'Stillborn Noobs' Running

[marcelteaching]

Latest News

* Game has been turned over to Tratorix - Check his posts for updates. This post will no longer be updated :)

Older News

* Mercenaries IN!
* Locked in at 6 Players (3 Teams, no AI) on Tyrande II (no sites) map.
* Used mod changed from 1.83 to 1.84 on the server, link adjusted from 1.6 to 1.84
* Times changed to 36 hours, effective immediately.
* What a noob - finally figured out what 'quickhost' is. :D
* Turns have been rewound due to technical problems. Your turn one files have been simply replayed. See the end of the post for reasons. You will be unaffected unless you already sent in a turn 2, in which case, you simply repeat that.

CBM 1.84

3 Teams have been locked in, to keep things moving quickly.

Settings :

* Map: Tyrande II no sites
* Mods: CBM 1.84 (download here http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=774519 and extract to mods directory)
* Middle Age
* Score graphs on
* Hall of fame size 15
* Renaming on
* All other settings on default
* Turns will be every 36 hours, can be adjusted later (to 24 or other)when we all agree to
* 8 nations, four human teams of two humans each
* Victory will be decided when everyone wants to end it or someone kills off all the other players
* It will be PBEM on Llama Serve. Please be patient first few turns until I figure this all out
* Note : Select from the following nations only: Arcoscephale, Pythium, Ulm, Man, Marignon, Mictlan, Pangaea, T`ien Ch`i, Machaka, Agartha, Caelum, C'tis, Vanheim, Jotunheim, Bandar Log or Eriu. (Selected nations presently taken, but can be changed at will before game start)
* Nations can be changed at will until we all start.
* Ocean players are not possible on the selected map (no start positions).
* Pretenders can be uploaded NOW. Game is called "stillbornnoobs" at http://www.llamaserver.net/index.cgi Full information about joining a game are here --> http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?p=529318#post529318
* AI has been scrapped

Other issues

* Treachery against team buddy prohibited until you are the final two and want to see who will be the last to stand (by mutual consent only)
* Trade agreements must be kept (item/gem swaps) between all players
* Team buddy should sub if there is an issue, there will be no extensions for any reason
* Admin password will be passed on if I am knocked out (statistically highly likely)

1 TEAM 1 SLOT - Marcelteaching - Pangea
2 TEAM 1 SLOT - Aaminoff - Machaka
3 TEAM 2 SLOT - Tratorix - Vanheim
4 TEAM 2 SLOT - Horrorfend - Arcoscephale
5 TEAM 3 SLOT - Nttea - C'tis
6 TEAM 3 SLOT - Kuketski - Pythium

Suit newer players, you will have a team buddy to help you

To 'do it all', do the following : (Summary from links)

Uploading a pretender

- Make sure you have the same mods enabled as the game you're playing in (CBM 1.83 Preferences->Mod Preferences)
- Go to Game Tools -> Create a pretender god in Dominions. Don't set a password, since for PBEM games they're not helpful and occasionally annoying (e.g. if you need a sub)
- 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 "stillbornnoobs" in the subject line of your e-mail. A few minutes later you should get a confirmation e-mail, and if you check the website you should find your nation added to the list of nations which have joined the game. If later you think of an improvement to your pretender, you can send it in again. Provided the game hasn't actually started the server will accept your revised pretender, and send you an e-mail to say so.

Taking a turn

- Create a directory for the game. Go to your dominions3 directory, open the 'savedgames' folder, and then within savedgames create a new folder called "stillbornnoobs" e.g. 'dominions3\savedgames\stillbornnoobs'.

When the game starts, you will be sent a trn file. You need to put this in the game folder you just created. You'll then be able to play your turn as normal using the 'Play an existing game' option in Dominions.

Once you've taken your turn and hit 'End turn', you should find a 2h file in the same directory that you put your trn file in. It'll have a name along the lines of 'mid_machaka.2h' (depending obviously on the age and the nation you're playing). This is the file that contains your orders, and you then need to email it to turns@llamaserver.net

Within a few minutes you should get a receipt e-mail from the server. You can also see who's taken their turns and when the deadline is by looking at the website - www.llamaserver.net.

If you decide to change your moves you can send a revised turn in to the server, and it will use the file it received most recently from you. It'll send you an e-mail to say so too.

Won't be long now before we get started!

[desvolack]

i will play vanheim

[krpeters]

I'd like to give Abysia a whirl

[krpeters]

Disregard last post; I just discovered that Abysian PD is actually pretty weak (only one unit per point), so my intended strategy won't work.

If I think of another strategy I'll join in, otherwise, consider me out.

[marcelteaching]

You can do something like team up with a buddy to compliment your strengths, and honestly, we are all very new to this, so I would not worry about a 'perfect strategy' or pretender.

We are all pretty unlikely to be good, but I will leave you off until you confirm. :)

Seranim

[bbz]

Dude, I am afraid that someone started your game already.(if it is the 9924 one)some random T'ien Ch'i guy joined it. What I suggest is send him a message ingame and invite him to join you on the forums and for a game.
Basically what you can do, and will be safer(no random guys will join) is to make a game at llamaserver(PBEM)
Also another suggestion(unless you insist on the cbm 1.6 vesion) is to play the latest cbm.(If you did that I will join and give you guys the advice I can(I am still relatively new to the game I have 4 games of experience and couple of blitzes))

Edit: Oh and if you insist on playing through the Dom3minions server, and you don't want people to join your game randomly you can wait till you have 6 players and then create the game and appoint a day where all of them must upload their pretenders and start the game.

[marcelteaching]

Also another suggestion(unless you insist on the cbm 1.6 vesion) is to play the latest cbm.(If you did that I will join and give you guys the advice I can(I am still relatively new to the game I have 4 games of experience and couple of blitzes))


That sounds great! The reason I did notgo with the latest version is because it was not supported on the other server. we will switch to Llamaserve and organise it from there.

