Capybara - restarted

[llamabeast]

I've decided to host a new game for new/newish players.

I'm thinking around 4-8 players, and a not-too-large map - maybe around 15 provinces each. In my experience this is plenty big enough for lots of interesting things to happen, but not so big that it can get overwhelming. We can sort out details when we see how many players we've got.

Oh, it'll be an MA game.

So, post here and choose a nation if you want to play! I'll tentatively put in sum1won and Xanatos because they said they would be interested.

Cor - Pythium
Ubercat - Pangaea
Zoshan - Ermor
Izzyz - Caelum
StrictlyRockers - Arcoscephale
Aristander - Machaka
Digress- C'tis
Yucky - Eriu

The game will start on Monday (4th June), or Tuesday at the latest.

Settings:
Map: Parganos (Edi's fixed version) Link (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showthreaded.php?Number=501807)
Everything on default (indies, research, magic sites)

Mods:
Worthy Heroes (http://www.mediafire.com/?8wyds1tqlgg)
Blessing Hotfix (http://www.mediafire.com/?emonmx1jxjw )

Just stick the map file in your dominions3/maps folder, and the mod files in your dominions3/mods folder (all of them will need to be unzipped first, of course).

When the game starts you'll be e-mailed a 'trn' file. You need to make a game folder to put it in. Go to 'dominions3/savedgames', and create a folder called 'Capybara'. Save the trn file in there. Take your turn ('Play an existing game'->'Capybara'), and once you've hit end turn you should find a 2h file in your Capybara folder. E-mail that back to the server (just reply to the e-mail it sent you and attach your 2h file).

Hope that's all good and vaguely clear. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Cor]

Is it a PBEM or server game?

Either way, I want in. I get back to you on the nation in a jiffy.

[Cor]

I will play Pythdom.

Its my 300th post! Hurray. I win a donut.

[llamabeast]

It's a PBEM game, but on my automated system, the LlamaServer. I think it's close to a server game in convenience, as you can see who's taken their turn, when it next hosts etc on the website. Also it checks its e-mail very often, sends you receipt e-mails, reminder e-mails and so on.

The website is www.llamaserver.net (http://www.llamaserver.net) (although there's some possibility it won't work quite right since I have been changing the system in the last few days and it takes a day or two for the changes to propagate through the internet).

Okay, so I have created the game (see the website), and if you want to you can now upload your pretenders. To do that:

- Go to Game Tools -> Create a pretender god in Dominions
- Go to the savedgames/newlords folder in the dominions directory, and find your pretender file (e.g. mid_pythium_0.2h)
- E-mail the file to: pretenders[ at ]llamaserver[ dot ]net
- Crucially, you must have the game name, 'Capybara', in the subject line of your e-mail

(I decided to call it capybara because the first game on there was called Alpaca after my username here, and I thought I would stick with the South American mammal theme).

[llamabeast]

By the way, you can always change your pretender later just by e-mailing in a new one.

[Izzyz]

Hi llamabeast,
I'm interested, but don't have a choice, yet. I'll email a pretender and nation later tonight. Thanks!

[JayThomas]

The llamaserver has been an excellent platform for pbem games.

[Ubercat]

I'm in! I've been checking here daily for awhile, waiting for someone to post a new game. I've never M/P'd before, but want to try it.

I'll take Pangaia, as I don't think anyone has claimed it yet. If I'm mistaken then my second choice is Marignon.

Now to review the mechanics of M/P games....

-Ubercat

edit: I just sent in my pretender file as per the directions.

[Zoshan]

I would like to play. If there is room. Ermor is my 1st choice 2nd would be Abysia.

Thanks

[sum1lost]

If you can give me until monday I'm in.

I'll take abysia if its still available then.

Make that thursday, actually.

And I'll take Man if abysia is taken.

[Izzyz]

I'll take Caelum if available. Still working on a pretender.

[StrictlyRockers]

I'd like to play in this one. I'll take arcosephale ea if that's ok, and i'll start working on a pretender.

SR

[llamabeast]

Cool, you're good to take Arco StrictlyRockers. It's an MA game, though.

[llamabeast]

sum1won - I should think we'd be okay to wait till Thursday (couldn't start before Monday anyway). But, upload your pretender anyway if you get a chance. The first couple of turns normally take about a minute anyway, so if you have any time at all Monday-Wednesday you might be able to take your turns. If you're away or something though, we will just wait till Thursday.

[Cor]

sum1won is in a pbem game i am hosting and his computer crashed, said he cant play for at least a week, I don' know if it will effetc this game....

I am about to upload my pretender.

I would like to know more about the settings, All standard?

[Aristander]

If it is not too late I would be interested. I have never played multiplayer before.

How about Machaka?

[llamabeast]

Yep Aristander, it's not too late - I'll put you down for Machaka. Send in your pretender when you're ready.

[Digress]

Given I am soon to be eliminated from your excellently hosted Alpaca game could I have another crack at it as C'tis ?

[Starshine_Monarch]

Can you possibly make room for one more? I would Like to join as Bandar Log.

[llamabeast]

Okay guys, that's cool. I think I will say no more new people now though.

But, if more people would like to join, please carry on posting, and I will start another game if we get enough.

