Gypsy Kings - pitboss session (closed game)

[Munro]

You changed ip and munro didn't add you?

I don't think that's it. I've opened up the firewall to allow connections from any IP (for the appropriate ports) and both dV and hellwitch have been able to connect since then - from new IPs - without any further intervention from me.

Ronnie - as discussed, could be that you are trying to connect to the wrong IP, since this was also the problem for dV yesterday - maybe a typo in a PM or IM that I sent both of you? Either way it seems specific to your setup somehow so we'll sort it out over PM / IM (would rather not post my external IP on a public forum).

Edit: working again now; there was an issue with my firewall settings. All required ports should be open now.

 

[Munro]

Well, if we push to 8 (or even 10!) we may need a new test game to get everyone in it (only six slots in current test) ...

Or we could have the new players replace us in the same game if we give them our civ passwords ... which is easier?

dV

10 sounds like a lot of players.. and is this is the first time at pitboss for most of us, it'd be good to keep it a bit more informal and within the team as far as possible.

That said, I'd be very happy to see Toller Pretzl come back if he was interested in joining us for this pitboss game (and / or the next SGOTM?) or oyzar also knows another norweigan player - Rusten? - who might also be interested (and might also be a possible recruit for the next SGOTM? Looks like he is a pretty good deity player too... 8) )

Shall I PM TP first since he is already a gypsy king and most of us know him already?

 

[Ronnie1]

I spoke to Rusten via IM and he is waiting to decide on the next SGOTM, he may go to OSS as he knows someone on that team also. For now, why don't you go ahead and PM TP and see if he is interested.

 

[adrianj]

I'm back.

As I mentioned last week, there doesn't seem any chance I can get into the game from Uni, where I do most of my playing. I'll try log on when I get home tonight - although I wouldn't anticipate any problems, considering I logged onto a previous test game.

Edit: And my IP will also be variable from home. But it looks like this is no longer a problem.

I have 0 pitboss experience, in fact, I have 0 experience at any kind of civ4 multiplayer.

FWIW I agree with whoever it was that said barbs are good. If we're playing 1 turn per day for a year I would definitely like some challenging barbarians to deal with in the early game.

Dates I will be away:
6th - 28th September (confirmed)
29th November - 4th December (approx.)
Week between christmas and new year (most likely.)

 

[adrianj]

Can I make another quick suggestion: My home PC has had graphics issues in the past. I think I've sorted them out, but just to be on the safe side, can we have the map a slightly smaller size. I imagine this will also encourage some earlier action as well.

 

[oyzar]

Standard map with 8 people is already fairly crowded.. With pitboss it really shouldn't be a problem as you don't actually do the turnflipps just loading up the map...

 

[Munro]

We managed to get aj connected from his uni / workplace using hamachi (a private, free VPN) - so standard size / home PC graphics issues shouldn't be an issue now.

If anyone else is already familiar with hamachi and wants to use it in preference to a regular connection, just let me know and I'll PM you the details. (Existing connections via the public IP you already have for me should continue to work fine).

Also - I sent toller pretzl a PM this evening to see if he'd be interested in joining us, to take the final spot for 2v2v2v2.

What is everyone's preference for difficulty levels by the way? Would anyone (else) be up for emperor difficulty? Just to make the initial barbs and city planning a bit more interesting, and possibly make some of the less useful leader traits (agressive, protective, expansive, organized etc) a bit more useful due to the more challenging start conditions, and make some of the early decisions a bit more interesting (e.g. so it isn't necessarily just a straightforward chopfest - need to consider health etc as well).

Emperor barbs shouldn't be too hardcore - esp. in teams of two humans co-operating.

Thoughts?

 

[Ronnie1]

I'm game for whatever! This is my first effort at multiplayer, I have no experience to base any sort of opinion! I'm mostly comfortable playing Emperor solo. It definitely adds barb activity early, and the health and happy caps are definitely more restrictive than Noble.

 

[toller pretzl]

Hello everybody. Thank you for the invitation, it's an exciting idea. I think this setup is probably not right for me though, because of the huge commitment involved.

Will it be like this ? : I select France, my team-partner selects Germany, and then when I am on vacation he plays both France and Germany ?

 

[Munro]

Yes, exactly. And also any days of the week that you aren't able to get online (everyone needs a day off from time to time, even from civ ).

I haven't played pitboss before, but I'd imagine if you can be online 5-6 days a week that would be fine. You can either have your partner play your turn on your days off, or just queue up orders and builds etc.

