GotM: Gardens of the Moon, Game Over: WL wins.
 

Hi,

Game name is a tribute to great work of art by same name. Hopefully this game would reflect the epic nature of the book.

This game is targeted for veteran players but this is not strict condition - it's mainly that the game is not meant for fresh green newbs.
What's most important is to honor the warrior spirit of this game. No turning AI after a few defeats please. Try to fight as best you can for as long as you can. If RL prevents you from playing please contact the admin to find a sub
I'm gonna recruit/open it for both forums but to keep my sanity I'll manage it only here.

I aim to start the game with about 8-23 nations.
CBM+EDM latest versions will be used.


The following are the settings I had in mind. The ones I don't plan to change are in bold font:
Map: According to players number/wish/vote.
Hosting Pace: First 15 turns every 24h, turns 15-30 48h, turn 30-45 72h, turn 45-60 96h, turn > 61 120h.
Hosting is planned for busy ppl!
Disallowed exploits: copying Bogus' orders and overfilling enemy lab to prevent his own forge.
Killing own mages under Ankh or LaD to gain freebe mages and troops.
It's ok in a battle but it's not ok to set it up on purpose (whoever likes to do it knows what I'm talking about)
Probing armies with scouts/commanders must be done in such a way so as not to block movement.
Victory condition: 9 VPs. As in 60% of # players (15) capital VPs. Each capital is considered to be one VP. The capitals will not be marked. The first player to have control of all the VPs required for victory and to hold them for three turns straight will be declared winner. The winner is required to save his last turns for verification.
Nations: All MA
Hosted on llamaserver.
Diplomacy allowed.
NAP's are not considered binding.
(I for one have no intention of breaking my NAPs but every player is free to act as he will in this regard)
Mods: CBM 1.6 + EDM
Graphs: on
HoF: 15
Indies: 9
Map: AsiaTwist
# of players: 16
Research: Normal
Magic sites: Normal




road-map:
recruit: now. At this point the game is open for both sign-up and
discussion. I est. this will take a week or two.
Prepare pretenders: After all players sign-up we shall wait a week for pretender creation.
Game on: we start the game.

Players:
1. WraithLord, Ermor
2. Aethyr, Shinuyama
3. Executor, Jotun
4. Dark Kitty, Caelum
5. ghoul31, Oceania, defeated on turn 34
6. legolasjrt, Pangaea, defeated on turn 28
7. Aristander, Arco
8. Ossa, TC
9. Hadrian_II, Rlyeh
10. BigandScary, Man, defeated on turn 34
11. LoloMo, Ulm
12. Slobby, Agartha, defeated on turn 42
13. Tryfan, Van
14. Herode, Pythium
15. Hoplosternum, Mictlan
16. Stagger Lee, Marignon

# VPs owned (list only nations with more than 1):

Jotun: 3
Rlyeh: 2
Pythium: 2
Ermor: 2

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Hi WL, I'd like to play as Shinuyama.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

I want to emphesize that me playing Ashdod is open to discussion and shall be decided by the will of the majority.

I'm just curios about the nation and since I rarely play SP, MP experience pretty much sums up my entire experience. No big deal If I don't get to play it either, MA ermor is fine for me since I never played it as well.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

"Killing own mages under Ankh or LaD to gain freebe mages and troops."
Does that include killing priests with LAD to create undead summoners?
-with or without the ankh either?

Reserve a spot for me please, my nation of choice is Jotun.

Personally I don't mind Ashdod, doe I suggest you take Ermor, much less likely you'll get ganged from the start, and I think it's like a 98,4% chance to be attacked by everyone by being Ashdod, I certainly will if I start next to you.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

"Does that include killing priests with LAD to create undead summoners? "
Yes

"-with or without the ankh either?" either


"
Personally I don't mind Ashdod, doe I suggest you take Ermor, much less likely you'll get ganged from the start, and I think it's like a 98,4% chance to be attacked by everyone by being Ashdod, I certainly will if I start next to you.
"
Hehe. how did you get to exactly 98.4%? ;)
Anyway, I'll take Ermor.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

I would like to join as Caelum please

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Oceania

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

ghoul31, taking a water nation is ok so long as at least one more UW nation would join. Otherwise I think it would unbalance the game. Perhaps you want to make a 2nd pick just in case we end up short on water nations.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

I taker pangea xd

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Pardom me askin legolasjrt, but could you please tell what is the extent of your MP experience?- No need for detailed report just in general lines.

