Flavor

There had been a burning at Peabody, with dozens killed, chasing images in the flames, fleeing before monsters that seemed to cackle like crones, before familiars that smiled from the darkness. But this time it was different. This time, one of those identified, Ann Putnam Jnr, barely ten years old had cracked before the hanging. She confessed in secret as in a broken, hoarse voice she attested to the killings, from eyes far older then her nine years she spoke of the Black Man . . . and of a "piece of fun" planned for Peabody.

By the time they arrived it had been going on for hours, only one house still burning in the twilight. At the local meeting-house, some two dozen had barricaded away from the horror, but it had chased them in. Only seven survived it, but they all spoke of an evil amongst them, of how the attack had come from within.

With the power of witchcraft it was impossible to find even two accounts that worked together, but one fact remained constant, that two witches had been seen together, their faces shrouded, moments before the initial explosion.

Reverend Hale advised seclusion and seperation, intensive observation day and night . . . but everyone knew that was infeasible. Reverend Parris and John Putnam each advised to kill them all, that five deaths was a excellant trade for a pair of witches. Perhaps that was the wiser course too, given what followed . . .

In the end I suspect Governor Phipps had simply had enough death and destruction on his hands, and wanted to do as Pilate did.

So they were locked up in the darkest corner of Salem jail, and ordered to vote. If they found the witches, they would live. If not . . . the guards could simply kill them anyway.

At least that was the plan . . .

Game Rules:

Here's the idea: I provide a turn 0 save file. You play around with it. Decide on your best plan for t0-30 (quick speed), and post it here. Then, read other peoples' plans and get feedback on yours! Also, I may do a little bit of "judging", and reserve the right to determine a "winner", but that's not the important part.

Details:

You are Catherine of China!


Chosen for her fast imperialistic ways, her creative ability to not care that the stupid AIs research hinduism and buddhism from t0, and her flexible starting techs.

You are playing in a 5-player PBEM on RB! The map has been randomly rolled. Tech trading and barbs are off, and communication with the other players is not allowed. Game speed is quick. Here's your start:



Our sandbox is eerily accurate.

In a normal game you'd start with a very small sandbox and have to update it while scouting. That seemed like a bad idea here, so the rule is that you are free to look at the entire map, including hidden strategic resources, from the start.

Figure out a plan for the first 31 turns (t0-30). Then post it here. There are no particular requirements for the format of your plan, except that it should include an empire overview shot from t30. But here are some further suggestions:

• Describe the reasoning behind your choices.
  
• In addition to your t30 screenshot, include screenshots from t15, t20, and t25.
  
• Provide an ordered list of the techs you research.
  
• Provide an ordered list of what things you build in each of your cities.
  
• Note turns on which you finish builds and on which your cities grow.
  
• Provide a link to a google spreadsheet showing detailed instructions for reproducing your plan.
  

there are 2 basic options to add helptext:

1. it could just be text, all the information and flavor text stored as a separate text property in the xml and then displayed. this is quite easy to do and gives a result, that is good to read for users. it also means having to write the text to everything.

2. it could take all the variables (like building requirements, cost etc.) from the xml, and display them. the big advantage of this is, it always displays the correct data and you never have to update the description. it could create links to helptexts of things mentioned.
the problem is, everything has different variables, and not all variables have a description that means anything to someone who doesn't know the code. so we would additionally have to write a short description for each variable that is not self-explaining, often taking into acount parameters of the variable. example: GetPowerArgs IntValueModifyer 2 ADD. even if you do understand, or can guess, what it means, it's not nice to read. but writing code that transforms it to nicer language (adds 2 power) takes some work. additionally we could/should add a flavor text manually, like in 1. so this, in addition to more complicated code, this also requires writing a translation for many variables AND a description for everything. i don't think it's really worth it.

finally it could be a mix: take those things, that can be used easily from the xml (like building requirements or costs) and write a description for the rest. it probably requires a different helpfunction for every type of item, since everything has different variables and their display must be organised.

any other ideas?
i guess i'll just let the boss (VM) decide :D

Strictly Speaking, I believe that in CvEventsManager.py

iMax = 1
iMult = 1
if CyGame().getGlobalCounter() >= 50:
iMax = 2
iMult = 1.5
if CyGame().getGlobalCounter() >= 75:
iMax = 3
iMult = 2
if CyGame().getGlobalCounter() == 100:
iMax = 4
iMult = 2.5

