HOF Questions and Answers Thread

[drewisfat]

Thanks for all the answers, and I'm glad it may have helped others. Can't believe I didn't think of just opening a save with settings and regenerating map from there! The size file is a good trick for land. I had been tracking it through MF by running civ in windowed mode and keeping mouse over the civ name. It actually repopulates the land each time it regenerates, but only in windowed mode for some reason. I'm hoping the reason my long attempts failed was that my screen was set to turn off after 1 hour.

And don't feel bad lymond. I would have been more persistent if I cared, but I like winning on hard maps, not doing amazing on perfect maps. I'm learning just how crazy you have to be to grind goody hut and worker steal luck :X

 

[Pangaea]

I'm learning just how crazy you have to be to grind goody hut and worker steal luck :X

Aye. This is why I haven't cared as much for HoF gaming as I did in the past.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

Did you get further on this? Strange one :thinking: Checked out my HoF EQM page, and the old values are still listed there.

No I'm still puzzling, Denniz was a SQL whizz and it take sme a lot of time to figure out how he does some of the complex stuff.

If you rewrite the site (for php8/html5), what changes would you like to make?

Initially all you would see is a different layout, hopefully more mobile friendly! I do want to develop the profile page. Any requests??

Perhaps this would be outside your area, since it's technically not the HoF, but one thing I would have loved to see is a personal page for BOTM entries too, a bit similar to for the HoF. So I could see all entries I submitted, details of the game (difficulty, win condition, date, etc) and perhaps ranking, with a link to the full scores.

That would be cool, will add it to the list!!

 

[lymond]

Can't believe I didn't think of just opening a save with settings and regenerating map from there!

Yeah, haven't used MF much in years, but what I do is create a "template" save as Noble suggested, and then regen some maps from that with ALT+G until I find a few I like, and save them. I can repeat it later with the same template, if I want some more starts. MF great if you want to automatically roll up some very specific conditions without thinking about it, but manually I can usually get a few decent starts in short time.

 

[Pangaea]

Initially all you would see is a different layout, hopefully more mobile friendly! I do want to develop the profile page. Any requests??

More mobile friendly would be nice, although it's not terrible currently either. Little tricky to zoom in on some of the tables, but usually okay.

A nicer layout of the profile page would be nice. I don't happen to have hundreds of games in there, but for those that do, it would probably be nice with some way to filter or sort games. If possible, a way to sort by columns (like in Excel) maybe? (that may not be possible). Or something like the main HoF tables, where we can sort or filter by different criteria. And a link to the actual game (like this, for a random entry).

Slightly different, but also think it would be cool with some type of overview of our best games/dates. Like our fastest domination game (maybe by game speed) or best scores. Maybe some type of overview, with how many #1 we have, and how many of those (or in general) are for space colony, conquest, etc. Can maybe pull in some of the player stats too.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head

 

[Pangaea]

Yeah, haven't used MF much in years, but what I do is create a "template" save as Noble suggested, and then regen some maps from that with ALT+G until I find a few I like, and save them. I can repeat it later with the same template, if I want some more starts. MF great if you want to automatically roll up some very specific conditions without thinking about it, but manually I can usually get a few decent starts in short time.

I do the same. When going with very specific settings, like Marathon with a million pre-selected leaders, it takes a while to set it up correctly again. Therefore I save the game when it has been set up correctly, so I can go back to it if MF crashes early, like you get that defeated message after 3 maps or something. Or if I happen to not get a good amount of maps, so need to change the rules.

Then it's as easy as loading that save, and hitting the 3-4 buttons for regenerating with MapFinder. Then do something else for a few hours, and maybe restart the whole process in case MF has slowed to a halt.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

A nicer layout of the profile page would be nice. I don't happen to have hundreds of games in there, but for those that do, it would probably be nice with some way to filter or sort games. If possible, a way to sort by columns (like in Excel) maybe? (that may not be possible).

I plan to incorporate DataTables.

 

[Pangaea]

I plan to incorporate DataTables.

Cool. That looked great

 

[Anysense]

I think that what makes MF run slower is Civ's issues with memory usage. Now I've come to think of it, the usual trick with task manager should help.

It does not. Apparently going to main menu and starting another game or loading a save file is the only way.