The reason I'm asking is that I aim for a more or less homogeneous experience level and if not that then at least not to have extreme difference of exp. levels (what would unbalance the game).

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

MMM. i play 20-25 mp games. at the moment I am in 5 games and positioned very well in the same. Only that in a Spanish forum

http://www.puntadelanza.net/Foro/php...forum.php?f=56

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Oh. ud. es (o habla) espanol?- mucho gusto y bien venido.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Su profil revela que su locacion es en Caracas. Siempre interesante de ver aparecer jugadores experimentados de otras partes/otros foros para rejuvenar nuestros rangos. (Quien se acuerda de la emergencia de Xietor por ejemplo?)

And for the English speakers la même chose of course.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

I would like to join. Arcoscephale please.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

thanks, I hope to enjoy the game

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Seems extremely interesting, sadly I am fresh-ish green newb, atleast when it comes to PvP :/

Only PvP I have done is basically shoot my friend's commanders with Seeking Arrow from a safe distance ^^ I could replace someone though if the person loses intrest due to armies getting destroyed or similar, uphill battle is always more fun!

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

I'd like to join with TC

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Kind reminder -> ghoul31

All: we have enough players to start the game. I'll wait until next Wednesday for more players if any and then I'm closing the game and moving forward to map selection, pretender creation and launching the game.

We have a nice selection of nations so should be a good game.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

There are plenty pf newb games here or subs needed for interesting mid-late game positions. You should try some to get both fun & experience.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

R'lyeh please

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Vanheim Please.

Cancel that I just noticed the insane Indy settings.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

hardest indies. so what?- Check with ppl who played with these settings in my previous games. Most had fun, including perhaps those who didn't adapt their strat. to the settings.
Notice that research is normal so that mage centric nations could utilize spells early on.
Actually Van is the kind of nation that benefits from the hard indies.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Hello

If ok for a new MP player (third game), I'll be happy to play with Agartha - Golem Cult

Arnob

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

I would like to play as Man.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

:D I'm a glutton for punishment hook me up with Agartha!

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

I'm sorry arnob, I don't think that would work. For the sake of clarity let's say that the experience bar for this game is at least 10 MP games. You see, any vet who starts next to you would almost certainly attack you ASAP thus gaining an unfair advantage. You won't enjoy that and it would upset the game balance.

@BigandScary, do you meet this "not complete newb" criteria?

@Slobby, prepare to feel the pain :)

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

It's a little rude but I understand your point.

I have a little question, the fact to put indy strengh to 9, isn't a big advantage for ermor ? More indy => More deads => More undeads ?

Arnob

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Oh, I'm sorry if it came out rude, that wasn't my intention and it's not always a pleasant job aiming for a game that would be balanced. I mean, if I were looking for unfair advantage I'd just open up the game to all and cheer for every unexperienced players that starts next to me.

re. your Q abut Ermor. There's a grain of truth to it but:
a- indie 9. has broader impact on the game and
b- I don't think this will give such a big advantage to Ermor to be able to recruit more chaff. That chaff would be useless against bless nations, early SCs etc. And
c- in early game research & expansion are more important than reanimating soulless.
Last,
d- Ermor can recruit the longdeads as much as it wants regardless of indie. setting.

really last point, you can all see I put indie setting as mutable. If you like we can vote on it.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Keep the indies at 9, that way us fast developers win the game!

Uh, and I suggest magic sites at 45 or more.
And I presume the capitals won't be marked right?

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

"Keep the indies at 9, that way us fast developers win the game!"
indies 9, +2

"Uh, and I suggest magic sites at 45 or more."
Isn't 45 the normal for MA?

"And I presume the capitals won't be marked right? "
Capitals would be VPs so I don't see how not to mark them. Any idea?


@All. re. the vets condition. Do you think I'm being too strict?- I mean, back in dom-I days when I started playing I jumped right into the water with all the sharks and nobody told me "back-off you newb"...
Any opinions?