BBZ, can you suggest a suitable map that would work with approximately 4-6 people? We want to keep it fairly small, I would think, and any other suggestions that would improve what we are doing here, and also, any information you have about the process would be helpful, I would think...

[tratorix]

I'll join as mictlan.

[marcelteaching]

Tratorix, House-rules are only Arcoscephale, Agartha, Atlantis, Caelum, C'tis, Ermor, Helheim, Kailasa, Maverni, Niefelheim, Oceania, Pangaea, R'lyeh, Sauromatia, T`ien Ch`i, Tir na n'Og,Ulm, Vanheim or Yomi.

2nd choice?

[tratorix]

Tratorix, House-rules are only Arcoscephale, Agartha, Atlantis, Caelum, C'tis, Ermor, Helheim, Kailasa, Maverni, Niefelheim, Oceania, Pangaea, R'lyeh, Sauromatia, T`ien Ch`i, Tir na n'Og,Ulm, Vanheim or Yomi.

2nd choice?

Oops, thats what I get for skimming the OP. I'll take Maverni then.

[bbz]

Well a suggestion for a map would be sixlands. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=36830
I just checked two other 6 player games and they seemed to use that map but there are no water provinces. I could dig a bit further to find a prettier map.(there is one I saw called the blessed Island but its with only 75(12.5) for 6 players and only 11 water provinces so basically) what is usually player is 15 provinces per person so we need to find a map with 90+ provinces.

Edit: for four players we could use this one
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=4437
or this one is really pretty but its small 12.5 provinces a player
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=31184

and here is a map list link if you want to look for anything else that might interest you:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=34207

[bbz]

Other four players maps:
(that looks like heroes3 map) relatively good size for four people 79provinces
http://users.on.net/~dfidge/forums/volcano.jpg
and another 4 players map
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1265967523

for a team game 2v2 this one looks nice
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8555&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1248433221

and another 6 player map:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8947&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1254758338

Here is the thread where I found blessed Island one and it seems perfect for 5 people
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=361

[bbz]

Btw I would like to play as Kailasa.

Could I ask you a question why there is no love for the other nations?(the ones that we are not allowed to play with)

[bbz]

Hmm actually I had a slight change of heart. I really want to develop one strategy but it is with MA Bandar Log. So count me out of the game.I hope I did help with the map choice.

[desvolack]

so, I am still totally down for vanheim. how many committed players do we have so far?

[bbz]

well its only you I'm sorry to say. So just look for another game.

[marcelteaching]

Desvolack, if you are still in, you have dibbs for Vanheim. :) Can you just repost to confirm you are still in? Same goes for BBZ,now that Bandar Log is available.

[aaminoff]

OK, I am interested in this. I like the idea of teams.

I've played 3 MP games, going to the end in 2 of them (found a sub in the other). So I guess I am a semi-experienced noob.

Map: I suggest Streamlands. Hopefully someone has submitted a fixed version, there were a few missing connections.

I'm about to be moving to a new house so there may be days I just can not get a turn in. But usually I should be able to turn around pretty quick.

Have not thought about nation at all. Should we wait to see how the teams shake out and then figure out complementary builds? Or pre-select nations and then just deal with the luck of the draw? Perhaps the latter is best since otherwise it could take weeks of wrangling ;)

I will look at the MA and figure out a nation this evening.

[marcelteaching]

Aaminoff, sounds interesting - complementary builds sounds the most interesting to me. Also, a team buddy might be able to sub for you when there is an issue (this goes for all), which is another good thing about teams.

Let's go with streamlands for now then, pending an investigation as to whether the links are fixed.. We will start up when we are all happy, we could even add more players if we had a consensus to do so when we have 4, and add a third 'team' or even a fourth. Let's see how these things pan out and what the others think when they join.

[tratorix]

Well, guess I'll sign up for this one again. I'm more in the experienced newb category as well, but I still kinda suck, so it should work out fine. The only suggestion I have is to make the turn timer at least 36 hours. 24 is cutting it pretty fine and will probably result in staling early on, which can set someone at a huge disadvantage in the early game.

[marcelteaching]

Done! Tratorix, added you to team 2. When we are all complete, we will chat and decide on the nations we want.

Next decision will be whether to play two teams or three and the number of AI we want. Feel free to put in a vote! I will abstain and leave it to you guys, though I suspect that doing some AI bashing before we get serious could be fun. :)

[tratorix]

I personally vote for no AI, as I hate fighting giant armies of chaff, but I might change my mind depending on how many players we get.

[HorrorFend]

I like to join as Arcoscephale. I'm fairly new to the game but I think I've got a solid strategy worked out.

[marcelteaching]

Added you horrorfend. :)
You and tratorix can work out a team strategy.

[tratorix]

I might change my mind later, but I'll lay claim to mictlan for now.

[nttea]

I want to join! as C'tis would be nice!
edit: also would prefer no ai's

[marcelteaching]

No AI vote will be added. Welcome! Let's get three more players!!!!

[kuketski]

I want to play as Pythium!
and i`d like no AI players too!

[marcelteaching]

Please confirm on this forum, as soon as you have uploaded your avatar. I suggest you seek out the contact details / ICQ etc.. details for your partner so you can mutually plan. :)

[kuketski]

ok! im in tag-team with Nttea playing c`tis, right?

as soon as i get to my home pc, ill upload my pretender!

Can i change my nation claim(i really like MA Pythium, but teamwork comes first) after i talk with Nttea?

