Somnium discussion

[Sto]

I open a new thread here to get the Somnium feed backs. Especially for the AI choices. The aggressiveness is independent for each leader, but the actions an AI leader depend on the difficulty you play (memory and intelligence). Tell me if you think that some AI choices are really bad in some situations.

Please post in this thread any problem or remark you have on the mini-game itself. Please specify also, the difficulty you've played and the opponent leader.

This is my first screen, so there is some comestic issues to improve.

What is planned to do :

_ add a visual effect to show you when you can draw, end turn, pick card.
_ add a stat screen and include the stats in the intro pop up.
_ improve AI choices.
_ for MP games, always show you at the same place (not the place of the AI) for the invited player.
_ for MP games, if a player leave the game while playing (disconnect and reconnect don't cause problems). Be able to leave the screen.

Anyway, i can't do anything in the next 2 weeks, but that will help a lot to improve the game. And prevent also to dispatch the feed backs in the bug or cosmetic thread.

Tcho !

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Somnium bug 1: Games do not, as claimed, have any affect on diplomacy.

Somnium bug 2: When you have bet your pride against a leader, it always says that you must wait turns before you can do so again. This number never changes, even after 20 full turns.

As far as actually playing goes, it seems fine, albeit slightly slower than I would like.

 

[Sto]

Somnium bug 1: Games do not, as claimed, have any affect on diplomacy.

Somnium bug 2: When you have bet your pride against a leader, it always says that you must wait turns before you can do so again. This number never changes, even after 20 full turns.

As far as actually playing goes, it seems fine.

I'm fixing that. this is a merging problem. I test it , check the merging , and post the file in about 10 min.

Tcho !

 

[Sto]

The fix for turn delay and attitude change is posted in the first post.

Tcho !

 

[Sto]

... , albeit slightly slower than I would like.

I will adjust, while playing and with feed backs, pause delay in the screen. The addition of sounds have slow down a little the game, and i haven't touch them since Kael like the implementation it was. I will also try to add that as an option when incorporating the stats screen and be able to save/load infos for a specific player.

Tcho !

 

[marioflag]

I really love Somnium, and i can't say anything annoying i have found about its gameplay

In my first game i have played at Prince difficulty and played lot of games with:

-Perpentach
-Alexis
-Tebryn Arbandi

At least Tebryn Arbandi seems to me to risk too much, in 1 occasion he even took 5 cards when the first 2 cards where 7 of Towers and Wands and he didn't have any card of these seeds. It should risk a bit less, playing with Perpentach and Alexis was fine for me.

I would like an option to play cards against other leaders with absolutely no effect on the game. (no effect on relations or money)

 

[TheJopa]

I like Somnium Fun and simple - can't wait to play this in MP. But the great thing is that this came just when I established LAN connection between new laptop and my old PC, so me and my friend play FfH often. This will be fun.
Also, 1 relations really isn't much, so play as you will.

 

[woodelf]

I can see (and hope for) a Somnium stand alone tourney in the future! Great work Sto!

 

[Sto]

The game has been designed by Kael and the team. All thanks for them to have designed such a funny and interesting mini-game. And i really found it very fun to play also. Especially while waiting another player in MP that handle his war actions.

I really love Somnium, and i can't say anything annoying i have found about its gameplay

In my first game i have played at Prince difficulty and played lot of games with:

-Perpentach
-Alexis
-Tebryn Arbandi

At least Tebryn Arbandi seems to me to risk too much, in 1 occasion he even took 5 cards when the first 2 cards where 7 of Towers and Wands and he didn't have any card of these seeds. It should risk a bit less, playing with Perpentach and Alexis was fine for me.

I would like an option to play cards against other leaders with absolutely no effect on the game. (no effect on relations or money)

Tebryn Arbandi is the more aggressive player in the game. At prince difficulty, he don't have choice except drawing a lots of cards and try to reach 19 points or 1/2 chance of good draw and 13 extra points. I will perhaps tone that a bit. Especially at the end of the game. Special actions at end of game need a little more intelligence than Tebryn have with prince difficulty.

I was thinking playing for 1 gold was enough to play for fun and with no real impact on the game. I'll perhaps change that for 0 gold and play for fun.

I like Somnium Fun and simple - can't wait to play this in MP. But the great thing is that this came just when I established LAN connection between new laptop and my old PC, so me and my friend play FfH often. This will be fun.
Also, 1 relations really isn't much, so play as you will.

