New MP Game - Random, Anonymous, No Diplomacy

[GriffinOfBuerrig]

Thats both good ideas!

And fun!

[Alneyan]

Boron said:
Capitols are named after the Nation. So i would suggest that the host checks every 5 turns for the number of capitols each player has and posts it.
So the settings are normal settings but the houserule is 9 capitols.
If the host reports every 5 turns the status this should be enough. As soon as someone has 9 capitols when the host reports again the game is over. What do you think?

Alternatively, any player having 9 capitals could just say so, and the host would then check if it is indeed true. If you don't want random claiming, make the claiming player give his password, so that everyone can check: that way, nobody would falsely claim victory.

Your way will allow the other players to know who's leading in capitals, while my own suggestion keeps that information secret; whether public or private capital count should be used in the game is for the players to decide.

[Turin]

I like alneyan´s suggestion more. We don´t need the host to do even more work.

[The Panther]

Because this game may migrate to a server, we will not have a very active host. I therefore think it is better to have the victory condition done automatically if possible. Can the Orania map file be easily edited to remove the existing VPs and therefore use capitol-only VPs?

Also, with graphs on (see my original game settings in the first post), the automatic VP setting will be a good way to see when a player is getting close to winning so neighbors can pick on the leader if they dare.

You can't really have people in the game making claims (like "I rock because I own my own home plus the Machaka and Atlantis capitols", or even "I currently own 5 capitols"), for this would reveal the nation owned by the player. Heck, even if the host says who owns a certain number of capitols every 5 turns, a true computer nerd (like my son) will eventually figure out who is playing which nation!

If we can't make the VP thing work because the map is too hard to edit, then we could use 50% of the provinces as the victory condition instead.


I really like Boron's suggestion that when a player is eliminated (or goes AI), his name and nation is revealed.

[Alneyan]

The Panther said:
You can't really have people in the game making claims (like "I rock because I own my own home plus the Machaka and Atlantis capitols", or even "I currently own 5 capitols"), for this would reveal the nation owned by the player.

Actually, my own suggestion was simply once nine capitals are under control, and nothing else; if you make a false claim, you deserve every single complication that will ensue, while a correct claim will result in the game being over.

It's only any use if you want to keep the number of capitals secret; otherwise, your way (or Boron's, which introduces a "every five turns" clause) is better, and every player will know how well the other nations are doing. Removing the victory points should not take more than a handful of seconds, and setting other VPs will be quick and painless. Unless I am mistaken, it will require set starting points though, and that may take a while to do, if balanced starting points are needed.

[Cainehill]

I think the victory points should be left in - they denote provinces of significance on the map. Simply let the one person say, "I have 9 capitols" - presumably everyone in the game can count to 9.

[The Panther]

Thanks for clearing that up, Alneyan. I read your post closer and understand it now.

Because I wanted graphs on (which helps for the people to see who is leading), then I was thinking of having the victory condition open also so everybody knows when someone is about to win. Without diplomacy, it will be much harder to cordinate an attack on the leader, but that is just part of the mystery of these settings. The graphs will help every player decide what to do to some extent.

You don't need preset starting spots because of the game option to select the box which says something like "1 VP per capitol". Doing this and setting all other VPs to zero produces 17 VPs on the map (1 per capitol). Then all that must be done is to select 9 VPs to win and everything is easy. What I did not know was if the map had the VPs built into the provinces or was just an added line in the map file. I do infer from your post above that it is nothing but a few lines in the code to be removed. I am at work right now so I cannot check this, but I sure take your word for it being easy.

A final problem might be the starting location selection. I remember just how lousy the starting spots were on the Blade game under Version 2.16 and I still don't know the cause of that. We may encounter the same problem and Pasha could have significant work trying to get the starting spots to work fairly.

[Alneyan]

The Panther said:
A final problem might be the starting location selection. I remember just how lousy the starting spots were on the Blade game under Version 2.16 and I still don't know the cause of that. We may encounter the same problem and Pasha could have significant work trying to get the starting spots to work fairly.

Don't you mean the 2vs2? Blade was started under 2.15, and had pretty good random starting points, near as I can tell. The 2vs2 game was awful however, especially for aquatic nations starting next to land nations.

I didn't know about the 1 VP per capital setting; it will be much easier then. You will need more than a few seconds to remove the VPs, but less than one minute, unless a simple Find & Replace works (leaving pointless numbers in the middle, which should not matter).

Hmm... I am doing an awful lot of talking for a game I will not take part in. Someone, please cast a Silence spell on me.

[Turin]

I just had a quick look at the mapfile and there´s one thing that I find really bad. province 173 has the oak of ages as a special site which gives an enchantment bonus 50!
And it´s only guarded by an ivy king and a couple of vine ogres/men, so it should be no problem for an early game pretender to take that site. So if you could alter the mapfile and replace it with the mother oak or something similar it would be great.

I have attached a mapfile without victorypoints and which replaces the oak of the ages with the motheroak.

[PashaDawg]

Duh! What precisely is the effect of "enchantment bonus 50"? I have been too lazy to figure that out (and I am extremely lazy about that stuff... ugh!) Maybe one of these days, one of you guys will sit me down and answer my questions. I will bring the gin and vermouth.