DMI IV - The Grand Line (BtS)

·Imhotep·

Legendary Builder
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
2,056
Location
Munich, Germany
Hello all to the 4th game of the whacky DMI series. If you have not heard of it before you probably belong to 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of world's population. But that doesn't matter. Before lurking or even signing up you may want to read through DMI I - Menu Surprise , DMI II - The tale of Snaga and DMI III - Casanova (still ongoing) first in order to know what to expect.

For this SG the DM SG Etiquette applies (see spoiler).

Spoiler DM SG Etiquette :
Alpha: The quality of your report outweighs the quality of your play. We’re here to have fun, and, of course, winning is fun, but losing in style is preferable to a boring win. Remember, your report should be a new reply to alert other players.

Bravo: Reports should be detailed, with plenty of screen shots and player commentary, explanations, musings, etc; an auto-log dump will not suffice. Shots of the F9 screens and overview shots of the empire are nice too, once in a while.

Charlie: Punctuality rocks! “24/48” means post a "got it" within 24 hours of when the last save was posted, and play within 48 hours of that ‘got it.’ Waiting 47 hours to ask for a skip is lame. Punk out two times in a row, and you’ll be dropped from the roster. Skips and swaps are fine, but try to let us know sooner, rather than later.

Delta: Major game decisions (war/peace declarations, religion swaps, city placement, etc) should be arrived at via group consensus.
1. If the team disagrees with you, either argue your case better, or do it their way. Do NOT just blow them off and do it your way because it's your turn.
2. However, if there’s no consensus and you’re up, do it your way and explain why. Conversely, if someone else is up, don't whine when they do it their way.
3. Similarly, overruling techs or city builds is rude and should be done via consensus, barring an emergency.
4. In extraordinary situations, sometimes an opportunity presents itself that the group didn't foresee. If the consequences of it are great, players should stop, and refer the question to the group.

Echo: Being a better player does not give you the right to belittle anyone else or their play. Other people are going to disagree with you on major decisions; get used to the idea, and play nice. If not, take your ball and go home.

Foxtrot: Thread spam is good. Trash talking, poking fun, gentle ribbing, virtual noogies, and generally horsing around are all encouraged, but don’t be rude.

Golf: Automate sparingly.
1. Workers should almost never be automated, except perhaps late-game or building a trade network. However, if you have to, set your game options to “disallow automated worker forest chopping” and “keep previous improvements.”
2. Use of the “Emphasis” buttons is fine, but let the group know and explain your reasoning (specialization is a major game decision). If you prevent growth in a city, let the group know and remind them to take it off. Do NOT let the governor select build orders.
3. Sending units on go-to routes that last beyond your set is acceptable only if they’re heading for a rally point or if you otherwise inform your teammates. NEVER fortify Great People.

India: Sign spamming is rude. Signs can be helpful reminders, but too many signs makes them easily ignored. Once a sign is no longer valid, delete it.


Now, what is this game all about ? Basically it's about playing a fun game. Our leader will be Monkey D. Luffy. If you don't know him at first glance you may want to read through the wiki pages concerning "The One Piece" . The SG is losely based on that famous anime. Here are the essentials:

Our leader:



Our starting position:



Note that those yellow things are not bananas but Devil Fruits . Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates are already assembled at Luffy's hometown. Therefore now to the Variant Rules:

1. We may not use Luffy and his members until we have researched the appropriate techs (which are Flight and Fascism, in Chopper's case it's Advanced Flight). If any of our Pirates gets killed the game is lost if we can't rebirth him/her in 2 turns.

2. Luffy is a charismatic and strong leader, but he is not too intelligent. Therefore we start without any techs.

3. To win the game we must become the Pirate King. Therefore we must win by domination or conquest.

4. To win the game we must seek, find and possess "The One Piece". How to achieve this is to be discovered yet.

5. This is not a standard game, so it may well be that none of the known strategies and tactics will succeed. Just play !

The data:

Map size: Large (but don't be afraid, it plays like a standard map)
Map script: genuinely hand built by Imhotep
Difficulty: Emperor :eek: (never mind, it should play like Monarch or even Prince)

The Roster:

1. Imhotep
2. GreyFox (he will get BtS someday ;) )
3. Rex Tyrannus (mid-term entry)
4. Ralph Jackson
5. berserks01
6. blid

A spot is reserved for my Deviant Minds fellas, preference too is given to any well known RB Civ player. Otherwise it's first come first serve.

I will provide the save when the roster is finalized. As I know the map like my right shoe I will step in after the 2nd round of turnsets has been played.

Imhotep
 
THIS will be interesting. I'm not sure if I will sign up, so don't count this. I will definitely be lurking though. DM has the ability to make SGs unbelievably entertaining. :p
 
wow - wish I could roll starts like that! Will be lurking this silly game.
 
