DMI V - Fata Morgana (BtS)

[·Imhotep·]

Hello all to the 5th game of the whacky DMI series. If you have not heard of it before you probably belong to 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of world's population. But that doesn't matter. Before lurking or even signing up you may want to read through DMI I - Menu Surprise , DMI II - The tale of Snaga , DMI III - Casanova and DMI IV - The Grand Line first in order to know what to expect.

For this SG the DM SG Etiquette applies (see spoiler).

Spoiler DM SG Etiquette :

Alpha: The quality of your report outweighs the quality of your play. We’re here to have fun, and, of course, winning is fun, but losing in style is preferable to a boring win. Remember, your report should be a new reply to alert other players.

Bravo: Reports should be detailed, with plenty of screen shots and player commentary, explanations, musings, etc; an auto-log dump will not suffice. Shots of the F9 screens and overview shots of the empire are nice too, once in a while.

Charlie: Punctuality rocks! “24/48” means post a "got it" within 24 hours of when the last save was posted, and play within 48 hours of that ‘got it.’ Waiting 47 hours to ask for a skip is lame. Punk out two times in a row, and you’ll be dropped from the roster. Skips and swaps are fine, but try to let us know sooner, rather than later.

Delta: Major game decisions (war/peace declarations, religion swaps, city placement, etc) should be arrived at via group consensus.
1. If the team disagrees with you, either argue your case better, or do it their way. Do NOT just blow them off and do it your way because it's your turn.
2. However, if there’s no consensus and you’re up, do it your way and explain why. Conversely, if someone else is up, don't whine when they do it their way.
3. Similarly, overruling techs or city builds is rude and should be done via consensus, barring an emergency.
4. In extraordinary situations, sometimes an opportunity presents itself that the group didn't foresee. If the consequences of it are great, players should stop, and refer the question to the group.

Echo: Being a better player does not give you the right to belittle anyone else or their play. Other people are going to disagree with you on major decisions; get used to the idea, and play nice. If not, take your ball and go home.

Foxtrot: Thread spam is good. Trash talking, poking fun, gentle ribbing, virtual noogies, and generally horsing around are all encouraged, but don’t be rude.

Golf: Automate sparingly.
1. Workers should almost never be automated, except perhaps late-game or building a trade network. However, if you have to, set your game options to “disallow automated worker forest chopping” and “keep previous improvements.”
2. Use of the “Emphasis” buttons is fine, but let the group know and explain your reasoning (specialization is a major game decision). If you prevent growth in a city, let the group know and remind them to take it off. Do NOT let the governor select build orders.
3. Sending units on go-to routes that last beyond your set is acceptable only if they’re heading for a rally point or if you otherwise inform your teammates. NEVER fortify Great People.

India: Sign spamming is rude. Signs can be helpful reminders, but too many signs makes them easily ignored. Once a sign is no longer valid, delete it.

The Game:

Once upon a time there lived a sultan in the fertile and beautiful lands in the South West. The sultan had many admirers, and many families tried to bring their daughters to the sultan's harem, for so they would have a good life away from poverty and struggle. The most beautiful girl in the city was Sheherezade. The sultan greatly desired her, for her voice was like the singing of Nightingales in the morning, her eyes were like the stars in the heaven, clear and bright, and her body reminded of the will of god and creation unbroken. However the parents of Sheherezade did not allow her daughter joining the sultan's harem for they believed this would be unmoral and not fit for her daughter. The sultan however was wroth at this, and at his command soldiers came to seize the girl and bring her to him. Being not only beautiful but wise in her mind she eluded the soldiers and escaped. The soldiers then slew her parents as they would not tell whither her daughter was gone. As this had happened a heavy rain set in, ice was falling from heaven, and the wind was roaring. Then a great head appeared in the clouds, and the voice of a woman called to the sultan:

"The blood of those innocent people that were slain at your bidding defiles all that you have wrought. Therefore by the powers of heaven you and everything you have shall be destroyed, and all the land will be a fruitless desert as a punishment to your people until there comes a time when your deed will be amended. Emnity shall be between those that were once friends."

And the rain and the wind drove with hail against the city, and there was searing lightning and a crack of thunder. Thus the city got utterly destroyed, and all the land uprooted. And when all was quiet again, the son of the sultan heard the voice speaking:

"Time will show if you repent. Doom shall fall if Sheherezade is not found again."

The sultan had died, struck by a lightning that smote him in his insolence. So now the son has to carry on and see if he can change the doom of his people...



Game Data:

Difficulty: Emperor
Map: Genuinely hand crafted by Imhotep (based on an oasis map)
Map size: Standard
Victory Conditions: All enabled
Special Settings: Always War (in the true meaning of the word, the AI is at war with the other AI too !)