[marcelteaching]

Absolutely! We (Team 1) intend to do the same. Feel free to change your choices, and I will update the thread as you post. :)

[kuketski]

ok!
nttea, i`ve send PM to you.
contact me via ICQ, if you can, plz!
EDIT: you can get my UIN in profile, but to fasten things a bit - 331116789

[marcelteaching]

Final map choice has been uploaded. Tyrande II (beautiful map!) though it is 8 player, so there will be a little more room to expand. We have selected the "no sites" version, which removes predefined sites to balance it up a bit, and as teams, it should be quite fair.

Upload away!!!!

Marcel.

[tratorix]

Also, guys, pms on this forum have to be enabled in your profile before you can send or receive them, so it might be a good idea to do that now. Horrorfend, I'm looking in your general direction here. ;)

Also, everyone make sure you have CBM 1.83 enabled before you create your pretender god. The mod changes some options and costs, so if you make the pretender without CBM enabled the games cheat protection will activate and stick you with an archmage with no magic paths.

[tratorix]

Ok, might take me a bit longer to get my pretender in, as I thought this was an EA game and designed a pretender and strategy for EA mictlan. I'll take Vanheim instead.

P.S. I am dumb.

P.P.S Why aren't we using the most recent version of CBM, 1.84?

P.P.P.S The link in the OP links to the CBM 1.6 download. I promise I'm done editing this post now.

[marcelteaching]

No, they were very good posts.

1. You are not dumb
2. We will use 1.84
3. Link will be adjusted

Good call

[aaminoff]

I decided to go with Machaka. I sent in my pretender. However, if we are switching to 1.84 then I will go rebuild under that.

[aaminoff]

Hm. I suspect you have to delete the game and re-start it, possibly under a new name, if you want to use a different mod. Or am I wrong?

Oh, you did that

[aaminoff]

Tratorix suggested making the hosting interval 36 hours. I will be moving in the next month and I have small children, so I would support that.

[marcelteaching]

36 hours it is then. It will be adjusted at request, but perhaps we can start with 24 hours, and move to 36 if the need becomes evident? It can easily be changed in admin options, from what I am told...

[tratorix]

With only 24 hours, by the time someone realizes they need an extension, they may not be able to get in touch with you in time to get one. The extra twelve hours just helps provide a safety net for that.

[marcelteaching]

We have teams so that the other person can do a move if needed. I will go 36 hours, as I trust your judgement.

We are going to recruit a reserve player, should such wish to join, and maybe even if two join by the time we have all uploaded pretenders maybe we will get one more team together. We will close the call as soon as existing players upload the avatars, but if there is an issue with an existing member not signing up, then we have that problem solved, if not, we have an independent team who is unaligned, allowing some interesting diplomatic choices and backstabbing later. :)

[kuketski]

I`ve uploaded my pretender! GAME STARTED!!!!!!

[aaminoff]

Well, I downloaded my trn file, all happy to find out where I am starting, and Dom3 crashed with a version error. I have been out of circulation for a while and apparently I need version 3.26. So I go to download and apply patch 3.26. Appears to work, but after I launch the game and try to open the trn file, same error. And the version number has not updated. So I am stuck. I posted to the main forums hoping to get some advice, but meanwhile I can not do anything. I would suggest opening up my slot to someone else rather than waiting for me to fix my setup.

[marcelteaching]

I've emailed you about some things we can try

[marcelteaching]

I have temporarily looked after your 'interests' until you can fix the problem. As soon as you can fix it, let me know. :)

Also, if you have a specific things you want to do, just email me and let me know.

[aaminoff]

OK, reinstalled the game, applied the patch, works now. I sent in my turn 2.

We can proceed as normal.

[marcelteaching]

ADMIN LOG :

12:40 GMT on Saturday June 11th
Hosting interval changed to 36 hours.
22:04 GMT on Saturday June 11th
Changed e-mail address for Machaka.
22:44 GMT on Saturday June 11th
Changed e-mail address for Machaka.

Guys, we suggested that we take turns for one another - apparently, this will cause a problem with a "cd-key" violation. As I did a move for Machaka because they had an issue, none of my orders were processed, and I am in a poorer situation than I should have been. I would appreciate it if you guys cut me some slack for a while and let me recover and not be a general jerk and take advantage of my noobness. :)

I could wind back a turn, but I won't because of the inconvenience it would cause you guys. I will try and find a third party that is happy to sub for any of us, if you guys think that would be helpful, as we can't do it the way we thought.

Marcel.

[aaminoff]

Well, so will your next turn also be a cd-key violation? Will my next turn be a cd-key violation? It seems weird that your turn was a cd-key violation but mine was not: I sent in my pretender with my cd-key, and then you used yours to submit orders. Maybe the way it works is that the second set of orders from the same cd-key is ignored?

I would not mind just restarting entirely. Or I guess rewinding back to turn 0 would work. But of course I am biased :)

[marcelteaching]

Thanks, that is very kind.

We will roll back the turns. This means, that it is expected that you simply resend in the turn from turn one. It is probably a perfect time to do so, as we really have had no contact with one another.

Changing what you are doing because you know what is going to happen is an exploit and should be avoided - please do not do this. I will be strictly doing exactly what I was doing the tun before.

I do very much appreciate it. Thanks a lot guys!

Marcel.

Admin Message :

stillbornnoobs: Roll back to previous turn
This will cause the game to return to the previous turn.

Note that I generally recommend not doing this. The main reason for this is the fact that players have already seen the current turn, and so they know what would happen given the set of moves they used last time. Hence, consciously or not, they are very likely to use this information to change their actions next time they submit a turn. Even assuming none of the players' actions are affected, there will always be a suspicion in the mind of the other players if battles turn out significantly differently. Therefore just in the interest of having the game feel completely fair, I think rollbacks are a bad idea.

