First of all, here are the results from the game:

http://www.garath.net/Sullla/adv28results.html

I'd like to thank all of our participants, especially Shadowflit for submitting his first report here at Realms Beyond! Always nice to see some of our old faces as well reappearing.

As far as the overdue Comments from the Sponsor feature... well, this is going to be pretty short, because I didn't spend all that much time pouring over this game setup or map. I felt that we were overdue for another Gentle Adventure, so I tried to come up with a game that would both provide a fun experience for up-and-coming players and still be interesting enough to attract some of our experts. I picked the civ first, actually: the Dutch are very powerful in Beyond the Sword, and so would be a good fit for this endeavor. From there, I actually designed the scenario around the civ choice, picking a theme in much the same way as the desert/religious theme from Adventure Twenty (Desert Domination).

What would be a Dutch-based scenario? (Let's leave aside any bad jokes about Amsterdam's legalized prostitution and recreational drugs. ) As a historian, I was naturally drawn to the Dutch golden age, a period of cultural and scientific outpouring in the 17th century. I decide to draw up a very simple scoring goal from this: who can produce the most beakers on a set turn. However, at the last minute I decided this would be more interesting if I changed the rules to include culture as well as science. Maximizing science wouldn't make this any different than a fastest-finish spaceship race. I did this knowing full well that culture would dominate the scoring - and why not? Civ-wide culture production is different than the Cultural victory condition, and would be somewhat similar to Civ3's 100k victory condition. We'd never really played around with that, so hopefully it was at least relatively fresh and interesting.

The scoring goal (1900AD) was based around non-veteran players; that is, those who get a challenge from Prince difficulty. Judging by Shadowflit's game, I believe I hit the mark correctly on this one. I have no problem with our vets jumping in and seeing what they can do, just don't complain if the game gets somewhat boring. Obviously if you can win regularly on Emperor/Immortal, you're going to crush the Prince AI in a favorable starting position, with one of the strongest civs in the game. I did enjoy watching Muaziz, T-Hawk, and timmy827 push the game to its limits. Just don't complain to me if your score milking got tedious - you were not the intended audience of this game.

The map was a random one; I went through several before hitting on this one. I make no edits at all - what you saw was the original setting the game spit out. Yes, including those gems at the start (which is what attracted me to this map in the first place). The AIs were also random, and I didn't move any of them around.

In the end, I hope everyone had fun. Since we didn't get a lot of new participants, I'm not sure we'll do another Gentle Adventure for a while. Given that Civ4 has been out for quite some time now, it's understandable that most of those still playing are largely diehard, expert gamers. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Hello.

A friend and I are looking to establish a weekly coop time on Sundays.

Basically we're just trying to get as many players together as possible for a concentrated period of a couple of hours every week. People don't have to commit to anything, it's just going to be on a whatever weeks you can manage basis and hopefully it creates enough interest for there to be enough players for some full games every week.

I guess it will revolve around Hell/Hell coop, but if that's not you, then come along anyway, if there's enough interest, then it'll accommodate for everyone hopefully.


Where: B.Net - Server: US.East - Channel: Diablo LE
When: Sundays 11am EDT (3pm GMT).

Feel free to comment, ask questions, or show your interest and hopefully we'll be seeing each other on Sunday

And for those of you that can't make it, we'll keep you updated weekly with how everything goes

So, it came about being suggested to me that I post an idea for a Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC). It was only a pipe dream (no drug pun intended) when I started but has grown into a possibility. The original conversation came about in guild chat based on what i suggested was a potential cost of $2,000 USD to make the whole thing, when retailer and custom computer sites are selling HTPC systems for 5-9K+ USD. It then took me about a week to piece what was originally just a concept of mine with no specifics, to a spec'd out box. I get carried away when I start these kinds of projects and had to retool the configuration to get the price back down to reality. I still came over budget from the target of 2k. I tend to build for longevity rather than buy soon to be discontinued parts. The system still could use a little tweaking, I think, but I have gotten to a stage where it is time to publishing my concept HTPC Configuration and see what feedback may be out there to improve on it. (note: as I live in the USA all reference is based from there, most if not all items are sourceable from overseas and support international standards either as existing or as a different model) so, here it goes:

DEVICE / COST / PURCHASE SOURCE
Case - Originae s21t $1,199.00 http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.ph...mote-black

OrigenAE RC197 Vista Remote Control (included)

OrigenAE XDS21 Rear Heat Extractor $49.95 http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.ph...ack-xds21b

Intel core 2 duo processors & ddr2 bundle/CORE 2 DUO E7200 2.53G (1066Mhz)/ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP/CORSAIR 4GB KIT TWIN2X4096-6400C5 $372.50 http://www.mwave.com

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX PSU $97.50 http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewproduct.a...+%2D+695W+

ASUS EN9600GT silent/HTDI/512M GeForce 9600GT 512MB $159.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814121244

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $109.99 fast and quiet Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...WD6400AAKS

LG GGW-H20L Blue-ray multiwriter $269.90 http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?...KU=AA72582

HAUPPAUGE wintv-hvr-1800 dual tuner $89.95http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?...KU=4427964

Adesso 2.4 Ghz RF Wireless Mini Keyboard $59.99 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...ICEGRABBER

Windows Vista Ultimate OEM $169.90 http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?...KU=AA66740


SUBTOTAL: $2,637.64 USD


OPTIONS
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (TWO) (195.90 EA) $391.80 http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?...ia=AA73228
ZALMAN CNPS8700 2 Ball CPU Cooler $49.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...k=CNPS8700


(plus shipping)TOTAL COST: $3,079.43 USD


/edit/ Closer to intent now switched config to reflect what I plan to truely buy

Most likely if(when) I am to build this I would/may (sounds so committed doesn't it ) I would try to get the Origenae S21T case with optional fan, but this would raise the cost to $3084.47 USD (with the options from above).

Here are some alternate items, as well, I looked at but decided against for my configuration:

vidabox rf integrated keyboard/mouse $69.99 http://www.vidabox.com/shop/index.php?ma...ucts_id=83
diNovo mini integrated keyboard/mouse $149.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6823126039
RX3870-T2D512E OC Video Card $179.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...70-T2D512E
NX8600GTS Diamond Plus Video Card $124.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...ond%2bPlus
sapphire HD 3870 Video Card $175.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814102732
Blu-Ray Burner Sony BWU-200S $589.00 http://www.gateway.com/accessories/produ...927&seg=hm
SilverStone’s Crown CW03 $699.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811163107
WD Raptor 150G drive $169.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis...%2c000+RPM
PowerColor HD 3870 Fanless $214.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814131089
Origenae S16T $699.00 http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.ph...mote-black


And finally a few notes on the config:
1. Did not go with an HDMI integrated motherboard because the ones on the market to date are too immature and are mostly in the MicroATX form factor which often does not provide for the additional internal USB/Firewire headers required to support front panel connections or do not provide for optical SPDIF out.
2. Vista is not my preferred OS but with consideration for longevity it is getting more pointless to stick to a soon to be unsupported os (windows XP Pro, which I am very fond of :P). Of course others may have different preferred OS's but this is what I chose. Two primary vista functions I am looking for: media center function and the terminal service capability to remote connect to the box interface, provided for in Vista Ultimate)

(removed point regarding using Radeon 3870 after finding the 9600 GT above)

Hope someone enjoys this or has suggestions to improve it 8)

Finally figured out how to farm 314's Mind fast.

