Players wanted for PBW PvK Proportions Game #1

[PvK]

We could use some replacement players for the ongoing epic PBW PvK Proportions Game #1. This game has been going on for a long time, and we're into the mid-tech period with some large and strong empires still available. We could use some new blood and some action.

Come and wreak havoc! Or, come and do whatever comes naturally. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Available established empires:

Space Vikings - perhaps the most powerful empire, with two homeworlds under its control. If someone wants to join up and unleash heck on the quadrant, this would be a good choice.

The Enlightened Plague - former allies of the Vikings, who helped them conquer the Kobaians, they are also in a very strong position.

The People's Empire of Night - Were on the brink of war with the Space Vikings when both human players left. A strong military empire using the Xiati shipset.

The Slu'vek Society - a strong researching race with a pretty safe/isolated position. They have good room to expand, but have to travel a long ways to contact many other empires. Once they get warp openers, that may suddenly change.

Daitoon Consortium - Using the cool Leonine shipset, these guys have stayed to themselves in the middle. They may be kind of constrained by the Vikings and Plague, but I haven't seen much of their space. I do know that they've had about three human players come and go, so there might be something problematic about their position. Or, they might be in a good position to snatch up parts of the Vikings and Plague.

Sort-of held for Krsqk in case he ever gets his connection working again and wants to play:

Krsqk Imperium - space bugs hidden in the remotest corner of the quadrant.

Remnants that shouldn't be taken unless you only want a weak planet or two and little to go with it:

Kobaia - Their homeworld and all but one of their planets were captured by the Space Vikings and the Enlightened Plague. They have some ships, bases, and planets in exile, but when they fell to AI control, the Draconians took most of what they had given them back, since the AI violated certain treaties.

Rex Dominion - The ruling classes left and took most everything with them - there is hardly anything left, and it too is suffering from Draconian reprisals against AI treaty violations.

Anyway, this is a good chance to get into a mature position in a PBW Proportions game, which as we've seen, takes quite a long time to reach. We'd like to have some more humans in the quadrant, so please join. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

PvK

[ February 20, 2004, 23:02: Message edited by: PvK ]

[Rollo]

wow, this game is still running? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

I am willing to retake control of the Vikings and see how the AI handled things during my 'vacation'.

[PvK]

Cool! We've got two replacement players already - Vikings and People's Empire of Night taken.

If the players agree, I think the time might be ripe to bring some excitement to this game and have a war. We've got six players with established empires now, and we could have another 3-4 if we get more players. Maybe after a few turns of players getting their bearings, we could choose sides for a two-sided team war.

Just an idea...

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

PvK

[Phoenix-D]

Strong military empire..hahaha.

Of course having the AI run you that long will do unpleasent things to any empire.

[PvK]

I thought they were strong... I may have been mistaken, since I'm not often seeing much of them. They are one of the more skilled fighting nations, with Enhanced/Enchanced skills, which puts them at least in the top three for skills. Are they going to work for you, or do you want to try someone else? I expect like the other AI races, they may at least have kept up in research and have fairly full resource coffers, meaning they can build a fleet pretty easily.

PvK

[Phoenix-D]

Oh, they'll work. ITs just going to take a lot of sorting out.

it doesn't help of course that either the AI or the previous player scrapped two cultural centers to be training facilities..fortunately they were the organics/rads favoring ones and not the mineral ones.

They also had the really brillant idea of retrofitting ALL the space yards in a sector at once. So I have lots of broken ships.

[Fyron]

I thought that AIs neither scrap facilities nor retrofit ships.

[ March 01, 2004, 02:34: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[geoschmo]

Well, i guess if Rollo can do that I can too. I can't wait to see what sort of condition the Daitoon Consortium is in after 18 months of my absence and having two other players and many turns under AI control. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[PvK]

Cool - thanks Geo!

Fyron, the AI definitely retrofits ships, and I'm pretty sure it does bases too. In fact, it has a certain deranged passion for it. I wouldn't put it past it to retrofit all its construction bases at once. I don't think Askan (the previous human PEoN player) would do that, though - and if he had, they'd be fixed by now.