Variant goal: The game is won by achieving the victory condition, whether Sheherezade be found or not. But finding her will grant a great bonus to the Civ.

The Roster:

1. Imhotep
2. GreyFox
3. berserks01
4. Ozbenno
5. pindicator
6. pigswill
7. tycoonist

Game opens as soon as GreyFox has BtS . Players may apply for a roster spot now, preference is given to DM members and any well known RBCiv player. Otherwise it's first come first serve.

The starting location:



Imhotep

 

[pigswill]

I'm thinking about signing up for this. My reservation is that I'm still playing solo games at Monarch and I'm not sure I'm experienced enuff for imperial warfare (though AI fighting AI could be jolly interesting).
On the offchance that you don't get enough experienced players enlisting I'll give it a go.

 

[Lucky1972]

Oh, great! Now we have 2 DMI V threads going, to mess up nicely with the on-going DMI IV, so that it will be even easier to find where to write my reports for "People of the Deer"

This one sounds great, Imhotep! When I first saw the always war option I thought it was truly everyone against everyone, and always wanted to see this happen. By the way, how do you do it? Is it a new option in BTS I missed or do you have to modify something by hand?

I am not signing up (yet) for a number of reasons, the main one being I don't know if I can handle BTS Emperor, but I am subscribed to lurk.

 

[GreyFox]

Game opens as soon as GreyFox has BtS

Ha, made it kind of hard for me not to sign up.

And also made it kind of hard for others not to tease that "then it will never get started until hell freezes over"

But, in a somewhat encouraging news ... Amazon has shipped my BTS. Now all it takes is for the relaying agent to contact me on shipping charges and for it to fly from Oregon to Singapore

--

 

[berserks01]

But, in a somewhat encouraging news ... Amazon has shipped my BTS. Now all it takes is for the relaying agent to contact me on shipping charges and for it to fly from Oregon to Singapore
--

Wait ... has the fat lady sang yet?


@Imhotep

Again with the Emporer level, didn't I say that I'm only a lowly Settler player? How can I possibly compete against Emporer level AIs?

 

[Ozbenno]

The fact that it is truly Always War will drop the difficulty down quite a bit.

 

[·Imhotep·]

@beserks:

I interpret that as a sign-up

@Lucky:

There is an option called "Always War or Always Peace" in the Custom Game settings which has the desired effect. The problem is that it rolls more always peace starts than always war starts. As I needed the Worldbuilder for tailoring the map anyway I just set it there in the diplomacy settings.

@Ozbenno:

You're right, as always. That and the map will drop the difficulty below Emperor. Additionally the AI won't be able to fulfill the Sheherezade quest, so this is a bonus to the human too.

Imhotep

 

[FeedBack]

Nice story, Imhotep!

This is not a signup -- unless Mr. Fox cancels his "waiting for the sword" game when his sword arrives. I can handle only one SG at a time -- but...
Would you care to explain where Fata Morgana crosses with the Arabian Nights?

Even before posting, I found. That's what I get for not reading all the books I should have. But you can see why I got myself confused, can't you?

 

[Swedishguy]

Cool! I'd like to be a part of this, Suleiman is my favourite leader. I've been a bit cowardly and played on Prince, but I think I'm up for the challenge.

 

[vra379971]

I'm in if you'll have me ;p

 

[tycoonist]

am i too late? if not, count me in. otherwise i will sit and wait and watch

 

[·Imhotep·]

The roster is finalized. Ozbenno and pindicator asked for a spot via PM, and as they are members of Deviant Minds, they'll get a spot. The last spot goes to tycoonist then - he may have not been the first to sign up but I've read some of the games all candidates were in and he seems to be the right choice . The other candidates are however invited to join DMI VI which will surely come at some time...

Imhotep

 

[tycoonist]

woohoo! yeah! thanks imhotep

 

[Ozbenno]

Excellent, all we've got to do now is wait for Fox to get BtS

And hope our advisor are the same as this game

 

[GreyFox]

News Update: I have paid the relaying agent ... so I'd expect to get it next week.

--

 

[·Imhotep·]

Guys, we got a 7th player - welcome pigswill ! With all the warring and me not playing the first 2 rounds this might come in handy after all...

Imhotep

 

[GreyFox]

The game can start now!!!

 

[r_rolo1]

lurker comment

Too bad that "Greyox and the search of the Holy BtS" saga ended

 

[berserks01]

The game can start now!!!

congratulations, it's a dvd

 

[GreyFox]

... actually, it's twins

Somehow, they deliver the CD version (2 CD) instead of the DVD version ... hmmm .... no matter, I am happy enough to finally get it.