QSC-c1 - Cracker's 1st open Quick Start

I will be hosting an open Quick Start Challenge game beginning the Day after Thanksgiving (November 28) and running through about December 10th.

This game will be open to all players of all skill levels but you must pre-register by sending me a PM so I can add you to the roster. When you PM me, make sure you include a brief description of the difficulty level you currently play at as well as anything specific you would like to gain from playing the QSC.

I will play along blind in the map without foreknowledge.

This game will be played in the QSC progression format where every player plays all the turns and you have a schedule of timeline points that you will need to hit with save game files. These time points will be played at 10 turn increments but each round of play will usually include 30 turns of play so things will progress quickly.

We will play three increments (three 10 turn steps) and then upload the save files and give me a chance to load the data in the QSC power scoring formula to produce some graphs and tables that will help us discuss the game.

If you would like to see an example of this type of game format in practice, here is a link to the current handyandy example game

I have not yet chosen the game specifics but will do that in part based on your PM registration info. I will also list the registered participants here in this thread as soon as I receive your PM. The number of participants will be limited to somewhere between 8 and 12 players depending on experience levels, so register your space early.

Here's A list of the Players Acknowledged in The Game So Far:
0) Charis
1) Cartouche Bee (AKA and henceforth CB)
2) theos
3) LKendter (Lee in the data tables)
4) meldor
5) JaxomCA
6) Arizona_Steve (henceforth Steve in all the datatables)
7) Borealis (she will henceforth be "Borea" in the data)
8) Lt. Killer M. (henceforth "Killer" in the data)
9) SJFrank (henceforth SJF in the data)
10) hotrod0823 (henceforth Hotrod in the data)
11) stwils (she also reminds me not to commit gender faux pas)
12) swiftsure (henceforth "swift" in the data)

---------------------------------------
Alternates:
a1) infoman
a2) zenga
a3) warmonger
a4) Jumbo2002

Note: the positions in the game are full at this point in time (as of 11/21 AM:it took less than 24 hours to fill all slots) but if you would like to sign up to officially shadow the game an fill a slot if anyone stumbles, please send me a PM and I will list you here as an official alternate. Alternates can participate at the same level as the main players but I will have to limit the downloads and data analysis just due to space and time constraints in each game.

I'm in, PM'ed you, Emp level.

I also PM'ed you.

Emperor level.

NO GOODY HUTS - lets cut back the luck factor.

Originally posted by LKendter
I also PM'ed you.

Emperor level.

NO GOODY HUTS - lets cut back the luck factor.

Click to expand...

Yes, raw horse power, none of this I got a free city out of a hut sort of thing would be good.

Well, as long as others are telling you they PM'd you, I will tell you that I did, too.

stwils - Chieftain/Warlord level (Not in it to win, but to learn.)

Emp, no huts, that's the ticket! (And if no huts, not expansionist)

I'll get to see my and graphed and analyzed?
Sounds good! (PM sent)

Charis

I'll be travelling Thanksgiving weekend and won't have access to Civ. Too bad cause I'd love to join in. Cracker runs a great quickstart. Maybe when I get back I'll shadow one of the players. BTW, do you have a workbook template with the QSC formulas I could use to keep score?

I did not PM you.

Hmm... seeing that there's a few experts to compare notes with, I think I'll join the party...

Emporer would be best for me - I'm not fussed about game parameters though.

(Sending PM)...

Managing the huts is part of playing a good start. If the goal of playing is to learn rather than to win, then having the variable luck factor from huts in not a problem, IMHO.

(sends PM)...

Originally posted by Charis
Emp, no huts, that's the ticket! (And if no huts, not expansionist)

I'll get to see my and graphed and analyzed?
Sounds good! (PM sent)

Charis

Click to expand...

Actually, I was thinking the English.
UU doesn't mean a thing - top 2 in worthless along with the F15. I haven't played Korea yet to decide if 3 worthless UU.
No cheap culture, military help or other edges. I think they English are the suck civ in the original game, a perfect challenge. By given the human just 1 trait, the game will be harder



Other parameters - standard size map. At the quick pace you want to play, large would just not occur.

Should we start 12/2, not 11/29 - a lot of us, including my self, will be very busy that weekend. I get to be home 4 straight days, and my civ time will be limited. The one good thing with being on the road - nothing to do at night but game
Of course, I do play some non-civ stuff -
pbem of was, aa&e, aa&p, vitp, etc.

I just PM'd and would like to try my skill at Monarch but would even be willing to try at Emperor just to get some good insight from the the other vets that have shown interest

Hotrod

I second LKs motion for 12/2. If you can swing that Cracker, I'm in. Willing to try whatever level, whatever Civ. Smaller map is better in my opinion.

I'm guessing this kind of thing takes a lot to moderate. If your date choice was because of your freetime, and needs to stay at 11/29, no hard feelings that I can't be in.