(Old Code)

should be replaced with

iAC = CyGame().getGlobalCounter()
iMax = 1.1 + 0.03 * iAC + ( iAC / 70 )**3
iMult = 1 + 0.02 * (iAC - 5) + ( iAC / 90 )**6

(New Code)


and for 'PLANAR_GATE_CHANCE' in GlobalDefinesAlt.xml to be increased from 600 to 910

---------

at 0 AC -> Old chance = 6.00%, New Chance = 8.19% .... old iMax =1, new iMax = 1

at 50 AC -> Old Chance = 9.00%, New Chance = 17.56% ... old iMax = 2, new iMax = 2

at 75 AC -> Old Chance = 12.00%, New Chance = 24.89% .. old iMax = 3, new iMax = 4

at 100 AC -> Old Chance = 15.00%, New Chance = 43.51%, old iMax = 4, new iMax = 7

Is there a tutorial to learn reading the source code of MoM and do bugfixing? I would like to learn it some day.

added the following hotkeys and mousewheel features:

global:
=======
C,debugger

mainscreen:
===========
a,armiesscreen
b,build city/road
c,citiesscreen
d,done
e,meld
g,gamescreen
m,magicscreen
o,patrol
s,spellscreen
u,purify
w,wait
space,next round
keypad,move units
keypad5,center current unit
escape,deselect current stack without selecting next one

mousewheel,scroll unitstacks
middle button in map,deselect current stack without selecting next one
middle button on unit,single select target unit
ctrl down,scroll units includes inactive units

cityscreen:
===========
mousewheel,scroll through cities
arrows,scroll through cities
ctrl down,scrolling is unlimited
keypad+,+1 farmer
keypad-,-1 farmer
b,buy
c,change production
o,exit to mainscreen
escape,exit to mainscreen
return,exit to mainscreen
u,exit to mainscreen and select units

changeproductionscreen:
=======================
mousewheel,scrolls through buildable items
o,ok
enter,ok
c,cancel
escape,cancel

armiesscreen:
=============
mousewheel,scrolls list
arrow up/down,scroll list
keypad+-,scrolls list

1-6,hero 1-6 info
enter,exit to mainscreen
o,exit to mainscreen
escape,exit to mainscreen
i,items

itemsscreen:
============
mousewheel,alchemy
a,alchemy
1-6,hero 1-6 info
o,ok
enter,ok
escape,ok

alchemy:
========
o,ok
enter,ok
escape,cancel
c,cancel
middle mouse button,toogle
arrows up/down,toogle
arrows left/right,change amount - increase maximum
mousewheel,change amount - increase maximum
ctrl down,amount changes only by 1 each click

magicscreen:
============
a,alchemy
o,ok
enter,ok
escape,ok

citiesscreen:
=============
mousewheel,scrolls list
arrow up/down,scroll list
keypad+-,scroll list
o,ok
enter,ok
escape,ok

gamescreen:
===========
o,ok
enter,ok
escape,ok

I've posted my thoughts elsewhere already, but lets kick off here with a re-hash:

Initially I took over Gillette in a good position with a decent oracle-plan in place and we played a fairly solid game with a couple of terrible city locations (that I was glad Trolls eventually razed). Looking at the lurker thread it's pretty clear our lack of warfare helped us keep up with Trolls and with our long lack of copper was very fortunate. We had a decent military build-up against the Trolls around t140 that was foiled by their crazy tech speed and our failure to actually coordinate the dogpile with Tasunke (as well as a couple of tactical errors).

After that war we discovered and went all-out to colonise Smoothfoundland (obsoleting the Collossus so early was pretty painful, but needed). I think we had ten settlers in transit from the mainland at one point. We held off settling the south coast of the continent, but should perhaps have stopped after about five cities because getting to State Property was an absolute slog. The war with Trolls at t200 was always coming and our only aim was for Occam to survive - all the other cities were expendable. Thanks to the river around the city Trolls could never get odds on our cannons and loaned rifles, so it just wasn't possible for them to win there.

I've no idea about Pirates beyond the fact they were surprisingly far advanced by the end of the game (I think they might have been ahead of us?) Similarly I'd love to know what happened to TEAM and will read up eventually.

M3 never really had an opportunity to attack us with our holy city culture on their border. I thought about attacking their holy city and great lighthouse cities on several occasions, but decided that would hand the game to Trolls (who had done other things to be annoying too). M3 should probably have done better with TGL and the extra land they took from Pirates, I dunno if it was a lack of workers or failure to develop their capital, but they didn't tech as fast as they should.

