MTDG3 Preparation PitBoss

Hey everyone!

I'm setting up a test PitBoss in preparation for checking that everything is good to go for hosting the Civ4BTS MTDG III.

Anyone may sign up if so interested up until the max amount of players (18). I will leave the game running for as long as there is interest to continue it, and I'm basing it on the settings of the Team AMAZON PitBoss game that was running during the last MTDG.

Claim your place and specify your leader (only one player per nation, so no same nation-players with different leaders please) below

Feel free to suggest any modifications to the game settings. As this is the first PB I am hosting I am open for opinions and debating the game settings I felt that using the Team AMAZON game settings was a safe offset though.

Login Information
-----
Game: MTDG3 Preparation Game
Host: caledorn.no-ip.org:2057 (or 178.17.156.11:2057)

Civstats
-----
http://www.civstats.com/viewgame.php?gameid=2386

Players
-----
Bowsling - Napoleon (France)
Halvgud - Frederick (Germany)
Caledorn - Mansa Musa (Mali)
Yuck_Fou - Julius Caesar (Rome)
Elkad - Tokugawa (Japan)
Michkov - Sitting Bull (Native Americans) <-- Randomly picked by the game set up
Lord Parkin - Huayna Capac (Inca)
2metraninja - Peter (Russia)
Pucc - Pericles (Greece)

Settings
-----
Map: Pangaea
Size: Large
Speed: Normal
Leaders: Restricted
Barbs: Normal
Tech Trading: Off
Huts:Off
Events: Off
Turns: Simultaneous
Turn Timer: 48 hours (Which means the PB Turn Timer is set at 41 hours to get approximately 48 hours per turn)
Corporations: On
Espionage: On
Vassal States: Off
Double Move Rules: Yes

In regards to double moves, I think most of the people here knows what they entail - but LP eloquently wrote this little suggestion for a rule set for it, which I will just paste directly here in the main post.

If A is planning to declare war on B, then either A must play before B on the turn before war... or if B played first the previous turn, A must wait until after B plays to declare war the following turn (or at least until half the timer passes - i.e. 24 hours).

Then during the war, A and B stick to that order of playing - the only exception being if the one supposed to play first doesn't log in during the first half of the turn (i.e. 24 hours), in which case the other one can go ahead and play rather than risk missing their turn. (If this happens, the turn order can switch so that the one previously going second goes first from then on, and vice versa.)

If some third party C wants to declare war on B while A is still at war with them, then C should play in the same part of the turn as A.

Click to expand...

I'll take Napoleon of France.

I feel like entering the head of Frederik of Germany, thus pontification and strutting about in an aloof and pompous manner, huffing and puffing through my moustache the futility of all opponents to the grand german Schnitzelrundfunkwerk.

Hey, don't forget about all the French verses and flute-playing!

I take Julius Caesar of Roman

I'm in. Toku/Japan please

5 players so far!

I'm thinking that it would possibly be a good idea to set the turn timer at 24 hours from the start of the game for a given number of turns or so if people agree with this? How many turns is something we should try to find a consensus on if people do agree with it.

I'd prefer 48 hours all the way through.

I'm in. Random of Random for me please

Caledorn said:

5 players so far!

I'm thinking that it would possibly be a good idea to set the turn timer at 24 hours from the start of the game for a given number of turns or so if people agree with this? How many turns is something we should try to find a consensus on if people do agree with it.

Click to expand...

How about until someone declares war?

i prefer 24h

24h for the entire game is too low for me if I am to participate until endgame, so that's why i have suggested the 48h timer. I see bowsling would prefer the game to be 48h from the beginning, which is fine by me too, but I think a majority vote or something should be the rule here? What do you guys think? Can you commit to the game still with a 24h timer for the turns until for instance 0AD, bowsling, using build queues and unit movement queues - or is it going to be too tight on time for you?

Does all the other settings look good to you guys?

And if you're a new player looking to join, do you think the settings look good? Or would anyone suggest some changes?

Uh-oh... I fear I'm unable to resist the prospect of another Warmup game.

Sign me up. I'll take Huayna, I guess.

Settings look pretty good. I'd suggest maybe turning Vassal States off... never been a huge fan of them, and it prevents excessive maintenance costs on cities off the mainland. Though I don't really mind too much.

Also, a "house rule" to avoid double moves during wartime would be good. For instance:

If A is planning to declare war on B, then either A must play before B on the turn before war... or if B played first the previous turn, A must wait until after B plays to declare war the following turn (or at least until half the timer passes - i.e. 24 hours).

Then during the war, A and B stick to that order of playing - the only exception being if the one supposed to play first doesn't log in during the first half of the turn (i.e. 24 hours), in which case the other one can go ahead and play rather than risk missing their turn. (If this happens, the turn order can switch so that the one previously going second goes first from then on, and vice versa.)

If some third party C wants to declare war on B while A is still at war with them, then C should play in the same part of the turn as A.

Click to expand...

Sound reasonable? Just makes for a whole lot less headaches once the game gets going, if we don't have to worry about double move abuse.

I think I said it already in the other thread, but I will join.

Peter of Russia for me please.

Yay! 2 more of the MTDG players in - excellent! Both of you have been added - and I've added the suggestions you made to the first post, Lord Parkin, as I think a double-move rule is indeed a good suggestion. Also the Vassal States I agree to, and I expect most of the players also agree with these suggestions.

I'm from civforum.de and would like to join this Pitboss- Test.

As leader i'd like to have Pericles of Greece.


The settings Caledorn proposed are just about fine to me

Pucc said:

I'm from civforum.de and would like to join this Pitboss- Test.

As leader i'd like to have Pericles of Greece.


The settings Caledorn proposed are just about fine to me

Click to expand...

Welcome on board!

I take it the AI handles a turn if you happen to miss one?

Bowsling said:

I take it the AI handles a turn if you happen to miss one?

Click to expand...

Yes and no. If you set up build queues, a research path, and unit movement queues, then those things will execute at the end of a turn if you're unable to play. Otherwise units will sit still and cities won't produce stuff once they finish their previous builds. However, with a 48 hour timer, I would hope that people wouldn't regularly find themselves unable to play for an entire turn.

It's possible to set your civ to AI by clicking "Retire" on a turn before you know you'll be away. You can then log back in and reclaim your civ later, as long as "Allow AI Takeover" is on (which is the default setting and a must in MP games - needed for changing passwords sometimes, amongst other things).

In a multiplayer game having an AI control your civ is quite a disadvantage (though not quite as much as leaving a civ stagnant)... so most players prefer to find a friend to play their turns while they're away instead (a "sub"). However, as this isn't a competitive game, if you're out of other options and can't find a sub, temporarily switching to AI is probably a good idea so as not to inconvenience the other players with long turns.

Switching to AI regularly can sometimes be an abuse - as depending on the difficulty level, the AI will produce and research everything at a discounted rate (especially on one of the higher difficulty levels). This can sometimes be quite serious, e.g. AI finishing a wonder several turns before you would have been able to. So better to avoid that happening regularly.

EDIT: Double post.