One other thought - I think the game should have a target win type. How you plan to win very much affects how you play the game. If domination / conquest you want military ASAP, if space race you want Republic / libraries ASAP, etc, if Culture then CB becomes critica, etc.

Sounds like a good idea, LK.

This is going to be one giant learning experience for me.

stwils[dance]

Cracker,

as long as we do not play the English I am in. 2 of the SG's I am in, the team is English. The Babylonians may be interesting to try. I have not seen to many SG's with them.

Also lets go with a small or standard map and no pangea please.

Infoman, I am with you about not playing as the English. (You and I are in Sul5b together with the English.)

Babs would be wonderful. I hope we do the Babs. And small map.

stwils

Infoman,

The game is currently full but I will add you to the alternates list. You are still welcome to play along and participate fully in the discussion but the space for slots in the data analysis has to be limited by the width of the typical computer screen and the raw, maximum number of hours that a breathing human can fit into one day.

Just a quick note with a sort of all knowing smile in the background: I asked people to post me a PM with their skill levels and anything special they would like to gain from playing the game. Some people did this and it is very helpful. Other people took this invitation as an open season chance to post messages in this thread to tell me all the things they didn't want to see in the game. (It's a subtle but big difference between what was asked for and what some people provided.)

Trust me!! Regardless what I pick it will at least have some value and I have done these games at least a couple of times before.

I will post an introduction to the game along with a desciption of anything special that you need to do in the game (such as specified victory objectives.) Based on past experience, we can expect that about 70% of the players will read this information, but this number has been going up as more players realize that playing the game before you read the instructions often leads to serious self-inflicted wounds and lower overall performance. (Imagine that. )

Cracker,

just PM'ed asking for a post as a shadow. Preferences stated as requested.

We have a very good group of players signed up and I received a lot of input as to preferences for the game and some indication that a few players may have availability issues in the first few days.

I plan to release the starting save game for play to begin the day after Thanksgiving (11/29) and still hope that all players will be able to complete the first thre blocks of 10 turns each by the 31st. These turns go fairly quickly so I hope everyone can still hit the time schedule.

You will be able to play ahead to help us stay on schedule, but it is important not to miss any time points or your really start to hose things up. With the number of players uploading in this game.

The turn schedule/save points will be:

11/29 starting save file uploaded.

turn 10: 3550bc
turn 20: 3050bc
turn 30: 2590bc

(hopefully everyone will report and upload their save files by 11/31 we will be a little flexible here but the ax will fall if necessary on 12/2)

12/1 thru 12/2 Opening discussion period.

turn 40: 2190bc
turn 50: 1790bc
turn 60: 1525bc

12/4 second discussion period.

turn 70: 1275bc
turn 80: 1025bc
turn 90: 775bc

12/7 third discussion period

turn 100: 570bc
turn 110: 370bc
turn 120: 170bc

12/10 final QSC discussion period. (noticed this was a typo as 12/20 originally)

The game will not necessarily end at after turn 120 but that is the point where the Quick Start tracking can begin to break down because the game diversifies so quickly.

I have chosen the game settings to be on Monarchy difficulty because that sets the highest possible difficulty with the 2 content citizens base. This will let players of all difficulty levels continue to participate and follow what is happening without getting into the higher skill choices that must be made at Emperor/Diety with the 1 content body.

The map will be generate with a very high landmass setting. (my cracked version will support any water ratio from 90% to 10% in the fractal algorthm instead of just the standard 80%, 70%, and 60%).

We will be playing barbarians set to Restless so there will be a risk to exploration. There will still be goody huts but it will hopefully not be like the handyandy/Persia_QSC game where the neighbors where all far away.

The target victory condition to guide the QSC strategies will again be focused on the Space Race even though that is way off in the future.

I still have not finalized the civ choice, but it will keep the early gameplay as standard default conditions while adding a few modifications/twists to the late game to give you a prize for playing in the QSC if you are so inclined to play on. The modifications will use standard game graphics and animations so there will be no significant special downloads required.

Late game modifications will probably include:
1) migrant unit - pop 2 costs 10 shields moves at 2 - available with Medicine
2) the irritator - a one move Samurai type unit that becomes available to all AI civs (but not the human) later in the game at a cost of 8 to 16 shields. (cheap and evil: breathes new life into incompetent almost dead opponents.) I am testing timing on this feature now with the intent of having them represent sort of a "super barbarian effect" but without the idiot uprising feature.
3) helicopters will potentially be of some use if any opponents are still alive at that point. (I'll have a tips guide on this feature to upload after we complete the 4 QSC rounds.

The intent is to keep the early game a pure standard contest of skill while providing some fun for the late game if you choose to play on.

Monarch level? OMG!!

Nevertheless, my hat stays in the ring.

stwils