A further reason is a difficulty with game file confusion. Imagine turn 10 has just come out, and someone starts to play the turn. Then the game is rolled back to turn 9, and processed again to make a new turn 10. Unless players delete the 2h file they produced from the original turn 10, Dominions will not know to ignore it and may get seriously confused. This can cause a lot of madness, e.g. soldiers becoming commanders and gaining magic paths, and so on. So if you do do a rollback, make sure to remind players to delete their 2h files.

Having said that, there are situations where rollbacks are called for, which is why I've included the option here.

Read this next bit carefully. I seem to be having difficulties explaining it coherently:

Note that once the game is rolled back, it will appear that the game is waiting for 2h files from all players. However, the 2h files from last time the turn was played will in fact be there, and will be used if the game hosts without them being overwritten. This can be useful; often, a game is rehosted in order for only one or two players to retake their turns, while everyone else is expected to make no changes. The game admin can therefore wait till just those players have submitted, and then force hosting. None of the other players will stale (assuming they actually submitted a 2h file last time the turn was played).

I hope all that makes sense!

[marcelteaching]

This being the case, the file has manually been forced to 'host'. This was due to assurances that your turns would be 'saved' meaning you do not need to resubmit turn 1. Hopefully, you guys will all have turn two with turn one orders executed successfully. If not, please let me know, and we will do it the old fashioned way.

[marcelteaching]

Well, it seems that it worked. From looking at the graphs, I think everyones turns were correctly processed, and unless you already sent in turn 2, you should not have been inconvenienced.

Thank you again guys, it should be all good from here.

Marcel.

[HorrorFend]

Would it help if we archived our turn files in case we need to roll-back again? From what hear you saying the server archives the turns itself so we do not need to do any special ourselves.

[marcelteaching]

I don't think this will happen again. It was just rather unfortunate that :
a) Alex had technical problems with his game, preventing a move
b) The plan we had for us to look after your own teams moves if you can't move was made without knowledge of copy protection built into the game.

I think we will be fine. Most of us have the moves anyway in our sent folders, and as said, the system is great because it kept a record, negating the need to do so.

Marcel.

[marcelteaching]

Hi all,

* Please vote on legality of using mercenary armies (does not include present turn) <a href="http://poll.pollcode.com/zdF2">Take my poll!</a>

If you are hiring this turn, that is fine. Result in binding for the rest of the game.

[aaminoff]

In general mercs are a part of the game and people use them. I don't think I have ever heard of a game where mercs were banned. It gives a boost to the initial expansion of some nations whose recruitable troops are less than great. One time I played EA Arco and basically assumed that I would bid for some mercs in the first few turns, since EA Arco's troops are so bad. (I was playing a Sloth build and ignoring Myrmidons). So it is possible that some players in this game took into account the possibility of getting Mercs as part of their initial expansion strategy.

[marcelteaching]

Mercenaries are in! :D

:viking:

[kuketski]

i`m afraid C`tis is going to stale, can we prolong this turn up to 12 more hours? if nttea still dont make his move, ill sub for him.

[marcelteaching]

We tried the sub thing - It does not work due to copyright issues. :( A sub needs to be in place when this sort of thing happens. C'tis will stall if he does not move.

We all agreed to 36 hours. I would even consider extending it, but he really needs to ask himself, it it really isn't fair to the rest of us to do otherwise. Try and find a sub if you like, to take over his position. :(

[kuketski]

Marcel, i dont understand difference between me or third person as substituie candidate. If copyright issues would rise every time sub is needed, the very idea of substitution wouldnt exists in Dom3 MP games!

Problems with copyright that can occur with me can occur with third person as well, but i think they all are solvable - if you peak into some of llamabest`s guyde`s, there are manual about 'how to set player to AI'. In this manual admin, who is player in the same game, performs as sub for stalling player.

Therefore i can make a coclusion, that this issue is solvable. I think the crusial thing you need to do for subbing in the game, in which you`re already playing, is to delete .2h file with other nation`s turns and orders.

Well, i want to try subbing, if we dont find a sub by the time next turn resolves! when nttea will come back or we find a sub, ill give over command of a lizard nation. =)

And i still ask for turn prolongation - its turn 7, and begining is crusial now. I agree to wait for substitution if any other player needs it!

p.s. sorry for my crude English and jagged sentences...
p.p.s. Marcel, remember our talk about 'more players=more problems'? =) imagine if there was 10 players!

[tratorix]

I wouldn't mind extending, but seeing as llamaserver appears to be frozen anyway, I'm not sure if its even possible. Plus the deadlines in like an hour. Looks like nntea is gonna have to deal with this stale.

[kuketski]

Actually all games are stuck yesterday at noon. There's a thread about it already. :(

:confused: let's hope it's not something too complicated to fix and that llamabeast will have time to check it :D

What do we do? its technical issue, not nttea`s fault...

[marcelteaching]

but im at work and working day is just started!
can you prolong turn to 12 more hours and resend me his turn? then, when ill be home, i can make my turn.
and how do i play 2 nations? i shall delete my old .2h file and start over with his .trn?


Hi,

Firstly, in response to Kuketski's passionate request :

Hosting postponed for stillbornnoobs by 12 hours. The game will now host at 19:17 GMT on Thursday June 16th.

This is a one-off. In future, if anyone cannot move, and has not organised a turn, they will simply move without having made one. This is in fairness of the changes we have already made to 36 hours.

I will ask for a sub to be found on the board, and you can try too. If we find one, let me know the email. If we cannot find one quickly, he will stall. If he misses a second time, his assets will be transferred to Kuketski and he will be set to AI.

Secondly, I think you misunderstood. I do not personally have an issue with a team member taking a turn, I think it is awesome. However, previously Alex (Machaka) had technical problems, and I took the turn for him. When I sent the move in, the computer figured that I had given someone else my CD-KEY and decided to recind my instructions (because my turn and alex's were processed from a copy of Dominions with the same key). Therefore, a sub needs to be someone with a UNIQUE cdkey. That is what I meant.

