Frequently Asked Questions - (FAQ)

This thread is the anchor thread for the FAQ –Frequently Asked Questions to support the Civ3 Games of the Month (GOTM) on CivFanatics.com. While other threads will cover your game specific experiences, this thread is to provide answers to your GOTM participation questions.

The FAQ is maintained in an indexed web page format and can be accessed by following the link below:

Civ3 GOTM FAQ Webpage

If you visit the FAQ page and do not find the answer to your question there, you can post the question here and the experienced players and volunteers on the GOTM staff will do their best to answer your question quickly.

Questions and Answers that will make good additions to the FAQ will be selected by the GOTM Staff and added to the FAQ web pages on a regular basis. We will archive the original posts from this thread on a regular basis to help keep this thread short, fresh, and easy to use. Any Questions and Answers that get added to the FAQ will be acknowledged here in this initial message post as we list:

[color=royal blue]New Additions to the FAQ [/color]

[color=royal blue]Updates to the FAQ [/color]
Official GOTM Due date changed to the last day of each month (February 26, 2003)
Specific description indicating that Civ3MAC, Civ3v1.29 and PTWv1.14 are allowed (February 26, 2003)


The GOTM FAQ is currently supported in English and French, but the French version may be slightly behind in updates from time to time.

Also if you have any questions or issues that you feel I can help with directly please contact me by Private Message or Email through the message board functions.

Hope you are having fun in the GOTM games,

Phil Martin

I want to participate in GOTM 17 with the version for Civ3 1.29f.

In my regular games I play with some rule modifications to the civ3mod.bic file. Do I need to restore the default .bic file before properly playing the GOTM?

A very simple Yes or No reply would be absolutely sufficient. If it is of any convenience to you, feel free to send me a direct mail:

haegint@yahoo.com

Thanks a lot,
Thomas

(Civfanatics ID: haegint)


(Sorry if this is the wrong board to post this kind of message)

Originally posted by haegint
In my regular games I play with some rule modifications to the civ3mod.bic file. Do I need to restore the default .bic file before properly playing the GOTM?

Click to expand...

No.

If you are patched one of the current software versions and if you download and install the graphics files plus make absolutely certain that you play the version that is matched to your software version, then everything you need to play the game is built into the GOTM file plus it will not effect your other regular game play in any way.

Originally posted by cracker


No.

If you are patched one of the current software versions and if you download and install the graphics files plus make absolutely certain that you play the version that is matched to your software version, then everything you need to play the game is built into the GOTM file plus it will not effect your other regular game play in any way.

Click to expand...

I'll be using PTW 1.14. Same there ? I can still play another 'unmodded' game in parralel ?

Originally posted by Ambiorix
I'll be using PTW 1.14. Same there ? Can I still play another 'unmodded' game in parralel ?

Click to expand...

Yes,

Other unmodded games should be totally unaffected by playing the GOTM games.

When you are playing more than one game simultaneously, I strongle recommend that you develop a better understanding of how to save files in different sub folders of your /saves folder and to not rely on your autosave files too heavily for backup purposes.

cracker

Can we use the latest PTW patch for the Carthrage GOTM, or should we only use v1.14?

You could use the PTW1.21 patch to play this months GOTM if you choose to do so (Testing of the this game with this patch by Cracker has not highlighted any problems), with the following comments.

• As this is a new patch and not available to the whole of the gaming community, if you do not need to (eg currently involved or about to be involved in a MP game with other 1.21 players) you should hold off a month to let this new patch “shake out” to the rest of the world and be evaluated by the community. Potentially, if there is a bug in this patch this could disrupt your current GOTM.
• If this new patch introduces any game winning exploits then they are not to be used and will be retrospectively banned.
• If you do wish to proceed with installing this patch then do it before you start your game. Changing software mid-stream is never recommended.

Enjoy your game.

Note to reply posters. This answer requires no more public discussion and should not be used to re-start any technical, Pre-Game or problem discussions which had the “GOTM17 Pre-Game” thread closed. All issues relating to the installation of the GOTM17 game can be made to gotm@civfanatics.net

I'm rather new to the game & lost gotm 17 so bad I didn't make my high score list. How can I find out the mechanism of the loss so I can report it - i can't look it up under the individual nationality as it is a unique nationality. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks, rrau.