Am I correct in thinking that one can use any save that allows map regeneration as a template?

 

[SittinDown]

No I'm still puzzling, Denniz was a SQL whizz and it take sme a lot of time to figure out how he does some of the complex stuff.

I'm pretty good with SQL and would be happy to help.

 

[Pangaea]

I got wondering if there is a way to filter by for example OCC space games?

 

[krikav]

I'm learning just how crazy you have to be to grind goody hut and worker steal luck :X

It's astonashing how many different colors of crazy there are amongst civ players.
I thought I where plenty of crazy with my enjoyment of food deprived tundra isolation maps..
But yeah, getting that perfect play on that perfect map requires that extra helping of crazyness.

 

[Pangaea]

Very much agree with that. I've also learnt that I really don't like that kind of gameplay. It also nurtures professionalism, which is probably not the best thing. Easy to get into the mindset of "everything has to be perfect" and if a small thing isn't, then you feel like you have to throw out the game, because some other nutter will get 4 settlers from huts, or AH, BW and IW from huts.

Probably not a good thing to write here, so sorry for that. I oftentimes wish I knew about/played this game when it came out, instead of now when there are so many exploits in use all over the place.

It's kind of similar to what a friend tells me about WoW these days. Everything is down to a science, so unless you pick a certain class with a very specific set of gear, you can't even join proper groups. It removes some of the fun for me, quite bluntly.

 

[Anysense]

You don't need everything to be perfect, unless you are aiming at something completely ridiculous, like BC Deity Space, for instance. Some of my best games were played with just floodplains for food in my core cities (not just in the capital) or with other serious disadvantages.

Besides, there all sorts of luck that can save even apparently hopless game.

Spoiler :

I was a bit worried when De Gaulle settled that city up north with a hammer on a grassland; thought he might have stolen my iron until.. Riverside BFC iron? Seriously?

 

[drewisfat]

Probably not a good thing to write here, so sorry for that. I oftentimes wish I knew about/played this game when it came out, instead of now when there are so many exploits in use all over the place.

Oh it's definitely the place to write that ^^ but yes it's a little late. I too didn't even lurk the forums til the game had been out for years. Digging into the HoF is disorienting. My reaction to things like QScore, EQM status is that of a Protestant finding out that Catholics are very serious about 'saints'.

 

[Anysense]

Random events can be game-changing too. I had realy good ones in current game.

Spoiler :

Free cover for all melee units, including praetorians.

This is getting ridiculous! Note that both promotions are given to every new unit as well.

 

[Pangaea]

Wow, that is crazy! Looks like the game will be over soon enough, but those are some fantastic promos out of the game, especially on praetorians -- who are already OP without any promos. Excellent if you meet longbows with them.

Then there are the free golden ages too. Never gotten them myself, but I know the experts like Seraiel and WT talked about them.

Do you keep those promos when the units are upgraded btw? I suppose you probably do, since they are then "attached" to the units, and not inherent like with some UU. Not much wrong with CR3-Cover Rifles

 

[Anysense]

Yeah, the map is a bit small (small B&S), still very handy. It would be fantastic to have such events on large/huge, if I ever get around to playing larger maps. I think it would have even greater effect than free GA.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Random events can be game-changing too. I had realy good ones in current game.

Spoiler :

Free cover for all melee units, including praetorians.
View attachment 587067
This is getting ridiculous! Note that both promotions are given to every new unit as well.
View attachment 587068

Wow, free Cover + City Raider I for all Praets is really good Anysense!


In my current space race record attempt, I got a free golden age during my golden age.

Spoiler :

Some WastinTime luck pops up once and a while.

Even though I DOW'd and invaded, Joao must have attacked one of my units on my plot at some point?
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/golden-age-event-best-ever.311484/#post-7802312

Not really sure how it happened.
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/marathon-runner-golden-age.295774/

 

[WastinTime]

I got a free golden age during my golden age.

I got that once. If you know the triggers, you can almost make it happen. That's the strategic thing about events. You have to set up the pre-requisites. It's doesn't take that much luck if the AI is not set up to get the event before you. Example: early Gunpowder means you're the only one that can roll 'Guns/Butter' event.