The Crow Road - MA 10 Players (started)

[Cicadian]

Since I'm itching to start playing MP again after spending 4 months in India with no internet access, I thought I'd start a game.

Ich has very kindly offered to host the game, since it seems my network is not cooperating/I'm an idiot.

All pretenders are in and the map is up: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=88C1ZXUE

The players are:

1.Tien Chi - Cicadian
2.Ryleh - janlm
3.Ctis - nozshand
4.Pythium - johnarryn
5.Ermor - BigDisAwesome
6.Machaka - ddavidd
7.Abysia - Griefor
8.Bandar Log - DocAquatic
9.Shinuyama - Herode
10.Jotunheim - wokeye


Era: MA
Max Players: 10
Skill level: Any. I myself only have 4 completed MP games under my belt.
Map: 15 prov/player random map. I thought it would be fun to have a semi-randomized map. For those of you unfamiliar with the semi-randomizer, it basically adds in random and fixed special provinces which can contain considerably tougher independents, guaranteed sites and commanders with magic items. I suggest you download it and play a test map just to see what sort of surprises may await. I shall set the % of special povinces reasonably low to ensure that there are still plenty of 'standard' independents. Also, I will try to make the starting locations as fair as possible, however there is still a chance you may be unlucky.

If the SR map is a big problem for people, I will reconsider, but I really think it adds a lot to the game.
Link to SR: http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=523661&page=&view=&sb=5&o =&fpart=1&vc=1

Mods: Worthy Heroes 1.8
Link: http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=560854&page=&view=&sb=5&o =&fpart=1&vc=1
Other Settings: Score graphs on, renaming on, all others default.

Once 10 people have signed up, I will create and upload the map and off we go!

I am taking Tien Chi

[lch]

Cicadian said:
IP: 192.168.1.106
Port: 5555


You're not going to find any takers with that IP... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

If you're behind a router/firewall and need a host, I could host the game when you organize it and send me the files.

[Cicadian]

I am behind a router, but I thought I had forwarded the ports correctly. I did test it from another PC and it seemed to work OK. Can someone confirm?

If it doesn't work, I would be more than happy to take you up on your offer http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[thejeff]

That's your local internal IP address. It'll work from somewhere on your local net, but not from the external world.

[Cicadian]

Updated the first post to reflect the fact that I am stupid and Ich is a nice person http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Janlm]

i'd like to sign up as rlyeh

[Folket]

Cicadian, you should be able to configure your router to forward a port to your computer.

[Cicadian]

That is what I thought I did, but it does not appear to be working.
I'm fine with Ich hosting though, especially as his server provides snazzy stats and graphs http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[nozshand]

i'll sign up as C'tis if there is still a game going

[johnarryn]

Id like to sign up as Pythium.

[BigDisAwesome]

I'm in as Ermor.

[ddavidd]

I'd like to sign up as Machaka.

[Overhead_Smash]

MA Abysia if you please. If this one has normal indep strength then hopefully this game will be better than my first one where I was surrounded by obscene enemies.

Edit: I've flipflopped between Abysia and Marignion a few times but I'm sticking with Abysia now. I'll e-mail through the god for Abysia now, you can disregard the Marignon one

[DocAquatic]

I'd be interested in playing Bandar Log in this.

[Herode]

I'm in with Shinuyama !!

[Cicadian]

Ok we have one more spot left - first come first served!

[ddavidd]

Other Settings: Score graphs on, renaming on, all others default.

What's about indep province defence ?

[Cicadian]

It will be 5, but as I said we will be playing with a Semi-Randomised map, which means some provinces will contain tougher independents, along with guaranteed sites and commanders with magic items.

There will still be plenty of normal provs (especially around start locations) but quite a few will contain surprises!

[Wokeye]

I will play - Jotun please.

[Cicadian]

Thanks for the prompt response guys, looks like we are just waiting on Ermor and Ryleh.

[BigDisAwesome]

Sorry guys. I'm hoping to get my pretender in later tonight. It's been a very busy couple of days for me.

