Game of the Month?

I got this idea based on something stormerne said in the "Best CIV2 Players" thread, so he probably deserves a lot of the credit...or blame .

The basic idea is to have someone generate a different random map with fixed starting positions each month and put it on the site for people to download and play, then if we could have a "Game of the Month" forum, people could get on and compare stories, strategies, ideas, etc. for that month's map.

We could get variety by changing the parameters each month - one month do "small, wet, 5bil yr, archipelago, with 4 civs", next month do "large map, temperate, 4bil yrs, large continents, w/ 7 civs" etc.

The original idea by stormerne was to use it as sort of a monthly competition, which some of the better players still could do, but I think it could be used by even more people if it were also the source for a discussion forum.

It would be very interesting to see how different players react given the same situation - and how it works out. We could probably all learn something by hearing what other people did and how it worked.

The main worries would be whether people would take the time to post on a regular basis, and whether people will be worried about reading "spoilers" from people who have discovered more than them (e.g., "...That's when I realized the Aztecs were on that tiny little island in the south almost entirely surrounded by the Sioux continent...")

Maybe this appeals to me more because I'm still new to Civ. Would anyone else be interested in something like this?

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There are some who call me...Tim

I like the idea
1) I think such a concept can also show who are really the best players, because nobody can cheat by customizing the map, or putting enemy civs on 1 square mountain islands. Having a standardized map for people to work off of won't end the chance that dishonest players will cheat completely, but can cut it down somewhat.
2) Your idea of sharing experiences and all could make for some interesting tales in the Civ II Stories forum. And some Civers might make timelines (I like reading those )

The only problem is that somebody would probably have to put in some work making good maps for people to use.

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<IMG SRC="http://forums.civfanatics.com/ubb/king.gif" border=0> Frederick II, The Great, King of Prussia <IMG SRC="http://forums.civfanatics.com/ubb/king.gif" border=0>

Sounds great! I think it would be cool to be able share our experiences on a common map, and it would be neat to see how each AI tribe fared from game to game. Up and running soon, I hope

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"The death of the science driven Prime Minister comes quickly when I shove a research beaker in one ear through to the other."

Hear now, the Word of Hippo

Great idea. I just hope that the designers make it easy in Civ3 to have random games without huts and such.

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All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. </FONT f>

I love the idea!!!
But how are we going to decide what the best game is??
a) The one who wins fastest
b) The one who get the highest score
c) Both

And BTW this is something that Apolyton already has - even if they can't quite make it work.



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Veni Vidi Vici.

Naturally I like the idea.

My original idea was to have a monthly game versus the AI from the same random map start position. This was primarily to complement the multiplayer competitions for those who don't have the time for that. Tim raised some good points about this, notably that:
* one month may not be enough for a high score game. True, perhaps two months then, or the quickest win.
* spoilers - yeah, this is a major problem.

You can get round the spoilers problem somewhat by have a closed mailing list only for those in the competition. The game could be distributed on that list alone and spoilers would be thrown off that list and CivFanatics for life. Eventually the game could be posted for all to see and try.

I like Tim's extension of the idea. This could be almost like a "Masterclass". The problem with the Strategy and Tips forum as it is that it operates in a vacuum - there are rarely any concrete examples to tie into the high-flown strategic claims made by contributors. If we had published common starting points (AND mid-game examples too), we could have a real debating forum, trying alternative strategies for real. This would benefit experienced player and novice alike.

I like both these ideas, competition AND masterclass. They rock!

Somehow I don't get it: you want the AI to start on random locations, but you DO want to discuss various ways to defeat that AI, how do you know you're talking about the same thing when the computer (and you) start on different spots every time you start a game?
This problem could be solved by having someone create a (very basic) scenario and have the others play it, and then see who is the one that wins the scenario first (or best).

As I understand the idea, a *random* map would be generated (no need to spend time creating one) and then immediately saved and posted, so that all players would be playing the same random map, same starting positions for all civs, etc, etc. I agree on making it two months, not one. Takes me much longer than even that to finish a game.

Spoilers could be dealt with by creating a separate forum area (for each game?) with a warning to read at your own risk. if you don't want a spoiler, finish the game first, then go read the forum.

I think this is a fantastic idea, and even if I might not be able to always play the posted game would be most interested in reading others' posts and learning from them.

Like it lots.

Count me in on the game when it starts.

Jules

I'm there dude!

To all you divine Moderators!!!
Hear us in our humble plea for a Game of the Month - we beg you fulfil our wish and make it so.

We worship thee almighty Thunderfall

Do yo guys think that this is going to work??



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Veni Vidi Vici.

It's worth a try! There's already enough interest to justify it and there'll be more when other people find out.

Now all we've got to do is make sure it's properly organised. It would a shame for it to end in disaster with lots of wasted effort.

(Hey, you're nearly at 300 posts Shadowdale. Cool! )

I like the idea !!!

make it so

And then everyone will learn I AM THE BEST !!

ps i noticed none of the administrators have replied so i fear they think it will be too much work for them, but i don't think it will be ?!!

but guys will you do this ?? the replies are all positive

I'll PM Thunderfall.

The FIRST GAME OF THE MONTH is here!!!
http://forums.civfanatics.com/Forum20/HTML/000002.html

[This message has been edited by Thunderfall (edited February 20, 2001).]

Hmmm, that URL gives me a File Not Found error. Where can I download the game of the month ?

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Heave ho me hearties !

oops, that page has been moved to:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/Forum20/HTML/000002.html