Newbie Game

[Arakiel]

Lo All, I'd like to start up a PBW game for newbies. And when I say newbies I mean NEWBIES... like me http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Anywho the concept is a stock game (no mods) running a galactic edge map (size is up for debate and dependant on # of responses) with 5000 racial points so peeps can play their coolest races. Unique shipsets so that we know who is who. Relativly new players only so that we dont get chewed up and spit out by the hardcore PBW gamers that have been doing this for ages.

Reasons: well most of the new games on the PBW site are either setup to run a mod, some wierd some not so wierd but still not what interests me. Or they don't want inexperienced players which automatically counts me out. Taking over an open slot is just inheriting Other Peoples Problems which doesnt sound like much fun to me so I decided that the best route to go would be a new game and see how many like minded newbies I can attract with me. So.... any takers?

-Arakiel

[brianeyci]

I'm "relatively new"... but I think I'm rather good, so I
don't know if you want me http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

All the stuff I know can be summarized in the following sentences. Avoid missiles like the plague, get point defense and military science II early, get mines II early, light carriers are awesome warships early on, get DUC V early, use PPB's mid-game, don't fall behind in research, expand like mad early on, make sure your race can build a colonizer on emergency build on your homeworld in one turn, and Last but most important make sure you max-min your race like Asmala does lol (see links below). Okay, so the above was a run-on sentence, so sue me lol.

I'll give you the links that I've read about so far...
http://www.spaceempires.net/home/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1

http://www.spaceempires.net/home/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=1

http://newbiefaq.spaceempires.net/

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/ubbuploads/Dubious/SE4DubiousStrategyGuide.zip

And of course the mother
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=153474&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

Brian

[Arakiel]

Dang...after reading that min/maxing article I have to redesign my favorite race again http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif man there are so many details to this game its great...easy to get lost in...but great http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

OK so we have 1 ... i'm thinking we need at least 5 humans for a viable game so anyone else?

[brianeyci]

Well... I guess it depends on what kind of game you want. If you want a really competitive game... or you want to RP... or something in the middle... in a couple of my games that I took over, I'm nowhere near the top and I'm having fun... but max/minning is fun at least in the beginning. Also I think that there are ways to fit in racial traits... if Asmala can max/min his race and include crystallurgy, why not organics/temporal/religious? Makes the game more interesting than everybody having a bezerker race. Also, the merchant type race seems interesting, more variety and you can do without space ports!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Merchants are overpriced.

[brianeyci]

hrm are you talking about the "natural merchants" racial ability, or the merchants society type? "natural merchants" isn't as cool as advance storage, hardy industralists and propulsion experts... but if you can do without the extra 1 move point, which is miniscule considering that ships stop when they warp into new systems, isn't merchants okay?

[Fyron]

You can avoid ships stopping in new systems. Just order them to move to the center of the unexplored system after giving them the order to warp through the warp point...

[brianeyci]

how do you do that when the system is marked "unexplored"?

[Fyron]

Select the system and give move to orders to the middle of it. Clicking anywhere near the middle will suffice. You probably dont even need to give warp orders for the warp point, but I am not sure if the game adds that to the order queue for unexplored systems or not. Easy enough to test, just give the move order and hit v, to look at the order queue.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

brianeyci said:
hrm are you talking about the "natural merchants" racial ability, or the merchants society type? "natural merchants" isn't as cool as advance storage, hardy industralists and propulsion experts... but if you can do without the extra 1 move point, which is miniscule considering that ships stop when they warp into new systems, isn't merchants okay?


Is one extra facility space in each system really worth 1000 points?

[Arakiel]

Well I like to have an efficient race and some of the items posted in that article I didn't even know about (like adv storage effecting facilities as well as cargo...i thought it was just cargo space). I don't fully agree with everything in the article, I tend to think that the adv supply usage is handy for extra range until you finally get quantum reactors and the racial traits can be neat if your playing a race where it makes some sense but overall the article was great.

BTW Imperator, thanks for that tip on sending ships into unknown space, I didn't know you could do that either http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[brianeyci]

narf poit chez BOOM said:
Is one extra facility space in each system really worth 1000 points?



Sure it is, it saves you three turns to build the space port. That's three turns times 500 research, you're 1500 research ahead! lol now that I think of it, maybe not. And from what I have read, one extra move point can mean the difference between moving first and moving Last -- or not moving at all lol. Guess its advance storage, hardy industralists and propulsion experts all the way. And perhaps organics, although you'll take a hit in your overall stats... but the organic armor is too good to pass up lol.

Brian

[Rasorow]

I have been playing SE since SE II came out so Space Empires is a familiar gam but I have never played Online...