[Ubercat]

So what are the details of the map? Independant strength, research speed, etc.

[Xanatos]

I'll take jotunheim, but i still can't find a pretender file to send in..any hints on where the game might have put it? or how to find it if its a hidden file?

[lch]

- start Dominions from the command line, maybe with "dom3 -d"
- look for "savepath='...'" in the console output
- go to that directory and into the newlords folder inside it

[Ironhawk]

You should change the title of this thread to something other than "recruiting" if you arent looking for ppl anymore.

[Yucky]

I'm interested if you start another game or someone backs out of this one.

[Arghaii]

I am very interested, just let me know if I can participate on this one or if you start another.

Too bad I noticed this thread late :S

[Starshine_Monarch]

BTW, some more details before we begin. Exactly when will this game be starting? How often to we need to have our .2h files sent in and to what address to we send them to?

[Lily]

I'd like to play in the second game if there's space.

[llamabeast]

Hello again.

Right, I think I will start a thread for a new game, and I'll pencil in sum1won (so we can start this one soon), Yucky and Arghaii. If anyone else would like to transfer to the (probably smaller) second game, just say.

I've updated the first post with the final list of players in this game (unless anyone wants to transfer).

I think we should try to start on Monday. In case people are slow I'll say the absolute deadline for pretenders is 12 noon GMT on Tuesday. But it would be good to start before then.

The game will be 24h quickhost. Sorry, I should have said that in the first post. In my experience 24h works well. (What the quickhost means is that if everyone has already sent their 2h files in, the game hosts right away.)

Does that all sound good to everyone?

[llamabeast]

Oh, right, more things I haven't told you:

Indies 5
Research normal
Magic sites normal

Hope that's all good with everyone.

[Starshine_Monarch]

Well, I'd prefer to start this when my summer vacation starts around the 13th or 14th. Sorry for making you all work around me, but I'm fairly certain I can't do a turn every day while I still have school. Besides, it's only like a week and a half right?

Also, Are we using the Streamers and Standards mod?

[llamabeast]

Well SM, how about I transfer you to the other game (which will probably start in a week or so). And also, for the first few turns, each turn literally takes a minute or so. Even around turn 10 I'd say they often take less than 5 minutes.

[Starshine_Monarch]

Well I'll have to talk with Dad about this. He owns the computer and only lets me use it if I have a good reason (However, him being asleep or away is a perfectly good reason, as long as I take turns with my little brother). Honestly, I'd like to stay in this game, but If Dad won't let me, I'll ask him about the other one.

And if if it's on quickhost, does that mean it's possible to get more than one turn in a day if everyone sends in quickly enough?

[llamabeast]

Mods: We'll use the Worthy Heroes Mod I think (it's good fun), but no others.

Yep, quickhost means it's possible to get more than one turn a day, but you don't have to.

Well, let me know which game you want to be in. It might be easiest to be in the other game - it will end up being very much the same kind of game, and you won't have to worry about taking turns before your holiday.

[llamabeast]

We'll use the map Parganos, I think. Edi's fixed version, which I'll find a link for when I get a chance. It's 116 land, 19 sea.

So I think I've finally given you all the game details. So everyone, please upload your pretenders.

[Ubercat]

I assumed that there would be an explanation of server games in the book, but it appears not. Does anyone have a link to how a server game works? What do I need to do? My pretender file is already there.

[Zoshan]

I will need the link to that map, I dont think I have the updated one.

[llamabeast]

Ubercat - the relevant part of the manual is the PBEM part (p.30).

I haven't explained how to play yet because I think it will be obvious when the game starts - the first e-mail from the LlamaServer will tell you what to do. But I'll explain it here anyway.

Anyway everyone, here's how to play. Once the game starts the LlamaServer will e-mail you a trn file (e.g. mid_machaka.trn). You have to make a folder in your dominions/savedgames directory and put it in it. You can call it what you want - I suggest 'Capybara'. Then go into dominions, 'Play an Existing Game', and choose Capybara. Play your turn, and hit 'End turn'. You'll then find a 2h file in your Capybara directory - e-mail that to 'turns[ at ]llamaserver[ dot ]net'.

[llamabeast]

Waiting for pretenders from Jotunheim, C'tis, Caelum and Arco.

[Ubercat]

Eeks. Worthy heroes. I have no experience with any mods. I guess I better download this and figure out how to install it.

[Ubercat]

Ok, thanks. I thought server games and Email games were two different beasts.

[Cor]

llamabeast said:
Waiting for pretenders from Jotunheim, C'tis, Caelum and Arco.



its easy, download it, unzip it and copy it to "mods" folder under dominions 3. If you dont have a mods folder, create one.

You can turn mods on and off under prefernces in the dom main screen.

[StrictlyRockers]

ok working on my pretender for MA arcosphale.

[StrictlyRockers]

pretender socrates for ma arcosephale uploaded.

[llamabeast]

Great, we're just waiting for Jotunheim (Xanatos).

I'll add full instructions, links to mods/map etc and so on to the first post shortly.

[Ubercat]

Xanatos,

The directions for the pretender are on pge 29 of the book, as well as in this thread. Just make your pretender, save it, then Email the file. Dom3 will place it in the newlords folder which is in the savedgames folder. You have to save it first for it to appear there.

