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RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 20:35:59 GMT

I have received the Vanilla Game from Zig... I'll be uploading it later tonight.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zone — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 10:43:41 GMT

I downloaded it. Assumed it was single player, but it wouldn't let me open it through single player, but it was fine if I opened it as a PBEM.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 07:48:27 GMT

Well it sounds like Mongoose is having bug issues with loading Warlord saves that I've generated. Maybe it is because I have my HD partitioned into a D and C drive. I initially had Civ on the C, but uninstalled it and reinstalled on the D. When I did this, the game did not create the proper directory hiearchy, so instead of D:/Programs/Civ4/Civ4/Assets/ etc, I have just D:/Assets, and D:/Public Maps. Quite annoying, and I'm actually considering uninstalling everything and reinstalling everything when I have the time.

Can anyone else DL and play that Warlord's save file I uploaded above?

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Rishbhav — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 21:14:26 GMT

Well, I'd posted an app a few apges back the Scipio said he used...

Did that solve the problem?

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 16:11:18 GMT

I have the latest patch, and I've also run into the problem on our PBEM. I can't open the first save, the exact same message comes up:

"The save file you have selected is protected to ensure that the assets in your mod folder have not been changed".

This only occurs on games that have the Modified Assets Locked. Typically this would occur if you had changed any xml in any of your CivIV folders. It should be solved by reinstalling... (although I never had this issue with a straight single player with the modified assets locked)

I'll try that now.. if that doesn't work we may have to start our pbem without that option selected.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zone — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:20:13 GMT

Don't most people have the latest patch? If so, then we'd all be screwed...

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 14:08:51 GMT

Mongoose. In true male form, I've finally had a look at the "owner's" manual for the CivIV modding. Actually just stumbled on it in the My Games/Civ IV/Manual/ directory. It is a PDF folder.

Evidently, after you have opened a map in the Worldbuilder, you are supposed to save it to the:

C:/Programs/CivIV/Public Maps

directory. Then you should be able to load it from the "Load Scenario" option in either single or multiplayer.

Since it has been modified in the worldbuilder, it may be that you cannot open it as a Save Game file, and if it is in the Save Game folder then it thinks it is a Save Game file, instead of a Worldbuilder file . . . if I preservere on this a bit, I just might learn a thing or two ;)

It might be that I need to go back into it and turn Lock Modified Assets back OFF, because I suspect that any time you load ANY scenario or map as a PBEM it automatically has Lock Modified Assets OFF for players. It may be possible to somehow open it with the Admin password that was created at the beginning of the PBEM to modify assets, but I'm not certain.

Anyway, try putting the file in the Public Maps, and see if you can open it in Single Player. If you can, but you still cannot open it in MP, then my theory about Lock Modified Assets needing to be turned back off is supported. If you cannot open it in Single, then I'm gonna have to do some more research to figure out what the problem is.

One other possible issue is if you have updated to the latest patch?

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:18:44 GMT

[quote][b]mongoose201 (2/2/2007)[/b][hr]It wouldn't let me open it as a single player game, and when I tried to load it as a multiplayer, it gave some message about how "assets were locked to ensure that no changes were made in the mod folder" or some such message... and then it dumped straight to the desktop.

hmmm..[/quote]

. . . crapola. Back to the drawing board.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

ozwego — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:29:11 GMT

[quote]I'm eager to get more people playing (i.e., maybe _buying_) Warlords, cause the more I play it, the more I think it is a MUCH better improvement on Vanilla Civ4 overall. The Great Generals basically brings back some of the military and strategic options that existed in C3C.[/quote]

Nuff said Scipio. Im getting Warlords asap. The general is what I miss the most from the previous civ so for that aspect alone its worth the buy imo. :D:D:D

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:07:45 GMT

It wouldn't let me open it as a single player game, and when I tried to load it as a multiplayer, it gave some message about how "assets were locked to ensure that no changes were made in the mod folder" or some such message... and then it dumped straight to the desktop.

hmmm..

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:33:36 GMT

Hmmm, maybe I'll save it to the World builder then open it as an MP game and set New Random Roll on Reload and Lock Modified Assets, and set all the position except Julius to AI control. Then I'll save the Worldbuilder file. Then open it as an SP game and viola!

