GOTM 06 - Pre Game Discussion

[.Shane.]

Hmmm... since no resources are showing... I'll probably move due W or NW and build in the first turn. Mostly, since, all things being equal, I'd like the river border.

I've never submitted a GOTM. Maybe I'll finally give it a shot. The "no reloading" really scares me because even if I'm playing an "honest" game, I typically reload 3-5 times due to a dumb mistake (clicked the wrong button, usually).

 

[ainwood]

To the staff:
oops, I downloaded and opened the adventurer class game by mistake. When I saw that extra worker I shut it off before making a move, and dled the contender class game. I hope this doesn't cause any trouble...

No problem - if you haven't made any moves, then you don't have pre-knowledge, so its fine.

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/civ4games/index.php?month=40006
This is mildly confusing:

This game will require you to have installed Patch v1.61.
ENTRIES NOT PLAYED UNDER 1.52 WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED!

I'm pretty sure you meant not played under 1.61 as in the discussion, right?

Correct. 1.61 only. It was supposed to be "ENTRIES PLAYED UNDER 1.52 WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED" - but on reflection, I should just keep all references to 1.52 out of the announcement!

 

[Groin_Apologist]

I'm trying to load the Contender class game and I get a message that says, "The save file you have selected is protected to ensure that the assets in your mod folder have not been changed." Then it boots me out.

I tried selecting 'Advanced' then 'Load a Mod' then 'None' but it still doesn't work. Anyone else have this problem? Have I loaded a mod into my permanent files and forgotten about it? (I know I haven't since the patch at least...) Is there an easier way to correct this besides reloading the game?

 

[Dianthus]

I'm trying to load the Contender class game and I get a message that says, "The save file you have selected is protected to ensure that the assets in your mod folder have not been changed." Then it boots me out.

I tried selecting 'Advanced' then 'Load a Mod' then 'None' but it still doesn't work. Anyone else have this problem? Have I loaded a mod into my permanent files and forgotten about it? (I know I haven't since the patch at least...) Is there an easier way to correct this besides reloading the game?

You could try running my asset checker (82Kb). It should tell you what files have changed in your install. Don't worry about the HOF mod path, that's not needed for GOTM.

 

[merandaBlue]

I have not got 1.61 yet (still on GOTM 5) but I read here somewhere that fractal is the new name for continents map script? So we are going to need astronomy for a milarty win. That will make a change from the last few games.

I have been playing fracile almost exclusively since the patch. We love it here. While there usually are two continents, the thing about the fractile maps is often it takes so long to find another civ, even with 18 civs in the game, one begins to feel they are alone on an island, then another twist or turn from the scout reveals otherwise.

They are extremely interesting land formations, with repeating features that make it easy to get lost.

meranda Blue

 

[MightyGooga]

I have a dumb question! If you start to play, and then get your ass kicked. Can you start over and still submit the game? I´m almost sure you cant, but than again... that sucks.

 

[BSmith1068]

I have a dumb question! If you start to play, and then get your ass kicked. Can you start over and still submit the game? I´m almost sure you cant, but than again... that sucks.

Correct. You can not submit the game, but who says you can't play it and still compare notes and see how others did in comparison to you? Playing is the most fun, actually submitting it and seeing your name listed is just icing on the cake as far as I am concerned.

The fact that 3 days after the announcement of GOTM 4 you had 10 pages of discussion and now only 1.5, might be an indication that not everybody is a huge fan of the difficulty level. Or for that matter 17 pages of spoiler for GOTM4 and only 9 for GOTM5. Not meaning any disrespect, but perhaps two GOTM's a month might be a good idea. One for the new players and another for the people playing this game longer than 2 months? Just a suggestion....

I would imagine that just setting up and managing one game per month is pretty time consuming for the mods. Having another game would probably be too much to ask.

As for the difficulty level - I actually like how it is now. Us players that can't devote 20+ hours to the game a week can actually have a good chance of doing well in a game. Not everybody can play well at higher levels, even if they have been playing the game longer than 2 months. As others have said already - most of the potential players that would like the lower difficulty settings are probably less likely to post in the forums.

As it is now, the difficulty will ramp up each month until it gets to a hard level, and then probably drop back down. In my mind this is the best compromise, and does not run the risk of alienating a large, if quieter, base of players.

