacred Salamander mod, I'm going to need to know where to get it. ^^;

[ April 05, 2004, 16:57: Message edited by: Duncanish ]

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'm always up for a game.

I haven't checked out the mod, but I'll go ahead and do so.

Zen's Europe -might- be a bit large for a 2-6 person game, particularly with such a slow pace. It could be weeks or months before we ever encountered one another in a significant fashion. I'm all for Reemergence. I've played it a lot SP and it has a good feel for that size.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Count me in!

Still somewhat new to the game, so a relaxed pace and a friendly atmosphere sounds nice http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Count me in as well. 5 turns a week sounds like more or less normal PBEM rate...

(I'd play Man, if nobody's opposed to it)

As a map, if we are on the high end of the spectrum, I'd also suggest Parganos, the new map on the Illwinter site. It looks very nice... (I haven't played a game on it yet, but I like the look of it)

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I would like to play, but I've only played the single player game so far, so I don't really know how multiplayer works with this game.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'd would like to join. I've played single player, and a bit of multiplayer.

Anyway, I think Reemergence of Urgaia is a good choice for a 3-6 player game. If there are no objections, I'd like to play Arcoscephale.

I'm not all that experienced, so a relaxed pace game sounds good.

By the way, my email address is eternalspearman@excite.com.

[ April 05, 2004, 23:21: Message edited by: EternalSpearman ]

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'd be interested in a nice calm game, I'd like to try out an aquatic nation if no one minds, otherwise I'd like to give Jotun a run.

As to map and settings, whatever the consensus is I'll be happy with. Victory conditions as well, though I'm a bit leary of finding conditions that are too easy to meet, it distracts from the kind of game I think you are shooting for.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'm interested, but it looks like you already have 6 people (or seven?). I've never played multiplayer but this type of pace seems very nice for a first multiplayer experience.

If you guys want to limit it to six, I'm sure there will be other oppertunities for me. (Based on the response to this thread it seems like this type of game is appealing to a fair number of people).

- Matt Lepinski :->
mlepinski@acm.org

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Hello, and thank you for the replies.

OK so far it appears as if there are 9 people interested, which is also very nice. I don't want to exclude anyone, so I am not feeling like saying it must be a small 3-6 group if more are interested.
I think this will be too large for R-o-Urgaia.
I would sort of like to try this out on a map that I have played or seen at least once, Phil, at least to make sure there are no errors in the map. I found a few in "Cradle", the other map JL created; nothing really serious, but it did take some time. I corrected them, by the way, and we could try that; it would also be very suitable for a water nation. I could try to check it out in the next few days.
Sacred Salamanders just makes them more expensive but sacred; I can send that out to all the players should we want it. If anyone else would rather play Abysia, however, that's also fine (with or without mod).
I have actually never tried a game with victory by Dominion, so if others say this is too easy to attain, I will make it either Victory by 70%ish of provinces or by VPs. Please let me know your thoughts on this.

So it seems we have so far:

- me: Abysia (or something else if necessary)
- mlepenski: ???
- licker: Ryleh/Atlantis/Jotun
- EternalSpear: Arco
- StabWest: ???
- PhilD: Man
- Guybrush: ???
- MiguelD: ???
- Duncanish: ???

I will leave this thread up a day or so to see if anyone wants to join or drop out.
Note that an explicitly slow game which is also a bit larger will be very slow, since we go at the pace of the slowest; I'd sort of like to set the limit to 10 if we could. (I had never figured so many would respond.)
So depending on who and when replies, we could try to figure a start either Wednesday GMT or a day or two later.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Heck, I wouldn't mind being in this.
C'tis free ?

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Hmm... the only nation I really have had any kind of success with so far has been abysia. But I think that you (tinktank) should have first pick since you are hosting.

I guess I will have to test some other nation over the weekend then :-)

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

If is possible i would like to join the game. My favorite nation is Pythium.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Hi guys!

I hope its not too late, but can I join as pangaea?

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

OK well now it seems that with Zapmeister we would be 10, and that would make 12 with Calmon and Megaherz.

Let's see what the situation is like later on today. Obviously we wont be 3-6, but I would sort of like to hope for 10ish. Let's say that the game is full for now, and see who can be what and when later.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I would like to play as either Ermor, Pythium, or Tien Chi.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'll happily go with Ulm. I've been meaning to give the magically-impaired a chance. ;-)

I prefer VPs by capital as far as victory conditions go.

Looking forward to it!

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I've never tried any of the victory conditions, so whatever the consensus is, it's fine by me. Same for the map. I guess I'll play as Caelum.

[ April 07, 2004, 04:09: Message edited by: Duncanish ]

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Thanks a lot.

I'd be happy to play: Ry'leh, Vanheim or Caelum

I'd probably perfer not playing Victory by Dominion but it's not a strong preference.