You can submit it and we will look to try to find out how you lost. You probably lost by space ship, but we can find out when we look at the game.

I will e-mail you when I look at it and find out. (In case I forget remind me by PM in a few days if you don't get an answer)

Originally posted by rrau
I'm rather new to the game & lost gotm 17 so bad I didn't make my high score list. How can I find out the mechanism of the loss so I can report it - i can't look it up under the individual nationality as it is a unique nationality. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks, rrau.

Click to expand...

Several options.
1. Load last autosave of the game. Check score in the Historigraph screen. That’s the score.
2. Load last autosave and lose again. The historigraph screen will pop up and you can see the score
3. Go to your hall of fame. Click on the Chartagians face. The game will show all your Chartage results. Look for the relevant one. (If civ v1.29 was used do the saem for France)
4. Go to you “hall of fame.txt” file (or similar). Look there for the score


… or just do like Creepster suggests.

Maybe this is the wrong thread to ask, but when do the results for GOTM and QSC get published?

Will the website be updated first, or the forums?

Sorry about such a basic question, but I am gagging to see my only ever QSC result, and have looked in vain for this information on the relevant webpages/threads.

QSC and GOTM results are being published around 10th of the month. cracker will open a thread announcing the results and opening the discussions on the strategies.

Thx Yndy

I saw the QSC results thread from GOTM 15 published on the 5th of the month and was just getting a bit itchy. Unfortunatey I don't have time for GOTM 17, so this may be my only QSC/GOTM result for a while...

so the pre discussion on the GOTM thread has been closed. however i noticed the last posted thread stated the same problem i am having. I am seeing something like 30 seconds between turns! I think the issue must be related to this GOTM stuff as i was able to go back to a previously saved game and play it w/out issue. any thoughts? i have followed the install instructions to the T.. i am using the latest patch? is that the issue?

Hello!

If I have an old version of Civ3 (1.07f), could I play in GOTM ?

Thanks

Originally posted by Razvan_Rosu
Hello!

If I have an old version of Civ3 (1.07f), could I play in GOTM ?

Thanks

Click to expand...

No, you can't. For GOTM with vanilla civ3 (what you have) you need to download the 1.29f patch at http://www.civ3.com/patches.cfm

I tried starting GotM17 using the instructions given, and the game starts fine, but runs appallingly slowly. Between each turn takes around 10 seconds, even at the very start. I have a 2 Ghz machine, and equivalent size games run at least an order of magnitude faster. Is there an explanation for this?

-Sirp.

first gotm for me. the turns take a good 20 seconds to process (ie the hourglass is up for that long) as opposed to .1 second like normal. why?

in the techsup forum some people posted complaints of times ranging up to 2 minutes (!!!) but they were told not to talk about gotm in that forum.

so what's up with this? please help. and don't make me angry.

you wouldn't want to see me angry.



this box is a 2g pentium with 256mb ram and win2kpro (its not mine ... i would never own such a pos hehe)

Sirp and nihil8r,

This lag issue has been addressed multiple times. 10 seconds is nothing. There are many units and features in the game that will provide you with a uniquique and enjoyable game experience. By patient and pay attention to what you ar doing and "this too shall pass".

nihil8r, Just a general warning about the expected standards of behavior that apply to all aspects of conduct and play in the GOTMS: this is not your standard flame and intimidate bulletin board that you may be used to on other internet sites. No behavior problems will be tolerated here but we want you to feel free to particpate and enjoy the games if it is your intent to follow the rules.

Play on and get done with it and we will all move on to the next game.

cracker

thanks for moving my post to the appropriate thread. i will read something or try to run two instances of civ at once so i can flip back and forth.

do you read fark.com a lot or something cracker ? why would you ever think i might write something bad! i'm a sweet little angel*!

seriously though, i understand that i am a guest here - i don't pay to be here like fark, SA, daoc etc. i can behave myself when required to.**

*fallen

**barely