[Wokeye]

Just a heads up - I might have to take 2-3 days away from the computer sometime within the next 2 weeks (baby is due). So if I suddenly disappear...you'll know why.

[Cicadian]

Hey congratulations man! Hope all goes well http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Just let me know (if you can) and we'll put the game on hold for you

[BigDisAwesome]

Ok just sent my pretender in.

And grats Wokeye!

[Cicadian]

Thank you, all pretenders are now in and the map is up

[Wokeye]

Thanks guys - yeah it is unlikely I'd be unable to post for more than 2 days I think. I'll try to keep in touch as best I can. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

EDIT: Ooo I can find my Megaupload date in Sydney! LOL

[johnarryn]

Just a note... the master password was included in the zip file you sent us, Cicadian. This will allow anyone to look at anyone else's turns, should they care to do so...

I didn't password my pretender anyhow, so its moot for me, but it bears mentioning...

[Wokeye]

Is there a way to re-run something (first turn, map randomizer?) or change the password to fix that?

[lch]

I can change the master password, but putting the pretenders into the file with the map probably wasn't the best of ideas... Anyway, the server will go up in some hours.

[Herode]

The pwd of Jotun & TC are also visible in the .txt file.
@Wokeye : changing the pwd of your pretender => creating a new pretender.

[Cicadian]

Uh, sorry guys, I made two archives, one with the map file + pretenders for lch and one with just the map for everyone else. It appears I put in the wrong link in the thread http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

If people would like to resubmit that is fine.

Edit- Actually I think the best thing to do is just for myself and BDA to resubmit with different passwords and for lch to use a different master (obviously).

[ddavidd]

johnarryn said:
Just a note... the master password was included in the zip file you sent us, Cicadian. ...



I didn't receive this zip file, Neither the way to connect server.
My mail : ddavidd1 at free point fr

[Herode]

The file was not mailed : there was a link.

[Cicadian]

Ok, I have taken this opportunity to redo the map as well, since I discovered that Ryleh gets kinda screwed every time with the original.

I have tested the starts on the new improved one 10 times and everyone got a fair start each time http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Please replace the original map with this one.
Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=88C1ZXUE

[BigDisAwesome]

So um, you said to resend a password? So what am I doing?

Should I resend my god with a different pw?

[Cicadian]

Yes please. Ich can then host the game

[nozshand]

would it be ok if i resend my pretender file?

[Cicadian]

Sure, do it quick though, I just PMed lch asking him to host http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Janlm]

my password was not included, so i won't be resending my pretender file.

[johnarryn]

Any chance of this kicking off soon?

[lch]

I have all the pretender files now. However the server is acting up, Dom3 is segfaulting (aka crashing), as well as other OpenGL programs, I am trying to circle the problem at the moment. Probably a driver problem. I can start the executable when I disable optimized shared libs, but I don't like that as a real solution. I'm working on it.

[BigDisAwesome]

Well thanks for making me feel dumb Ich, cause I have no idea what the hell you're talking about.

[lch]

It's not like I really know what I am talking about either. But it turned out that it wasn't OpenGL/driver/Xlibs related but the i686-optimized libc6 was the problem. I have removed that now and I can start games again. It will start shortly.

[johnarryn]

Thanks for hosting, Ich.

[Wokeye]

LOL sounds very technical - hope you can get it sorted OK, Ich!

[Herode]

Linux geeks have a language of their own. But don't be afraid : I dissected one of them once ago and they look line plain humans inside. It's just the cognitive module and the sociolinguistic-behaviour related dll which follow their own ways. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Herode]

Here we go http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I checked the status page : there is a minor bug in the list of players : the names do not fit with the nations. It's just about displaying the array : hosting works fine and my turn (Shinuyama) is correctly identified as completed. Its the first server hosted game I play, it's cool (no more mails to send, files to copy, & so on http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif)

Thanks for hosting !