PvK

[PvK]

Phoenix-D, homeworlds do have two non-Cultural-Center slots, that make sense to turn into something else (a space port and a resupply depot, which are redundant because of the CC's). In fact, it can make sense to change these from time to time to get better effects out of the homeworld. So if you have two a Space Yard, CC's, and two slots with something else, then you haven't lost any CC's.

PvK

[Siegebreaker]

How does the PBW plays?
What do I need in my PC? (SE4, patch191, Proportions 2.5.3, anything else?)

[se5a]

well it is symiltanios turns.
you dont realy need anything else. except to put http://seiv.pbw.cc into your favorates http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
once you have signed up there click the game lisings (attack button on the left) then click "Currently Open Games" (button in the middle, looks like a fleat with a sun)
scrol down the list till you find "PvK's Proportions Game #1"
and select the empire which you want to take over in there.

[se5a]

oh yea, if you have modified proportions then get the se4 mod picker (its on the gold CD)
install that, then change the directort name of your modifed proportions. and install annother unmodified Version of proportions.
you should see both Versions in the mod picker.

[PvK]

This game is actually using Proportions Mod 2.5.2.2, rather than 2.5.3 or 2.5.2.3. It's available from the Proportions web page (see link below). SE4 will tell you if you try to load the turn using the wrong Version of the mod.

PvK

[se5a]

ah right, good point. so sb will need 2.5.2.2 (which you can put in a seprate folder)

[PvK]

Since Rollo just left all his PBW games, we could really use a replacement player to take over the Space Vikings in this epic Proportions mod PBW game. They have a strong central position in the quadrant, with two homeworlds and many lucrative asteroid mines, but they have made some opponents, and were just about to have to face some Draconian attacks when Rollo left.

If anyone wants to join as another nation, we also still have viable positions open for the Enlightened Plague (old allies of the Vikings also centrally located but eroded somewhat under AI control), Slu'vek (remotely located research types with an extra homeworld (with no cultural centers) expansion potential but removed from the current action unless they develop warp tech), Krsqk (bug empire in a very remote corner of the quadrant - they'd probably need to develop warp tech or attack the Slu'vek to see much action).

The Kobaians and Chryslonites are more or less out of the game, as the Chryslonites have only one colony, and the Kobaians are nearly-extinct exiles whom the Draconians want to return to their Viking-held homeworld.

PvK

[PsychoTechFreak]

Do you think about ... #2 "already" ? With another setup (small quadrant, not so many players) maybe?

It looks like it would take half a day of hard work just to get an idea about what goes on in an empire like the Vikings, needless to talk about the rest of the quadrant and alliances...

[Ragnarok-X]

i would like to join a proportions game, but only a new one. The first time i "replaced" a player was in adamant11 and man that SUCKS. i hate to continue what other players began, you cant simply change your way when the empire has been played like 25 turns :[ Anyway, if there will be a new proportions game, count me in !

[PvK]

Ok, well we could start another one on a smaller map. On the other hand, what many players dislike about Proportions is the amount of time it takes to build up and establish an empire, develop conflicts with others, research even to the middle of the tech tree, etc., and so joining this one offers a way to start with that lengthy process already achieved.

Personally, even in unmodded SE4 where the empires get even larger by mid-game, I kind of like starting out a game with an existing history and working with what others have started.

PvK

[PsychoTechFreak]

The amount of time to establish is the reason I think about a small amount of reliable (obviously I do not talk about me) players who should be aware of this problem, or would even like this. There are some ways to accelerate the problematic first time frame - where most players seem to quit:
-low research costs
-3 planet start
-medium tech start

What I personally dislike about 99% of the PBW games is to be forced to build alliances, trade techs and all that team wonging stuff that only depends on who to meet first - who else to slay next with combined research power. If this could be disabled (which is not possible) somehow it would probably make up a game to my taste. But I guess it is a minority who would like to play it this way, so I remain to be a typical single role player.