Also, we can always pause the game for a few days if needed if there are any extended periods when both team members will be away (unless your team is winning of course! ) or if needed at, say, christmas.

If this sounds good, let us know!

 

[toller pretzl]

So will two members of a team also want to beat each other ? Or have they won as a team when one of them wins ?

And what happens if two members of a team sandwich a member of another team on the map, while the other part of that team is far, far away ? Will it be an early exit for the sandwiched player ?

 

[oyzar]

So will two members of a team also want to beat each other ? Or have they won as a team when one of them wins ?

And what happens if two members of a team sandwich a member of another team on the map, while the other part of that team is far, far away ? Will it be an early exit for the sandwiched player ?

Two civs who are teamed work for one for pretty much all purposes, so if you try to sandwitch one civ odds are his team mate will help him out . The other teammate won't be far far away as the teams start together... You win as a team when the team wins... Not entierly sure how a team space race works, but you need 3 cities(in the team) for culturual, or domination of total land / pop and conquest is obvious(eliminate all non-teammates).

 

[Munro]

Right - it works like a permanent alliance, so you share research, victory conditions etc.

Also - as oyzar says, the mapscript always ensures you start next to your partner, so there shouldn't be any chance that you end up isolated. So it should all be pretty fair!

 

[hellwitch]

Yea, i am already very exited for this game. When we plan to start. We are wiating for C63, right? And do we have consensus for the teams?

 

[hellwitch]

I'm game for whatever! This is my first effort at multiplayer, I have no experience to base any sort of opinion! I'm mostly comfortable playing Emperor solo. It definitely adds barb activity early, and the health and happy caps are definitely more restrictive than Noble.

I've played once and win but no fighting at all because all the ather 3 players surrender when the saw my forces. It was 1v1v1v1.

Multi can be treated as aways war because you can be attacked anytime. Most of the games if not all the games are conquests. In team play you are dead without your partner so give him and ask help whenever you need.
And so on. I've read few articles for multi already but there are more.

 

[Munro]

toller pretzl was able to connect into the test game ok, so just waiting for confirmation from C63 that he is able to log in post-BtS 3.17 upgrade. I think he gets back tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be ready to start shortly.

How do these look for teams?

• Munro / adrianj
• ozyar / Ronnie1
• da_Vinci / hellwitch
• Conquistador 63 / toller pretzl

I split hellwitch and toller pretzl up to try and even out the skill levels a bit (as they are both rather good ). Does the above look like a good fit for everybody? Post here or send me a PM if you'd prefer anything different.

Also -

• It might be fun (and fairer) if teams choose their civs / leaders in private; just send me your choices in a PM with a subject line like 'confidential - civ choices for pitboss' or something like that so I'll know not to read it until everyone has chosen and we're ready to set up the game. aj and I have already starting discussing the choices and there's a bewildering array.
• I'll randomize the team order (if necessary for this map type?) so that the starting configuration is random - i.e. oyzar / dV won't necessarily be next to hellwitch / dV; everyone will start next to their teammate though
• any final objections / suggestions on the game settings, before we tie them down? (Note the proposed emperor difficulty, which will affect happiness and health caps, and barbs).
• one last note - please remember when disconnecting from each pitboss session, to use 'exit to main menu' rather than 'exit to desktop'. Apparently the latter can sometimes cause problems.

To give us a target to aim for, should we aim to finalise teams and game settings by end of monday, say, and finalise leader choices by end of wednesday or thursday? I should be able to get the game set up pretty quickly after that.

 

[hellwitch]

Its ok for me. Just one more rule. : No Roman leaders, please because praet. are winning advantage if used properly.

 

[oyzar]

Sure no praets is fine. It isn't necesarry to randomize team order as that will be rather random once the game starts up anyways. Can we please have always war so we don't get any silly trading of gold / cities or whatever(we already have a partner). This obviously doesn't mean we HAVE to attack each other imeadiatly but it will lessen WW(by 50%) and it will rule out most dilomatic options.

 

[toller pretzl]

Its ok for me. Just one more rule. : No Roman leaders, please because praet. are winning advantage if used properly.

I just wonder if that's true. What wil happen to Rome if it is pitted against a China that first holds it off with axemen, and then starts churning out cho-ko-nu's ?

 

[oyzar]

I just wonder if that's true. What wil happen to Rome if it is pitted against a China that first holds it off with axemen, and then starts churning out cho-ko-nu's ?

Sure china is good, but there is no doubt that it takes way longer to get to cho-no-kus than praets, and axes aren't exactly that good against praets either . I am fine either way though.. I don't think praets unbalance the game...