[lch]

Dang. And here I thought I could just sort the players list by nation names when putting in the names. Would've been too easy: Shinuyama is named mid_bakemono in the filenames, that's why everything is off by one.

[Herode]

Those Illwinter guys are really perverse http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Cicadian]

Hooray we are underway!

Big thanks to lch and good luck everyone!

[johnarryn]

Any chance of shifting to 24 hour quickhost? 48 hours is pretty long for these early turns.

[Wokeye]

errm... I've loaded it up - having an issue with land allocatsion over ocean provs. Many flags dont match the background, either - are the province flags supposed to match the province boundaries? Is it possible I have the wrong background jpg? Ryleh may have real trouble if it is supposed to be like that LOL.

I've playted the map a few times SP and it works fine...

[Herode]

Did you upload the second version of the map ?

[Janlm]

cool we're up, how long left of this first turn? I won't have time to do it untill tonight..

[lch]

Look in the first post for the updated map that we are using. Notice that it unpacks into a "Map" directory, too.

The turns are at 48 hours, and for this turn there are more than 24 hours left. You can always get that info from the stats page: http://valhalla.techno-mage.com/stats/stats.php?game=CrowRoad

The "time remaining" row is accurate unless I restart the server by hand.

[Wokeye]

The Jotuns do not like their mighty fortress capital floating in fake water that feels like the earth! We will update to the newest Crowroad land!

[Wokeye]

Ahhh...much better, the Jotun wolves hate getting wet feet all the time.

[Janlm]

I'd like to trade for air gems, I can offer an abbuncance of water and death gems in return, and a smaller number of earth gems.

Let me know if you are interested in doing a trade.

[Cicadian]

Hmmit seems Overhead_smash has staled the first turn. I've e-mailed and PMed him with no response. I'm pretty sure he's not going to play, given that his sole post on these boards was in this thread.

I'm looking for a sub.

[lch]

Since this is the very first turn, you could offer a potential sub to submit his own pretender, too. Or we restart without him. I wouldn't like having an AI in there from the start.

[Wokeye]

I love it when ppl disappear without notice or warning. It's just so...polite.

I'd be happy to restart with a new player if they didnt want Abysia and/or the existing pretender.

[lch]

Already done, a new player is in with Abysia again (but a different pretender) and the game has been restarted.

[BigDisAwesome]

Aw damn. My last starting place was better!

[lch]

New starting places are non-refundable, I'm afraid to say.

[BigDisAwesome]

No I'd definitely rather have a different starting spot than an AI right off the bat.

But whoever got my corner, I'm coming for you!

[ddavidd]

My starting place is much better. I hope I'm BDA's corner...

[Janlm]

how about a 24 hour timer for these first turns?

[Wokeye]

I'd be happy with 24 hours, but note that my turns are like 12 hours different, as you guys are on the wrong side of the earth http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[lch]

Janlm said:
how about a 24 hour timer for these first turns?


How about you don't stale again in DangerPudding? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Wokeye]

I like this server business, first time I've played on one.

[Herode]

Ahem, maybe we have a little bug on this turn : I've opened turn 7, checked the situation, cliqued on 'save and quit', #not on 'end of turn'#... but the turn has been hosted anyway. Is there any way to check this and rewind ?

[llamabeast]

Unfortunately that's the way Dom3 works for server games. When you say "Save and quit", it creates a 2h file, then notices it has one and cheerfully uploads it to the server.

The way to get round this is to download the turn, then disconnect and play offline. Only reconnect when you're happy to upload your turn. Obviously this is mildly annoying - it's an irritating bug to my mind.

[lch]

Yes, it is a known bug. What the game needs to do when somebody is using "Save & quit": Send a disconnect to the server, then save the game locally and drop to the main menu. Instead, it drops back to the server screen again and this makes the client upload his turn file regardless. If you're the last player or don't hand in a new turn, the server hosts.

I assume that everybody should know about this, it is frequently discussed on here. I should do a HowTo for playing Dominions games via Internet since this always comes up, mhh.