[Ragnarok-X]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
I thought that AIs neither scrap facilities nor retrofit ships. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">AIs definitly scrap (ships). I dont know about retrofitting.

[PvK]

AI's also retrofit ships. Sometimes way too vigorously. I think this may have been reduced/improved a bit in 1.91.

PvK

[PvK]

Originally posted by PsychoTechFreak:
The amount of time to establish is the reason I think about a small amount of reliable (obviously I do not talk about me) players who should be aware of this problem, or would even like this. There are some ways to accelerate the problematic first time frame - where most players seem to quit:
-low research costs
-3 planet start
-medium tech start
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well this is a big part of why joining this established PBW game is such a good opportunity! Not only do you get over the establishment stage, but you do so without messing up the research tree, without having fake-o triple homeworlds, and with a real historical lead-up to the current situation, as well as interesting and real starting possessions.

What I personally dislike about 99% of the PBW games is to be forced to build alliances, trade techs and all that team wonging stuff that only depends on who to meet first - who else to slay next with combined research power. If this could be disabled (which is not possible) somehow it would probably make up a game to my taste. But I guess it is a minority who would like to play it this way, so I remain to be a typical single role player. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">It is quite possible to disable trade, and even alliances, and there are people who have the same interests - we just started Limited Resources (Pairs) 3 with PvK Balance mod, for example.

PvK

[Loser]

I'll give the Vikings a shot.

[ April 06, 2004, 17:43: Message edited by: Loser ]

[AMF]

Are there any other openings in this game? I've always wanted to play with the Proportions mod, from what I've heard of it, it's just that I rarely play solitaire anymore...so...any *good* openings in this game?

thanks,

Alarik

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by alarikf:
Are there any other openings in this game? I've always wanted to play with the Proportions mod, from what I've heard of it, it's just that I rarely play solitaire anymore...so...any *good* openings in this game?

thanks,

Alarik <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Alarik, you can have my spot. I took it back over cause it was languishing under AI control. But if you are willing, and Pvk doesn't have an objection, you can have it. The empires centrally located and currently at peace.

EDIT: Of course there's five other spots open. I don't know what shape they are in. Pvk may prefer you take one of those.

[ April 06, 2004, 18:04: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[AMF]

Well, I would prefer a decent one at peace to a decent one at war...(having just found out how hard it can be to understand all the machinations involved in jumping in new right in the middle of a war in a certain other game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif )

thanks,

Alarik

Originally posted by geoschmo:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by alarikf:
Are there any other openings in this game? I've always wanted to play with the Proportions mod, from what I've heard of it, it's just that I rarely play solitaire anymore...so...any *good* openings in this game?

thanks,

Alarik <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Alarik, you can have my spot. I took it back over cause it was languishing under AI control. But if you are willing, and Pvk doesn't have an objection, you can have it. The empires centrally located and currently at peace.

EDIT: Of course there's five other spots open. I don't know what shape they are in. Pvk may prefer you take one of those. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[PvK]

Geo, if you'd like to bow out, then I think your empire would be a good one for a new player. It is central, at peace, and seems to be in reasonable shape.

The other choices are:

Enlightened Plague: Central, more or less at peace, used to be strong, but I hear that some people have been pillaging parts of it during several game-years of AI control. I'm not sure if it's still strong, or if it should be re-named the "Unenlightened Carcass" at this point.

Slu'vek Society: Temporal researchers intact and at peace, but not centrally located. They have room to expand and dominate their corner cluster of systems, but are remote to the current conflict and most of the other nations. They could start a war with the Draconians to dominate their cluster, and/or go plunder the currently-uncontrolled Krsqk, or develop warp technology to reach the center.

Krsqk: Buggish race in their own very remote corner cluster of systems. They could go attack the Slu'vek and/or Draconians from a very safe position, or research warp tech and break in from unexpected directions. Or, camp out and probably never be bothered by anyone. The map is really pretty interesting in the amount of choke-points, seas of warpless space, system clusters, and one very long weird warp line going from isolated cluster to isolated cluster across the entire map without stopping.