Lol, we have played about 1 hour only Somnium yesterday. I will add an option to play for zero gold also. the minimum is 10 for the moment in MP games. I think 1 relation is good. The initial delay is 30 turns (affected by game speed), this one may perhaps have to be increased. This has to be checked after a lots of feed backs.

 

[Sto]

I can see (and hope for) a Somnium stand alone tourney in the future! Great work Sto!

Thank you . It was fun to learn how to and implement the game. Make a pause in a screen was not as easy i though .
Design a Somnium tourney would really be fun when the game will be finished. Anyway I've no idea of how to organize that and implement a stand alone that manage that. I'll require your help ^^.

Tcho !

 

[Sto]

A patch that allow to play for fun with AI leader and MP games . copy the folder "Assets" in "...\<civ4 Folder>\Beyond the Sword\Mods\Fall from Heaven 2 033\".

Tcho !

Edit : file removed

 

[xienwolf]

If you click on Somnium before meeting anyone you are informed:

"You don't have met anyone yet..."

Which ought to instead state something along the lines of:

"You have not met anyone yet..."

(minor gramatical issue)

 

[Sto]

... My English is so bad. Kael should have skip this one while correcting the other text entries

 

[Dinkeldog]

Another minor grammatical error:

"Fool cannot take you a card..." should be "Fool cannot take a card from you..."

And another:

"You have finished at equality with ..." should probably be "You have tied with..." or "You have the same score as..." or something like that.

(No worries here, just minor stuff. )

Should we be able to bet more than 1 gp at a time?

 

[Sto]

The text error is noted.

Should we be able to bet more than 1 gp at a time?

The only bet was the attitude change at the beginning. I've added the bet for 1 gold thinking it get no impact on the game but have changed with just "play for fun". Anyway , the AI amount of gold was not changed. This was just to allow a player to play Somnium as desired. In MP games, the amount of gold may be consequent.

Tcho !

 

[seZereth]

somnium is just awesome and addictive

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I kinda feel like death just isn't scary enough. It is no worse than getting 2 cards of the same suit, which is pretty common. I think it might be better if the death card made you loose all the cards in your bank.

 

[Sto]

somnium is just awesome and addictive

I can't stop playing

I kinda feel like death just isn't scary enough. It is no worse than getting 2 cards of the same suit, which is pretty common. I think it might be better if the death card made you loose all the cards in your bank.

This is perhaps a little too much. The death take all its meaning at the end of the game with an equilibrated score. Especially if there is only a few cards left for some types and the others discarded. May be i may cheat a little and shuffle the death in last 2/3 of the deck.

Tcho !

 

[Kael]

I can't stop playing

This is perhaps a little too much. The death take all its meaning at the end of the game with an equilibrated score. Especially if there is only a few cards left for some types and the others discarded. May be i may cheat a little and shuffle the death in last 2/3 of the deck.

Tcho !

Nah, dont stack the deck. Death won't factor into some games and will into others thats the way it should be. The games where he shows up early you can discount him and make your late game decisions knowing he isn't waiting for you. And games where he doesn't come early he must remain a factor in your decisions. Thats exactly what he is there for, unlike the dual card odds which are a constant.

The fools are a reward for aggresive play. The more cards you turn over, the more likely you are to get fools. If it seems like the AI always gets the fool careds its probably because you are playing more conservativly than the AI.

Death is a punishment for aggresive play.

The order at which these 4 cards fall really determines the ideal aggresiveness for that particular game. Had all 3 fools go by but no death? Danger, danger! Death goes early but the 3 fools are still in the deck? Start digging!

There is a rubber band mechanic built into the game design that makes overturns and close endings more likely than a more typical design, so MC is right in saying that Death isnt that game impacting over the whole game. It isn't intended to be able to force the win or loss of games. Its just supposed to be a consideration in if you should draw your next card or not (which is the single decision Somnium's entire game focuses into).

 

[Vanion]

I think Somnium is exactly fine the way it is, and putting any cards in specific sections of the deck would ruin some of the randomness that always comes with card games.
I'm actually really surprised how well something that far away from original civ gameplay can be implemented into the game, especially without causing any problems at all in multiplayer.
In my multiplayer game with a friend earlier this day, we often had to tell each other "man, stop playing cards and finish your damn turn!" or "Hm... are you playing again? Why didn't you tell me, so I could play a game too?!".

Hats off for concept and coding on this one, guys!