I agree that everyone should be challenged to play at a higher difficulty level than they are used to because that is the best way to learn, but someone who is at Warlord level is much more likely to be turned off by constantly having to play Emperor games than someone who is already at Emperor having to play easier levels.

Just my $.02...

 

[THE WIZ]

Just wondering if any practice games were being done. I enjoyed the last 2 opportunities to play them!

 

[culdeus]

Keshik Comments

As there were no practice games posted I just played a few fractal map starts.

I tried to execute keshik slingshots, keshik slow burns, and keshik rushes. I've come to the determination that they represent little if any value beyond mop-up duty on weak troops.

As fractal frequently (in my small sample size) equals large contintents with tricked up terrains and large resource count you can usually count on you and the AI to have plenty of war resources. This was one thing I noticed righ t away. And keshik vs. Axe or even a fortified archer on a hill = <10% shot.

So I'll build a few here and there, but the CS slingshot + mace to domination seems like the play here despite the starting techs not helping much. Keshiks can and will be used as pillagers in all stages as some have said. Plus they make great scouts.

 

[ainwood]

I'm trying to load the Contender class game and I get a message that says, "The save file you have selected is protected to ensure that the assets in your mod folder have not been changed." Then it boots me out.

I tried selecting 'Advanced' then 'Load a Mod' then 'None' but it still doesn't work. Anyone else have this problem? Have I loaded a mod into my permanent files and forgotten about it? (I know I haven't since the patch at least...) Is there an easier way to correct this besides reloading the game?

Did you try dianthus' checker program? Otherwise, a reinstall might be the easiest.

 

[Harok]

To add to what culdeus and others have said. I have played with Genghis, never with Kublai though, a few times in the past and I always found Keshiks to not be very powerful, basically only good for pillage or medic duty. The exception being if you have a very close neighbor and hit them before they can get can resources hooked up. This is especially true on normal speed.

I plan to emphasize research early on getting to either macemen (probably try to get CS from the Oracle) or knights before any real offensive. Which unit I use will depend on how big our landmass is and how close the neighbor(s) are. Early research priorities will be pottery, writing, alpha, priesthood, code of laws, and lit.

Emphasizing research instead of really early conquest should help get to Astronomy also if overseas warfare is needed to hit the domination limit which is the victory type I plan to go after. From the tests I ran on fractal maps it is very hard to predict how big of a landmass you are on so scouting will play a big part in what I ultimately end up doing but that is my initial plan.

 

[Lmtoops]

I have been playing fracile almost exclusively since the patch. We love it here. While there usually are two continents, the thing about the fractile maps is often it takes so long to find another civ, even with 18 civs in the game, one begins to feel they are alone on an island, then another twist or turn from the scout reveals otherwise.

They are extremely interesting land formations, with repeating features that make it easy to get lost.

meranda Blue

I agree that fractual maps are the best. I had not played until the GOTM pre-announcement. I have done several fractual map starts, and they are extremely unpredictable, which means more risks, and more fun.

 

[Goodenuf]

I'm finding that Keshiks are best used in concert with the traditional ax/sword attack. Keshiks are great to scout and pillage (especially enemy copper/iron mines and horse pastures), while leaving the actual attack to the axes and swords. Keshiks are especially good for holding their own defense while pillaging since they draw out defensive archers and axes from the cities while you blitz with your own axes.

Keshiks on their own arent too useful since it takes quite a bit of time to get Horsback Riding, and it's only real benefit early is the Keshiks (Bronze/Iron working have other benefits than giving you Axes and Swords... especially the chopping ability).

So, this will likely be a Keshik pillage run followed closely by an Axe/Sword rush. That should give us some.... um.... 'breathing room'.

 

[drkodos]

I'm in!

I just now finally patched (Chop addict trying to reform) because I want to get in on the fun. This one looks nice and tricky. Looks like a great set of tough decisions right from the very first move on where to settle.


In addition, I have just patched, have never played any fractal maps, and have limited familiarity with the choosen civ.


Yeah, baby, yeah!


I just downloaded the file and am going to get started playing the game this evening.

Random thoughts:

~ UU has inobvious uses.
~ Good woods for afterMath chops.