I would be interested in playing a game at something like 1 turn every 2 days where I could learn playing Online... but as I said - not exactly new just untried in Human Competition.


Rasorow

[Renegade 13]

Well, Arakiel, here's a suggestion. If you want to get the game going relatively quickly (once you actually start the game, that is) make the tech cost low. That way, research for the more advanced techs costs less, and you all get to the higher tech levels sooner, which can make things more exciting. But then again, some players can fall behind in tech quicker that way, and makes recovering a little tougher. Just a suggestion.

Also, I've been in PBW for less than a year, and in the 10 games I'm in, I'm in the Last 1/2 to 1/4 in score in every single one (I think). So if you don't mind someone with a little more experience playing, I'd be quite happy to play. However, I will totally understand if you don't want someone with a bit more experience playing. Your choice. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Fyron]

Arakiel said:
I don't fully agree with everything in the article, I tend to think that the adv supply usage is handy for extra range until you finally get quantum reactors...

The advanced supply usage trait is not worth the same as a trait such as advanced storage techniques or hardy industrialists. I would never take it over one of those traits. It can certainly be handy, but there are more powerful ways to spend your points. Just research Astrophysics, then Stellar Harnessing. You get solar collectors, which are even better at extending your range. A few solar collector ships in each fleet go a very long way (make sure to have more supply storage on the ship in question than the collectors can generate in a turn so that they may function to maximum potential). Before you get solar collectors, build supply ships that are filled with supply bays. A few of those in a fleet can easily boost the range significantly. Sticking a repair bay on supply ships makes them even more useful. Also, sticking 1 supply bay on all ships LC and larger increases their range by 17% right there, and will eliminate the huge vulnerability of one or two ionic disperser shots disabling your warships with impunity.


and the racial traits can be neat if your playing a race where it makes some sense but overall the article was great.

Assuming you refer to the tech traits (organic, temporal, etc.), note that the article does not say they are useless or bad, just that they do not fit into the min-maxing scheme. They are more of an art than a science/math exercise. Take them if you like, and the rest of your points can be min-maxed.


brianeyci said:

narf poit chez BOOM said:
Is one extra facility space in each system really worth 1000 points?



Sure it is, it saves you three turns to build the space port. That's three turns times 500 research, you're 1500 research ahead! lol now that I think of it, maybe not. And from what I have read, one extra move point can mean the difference between moving first and moving Last -- or not moving at all lol. Guess its advance storage, hardy industralists and propulsion experts all the way. And perhaps organics, although you'll take a hit in your overall stats... but the organic armor is too good to pass up lol.

Brian

Organic armor is only strong in the early game. As the game progresses and fleet sizes get larger, it is uncommon for more than a ship or two to survive an entire round once it comes under fire and be able to regenerate. Well, it has to survive even more rounds since no pool of regenerative points is built up before any organic armor components are lost anymore... Certainly, some will be able to regenerate, but most will not. Shields provide a much better defense, as they give you many more raw hit points. There is something to be said about using organic armor and weaponry to balance out the resource costs of your ships to get fast build rates, but your ships will be a lot weaker individually. It is a fine balancing act...

[Sivran]

I'll join http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

And may I suggest Devnull mod to make things more interesting than Stock? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Salient]

I'm completely dazed and confused by the game right now.
I'm beginning to see some light, I think.
I've been beaten twice by the ai so far.

I'll give Online play a try, just remember that I'm really NEW!!!

[Arakiel]

ok so it looks like we have a group of people http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

so far i see:
brianeyci
Rasorow
Renegade 13
Sivran
Salient
and myself
did i miss anyone?

To make sure everybody gets what they are hoping for out of the game lets talk settings...

Galaxy Size/Type?
Any Restrictions?
Tech Levels?
Homeworld Value, #, etc?
AI Empires?
Any Mod?

Personally I usually play in a large map against the AI but that's my opinion and im not sure if that would take too long to get going in Online play. Only restriction I can think of is that we all use different shipsets so we know who is who (usually). As for mods. i'm not thrilled with the idea but not totally against it if the group thinks it would make the game more fun. So what do you all think?

-Arakiel

[Salient]

Stock game is fine by me, large galaxy is also ok.
A few neutral AI empires could be fun.

And lots of diplomacy between the players!

[Renegade 13]

I would suggest 3 homeworlds, in order to get things going faster. Also, in my opinion, it's a lot more fun if there are no AI's in the game. They tend to really mess people up, and will not honor alliances, etc. We'd probably end up just ganging up on them and wiping them out as early as possible, so what's the point??