As mentioned previously, Kobaia and Rex Dominion are barely existant - someone could play them if they want a game where they have very little to do. ;-) Actually the Kobaians could act as space pirates and exiles trying to get their homeworld back (especially since there are some of us trying to give it back to them).

PvK

[AMF]

I'll go ahead and take the Daitoon Consortium (Geo's Empire) if that's cool...I figure it'll be in at least decent shape....

thanks!

Alarik


Originally posted by PvK:
Geo, if you'd like to bow out, then I think your empire would be a good one for a new player. It is central, at peace, and seems to be in reasonable shape.

The other choices are:

Enlightened Plague: Central, more or less at peace, used to be strong, but I hear that some people have been pillaging parts of it during several game-years of AI control. I'm not sure if it's still strong, or if it should be re-named the "Unenlightened Carcass" at this point.

Slu'vek Society: Temporal researchers intact and at peace, but not centrally located. They have room to expand and dominate their corner cluster of systems, but are remote to the current conflict and most of the other nations. They could start a war with the Draconians to dominate their cluster, and/or go plunder the currently-uncontrolled Krsqk, or develop warp technology to reach the center.

Krsqk: Buggish race in their own very remote corner cluster of systems. They could go attack the Slu'vek and/or Draconians from a very safe position, or research warp tech and break in from unexpected directions. Or, camp out and probably never be bothered by anyone. The map is really pretty interesting in the amount of choke-points, seas of warpless space, system clusters, and one very long weird warp line going from isolated cluster to isolated cluster across the entire map without stopping.

As mentioned previously, Kobaia and Rex Dominion are barely existant - someone could play them if they want a game where they have very little to do. ;-) Actually the Kobaians could act as space pirates and exiles trying to get their homeworld back (especially since there are some of us trying to give it back to them).

PvK <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Alneyan]

Would anyone mind if I took over one of these Empires? I am thinking of the Slu'vek Society, as this Empire seems the closest to my own playstyle.

Like Alarikf, I wanted to play a Proportions game, but I did not manage to either find one such game besides this one, or to coerce other players in playing one Proportions game.

Thanks in advance! (I know I should not get in another game, but it seems to be too good an opportunity to let go. *Shrugs*)

[PsychoTechFreak]

Originally posted by PvK:

Enlightened Plague: Central, more or less at peace, used to be strong, but I hear that some people have been pillaging parts of it during several game-years of AI control. I'm not sure if it's still strong, or if it should be re-named the "Unenlightened Carcass" at this point.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">"Carcass"? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif ... once grown up next to the Vikings with a profitable partnership. But it just needs one turn by the AI (if the human player misses one) to change from a partnership to a nightmare...

[PvK]

PTF, I don't really know what their shape is now, but two other players mentioned pilfering Plague possessions after you left. I never actually saw any attacks on the colonies I could see. Looks like a couple might have actually caught the plague though, since they have no population. The AI seems to be trying to do something, though, as I see a new colony being built. Apparently in the latest patch the AI may have learned how to move fighters, too (if not how to launch or resupply them), as I see some fighters actually moving around in-system.

PvK

[PvK]

Alneyan, I'd be quite pleased if you took over the Slu'vek.

PvK

[AMF]

PvK,

Love the mod. It's exactly what I always wanted. It does seem that it takes a while to "get going" but I find that acceptable. I started a solitaire game again - first one in a year - with it, and it's definitely got that realistic and epic feel.

I have one question: there are a number of facilities that don't seem to be used in the PBW game. For example, in my solitaire game, it seems perfectly reasonable to me to build agro settlements, then agro colonies, eventaully minor cities on colony worlds. But in the PBW game, there are colonies with research centers and that's it. I guess this makes sense, as you could have the distant Ceti Alpha VI research outpost, a bunch of isolated scientists...and the same goes for mining facilties without communities to provide infrastructure...but then is there any reason to build agro settlements/communities/etc...aside from RP purposes?

thanks...still trying to figure it all out! Love the mod...