[Cor]

I would just like to say

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa92/allothernamestakenreally/Hydrochaeris_hydrochaeris.jpg

[llamabeast]

Like the picture Cor. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Okay, having tinkered with the start sites for a while (hopefully you'll find them reasonably nicely spaced and fairish) - the game is started!

You should all now have an e-mail from the LlamaServer with your first turns.

[Aristander]

Excellent.

From the deepest and darkest woods the eyes, ears and mouth of the lord awakens.


Machaka First turn complete.

[Ubercat]

llamabeast said:
Like the picture Cor. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Okay, having tinkered with the start sites for a while (hopefully you'll find them reasonably nicely spaced and fairish) - the game is started!

You should all now have an e-mail from the LlamaServer with your first turns.



Just an FYI. I started in a wasteland province. I'm not complaining. I think I read that the map was set up to avoid them as starting locations, so I'm just pointing out that one slipped by.

YEAH! It's WAR, baby! Here we go......

[llamabeast]

Yeah, now I _think_ that the terrain type of your capital doesn't matter. I hope I'm right there. So I deliberately put it in the wasteland I think. If you have got unusually low income or resources - sorry Ubercat!

[Ubercat]

I've seen better, but it's not too bad.

[StrictlyRockers]

We could go many many turns in a game like this before we make contact with another player.

[Ubercat]

Quickhost means that the game will process as soon as all the turns are in, right? So if, for instance, all eight of us were sitting at our computers all day playing the game, we could get alot of turns done in one day, right?

[lch]

Yeah, right, you could even finish the whole game in one day. And then hell freezes over. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Ubercat]

It appears that Xanatos may be a no show. I sent him a PM a while ago and no response yet. He hasn't posted anywhere in the forum since his one post in this thread which was three days ago.

[StrictlyRockers]

jotunheim is the only nation that has not played, and that has been the case for the last day or so.

i think we need to think about finding a replacement for jotunheim.

[llamabeast]

I know he was having some technical difficulties (apparently the dominions directories are somehow a bit strange on Vista, which makes PBEM difficult to work out how to do), but I haven't heard from him in a while. I've just e-mailed him again.

[lch]

Ubercat said:
It appears that Xanatos may be a no show. I sent him a PM a while ago and no response yet. He hasn't posted anywhere in the forum since his one post in this thread which was three days ago.


He is in the dominions channel almost daily. I'll tell him to check back on this thread when I see him.

[Ubercat]

The least he could do is let us know what is going on. It's very rude to keep seven other people hanging without a word. We could be on turn three by now, or even higher.

Does he even have a legal copy of the game? That might explain why he couldn't get his pretender loaded until I gave him explicit directions. He sat there for about two days until I said something. We'd probably still be waiting for it.

[llamabeast]

His problem is that he's using Vista, which apparently makes things very different. I was helping him with getting his pretender in by e-mail, it sounded really quite tricky actually. I've never even seen Vista myself, which doesn't help.

To answer previous questions/comments: StrictlyRockers - having 8 players on this map gives you about 15 provinces each, which is perhaps a little smaller than average for multiplayer. I think you might meet people faster than you think.

Ubercat - yep, you're right about how quickhost works.

I'm not quite sure what to do about Xanatos, since he seemed quite keen (by e-mail). I think if he doesn't at least make contact by tonight (when 48 hours are up) I will take his turn for him and start looking for a sub.

[lch]

Let's not jump to conclusions here.

He played a couple of blitzes on Gandalf server (anonymously) and a few Blitzes against people in the IRC channel, so I suppose that he just doesn't know what he has to do with this PBEM thing. He seems to be unable to find his game folder and his savedgames folder, it seems Vista is indeed unnecessarily complicated.

[Cor]

llamabeast said:
I know he was having some technical difficulties (apparently the dominions directories are somehow a bit strange on Vista, which makes PBEM difficult to work out how to do), but I haven't heard from him in a while. I've just e-mailed him again.



IMHO Vista is no excuse, I am running Vista, never had a problem, works exactly like XP.

[llamabeast]

Well for some reason it is apparently treating all the contents of his savedgames folder as hidden files, so he can't see them.

[llamabeast]

Well I'm optimistic that Xanatos will show up, since he seemed keen. But just in case I thought I had better change the thread title to advertise for a new player, because I really want to make sure everything is running smoothly before the weekend, when I'm going away.

If we do get a new player, we will do a restart. I still have everyone else's pretenders, so we can start again as soon as the new player gets his pretender in. I think it is worth having everyone redo turn 1 in order for the new player to have a nation and pretender of their own choice.

We can probably even squeeze two new players in if people are keen.

So, if you are reading this and would like to join, please post and say what nation you'd like, and I'll reserve the spot for you should we have to do a restart.

[Cor]

Aww, I really like my position. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Cor]

llamabeast said:
Well for some reason it is apparently treating all the contents of his savedgames folder as hidden files, so he can't see them.



I could see having trouble if he was not set as administrator, if it were not his PC. If it is, you can just go into the setting and change it to show hidden files. pretty simple. Its one of the first things i did on my new PC, because i knew that i would have to edit them for dominions.