The result was that I had to wind the game back one turn, resubmit the moves (which we could because the problem was fixed) and then make the server host.

So the reason I won't do it, is because it won't work, not because I don't want to.

Hope you understand. :)

What I am interested in trying is this - We find a permanent 'sub' whose job it is simply to 'accept' a .2h done by a buddy, open it, save it (so the new .2h contains the coding of the sub, not the buddy) and then ship it back to the partner, who can upload it. Wanna give it a go?

I'll try and see if someone is interested.

Marcel.

[marcelteaching]

So, if I am reading this right, nttea DID move, but can't post? That would be different, we would simply all stall it until we can all resume. I assumed we had not heard from Nttea and I didn't know about the error. Can someone post an URL to where this is discussed?

I would also welcome any suggestions as to how we can arrange to take each others turns in case we need a sub. :)

Marcel

[marcelteaching]

Begging for a sub here --> http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?p=778941#post778941

[aaminoff]

> Hosting postponed for stillbornnoobs by 12 hours. The game will now host at 19:17 GMT on Thursday June 16th.

Unfortunately there does indeed seem to be a problem with llamaserver. It sounds to me like nttea did actually submit a turn, but llamaserver has not processed or acknowledged it. So it is possible that when llama gets around to fixing the server, nttea's turn will be in the pipeline, get read, and then quickhost will immediately cause the turn to be processed. However if nttea's turn in queue does not get processed, it would be unfortunate to end up with a stale. So I would recommend a fairly generous time extension, perhaps as much as 24 hours or more, renewed periodically as long as the server is down. This is to give nttea time to check the forums to find out that llamaserver is working again and then resend the turn. Most likely it will not matter since the turn is in the queue and quickhost will just happen.

[nttea]

hey! i submitted a turn :( no need to look for a sub! i've been active this whole time, sorry for not keeping up with this thread as much as i should have.

[aaminoff]

Sorry, ignore that previous post. The game page still shows the original deadline, which means that marcel's request to change the deadline is stuck in thq queue just as the turn is, so trying to change the deadline is pointless.

[marcelteaching]

Yeah!!! I thought it was a bit odd!! Welcome back buddy! Yeah don't worry, we will all wait till this is sorted. :)

We will keep looking for a sub, just in case one of us ever can't take a turn. It is good as a backup. They might just not be very busy, lol.

[marcelteaching]

Well, while we are all waiting, feel free to sign up for a new noob game to run concurrently with this one. Notable changes are that it includes some mods to make priests more interesting to use.

Until the game is back, we can have some fun experimenting with pretender builds in SP. :)

You guys are all welcome.

[marcelteaching]

Due to some r/l personal circumstances, I won't be able to continue to update this thread or continue. I am so sorry to mess you guys around, you guys are awesome.

I have passed on the admin password to Alex, and have posted for a replacement, and hopefully you guys can all get back to it soon.

[kuketski]

Sad, Marcel =(

Well, anyway, looks like game is moved further, but i dint recieved my trn file =(

did you guys got your trn file?

[tratorix]

Sad, Marcel =(

Well, anyway, looks like game is moved further, but i dint recieved my trn file =(

did you guys got your trn file?

Since I've been getting spammed with revised turn file notifications for another game I'm in for the last 6 hours, I'd say llamaserver is still on the fritz. Its unfortunate that marcel can't continue, and the game should probably be put on hold until we find a sub.

[HorrorFend]

Due to some r/l personal circumstances, I won't be able to continue to update this thread or continue. I am so sorry to mess you guys around, you guys are awesome.


Sorry to hear you're leaving...I agree we should put the game on hold until a replacement is found.

[aaminoff]

Urk. It so happens that today was the day I moved my business to a new location... not a great time for me to be dealing with all this. Would anyone else like to be admin?

I postponed hosting for 48 hours. With luck, Marcel will have found a sub.

Marcel was also in the middle of diplomatic discussions, most of which he CCd me on, but I was paying half attention. If its not too much bother, could anyone who was diplomatizing with Pangaea or team 1 email me at alex@basespace.net? Or actually wait until we have a sub and then we can negotiate a lot.

The hosting does appear to have happened. You should be able to go to the llamaserver web site and request your turn to be sent to you if you have not already.

[tratorix]

Urk. It so happens that today was the day I moved my business to a new location... not a great time for me to be dealing with all this. Would anyone else like to be admin?

I postponed hosting for 48 hours. With luck, Marcel will have found a sub.

Marcel was also in the middle of diplomatic discussions, most of which he CCd me on, but I was paying half attention. If its not too much bother, could anyone who was diplomatizing with Pangaea or team 1 email me at alex@basespace.net? Or actually wait until we have a sub and then we can negotiate a lot.

The hosting does appear to have happened. You should be able to go to the llamaserver web site and request your turn to be sent to you if you have not already.

I can admin. I've been thinking about hosting a game soon so this will be good practice. You can pm me here, or my emails in my profile.

Edit: Did anyone else not get their turn file? I've even tried using the resend command and it didn't work.

[kuketski]

i`ve tryed to get my trn too. and tried to resent it =( its not working =(

[aaminoff]

Urk. It so happens that today was the day I moved my business to a new location... not a great time for me to be dealing with all this. Would anyone else like to be admin?

I postponed hosting for 48 hours. With luck, Marcel will have found a sub.

Marcel was also in the middle of diplomatic discussions, most of which he CCd me on, but I was paying half attention. If its not too much bother, could anyone who was diplomatizing with Pangaea or team 1 email me at alex@basespace.net? Or actually wait until we have a sub and then we can negotiate a lot.