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

45EA, 40MA, 35LA afaik

Well, if you want to keep the game balanced and competive, it's good idea for players to have ~the same level of skill, but given the nature of the game, people usually ganging up on the strongest player, few newbs getting eaten wouldn't exactly break the game? Well, actually, given indie strenght 9 it could, but...

About the marking of capitals, you could always just bash peoples' heads the standard way until someone captures all the required VPs and declares themselves the winner(doubt there will be much cheating like that). You couldn't track it in the score graph, even if you wanted that, though.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

You can track your VP count at a temple, as every vp gives you 5 "temple points"

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Well, we don't actually have to play with victory points to consider capitals victory points.

I dislike the idea of having my capital marked from turn 1.
We already did a game like this "BEER", where the required amount of capitals was 7, but they were not marked, instead every nation had to keep a personal account of everyone's control of capitals, and watch out so nobody steals the game.

It worked out pretty good.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showt...highlight=beer

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Quick observer comment

I applied similar settings to the above to a game I ran 18 months ago (CarCrash http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=42834).

The only problem that occurred was when one of the main contenders forgot the winning conditions, which is entirely the fault of the player not the settings. Other than that the game was fine. I've also just started two Newbie games with a "hold X capitals" win requirement, but without having capitals VP marked. So I think it is certainly a valid combination of settings and victory conditions.

And personally (as I've ranted about many times in the past) I think having capitals VP marked not only helps the powerful nations to rush, which is help they certainly don't need, but it also encourages lazy play by having a very important bit of intel given to you for nothing. If you want to know who owns the capitals, you should be both made to find them in-game, and made to expend resources keeping track of who owns them.


And if you want to do fixed starts and still keep capital locations secret, then you need to find someone not playing in the game to sort the map out (not it :)), but then importantly, for that person to only distribute the image file to the players, and NOT the .map file (As the .map file is needed by the llamaserver, but the players only need the image file. As giving out the .map file also gives out the start locations)

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Calahan, you've translated my thoughts into words, thanks!

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

@wraithlord

I'm pretty sure that I am not a complete newb. I've been playing for more than three years, and I played DomII before that. I haven't won a non-duel game yet, except as an ally, but I think I qualify as a vet

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

BigandScary, thanks for answering that ever awkward Q. I signed you up :)

All, re. not marking VPs. OK, they will not be marked. Each player will have to keep tabs on how many capitals he controls. Each capital is worth one VP and the first player to control enough to meet the winning condition wins.

re. magic sites, I see no reason not to take the MA default.

Pjoo, given the capital VP conditions, extreme difference in experience levels is even more unbalancing. Perhaps I'll aim for my next game to be open for all and learn from experience how it ends up.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

No problem. When I leave on my extended sabbaticals people forget I'm here.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Oh beer, that brings back memories. Fun game.

The honor system on the vps worked fine as well. I'd be all for non marked caps and also no graphs.

Also magic sites at default and not 45.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

I think we should add that the caps have to held for "x" turns (maybe 3?) before the winning condition is met.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Do you mean each VP separately or start countdown once last VP to meet victory condition is taken?- Was this system tried before?

I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel here, rather look for a formula that's known to work.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Slobby, can yoy plz explain what you meant by "The honor system on the vps worked fine as well"?

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

WL, the countdown begins once the last VP (meeting the victory condition) has been obtained. It has been used before w/o dfficulty afaik.

Here's one example: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showt...endary+ordeals

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

ok, first call before I'm finalizing the player's list (On Wednesday).

Aethyr, yes we can do that. I'll update the OP.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

A vet game without MA Ulm to beat up on? Heaven forbid! Sign me up for MA Ulm please :-)

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

FYI, MA Ulm has even managed to win a vets MP game, in the game called Hydrant.

Welcome aboard :)

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

You want another? I have tons of MP experience with Dom 2 and lots of SP with Dom 3. Oh, and I knew Gandalf before any of these boards existed. :)

Anyways let me know either way.

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

Hello guys. Looks like some of my games are going to their end. Some room left for a Pythium ruler ? (unless Tryfan wants Pythium of course, let's stay FIFO ;))

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

This game is still recruiting up until Wednesday.

What nation would you like served?

Re: GotM: Gardens of the Moon, vets, busy MA game [signup+discuss]
 

There's always room for the eastern empire, Ermor's own brethren :)