THIS will be interesting. I'm not sure if I will sign up, so don't count this. I will definitely be lurking though. DM has the ability to make SGs unbelievably entertaining. :p

Ditto.

PS - With a roster of DM fun and skilled SG players like Rex, Fox, Ozzy, and Ruff (not to mention our illustrious thread starter) I'm sure the game will be a blast....but I still wouldn't mind a bit more info about the map. The map seems like a big deal here - since it's supposed to play small and easy - and I don't really understand what makes it unique.

PPS - Resource indicators sure are nice for a start screenshot.
 
@sunrise089:

I've edited the first post, the starting location is now shown with resource indicators on. As for the map I can give some more info without spoiling the game I think:

The map is based on a normal large custom continents script with 6 generated landmasses. But next to nothing of this original map remains unchanged. For instance the landmasses are significantly smaller than it is wont on large maps, this is the reason why PCs that can handle only standard maps late game should be able to play this one too. AI starting spots got changed in some cases. And of course the map has some twists and tweaks based or according to the anime it is based on. But to reveal that would take away some of the fun and surprise the players will have when playing it.

I may say this though - not knowing whether it keeps players from joining or the opposite - this is by any means not a standard game. You will have never played a game like this before. None of the standard (tedious?) tactics as early rushing or such will apply. We'll test the new AI especially in its naval competence. The map is heavily in favor of the player in the beginning (you will understand what I mean if you see the save) - but to outweigh this the difficulty is Emperor, and as victory only counts domination or conquest (all other are enabled though) along with possessing the One Piece. This game should be challenging, not at the beginning - but in the late game. And this is the area BtS offers the most new things...

If there is not enough interest in the game due to difficulty, I may tone it down. But I may say that I first wanted to try this game on Deity, and I'm only a Prince level player... If there isn't enough interest anyway - let's say after 3 weeks or so - I may play this all alone as a solo SG :lol: .

Imhotep
 
I'll join when I got BTS .... (damned, I was too lazy to go down and buy it myself, so I purchased it online ... I have yet to hear from them since then ... now I am neither here nor there ... I know that if I get my butt off and make the journey to the games shop, the online order will be delivered to my doorstep 5 mins before I got back home, and I know if I continue to wait for the postman to arrive, he will never come. Dilemma, eh?)

So treat this is as an alternate sign-up. Kick me out once you get the requisite number of players.

--
 
@GreyFox:

I can see it - we'll do this as a Two-Player SG like Sirian & Sulla with RB1 (without this amount of skill of course :D ) because you and me are the only ones wanting to play such a weird variant :lol: . Nevermind. You're in anyway.

Imhotep
 
@Immy, special request. Thanks to my new job, I'm cutting back to 1SG at a time. I'd like this one to be it (despite having 0 knowledge of teh source material), but I have a few others to finish. Can I take a mid-term entry?
 
@Rex:

Of course you can. I'm pleased you want to play this one, and it's a special honour now that you're limiting your Civ time. Congratulations on your new job ! :goodjob:

Imhotep
 
THIS will be interesting. I'm not sure if I will sign up, so don't count this. I will definitely be lurking though. DM has the ability to make SGs unbelievably entertaining. :p
I finer complement, I've never seen.

:hatsoff:

I believe that when i get a computer up and running (but who knows WHEN that'll be), I'd like to play this, if only to try live up to the expectations.
 
If your still looking for players to join in this fun sounding undoubtedly deviantly minded SG I would love to play.

Cheers

Ralph
 
Welcome aboard, Ralph ! :cheers: We're getting closer to starting this... :yup:
 
I wouldn't mind joining, but just the thought of Emporer level scared me off :lol: since I'm only a lowly Settler level myself.
 
@berserks:

Never mind. If you want to play, you're in...
 
Well then, looks like you've got yourself another player :goodjob:

And I was just kidding there :p I'm Monarch level myself .... I think ...
 
@berserks:

Welcome aboard :) One more and we can get this started... :yup:

@GreyFox: Still waiting for Mr. Postman ? Sheesh, just get your copy in a store and cancel your order... ;)

Imhotep
 
You hadn't heard my story? Ok, here goes:

Last Friday, I grew tired of waiting for the postman and sneaked out to the shops (since I didn't have to work that day while significant other had to) ... however, fate had it that none of the shops carry it. Apparently, the distributor keep delaying their shipment to the Fine City, and no one in Singapore has seen a BTS DVD yet (at least not from the local shops).

I knew I should had bought it when I was in San Francisco or Chicago back in July .... :rolleyes:
 
Are you guys still looking for a player to start this ?
I'm a one piece junkie. What scared me off first is the storytelling prowesses of this crew. I play at chieftain in this field :lol:
 
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