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Given the number of new players participating in the Game Of The Month competition, the GOTM staff think that it is appropriate to reinforce the rules of the competition, and to highlight a the protocol used to validate submissions.
If you have any comments, please feed them back to myself or one of the GOTM Staff via PM.
We will be looking to update the GOTM Website in the next few months, and will include this info (although a lot of this info is there already).
Rules of the competition:
Spoilers:
Spoiler threads are designed to allow players to discuss strategies and report on progress that they have made within the game. In order to maximise player involvement, the spoilers are divided up into different sections, typically based on completion of specific tech research projects and/or knowledge of part or all of the world map. Spoiler threads are opened by the GOTM admin periodically through the month, and stickied at the top of the forum. To keep the discussions organised, no player should start a spoiler of their own. The first post in a spoiler will set-out conditions that players must meet in order to contribute or read the spoiler.
This works on an honour system. We trust that you will not read the spoiler until you have satisfied the conditions for that spoiler. Otherwise, you gain an unfair advantage over your peers, in that you may know locations of resources, the best locations to cross seas and oceans etc.
Exploits:
There are various exploits that are possible within the Civilization / Play The World framework. After a lot of discussion, it was decided to allow some exploits, and disallow others. A full listing is found here. If, during the validation process we find that the disallowed exploits have been used, then the players submission will be excluded from the results (see the section on cheating below). As new exploits are identified, they will be evaluated by consensus with the staff and all players, and either allowed or disallowed.
Cheating:
Cheating is expressly forbidden. Any players found to be cheating will (as a minimum) have their submission excluded from the results, can be banned from the competition completely, and can have all previous submissions removed.
Cheating includes (but is not limited to) the use of trainers or utilities that alter the save file or directly alter the in-game memory, modifications to the game or graphics that remove the fog-of-war or show resources before they have been discovered and reloading to obtain a different result etc.
A special note on reloading:
The most common form of cheating that we are aware of is reloading. It is absolutely forbidden to have played for a period, then to reload a file from an earlier save or autosave and continue playing from this point. This includes playing for a period and then going back to the 4000 BC starting file! The only time that reloading is permissible is when you are starting to play a new session , and the new session must continue by reloading a save file created at the end of the previous session.
You should be aware that certain information about reloading time and frequency can be extracted from your submitted save file. Should the staff feel that your reload details appear suspicious, you will be asked to provide further information (see submission and validation process below).
To minimise the likelihood that your play will be questioned, we recommend the following:
Submission and Validation Process
An automated submission page has been provide here.
When you finish your game, if the game has finished in any other way than a conquest loss, after the closing screens you will be given the option to end the game or Lemme play a couple more turns. Please select Lemme play a couple more turns, and as soon as you are returned to the game, then immediately save the game as your submission. A file saved in this manner will make collation of the results much easier. These files will also be compressed, so should be submitted in .sav file format. If you have in fact suffered a conquest loss, you will not be given the option of playing a few more turns. In this case, please submit a save at the end of the turn before you lost.
Note: As from May 1st 2004, we will no longer accept incomplete saves, nor zipped files. This is because the automation process we are using (server-based) is processing the data as it is received. The up-side for the players is that results will be available much sooner.
Note that we do not accept incomplete games (retiring), as it interferes with the comparisons and rankings.
You are required to submit only your final save. However, you must also keep (as a minimum) at least two other save files from your game one from approximately 1000 BC (a QSC save will be acceptable) and one from approximately 1000 AD. If you keep even more, then that is great.
Please ensure that in your submission you include a valid e-mail address. Should we need to contact you regarding your submission, we will do so via E-mail. If we are unable to contact you, your submission will be excluded from the published results.
Once the submissions have closed, we will try to validate them, collate the results and publish them by the 7th day of the month. To meet this deadline, should we require additional .sav files from any player, you will have a minimum of 48 hours to respond. If you do not respond in time to have your additional saves validated, your submission will be excluded from the published results. However, once we have received the additional files, they will be checked, and if found to be satisfactory, the results will be included retrospectively.
Results, Awards and the Hall Of Fame
The ranking of scores is based on the Jason scoring system, which is a modification of the in-game scoring system. The aim of this system is to adjust the scoring based on the victory condition (with the aim that the score should be similar regardless of victory condition), and on map details. Essentially, much of the requirement to milk a game to the bitter end has been removed, and the civilization end-game bonus has been replaced with a fairer system.
More details can be found here.
Several awards are provided for each Game Of The Month. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards are provided for the players with the highest Jason scores. In addition, there are awards for the fastest victory of each type, and also for lowest-scoring victory.
If you do lose, then please submit anyway! The competition is not just about winning with a high score, It is about improving your game, and about enjoyment. By submitting losing games, you can get pointers on where you can improve.
Overall, we hope you enjoy the event!
GOTM Team.
If you have any comments, please feed them back to myself or one of the GOTM Staff via PM.