Alarik

Ps: I thought I read somewhere that in Proportions, fighters could not move strategically, but that's not the case, right?

[AMF]

PvK,

I am curious regarding one more aspect of the Proportions mod. You have a number of interesting and perhaps unique quadrant map types in the mod. While I don't pretend to understand how they work, I'm wondering whether they are needed for Proportions. I mean, why have new map types, the old map types would work fine, right? Is there a play-balance issue? Other issues?

Just curious,

Thanks,

Alarik

[PvK]

Thanks Alarik - I'm glad you're enjoying the mod!

Originally posted by alarikf:
... but then is there any reason to build agro settlements/communities/etc...aside from RP purposes?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">There are some reasons to do so, if you're so inclined. You can get by without them, of course, but some reasons that come immediately to mind include:

1) An organic race, which of course has more use for more organics.
2) A planet with high organic value but low other value. Even if you don't need more orgs at the moment, you can convert or sometimes trade them.
3) Developed systems where you want to maximize colony slot use because there are system bonuses, protection, and/or because one less organic facility means room for one more facility of another type.
4) Unlike Mineral and Rad production facilities, organic facs do not have any of the large "complex" or "megacomplex" Versions which are available by industrial research. However, the larger agricultural developments can provide higher yields.
5) IIRC, agricultural communities can be faster to build than conventional communities, and have equal or similar planet- and system-wide bonuses, so it can help to have at least one of the larger facility types in a system for that purpose.

Mainly there are some investment options there, which can be ignored or explored as players wish.


Ps: I thought I read somewhere that in Proportions, fighters could not move strategically, but that's not the case, right? <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Nope. It was probably referring to AIC mod, which has many similarities and borrows many things from Proportions, but concentrates on making the single-player vs. AI game challenging, and also does some interesting developments and changes to fighters, mines, and some other stuff.

PvK

[PvK]

Originally posted by alarikf:
... I am curious regarding one more aspect of the Proportions mod. You have a number of interesting and perhaps unique quadrant map types in the mod. While I don't pretend to understand how they work, I'm wondering whether they are needed for Proportions. I mean, why have new map types, the old map types would work fine, right? Is there a play-balance issue? Other issues?
... <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The old map types work fairly well... except if you are playing against the AI, then it might be good to use the default "Low-Gravity Tri-Polar" one - the Low Gravity refers to the reduction in things like Black Holes, which the AI doesn't know to avoid with its low-tech speed-2 colony ships (And it doesn't learn: oh nooooooo... ... oh noooooooo.... ... oh noooooooo...).

The "Rich" ones can also be good for Proportions from a certain perspective, in that they provide many warp connections so there are fewer bottlenecks and more access for slower ships.

I think the others are mainly there for variation. Proportions plays with the planets and systems in a few ways, adding bogus ruins and more abilities (and more varied and less predictable values) to some of the objects and warp points.

You can pretty much play Proportions games in systems generated by the unmodded game or by FQM or whatever. Though the high-asteroid Versions of (some Versions of?) FQM can run amok with the economy by provinding huge (essentially unlimited) amounts of mining income.

PvK

[PsychoTechFreak]

Bogus ruins are those with the ruin text bullet but without identifier, right? In which txt file can I find that?

[PvK]

I saw Fryon's description of that bug, but it's not something I've witnessed myself in Proportions mod. I just tried to find such in a test game with omnipresent view of all systems, and I sure don't see any difference. They all have both an icon and a bullet description.

The file in question is StellarAbilityTypes.txt.

I think perhaps Fryon has seen it without the symbol if you specify ZERO for Val 1 of Ancient Ruins Unique. He said you actually had to create bogus unique tech areas for each planet ability type, and I didn't do that in Proportions. However, what I did do, was give each ability type a unique tech area NUMBER, even though there is no actual tech area for them.

As far as I can tell, this works just fine in Proportions. If not, I'd like to see an example screenshot pair, and/or turn file.