Check me on this Mongoose, but this one should have the Modified Assets Locked

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:08:51 GMT

The fact that you could get into the worldbuilder means that you didn't have the "modified assets locked" option selected, which really is a must for the GOTM's. Sorry, should have mentioned that earlier.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:51:12 GMT

I randomly generated a warlord Noble difficulty, standard size, temperate climate, low sea level, normal speed map; everything else default. In the interest of exploring some of the new game dynamics in Warlords, I selected Julius Caesar as the human role. I chose him because he is Organized and is one of only four tribes that have the "Imperialistic" trait (the others being Genghis, Cyrus, and Catherine of Russia).

[quote]+100% Great General emergence
50% faster production of settlers[/quote]

This trait seems to be one of the biggest new additions in Warlords. Because it also interacts with the Great Generals, I thought it might be fun to give a player a chance to see what they can do with it.

When I first played a few rounds at it, I found that the starting location was pretty bleak, so I added some perks in the Worldbuilder. So far I've played up to 125 BC and have seven cities, so I think it is definitely winnable, though perhaps challenging.

Geeze standard speed games go fast!

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zigeuner — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:57:34 GMT

[quote]ADDIT: I'm eager to get more people playing (i.e., maybe _buying_) Warlords, cause the more I play it, the more I think it is a MUCH better improvement on Vanilla Civ4 overall.[/quote]
Perhaps I'll get Warlords if I get an answer to this inquiry: [quote]Will there be any other Civ4 expansion? If so, when's it due?[/quote]

Congratulations Zone. I had hoped that previous winners were excluded from getting more of those banners, and had already reserved a nice spot for that one you have right there, yeah, that one, with my name on it... :pinch:

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:30:58 GMT

[quote][b]Scipio Africanus (2/1/2007)[/b][hr][quote][b]mongoose201 (1/31/2007)[/b][hr][quote][b]Scipio Africanus (1/31/2007)[/b][hr] This is just my opinion, but it's based on some experience: I don't think marathon games are suited for the GOTM format. 33 hours is too long for more than 1 or 2 people to be able to finish.

If you would like to come up with a Warlords game set to a normal speed I think it would work better. Let me know either way, I don't mind coming up with both a Vanilla and Warlords game for Feb.[/quote]I'll set up a normal speed Warlords game and play it through. I'll use pretty much the exact same settings except standard map instead of huge. As I understand it Mongoose, you first play through a map to make sure it is a "good/fun" one and that it is "winnable" am I correct?

I guess Noble difficulty is the norm, eh? Except with Raging Barbs on, in my experience, with the "wrong" type of map, Warlords difficulty can seem like Prince![/quote]

I usually don't play the game out to victory before I post. I typically just play to make sure that it's a decent start with room to get a solid foundation.

Noble dif. would be fine. :)

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:22:48 GMT

[quote][b]mongoose201 (1/31/2007)[/b][hr][quote][b]Scipio Africanus (1/31/2007)[/b][hr] This is just my opinion, but it's based on some experience: I don't think marathon games are suited for the GOTM format. 33 hours is too long for more than 1 or 2 people to be able to finish.

That is pretty much what I was thinking too . . . :( shame . . .

I wonder about "Epic" speed? I personally am averse to normal speed, but then maybe I just haven't played enough games at normal speed.

I'll set up a normal speed Warlords game and play it through. I'll use pretty much the exact same settings except standard map instead of huge. As I understand it Mongoose, you first play through a map to make sure it is a "good/fun" one and that it is "winnable" am I correct?

I guess Noble difficulty is the norm, eh? Except with Raging Barbs on, in my experience, with the "wrong" type of map, Warlords difficulty can seem like Prince!

ADDIT: I'm eager to get more people playing (i.e., maybe _buying_) Warlords, cause the more I play it, the more I think it is a MUCH better improvement on Vanilla Civ4 overall. The Great Generals basically brings back some of the military and strategic options that existed in C3C. Except that, (a) the incidence of Great Generals is less capricious because it is dependent on the experience of your military overall, and (b) the use to which you put a Great General has three different forms. Check it out [url=http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/warlords/#civs]Warlords Info at Civ Fanatics[/url]. When you combine this with the re-tooled (read, tweaked, balanced, and perfected) leader characteristics, new leaders, new UUs, new special civ buildings, and the scenarios that are included in Warlords, it is DEFINITELY an improvement on Civ4.

