PBEM46 tech thread

[BRickAstley]

I've been rolling up maps with the mirrorland script, and I'm having difficulty finding one that will fit right. (Mainly too big feeling). I might look into an alternative script or handwritten, but will still keep the mirrored aspect, if there's no objections.

[Azza]

g) Scout starts. No fun being choked by someone's starting warrior in the first 10 turns.
h) I like seeing my screenshot before picking.

Diplo Victory setting on, so the AP can still be built, but votes other than abstain banned.

Serdoa's city gifting rule looks adequate.

[Old Harry]

Okay, I can agree with j-o from Serdoa's post.

Edit:
Also
p) Events off
q) Huts on
r) Barbs on

We only need 8 more settings people...

[Catwalk]

I love how the game description reads "Greens game"

[Serdoa]

a) Diplo: AI-diplo
b) Banned are: Nukes, WE, Corporations, SoZ
c) No Civ or Leader is banned
d) Picking Method? Snake Pick, either in turn order or in reversed turn order, decided by last in turn order
e) Variants: No Variants
f) Map-Type: 40x32 by Sevens script, done by BRick -> see below
g) Scout-Starts: Yes
h) Starting Screenshots in thread before picking? Yes
i) Spies Banned: Yes
j) GSpy: GSpies only for settling or starting a GA. No Infiltration.
k) Game Speed: Quick
l) Blockades: Banned
m) Diplo (AP / UN) victory: Diplo victory enabled (so AP/UN can be built) but only abstaining is allowed as vote.
n) Clear unit/city gifing rules: No unit gifting at all, no city gifting apart from it being part of a peace deal (no phony wars to achieve that). Basically, just don't give anything up that you don't need to. Don't do something just to spite another player. Don't play for someone elses win but for your own.
o) Tech Trading: Off.
p) Events on / off? 2 off: Serdoa, Old Harry
q) Huts on / off? 1 off: Serdoa - 1 on: Old Harry
r) Barbs on / off? 1 off: Serdoa - 1 on: Old Harry

As for the map: I personally am fine with you handcrafting us one BRick. I'd say go ahead and thanks for the time you put into helping us getting started.

Playing windows:

Serdoa: 0630 - 0730 and 1600 - 2130 GMT
Lego: 1700 - 2100 GMT
Old Harry: 2100 - 0100 GMT

Azza, please let us know your playing window as well.

[SevenSpirits]

Uh...Seven's script does not work that way. It will not generate a 40x32 map for you, and I don't think it would be possible to have a 40x32 map with the mirroring that the script uses.

It does make maps for every player count, though only a few work out really beautifully.

With 4 players, it does something that looks like this

12
34

except with the second column shifted down by 1/4 of the map height. Each of those numbers represents a copy of a 16x20 (WxH) map section. This is the same tile count per player as the 40x40 5-player map, and yeah it's on the high end for tiles per player, though the whole toroid thing means you still get lots of border conflict.

[Catwalk]

Idea for playing order:

Serdoa (21.00-7:30)
Azza (7:30-13:00)
Lego (13:00-17:00)
Old Harry (17:00-21:00)

This is based on Azza preferring to play quite late (local time) in PBEM37, which translates to early afternoon European time. It would give Serdoa two chances to play, depending on how reliable his morning slot is. The problem we had in PBEM37 was that Arch committed to a morning slot before Azza which he had a hard time keeping. Is anyone available between 12:00 and 17:00 GMT? I put Lego there as he mentioned earlier availability than Harry, but he did prefer 17:00 onwards.

As always, feel free to scrap it all

[SevenSpirits]

I've been rolling up maps with the mirrorland script, and I'm having difficulty finding one that will fit right. (Mainly too big feeling). I might look into an alternative script or handwritten, but will still keep the mirrored aspect, if there's no objections.

If you want, you could edit a line in the Mirrorland script to change the parameters a bit.

Find this:

Code:

    elif n == 4:
        shard = BarberDuet(n, 16, 20, 1, 2)

If you changed it to this,

Code:

    elif n == 4:
        shard = BarberDuet(n, 16, 16, 0, 2)

for example, then you'd get a 32x32 map that is just four copies of the same land in a square:
AA
AA

(The third parameter was telling it to offset the second column by 1/4, and the first two parameters are controlling the tiles per player. Fourth parameter is telling it two players per column.)

The advantage of this script is that the terrain will be seamless - the point where the four corners meet will be just as natural-looking as any other point. However, for four players an easy thing to do is reflecting, sorta like this:

Code:

ABBA
CDDC
CDDC
ABBA

and Mirrorland won't help you if that's what you are going for.

P.S. Do I not use the best variable and function names of all time

[Old Harry]

Idea for playing order:

Serdoa (21.00-7:30)
Azza (7:30-13:00)
Lego (13:00-17:00)
Old Harry (17:00-21:00)

I don't think that will work for me - I'll always be able to play around midnight gmt, but would like to play earlier when I can - 2100 gmt if possible, meaning 2100-0100 or 2200-0100 works for me.

so Serdoa could have morning:

0600-0900 Serdoa
0900-1400 Azza
1600-2100 Lego
2100-0100 Old Harry

or early evening, meaning Lego and I have smaller but convenient slots:

0700-1300 Azza
1400-1900 Serdoa
1900-2200 Lego
2200-0100 Old Harry

Happy to negotiate, but I guess we need to hear from Azza to decide...

[Azza]

I rarely can't play between 7-11pm GMT+11, and can often play earlier in the evening or in the afternoon on occasion. I think Serdoa after me is better though.