Beyond the Sword: GOTM Implementation Issues

[grahamiam]

I interpret Sirian's comment differently. <snip>.

Hence the suggestion for someone in the GoTM staff to talk to Sirian directly, as I'm sure we'll all have different interpretations, but only Sirian knows the code.

 

[dojoboy]

One thing I've noticed in the BtS games I've completed, the events are not game-changing. The one exception is the quests, which might alter one's overall score but I believe it would be negligible.

If quests can be edited into the save file, then an interesting scenario could be developed.

 

[Gyathaar]

Hence the suggestion for someone in the GoTM staff to talk to Sirian directly, as I'm sure we'll all have different interpretations, but only Sirian knows the code.

The code is available for everyone to read.. it is all in the SDK and python

 

[Thrallia]

to those curious about the random events...ori went through the code and found most of the relevant information about them here

 

[wwassme]

The code is available for everyone to read.. it is all in the SDK and python

I guess I should go back to college for a couple of years to learn computer programming then. Has the field advanced much since I took Fortran as a college freshman in 1982? I vaguely recall using punch cards.

 

[da_Vinci]

I guess I should go back to college for a couple of years to learn computer programming then. Has the field advanced much since I took Fortran as a college freshman in 1982? I vaguely recall using punch cards.

I can relate ... I remember those noisy dot matrix printing keyboard stations producing paper tapes when learning BASIC as a college senior in 1978!

dV

 

[plesniak]

Maybe all three could rotate, keeping two games a month? Or are there a lot of people that still have only vanilla?

I like Warlords more than vanilla, but I think it would be a shame to drop either one. I'm a big fan of the improved AI - it has its quirks, but overall the smarter AI is more fun to play against, even if it's harder - and the other aspects of Warlords have grown on me as I've played it more. The UBs add a whole lot more to the game than was apparent when Warlords came out and the expansion adds other complexities and features that are subtle, but strong improvements.
However, since vanilla is different enough to stand on its own and is the original, it doesn't make sense not to play it.

How Beyond the Sword is, of course, affects how things are done.

I agree that some sort of a rotation should be implemented.

I think once BTS is patched it should be the one that plays monthly; then Vanilla and Warlords could rotate every other month.

 

[plesniak]

Yes, we count downloads ...

GOTM 11-18: 11,287 downloads, 916 submissions
WOTM 01-08: 9,830 downloads, 663 submissions

I'm not sure what this tells us, other than there are proportionally a lot more non-playing lurkers for Warlords than for vanilla. I think we are more interested in participation than spectators, though I guess some spectators may turn into players eventually.

Perhaps more people do poorly on the warlords, and don't submit, as it is a more challenging game to play, you definetly must be able to war well.

 

[strollen]

While I don't often submit my games, I'd like have the option to play two games a month. The improved AI in warlords and much improved AI in BTS make the games far more enjoyable than vanilla. I vote for dropping Vanilla, because I suspect that virtually everybody that plays GOTM on a semi regular basis has forked over the money for one or both expansions.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

Comeon, GOTM crew usually pretty efficient, but no BTS GOTM yet, WTH?

 

[MarkM]

Comeon, GOTM crew usually pretty efficient, but no BTS GOTM yet, WTH?

As explained in related thread, they are waiting for 1) next patch, and 2) HOF compatible with it to be released.

"GOTM crew" has no control over either of those.

 

[ainwood]

Comeon, GOTM crew usually pretty efficient, but no BTS GOTM yet, WTH?

Well, if "efficiency" means around 10-20% of prospective players having their submissions lost due to unrecoverable crashes, then I'd sooner be inefficient.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

Well, they've never lost my one submission

 

[ButSam]

I'd like to resurface this now that the patch has come out. Can we plan on a BotM anytime soon? Obviously a HOF needs to be released, but are there plans in the works for this, or will we have to wait for the next patch?

 

[cabert]

I'd like to resurface this now that the patch has come out. Can we plan on a BotM anytime soon? Obviously a HOF needs to be released, but are there plans in the works for this, or will we have to wait for the next patch?

I'd like a BotM too!
The HoFmod will certainly need to include bhruic's patch of the patch, but I guess it's doable in a few days (weeks?). Let's hope, for now.

 

[jesusin]

Am I too late to post my opinion, for what it is worth?
If there will be only 2 XOTM, I kindly ask them to be BTS and Vanilla, dropping Warlords. My reasons:

- Everyone that owns Warlords owns Vanilla too. The opposite is not true. (If you want to know, yes, I am in that case).
- As a purist, I consider Vanilla to be the real game. The original game, well thought of, almost perfectly balanced, is Vanilla. The expansions are nice, more civs to match your nationality, more buildings&#8230; so you can look around and enjoy what you see. But not balanced at all, when compared to Vanilla.
- If expansions correct previous mistakes and improve the game (I have high hopes in BTS improving the boredom of endgame), then BTS is the state of the art version.

 

[DaviddesJ]

The original game, well thought of, almost perfectly balanced, is Vanilla. The expansions are nice, more civs to match your nationality, more buildings… so you can look around and enjoy what you see. But not balanced at all, when compared to Vanilla.

What does "balanced" mean? I don't understand what it means to say that one version is more or less balanced than another. Do you mean that particular strategies are more dominant in Warlords/GOTM, while there are a broader range of viable strategies in Vanilla? I don't agree with that.

 

[cabert]

What does "balanced" mean? I don't understand what it means to say that one version is more or less balanced than another. Do you mean that particular strategies are more dominant in Warlords/GOTM, while there are a broader range of viable strategies in Vanilla? I don't agree with that.

I think he means vanilla opens up less exploitive moves than the expansions .
I can see why you would think BtS is less "balanced" (as in lacking testing) but warlords is quite good in this area.
I still think a few improvements from warlords and BtS are really welcome (like the great general, or the spying system). So although I'm more of a purist in general, I have the feeling that in the end the state of the art BtS is the "final cIV", and not only an expansion with nice scenarios.