There are a few named items 314 can drop. What I have seen so far:
Techsmith's Gyrozooka (Hunter Rocket Launcher)
Techsmith's Utility Blade (Sword)
Techsmith's Odd Glove (Focus)
I think there's a Hunter one handed rocket pistol as well but I can't find which mule has it right now ;p
But the one I have been farming him for is the Techsmith's Noxious Effluvaitor, a cabalist machine pistol that does 600/m instead of the normal 300/m. I have one with 2 slots (I want more) and want to try out a pair of them with HarryProctor my Gunvoker. So far, the best combo for Harry is Techsmith's Noxious Effluvaitor with Wurm's Multitude (a Jade Hydra), which will take him to the end of normal diff, at least

Here's how it goes.
First time around party with mule (the one with the quest open)
Mule goes to get the quest, enter 314's Mind
Party portals to mule
Find Lucious Aldin, kill and loot
Party stay where they are
Mule abandons quest, which the game would force mule to log off
Mule log back on, and activate quest again and enter 314's Mind from town.
Joining the party before or after entering makes no difference. It's only important that mule enter from town.
Mule PP to the party and Lucious Aldin will be activated again.
No need to search the brain again

Edit: Turns out you don't need to be in town to abandon quests now

KoP

I started this game because it was interesting to go for culture (I was actually thinking of suggesting some sort of culture game the night before). Some of the more obvious items I knew (conquer to domination, many cities) but didn't perform the deep analysis that some people did.

However all that is moot, since the game was at normal speed. It completely threw my timing off as my wars took too long and my development was not nearly on track.

So the report here is to say that I did try to play it and thanks to the sponsor, but didn't get through it myself.
________
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So - since I'm a new face, a few lines of introduction:
I recently thought of civ again (ages ago I'd tried the then current version) while waiting for the Sins of a Solar Empire, and decided to give it another shot. Browsed through some of the reports of SG's (starting with the Sirian/Sulla Cuban Isolationists game, I believe) and single player games while I was learning the game. After following enough links I found myself here and played a couple of the older epics (sometimes following the variant rules, sometimes just not wanting to trust my fate to the random map generator). More recently I decided to pick up BtS so I could actually participate in the current games, and here I am.

As I mention at the top of my report - this was the second BtS game I played, and while I did aim myself towards the scoring criteria initially - I wasn't expecting too much from myself yet.

Anyways: report
(warning: I didn't take the time to split it up into multiple pages, so if it seems like its loading slow - that's because you get all the pictures at once)

Scoring: 474 + 2844 = 3318

Hi everybody!

http://www.dos486.com/civ4/adv28/

Summary: 40,735 culture, 2672 science, 43,407 total points.

Hi,
after a long time away from CIV I decided that this adventure was a good return point. I have not played that many BtS games, so I did not expect to score high for the end result.
I settled on the coast and then built my peaceful way across the times.
Got dragged into wars a few times unfortunately.
In the end I occupied Ragnars territory.

For the 1900AD year I claim:
1829 bpt science
7926 cpt culture
----------------
9755 final score
(and that is with a golden age and every city building culture)

I am well aware, that I won't win a primrose pot with that.
But it got me back into CIV.

mh

Arise and know thyself

Score: 4654 science + 31811 culture = 36465 points

Summary - domination victory, used 1750AD as my scoring turn (domination probably would've triggered the next turn, and of course it did after configuring all cities for max culture). As turn counts go, that's turn 260 and 1900AD is 320, so 60 turns early. I got a bit greedy about land grabbing and it definitely would've been optimal for high-scoring to grab a bit less and thus be able to make it to 1900AD. However, the game was really dragging; due to a lot of culture scaling with # of cities (corporations and culture buildings) I had crammed filler cities everywhere, and each turn it felt like half of them finished a build requiring a new one. The other possible mistake I made was accepting Pacal as a voluntary vassal; at first I had forgotten that it would add to my domination scores. Then I assumed I would be able to stop sharing his religion temporarily to get him to break free, but I couldn't find any way to knock him below Friendly! This might have been possible by repeatedly declaring wars on AI's he was on good terms with (but not taking any of their land) but I decided that would be too risky, and might get completely balanced out by additional "mutual military struggle". However, I got some big research help from him and was able to demand a nice pile of corporation resources so all in all it might have been an even trade.


My pregame plan, with some corrections I discovered along the way:
How to maximize beakers+culture?

