Realms Beyond GalCiv Succession Game 5: Training Day
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Time for the next round in RB succession gaming. This one should be interesting for players and lurkers alike.
For those of you not familiar with the concept, a succession game is one where members of a team take turns at the helm of a single player game, playing a specified number of turns before passing the game to the next player. Players from Realms Beyond and other empires have played five complete GalCiv succession games at CivFanatics, where those of us from RB been playing Civ3 succession games for years now.
Here is the thread at CivFanatics where the first game was played and reported:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72311
The second RB succession game had three teams playing the same map with unique variant rules and victory conditions. Here are their threads.
Team G: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76736
Team N: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76737
Team E: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76739
Our next game took succession game to the masochistic level: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78456
Finally, we are just about complete with our first (almost) ALWAYS WAR game, were we played just about the entire game at war with all the majors.
RBGC SG4: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78456
For the next installment of RB succession gaming, I will host a Training Day Game. This concept was originated a couple of years back for Civ3--and in this incarnation, it plays a bit differently than a normal succession game. (Thanks to Sirian for the original PROD training day game framework)
Here's how it will go...
Rather than play as a normal SG rotation, with me taking a turn every so often as I come up, and same for others, I'm going to play the whole game -- AND so is everybody else. However, instead of each playing the game separately, there will be one Official Game, progressing like a typical Succession Game.
It's going to look something like this:
Turn Order:
Bam-Bam
Player 2
Player 3
Player 4
Player 5
Player 6
Year 1, 2178AD is posted and everybody plays. Everybody posts their turn report, including me, and I will always post my version of the save game. I'll offer my view of each player's moves, the good, the bad, the ugly. Questions are welcome, then at some point we move to next turn.
Since I was "Up", my save game is used by everybody, to start from for the next turn. Everybody plays and posts a report, and I will always post my version of the save. In this case, however, Player 2 is up, so he should also post his save. I'll offer feedback based on the reports (the more detail you put in your report, the more I can examine and critique, so you'll get out of it what you put in to it.) After the analysis is done, we move to next turn.
Since Player 2 was "up", his save is used by everybody to start the current round. And on and on it goes. Everybody plays the whole game and gets continuous critiquing (according to how detailed their reports are) and they get to see what I do in the exact same situations -- and those who are on the roster also get as much input into the course of events of the "Official Results" as they would in a standard succession game.
A little complex-sounding, but in practice it will be smooth and easy to deal with. I'll handle directing the traffic and keeping track of what's where.
THE RULES:
* When you are Up, you are REQUIRED to play, and to do so in a timely fashion.
* When you are not Up, you are not required to play, but are strongly encouraged to play as much as you can. The more you play, the more critique you can get.
* No critiquing of other player's results, except by me. If you are playing in this game, then by definition you're no expert. mmm-kay? This rule is aimed at keeping each player's focus on their own performance and development, and off of getting into comparisons with the other players, and to minimize any chance for hostilities. Questions involving "what if" scenerios, regarding other players' results, are OK.
* No question is too dumb, no move too weedy, no results too poor. Nobody will be dropped or turned away for lack of skill or experience. This is your chance to stop being a wallflower and get out onto the dance floor.
* When you are Up, your results will be official, whether they are good, bad, or ugly. When you're not up, feel free to try stuff out, to take risks or do things you wouldn't normally ever dare, to see where it leads -- or play as if you were Up. Your choice.
* 24 hours for the player who is Up Next to acknowledge that they have Got It and are playing. This is a HARD RULE, so when you are On Deck or your turn is upcoming, you need to make sure you take time out to keep an eye on the board. If you do not acknowledge within 24 hours, you will be skipped as far as being Up and having your results affect the Official outcome.
* 96 hours maximum between every one year (12 turns) round. If the playing and reports and analysis finish early, we'll move on early. If 96 hours comes around, we'll move on regardless.
There will be a thread for the Official Game. What shall be posted there is the reports and results of the player who is Up on each turn, along with my critique and any questions and answers players have in regard to those results.
* The Shadow thread will handle everything else, including the turn reports of all players not Up on that turn, all critiques of these reports, and even my own reports from my shadow turns.
* Players who are UP should avoid reading any further in the shadow thread once others start posting shadow reports from the same turn. That is, it's OK to refer back to the shadow thread as a reference, but I ask that you not do so when you're Up, especially in regard to finding out what others have done on the turn you're about to play, so that your official turn results will be as "pure" as you can manage under these conditions.
I do not plan on running this as a typical SG. This will be a bit of sink or swim, with me saying little or nothing in advance, and then commenting on the results. There are many ways to do things successfully in this game. I am not at all interested in copying my gameplay, or in showing formulaic methods to succeed. The intent is to offer thoughts into what tactics and strategies are strong or weak, risky, safe, uninformed, or weedy about your decisions; i.e., help teach you how to strategize, not what to think.
Like our other games, the Official Game thread and the Shadow Thread will be over at Civfanatics. Detailed instructions on how to deal with file uploads, save games, file name conventions and the like will be posted in the Shadow thread.
So far, I have Brackard signed up from the RB forum. A few other RB'ers expressed interest, but have not thrown their hats in the ring yet. Signups are open. The game will be played at Painful (All intelligent AIs). At this AI intelligence level, the AIs are about on even footing with the player (no bonuses or penalties). Signups are open. The next post will contain the details of the game setup.