The hosting does appear to have happened. You should be able to go to the llamaserver web site and request your turn to be sent to you if you have not already.

[aaminoff]

sorry for the double post

[aaminoff]

Tratorix, I PMd you with the admin password. Thank you for agreeing to take over.

[aaminoff]

I don't think Marcel posted anywhere looking for a sub. Unfortunately, since Marcel owns this thread, we can not change the first post or the thread title (eg, to "Stillborn noobs - looking for a sub").

It probably makes sense for Tratorix to post in the looking for players thread. Tratorix could also create a new thread for this game and put a link to it here, and perhaps we could get Marcel to edit the first post to point to the new thread.

I have the feeling that the most important skill a game admin needs is fluency with forums. The ability to write clear, effective, and polite forum messages. :)

[tratorix]

I don't think Marcel posted anywhere looking for a sub. Unfortunately, since Marcel owns this thread, we can not change the first post or the thread title (eg, to "Stillborn noobs - looking for a sub").

It probably makes sense for Tratorix to post in the looking for players thread. Tratorix could also create a new thread for this game and put a link to it here, and perhaps we could get Marcel to edit the first post to point to the new thread.

I have the feeling that the most important skill a game admin needs is fluency with forums. The ability to write clear, effective, and polite forum messages. :)

I'm going to create a thread looking for a sub and hold the game until we find one, if we don't find a sub within 72 hours, I'll be looking for suggestions of how to proceed, as playing with the AI really isn't an option for how this game is set up.

[kuketski]

oh! looks like turn resending is back on line!

[aaminoff]

Well, unfortunately, it seems like in a week we have had no nibbles of folks interested in subbing.

I can imagine continuing this game as a training excercise. Setting Pangaea to AI is a bad idea, but we could just allow Pan to sit where they are and agree that nobody can attack their territory, or not until 10 turns from now or something. I am not sure whether the way Pan expanded means that one of team 2 or 3 is greatly advantaged by that solution.

Or, here's a wacky idea. Teams 2 and 3 bid numbers of provinces to take from Pan. Whoever bids lowest gets a NAP with Machaka for some number of turns or something like that. What I mean is, one team gets a bunch of provinces, the other gets an ally. The whole thing sunsets after a certain number of turns and then it is a free for all.

[aaminoff]

I talked to my RL friend Dean, and he may be interested in subbing into Pan. Could we delay the turn a couple more days so he can possibly get up to speed?

[tratorix]

I set it ahead 48 hours more. If he needs more time, message me, but if it turns out he can't do it we will have to go forward with the AI.

[tratorix]

Everyone welcome drchung who will be taking over for pangaea. I'm going to postpone the turn another 24 hours so he can get caught up.

[drchung]

Hi all! I'll be subbing in for Pangeae, and just popping in here to say hi. I'll be sending in a gratuitous RP post soon to explain the change of management.

As long as it is ok with aaminoff and everyone else, I'll be deferring most diplomacy for our side to him for a while as I figure out how to integrate the game to rl (this is my first MP dominion game).

[aaminoff]

Awesome!

Marcel was doing much negotiating before he left. I will try to review where things were at and pick up diplomatic threads over the next day or two.

I suppose we may have a delay anyway while llamaserver gets patched.

- Alex

[drchung]

Orpheus gently roused from his slumber, ready to reap the rewards planted long ago. He stretched his mind out to survey his domain and everything appeared to be going as planned.

The push of the forest folk into a new age, the capture of the Pans, the bargain with Sargei, all was as forethought. Yet slowly, he noticed that something was amiss. The armorers were going about their business, but there was something oddly empty about their actions, so he probed their minds.

There was... nothing. No... wait... there was something in the oblivion of his subjects shattered sentience. And ... it ... was... overwhelming...

In a panic, Orpheus fought to safeguard his mind, but he could feel his spark ebbing. In a panic, he thoughtcast to the only one that he thought could save him.

************************************************** *************

Far away, Sagei, Lord of Near and Close, felt a desparate plea-- and then nearly that same moment an alien stillness. Then finally a feeling.

His old friend Orpheus was no more. Somehow, the forest that he had molded in his image had claimed him. It was alive in action, each being alive with only an animal passion and without intellect. The order in chaos, the discipline of play, and the vitality of death, it wanted (if that is the right word) only to grow, to seethe, to be in this world.

Sagei pondered on this, and came to an understanding with it. After all, their goals were not in opposition.

[tratorix]

Everyone is going to need to update their version of CBM with the fixed version here (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=47550). You should also patch your game with the new 3.27 patch if you haven't already, though you may want to back up the directory if you are in other games at the moment, just in case. Also, kuketski, you may want to resend your turn once you've done this, to make sure there are no issues.

[aaminoff]

I pmd Tratorix to ask for an extension. I am moving today.

- Alex

[aaminoff]

It looks like Ctis staled. Is the Ctis player OK?

[tratorix]

Well, this was a fun game for all the 20 turns I was in it. Looks like Horrorfend and myself will be bowing out soon. I'll stay on as admin, but if you need an extension you will have to pm me as once I'm out of the game I won't be keeping as close an eye on the timer. Also, pythium and ctis, when your getting beaten in about 10 turns, remember this game could have gone differently if you had jumped in earlier. :angel

[aaminoff]

Well, I wouldn't count you out quite yet. That was an impressive turn for you.

However, Ctis has now staled thrice and it really is not good if Pythium does not have his ally. We should try to make contact with Ctis's player and verify that they are still around and want to continue.

- Alex

[tratorix]

Well, I wouldn't count you out quite yet. That was an impressive turn for you.

However, Ctis has now staled thrice and it really is not good if Pythium does not have his ally. We should try to make contact with Ctis's player and verify that they are still around and want to continue.

