TG BTS - The Gathering Storm

I'm once again hosting a Pitboss game at Tactical Gamer and everyone here at CivFanatics is welcome to join us!

This time around it will be BTS, random nation assignments, huge map, and a 600 gold advanced start. Full details appear below but you will need to register at TG and access the Signup Topic in the forums to officially join the game. Please make sure to read all the game details.

Hope to see you there and don't hesitate to reply here or send me a PM if you have questions!

Bernout

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[size=+1]Game starts and sign ups close on Saturday, March 29 @ 5:00 pm GMT (1:00 pm EDT).[/size]


The Goal

This is the 2nd game being hosted by the 6th Marine Division (|TG-MD6|) at TG. This time around Bernout will again be doing the admin role but TG is providing the Beyond The Sword (BTS) server.

As with the first game, the goal is to have fun playing one of the best strategy computer games! The server will have a 24 hour turn timer which makes the game accessible to casual gamers plus is friendly to players in all time zones. Players new to Civ4 or Civ4 multiplayer are welcome and encouraged to sign up and enjoy the experience!

Please read the remainder of this post in its entirety.


Expectations and Rules

This game will last months. If you don't have the patience to stick with the game until it ends then this is not the game for you.

It is a good idea, if possible, to have someone outside of the game who can substitute for you in the event of an extended absence. Letting the timer expire or turning your nation over to the AI temporarily are always options. Note that no player, including substitutes, are allowed to do turns for more than one nation! Also, if you are going to disappear for longer than a couple of days, letting the timer expire in the process, please let everyone know so nothing unexpected is done with your nation while you are away.

TG's gaming philosophy will be in full effect. The simultaneous nature of the server means the game isn't truly turn based. It is possible to take back to back turns and gain an unfair advantage over another player, especially during a war. Rather than come up with a long list of rules all players will be expected to avoid these type of situations to the best of their ability and we'll deal with problems as they arise. All issues are expected to be raised in a timely manner, no more than 1 turn after it happened, and will be resolved by player consensus.

The TG web site, especially this forum and private messaging (PM), are going to be the main means for players to discuss the game. Please check them on a regular basis once the game starts and remember that diplomacy is highly encouraged! A player list will be created once the game starts so that it is easy to send a PM to someone.

No preset alliances please. Note as well that there can only be one winner no matter what alliances are formed during the game.

You will need official BTS patch 3.13. Note that you will not be able to connect to the server if you have Bhruic's unofficial 3.13 patch installed.

We will be using CivStats so that players can monitor the server status. Email notification will also be supported. More information will be provided upon game start.


Advanced Start

In order to get off to a faster start, without needing to do a realtime session, we will be using the Advanced Start feature with 600 gold available to be used.

Some important points:

• Please practice, practice, and practice using the Advanced Start feature prior to game start! How you start off your nation could have a big impact on how well you do in the game. If you want advice, have questions, or want to share ideas with other players then don't hesitate to start up a new topic in the forums if one doesn't already exist.

• A Reference Guide is available which provides the cost of everything you can do.

• We will not be doing restarts like originally planned so this emphasizes the need to read the reference guide and practice doing Advanced Starts. You need to get it right the first time! Some actions, such as increasing a city's population, can be undone by hitting the right mouse button. Also, once you place your capital city you must finish your setup; leaving the game will automatically end the setup process.

• This goes without saying, but if you are aware of exploits which give you an unfair advantage, then do not use them!

Game Format

Nation Assignments

Players will be assigned player numbers based on an alphabetical list of TG account names. Nations and their leaders will be assigned randomly.

Difficulty Level

The default difficulty level being used is Prince. This is one level higher than Noble. If you are a newer player to Civ 4 or Civ 4 MP and would like to start at the easier level then please make that clear in your signup. Players who have won a multiplayer game or play single player at Prince level or higher are asked to stay at the default.