Low tech cost would get the game going quickly as well (makes researching new tech levels cheaper in research points) But I'm not sure if everyone would agree to that.

What do people think of these suggestions?

[Glyn]

I'm interested.
I have only had the game a week, but I was planning to try PBW eventually.

Glyn

[Arakiel]

Cool beans Glyn!

Renegade 13 - You make good points, not sure I agree with the low tech approach though. Sounds like it would get going faster but also get out of control faster with everybody running around using Baseships oDoom.

If we do go without AI then I think we need a smaller map, otherwise it could be quite awhile before we meet other players. Although with 3 homeworlds that may get offset a bit.

[Alneyan]

Baseships are evil! Beware of them, as they may not be so great in some circumstances (well, they do shine when battles come down to a contest of numbers). But I should not digress so.

Low tech means tech costs go in a linear way, rather than in an expontential growth (or geometrical; I am not sure if there is actually a difference here) as with Normal and High cost. For example, Shields X costs 100,000 research points with low tech cost (starting cost of 10,000 times the wanted level of 10), while they would cost no less than 500,000 research points with Medium tech cost and 1,000,000 points with High tech cost.

In the JJPEAR game (low tech cost), all Empires had reached full tech more or less around turn 100, including some of the most useless technologies ever allowed to see the daylight. To the best of my knowledge, there had been few treaties and trades in this game, and none of the Empires seemed to have gone with a full "tech junkie" approach. So you should expect high-end technology to become available very early in a low tech cost game, especially if there are players loving research in the game.

[Salient]

Do we want a long slow game or a more fast paced one?

Myself, I'm more than willing to commit myself to a very long game.

[Rasorow]

Faster....

3 homeworlds is cool

Low tech is great

Good value homeworlds

mid lvl race points?

Stock game please...

No AI

My 2 cents

Rasorow

[Renegade 13]

Arakiel said:
Renegade 13 - You make good points, not sure I agree with the low tech approach though. Sounds like it would get going faster but also get out of control faster with everybody running around using Baseships oDoom.



You're very right. It may be better to have a normal tech cost game, rather than a low cost. Really, I don't care a whole lot either way, I'll be quite happy to play either way. And yes, if we go with the no AI thing, a smaller galaxy would get us in contact with each other at a quicker pace.

As for a slow paced, or fast paced game, either one is good with me, as I will play the entire game through, no matter what. (Unless something catastrophic occurs, in which case I'd have to drop out. But that's very unlikely). I look forward to playing with you all! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Alneyan]

Renegade 13 said:
As I will play the entire game through, no matter what.



So, does it mean you fully expect to win the game, or at least to survive until the end of the game? Otherwise, how would you be able to play "the entire game through"? Granted, you seem to do quite well at survival; at the rates things are going in NGC4, you will become the third most powerful Empire in the universe. Sorry, I couldn't resist making that pointless comment. Yes, I will be leaving now.

[Renegade 13]

Alneyan said:

Renegade 13 said:
As I will play the entire game through, no matter what.



So, does it mean you fully expect to win the game, or at least to survive until the end of the game? Otherwise, how would you be able to play "the entire game through"? Granted, you seem to do quite well at survival; at the rates things are going in NGC4, you will become the third most powerful Empire in the universe. Sorry, I couldn't resist making that pointless comment. Yes, I will be leaving now.



Hmmm, no I meant that I'll play the game through until I'm totally destroyed, which likely will happen quite quickly! Ah, NGC4...survival I can do, but I don't seem to be powerful enough to be able to do much more than merely survive. 3rd most powerful? Very unlikely, although possible. I wish I was as optimistic as you are!

[Alneyan]

Actually, you are already the fifth most powerful Empire in the galaxy Renegade. The only major powers remaining alive are the Collective, Granagh, Teal, and Manticore. Aether Lords are somewhat weakened, and above all under the rule of the Collective, and so I would put your Empire above the Aether Lords.

Since Teal and Granagh are likely to go against the Collective (or the other way around), it will leave either Granagh/Teal as major powers (I wish), or Collective/Manticore, thus making you the third most powerful Empire in the galaxy. Obviously, once one of the big two alliances has slaughtered the other pair, you will not stay for long as "third most powerful Empire in the galaxy". http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Renegade 13]

Now that I look at it your way, its does make some sense. However, in getting to be the 3rd most powerful, you're assuming that I do not join Teal/Granagh or Collective/Manticore against the others. For if I do join one of the big 2 alliances, I will likely be wiped out early on, and thus will only make it to 5th spot!

Also, Last turn when I looked at my score, it showed me as being in 8th position. If you count me above the Aether Lords, and (presumably) above yourself, that only puts me into 6th. Although there may be some other empires around that I'm not aware of, and are higher than me in score, but less powerful.