- Alex

Yeah, well massed evocations from all my cap mages are nice, but I doubt it will turn the tide in the long run. Don't worry though, I still intend to fight on.

I'll send C'tis an admin message to see if he's still around.

[HorrorFend]

Congrads, aaminoff, drchung you have me thoroughly beaten. I can continue submitting turns but I doubt I'll even manage to go out with much of a bang. aaminoff, welcome to your new fort, it's too late for my luck +2 to save me now.

[aaminoff]

Hi HorrorFend. I hate to count chickens before they are hatched, I had to detach some forces south to help with the marauding skinshifter army. Anyway, the point is I hope you had fun and learned stuff. I sure did.

It looks like Ctis is going to stale again. Since they are researching a lot and not in any wars, I suppose they are in the least bad circumstance to be staling, but still, I feel like it sort of breaks things not to have the player around. Meybe after this turn we should pause the game until we can either get a response from them or find a replacement?

[tratorix]

Hi HorrorFend. I hate to count chickens before they are hatched, I had to detach some forces south to help with the marauding skinshifter army. Anyway, the point is I hope you had fun and learned stuff. I sure did.

It looks like Ctis is going to stale again. Since they are researching a lot and not in any wars, I suppose they are in the least bad circumstance to be staling, but still, I feel like it sort of breaks things not to have the player around. Meybe after this turn we should pause the game until we can either get a response from them or find a replacement?

Yeah, I'm going to postpone this turn and look for a sub. I'll make a thread looking for one in a bit.

[Mightypeon]

I would be interested in subbing in.

[tratorix]

Alright, just pm me your email address and I'll get you switched in.

[aaminoff]

Hi Mightypeon, welcome aboard! Thanks for jumping in to keep this interesting game going.

I'll PM you with current diplomacy.

- Alex, Machaka

[Mightypeon]

I am sorry, but I have some very busy weeks coming in now. I thus have to retract my subbing statement.

Best wishes,

Mightypeon

[LDiCesare]

I could probably sub in a game like this, although I'm not a newb. (I've lost one or two MP games with C'tis actually, though uusally not MA).

[tratorix]

I doubt anyone will mind at this point. Pm me your email if you're interested in taking a look at the turn file.

[LDiCesare]

Ok. I looked at the turn file. It's interesting.
Kuketski, I sent a message to Pythium asking a few questions. I'll wait for an answer or a brief before playing the next turn.

[tratorix]

Alright thanks to LDiCesare for subbing in, we're back on the usual 48 hour timer.

[drchung]

Real life and asthma from allergies are really wrecking me right now, can I get an extension for the upcoming turn?

[tratorix]

Postponed the turn 24 hours at request. I won't be granting any more turn extensions for a while unless they are asked for well in advance. This game has been going slow enough as it is.

[tratorix]

Well, since I'm down to my capital and a handful of mages, I've decided to go AI. Well fought Machaka, I underestimated you in just about every possible way.

[aaminoff]

Tratorix, thanks for sticking with it. I surely underestimated your ability to send out a second army, and your capital mages surprised me. I hope you had fun.

If it makes you feel any better, the map is not really balanced. Many of the provinces in the south are 150 income farmlands, while everything in the north is mountains or wasteland.

Oh, if Tratorix is leaving we should find a new admin. I guess now that I have moved I could admin. Or LDiCesare could on the grounds that he is less noobish than the rest of us.

- Alex, Machaka

[HorrorFend]

That battle was my last hurrah. Good game everyone--I'm now switching over to AI.

[aaminoff]

Horrorfend, thank you for being a competent opponent and sticking with it to the end.

It now looks suspiciously like Pythium is about to stale again... has anyone heard from them?

- Alex, Machaka

[tratorix]

Nope. And I'm not extending if he can't be bothered to ask. This really shows me that team games are a bad idea unless the players involved have a good track record.

[LDiCesare]

No news from Pythium either :(

[tratorix]

Ugh. If he's not back by the end of this turn, I guess I'll look for another sub.

[aaminoff]

I PMd kuketski, who is playing Ctis, and got a response:

---Quote (Originally by aaminoff)---
Hi. Are you planning on submitting a turn in the next couple hours? Or if not and you are done with this game, please post something saying so on the forums. It's really frustrating not to know what is going on with a player.

- Alex, Machaka
---End Quote---
Sorry for disapearing, but yes, i thnk i cant continue playing dominions! ill post last turn =\

Well, it is up to LDiCesare. I feel like at this point we (team 2) have eaten enough of Pythium that it is difficult to see how we could not win. So I suggest we call it, or perhaps run a few more turns of Ctis vs Machaka just as a training excercise. Trying to find a sub for Pythium does not seem pointful.

- Alex

[LDiCesare]

I'd like to fight at least this turn out and probably the next, just in order to have one or two battles. It's not like the nation I received was in any good shape (I mean, what did he plan to do with that research?), but I've had the time to do a few interesting things.
I'm pretty disgusted by Kuketski. When you do some team play, you at least warn your partner that you may not be playing any more. I wasted some mage time and gems to help him, that's really lame.
But yes, the game is probably won by you, although it totally depends on Machaka's magic research. (I rule off Pangaea as an immmediate threat alone given the graphs on research so far).

[aaminoff]

This is a fascinating war we are having. I would love to continue for a few turns. Pangaea is quite willing to sit out and just finish off Pythium and watch. Next turn we can probably set Pythium to AI, since there is not enough left that it is likely to go rogue and attack Ctis anymore.

[LDiCesare]

Ok. We can fight it out a bit more. I have to warn you that normally my best strategy would be quite boring. I don't know if I'll go for it. I'll probably try something less efficient but more entertaining.
Setting Pythium to ai would be better than have them stale, but Please have Pangaea attack them on the turn they go ai and the next one so they don't declare war on me. Normally if they are besieged in one fort, that should be enough for the ai to consider it's already got one enemy.