Settings:

• Map: Fractal
• Size: Large (unless we get more than 12 players in which case Huge will be used)
• Climate: Temperate
• Sea Level: Medium
• Era: Ancient
• Speed: Normal
• World Wrap: Cylindrical
• Resources: Standard

Options:

• Advanced Start
• City Razing
• City Flipping From Culture
• City Flipping After Conquest
• No Barbarians
• Normal Religions
• Technology Trading
• No Technology Brokering
• No Permanent Alliances
• No Require Complete Kills
• No Vassal States
• No Tribal Villages
• Random Events

Victory:

• Time
• Conquest
• Domination
• Cultural
• Space Race
• Diplomatic

Multiplayer:

• Simultaneous Turns
• Take Over AI
• Turn Timer - 24 hours (approx. 28 hours of real time at game start)
• Advanced Start Base Points: 600

I want to play, but Advanced starts are still bugged, so it is not a good idea to start with it. If it is not on, then I would like to play, but I have had a bad experience with advanced starts before.

I;ll play.....adv start bug has been fixed with the patch I think....will check it. I don't see the reason to slow the game down with prince level however, since all players will be humans.

I'll play too; but let's all stick with Noble.

The difficulty level is explained in the post... To help out newer players. Also with tech trading enabled the game goes way too fast(imo) anyways so it doesn't hurt to turn up the difficulty level some(making prince instead of noble don't have much effect however...).

i'll play afasfasfda

Thanks for the feedback on the game format but it's really not open to debate at this point. I posted it here as a convenience so you wouldn't need to go to the TG site just to see what was going on.

I see that some people have made it over already which is great! The game is currently sitting at 16 people so room for 2 more. I'd also welcome anyone who would like to sub...a game can never have too many of those.

Bernout

Final bump here. Less than a week left for game start and still 2 positions open for anyone who is interested.

Bernout

I would like to join, but I wouldn't be able to take my first turn until Sunday afternoon about 5:00 PM -6GMT.

bamf226 said:

I would like to join, but I wouldn't be able to take my first turn until Sunday afternoon about 5:00 PM -6GMT.

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The game is currently full but if you make your way over to TG I'd be happy to put you on the reserves list.

Bernout

I'll check it out. How often do you start PitBoss games?

bamf226 said:

I'll check it out. How often do you start PitBoss games?

Click to expand...

I can't answer for Bernout, but I'll address this question in a general manner. There are more players wanting to engage in pitboss competition then there are hosts willing to run a server to accomodate the player pool. Notice that Bernout's game filled up very quickly. The last game I joined filled up in 2 days with 18 players. So, if you want a pitboss game, monitor this forum frequently and jump in fast when you see a new one opening.

bamf226 said:

I'll check it out. How often do you start PitBoss games?

Click to expand...

No set time interval. The first game I started under the TG banner in Oct/07 is still running so it may be a while before another starts up after this one.

I will tell you this though. In that first game where we had 12 people start, we had I think 3 people join the game as subs who took over the nation permanently. As Whiplash stated, these games fill up quickly but there is always real life which yanks people away. Only in 1 of those cases was the nation in rough shape.

Bernout

Please sign me up, I am definitively for a pitboss game with unrestricted and random leaders, which is realistic anyways.

I would like to request "Random" Climate and Sealevel as well, for maximum map surprise.

The map is not totaly random and there are no unrestricted leaders + the game is full(though there is always need for subs). Check out the forum linked in the first post, there you can find info about the game..

I might be giving up my spot soon, since I believe i messed up my advanced start and started extremely weak. Not sure if I feel like playing it out, with starting such a large amount behind from some players.

I'm not sure if I'll be leaving the game, but whoever is first on the list for taking a player's place, or whoever else wants to take my place in the case that I do resign, post here or send me a PM.

Levgre said:

I might be giving up my spot soon, since I believe i messed up my advanced start and started extremely weak. Not sure if I feel like playing it out, with starting such a large amount behind from some players.

I'm not sure if I'll be leaving the game, but whoever is first on the list for taking a player's place, or whoever else wants to take my place in the case that I do resign, post here or send me a PM.

Click to expand...

I would encourage you to play it out and see where it goes. 600 points was really not a lot so I can't imagine you are that far behind everyone else. It may not be a "perfect" start as Oyzar likes to put it, but I assume everything you bought will be useful at some point.

Bernout