But we are digressing, this was not to be the original subject of this thread. My apologies Arakiel for hijacking it. Feel free to return it to its orginal purpose. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Salient]

Any more news on this ??

[Arakiel]

Hey all, sorry for my silence this weekend but my cable modem went Kaplooie so I was without internet. I'll catch up on the thread in a bit.

[Arakiel]

OK, we aren't getting much feedback so I'm going to assume that folks aren't too bothered by the game settings whatever they are. Here's what I'm planning on setting up based upon the feedback so far:

Map - Galaxy Edge, Medium Size
Racial points - 5000
Starting resources - Mid
3 Planets, Good value
No AI's
Tech Cost...I see both sides of the discussion and really don't care that much myself. Since we have 2 votes in favor of low tech I'll plan on setting low tech cost.

Anything else you folks want to see?

[Renegade 13]

Sounds good to me! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Arakiel]

K i've opened the game on PBW. I'm at work so I can't do much more then that right now...besides I need to write up a good history for my race http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

You can find it on PBW as "Shattered Hopes" after a Neverwinter Nights PW I was part of....ahh the good old days http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Salient]

Here's a suggestion :

A friend of mine runs a small quiet forum dedicated to the discussion of all sorts of games. How about we start our own thread there so we could use it for this game, diplomacy and politics,ingame events and empire Messages could all be discussed and posted there.
Here's (http://s3.invisionfree.com/House_Of_Games/index.php) the link to the place. All you guys would have to do is register.

Anyway, thought it would be a good idea to have our own space for this kinda stuff and the place is perfect for it.

If you all agree I could go over there and get our thread started.

As for the game I would suggest no tech trading,only one partnership allowed and that the game leader would place us as far apart as possible, especially in a medium sized galaxy.

Thanks again to Arakiel for starting this, really looking forward to it!!

Thanks again to Ar

[Salient]

I'm pending to join. Yihaa, my first PBW game!

My only concern is the size of the galaxy, isn't medium a bit small using the stock game?

It's eventually your call Arakiel, but I would prefer a large galaxy, especially if we get a lot of players.

[Arakiel]

Hi Salient

as near as i can tell we get a private forum for the PBW game on the PBW site http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I like your idea of spreading people out, however since I'll be playing as well I think I'll let the puter place us in a spread out fashion since otherwise i'd have inside knowledge of the game map and although I *could* say that i'll just ignore it...why have the stigma http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Not sure how to enforce no tech trading and 1 partnership, or is that more of an "honor system" type of thing?

[Arakiel]

On a private note ... w00t! my first star.

oh... and Glyn and Salient have been approved http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Salient]

Not sure how to enforce no tech trading and 1 partnership, or is that more of an "honor system" type of thing



Yep that would be code among the players.

Letshope that the puter spreads us out as far as possible!

Didn't know about the forum space per game, that's cool!

[brianeyci]

Arakiel said:
You can find it on PBW as "Shattered Hopes" after a Neverwinter Nights PW I was part of....ahh the good old days http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



"Good old days" indeed... I went to level 20 a few times, level 18 cleric/1 fighter/1 monk. Basically a character with the BAB of a fighter, who could cast powerful cleric spells and dish out tons of damage with dual wielded kamas and 60 AC lol. Max/minning to the extreme. Only thing that could really match that would be a level 20 pure sorcerer or level 20 pure wizard...

This new game should be fun, will join as soon as I have an empire ready.

[Arakiel]

Starwood applied and got accepted...don't see him on the thread but *shrug* the more the merrier. 'Lo Starwood!

[Sivran]

With a turn duration of 24 hours, it might be best to add the No AI mod. It will prevent the AI from messing up players, if they miss a turn. With it, any player without a plr file will simply continue on whatever they were doing Last turn.

[Salient]

Since I'm not sure the shipset I want to use is on the PBW site, it would be handy if everyone in the game could download the TAERA HIVE shipset from here (http://sotas.clan.st/).
Look under "hosted shipsets".


Btw, tell me where I can find the shipsets you guys are using so I can get them as well!
I'm guessing this is the safest thing to do for everyone.

[brianeyci]

Sivran said:
With a turn duration of 24 hours, it might be best to add the No AI mod. It will prevent the AI from messing up players, if they miss a turn. With it, any player without a plr file will simply continue on whatever they were doing Last turn.



Don't need the "no ai" mod to do this... there's a way to create your empire with "no ai"... its in the dubious strategy guide in the link I posted earlier... it involves downloading some files and extracting them. I am not sure, but I think the files were posted by Geoschemo in an older forum (could someone post the link to the archived old forum?).