[Griefor]

Wow, from the looks of it I'm doing quite horrible. I've got about half as many provinces as the average player.

Ah well, maybe some of the stronger players will decide not to go after me because of it. This is a diplomacy game right? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Janlm]

i'll be happy to accept a tribute...

[Herode]

@llamabeast & Ich : OK, thanks for the tip.

I did not know this bug. But if this bug is known and still not patched, it could be a nice idea to remove the message telling that as you have 'saved and clicked' no file will be sent to the server...

Mildly annoying for sure, once you know it. Heavily annoying for me on this occasion but doesn't matter, let's go on.

[Wokeye]

The Jotun scouts report a force of giants was repelled from the gates of the Pythium capital. It appears the commander has a phobia of snakebite, and ran for the icy hills.

[Cicadian]

T'ien Ch'i is looking to purchase death gems. We can offer gold, or any other gem (not blood slaves though) in exchange.

[Wokeye]

After several skirmishes, a large force of Pythium Humies approach Jotun's walls. Hope the snake lovers packed their winter woollies...

[DocAquatic]

I hate to give such short notice, but starting next Monday, my net access will be VERY sporadic until the seventh of June. It looks like my options are either to go to AI, to try my best to log on (Which will be difficult, I'll be traveling a lot and not all my hotels will have internet access) on time, or to pass it off to a friend, who'll run Bandar Log for me until it comes back. I'd prefer the third, just because it seems like it'd disrupt the game for everyone the least, but I'll just drop to AI if anyone objects.

[BigDisAwesome]

Getting someone to cover for you is definitely preferred to going AI or staling.

[johnarryn]

Yes, definitely look for a sub. Going AI is terrible.

[Wokeye]

Ditto, AI is eeebil.

Not that i'll be in the game for much longer anyway, with Pythium beating down my castle doors http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Herode]

Grrr, once again, my orders have been messed up.
Dom III is a great game but I a begin to be fed up of its user interface, really one of the worst I've ever seen and not far from being a game spoiler when the situation is critical and needs careful mananement... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/mad.gif

[Wokeye]

The mighty Jotuns have been soundly beaten by the armoured infantry hordes of Pythium. GG All, catch you in another game sometime!
Thanks to Cicadian for organising and Ich for hosting.

[johnarryn]

Good game, Wokeye.

[Demota]

DocAquatic said:
I hate to give such short notice, but starting next Monday, my net access will be VERY sporadic until the seventh of June. It looks like my options are either to go to AI, to try my best to log on (Which will be difficult, I'll be traveling a lot and not all my hotels will have internet access) on time, or to pass it off to a friend, who'll run Bandar Log for me until it comes back. I'd prefer the third, just because it seems like it'd disrupt the game for everyone the least, but I'll just drop to AI if anyone objects.



Hi everyone, I'm Demota. I'll be taking over for DocAquatic soon. Good to meet you all. Not too experienced with the game just yet, but I'll do my best.

Edit: By the way, how do I know if it's my turn?

[Janlm]

if you tell ich your email adress, i'm sure he can set it up so that you receive an email every time there is a new turn.

[lch]

Demota said:
Hi everyone, I'm Demota. I'll be taking over for DocAquatic soon. Good to meet you all. Not too experienced with the game just yet, but I'll do my best.


Welcome, Demota.

Demota said:
Edit: By the way, how do I know if it's my turn?


You can see this here:
http://valhalla.techno-mage.com/stats/stats.php?game=CrowRoads

But I'd like you to PM me your email address so that I can add it to the turn notification script. Then you'll get an email when a new turn is ready.

[BigDisAwesome]

BTW. You only have 10 hours until the next turn hosts. Don't forget!

[Demota]

Ack. I never got an e-mail. Does anyone know why that is? :/

[BigDisAwesome]

Ich is the man to talk to. I have no idea how he works his magic.

[BigDisAwesome]

You only have 4 hours to do your turn Demota.