Science multipliers - up to 100% normal buildings, andother 100 in Oxford city (whoops! never built a single university!), 50% where I have academies.
Culture - 100% for Free Speech (see below), 50% for broadcast tower/eiffel tower, 50% for each cathedral. Culture clearly wins hands down, so slider will be at 100% culture on that turn. Obviously save up cash to allow that.

Tile improvements:
Assume avg multipliers 25%sci (turns out I built only 4 obs, no unis the whole game!), 200%culture (free speech, Eiffel, one catherdral), 100% hammer
Artist, with representation and sistine, 4+6->5+18=23
Normal (fin) grass town 9->27
plains/grass hill town: 31/29 (extra hammer)
grass windmills (with enviro) 3h6c->24
grass windmils on rivers - 3h7c ->29 (assuming the city has a dike)
Interesting - cottages on hills much better than windmills, but during 35 turns of maturation lack of food is bad. So I stick with windmills on the hills.
Essentially, this means the developed towns and windmills get worked, every other tile, except for some good special resources, turns into artist (I allowed food deficits as long as it's not so severe that the pop will decrease in a single turn). One area I did pretty poorly in was windmills - I didn't really realize it until I was microing each city's tiles the scoring turn, but I had a lot of mines that weren't converted yet.

Of course, on scoring turn set all cities to building either research or culture(since building gets your hammer multipliers instead of beaker/gold/culture, doesn't matter which).

Corporations: Cereal vs. Sushi - hard to say; extra culture of Sushi is probably a winner unless resource amounts are way imbalanced (this was not the case, so Sushi it was). Definitely want the food one ASAP so all the food can be translated into extra specialists and developed cottages. After looking at the other bonuses and considering what I was likely to have available, Creative Constructions was a clear 2nd priority, followed by AlumCo and CivJewelers. It turns out that Alum was more helpful than CivJewelrs because it fully synergizes with CreCon and I could only get 4 total jewel resources. However, both of those came too late to spread much.

What else?
Civics - Free speech for culture multiplier + town bonus.
Rep for whatever extra specialists I can run (artists with 1 beaker/4 cult will be best since culture mults are higher than science and highest base anyways)
Caste System - IIRC theatres allow 2 artists and that's basically it (was wrong, broadcast towers allow some, but I still would need caste system to get anywhere near).
Initially I though Free Market - can't use SP since I want corps - but eventually went for Enviro for the windmill commerce bonus. Over the long run that would lose out bigtime to my extensive corporation fees, but for one turn it was better than the extra trade route and, I think, better than an extra Artist from Mercantilism.
Definitely want a state religion for sistine bonus but religious civic on max turn shouldn't matter. (Not surprisingly, I was in OR most of the game to spread religions around).

Other things to watch -
Pregame I intended to finish as many culture producing buildings by 900AD (finding right balance with long-term empire growth likely to be tricky). Since I'm creative I should have lots of libs and theatres. Here was what I had done by then:


Well, I did get a nice stack of those cheap culture buildings, but at the time I didn't realize just how little it would mean next to the final total. Also, since I scored myself 1750AD, a good number of those didn't double.

Spread religions for max cathedrals - did fairly well here, but the failure chances and limit of 3 missionaries makes it difficult. I made an effort to build a lot of state religion monasteries before obsoletion due to the Sistine bonus, then discovered that they keep their 2 base culture but not the 5 extra after Sci Method.

Obviously, a big an empire as possible to control max resources for corporations, and cities crammed in as closely as possible since so much scales by city, not by tile. I didn't realize the latter until I already had around 10 cities.

Wonders to prioritize -
Statue for extra specialists (assuming I have a good-sized continent for it to work well)
Sistine Chapel (big culture bonus for specialists and state religion buildings)
Eiffel (not necessary but convenient as I will want the broadcast towers everywhere)
U Sankore
Spiral Minaret (No effect on the final scoring, but with all the state religion buildings I was going after was a clear good choice. Pacal was nice enough to build the AP and be the right religion for me to take advantage of that as well.)

Alright, enough talk. Time to show an actual game!