(June 21st, 2014, 09:03)toddestan Wrote: On a technical note, I don't have MS Excel. I assume that filling out the spreadsheet in OpenOffice should be fine?
toddestan,
I received your Excel file you converted with OpenOffice. Everything looked fine. Therefore, you (and everyone else) can use OpenOffice.
I voluntarily enter the Imperium41 tournament. I have read all instructions, rules, and steps required to play this tournament. I agree to abide by them all at all times for the sake of fair competition in this tournament and for accurate data collection to further improve the tournament.
Can someone explain how to load from MoO1.4's autosave files? Do I need to rename the latest file (ie SAVE250.GAM) to SAVE7.GAM or is there an easier way?
(June 29th, 2014, 20:54)Ianus Wrote: Can someone explain how to load from MoO1.4's autosave files? Do I need to rename the latest file (ie SAVE250.GAM) to SAVE7.GAM or is there an easier way?
The safest and best method I know of is to
1. Rename current SAVE1.GAM to SAVE1X.GAM
2. Copy SAVE250.GAM to a different folder (not move).
3. Rename the new copy of SAVE250.GAM to SAVE1.GAM.
4. Move (not copy) this new SAVE1.GAM to the original folder.
5. Quit MoO.
6. Start up MoO.
7. Load the first saved game slot from the game.
SAVE7.GAM is the "current" autosave. It may or may not be the last saved game state. You can determine by the file's date modified description in the operating system.
To restore the original SAVE1.GAM, you delete the current SAVE1.GAM then rename from SAVE1X.GAM to SAVE1.GAM. Quit and start MoO.
As a general statement about my own observations while playing, SAVE7.GAM (the "current autosave) is written automatically every few turns (5?, 7?) AND every time the current game is exited (GAME>QUIT) so as a general rule when ending a play session always QUIT the game before closing DosBox. This will preserve progress and allow easy resumption of play. *NOTE* Do NOT take my word for this, test it first!!
Is the purpose of the yellow Tech fields in the reporting spreadsheet to list every tech we get in the game, including research or only techs we get through other means?
(June 30th, 2014, 22:17)Ianus Wrote: Is the purpose of the yellow Tech fields in the reporting spreadsheet to list every tech we get in the game, including research or only techs we get through other means?
Every single tech you get and state year and means (including research) of getting it.
"I voluntarily enter the Imperium41 tournament. I have read all instructions, rules, and steps required to play this tournament. I agree to abide by them all at all times for the sake of fair competition in this tournament and for accurate data collection to further improve the tournament."
I presume my defeat will be swift, and suitably unglorious.
Can we have an official notice of exactly when reporting opens on Monday? Is it any time on August 11 or does it have to be after 21:40 Eastern (I assume that is where you are Whitemage)? I can't wait for the results!
Imperium 41 is now closed. Players can upload their unofficial reports here for others to read. Detailed official combined standardized tournament results are attached in Excel.
I reviewed all game reports and autosave histories. I declare the following placements (player user ID, followed by combined tournament score):
1. (gold) Thrawn - 500
2. (silver) Ianus - 840
3. (bronze) toddestan - 1132
4. Zieman - 15649
DNF: Zygot – entered tournament, but I have not received official report by deadline
Summary and conclusions:
1. While the tournament was open there were 14 downloads, 1 of those was done by me.
2. There were 5 entries into the tournament and 4 finishes. I played under the exact same rules earlier, which gives 5 data vectors available for performance comparison in Excel.
3. The 4 players who submitted final results submitted a total of 9 reports. I rejected 5 of those due to finding errors in the reports and not complying with the instructions. The most common error was in missing technologies and missing years reported in the yellow areas for tech research.
4. Player performance and choices made by players varied widely. Random events varied impacting different players differently.
5. Narrative feedback from players varied widely.
6. Lowest reported game enjoyment score was 70, the highest was 90, the average was 82.5.
Lessons learned and future plans for the tournament:
Staying true to the original tournament design principles I posted when I opened the tournament, the next logical step would be to further tune the tournament and primarily focus on the report of the tournament winner. Other players are recommended to learn from the winner and try to catch up with their performance.
1. Participation level was very low (4), which is not enough motivation for me to host another tournament all by myself. I would need a rule enforcer partner.
2. I am more interested in playing a future upgraded tournament along the lines of this tournament.
3. It took me about 30 hours to host and execute this tournament. About 10 hours was to start it up (not counting the actual playing of the game). This can be saved next time and the other 20 hours can be reduced too by less error checking and less individual communication with players. Searching for errors in individual reports and communicating with individual users how to fill out the form was my least preferred activity in organizing this tournament. My proposed solution is to keep the yellow cells in the form, but not to take them seriously, since players almost always make errors and referee checking reports and comparing to save games, communicating with players, rechecking, etc. are not fun.
4. Satisfying all players with a single tournament design is not possible, but I continue to believe that designing tournament for best player to win with 50% chance is a correct target.
5. Future tournament should be played on small or medium size galaxy only.
6. Various specific minor fixes to the Excel file.
7. Shorten tournament period to 6 weeks.
8. Make rules stricter, make winning harder. I have specific ideas how.
Overall I declare the Imperium 41 tournament a success, since players were satisfied and I met most of my objectives, which makes me satisfied. The low turnout was a predicted factor.
If there would be at least 6 players who agree to play a future similar upgraded tournament, then I would be interested in making the tuning of the rules, but I would need someone else making the hosting, the postings, and the rule enforcements, since next time, I would like to be a player.
Thanks for everyone who participated and for those who will contribute in the future. Anyone reading this thread, please look for errors, and post here as I may have missed something.
I have the official autosave histories submitted by the tournament players, but I can't upload them here since the file size limit is 1MB. Even one player's compressed autosaves is 3.4MB. Ideas?
(August 11th, 2014, 22:50)WhiteMage Wrote: I have the official autosave histories submitted by the tournament players, but I can't upload them here since the file size limit is 1MB. Even one player's compressed autosaves is 3.4MB. Ideas?
You could try box.com - free account allows 25 MB files.