I now, it is annoying that Firaxis took the marketing ploy of withholding all these cool features for an expansion pack, retaining the option to dig into your wallet twice. But at least they DID MAKE Warlords, which they have yet to do with their alleged editor/modmaker pack.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:08:07 GMT

[quote][b]Zone (2/1/2007)[/b][hr]WOOP! Lets see just how deep I can get my posts to be just due to GOTM banners :D[/quote]

You'll have to work pretty hard for that. If you get down past 5, I'll probably start doing them side-by-side.

;)

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zone — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 02:09:00 GMT

WOOP! Lets see just how deep I can get my posts to be just due to GOTM banners :D

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 23:40:31 GMT

[quote][b]Scipio Africanus (1/31/2007)[/b][hr]I finished the Warlords Civ4 game I mentioned above. Qin Shi Huang, Huge Terra map, Marathon speed, Warlord level difficulty, all victory conditions on, Raging Barbs on, and pretty much everything else default. I won Cultural Victory in 1989. Won't reveal anything more in case Mongoose wants to use it as one of the Feb GOTMs.

If you do use it as a GOTM, I'd recommend this: (a) it took me > 33 hours of play time to win it, so it may not be for everyone; (b) accept all victories types, but count a Cultural Victory as a 40% bonus (so for example if the players normalized score is 1000, treat it as 1400 for purposes of deciding the GOTM winner).

The map is well suited to a Cultural Victory so it would be good to encourage that, but without making the other types not count. It should also be possible to win by all the other means, and perhaps another player's style could accomplish it quicker and higher score :D

If you like games where you have a reasonable though not easy map, where the AI is not swarming you, but putting up a decent fight, you might enjoy this one. But be warned, it IS an endurance match that is for sure.[/quote]

This is just my opinion, but it's based on some experience: I don't think marathon games are suited for the GOTM format. 33 hours is too long for more than 1 or 2 people to be able to finish.

If you would like to come up with a Warlords game set to a normal speed I think it would work better. Let me know either way, I don't mind coming up with both a Vanilla and Warlords game for Feb.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 23:27:02 GMT

Congrats are in order for Zone, the January CivIV GOTM Champ.... Zone is now a 3 time GOTM winner, and still the only multiple winner.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zigeuner — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:15:18 GMT

[quote]Will there be any other Civ4 expansion? If so, when's it due?[/quote]Good questions! I'm kinda curious myself...

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:30:18 GMT

I finished the Warlords Civ4 game I mentioned above. Qin Shi Huang, Huge Terra map, Marathon speed, Warlord level difficulty, all victory conditions on, Raging Barbs on, and pretty much everything else default. I won Cultural Victory in 1989. Won't reveal anything more in case Mongoose wants to use it as one of the Feb GOTMs.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

jerm — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:28:58 GMT

This may not be suitable for Scipio's game if it's on Marathon but perhaps one month the victor could be the one who got closest to the end time but did not actually reach it. Score would only be secondary to break a tie. Only down side is that it could get boring for some so maybe not a good idea but just a thought.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:26:17 GMT

[quote][b]Zone (1/29/2007)[/b][hr]Well if we're all happy with it, you could post it next month and Mongoose can join in for once![/quote]

I'll try to win it first, just so it is established to be winnable. I'm almost positive it is, but I'm conducting a small (and very secret) experiment with this game, so I won't divulge. It is on an easy setting, so it might prove to be fun for a broad array of folks. Marathon games can be challenging just in being so long, but they are also nice in allowing for more detailed unit-oriented strategies.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Locus Coeruleus — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:18:13 GMT

Alright, so I completed this here game. I won, but came no where near to the top score. In fact, I am placed squarely in last place. My victory was a space race in the late 20th century. I managed to maintain a lead in science throughout most of the game and through acquisition of a great economist, was able to maintain a 100 percent science rate throughout most of the game. I also learned a couple a things along the way as well, so it was quite beneficial.

1) When at war it is probably wise to devote most of your most advanced cities to the war machine so that military objectives may be obtained in the most expedient manner possible. I don't get to play Civ much, so sometimes you just forget these things!!

