Important Announcement About submissions:

[AlanH]

Important Note:

[UPDATE] The First Visit Page on the GOTM Web Site has been updated to give basic information for newcomers to GOTM and to include an overview of the procedures for both Civ3 and Civ4 players.[/UPDATE]


0. The submission form is here

I've obviously been monitoring the submissions for this game closely, as we are in uncharted territory with new software and lots of new players. Well played everyone, and please can I ask those still to submit to assist me by noting the following issues that have come up:

1. You MUST submit a saved file from the turn AFTER your victory, not the turn during which you received the notification. The game status and victory score are not stored until you hit next turn, and so some saves are showing up as incomplete games with no victory bonus.

[EDIT - the following is obsolete as save processing is done on the fly]
2. Some winning players are short changing themselves and quoting their score before the victory bonus is calculated.

[edit] I've been asked to clarify this: Please enter your Final Score - the one that includes your victory bonus - not your base score. [/edit]

 

[MerakSpielman]

Ouch, I think I might have done that... I just clicked "One... more... turn" and saved, I think, instead of actually ending the turn again after that message.

I noticed also when I got my confirmation email that it said my game version was 1.0. I don't remember being able to change that in the form, but I was running 1.09 like I'm supposed to. I don't think it would even load in version 1.0...

 

[Vardis]

FYI, if you're like me and missed the submission link, it's in the top right corner of the main page.

 

[Dianthus]

Ouch, I think I might have done that... I just clicked "One... more... turn" and saved, I think, instead of actually ending the turn again after that message.

Sounds like you did exactly right MerakSpielman. If you ended the turn then saved that would be the turn after the turn after victory! Just to clarify:

The turn before means saving before you're notified that you've won.

The turn after means clicking "One... more... turn" and then saving immediately.

 

[phoulishwan]

I noticed also when I got my confirmation email that it said my game version was 1.0. I don't remember being able to change that in the form, but I was running 1.09 like I'm supposed to. I don't think it would even load in version 1.0...

I noticed that too...but I have 1.09 installed also.

 

[AlanH]

The version is hard coded in teh form and I haven't got the particular round tuit required to change it ... until now

 

[kalder]

Hi...it's more or less the first time I seriously try a GOTM...I read infos and rules on the site, I had a look to the main civ3 GOTM forums, I read carefully (I hope) the threads on Civ4 GOTM...However...I find it quite difficult to find the way throughout all these threads and replies...
Could you please be clearer on the submission mechanism (maybe it too early to ask for that)? E.g. what is the conquest/open game/predator thing? Does it matter for civ4 GOTM too? What is my replay save?

IMHO, it will be VERY useful to provide the most complete and well explained information on the GOTM site and not in the forum's threads...excepted of course for the spoilers/pre-game and similar threads

Thanks a lot for your time and patience: it's a great job!!

 

[AlanH]

I appreciate that we have a lot of newcomers to GOTM as a result of the Civ4 release. I think we've been lulled into a false sense of security by catering largely for veteran players who know the ropes and can help noobies. Couple that with the fact that we are dealing with a new release of Civ, with its own inimitable bugs. Then add to the mix that I, as a Mac user, can't even see it or play it yet, and you'll see that we are somewhat challenged

However, your point is well taken, and I'll try to provide some clearer guidance on the site as soon as possible. Meanwhile, it's really quite simple, and maybe I'll copy the following summary to the site as a starter:

- Read the rules of the competition here. Recognise that these have not been updated to deal with the specific exploits in Cv4 because we don't know them yet. But note the two over-riding rules: (1) NO RELOADING. (2) if you are uncertain about whether an action is an exploit, you should contact the staff before doing it.

- Get the game information and download the start file here

- Play the game, avoiding unnecessary reloading, and avoiding looking at spoilers you shouldn't.

- Submit the .Civ4SavedGame file after you finished, plus your .Civ4Replay file here. This month you need to give us your date, score and victory condition so that we can check our submission sofware. Next month and thereafter we'll tell you.

- Read and participate in the spoiler thread when you are eligible.

- Watch and wait for the results.

- Most of all, enjoy the GOTM experience.

Please tell me what else is needed to expand this.

 

[MikeH]

E.g. what is the conquest/open game/predator thing? Does it matter for civ4 GOTM too? What is my replay save?

Alan has given the general guidance, but on your specifics - the conquest/open/predator class is system of different game difficulties that only applies to Civ 3 at the moment, basically the open class is the straight game, conquest gives the player some additional advantages and predator gives the AI some additional advantages.

Your replay save is the save of the replay that pops up at the end of the game (and can be accessed later from the Hall of Fame list). You will find it in your My Games/Sid Meier's Civilzation4/replays folder.

 

[AlanH]

Sorry I missed those questions, thanks MikeH for catching them.

We are in a start-up situation and things will change. The replay file will probably not be required for future games. Conquest/Open/Predator classes probably will be offered as options for future games (though I'd still like to change their names). For this game it doesn't matter what class you select in the submission form. For future games you will need to choose the right starting file for the class you wish to play, but you will not be required to enter this information when you submit as we'll get it from your save.

 

[Renata]

@ alan -- you may also want to give a list of staff members to contact, because newbies aren't likely to know who we are. And perhaps mention a preference for contact via PM as opposed to cluttering up the GOTM forum with potentially spoilerish 'is this an exploit?' questions.

The currently active (meaning: online at least once a day on average) GOTM staff members are:

ainwood (head honcho)
AlanH (staff superman )
Karasu (mapmaker extraordinaire)
a space oddity (all-around helper and just generally a good egg)
Gyathaar (current SGOTM evil genius)
Theoden (Quick Games necromancer)
Renata (staff layabout)

Intermittently active are mad-bax, zagnut and Aeson. Is that everybody?

 

[AlanH]

Good points Lois Renata I'll get back in my phone box now.

 

[Phaedrus]

How do I submit? e-mail? Where is the info for submission?

 

[ainwood]

How do I submit? e-mail? Where is the info for submission?

Submit via an online upload here.

 

[Roland Ehnström]

1. You MUST submit a saved file from the turn AFTER your victory, not the turn during which you received the notification. The game status and victory score are not stored until you hit next turn, and so some saves are showing up as incomplete games with no victory bonus.

Hmm, what exactly do you mean by this? Let's say you win by Domination. At the end of year 1, you click "End Turn" and between turns the message pops up that you have won. The win is scored as winning year 1. After clicking "Just One More Turn", the date is now year 2. This is where I saved the game and left. Are you saying I should have clicked "End Turn" once more, and saved the game in year 3?

-- Roland

 

[AlanH]

You submit year 2 - the turn after your win. Your score is calculated for year 1. Don't worry, your submission is fine. I'll deal with the fact that the win was year 1, not the saved year 2.

87 submissions and counting

 

[kalder]

thanks to the staff for your kind and informative replies. I think that it may be helpful to put the same summary on the site..

Thanks again!

 

[Velvet-Glove]

Newbie to GoTM's here... I've just finished my game and it was a Time victory. I'm not sure what to select on the submissions page under 'Game result' as there isn't an option for a Time victory.

I don't understand what "Histographic" means, is this the option I should select? If not can you explain what this refers to please?

Thanks for your help, maybe I'm being dumb but this is all quite new to me.

 

[Renata]

Yes, that type of victory was called Histographic in CivIII. So choose that one. It'll get changed soonish, I imagine.

 

[AlanH]

Sorry, yes. The submission form was created before I knew what the victory conditions would be called. I'll change it Real Soon (TM).

[EDIT] Done [/EDIT]