Trolls were the best organised team and featured three of the best players on RB. The only flaw in their game was diplo - they automatically got a -1 for being the obvious leaders and in my dealings with plako I always felt like he'd run rings around me. If he did the same with the others there would be a lack of a +1 fair trade bonus. I doubt that I spent much more time doing diplo than Trolls, but I think that I generally offered generous terms.

The wonders Trolls placed in their border city were particularly annoying - obviously not against the letter of our agreement and very good civ play - but I'd explained that we were worried about their culture, so if they wanted friendly relations it was a bad move and the main reason we decided to attack t140 - our border was indefensible so we had to attack. When they went for the top of the tree we thought we had a chance to attack them, but then they just bulbed and golden-aged their way to maces and engineering and we were screwed and had to take an unfavourable peace.

Then I guess we beat Trolls to circumnavigation by a few turns, after which it would have been hard not to rule the waves (although I did manage to lose Rapier to some serious ). Then we could use Smoothfoundland to build airships while the mainland built cannons for the t200 war. I know airships are frowned upon generally, but the vision they gave and the edge they provided at sea were vital and let us prolong the war to a point where the other teams could join in. At which point the whipping and drafting Trolls had done to build their armies brought them to their knees.

I can't remember who said it's better to be lucky than good. Anyone know?

Curious what others think about the new changes in Season 4. I will give my brief take on the changes (obviously based on the limited information available. I would also like to preface these comments by saying they are general and not meant to cover every possible circumstance.

1. Changes to Wards: Good The current meta forcing one player to never really accumulate items is kind of unfun. While I don't deny supports have a big impact, a good bit of the fun and variety of the game is lost to this position because of the imposition of warding duties. These changes will likely have to be tweaked, though i like the way that it spreads out some of the warding duties. I am not sure i am a fan of adding an "item slot"-- that sort of thing can get out of control. However most of the slots are empty for most of the game already so i doubt it makes a big difference. Caveat: All pink wards are now visible, they can take 5 hits, and you have to defend them?!?! I don't like this, i am not sure what you would use them for now. Even at 3 hits bottom laners can't keep a green ward alive for more than few seconds and they are right there. You will only ever use this ward right before you start dragon or baron. This change is bad because it limits choices and thus strats in the game.

2. Changes to Bushes: Undecided The way some of the bushes have blind spots at very short distances that are even sort of in line of sight is silly. However, there is some skill in placing the wards in the right spots to provide the best vision or at least the vision you want. I would hate to see that skill/choice simplified to every bush has a "right Spot" for a ward.

3. Changes to Jungle: Good The jungle sort of runs dry at mid levels because your laners can (and should) begin taking farm in the jungle when possible. Putting some more jungle creeps on the map can only be a good thing.

4. Changes to Dragon: Blah Not sure I saw a problem here. The "snowball" from dragon is kind of a misnomer. Generally speaking no team takes the dragon without having already gained at least a temporary tactical advantage. I am not at all convinced that the "snowball" is caused by taking the dragon. This could have been tweaked around the edges. Frankly i think the biggest advantage from taking an early dragon is that you have the exact timer and can more easily take later ones.

5. Changes to Death Timers: Good This is good. Losing level one or two with a creep disadvantage can cost you most of a tower. That is too much penalty too early when stacked with the gold and creep penalty already part of the death.

6. Changes to Bounties: Don't Know Did we really need more incentive to kill those suports? Just kidding, I think generally more gold on the map is good but you want to be careful with too much gold. There should be some meaningful way of differentiating skill borne out via gold

7. Changes to the Start Timer: Good There is plenty of time on the loading screen to figure out what you want to buy and people should be ready to the play the game. I look forward to seeing some experiments with this to see what shakes out.

8. Changes to Inhibitors: Bad I feel like this could be done in a way that is good, however I fear that we will be facing a situation where the last team fight wins the game regardless of the state of the base- that makes for unfun play b/c skill across the game should be choosing the winner in most cases.

9. Changes to Turrets: Bad This is going to broadly nudge the meta toward pushing strats-- that nudge will generally cause the laning phase to end quicker and the team-roam-gank squad phase to start earlier. I think this a poor change because it will spill over across the whole game eg. team fight champs will be better over strong laning champs etc. This isn't to say this can't be done well, but changes could be far reaching. With things that can broadly change the meta baby steps is the way to go.

Thanks for reading the long post!

-Atlas

Map of the World, circa 1 AD, T75: