New game starting on PBW, "THE GREAT EXPIRIMENT"

Quikngruvn · #1 July 26th, 2001, 09:33 PM

I figured as much. Just covering all bases. (Hello! McFly!)

Also, whither intelligence? Disabled due to the bug?

Quikngruvn

geoschmo · #2 July 26th, 2001, 09:46 PM

Ah yes, Intel. That is another thing I had not addressed yet, but I have given it some thought.

My feeling is this. With 10 players, (I am assuming we will get 10, we already have 6!) and with a low tech start and no planet, It will be quite a while before people get established and are able to research applied intelligence.

Malfador should be back from vacation soon. Once they are I am hoping the CI bug will be high on the priority list, and it will get fixed quickly. Perhaps before it can be used in the game?

I would like to not restrict it arbitrarily. How would everybody feel if we just say no one is permitted to build intelligence centers until the Ancient Ones (that's me) say it is permitted? I can keep an eye on it and make sure no body does. I am not planning on playing in the game anyway.

"Research the technology if you want, but no building Intel centers until I say, or suffer the wrath of the Ancients once again."

If everybody doesn't like this idea, I can just turn it off.

Geoschmo

Quikngruvn · #3 July 26th, 2001, 09:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by geoschmo:
"Research the technology if you want, but no building Intel centers until I say, or suffer the wrath of the Ancients once again."

I like that idea. The Ancients, being persnickety anyway, will not tolerate intelligence until they deem the child races are worthy. Or something like that.

(So much for bulking up my race by dropping cunning! And I was going to get Propulsion Experts and Natural Merchants! Now I gotta have a 'respectable' empire....)

Also, when I joined the game, PBW would not let me leave my empire password blank, so I put in what I'll use. Will this screw up your setup, Geo?

Quikngruvn

geoschmo · #4 July 26th, 2001, 10:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Quikngruvn:
Also, when I joined the game, PBW would not let me leave my empire password blank, so I put in what I'll use. Will this screw up your setup, Geo?

Quikngruvn

No, in fact I don't want to confuse anyone here. Be sure to use and remember a password when you join the game on PBW. The password I wanted left blank was the actual password used when setting up your empire file. But I have since realized this is not a good idea.

It's best if you just go ahead and load you empire file with a password and then email it to me so I can get the scenario setup.

For the two of you who already uploaded your file, if you aren't ancient race, don't worry about it. If you are, I can set it so you can reupload. Let me know.

Geoschmo

[This message has been edited by geoschmo (edited 26 July 2001).]

Suicide Junkie · #5 July 26th, 2001, 10:24 PM

quote:
IIRC the empire income is 200 of each per turn. Base storage is 50K of each per turn.
...
Because of this I am staying away from anything that would require modded data files after the second phase of the game begins. (There is a bug with 1.41 that causes the command line mod support that was added not to work right.)

200, eh? Has that been increased by one of the patches? I thought P&N boosted the value more than double...

Does PBW not support mods under v1.41?
What about v1.3?

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geoschmo · #6 July 26th, 2001, 10:36 PM

Command line mod support was a feature added with Version 1.41. Unfortunatly, it donta worka no gooda.

Prior to 1.41 there was no command line mod support.

Actually Mods can be done on PBW with Version 1.41, or 1.30. (1.35 doesn't work on PBW at all because of a different bug) However, because of the command line mod feature not working, it would require a separte SE4 installation on the server, with a different path.txt file. This is a can of worms because of the extra use of hard drive resources. I think the plan is to wait until the next patch to start taking mods again.

Geoschmo

dogscoff · #7 July 27th, 2001, 09:54 AM

QUOTE:
>>"Research the technology if you want, but
>>no building Intel centers until I say, or
>>suffer the wrath of the Ancients once
>>again."

>I like that idea. The Ancients, being
>persnickety anyway, will not tolerate
>intelligence until they deem the child
>races are worthy. Or something like that.

/QUOTE

This gives me an idea for this game and others: Geo plans to host the game without partiipating, right? But as the "ancients" he wants to be able to punish anyone who breaks the rules.

This would be difficult as just a host, but what if he played a "gamesmaster" race of ancients? It would be simple enough, it's just scenario modding. Here's how I see it:

The Ancients occupy a single system in the far corner of the map. This system has a sphereworld and a host of maximum value planets. Their immensely powerful tehnology and carefully constructed defences make them utterly impervious to attack (except maybe at the end of the game, when the triumphant race must challenge the ancients to win their freedom).

Using racial traits, advanced intelligence capabilities and super-cloaked sensor satellites, the ancients can see anything and everything that happens in the galaxy. When they don't like what they see, cloaked warships stationed in nebulae can react quickly to chastise anyone who breaks the rules.

Fortunatly the ancients use their vast power responsibly. They have a strict policy of non-interference excpt in crtain circumstances which have been made clear to all the member races. The ancients are interested only in observation, not the petty games of conquest and expansion played out by "lesser" species.

Of course with the intel bug this could backfire, and someone could hit an ancient megaship with a crew insurrection, but once that problem has been solved, gamesmaster races could allow interesting scenarios with more complex rules to be developped, since there would suddenly be a way of enforcing those rules.

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