IMPORTANT. New GOTM submissions form

[AlanH]

I have installed a new GOTM Submissions page and it is now active.

The new version will check your save and extract all the key data from it on the fly. As this is done in interpreted php, it adds up to 10 seconds to the total submission upload time, but the good news is you won't have to enter so much information. Please note the following, and make sure you have a suitable file ready for submission.

We've been letting you ignore our previous requests, and upload incomplete games, zips, etc. But no longer! It is now MANDATORY to submit a MANUAL SAVE taken from the TURN AFTER the victory ceremony unless you suffered a conquest defeat. The file MUST NOT be zipped. Your submission will be REJECTED if it does not comply with these requirements.

To save the turn after victory or defeat, select "Wait, lemme play just 'couple more turns ..." when the victory ceremony is over and then select "Save Game" in the main game menu. You can't do this if you suffer a conquest defeat, so, in this case ONLY, you may submit a manual save from the turn before your defeat. Your submission will also be rejected if it is a retirement before 2050AD, as this is not a valid GOTM option.

Since some of you like to send us other stuff, you can still send us additional files of any description, using a second file selection option on the page, but there's no guarantee we'll look at them and no facility as yet for you to download or view them again.

These instructions and other notes are provided on the submissions page. Please read and follow them. This is new software, and we all know what that means . I've tested it pretty thoroughly; all your GOTM30 submissions went through it successfully, for example - over 100 files. But I'm sure one of you will find my next penultimate bug . So if you have any problems please PM me.

 

[dojoboy]

So then, what you're saying is,......our GOTM30 results are ready?

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by dojoboy
So then, what you're saying is,......our GOTM30 results are ready?

Mechanical processing is complete, and was actually done twice this month using the old method and the new, to provide a parallel test for the new system. But the output has to be sanity checked, and we always have a few queries to resolve each month, which can't be done using CPU cycles. Both these activities involve people, who tend to respond in hours and days, not nanoseconds. Moore's Law does not apply to this part of the process. But we'll publish the results 'real soon now' (TM), and I expect we shall achieve the performance we delivered last month.

 

[dojoboy]

Okay Alan. I didn't expect a response. I was just teasing. Its a take off of my favorite line from "Dumb and Dumber."

 

[Xerol]

Ok, mine is uploaded, but the link to the submission list is broken:

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/"http://gotm.civfanatics.net/submit/submissionlist.php/"

Is what the link points to after I upload a file.

 

[samildanach]

Congratulatiions on being canonised as one of the new mods Alan
There is problem with the results tables - my result from GOTM 30 has replaced all my other results. The victory type is recorded correctly but the scores ( firaxis and jason) have been replaced by the GOTM 30 scores. This seems to have happened with everybody elses scores as well.
I've used the new submission page - it seemed to work fine I take it that there will no longer be an open access calculator as the firaxis score is now processed automatically?

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by QwertySoft
Ok, mine is uploaded, but the link to the submission list is broken:

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/"http://gotm.civfanatics.net/submit/submissionlist.php/"

Is what the link points to after I upload a file.

Thanks for spotting that. Punctuation errors - a pair of single inverted commas in my php has been expurgated

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by samildanach
Congratulatiions on being canonised as one of the new mods Alan

Thanks ...

There is problem with the results tables - my result from GOTM 30 has replaced all my other results. The victory type is recorded correctly but the scores ( firaxis and jason) have been replaced by the GOTM 30 scores. This seems to have happened with everybody elses scores as well.

You're quite right. The tables will be off the air for a little while until I fix my first screw-up as a mod!

I've used the new submission page - it seemed to work fine I take it that there will no longer be an open access calculator as the firaxis score is now processed automatically?

The calculator will still be available from mid month as usual. The Jason scores were always calculated on the server, they are just displayed as soon as you submit now.

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by AlanH
Thanks ...
You're quite right. The tables will be off the air for a little while

Reinstated now. Normal service is resumed.

 

[akots]

Originally posted by AlanH
... The calculator will still be available from mid month as usual. ...