[llamabeast]

Ah well, it's sad, but I haven't heard from Xanatos, so I've restarted without him. Sorry Xanatos!

In his place we have Yucky, with Eriu. And... we're off! Good luck guys.

[Xanatos]

Ubercat said:
The least he could do is let us know what is going on. It's very rude to keep seven other people hanging without a word. We could be on turn three by now, or even higher.

Does he even have a legal copy of the game? That might explain why he couldn't get his pretender loaded until I gave him explicit directions. He sat there for about two days until I said something. We'd probably still be waiting for it.




Your absolutely right Ubercat I apologize for putting you guys on hold like that, I couldn't figure out how to get the file where it needed to be to play until now, and my internet was down for a while yesterday-today which kept me from getting back sooner, I am very sorry that happened, when i finally did get to take the turn it said i needed the Heros mod as well?...i didn't even know that, i think i will stay out of this next game until i learn how to do PBEM faster, sorry again guys!

and yes, i have a legal copy:P.

[Cor]

llamabeast, thank so much for setting up you nifty server and hosting for us, your great. Your the best llama i know.

If you are ever in Hawaii you have a floor to sleep on in my apartment.

Do you have a tutorial for how to set up a server like llama aerver?

[Ubercat]

Xanatos said:

Ubercat said:
The least he could do is let us know what is going on. It's very rude to keep seven other people hanging without a word. We could be on turn three by now, or even higher.

Does he even have a legal copy of the game? That might explain why he couldn't get his pretender loaded until I gave him explicit directions. He sat there for about two days until I said something. We'd probably still be waiting for it.




Your absolutely right Ubercat I apologize for putting you guys on hold like that, I couldn't figure out how to get the file where it needed to be to play until now, and my internet was down for a while yesterday-today which kept me from getting back sooner, I am very sorry that happened, when i finally did get to take the turn it said i needed the Heros mod as well?...i didn't even know that, i think i will stay out of this next game until i learn how to do PBEM faster, sorry again guys!

and yes, i have a legal copy:P.



Apology accepted. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gifSee you in a game soon probably.

[llamabeast]

Cor - thanks! But, no tutorial sadly - the guide would say something like 'first, write a couple of thousand lines of code'.

But I've written the LlamaServer so that it can host many games at once, and also so that people other than me can host games on it (see the 'admin options' page for one of the started games, not quite finished yet). I'm happy to take requests for new games to run on it. And eventually, my grand plan is to have a 'Create new game' page, where you can choose the map, number of players, mods and so on and it will create a game for you, without me even getting involved. But that is still some way off.

[Cor]

Writing one line of code is beyond my tiny brain's capablities, forget about 1000.

My concern is that one day that server will run out of processing juice, the demands will be too great. I just think it would be neat to have 20 Llama servers around so everyone in the world could play dominions 3! Ma Ha Ha! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/stupid.gif

[Cor]

Sorry if I was hard on you, Xanatos. We have all had trouble with mp games at soem time or another.

I hope to see you in a MP soon.

[Aristander]

There are signs of an ancient force, a nameless fear inhabiting the land. A deep darkness comes over the mountain and woods. The natives whisper of the return of an ancient God. They name the land the mountain and woods of the God. Then suddenly out of the deepest and darkest woods the eyes, ears and mouth of the new lord reawaken.

[llamabeast]

Cor - if it ever runs out of processing juice, I'm sure we'll find a way round it. I'll be pretty shocked if that happens though. Gandalf reckons a computer can run about 10x as many PBEMs as network games. I'd put the capacity of the LlamaServer up somewhere near 100 games, although that's a completely wild guess.

Coding is not particularly hard by the way, you just have to be taught. My older brother is a computer programmer and got me started as a kid, so I had a big advantage.

[llamabeast]

Guys, I'm going away for the weekend to visit my girlfriend's parents in a few hours, and I'm strictly forbidden from doing anything server related. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif So, hopefully there will be no problems. I will PM the admin password to Cor (chosen arbitrarily), so he can postpone the turns if anyone requests it.

I've e-mailed StrictlyRockers to ask him to take his turn, by the way. Perhaps this game has a one-player-won't-take-his-first-turn curse?

[Cor]

My email is corlew at gmail dot com. If anyone needs a postponement. or you can post to this thread, but my email is faster.

[Ubercat]

llamabeast said:
I've e-mailed StrictlyRockers to ask him to take his turn, by the way. Perhaps this game has a one-player-won't-take-his-first-turn curse?



Certainly starting to look that way.

[StrictlyRockers]

we are just waiting on Pythium to finish turn 2.

[Cor]

I was the slowpoke this time, sorry. Did my turn. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/redface.gif

I note in my defence that I was 24 hours early, however... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Digress]

It seems that one of the worthy heroes belonging to C'tis (played by me) has a bug that is a little overpowered. Turin, the person who is responsible for creating the mod, has been notified and has issued a fixed version. Which is pretty impressive given he fixed it less than 12 hours after I notified him of the problem.