Then when you make your empire, you can choose AI minister "none" type rather than "neutral" "agressive" or "defensive"... there is also an option in the uh options menu while you are playing a turn "let AI make no changes during a simultaneous game"... although you'd have to set up your research and ship queues ahead of time if it literally means "no changes"...

Brian

[brianeyci]

Salient said:
Since I'm not sure the shipset I want to use is on the PBW site, it would be handy if everyone in the game could download the TAERA HIVE shipset from here (http://sotas.clan.st/).
Look under "hosted shipsets".


Btw, tell me where I can find the shipsets you guys are using so I can get them as well!

I'm guessing this is the safest thing to do for everyone.



If you upload an Empire file before you upload the shipset to PBW, there will be problems... you have to upload the shipset to PBW for sure before uploading your empire. I think the only way to fix the problem is to withdraw from the game, and rejoin the game again! Otherwise, people will not see your shipset properly, and maybe you won't either...

When you go to the PBW page, the shipsets are listed under the little icons, the one that looks like a ship on top of a green grid... do the icons show up for you? Do you have java installed? Try the non-graphical page.

Brian

[Arakiel]

Anyone have any experience with this NO AI mod that Sivran is talking about? I haven't seen it. If the PBW can handle it without the need for a MOD like Brain is talking about I think I'd rather go that route.

I'm planning on uploading my shipset to PBW so that it's always there, its basically just a slightly modified Version of TeraC's SEV set.

[Salient]

Brianeyci,

I double checked thanks to Ragnarok's tip and found that the shipset I want to use is on the PBW site, but under a different name (TAERA Republic instead of TAERA hive), so it should be ok.

Thanks

[Salient]

Empire uploaded.

[Renegade 13]

Sivran said:
With a turn duration of 24 hours, it might be best to add the No AI mod. It will prevent the AI from messing up players, if they miss a turn. With it, any player without a plr file will simply continue on whatever they were doing Last turn.



Fortuantely, to avoid having the AI mess things up, all you have to do is this: Immediately after opening your first turn, go into the empire status window (the yellow crown icon), go the the "ministers" option, scroll down and find the option "AI should not make changes to the empire to a Simultaneous Game". Select this option, and no matter how many turns are missed, the AI shouldn't make any changes. This is a lot easier than using the No AI mod and is quite simple to do. As long as you remember to do it!!

[douglas]

I believe the NO AI mod does exactly the same thing as the "AI makes no changes to empire during simultaneous game" empire option. The only reason the mod exists is that it was created before that option was added in a patch.

[Sivran]

What about intel? Will intel projects be on for this game? It has bearing on how I setup my emp http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Arakiel]

i dont see why not, intel can be fun http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Mikeyman]

I may join, but my computer power supply has broekn down and I need to replace it...I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to get a new one.

[Arakiel]

Well we have most folks who professed an interest. Still waiting to hear from brianeyci & Rasorow ... unless one of you is "starwood".

Hopefully we can get started soon or I might have to start a new AI game LOL.

[Rasorow]

I wont be able to join until tomorrow... at work and class Last night. Wont be able to get on tonight due to unusual circumstances (personal).

also since its 24 hrs I will miss turns every monday....

Rasorow

[Salient]

Glad to hear we'll be starting soon!

I'm laying my third AI game now and for the first time I'm still alive and kicking in third place lol http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif !!

The Phong are my buddies, the Amon-krie are nice friends and I'm kicking Kilrathi butt!
The Terrans,Noraks and Mokakah are still nowhere to be seen.
I'm getting very addicted right now, too bad my girl is chasing me off to clean the bathroom, ah don't we all love women?!

[brianeyci]

I'm debating whether or not to have a thematically inclined race, or to have a max/minned ultra race. I'll join the game now, and we'll see how it goes =D

Brian

[Liudas]

Hmm, i could join the game, but i don`t want to make another slaughterhouse like in newbies102 because of me.

[Arakiel]

In the interest of getting this game going i'm considering laying down a drop dead date for empire uploading of saturday...i.e join the game and get your empires in by saturday or you get kicked and the game starts...unless peeps think thats too draconian in which case I will just shush and play some more against the AI http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif


Liudas said:
Hmm, i could join the game, but i don`t want to make another slaughterhouse like in newbies102 because of me.



err...well if you arent an SE newbie i'd ask you stayed away. You'll notice on my first post that the whole pupose of this PBW game is for newbies to get into it without getting slaughtered. Starting a newbie game and getting hardcore players to come in and kill them sort of defeats the purpose...