2) Early on it's probably a good idea to build some temples and other happiness structures so that later on, during war, your cities won't shut down so much. During the war with the Greeks, I managed to secure the coastline, but had to end the war prematurely because my cities were becoming unruly, EVEN AFTER I had declared a military dictatorship! I ignored the temples and did not achieve my objective of clearing the Greeks off the continent.

Anyways, here is the victory screen and the sav. Actually, you know what, scratch the sav, I saved it the turn after not the turn before. The victory was achieved in 1995. Looking at the map as a whole, I could see how it could have been quite easy to take a domination victory. Ah well, there's always next time! ;)

[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2733/victorysz9.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zigeuner — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:49:06 GMT

Hey, mongoose, there's this neat feature in Civ4 that you may know about... You can start a game in just about any era. I played one yesterday with all the technologies given, and it was a riot! Maybe if we do the Vanilla one like that, the oddness will attract some more players. I'd recommend a small or tiny map, Prince or up to keep it challenging, with either aggressive civs, or eternal war. Conquest only. (If you want I can set one up, and you get to play two games. ;) )

Addited: Will there be any other Civ4 expansion? If so, when's it due?

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

jerm — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:37:30 GMT

I'd like a warlords game actually. Both sounds good too.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:10:58 GMT

I don't mind putting up a warlords game, as it's what I play most of the time anyway. I've just been trying to be more inclusive by using Vanilla for GOTM so that all can participate.

Perhaps we can put one of each up to see how it goes?

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zone — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:31:31 GMT

Well if we're all happy with it, you could post it next month and Mongoose can join in for once!

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Scipio Africanus — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:02:01 GMT

Hey guys, a week or two ago, I fired up a standard Marathon speedgame , i.e., NOT my own "Scipio's Marathon" speed, in Warlords as the Chinese, and I'm now into the late 1600s with it. It really is a pretty fun map. If there is any interest in having a Warlords GOTM for Feb, this map might be fun in general. I think it is either Warlord or Chieftain difficulty.

It was a Terra map with pretty much everything else as default settings, although I selected the AI opponents so that none of them had either of the two Leader characteristics for my guy (Qin Shi Huang, which is Protective and Industrious).

If there is interest let me know, and I'll post it or email it somebody or whatever.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Locus Coeruleus — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:24:41 GMT

Should have it done by the end of the weekend Mongoose. :)

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 21:25:53 GMT

Ahh.. almost forgot...

[b]Submissions Accepted:[/b]

[red]Zone[/red] Victory: [blue]Domination[/blue] Normalized Score: [red]13,867[/red]

[red]Rishbhav[/red] Victory: [blue]Domination[/blue] Normalized Score: [red]10,394[/red]

Anyone else?

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zigeuner — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 15:05:43 GMT

Bah, you're a nasty bunch! Rest assured I'll get you all next time. (Provided the AI doesn't attack me with flaming Axemen that is... :crazy: )

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Rishbhav — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 19:05:32 GMT

I snagged second from you Zig :w00t:

Domination Victory, 10394.

I think I warmongered a bit too much on this one. Once I got into war civics, I never made a civic change, as I was almost constantly at war ever since I eliminated the Russians.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zone — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:43:04 GMT

Lol, and many, many more Zig :)

I'm sure someone can beat my effort. I didn't sustain the pressure I had going at the start through the mid-game, although it is difficult to do so when you have to cross to another continent - that always needs preperation.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zigeuner — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:01:04 GMT

Crap! This means I'll have to play next month's as well...

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

mongoose201 — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:49:48 GMT

A worthy effort indeed. I'll look at the file later tonight...

[howard cosell]Down goes Zig..... Down goes Zig.....[/cosell]

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zone — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:45:02 GMT

OK, tis done:

1938, Domination victory, 8 hours 26 mins, score = 13867

[img]http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/8084/civjan071qo3.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/5926/civjan072zw3.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9917/civjan073os1.jpg[/img]

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zone — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 08:16:34 GMT

I've not started it yet, but there's plenty of time. It'll only take a couple of days.

RE: January 2007 GOTM: Vanilla CivIV

Zigeuner — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:09:56 GMT

[aside]Maybe you should close down P&R... Don't open it again until ten people have submitted... It's just so wordy down there, nobody has time to play a game anymore...[/aside]