Below is a quote of post he made in another thread (another llamserver game in fact)

"For your info, I had a nasty bug with one of the heroes( the sentient hydra) in Version 1_7 of my worthy heroes mod that gave him the wrong and pretty overpowered domsummon. It affects EA Sauromatia, MA C´tis and Pythium.
The fixed version is uploaded here:

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=470523&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 "

We should wait until llamabeast is back on deck before we make a decision as to how to proceed. I imagine we will all have to apply the fixed mod - BUT PLEASE WAIT UNTIL LLAMABEAST TELLS US HOW TO PROCEED. I will send him a PM telling him of developments.

I will not make use of the domsummoned units to aid my expansion and so make sure I do not advantage from this bug.

[Digress]

Well the buggy hero has died an early and somewhat unexpected death so I don't think he has had any appreciable effect on the game.

[Cor]

I got one, a sentient hydra that is. What is the bug? I don't see anything weird about it.

[Cor]

Due to poor intelligence ,our troops recently tried to take the same province as Caleums troops. Our deepest apologies for any losses Caleum may have sustained. We cede the territory to Caleum. We are a peaceful people and we do not seek further conflict.

Pythium

[Digress]

Well the sentient hydra spawns heavy cavalry rather than hydra hatchlings with dominion. I found it was spawning quite a few a turn which might have given me quite an advantage early in the game.

[Cor]

I only got one heavy calvary this turn. It is the indy, Are they really better than a hatchling? Dont hatchlings cost more?

I would certainly rather have hatchlings, so if we can fix it that sounds good.

[llamabeast]

Okay, I have fixed the Worthy Heroes bug on the server. Now, I reckon that you won't need to fix your own copies - the spawning is worked out by the server after all. So would you mind leaving your copies unpatched for a turn or two and let me know what happens? Hopefully you will start getting hatchlings.

Probably everyone should update to the new version sooner or later though I guess.

[llamabeast]

Any new erroneous heavy cavalry this turn?

(if it is fixed it is fairly unlikely you will have any hatchlings, as they are meant to be produced much more slowly than the heavy cavalry were being produced).

[Ubercat]

I can't get on the server and yet two turns have run today. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

[Cor]

No cavalry. No nothing. I think it killed spawning entirely. I got a total of 1 heavy cavalry from the thing.

But either way I like the hydra, its thuggable AND huggable (if your posion resistant).

[llamabeast]

About the server: The server is actually lots of different machines, each doing their own bit. One of them, not run by me, is responsible just for forwarding you to the server's webpage when you type in 'www.llamaserver.net'. And it's quite unreliable unfortunately (working on finding an alternative). But the other bits (the e-mail server and the machine which does the actual hosting) are, I think, very reliable, and carry on regardless.

About the hydras: The line in the mod was meant to read:

domsummon20 123
(not actually 123 but I can't remember the hatchling's unit number)

and actually read

domsummon 20 123

The erroneous line just lead to production of unit 20 (heavy cavalry), and the 123 was ignored. But domsummon is 20 times _faster_ than domsummon20. So the hydra was producing 20 times as many heavy cavalry as it was meant to be producing hatchlings. Hence, it's quite unlikely you'll see a hatchling for a while.

Hope that makes sense!

[Cor]

Ah yes thanks for the clarity Llamabeast.

[Aristander]

Who am I? Why am I here? What Turn is it?

llamaserver.net says we are on turn 6 waiting for my 2h file.

My email says we have finished turn 9.

What is the reality? What warren is this?

All hail llamabeast?

[StrictlyRockers]

hmm...everything was ticking along nicely...

[llamabeast]

Aristander - that is very odd. The website definitely says the right turn, but what can happen sometimes is that your computer keeps a copy of the webpage in its memory, so it doesn't have to keep checking the real page. If you hit the 'refresh' button in internet explorer that should fix it. On the other hand the website keeps going down anyway...

[Aristander]

Yes llamabeast that does sound like it could be one explanation.

Unless... it is in fact that sentient hydra empowering some kind of astral mind altering spell?

[llamabeast]

Er, could well be I guess.

I've finally found what I think will be a permanent and reliable solution for the website. It'll take a day or two to come into effect unfortunately, then everything should be nice and smooth again.

[Cor]

No, Just ignore the Hyrda behind the curtain.

[Ubercat]

If you send a message to another player, he sees it in his opening messages at the beginning of the turn, correct? I sent a message to someone two turns ago and haven't recieved a reply. I'm wondering if he somehow missed the message, or is simply rejecting my offer in the easiest way.

There's been no limits placed on diplomacy in this game, right? (other than there only being one winner in the end)

[llamabeast]

Yep Ubercat, that's right. You normally expect an answer back two turns after you send your message.

No limits on diplomacy, but a general rule in dominions is that if you agree to a non-aggression pact with someone, you don't break it without the agreed warning period (people generally form, say, a 3-turn NAP which means three turns' notice must be given for the end of the NAP). In fact in general, if you agree to some well-defined thing ("I will send you a horror helm" etc), you should stick to it. It might be interesting to play a more Machiavellian game at times, but this is the convention that's grown up, and it's a nice one really.

[Ubercat]

llamabeast said:
Yep Ubercat, that's right. You normally expect an answer back two turns after you send your message.