[Liudas]

Well, you understanded me wrong, i am not a hardcore player, who joins newbies games and destroys empires one after other. It`s just my playing style. I just don`t like all those lets all get along games.
And about my playing level, sivran renegade13 and mikieman should tell about that. I am in one game with them. If you guys think that i am too expierenced for this game i will not join of course. I will not get any plesure from game if other players won`t have it too. (Executer in newbies102).

[Arakiel]

Ahh, sorry for the misunderstanding. I fully agree the sickly sweet "Don't hurt me" games aren't what I was hoping for either so in that case we'd love to have you along!

I'm probably gonna get owned in the early stages of this game but what the heck, it will be a learning experience http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[brianeyci]

Arakiel said:err...well if you arent an SE newbie i'd ask you stayed away. You'll notice on my first post that the whole pupose of this PBW game is for newbies to get into it without getting slaughtered. Starting a newbie game and getting hardcore players to come in and kill them sort of defeats the purpose...



Well. I am a newbie but I don't know whether I'm as bad enough lol. I created a great thematic race.

Watch out for Love Incorporated lol.

Brian

[boran_blok]

Is there still space to join ? and if so ehm, how does this entire PBW thing work ? I've played SE4 (and some mods) quite frequently already, but i'm a total newbie to the multiplayer aspect, so if there's still space for a player, let me know, Thanks.

Boran.

[Arakiel]

"There's always room for one more" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

The more the merrier. First you need to check out the site:
http://seiv.pbw.cc/text/index.jsp

register yourself and read up on the docs, it *seems* pretty straight forward but then again I haven't done this either so I could be smoking wacky weed.

All -
I'm beginning to wonder if going into a large sized map is a better idea after all, we've got alot more interested parties then it first seemed. Current count is 7 with 2 "maybies". With a mid sized map it could get crowded fast..then again that could make things more interesting too. *Shrug*

...Thoughts?

[boran_blok]

Got myself registred and i'm reading the FAQ's atm

when do you have the game start scheduled ?

and when would you have the turns process (Time + timezone so that I can see what time it would be in my timezone)

Thanks.

We are playing Version 1.91 eh ? because the faqs are still in 1.7x era..

I'll have to reinstall SE4 tho, it has been modified a bit http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[boran_blok]

I applied to join the game, I'm going to hunt for a nice shipset now.

[starwood]

Hey,

I just discovered that this thread was here !
I just started PBW a month ago, and this sounds like a fun game. I will upload my empire asap.

I don't really have any experience playing against people, just against the computer a few times.

-Will

[narf poit chez BOOM]

No, no. You can't be Will. We already have a Will.

[starwood]

I "will" be starwood !

Gotta go to real world now ( logging off )

[Liudas]

So i am still waiting for my gamemates from newbies102 rate me. Little about me: i have just fineshed my first game, but it was team game, Lithuanian team against Finnsish team. I have ~3 games now and most of them them is team based,but i want to finish any of them on my own, without help of my teammates (more expierenced). Like i said, i have some theoretitac expierence, but less playing expierence. So if you are lack of players invite me. I hope i will not ruine the game.

[Rasorow]

I am sorry but I need to officially withdraw my interest. I cannot do 24 hour turns. I will miss 2-4 turns a week and that just ruins it. I have to much else going on with DnD, school, work, and social commitments. Wish I could play though.

Rasorow

[Liudas]

i can make tuns, thateer you want, if tyou dont mid, one drunkard like as was callledddddd

[Arakiel]

Liudas said:
So i am still waiting for my gamemates from newbies102 rate me. Little about me: i have just fineshed my first game, but it was team game, Lithuanian team against Finnsish team. I have ~3 games now and most of them them is team based,but i want to finish any of them on my own, without help of my teammates (more expierenced). Like i said, i have some theoretitac expierence, but less playing expierence. So if you are lack of players invite me. I hope i will not ruine the game.



just click join, i'll hit accept next time im on site

[Arakiel]

Rasorow said:
I am sorry but I need to officially withdraw my interest. I cannot do 24 hour turns. I will miss 2-4 turns a week and that just ruins it. I have to much else going on with DnD, school, work, and social commitments. Wish I could play though.

Rasorow



Sorry Rasorow!

[Arakiel]

Liudas said:
i can make tuns, thateer you want, if tyou dont mid, one drunkard like as was callledddddd



Umm...K....LOL

[Arakiel]

boran_blok said:
Got myself registred and i'm reading the FAQ's atm

when do you have the game start scheduled ?

and when would you have the turns process (Time + timezone so that I can see what time it would be in my timezone)

Thanks.

We are playing Version 1.91 eh ? because the faqs are still in 1.7x era..

