Ok, this is going to be the first adventure that I play until the end (I always slacked off on the others, even if I was having a very nice score in the all hill tiles one, oracling machinery very fast). And that's because I own something to my Portuguese heritage (even though I'm german/italian, not portuguese). Let's conquer Brazil from the savages!
Can't let other people win this adventures, not these ones that can't even pronounce João correctly.
I've updated the first post with Q's clarifications.
As for BUG, yes it is against the spirit of our competition. We generally take a hard stance against mods that collect and report information to the player, since that is not playing the same game as an unmodded player. One poster once compared BUG to a chessboard that lights up squares under attack or undefended pieces. That is a good analogy: It's the same game, but it is not fair for only some players to have such computational assistance.
Any mod that is purely graphical and not information-gathering will generally be allowed, although we specifically approve those on a case by case basis. See this thread: http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=3295
(January 21st, 2013, 11:04)Ichabod Wrote: Can't let other people win this adventures, not these ones that can't even pronounce João correctly.
I was actually seriously wondering that. Like for years, and I haven't found a good reference online. How the heck DO you pronounce those three vowels? Or for that matter, the J?
(January 21st, 2013, 03:27)Qgqqqqq Wrote: As for the "captured first city" question - this is a difficult question, and one I hadn't considered.
I'm going to say that the first site counts if it manages to expand its borders and stands at least 10turns.
However, the date that these conditions are met doesn't matter, only the date of settlement/conquest.
Here you write captured first city in the original it was just first city. Does the first city in the New World need to be a captured one or can it be settled as well?
Thanks for the clear answers.
I thought I said both.
No it can be captured or settled.
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
(January 21st, 2013, 11:06)T-hawk Wrote: I was actually seriously wondering that. Like for years, and I haven't found a good reference online. How the heck DO you pronounce those three vowels? Or for that matter, the J?
It's tough to explain. I was looking for some similar sounds in english and it's hard to find, especially since I'm not that familiar with the nuances of english pronunciation. What can I say is the following: the J is not pronounced similar to a Z in english, like I've seen said in the internet. The J is similar to the J used in the word "jug", for example. The three vowels are yet harder to explain. I don't remember if the game has the ~ signal on top of the "a", but it's a very important thing in portuguese (we write it João). It isn't a stress per se (I'm not sure if "stress" is the right word in english for signs like "^" and "´"), since it doesn't indicate the strongest syllable in the word. It's a sort of indication that you need to make that sound in a more "nasal" way. Or as wikipedia puts it:
"In modern Portuguese it (the ~ symbol) indicates nasalization of the base vowel: mão "hand", from Lat. manu-; razões "reasons", from Lat. rationes."
The thing is, it's tough to find words in english that use a similar sound. We have lots and lots of words with it in portuguese, so it's a pretty common thing and it seems pretty obvious (the suffix -ion in english translates almost everytime to -ão in portuguese: nation -> nação, creation -> criação, inspiration -> inspiração), but from what I can gatter, it's pretty rare in other languages. I've seen the "ão" in João being prounced as the "ow" in "cow", but that's not how we pronounce it in Portuguese. This way the sound is too open (I'm using layman terms here, it's just my impression), while the right way to pronounce it uses the nose a bit more. In a way, you can imagine Bob Dylan pronouncing the world, since he has a pretty nasal way of saying things.
Sorry for writing much and saying little of actual help. I'll try to see if I can find a better way of explaining it.
Regarding the "Don't attack old world AI cities until New World is conquered" rule, I think this needs some clarification in case we are attacked by an AI. If so, can we take the fight to them or must we just defend ourselves until a white peace can be obtained. I assume the latter, but I think it should be clarified in the rules. I'm not sure what is the best rule here though since generally it's our nature, I think, to want to attack back and take cities if an AI DOWs. However, in the spirit of this particular game, I guess AIs could be goaded into attacking the human. It's probably better avoiding wars though before New World stuff given the requirements.
Edit: I would also like clarification about whether we can "attack an AI" vs. "attack an AI city"
(January 21st, 2013, 14:39)novice Wrote: Is ã similar to the "agn" in lasagna?
Hm, not really.
The video is not how we pronounce it in portuguese (at least not in the portuguese I speak - it's not the original, I know). The "J" is right, I guess, but not the "ão". In fact, I think the "ã" is more similar to the "agn" in lasagna, yes, albeit not the same. At least lasagna is also a nasaled word, while what the guy is saying in the video is not, in my opinion.
Maybe I'll make a video of it too. It'll be way simpler then.
I always thought the J is pronounced like a cross between the English "J" and the English "Sh" sound and that the "oão sounds" similar to "ow," as in a not-accented "Ow that hurt," followed by a soft "n," with the whole word spoken nasally. I suppose that is not correct?
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