For those of you not familiar with the concept, a succession game is one where members of a team take turns at the helm of a single player game, playing a specified number of turns before passing the game to the next player. Players from Realms Beyond and other empires have played five complete GalCiv succession games at CivFanatics, where those of us from RB been playing Civ3 succession games for years now.
Here is the thread at CivFanatics where the first game was played and reported:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72311
The second RB succession game had three teams playing the same map with unique variant rules and victory conditions. Here are their threads.
Team G: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76736
Team N: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76737
Team E: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76739
Our next game took succession game to the masochistic level: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78456
Finally, we are just about complete with our first (almost) ALWAYS WAR game, were we played just about the entire game at war with all the majors.
RBGC SG4: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78456
For the next installment of RB succession gaming, I will host a Training Day Game. This concept was originated a couple of years back for Civ3--and in this incarnation, it plays a bit differently than a normal succession game. (Thanks to Sirian for the original PROD training day game framework)
Here's how it will go...
Rather than play as a normal SG rotation, with me taking a turn every so often as I come up, and same for others, I'm going to play the whole game -- AND so is everybody else. However, instead of each playing the game separately, there will be one Official Game, progressing like a typical Succession Game.
It's going to look something like this:
Turn Order:
Bam-Bam
Player 2
Player 3
Player 4
Player 5
Player 6
Year 1, 2178AD is posted and everybody plays. Everybody posts their turn report, including me, and I will always post my version of the save game. I'll offer my view of each player's moves, the good, the bad, the ugly. Questions are welcome, then at some point we move to next turn.
Since I was "Up", my save game is used by everybody, to start from for the next turn. Everybody plays and posts a report, and I will always post my version of the save. In this case, however, Player 2 is up, so he should also post his save. I'll offer feedback based on the reports (the more detail you put in your report, the more I can examine and critique, so you'll get out of it what you put in to it.) After the analysis is done, we move to next turn.
Since Player 2 was "up", his save is used by everybody to start the current round. And on and on it goes. Everybody plays the whole game and gets continuous critiquing (according to how detailed their reports are) and they get to see what I do in the exact same situations -- and those who are on the roster also get as much input into the course of events of the "Official Results" as they would in a standard succession game.
A little complex-sounding, but in practice it will be smooth and easy to deal with. I'll handle directing the traffic and keeping track of what's where.
THE RULES:
* When you are Up, you are REQUIRED to play, and to do so in a timely fashion.
* When you are not Up, you are not required to play, but are strongly encouraged to play as much as you can. The more you play, the more critique you can get.
* No critiquing of other player's results, except by me. If you are playing in this game, then by definition you're no expert. mmm-kay? This rule is aimed at keeping each player's focus on their own performance and development, and off of getting into comparisons with the other players, and to minimize any chance for hostilities. Questions involving "what if" scenerios, regarding other players' results, are OK.
* No question is too dumb, no move too weedy, no results too poor. Nobody will be dropped or turned away for lack of skill or experience. This is your chance to stop being a wallflower and get out onto the dance floor.
* When you are Up, your results will be official, whether they are good, bad, or ugly. When you're not up, feel free to try stuff out, to take risks or do things you wouldn't normally ever dare, to see where it leads -- or play as if you were Up. Your choice.
* 24 hours for the player who is Up Next to acknowledge that they have Got It and are playing. This is a HARD RULE, so when you are On Deck or your turn is upcoming, you need to make sure you take time out to keep an eye on the board. If you do not acknowledge within 24 hours, you will be skipped as far as being Up and having your results affect the Official outcome.
* 96 hours maximum between every one year (12 turns) round. If the playing and reports and analysis finish early, we'll move on early. If 96 hours comes around, we'll move on regardless.
There will be a thread for the Official Game. What shall be posted there is the reports and results of the player who is Up on each turn, along with my critique and any questions and answers players have in regard to those results.
* The Shadow thread will handle everything else, including the turn reports of all players not Up on that turn, all critiques of these reports, and even my own reports from my shadow turns.
* Players who are UP should avoid reading any further in the shadow thread once others start posting shadow reports from the same turn. That is, it's OK to refer back to the shadow thread as a reference, but I ask that you not do so when you're Up, especially in regard to finding out what others have done on the turn you're about to play, so that your official turn results will be as "pure" as you can manage under these conditions.
I do not plan on running this as a typical SG. This will be a bit of sink or swim, with me saying little or nothing in advance, and then commenting on the results. There are many ways to do things successfully in this game. I am not at all interested in copying my gameplay, or in showing formulaic methods to succeed. The intent is to offer thoughts into what tactics and strategies are strong or weak, risky, safe, uninformed, or weedy about your decisions; i.e., help teach you how to strategize, not what to think.
Like our other games, the Official Game thread and the Shadow Thread will be over at Civfanatics. Detailed instructions on how to deal with file uploads, save games, file name conventions and the like will be posted in the Shadow thread.
So far, I have Brackard signed up from the RB forum. A few other RB'ers expressed interest, but have not thrown their hats in the ring yet. Signups are open. The game will be played at Painful (All intelligent AIs). At this AI intelligence level, the AIs are about on even footing with the player (no bonuses or penalties). Signups are open. The next post will contain the details of the game setup.