No limits on diplomacy, but a general rule in dominions is that if you agree to a non-aggression pact with someone, you don't break it without the agreed warning period (people generally form, say, a 3-turn NAP which means three turns' notice must be given for the end of the NAP). In fact in general, if you agree to some well-defined thing ("I will send you a horror helm" etc), you should stick to it. It might be interesting to play a more Machiavellian game at times, but this is the convention that's grown up, and it's a nice one really.



Excellent. I played in Evernight (evernightgame.com) long before I bought Dom3, and the terminology is even similar. NAP3, etc. I wonder if that's parallel evolution? I haven't played enough Email or web based strategy games to know if the language is just universal. "SC" certainly seems unique to the Dominions series. I'm surprised it isn't just "tank."

[Aristander]

As the Jumbos could attest, well if any had been able to escape, there are worse things than archers in the dark jungles of the world.

[Cor]

Caelum has begun an unjust war of agression against it's peaceful Pythium neigbors.

Soon the nobels of Pythium will be wearing hats made of the feathers of slain Caelum warriors.

[Ubercat]

Cor said:
Caelum has begun an unjust war of agression against it's peaceful Pythium neigbors.

Soon the nobels of Pythium will be wearing hats made of the feathers of slain Caelum warriors.



Just how many Nobel winners does Pythium have? Illwinter is a Swedish company. Do you have some hidden ties with the Nobel committee through them? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Cor]

Every citizen in Pythium has at least 1 Nobel Prize. And they all produce pez from their necks.

[llamabeast]

Hi guys,

I'd like to ask for a volunteer to be the 'game admin' for this game. It's not a big job at all - the admin is just the person to ask if you want to postpone a hosting because you're going away for a day, and so on. They can then do it via the website, using the admin password (which I'll give them).

I'm just asking in the interests of 'sustainable development' - so I can go on adding stuff to my server and starting new games without getting bogged down.

[Zoshan]

Why did I get a message from host that Pangaea could be cheating?

[llamabeast]

Er, don't know. Ubercat - check you've got the correct versions of the mods (download them again, perhaps).

Mod version mismatch is the most likely cause. But this message is almost always erroneous. Very few people in this community are inclined to cheat and there are a number of reasons that message might show (which I can't remember now, but there was a thread about it not that long ago).

[Ubercat]

llamabeast said:
Er, don't know. Ubercat - check you've got the correct versions of the mods (download them again, perhaps).

Mod version mismatch is the most likely cause. But this message is almost always erroneous. Very few people in this community are inclined to cheat and there are a number of reasons that message might show (which I can't remember now, but there was a thread about it not that long ago).



Seriously, WTF?? I wouldn't know how to cheat even if I was inclined to be so scummy. (I'm Pangaea btw) As for the mods, I downloaded the latest versions shortly before the game began. Have they changed since we started?

Too much gold? I'm almost broke. lmao

[Aristander]

I also received the pangaea message. As I recall the Worthy Heroes was updated on the server to 1.7A. I have not installed the 1.7a upgrade. Could that be the reason? I guess I will upgrade to 1.7A.

[llamabeast]

Ubercat - don't worry about it, it's probably just a quirk.

Aristander - I wouldn't have thought it would make any difference, but I suppose it would probably be a good idea anyway to upgrade to the new version.

[StrictlyRockers]

I got the message, too, but I didn't worry about it. I don't expect anyone would cheat here. That message does pop up, rarely.

I suspect it could possibly be related to someone doing extreme settings in their taxation rates (maybe). I'm guessing that maybe jumping to 200% in your home province could set this message off, or something along those lines.

[Ubercat]

StrictlyRockers said:
I got the message, too, but I didn't worry about it. I don't expect anyone would cheat here. That message does pop up, rarely.

I suspect it could possibly be related to someone doing extreme settings in their taxation rates (maybe). I'm guessing that maybe jumping to 200% in your home province could set this message off, or something along those lines.



Desperate as my straights currently are, I didn't set my tax to 200%. I was besieged (I think) one or two turns before the message went out, and a big queue of troops in my capital got suspended. When I broke the siege, the queue was released, but for some reason didn't appear to resume production. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif I cancelled all the production and then requeued the troops, which I suspected led to the message.

I made a small. 2 player game with myself playing both sides to test my theory, but haven't been able to exactly reproduce the situation yet.

[StrictlyRockers]

Arcoscephale has declared war upon the Machaka spider nation. We must rid the world of this terrible infestation!

[Aristander]

Archoscephale has launched a sneak attack while we were in the middle of negotiations.

In time he will reap the same punishment as I have delivered unto the Great Dragon Wyrm of the Eriu.

Our battles shall be glorious.

[Cor]

Caleum Is face hugging me! get it off! get it off! get it off !



I invite all nations to join me in laying a mighty smackdown on the face hugging Caleum.

[StrictlyRockers]

It seems that Eriu is in danger of staling for a second time in a few hours. There has been no message from him since he started staling, in game or on the rorums. I am pretty sure his pretender was killed by Machaka the turn before he began to stale on his turns.

So, should we start to look for a sub for Eriu if he stales again this turn?

[Aristander]

I agree with StrictlyRockers, Eriu is in an important position right now. I banished his pretender and smashed his main army but, he still has fortifications and territories.

Eriu is in a position to make a comeback if played correctly.

Eriu can have a large effect on the Arco-Machaka war. It would be a shame to let his nation go stale.