- Matt L. :->

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

As far as mods and map files go...

Only the creater of the game actually needs to have them when he starts the game, though everyone would need the .tga obviously (or not...).

Though it is likely in everyone's best interest to have the mods/.map file to run any testbeds that they want to.

As far as me being aquatic goes... since we have someone interested in Ryleth I suppose that would default me to Atlantis, which is fine, just so long as the map has enough water for the both of us http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I'm still happy to take Jotun though if there is anyone who really doesn't want any aquatics in the game.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Every player must have a copy of any mods that are active when the host starts the game.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Also, if there isn't enough water for two aquatic races, or if anyone doesn't want aquatics in the game, I'd be happy to play Vanheim or Caelum.

- Matt Lepinski :->

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

argh the board just erased my post because of parentheses?

OK well I'll try again. So far we have

- me: (Abysia or Tien Chi or Pythium)
- mlepenski: Ryleh (or Vanheim)
- licker: Atlantis (or Jotun)
- EternalSpear: Arco
- StabWest: Ermor (or Pythium or Tien)
- PhilD: Man
- Guybrush: Abysia (?)
- MiguelD: Ulm
- Duncanish: Caelum
- Zapmeister: Ctis
- Calmon: Pythium (?)
- PrinzM: Pan (?)

Ok, so this is pretty large.

I have put the Last ones in parenthesis simply because of size constraints; let's see about options for this below.

Guybrush, if Abysia is the only nation you feel comfortable with, you take it.
I will then go with something else -- but this something else is either Tien or Pythium. Pythium would be a conflict both with Stab and Calmon, so I think I will go Tien.

Because of 2 water nations, I would have suggested Zen's Europe, but the map is only marginally larger than Aran (best for 7-10).
Otherwise, if we stick to 10, we could try Cradle, which has a lot of water and is designed for 8-10. Both of these suggestions means snipping the Last two, however.
So I am tending towards Orania, which could hold us all, has some decent water, and is also nice for VPs. Consensus seems to be against dominion and for capitals and VPs, and if we go Orania, I would leave the default "extra" VP provinces in for flavor and set the conditions to about 70% of the total VPs.

My Email is bigboote@gmx.net

Feel free to mail me with any news, suggestions, or complaints too. Once we get started, this is where I will need your pretender sent to.

Phil (or anyone else with experience in hosting), could you give me some tips on how not to screw this up?

So let me know what you think of the situation so far. Either we go very large and very slow on Orania (or a different suggestion?), or somewhat sleeker on Europe or Cradle. Or???

I wouldnt mind starting the game before Easter, but will not push it. I will also be away for 4 days during this time, so I am not rushing. (Also, my bones whisper to me of an impending patch, and I smell it coming around Easterish. This, however, is pure conjecture.) Oh I should mention here that I will be away for nearly 3 weeks in May -- sorry, cannot change this.

OK am looking forward to playing with you!

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I would vote against Orania, Orania is huge! It has 279 provinces, which means even with 12 people it would be 23 provinces per player. (Which in my opinion is a lot)

I'm interested in trying Cradle. Cradle has 221 provinces, which means with 12 players there are 18 provinces per player (much better than 23 in my opinion)

I've never seen Zen's Europe map (anyone have the link for that map? It's not on Illwinter's site).

In my opinion 15 provinces per player is a pretty good number. Ideally, I'd like to see us play a map with 12-18 provinces per player.

Also, what were you thinking as far as game settings? Independent Strength? Magic Site Frequency?

Thanks,
- Matt L. :->

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

As the new patch is out, I highly recommend we all switch to it as well.

Zen's Europe = too small for a group this big as it's, I believe, 133 provinces.

I'm all for Cradle and can start whenever.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'm getting kind of bored with playing on Orania, all my SP games seem to take place there, mainly because I don't like to leave any of the other nations out, and Orania is the only map that can hold em all. So, I would be in favor of playing any other map, and this cradle map does look nice.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

OK.
Only problem with cradle is that the mapmaker said for 8-10 people, possibly because of problems with starting positions.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I would love to join as any available nation as my previous MP game just ended.

Eric

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I can't speak for the creater of cradle, but most maps work just fine, even if you use more than "recommended" number of players (in most cases, recommended number of players seems to be a guess).

What I would recommend is starting a game with 12 (or 10?) human players, look at the starting positions for each player and decide whether you think they are reasonable.

(I did this and it seemed like people were spread out pretty nicely, with 12 players on Cradle, you'll find your neighbors pretty soon, but there seems to be plenty of room for you and your neighbors to expand a bit before conflict is necessary ... as is to be expected with 18 provinces per player).

- Matt L. :->

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Sounds good to me.
What about the rest (independent strength, magic sites etc.)?

