Logging a Civ2 game

[TimTheEnchanter]

I decided to start taking a late stab at GOTM 70 last night (there's almost no chance I can finish) and tried to follow the Status Report format. Based on that, I think one other item that should be in the Status Report is Treasury balance.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

I used to have a more elaborate status report which included the treasury balance as well several other items. Then at some point I decided to simplify it and out went treasury balance, TLS rates, ...

One reason I decided to do away with it is that unless I am playing fundy my treasury is always fairly close to zero. (OCC is another exception but I use an altogether different format for that one which does include the treasury balance.)

 

[Hein]

Hi,

I have a very simple airport tracker that works for me. Whenever I build an airport in one of my cities I rename that city and add " Air" to the end. So "Thebes" becomes "Thebes Air". You can even go as far as identifying each of your island by a character.

I do something similar for the city with my palace by adding " Cptl".
By changing the city name you can of course identify whatever you want, like barracks or a port.

Hein

 

[Hein]

I did do similar things with logging games and once posted a sav game for other to play and compare the loggings in the late 1990. I found it took too much time keep track of the events in the game.

Another difficulty at that time was the 14k4 modem I had so that it was not easy to send sav games around. Interestingly when looking to other peoples maps I learned that I built my cities much closer together than the other players. I start with an infinite city strategy and develop into a power democracy lateron. So looking at other players maps is another way to learn their style.

For myself I save the game at regular dates to compare between games:4000BC, 2000BC, (1000BC,) 1AD, (500AD), 1000AD, 1500AD, 1600AD, 1650AD, 1700AD, 1750AD, 1800AD, ....

When looking back at old games I am most interested in #gold/turn, the #turns/tech and the tech stage I am at. This will tell me the state of my empire given the type of game I play. All other parameters feed into these one way or another.

 

[Hein]

I did do similar things with logging games and once posted a few starting sav games for other to play and compare the loggings in the late 1990. I found it took too much time keep track of the events in the game.

Another difficulty at that time was the 14k4 modem I had so that it was not easy to send .sav games around. Interestingly when looking to other peoples maps I learned that I built my cities much closer together than the other players. (I start with an infinite city strategy and develop into a power democracy lateron.) So looking at other players maps is another way to learn their style.

For myself I save the game at regular dates to compare between games:4000BC, 2000BC, (1000BC,) 1AD, (500AD), 1000AD, (1200/1300AD), 1500AD, 1600AD, 1650AD, 1700AD, 1750AD, 1800AD, ....

When looking back at old games I am most interested in #gold/turn, the #turns/tech and the tech stage I am at. All other parameters feed into these one way or another. This will tell me the state of my empire given the type of game I play.

 

[Magic_gorter]

I have a very simple airport tracker that works for me. Whenever I build an airport in one of my cities I rename that city and add " Air" to the end.

Not yet thought about this. It is indeed an easy way to track you're airports. I already changed the names of a city depanding on which island they are. It's an easy way to know were the city lies and if it's an interesting city for trade.

 

[Peaster]

Probably, EC players should report their casualties - at the end of their games, if not more often. IMO a rough report like "10 crusaders/ele's and 5 other units" would be fine.

Also, key events like - when the first boatful of attackers departs, when a distant colony is founded, when the player's attention shifts from one enemy to another, etc. IMO these events are more interesting than stats on how many techs the AI have, etc.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

It has been years since I started this discussion and since then several players have adopted my proposed status reports. While I read the logs, I pay more attention to status reports and I suspect so do others. I think it is time for an update to the status report format. My thinking is

to do away with the following:

- Production number
early in the game it is not useful as it is dictated by terrain and roughly the same for everyone and every style of play. Late in the game it is not very relevant as most production is done by rush buying

- number of polluted tiles
Only in rare games this matters. It should be noted in the new notes section if it matters (above 5).

to modify the following:

- Wonders
report in up to 4 rows for ancient, medieval, industrial, and modern. Say all but <s> when having 5 or more in each set

- Units
Mention settlers/engineers, boats (of all kinds), vans, and assault units (this includes land units except the ones that are primarily for defense, air units, diplomats, and spies). More detail is really not necessary. How many defenders one has and what type they are is not very relevant.

to add the following:

- Notes/Goals
This would be for anything worthwhile outside of the above. For example in some recent games foot print of our empire was a crucial factor, and in the most recent GOTM what mattered a lot was the position of farthest units.
Goal are both for immediate and longer terms goals.

Putting it all together results in this template:

Status at <n>
Population: <n>M; Cities: <n>; Techs: <n>; Government: <s>;
Gold: <n>; Cost: <n>; Trade routes: <n>D<n>F;
Ancient Wonders:
Medieval Wonders:
Industrial Wonders:
Modern Wonders:
Units: <n> settlers/engineers, <n> vans, <n> boats, <n> assault units
Notes/Goals: <s>
Rival1: No contact; Wonders; War/alliance with others
Rival2: No embassy; Wonders; War/alliance with others
Rival3: <n> cities, <n> techs; Wonders; War/alliance with others
Rival4: <n> cities, <n> techs; Wonders; War/alliance with others
Rival5: Destroyed by me
Rival6: Destroyed by <s>

 

[Peaster]

In my opinion, the missing element in most logs is the player's goal. If I cannot tell whether he is playing for conquest or landing, a fast win or a high score, the log is usually not very interesting. Also, this a basic feature of "comparison games" - you want to compare your game with similar ones.

If playing for EC, include the year that the first flotilla departs (and dates of 1st attacks....).
If playing for EL, include the year you start getting one tech per turn (and similar dates).

Strong players who can predict roughly how / when their game will end should include those predictions asap. This is also a good way to improve.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Good point about goals, Peaster. I am going to change the Notes field to Notes/Goals