PvK

[oleg]

It is the AIC issue, not Proportions http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Latest Version of AIC that utilises FQM has this unfortunate feature.

[PvK]

Ah, ok. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[PsychoTechFreak]

I have taken over the most recent AIC quadrants (setup) into proportions. Just one planet seen so far without identifier... not a big deal.

[PvK]

Ok. In that case, I think it would happen during quadrant generation. If you wanted to tweak your hybrid mod, though, to generate new quadrants without that issue, you'd just need to make sure each ancient ruins ability listed in StellarAbilityTypes.txt has a unique value in ability number one.

PvK

[PvK]

It's time to mention again that there are some available slots for the epic PBW game PvK's Proportions Game #1.

They are not as ripe as before, but there are still some slots that could be interesting for someone who either knows the mod well, and/or is interested in the challenge of figuring out how to solve a tough financial problem.

Empires available include:

Space Vikings:
For a long time, the Space Vikings have been arguably the strongest empire, having captured the Kobaian homeworld, held a strong and wide central position in the quadrant, and fielding a powerful fleet supported by many remote mining facilities. A period of governmental disarray followed, after which the old regime briefly reappeared, and were then followed by a Government who tried to help, but could not solve the economic problems, and recently resigned. Raids on their mining facilities and some fleet positions by the Draconians and then the Human Confederation compounded the problem, in their effort to return the Kobaian homeworld to the Kobaians. However the Vikings retain a large number of very powerful ships. They just need an emperor who can find a way to balance the budget (i.e. mothball what can't be afforded).

Enlightened Plague
Another central empire which was once strong and widespread. Has been suffering from lack of leadership and persecution by opportunists. May be in a reasonable position to start a comeback.

People's Empire of Night
Has suffered from governmental neglect and leadership that didn't know how to balance its budget and accomplish anything, but has been left alone.

Krsqk
An empire alone in the remotest corner of the quadrant, which could at least provide a safe corner to operate from.

Kobaia
The people without a homeworld. The Draconians have announced they intend to deliver it back to them (from the Vikings) within the next two years.

These aren't optimum spots nor needed to be filled, but I think they could all be interesting for players interested in working through some tricky positions in a developed multi-player Proportions game.

PvK

[JLS]

Originally posted by oleg:
It is the AIC issue, not Proportions http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Latest Version of AIC that utilises FQM has this unfortunate feature. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">By popular demand - AIC v4.191 uses the se4 default unique Ruin placements and no longer uses FQM‘s Version.

Players that wish to use PvK’s unique Ruin Placements, as I do http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Will find in AIC Extras Folder the (StellarAbilityTypes - Proportions Ruins).

= = =

PvK in a week or so, time permitting and you have an available slot open - I would very much enjoy a Proportions PBW game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Ragnarok-X]

i guess noone wants to hear that, but i would like to play a game proportions (im a nice regular player and NEVER forgot to do my turn) but unfortunally i would like to play from the beginning. How about setting up a small pbw proporions game with a small galaxy and only 3 or 4 players ?

[Alneyan]

I would say that Plague, Vikings and my neighbour starting with K (KSQR?) are probably your best choices at the moment. Plague has a rather important Empire, but size can be a problem; Vikings are a force to reckon with, but their economy has been weakened; and the Imperium is an isolated Empire, which can be an asset or its death warrant.

I wouldn't worry JLS: you *will* have a spot waiting for you in one week. I cannot say anything about the state of said Empire though. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

The problem with starting a new game would be to find players willing to play with Proportions to begin with, since Proportions requires more time than the stock game to reach the interesting stages of the game. If there is enough interest, what about doing something like a scenario start? A very nice game owner with too much time on his hands would play all Empires and develop their economy a bit before gamestart (an example of it would be the "A House Divided" game). Obviously, it can only be done with few players, and a volunteer for the very boring setup phase.

[PvK]

You could also run the AI for a 100 turns or so and then have humans take over on PBW.

Ya, JLS, there will be nations to take over in a week... unless a swarm of Proportions players appears and snap up all the spots. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

I imagine 3-4 players for another small game could be found.

