PBEM questions for all

I couldn't see any specific PBEM question thread, so I'll start one. Please ask any PBEM related questions here, hopefully it can be a useful resource. If no-one has any questions then just answer mine insead

Moderators: If I can't see a questions thread because I am in the wrong place, please close me down and point in the right direction.

My first question:

How does Diplomacy work in PBEM? I can't imagine how I'm going to have a face-to-face if we play at different times. If there are AI players, how do these AI's interact with the human players?

There's a PBEM subforum within this MP forum. I think this thread shld belong there. I am sure CT or one of the mods will along soon to move it.

Answer : -

Human players interact with AI as per normal SP games; no change.

For humans to interact with other humans, refer to the manual. In short, you cannot see what the other party has to offer. You'll have to make an offer first and 'send' it (but don't 'accept' yet). Then you'll have to wait for him to reply with a counter-offer. You can then renegotiate or accept.

The negotiations can go on for awhile; faster I think if you'll just PM or post before making the offers and counter-offers. Once both parties accept, the deal is in force.

I agree that for human to AI contact in the human's turn it is as normal, but what about when it's the AI's turn to move? They don't get to approach anyone, apart from the person who has the game running at that point. This is not normal.

Do I take from what you are saying that human-human deals can last several turns of the game?

MODERATORS: Please move this thread to the PBEM forum. Thanks

Originally posted by anarres
I agree that for human to AI contact in the human's turn it is as normal, but what about when it's the AI's turn to move? They don't get to approach anyone, apart from the person who has the game running at that point. This is not normal.

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Well, in my PBEM (the Dual Alliance one which is fairly advanced), I got the AI approaching me for deals at the beginning of my turn occasionally. So don't worry.

Do I take from what you are saying that human-human deals can last several turns of the game?

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Yes, depends on how greedy you guys are.... The manual will give precise details on how to do this in a PBEM.

To cut out all the turns it'll take to negotiate the deal, I'd suggest you negotiate first off-game, before making a formal in-game approach.

I was just about to start a thread to ask a PBEM question. I'll post here instead.

My question(s):

1) What can you do to speed up the early game in a PBEM game? A friend and I are trying a game and the early turns are taking forever! At the rate we're going it will be 2-3 weeks before we have enough cities/workers to make playing worthwhile.

2) Can any of the scenario's be played as a PBEM game?

It's a shame you don't start out with 2-3 settlers and workers so you can get the game going faster.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Another question:

I have heard that PBEM (and other MP games) have cheiftain difficulty set, and it can not be changed. Is this still true in v1.29f?

Originally posted by anarres
Another question:

I have heard that PBEM (and other MP games) have cheiftain difficulty set, and it can not be changed. Is this still true in v1.29f?

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Well, my PBEM games are mostly running at monarch, so what you heard is probably untrue. The default is regent AFAIK.

Anyway, PTW is at v1.14f; Civ3 itself doesn't support PBEM.

First of all, welcome to CFC.

Originally posted by Righteous1
1) What can you do to speed up the early game in a PBEM game? A friend and I are trying a game and the early turns are taking forever! At the rate we're going it will be 2-3 weeks before we have enough cities/workers to make playing worthwhile.

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For one, accelerated production is a must in PBEM games. That shld speed things up a bit.

Other than that, play more turns. PBEMs are supposed to be slow; it's in their inherent nature.

Another option - play more PBEMs.

You can also try to mod to create more cities, units at beginning of game I think but that's beyond me... You'll have to wait for others to respond.

2) Can any of the scenario's be played as a PBEM game?

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Theorectically, yes. When you start a PBEM game, there's an option to load scenarios... However I haven't try it myself; so I can't vouch for it.

General Tip:

When starting a PBEM game, check F11 every turn for the first few turns to guage your relative strength.

You can change the one square your capital is working and go back to F11 lots of times to get an even better idea of what they have

Knight Dragon are you sure your game is on the right level? Would be easy to check if you have an AI player. I certainly experience the bug in hotseat where I set level on emperor and end up with chieftain level AI's. Makes for an easy game but not what I wanted. I read some posts about the same bug occuring in PBEM.

So far, 3 of my 4 PBEM games are still at fairly elementary levels but my 4th game is advanced along enough (early industrial). Seems that the AI level's about right - at monarch which is what I normally play at and set to...