 

[Mastiff_of_Ar]

I'm going to give the GOTM a try for the first time, too. It looks like a blast now that I know the game a bit better... Good luck to all the other 1st time folks!

As far as difficulty levels, I'm okay with it. I can win on emperor (sometimes), and felt dirty the other night when I slaughtered everyone playing on noble, because I got pissed that my team was booted form the NHL play-offs... This way I can play any level and feel just dandy about it! Thanks to everyone who works on this project.

Mf

 

[Steve3000]

Correct. You can not submit the game, but who says you can't play it and still compare notes and see how others did in comparison to you? Playing is the most fun, actually submitting it and seeing your name listed is just icing on the cake as far as I am concerned.



I would imagine that just setting up and managing one game per month is pretty time consuming for the mods. Having another game would probably be too much to ask.

As for the difficulty level - I actually like how it is now. Us players that can't devote 20+ hours to the game a week can actually have a good chance of doing well in a game. Not everybody can play well at higher levels, even if they have been playing the game longer than 2 months. As others have said already - most of the potential players that would like the lower difficulty settings are probably less likely to post in the forums.

As it is now, the difficulty will ramp up each month until it gets to a hard level, and then probably drop back down. In my mind this is the best compromise, and does not run the risk of alienating a large, if quieter, base of players.

I agree that everyone should be challenged to play at a higher difficulty level than they are used to because that is the best way to learn, but someone who is at Warlord level is much more likely to be turned off by constantly having to play Emperor games than someone who is already at Emperor having to play easier levels.

Just my $.02...

20hrs. a week! Who the the heck is gettin' by on only 20 hrs. of Civ a week.

lol. Seriously though. Is this an honour thing? Am I just trusted to not reload when i screw up or do they have ways of checking the file? I'm not trying to see what I can get away with. I personallly don't understand people who cheat to get a bigger number beside thier name on some list. Do they check some game file to see how many times the game was reloaded? I have no intention of cheating but obviously i'm not going to play it all in one shot so i'm going to be reloading it.

 

[Woodgar]

I'm trying to load the Contender class game and I get a message that says, "The save file you have selected is protected to ensure that the assets in your mod folder have not been changed." Then it boots me out.

I tried selecting 'Advanced' then 'Load a Mod' then 'None' but it still doesn't work. Anyone else have this problem? Have I loaded a mod into my permanent files and forgotten about it? (I know I haven't since the patch at least...) Is there an easier way to correct this besides reloading the game?

I had exactly the same problem.

The only file I had changed was CvMapGeneratorUtil.py to lessen the amount of desert tiles generated. I put back the original file and confirmed using Dianthus's asset checker that there were no other alterations present but I still could not load the save. I tried holding down SHIFT whilst loading the game to force it to refresh any caches but this didn't solve the problem either.

Finally I re-patched and I can now load the save game just fine.

From this it seems that the &#8220;asset lock&#8221; option not only checks the CRCs of the files but also the &#8220;last modified date&#8221;, as simply renaming my old .py file back to its original name was insufficient to get passed the checker.

As an aside, it does seem odd that the asset lock would check against the map scripts when loading a saved game as the map scripts are only used during the game setup phase and have no affect on game play thereafter, at least that is my understanding.

 

[ainwood]

I actually think it checks all files in the assets directory - if it finds extra files, it adds them to the CRC (not sure if it still works like that, but it did for a while!) Ie - it might have solved it to rename it, then delete yuor modified one (or more it out of the assets directory)

 

[GrandMatt]

i am having same problems as an earlier user pointed out with the contender class. I ran the asset checker, and it came up all ok. i re installed the 1.61 patch, so i really am stumped why i cant play it. i havent edited any of the game files so yea... any help

 

[Harok]

Well I got a couple of practice games in this weekend and Keshiks were better than I remember them. It had been awhile since I last played with them and either they are better now than they use to be or I have gotten better at using them.

I may try and wipe out the civs on my continent with them (hopefully without crashing my economy) get to Guilds and Astronomy and upgrade the old Keshiks to Knights for conquering any other continents. Unless of course our home continent is big enough to get to the domination limit.

The key is going to be getting them online as quickly as possible and getting them to the enemy so I expect to build quite a few early workers so I can hook up horses early and to construct roads to enemy civs.