PvK

[AMF]

[me]:Must...resist....another game...

:" but, you love proportions mod...just one game won't hurt will it??"

[good angel on shoulder]: "no, don;t give in..."

[bad angel socks good angel]:"bah, proportions doesn't take as much time as the other ones...come one...just one more game...what could it hurt..."

[me]: "arghh....."


Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
[b] i guess noone wants to hear that, but i would like to play a game proportions (im a nice regular player and NEVER forgot to do my turn) but unfortunally i would like to play from the beginning. How about setting up a small pbw proporions game with a small galaxy and only 3 or 4 players ? <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[AMF]

Well, I think I might have convinced a few more to join as well.

Originally posted by PvK:
Ya, JLS, there will be nations to take over in a week... unless a swarm of Proportions players appears and snap up all the spots. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
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[JLS]

Good news alarikf.

As it is, I will not be able to commit - looks like some much needed OT coming up at work.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ July 24, 2004, 21:39: Message edited by: JLS ]

[PvK]

JLS: Ok, thanks for the note. You're of course welcome any time there is a spot.

Ah, yes, thanks Alarik!

One of them chose the Chryslonites though, who have now entirely left or been absorbed. I wrote the player a list of the remaining choices, which I'll copy here, just because I have the text, and someone else might be interested in the current state:

The remaining choices are:

The Space Vikings, who were perhaps the most powerful empire until recently, when their economy collapsed under the expense of their extremely formidable but very expensive fleet, and raids from the Draconians and Human Confederation. They still have their homeworld and the one they captured from the Kobaians, and various colonies, outPosts, and a large fleet including perhaps 40 first-rate battlecruisers... which they can't afford to operate. But then, most nations don't _have_ 40 battlecruisers, so it's an intersting problem, and a tough one until you learn Proportions economics and design.

The Enlightened Plague also used to be strong and have widespread central possessions, but have had a lot more and longer chaos and abuse than the Vikings have. However I don't think they're actively threatened, so they are probably in a good position to form new alliances and rebuild.

The People's Empire of Night is perhaps a reasonable choice too. They're fairly small and not really at war, and the Last player said he didn't think he could do much with them due to economic weakness, but I think maybe that player mainly hadn't figured out what can be done and how to do it etc in Proportions.

If those don't sound wrecked enough, there is the really bare-bones choice of the Kobaians, who currently have next to nothing, but are perhaps in 10-20 turns about to get back their homeworld, unless the Vikings get a new and competant player soon, or something else goes wrong with the Draconian / Human Confederation liberation operation. (Edit: PS: The Kobaian shipset is not displayed on PBW. It is the stock Terran (human) shipset.)

PvK

[ July 25, 2004, 07:02: Message edited by: PvK ]

[Ragnarok-X]

so PvK, how about you setup a new small proportions game ? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[PvK]

Ok, I'll start a new thread for that...

PvK

[Hippocrates]

One powerful spot is still open in this game - the Space Vikings. The Vikings still have a powerful fleet of close to 30 ultra modern BC's and hold two Homeworlds - a major advantage in a Proportions game.

On this latest turn the Vikings AI demonstrated just how dangerous a Homeworld assault can be in Proportions and destroyed almost 40 invading ships (taking grave losses to their own defensive fleet, however). Meanwhile, their Primary Homeworld is well defended by BC's, and is in a position to strike back at the Human Confederation forces which have appeared in their back yard.

I'll be honest, the Space Viking position is challenging. However, the empire remains strong and is in an EXCELLENT position to counter-attack for the moment. A human player would really liven things up, and through diplomacy (the Vikings have several allies) might polarize a currently sleepy galaxy. It would be great to see someone take back the Viking's helm.

-Hippocrates

[PvK]

Agreed. The main trick may be balancing their budget, and developing new sources of income. They can't afford to maintain their entire fleet, so much of it is mothballed... but an influx of resources (from several possible sources I can think of) and careful play could really turn the situation around.