[llamabeast]

Okay, if he stales again I'll PM Yucky, and then if there's no response I'll look for a sub. I'll takes turns for him if necessary in the meantime.

[Yucky]

Hopefully I got my turn in quick enough to not stale a second time. Sorry guys, I'm in the middle of a move to Florida.

[llamabeast]

Great, thanks Yucky. Good luck with the move.

[Cor]

I am out, went AI last turn. Caleum bested me.

[llamabeast]

If any of you guys fancy another game, SmokyBat is now waiting for players. Planning to use the Cradle of Dominion map, which is a lovely map IMHO. 12-14 players hopefully.

[lch]

Ubercat said:
Desperate as my straights currently are, I didn't set my tax to 200%. I was besieged (I think) one or two turns before the message went out, and a big queue of troops in my capital got suspended. When I broke the siege, the queue was released, but for some reason didn't appear to resume production. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif I cancelled all the production and then requeued the troops, which I suspected led to the message.


Removing units from the recruitment queue has been reported to trigger this message in the past, yes.

[Ubercat]

lch said:

Ubercat said:
Desperate as my straights currently are, I didn't set my tax to 200%. I was besieged (I think) one or two turns before the message went out, and a big queue of troops in my capital got suspended. When I broke the siege, the queue was released, but for some reason didn't appear to resume production. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif I cancelled all the production and then requeued the troops, which I suspected led to the message.


Removing units from the recruitment queue has been reported to trigger this message in the past, yes.



Glad to hear that I'm barking up the right tree, though I've been too busy to continue my attempts to isolate the bug in a save game.

[StrictlyRockers]

Is the server updating currently?
"Game: Capybara
Turn number 30
Next turn due: 03:15 GMT on Saturday June 30th

Caelum 2h file received
Machaka 2h file received
Eriu 2h file received
C'tis 2h file received
Arcoscephale Waiting for 2h file
Ermor 2h file received
Pangaea 2h file received


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last updated at 17:05 GMT on Friday June 29th.
Current time: 18:44 GMT


My turn is submitted.

...

[llamabeast]

Strange. It looks like it recovered. To be honest I didn't know it could recover of its own accord, but there we go!

[Aristander]

I am out. Beware the Jumbo Hordes of Arco!

[StrictlyRockers]

Machaka fought for a while, but the spiders have been exterminated from the world?

You were forwarned...who will be the next to fall beneath the trampling feet of my elephants? Run you elves, run! Giant beasts are coming to trample you!!

[Ubercat]

Ok. I've uploaded my Capybara turn twice now, today. I've recieved no confirmation Email and my turn isn't showing up as submitted on the server.

edit: Third time was the charm. My turn finally registered.

[llamabeast]

Hmm, thanks for resending Ubercat. This seems to happen occasionally and I'm not sure what to do about it. The e-mail never arrives at my end, so it's not like I can really write any code for it. Still, it's very helpful to let me know - if it keeps on happening I will let my email provider know. It's the server in my brother's company in fact, so if I'm losing e-mail he might be losing business e-mail, which would be Bad.

[llamabeast]

Hi guys,

I wonder again if I can ask if someone would mind admin-ing this game? Not that that involves much at all (I haven't touched it for weeks). But I'm going away for a week and a half on Wednesday, and if someone wants a turn postponed or something I won't be around to do it, so it would be good if there was someone else to sort these things out. Also I like to feel that I don't have to watch all the games too closely (although I tend to anyway http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif ), so that it does get out of control as I start more games.

I'll give whoever volunteers the admin password and then you can do things via the website - it's very easy I think.

[StrictlyRockers]

I need to ask for a pause on the game. I will be away on vacation from the 12th through the 16th of July. I will not have access to a computer durring this period.

Thank you,
SR
Arco

[llamabeast]

Hmm. If only there were some kind of game admin to take your request...

(I will pause hosting when I leave tomorrow until the 16th if we don't get a volunteer by then, but it's not ideal I think)

[Ubercat]

llamabeast said:
Hmm. If only there were some kind of game admin to take your request...

(I will pause hosting when I leave tomorrow until the 16th if we don't get a volunteer by then, but it's not ideal I think)



I can admin this one, llamabeast.

-Ubercat

[llamabeast]

Thanks Ubercat! You're a game-admining legend. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I'll PM you the password.

[Ubercat]

StrictlyRockers said:
I need to ask for a pause on the game. I will be away on vacation from the 12th through the 16th of July. I will not have access to a computer durring this period.

Thank you,
SR
Arco



I'll delay the hosting, probably tommorrow. If anything changes, send me a PM.

[StrictlyRockers]

Thank you for volunteering to be the game moderator. Please pause this one for five days until i get back on tuesday.

Arcoscephale currently controls about 2/3 of the map and will assault three fortresses this turn. Pangaea and Eridu are both mostly dead with only a couple of provinces.

[StrictlyRockers]

I am back from vacation.

I had a great time!!!

[Izzyz]

I have emailed in my turn several times, but llama's email catcher doesn't seem to be snagging it.

[StrictlyRockers]

New turn is out.

[llamabeast]

I'm back! Oh dear Izzyz - did it work in the end?

