Requirements of QSC Notes?

[Methos]

My apologies but I’m a little confused about what is required on the QSC notes. After reading the first spoiler for GOTM39 I noticed many players put down what their cities built and in what order. Is this required? I’ve never taken notes with this game before and was rather amazed at how extensive some player’s notes were.

Basically I’m not sure exactly what the judges want and would like to have a feeling for what is required.

Unfortunately I got too caught up in the game and never took any notes. My first save was at 850 BC, so I can’t enter GOTM39’s QSC. I do plan on playing COTM9 so wish to make sure I know what I’m supposed to do before the game starts.

Thanks everyone and I’m having a great time playing.

 

[solenoozerec]

Go here
There is a coulmn "QSC Score & TImeline". If you click on an entry in this column you will get a QSC notes of particular player.
There are a lot of differences in style, format etc.
Your QSC notes should be as detailed as it is needed to reproduce your game. In other words someone who follows your notes should get to the same situation as you did in your game.
Idealy you need not only to describe what you did, but also explain your intentions.

I need to worn you that this requires time. When I started to do this, I begin to play 3 times slower than usual.

 

[Sabre]

I need to worn you that this requires time. When I started to do this, I begin to play 3 times slower than usual.

I think this is one of the reasons people see an improvement in their game once they start keeping QSC notes. Before I began keeping notes the early turns would just fly by and my play was pretty sloppy. Now, even though I no longer go into as much detail with my notes, I take my time and think things through. I rarely ever forget and let my towns riot, I check F4 every turn, I carefully plan where my towns will go, my early game is just much tighter and more focused then it used to be. I've still got a long way to go, especially with the mid-game, but keeping a QSC log was a huge step in improving my game and is well worth the time and effort.

 

[Methos]

@solenoozerec
Thanks for the info, I plan on going through it hopefully this weekend. I still haven't finished GOTM39 yet .

@Sabre
To be honest I never really pay that much attention to what I've done in the past at the beginning of the game. Hopefully this will help me as you said it did you. Thanks.

 

[Renata]

Actually, your notes don't have to be detailed enough to reproduce your turns exactly. That would be an impossible standard, anyway, since RNG-calls among the AI civs will cause things to go differently on a replay no matter how much detail is given.

Best suggestion is to go through previous submissions, like solen suggested, and pick some happy medium that works for you.

Renata

 

[solenoozerec]

Actually, your notes don't have to be detailed enough to reproduce your turns exactly. That would be an impossible standard,

Actually when I was going through SirPleb's QSC log for COTM6 I got exact reproduction. An important factor is to follow it precisely. If he writes worker 1 n and warrior2 n, you need to do it in the same order and not vice versa. As a result you get the same RNG. If you pop a goody hut, you get the same things as SirPleb did.
Such a detailed description may not be a requirement, but it gives a lot of confidence about this game. So while it is not required, it is very nice. I am trying to write my current QSC log for COTM9 (@Renata - ) the same way as Sirpleb does, every movement in the same order as I did including citizen micromanagement.
I also gave up my previous Excel format because although it looks fancy, it is cumbersome to write and to follow. I write it now in txt. The content is much more important than the form.

 

[AlanH]

Actually, your notes don't have to be detailed enough to reproduce your turns exactly. That would be an impossible standard, anyway, since RNG-calls among the AI civs will cause things to go differently on a replay no matter how much detail is given.

As solen says, the RNG is only pseudo-random and therefore it's predictable. If you can make every single unit move and F4 visit etc. exactly the same then the dice will roll exactly the same. A difficult documentation standard to meet, but not impossible. But it doesn't take much to change the sequence.

 

[Renata]

Heh. Didn't know that. I remember trying to follow SirPleb's QSC description for a GOTM from last year -- 18, possibly -- and seeing some differences. It's entirely possible I did things in a different order, though.

@solen -- thanks.

Renata

 

[solenoozerec]

Heh. Didn't know that. I remember trying to follow SirPleb's QSC description for a GOTM from last year -- 18, possibly -- and seeing some differences. It's entirely possible I did things in a different order, though.

@solen -- thanks.

Renata

I have to say it is very difficult to follow them precisely. I was reloading almost every turn because of that.

 

[Smirk]

The key is you have to write notes enough for you to think and understand what your goals are, as well as help others see what your motivations and strategy.

I don't care so much about repeatability because I find it unlikely, and I doubt I could spend that much time and make it error free. I always talk about my initial exploration, direction-wise, and I generally do put in exact movement for my workers, but that varies, gotm39 was so worker heavy that I stopped writing about them at all at say 1500 BC or maybe earlier.

I do tend to write about major RNG events, contacts, huts, battles. So while I only mention my warrior is heading northwest, if he pops a hut in 3650 BC, it wouldn't matter the path you take as long as you can pop that hut and do at 3650 BC you'll get the same results. Although there are a variety of odd things that apparently stoke the RNG, but I don't know specifics.