PvK

[AMF]

Ok, so the Proportions #3 game has already slowed down and it's only the fifth turn. Is this a temporary situation? If not, what are the options for speeding things up on a regular basis?

Just wondering...

Thanks,

Alarik

[PvK]

Edit: Heh. The new forum system started me in the middle of the thread for some reason, so I responded to an old post as if it were the new one.

I hear the delay in game #3 may be due to a particular player being slow. I know that one player was slow to get started. If everyone in the game wants, I can change the hosting settings.

PvK

[AMF]

Well, I don;t want to be a jerk, I just wanted to bring it up. I mean, if it is going to be a regular slowdown, maybe we should switch settings, but, otherwise, if temporary, hey, everyone has busy weeks, I certainly do and expect to in the future be able to ask for forbearance and understanding....


PvK said:
Edit: Heh. The new forum system started me in the middle of the thread for some reason, so I responded to an old post as if it were the new one.

I hear the delay in game #3 may be due to a particular player being slow. I know that one player was slow to get started. If everyone in the game wants, I can change the hosting settings.

PvK

[PvK]

Understood. It's good to bring delays to my attention, since I'm the game owner and am not playing in the game, and I get really busy too (like my Last several weeks... or maybe whole year...), so I likely won't notice if something goes wrong in game #3, unless someone mentions it to me!

PvK

[AMF]

Well, it appears that all three proportions games are now overdue. Perhaps the "reminder email" mssg function could be cranked up to send "nag" emails to the Last 4-5 players who haven't yet turned in orders? Just asking. This tactic worked pretty well for a few games I ran that had slowed down...

Thanks,

Alarik

[PvK]

The policy I adopted in game #1 can be applied to the others. 48 hour turns, but when late, I remind the late people and they have another 48 hours to let me know if they need more time, or I run the turn without them. In theory this can devolve to 96+ hour turns, but it has worked pretty well in game #1 as long as I am around to do the nagging.

The automated nag message is on, I think for the Last 3 players, but it's usually only 1-3 players that are late, so I don't think this needs to be turned up.

The problem is that I'm not in game #3, and PBW doesn't let me know there is a problem about that one. Maybe you could volunteer to be the nagger who lets people know they have 48 hours to ask for more time. You could CC me on the Messages and remind me if/when I need to run the turn without them.

PvK

[AMF]

PvK said:
Maybe you could volunteer to be the nagger who lets people know they have 48 hours to ask for more time.



Now THAT would be a thankless job. I really hate to sound like a nag, honestly, I just was jonesing for a turn or two...

[AMF]

Any chance we could get orders in for Proportions I and III games?

Just call me a stinker for pestering...

Thanks,

Alarik

[expinger]

Hi, just found this thread, a bit late as I've been in Proportions #1 and #3 for a month or so. Though sometimes it seems longer, given the pace of game #3. I think I have a strategy, but it is hard to remember....

expinger

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Hello.

[PvK]

Hello Narf. Game #3 was lagging due to the admin (me) not being in the game, and being way too busy to notice one of the players is apparently AWOL. It just lost another player, so will be paused until new players fill the missing two spots. I'll post a new thread asking for players for game #3.

PvK

[narf poit chez BOOM]

I was saying hello to expinger. Why? Cause he was there.

[PvK]

Most courteous of you. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

PvK

[expinger]

Hello narf, and thanks for saying hello!

[PvK]

There is a vacancy for The Enlightened Plague in PvK's Proportions Game #1.
They're in a good central position and have advanced technology, but have been abandoned for a while by the previous player, and I think the AI Empire Option may be set to not do anything to the empire. If anyone is interested in taking them over, or at least in checking them out and making sure the AI is on if you decide not to play them, please sign up.

(The game is using Proportions version 2.5.2.2)

Thanks,

PvK

[PvK]

I hear that the Plague AI is in fact activated, although it may be using the Plague shipset AI (?), which is non-Proportions.

The Kobaians are vacant again now, too. They are actually in halfway-decent shape now, having finally recovered their homeworld.

PvK