[drchung]

Hi, I'm playing Pangeae.

I'll be happy to play dancing bear to Pythium's AI. I am currently beseiging one fort and was in the process of setting up a second in this turn.

I've already ordered all forces (which wasn't much) away from the one province that borders C'tis, and will not move any forces of any sort into C'tis. At this point, I'm considering myself to be playing a parallel single player game to your multiplayer game. Hope you two have a niced war :)

[aaminoff]

Something is definitely messed up on the llamaserver.

[LDiCesare]

I PM'd llamabeast to ask him to look at the game. Hopefully he can figure it out.

[LDiCesare]

It seems to be back to normal. You probably have to ask for a turn resend manually to get the .trn, though.

[LDiCesare]

I lost a lot of mages in that battle. C'tis still has a bunch of units in several forts, but if next turn's battles go wrong, I think we can stop it there. I doubt I have the time to summon stuff to equip so I can actually use the ridiculous construction research I inherited in a short span of time.

[aaminoff]

That battle, with the communion of Lizard shamans, I have to say I thought you had it won. You were paralyzing and mind blasting spiders left and right, the Relief on top of all of those communioned mages meant that you could keep going forever... Why did your main block of infantry all suddenly rout from the middle of the battlefield? They were not really in melee combat yet. Was it really just the panic spell? Did something else happen in the battle that I missed?

Most of your mages retreated in good order, it just adds to the extremeness of the result that you had no retreat location and so they all died. Or maybe they were able to escape somehow, I don't know.

Just goes to show that in a Dom3 battle, almost anything is possible.

- Alex, Machaka

[LDiCesare]

I think the rout came from the panic spell. I'd have had better results if I hadn't brought that bunch of soldiers or had let them on guard commander duty. That and if I had had soul slay researched instead of worthless construction with no units to equip. That and if the ai kept casting the good spells instead of casting a swarm after the 5th round. wtf? Blasting 100 fatigue and a gem on a spell that's only useful to disrupt enemy formations early on instead of casting some 20 fatigue paralysis or mind burns...
I think the game's over. I could field some more armies, try to use the pretender in combat with his magic diversity and actually try to kit some unit, but I lack the gems for that (thanks Pythium for asking a skull mentor and then leaving, I could have summoned a bane lord with these gems).

[LDiCesare]

I think the rout came from the panic spell. I'd have had better results if I hadn't brought that bunch of soldiers or had let them on guard commander duty. That and if I had had soul slay researched instead of worthless construction with no units to equip. That and if the ai kept casting the good spells instead of casting a swarm after the 5th round. wtf? Blasting 100 fatigue and a gem on a spell that's only useful to disrupt enemy formations early on instead of casting some 20 fatigue paralysis or mind burns...
I think the game's over. I could field some more armies, try to use the pretender in combat with his magic diversity and actually try to kit some unit, but I lack the gems for that (thanks Pythium for asking a skull mentor and then leaving, I could have summoned a bane lord with these gems).

Anyway, well played Machaka.
I was not familiar with the summon spiders spell, it's quite annoying and useful.
You had a few thugs with more/better equipment than I could field, lots of mages with strong summons and evocation.
The only hope for C'tis would be to poison the armies (was I happy to see I had a poison spell and the wards cast to get rid of a single mage). Attrition, C'tis's forte, wouldn't work well because you have a strong economy in the back that can't be easily raided.

[aaminoff]

It really is a bummer that Pythium punted. Dean and I were really concerned right around the time that the first war vs Arco/Van was wrapping up. Dean's predecessor left him with a not great situation, including in particular no research, and so in some respects I would have had to fight 3 enemies simultaneously.

Researching Construction to the max is actually a pretty good strategy in a team game: One nation can focus on that while the other does other stuff. Then Pythium could have been feeding you gems to forge lots of cool stuff with, some of which would have gone to equip Pythium's thugs, others you would have kept.

The other problem with this game was that the map is not balanced. I started with nothing but farmlands all around me; so did Ctis to some degree, whereas the north of the map is all wastes and mountains. Very realistic no doubt, and presumably true to the fictional source material, and undeniably prettier to look at than many other Dom3 maps; but, does not make for a good game.

The disease dominion does work. Once I have 20-30 mages besieging various forts, most of them are diseased, and will die off eventually. I have to keep feeding in a steady stream of replacement mages; the situation reaches some steady state where N of them die per turn and I need to send in N fresh ones.

I'll send you my last turn to see if you want. What is your email address?

[aaminoff]

It really is a bummer that Pythium punted. Dean and I were really concerned right around the time that the first war vs Arco/Van was wrapping up. Dean's predecessor left him with a not great situation, including in particular no research, and so in some respects I would have had to fight 3 enemies simultaneously.

Researching Construction to the max is actually a pretty good strategy in a team game: One nation can focus on that while the other does other stuff. Then Pythium could have been feeding you gems to forge lots of cool stuff with, some of which would have gone to equip Pythium's thugs, others you would have kept.

The other problem with this game was that the map is not balanced. I started with nothing but farmlands all around me; so did Ctis to some degree, whereas the north of the map is all wastes and mountains. Very realistic no doubt, and presumably true to the fictional source material, and undeniably prettier to look at than many other Dom3 maps; but, does not make for a good game.

The disease dominion does work. Once I have 20-30 mages besieging various forts, most of them are diseased, and will die off eventually. I have to keep feeding in a steady stream of replacement mages; the situation reaches some steady state where N of them die per turn and I need to send in N fresh ones.

I'll send you my last turn to see if you want. What is your email address?

[LDiCesare]

I guess I can have a look at the disease effect: email is laurent dot di dot cesare at gmail dot com.
Don't forget to declare the game finished on llamaserver.