My 1st GTOM

[The 777 Hoax]

Hey, I don't know if this is the right place for this, but I've decided that I want to try this and I don't really know what I'm doing. Any tips on how to get started or strategies of GOTM. I heard there are multiple types of GOTMs, like a Quick Game or something?

Any help would be appreciated... thanks!

 

[AlanH]

Hi, welcome

Have you visited the GOTM site yet? There's a First visit page that tries to explain what's going on in the main GOTMs. There are three GOTMs to cover Civ3 "Classic", Civ3 Conquests and Civ4.

The Quick Games are short competitive exercises that you can find here. The last one finished a week or so ago and the next is not started, or announced, yet.

There's also a Quick Start Challenge within the Civ3 GOTMs where you can compare progress after your first 80 turns against that of other players.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

Yes I've been there and found it quite interesting... I'd just like to know how and what do download to play the games.

 

[AlanH]

Well, I was trying to avoid rewriting all the instructions, but here we go:

Get the game information and download the start file using the links on these pages

The links to the game information are to the left (Civ3) and right (Civ4). They are images, with text underneath summarising each active game and its submission deadline. Click an image to go to that game's information page. Each page has a description of the game and links to the start files. Choose your level of difficulty according to the descriptions given for Conquest, Open and Predator classes, or their equivalents in Civ4. Choose your software version if you are playing a Classic game (currently GOTM 52). I recommend PtW if you have it because vanilla version 1.29 requires a 26 MByte mod pack to be installed. Dowload the start file, load it and play.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

Alright, sorry about that... lol. I have PTW so I don't have to worry about that mod pack. What kind of levels/settings do they usually put the games on, or do you pick your own settings?

 

[ainwood]

Alright, sorry about that... lol. I have PTW so I don't have to worry about that mod pack. What kind of levels/settings do they usually put the games on, or do you pick your own settings?

The difficulty changes each month - the general trend is that we cycle from easier to hard back to easy-ish. The settings are all set in the starting sve, and published in the pre-game discussion threads, as well as on the game release page on the website.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

Awesome. I'll definitely be attempting the next one. I'll also look into the Quick Game thingy.

200 posts!

 

[The 777 Hoax]

Okay, I read some of the procedures and stuff and I have a few questions...

1.) Are you allowed to send in more than one saved game? For example, do two "Open", one "Conquest", and three "Predator"?
2.) What is the "Global Ranking"?

 

[AlanH]

You can only submit your FIRST attempt at any game. That is self evident from the "No Reloads" rule. Replaying the same game from the start is the ultimate in reloading.

You can choose any class for each game, with one exception. Once you have ranked above 50% in any game you can't then play future games at Conquest class, as this class is intended to get players into the system at the shallow end.

The Global Ranking is explained on the Global Ranking page, presumably not clearly enough. Each game you submit is given a score from 0 to 100 depending on your actual score relative to the maximum for that game. The scores over the last nine months are aged according to how long ago they were played, and added together to give a measure of your performance over time. The Global Ranking table then shows your aggregate postion relative to the other players.