You can check the status of the game here without logging in.
http://valhalla.techno-mage.com/stats/stats.php?game=CrowRoads

[lch]

Timer has been reset. If there is any problem, then contact me via email or PM.

[johnarryn]

Err, why did we reset the timer? If Demota can't make it in 48 hours its unfortunate, but i'd rather keep the game moving.

[lch]

Demota is new and doesn't seem to have figured out how to connect to this game yet. Unless this is clear, I don't feel like forcing him to stale. I'm really glad for subs, BTW.

[Demota]

Okay, could someone explain the "timer" thing? Also, when it says I "missed a turn", it means that I can't do anything until the next round of turns, right?

Or can I still do something?

Edit: Okay, when I tried to connect again, it's letting me do something after all. I thought the status thing meant that it was skipping my turn so I wasn't allowed to do anything, since it didn't say Turn Pending.

[lch]

Missed a turn is just to give you the info that the last time that the server hosted, there were no orders for that nation, so they essentially did nothing, or "staled". You need to upload your turn before the timer runs out so that you don't stale.

[Janlm]

ofcourse its cool to give Demota a little extra time to figure things out, we're happy to have him here..

[johnarryn]

Indeed, I am fine with giving him time, now knowing that it was due to technical difficulties. Forgive my impatience, I play in too many games where there is no particularly good reason for people staling =)

[BigDisAwesome]

I'm headed out of town Thursday morning and won't be able to get back to my computer until Monday night or Tuesday afternoon. Is there anyway I could get an extension over the weekend?

[lch]

See the other thread for an answer.

[lch]

Sorry, the servers are down anyway. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif See here: http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Number=610156

[Janlm]

I suppose there is nothing new on the server business yet? In any case, if they do get up soon, i'd like to ask that we don't host untill the 10th of june, since i'm going away for a short vacation soon. And I don't think i can find a sub for a game that is not currently running http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[DocAquatic]

Hey guys, I'm back in the country, so I can take over Bandar Log again when the servers stop being exploded. Thanks for your patience, everyone.

[lch]

The server is back up. Since it's about one month and a half after it went down, I'll ask very cautiously if people want to continue playing this game or if you have already moved on?

In case there aren't too many people who have abandoned this game by now, I'll restart it over the weekend.

[DocAquatic]

At this point, I'm not sure I'd be able to play often enough for me to be a reliable player in the game. I'm going to drop, though if someone else, like Demota, wants my spot if the game restarts, they're welcome to it.

[BigDisAwesome]

Oh wow. Well I suppose I could jump back in. I actually picked up playing MA Ermor in another game since I didn't have a chance to finish this one out. If the majority wants to restart it I'll play. If not no big deal.

[johnarryn]

I don't mind continuing.

[Herode]

Since I only have 1 province left (and not a lot of troops ^^), please count me as AI.

[Janlm]

i'd like to continue

[lch]

Okay, I'll get this things back online over the next days and send notification emails to all the players when it's up then.

[Janlm]

thanks, great to hear that you are up and running again, btw http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[ddavidd]

I would like to continue this game.
I just inform you that I 'll be on holidays from the 28th of july until the 21th of august.
Solmyr will replace me. Please could you send him my turns during this period.

[BigDisAwesome]

I will be out of town this weekend, so if I could get a small delay that'd be awesome. I'll be leaving about 5PM EST on Friday the 18th, and getting back about 10PM EST on Sunday the 20th.
Thanks in advance.

[johnarryn]

Is the game actually running again? I haven't received a notification, and I actually can't seem to find the ip and port anywhere. I'm playing Pythium.

[BigDisAwesome]

No it isn't. I just copy and pasted the same message in all the games threads I'm in.
I guess I should have specified that IF it starts please give me a delay.

[BigDisAwesome]

Alright I'm back in town. Before I inevitably pester you Ich, I'd like to thank you for all your hard work and dedication to host games for the community.

Now what's the word on this game? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Janlm]

I don't know, i thought it was starting up again?