[Izzyz]

Nah. I staled despite multiple emails. But the next turn was accepted ok.

[llamabeast]

Oh, that's really bad. Sorry.

[Izzyz]

What do the rest of you think about moving to 48 hr. quickhost? I know I've got two turns in under the wire, and I can't really afford any more mistakes. I believe there are only four of us left.

[Digress]

I would be happy to do so. I think all of us have come close to staling or staled in the last little while.

I think it would be good to give ourselves a bit of breathing room in which to get our turns in.

[Izzyz]

How about it, llama? Can we move to 48 hour QH?

[llamabeast]

Yeah, sure - done it. I wasn't really following this thread since I had it in mind that someone was admining it for me - Ubercat in fact, reading back a bit. Thanks Ubercat - seems you've been doing a great job even once eliminated from the game.

Would one of the players still in the game like to take over admining now?

[llamabeast]

PS The current hosting's been delayed by 24 hours too.

[StrictlyRockers]

Hello all,

Thanks for everyone who has participated in this very fun game. I have had a blast! Unfortunately, my life is now way too busy for me to fulfull my obligations to this great Dominions game. Please put the game on hold until you can find a suitable sub for me. I can't be certain that I can give this game the time it deserves for the next few weeks or even months.

I have had a great time. I have conquered 3/4 of the map, but I got overconfident. I couldn't polish off Ermor, despite bringing him down to only three provinces. C'tis has disease ridden lands that even my most excellent priestesses could not overcome with their healing powers. Caelum has broght the war to my home and while the front has achieved some equalibrium lately, the game is by no means decided.

I very much with that I could continue to play! The game has been a blast. Hopefully you all can find a good player to finish this game for Arcoscephale. I will see you all in games later this year in the Fall or Winter.

Sincerely,
SR
Arco

[Ubercat]

llamabeast said:
Yeah, sure - done it. I wasn't really following this thread since I had it in mind that someone was admining it for me - Ubercat in fact, reading back a bit. Thanks Ubercat - seems you've been doing a great job even once eliminated from the game.

Would one of the players still in the game like to take over admining now?



How did I miss this post? I've continued monitoring this thread despite my elimination. I guess my eyes must've missed there being new posts for a couple days. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

I wouldn't mind being replaced as the admin, however. I'd be happy to volunteer my services in another game, say Dolphin? (since I'm in it)

[llamabeast]

I've sent the remaining players the game password. So Ubercat, you are free (and if you would like to admin Dolphin I would be very grateful).

StrictlyRockers, I would have been grateful if you could have found your own sub. Sorting this kind of thing out for many different games is wearing me thin. Anyway, I am glad that you enjoyed the game.

[Zoshan]

I think there is only 3 of us left playing. If you guys want to end this game thats cool with me. I will however keep playing if you guys want continue. Just let me know.

Zoshan

[Izzyz]

Personally I am having fun, and always enjoy an underdog challenge. I am doing well on the battlefield, even though Arco is much richer and stronger than me. I will be happy to keep playing if a sub can be found.

[Digress]

When I get a chance I will sound out some possible replacements for Arcoscephale.

It would be a shame for the game to end now .... when I was finally in a position to finish off Ermor http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

I guess we can hold the thing up until we find a taker

[Zoshan]

Bring it!

I will only allow Caelum to kill me off!!

[Janlm]

Hello

I have taken control of the Arco nation, and trying to get the best out of the situation. So if you guys would like to continue, we can http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Digress]

Hooray ! and good luck.

[Izzyz]

Welcome Janim, and thanks for saving the game. Sorry to all for staling, I hadn't revamped my life to accomodate another game yet. You are vast and powerful, Janim. Good luck.

[Digress]

Do you guys want to continue to share the admin role ?

I am happy to do the little admin stuff we need for the game from now on - if you are happy with that I will PM everyone my e-mail address.

I guess we keep the 48hour quickhost going for now.

Its good the game is moving again - thanks Janim.

[Zoshan]

I am hanging on by the hair of my chinny chin chin!!!

[Izzyz]

Just so all know, I submitted my turn at roughly 6:00PM PST, but it still hasn't been picked up by llama's mailserver. So, we aren't waiting on me doing my turn.

[llamabeast]

Sorry about that Izzyz. Seems like there's been some problems with the mail server (which is out of my hands unfortunately). I'll have to give them a call.

[llamabeast]

Hey guys,

Just rehosted turn 90 - previously it tried to host but somehow crashed, which is why you didn't receive turns. Now it's done it properly, and you should hopefully have turn 90 in your inbox.

[Izzyz]

Except that my turn staled.

[Digress]

Yes as did mine. I have sent a PM to llamabeast but I think I will need to follow it up with an e-mail given his no internet for a week vow.

I am not sure whether the server archives .2h files as they come in or not - I am sure all will be revealed in due time.

[llamabeast]

I'm guessing this game is finished right?

[Izzyz]

I have offered a tie to Digress but have heard no reply. It has grown too big to be fun anymore. So, for me, it's over.

[Digress]

My apologies.

Had some computer problems at my end - didn't reply until just now. The game has descended into a joyless grind for both of us (with associated stales and regular hosting delays).

My thanks to Izzyz for the game - he had me on the ropes for a while.