I'll have to reinstall SE4 tho, it has been modified a bit http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif



Hoping fot this weekend for startup.
Timed turns every 24hrs, so will depend on game start time from what i gather.

[Renegade 13]

Well Liudas, from what I've seen in the Newbies 102 game, you should make a good opponent. Conscientious at uploading turns, and a worthy ally. Not too experienced, but enough to be stronger than me!

[Salient]

A larger galaxy would be welcome now,we're up to 10 players now.

I do hope there will be room for some diplomacy and empire building and that we don't start shooting right away, that's certainly not my plan. Infact that way it would be a very short game for me I fear.

Oh, and it's god to see a fellow country man here boran_blok !!
Wanna ally right away? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Liudas]

Hmm, i think i am too late, the game is already full. Well maybe next time.

[boran_blok]

Maybe we should do a poll then what timezones all players have

I have placed a message on the game forum (the one on the PBW site specifically of the game) concerning this.

On a sidenote, can anyone reccomend a good empire style ? it needs to be darkish-blue.

thanks.

[Glyn]

When the start date for this game?
I can't make game turn postings between Oct 3-8 due to RL.
It will hurt to miss 5 turns in the beginning, but I don't want to delay the game start. So, it may be best if I withdraw for now.

[boran_blok]

Found Myself a shipset and I will have tinkered and tweaked my empire by tonight, or tomorrow night at most.

[Arakiel]

Glyn- I was hoping for this weekend to start the game. as long as you fill up your queue beforehand you should be good for a few days at least, just make sure your research and other queues have enough work to Last 5 turns.

boron_blok - i'm not quite sure what the issue is. it's a 24 hour timer, so as long as you upload your turn *sometime* within the 24hr period you'll be fine. timezone shouldn't matter since it's a 24 hour clock. please elaborate if i'm not understanding your issue. thanks!

[starwood]

I uploaded my empire.

I read the article on Min Maxing...
I had no idea so many of those traits were not so important.
Anyway, I had fun tweaking them, it reminded me what I used to do in Dungeons and Dragons.

From what I read from the people here, I think this is going to be a fun game !

[starwood]

Question:

Does max units allowed mean only units actually in space and not the planets ?

I was thinking, people with large empires would find it really hard to defend with only 300 ships.

But on the other hand, only having 300 ships would make a long, fun game, because people would find it hard to maintain a large empire, so eveyone would be expanding and shrinking alot ?

[Fyron]

starwood said:
Does max units allowed mean only units actually in space and not the planets ?

Yes. It is max units in space allowed.

[boran_blok]

Arakiel said:
[..]
boron_blok - i'm not quite sure what the issue is. it's a 24 hour timer, so as long as you upload your turn *sometime* within the 24hr period you'll be fine. timezone shouldn't matter since it's a 24 hour clock. please elaborate if i'm not understanding your issue. thanks!



1: it's boran http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

2: this will be a bit harder to explain than my name but i'll try.

if the turn generation is at 21 hrs my time for instance, then i'd have sometimes only 1 hr to make my turn before it's got to be in, or after that time only 2 hrs (okay that should suffice but I do not know how long my empires will get and what other homework i'd have)

but if the turn generation is in the middle of the night somewhere then i'd always have the entire evening without having to watch a clock, just submit when off to bed, hence 00hrs till 18hrs my time (the entire time i'm asleep and/or at school) the turn processing firs best for me.

hope you understand the reasoning behind this.

[Fyron]

Just make the game be 30 hours. It will be close enough to 24 hour rate that it will not be noticeable (especially if you do not have people submitted at the eleventh hour every turn...), and will give leeway for people in very different time zones with limited playing times... I know I have been in games where I was the Last to submit a turn simply because the turn processed in the middle of the night and everyone else in the game was in Europe. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[boran_blok]

Well, 24 wouldbe okay, it gives some regularity imho I mean you know every day when the turn is going to process.

[Fyron]

The turn will process as soon as the Last player uploads his/her turn file for that turn. Unless timed only turns are selected (which only serves to slow down a game), there will be no regularity to the processing of turns. 24 hours is just the maximum limit, when PBW will force execution regardless of whether all players have uploaded their turn files or not. If everyone uploads their files in 1 hour, PBW will process the turn right then and there.

[Salient]

The way you explain it Mr. Fyron turn processing sounds logical and should fit most people on a 24h basis.

Is the next step 48h or can one choose 36h or 40h as well?

[Fyron]

You can choose 25 hours if you want. It is entered per hour.

[boran_blok]

atm as I see it the game is set at 24hr clock, not 24hr timeout.

so if you think it's better to have 24 hr timeout then you should contact arakiel to have him change it.