I like high indis (around 7) and above average magic sites (45 - 50)

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Every player must have a copy of any mods that are active when the host starts the game. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hmm, I don't know about that, seems I've played in games without the mods on my comp... I may be mistaken though, anyway, prolly better to have them all anyway...

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

OK all, seems I was right, the new patch is there.
I will be out of town until next week Tuesday, at which point I can start the game under 2.11, if that is ok.
As previously mentioned, all settings are standard except Independents, which will be 5.
Let me know if everybody is still on board and ok with the general gist; on Tuesday if I have all your pretenders, we can get started. Are we ok with the nations as they now stand? Please let me know if the underwater people still want underwaterness as it now stands.
Tending towards Cradle, but will make that dependent on the final number of players, which is now capped at 12 maximum.
best to you all (and sorry for the delay in starting -- Real Life duties call)

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'd like to join if there's still room. Any nation that no-one else wants is fine.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Sounds good to me, what file do I need to send for you to get my pretender?

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'm still in as Ulm. The file will be there for when you get back.

Have a good weekend!

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'm Pythium and i'll send you the pretender very soon.

I wish a good eastern to all!

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'm still in.

I will email you both a Ry'Leh and a Vanheim pretender. (Am perfectly willing to play either race).

Thanks, and Happy Easter!
- Matt L. :->

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Pretender file sent.

EternalSpearman
Playing: Arcoscephale.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Have settings been announced?

I have a bad habit of not enjoying games after I've been given an arbitrary stale turn,...

(even huge MP games I'm winning by a LOT,... right argitoth?)

so this format looks very attractive to me.

I'm not that particular on race, maybe Mar, Van, or whatever's left over.... But I'd need game parameters to design my pretender.


Rabe the Peevishly Perfectionistic


dgo at pcfastnet dot com

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Well it looks as though no one has raised a stink about aquatic nations so I'll assume that I'm good with Atlantis.

As far as settings...

Indie 5 is ok, though I think its a bit low, but s'ok. Please turn on renaming and set the HoF to 15 though, with as many players as we have HoF at 15 should be more fun.

I'm not sure if victory conditions were ever really established, so that might be worth a tad of discussion. 1VP per capitol and a majority of VPs for a win usually works.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Can anyone tell me what file it is, this is my first email game, I'm assuming it's one of the files in the NEWLORDS directory, and since I'm Ermor it would be ermor.2h, but I would like to be 100% sure before I send it.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That's the file to send.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Thanx, file sent.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Thanx, file sent.

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Sent in a file for Marignon


Rabe the Slow Learner

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

I'm afraid I'm going to have to withdraw from this game. Hopefully someone else can have my slot if they're interested. While I'd love to play, I think I'm going to limit my MP activities to the games I'm already involved in for the time being and focus on my modding project.

Have fun!

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

(*short message from the baltic sea*)

hello people, very short, I am away from home, not easy to find an internect connection here.

If you have not done so, please send me your pretender *password protected*, and please indicate in your email your name or moniker and the nation you want to play (just makes my organization easier). (If you already sent me your pretender but not password protected, please do so again! If yours is already password protected, ok. Reason I request: For simplicity sake, it will help me avoid mistakes: I will send out ALL .trn files in one zip to all players. This is unelegant, but otherwise I am SURE to screw up later and send someone the wrong one. Thanks for the tip Phil!)
I have already received more than 10 pretenders, so it seems that the desire for a smallerish game, and one on Cradle, will be slightly changed.
If I receive more than 12 pretenders total upon my return on Tuesday, I will start the game on
Orania
Victory by VPs: 70% of total, 1 per capital, plus the built-in ones.
If I receive less than 12, I will start the game on Cradle.
If I receive 12, I will let my fickle will decide.
All other settings unaltered.
(For those who really wanted Cradle: Sorry, me too, but I wont play Cradle with 13+. That will have to be a different game.)
Please let me know if any others drop out, or if this is totally awful for anyone, and and sorry for the delay in starting, I'm away from home.
I will be able to start the game on Wednesday of next week, unless there were some hangups or someone sent me confusing files.
Best to you all till then

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

File send from pretendergod@yahoo.de

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Actually Oriana could be better than cradle for 10 players too. The thing is that starting position often gets completely boned on non-wraparound maps, on a wraparound everyone has to worry about every directions. If you start on an edge (or even better a corner) in Cradle its a huge advantage over those who get stuck in the middle.

I'm fine with Cradle though, it just makes life slightly unfair for some unlucky random people http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

I'd also like to request that any 'lake' water province be designated as nostart, otherwise its really annoying to play an aquatic nation http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Very Relaxed, perhaps unorthodox PBEM game starting here
 

Ok thanks people for the Posts and for the emails.
I will be back in front of my computer where the game is installed in about 12 hours, and will start the game then. I will then no longer post here, but use our email addresses.
If you can get me your passworded pretender within 12 hours, great.
sorry so short here, much stress
till tomorrow!