Is it possible to ask to post the calculator spoiler a bit earlier? Let's say 7th or 8th day of the month? It is quite difficult to plan the game beyond 1000BC regarding victory condition and expansion/tech rate without this calculator spoiler. Thus, some players (hope not only me) are forced to play later in the month which is not always very convenient. If I'm asking too much or there is a particular reason for delay, please say so.

Edited: Sorry, that was a typo, it is supposed to be 1000AD. At least in the recent GOTM30.

 

[Offa]

Originally posted by akots
Is it possible to ask to post the calculator spoiler a bit earlier? Let's say 7th or 8th day of the month? It is quite difficult to plan the game beyond 1000BC regarding victory condition and expansion/tech rate without this calculator spoiler. Thus, some players (hope not only me) are forced to play later in the month which is not always very convenient. If I'm asking too much or there is a particular reason for delay, please say so.

Surely it's a spoiler. You aren't supposed to see it until after you have finished.

 

[samildanach]

Originally posted by Offa
Surely it's a spoiler. You aren't supposed to see it until after you have finished.

Exactly.
Since you now get the jason score automatically when you submit I don't see the point of having the calculator for that month in the public domain. There will be players who will take advantage of the information to milk their score more effectively. With the new C3C delayed contacts and MM trading rules it will provide players who violate the spoiler rules with a significant advantage over those who don't.
Of course a player can work out what the max turn per score is when he/she has the world map but that takes a bit of effort and it they probably won't have a full appreciation of the map until well into AD.

 

[AlanH]

OK. Offa and Samildanach are quite right, and I'm reversing my previous statement. As the Jason score is now supplied to each player at submission time, we can eliminate the possibility of the calculator being used as a spoiler. I shall therefore NOT update the public calculator page mid-month, and instead I'll leave it until after submissions close as of this month.

BTW, in case anyone is concerned, I don't have access to the calculator for game 31 either yet, and I haven't been 'spoiled'. The only current way to get a score out of the calculator is to submit a finished game. I know the map parameters that it uses, but only because I played the first part of the game myself to find out what the map looks like before I released the new submissions software.

For future games I am setting up a system to allow the game designer to load up the parameters so that I won't have to touch them. I wanna be able to play as well!

 

[Mauer]

what does this mean? I can't upload my game. please help
Parse error: parse error, unexpected ')' in /home/virtual/site7/fst/var/www/html/submit/gotm_submission_upload.php on line 115

 

[Karasu]

@Mauer,
I do not know what your problem is (sorry about that ).

The best thing you can do in these cases is to PM directly Alan or Ainwood, rather than posting in the forums.
This should give you better chances to have a quick response -and do not worry: they are going to fix the problem

 

[AlanH]

It means you win a major prize for having found the first error in my code .

Unfortunately I'm at work right now and don't have my toolkit with me, so I'll get on the case in a few hours time and fix it, and report back here.

Apologies for the glitch

 

[AlanH]

Problem resolved You should be able to submit again now. I broke it with a "simple cosmetic" (Yeah, right!) change I made late last night.

 

[akots]

Originally posted by Offa
Surely it's a spoiler. You aren't supposed to see it until after you have finished.

It might be possible to calculate everything by yourself after the World Map is known. It is rather tricky but not much. So, actually, the point was that how it is set up now, is not fair. The spoiler calculator either should be posted earlier or not posted at all. IMHO, using it after the whole map is known to tune the finish date regarding victory conditions is not a spoiler at all. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[ainwood]

Originally posted by akots
It might be possible to calculate everything by yourself after the World Map is known. It is rather tricky but not much. So, actually, the point was that how it is set up now, is not fair. The spoiler calculator either should be posted earlier or not posted at all. IMHO, using it after the whole map is known to tune the finish date regarding victory conditions is not a spoiler at all. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The problem is that we don't know when in the month that an individual person has finished. To post it on (say) the 15th would give those starting later in the month an advantage over those who have finished and submitted by the 5th.

The easiest solution is to not post it until after the game has closed.

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by akots
The spoiler calculator either should be posted earlier or not posted at all.

Correct. So, as I stated, we've decided not to post it until after submissions close.