Bleys
Deity
I have had an idea bouncing around in my head for quite a while, ever since I started to play some of other regular series from this board, but is actually quite different from the current ones. Here is how it works.
Have you ever played or followed a particular game and thought "Gee, I would love to have tried that from XXX-Leaders's start instead of the one given". Currently, all of the regular series on these boards focus on a common map with a specific leader from a given starting position. What if we switch that around a bit, and offer games that people can play from the perspective of a variety of leaders, still playing the same, common map, but with each leader (and the players who choose to play them) having his own unique starting position on that map?
There was a game sort of like that, if you recall, the Catfight game where a certain player wanted to put all the female AIs on one map, and RPC it. A number of us played that same game, but took different leaders and starts to do it. That just seems like an awesome idea for a regular series of games. I see a TON of potential to learn in that situation.
Think about it, someone could set up games, and post them as WB saves like the current LHC and NC games are set up, but allow each player to choose their favorite leader, as well as level of difficulty, game speed, and preferred MOD, but different starts. All the games played would have the same exact map with each individual AI in the same exact starting spot, but players would pick which leader/start to play instead of being limited to a single one.
I have done this myself a few times, and it was a blast. The first time was when I had finished with the Hannibal LHC game a few months back, and decided I wanted to try out one of the other Civs on that map from their starting position. I got rolo to send me the WB save, and played it as a scenario from the start of Willem instead of Hannibal. It was quite interesting to see how the AI-Hannibal handled that isolated start instead of the humans, and how the entire continent where Willem started ended up so drastically different than the LHC games simply by putting a human player in the mix. I ended up playing about 100 turns or so on a couple of different leaders on that map, and each one turned into a game that was completely different from any of the others.
Personally, I have enough on my hands right now (pun intended, so groan away, LOL) to offer the game myself. But if someone else wants to take this bull by the horns, I bet it would be a blast. I know I would play.
My suggestion is to create a Pangaea or Fractal map (for the first one, anyway, since they are the most popular maps I think), save it to the WorldBuilder, and modify the WB file as outlined by r_rolo1 here, which would make the game a Scenario playable at any level or speed, but ignore this line . . .
. . . so that the human player may choose any of the Civs on the map. Maybe you could try starting a game with each Civ, and taking a screenshot of the start, and posting it, so players can pick whichever they want. Now, granted, people would be able to see where each AI starts and what they start with in their BFCs, but I am sure that would be negligible in the overall long run. Each leader's start could even be hidden in a spoiler, so folks who didnt want that pre-knowledge would only be able to see what leaders were in the game, and nothing else but the start of the Leader they choose.
Its a bit of work, to be sure. I know many of the folks who regularly post series or RPCs are likely to be in WHEOOHRN mode, but if someone was considering stepping up and offering a new and different format, this is one I would LOVE to see. As it is, I rarely even play non-series games anymore, I really enjoy seeing how other players choose to play in situations I am familiar with because I played them, or reading through the posted thoughts of a variety of people given the same exact position. I think there is a lot of potential in seeing how various positions with various leaders are handled on a common map by different players.
Have you ever played or followed a particular game and thought "Gee, I would love to have tried that from XXX-Leaders's start instead of the one given". Currently, all of the regular series on these boards focus on a common map with a specific leader from a given starting position. What if we switch that around a bit, and offer games that people can play from the perspective of a variety of leaders, still playing the same, common map, but with each leader (and the players who choose to play them) having his own unique starting position on that map?
There was a game sort of like that, if you recall, the Catfight game where a certain player wanted to put all the female AIs on one map, and RPC it. A number of us played that same game, but took different leaders and starts to do it. That just seems like an awesome idea for a regular series of games. I see a TON of potential to learn in that situation.
Think about it, someone could set up games, and post them as WB saves like the current LHC and NC games are set up, but allow each player to choose their favorite leader, as well as level of difficulty, game speed, and preferred MOD, but different starts. All the games played would have the same exact map with each individual AI in the same exact starting spot, but players would pick which leader/start to play instead of being limited to a single one.
I have done this myself a few times, and it was a blast. The first time was when I had finished with the Hannibal LHC game a few months back, and decided I wanted to try out one of the other Civs on that map from their starting position. I got rolo to send me the WB save, and played it as a scenario from the start of Willem instead of Hannibal. It was quite interesting to see how the AI-Hannibal handled that isolated start instead of the humans, and how the entire continent where Willem started ended up so drastically different than the LHC games simply by putting a human player in the mix. I ended up playing about 100 turns or so on a couple of different leaders on that map, and each one turned into a game that was completely different from any of the others.
Personally, I have enough on my hands right now (pun intended, so groan away, LOL) to offer the game myself. But if someone else wants to take this bull by the horns, I bet it would be a blast. I know I would play.
My suggestion is to create a Pangaea or Fractal map (for the first one, anyway, since they are the most popular maps I think), save it to the WorldBuilder, and modify the WB file as outlined by r_rolo1 here, which would make the game a Scenario playable at any level or speed, but ignore this line . . .
. . . so that the human player may choose any of the Civs on the map. Maybe you could try starting a game with each Civ, and taking a screenshot of the start, and posting it, so players can pick whichever they want. Now, granted, people would be able to see where each AI starts and what they start with in their BFCs, but I am sure that would be negligible in the overall long run. Each leader's start could even be hidden in a spoiler, so folks who didnt want that pre-knowledge would only be able to see what leaders were in the game, and nothing else but the start of the Leader they choose.
Its a bit of work, to be sure. I know many of the folks who regularly post series or RPCs are likely to be in WHEOOHRN mode, but if someone was considering stepping up and offering a new and different format, this is one I would LOVE to see. As it is, I rarely even play non-series games anymore, I really enjoy seeing how other players choose to play in situations I am familiar with because I played them, or reading through the posted thoughts of a variety of people given the same exact position. I think there is a lot of potential in seeing how various positions with various leaders are handled on a common map by different players.
Immortal is a pretty heavy restriction, maybe a range would be better, Monarch to Immortant or something like that, if you wanted to restrict it.
).