[Arakiel]

Contacting me is as easy as pie http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

...which is an odd little saying because ive made pies and they arent easy...it's like the "taking candy from a baby", if you've ever tried it you'd know it ain't so easy...but I digress...

I can easily swap how the turns are run to run automatically. My thoughts at the time were that if someone didn't upload a turn everybody would be sitting around on their hands waiting. With the timed turns the turn runs...end of story...if your turn isn't in then at least you haven't made everyone else wait.

Let's put it to a vote. What would folks prefer, timed turns or full auto?

[Arakiel]

I should learn to read Fyron's Posts more carefully...either that or I need more sleep. Right nevermind the vote, auto turns it is.

[Salient]

I can make 24h turns, piece of cake (or pie for that matter). When and if the game goes into a micromanaging frenzy we can always switch to whatever seems appropriate.

Btw, are we playing a medium or large galaxy? 10 players seems a bit much for a medium sized map.

And what kinda pie did you make Arakiel? It didn't happen to be Space cake euh pie was it? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Arakiel]

I see we have everyone's empires uploaded. One Last chance to let your voice be heard about galaxy size before i upload the gam file. i'm still seriously considering making the galaxy large instead of medium since we have 10 players now. if your against this and want to keep it medium, now is the time to let your voice be heard.

I'll upload the gam file around 3:00pm EST.

[Arakiel]

Blueberry! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[boran_blok]

hmmh, pbw site is down for me. constant 24 hr turns (so always everyday at a set time) would be best for me (it will slow down the game a bit, but since we're in different timezones it's unrealistically to think that we could get turns faster than 1 per 24 hrs.

[Arakiel]

pbw is down, ill have to upload later this evening

[starwood]

If I could vote,

large galaxy please... I like a little bit of elbow room before people blow me up :-)

[brianeyci]

36 hour turns are the ideal turn space. I'm in this situation a lot...

I come home, and play a turn early in the afternoon. I do some work. The next day, I'm busy with work until the middle of the night. I go on my PBW. Oooppppppsssssssss I missed a turn, because the turn size was 24 hours and not 36.

The turn size should be 36 hours to make up for people taking turns during different times of the day.

Brian

[Renegade 13]

Large galaxy would probaby be best with this number of players.

[MoTec]

I'm interested but it looks like I'm finding this a little too late... I don't have a custom shipset yet or really a good race designed.

I'm interested in a PBW but I know I'll be missing some turns no matter what happens; I travel a lot for work. Some weeks I'm on the east coast, some on the west... Some I'm working nights, some I'm working day. Also, on some trips a day or two can go by that I do not have internet access, even dial-up.

That said, a 36 hour clock would be better for me. As I understand it tho, if everyone turns in their moves an hour after the Last turn processed then the game will process then. If that's the way it is, and it only processes without everyone's turn every 24 or 36 or whatever hours then that could work out okay.

If it's not too late for me I'm interested.

[MoTec]

Well, since PBW has been down and just came up I guess I might be ready in time. I've got a race designed, using the Xaiti shipset, unless someone else is already.

I guess I'd prefer mostly medium settings, except for size which should be large. Are you going to use use FQM to generate a good map? If you use the basic Version nobody needs a mod to play, still.

-MoTec

[Arakiel]

Sorry MoTec, didn't see your message in time. Game has already started I'm afraid. I was just coming here to post a note to everyone about that when I saw your message. Next time perhaps http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Renegade 13]

The game has begun, and I'm the first person to upload! I look forward to playing with you guys over the next several months. Good luck!

[Salient]

And so it begins...

Also looking forward to playing with you guys and getting to know you a bit better!

[Renegade 13]

ALERT!

I just noticed that mitchmaniac's empire, Galaga something or other, is not listed in the Login screen that pops up after click Load game in SEIV. This could be due to the empire file not being added when the game was set up. However, in any case it seems that as of right now, mitchmaniac is unable to play. That's why I vote we restart the game, with the problem fixed and get it so mitchmaniac can play. What do you think Arakiel...after all it's your game, and your decision.

[starwood]

<font color="blue"> I agree, we need to re-start the game !

And we can add MoTec also, I hope.
</font>
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Arakiel]

My apologies everyone, i'm not quite sure how this happened. I'll recreate the gam file and upload it tonight.

I can't add MoTec though, not without totally starting over from scratch with the game by deleting the entry in PBW and having everyone rejoin.

[Arakiel]

well everything seems fixed now. Again my apologies to everyone for the mishap, especially to you mitchmaniac.

[starwood]

For everyone who does not know.
It seems that the postings have moved to the pbw forum under the game we are playing.

See you in space !