We will be looking to update the GOTM Website in the next few months, and will include this info (although a lot of this info is there already).
Rules of the competition:
Spoilers:
Spoiler threads are designed to allow players to discuss strategies and report on progress that they have made within the game. In order to maximise player involvement, the spoilers are divided up into different sections, typically based on completion of specific tech research projects and/or knowledge of part or all of the world map. Spoiler threads are opened by the GOTM admin periodically through the month, and stickied at the top of the forum. To keep the discussions organised, no player should start a spoiler of their own. The first post in a spoiler will set-out conditions that players must meet in order to contribute or read the spoiler.
This works on an honour system. We trust that you will not read the spoiler until you have satisfied the conditions for that spoiler. Otherwise, you gain an unfair advantage over your peers, in that you may know locations of resources, the best locations to cross seas and oceans etc.
Exploits:
There are various exploits that are possible within the Civilization / Play The World framework. After a lot of discussion, it was decided to allow some exploits, and disallow others. A full listing is found here. If, during the validation process we find that the disallowed exploits have been used, then the players submission will be excluded from the results (see the section on cheating below). As new exploits are identified, they will be evaluated by consensus with the staff and all players, and either allowed or disallowed.
Cheating:
Cheating is expressly forbidden. Any players found to be cheating will (as a minimum) have their submission excluded from the results, can be banned from the competition completely, and can have all previous submissions removed.
Cheating includes (but is not limited to) the use of trainers or utilities that alter the save file or directly alter the in-game memory, modifications to the game or graphics that remove the fog-of-war or show resources before they have been discovered and reloading to obtain a different result etc.
A special note on reloading:
The most common form of cheating that we are aware of is reloading. It is absolutely forbidden to have played for a period, then to reload a file from an earlier save or autosave and continue playing from this point. This includes playing for a period and then going back to the 4000 BC starting file! The only time that reloading is permissible is when you are starting to play a new session , and the new session must continue by reloading a save file created at the end of the previous session.
You should be aware that certain information about reloading time and frequency can be extracted from your submitted save file. Should the staff feel that your reload details appear suspicious, you will be asked to provide further information (see submission and validation process below).
To minimise the likelihood that your play will be questioned, we recommend the following:
- If you are having PC problems (crashing etc), notify the GOTM staff as soon as possible, so we can try and resolve your problems. If this is not done, then PC crashes will not be an accepted as a reason for high reload counts.
- Only start playing a session when you are assured of being able to play for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour or longer.
Submission and Validation Process
An automated submission page has been provide here.
When you finish your game, if the game has finished in any other way than a conquest loss, after the closing screens you will be given the option to end the game or Lemme play a couple more turns. Please select Lemme play a couple more turns, and as soon as you are returned to the game, then immediately save the game as your submission. A file saved in this manner will make collation of the results much easier. These files will also be compressed, so should be submitted in .sav file format. If you have in fact suffered a conquest loss, you will not be given the option of playing a few more turns. In this case, please submit a save at the end of the turn before you lost.
Note: As from May 1st 2004, we will no longer accept incomplete saves, nor zipped files. This is because the automation process we are using (server-based) is processing the data as it is received. The up-side for the players is that results will be available much sooner.
Note that we do not accept incomplete games (retiring), as it interferes with the comparisons and rankings.
You are required to submit only your final save. However, you must also keep (as a minimum) at least two other save files from your game one from approximately 1000 BC (a QSC save will be acceptable) and one from approximately 1000 AD. If you keep even more, then that is great.
Please ensure that in your submission you include a valid e-mail address. Should we need to contact you regarding your submission, we will do so via E-mail. If we are unable to contact you, your submission will be excluded from the published results.
Once the submissions have closed, we will try to validate them, collate the results and publish them by the 7th day of the month. To meet this deadline, should we require additional .sav files from any player, you will have a minimum of 48 hours to respond. If you do not respond in time to have your additional saves validated, your submission will be excluded from the published results. However, once we have received the additional files, they will be checked, and if found to be satisfactory, the results will be included retrospectively.
Results, Awards and the Hall Of Fame
The ranking of scores is based on the Jason scoring system, which is a modification of the in-game scoring system. The aim of this system is to adjust the scoring based on the victory condition (with the aim that the score should be similar regardless of victory condition), and on map details. Essentially, much of the requirement to milk a game to the bitter end has been removed, and the civilization end-game bonus has been replaced with a fairer system.
More details can be found here.
Several awards are provided for each Game Of The Month. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards are provided for the players with the highest Jason scores. In addition, there are awards for the fastest victory of each type, and also for lowest-scoring victory.
If you do lose, then please submit anyway! The competition is not just about winning with a high score, It is about improving your game, and about enjoyment. By submitting losing games, you can get pointers on where you can improve.
Overall, we hope you enjoy the event!
GOTM Team.
