New game (PBEM) - CMN: sisko

[Bari]

i knew that Sisko will CMN sins he started gathering info.


pirates usually start on water

[sisko]

i can place the Pirates on land just like all the other factions.
in this case, the following rule will apply to the Pirates too:

2 colony pods 1 basic trooper

[Bari]

then i'm ok with pods

[sisko]

actually, if you switch on the following setting: "No Unity Scattering: Supply Pods only at landing site" (like the table says right now), then you will have pods only around your starting positions and i will make sure they are in the same amount for each of you.

[Earthmichael]

The reason I prefer games with other players with no pods at all is because the pods can add a HUGE random factor that can give one player an insurmountable advantage.

For example, suppose a game is started with each player having 4 pods near the starting location. When the pods are popped,

Player 1 gets: a Monolith, an Alien Artifact, a Tech Advance, and 100 EC.

Player 2 gets: 2 mind worms, some mines (in non-rocky locations, so relatively useless), and 25 EC.

Player 1 wins before the game has really started.

[Armageddon]

Hi, 

my settings I would prefer are:
Table 1:
SMAX/Hive , Morgan , Peacekeepers (in that order)/any/huge/30-50%/av/av/av/off/Trans

Table 2:
on/on/on/on/off/on/off/off/on/off/off/on/on/off/off/on/off/off/1/day/5 days

[sisko]

Setup	Preferences	demiurg	t_ras	Bari	Armageddon
SMAX	Game: SMAC/SMAX & patches	SMAX	?	SMAX	SMAX
-	Factions	Pirates	?	Hive	Morganites
any	Map: Random or not	?	?	any	any
huge	Size	huge	?	huge	huge
30-50%	Ocean coverage	30-50%	?	50-70%	30-50%
average	Erosive forces	?	?	avg	avg
average	Native life forms	?	?	avg	avg
average	Cloud cover	?	?	avg	avg
?	Unity pods: on/off	on	?	off	off
Transcend	Difficulty level	Transcend	-	Transcend	Transcend

For the second 'table' use only ON / OFF when stating your preferences to avoid confusions.

Setup	Preferences	demiurg	t_ras	Bari	Armageddon
On	Allow Victory by Transcendence	On		On	On
On	Allow Victory by Conquest	On		On	On
Off	Allow Diplomatic Victory	Off		Off	On
On	Allow Economic Victory	On		On	On
Off	Allow Cooperative Victory	Off		Off	Off
ON	Do or Die: Don't restart eliminated players	On	-	On	On
On	Look first: Flexible starting locations	On		On	Off
Off	Tech stagnation: slower rate of research discoveries	Off		Off	Off
On	Spoils of war: Steal tech when conquer base	On		On	On
Off	Blind research: cannot set precise research goals	Off		Off	Off
Off	Intense Rivalry: Opponents more aggressiv	Off		Off	Off
On	No Unity Survey: World Map not visible	On		On	On
On	No Unity Scattering: Supply Pods only at landing sites	On		On	On
Off	Bell Curve: No Random Events	Off		Off	Off
Off	Time Warp: Accelerated Start (on/off/custom)	Off		Off	Off
ON	Iron Man: Save/Restore restricted to exit	On	-	On	On
Off	Randomize faction leader personalities	Off		Off	Off
Off	Randomize faction leader social agendas	Off		Off	Off
	Expected turn rate (usually 24h)	2-3/week		1/day	1/day
5days*	Number of days to wait before turn is 'pushed'				5days

*if a player is non-responsive for 5 days after the turn was sent to him, the turn will be 'pushed' - the CMN will open the save and advance the turn to the next player without giving any orders (only if possible). holiday and out-of-town periods are excluded if properly announced in the TTT (turn tracking thread).

the rules regarding SMAC bugs/exploits are posted here: http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=1519.0
if you questions regarding the rules please use that thread.
any supplemental rules should be agrred before the game starts

[t_ras]

Setup	Preferences	demiurg	t_ras	Bari	Armageddon
SMAX	Game: SMAC/SMAX & patches	SMAX	SMAX	SMAX	SMAX
-	Factions	Pirates	Drones	Hive	Morganites
any	Map: Random or not	?	Not Ramdom map (if possible)	any	any
huge	Size	huge	huge	huge	huge
30-50%	Ocean coverage	30-50%	50-70%	50-70%	30-50%
average	Erosive forces	?	average	avg	avg
average	Native life forms	?	average	avg	avg
average	Cloud cover	?	dense	avg	avg
on	Unity pods: on/off	on	on	off	off
Transcend	Difficulty level	Transcend	Transcend	Transcend	Transcend

For the second 'table' use only ON / OFF when stating your preferences to avoid confusions.

Setup	Preferences	demiurg	t_ras	Bari	Armageddon
On	Allow Victory by Transcendence	On	On	On	On
On	Allow Victory by Conquest	On	On	On	On
Off	Allow Diplomatic Victory	Off	On	Off	On
On	Allow Economic Victory	On	On	On	On
Off	Allow Cooperative Victory	Off	On	Off	Off
ON	Do or Die: Don't restart eliminated players	On	On	On	On
On	Look first: Flexible starting locations	On	On	On	Off
Off	Tech stagnation: slower rate of research discoveries	Off	Off	Off	Off
On	Spoils of war: Steal tech when conquer base	On	On	On	On
Off	Blind research: cannot set precise research goals	Off	On	Off	Off
Off	Intense Rivalry: Opponents more aggressiv	Off	Off	Off	Off
On	No Unity Survey: World Map not visible	On	On	On	On
On	No Unity Scattering: Supply Pods only at landing sites	On	Off	On	On
Off	Bell Curve: No Random Events	Off	On	Off	Off
Off	Time Warp: Accelerated Start (on/off/custom)	Off	Off	Off	Off
ON	Iron Man: Save/Restore restricted to exit	On	ON	On	On
Off	Randomize faction leader personalities	Off	Off	Off	Off
Off	Randomize faction leader social agendas	Off	Off	Off	Off
	Expected turn rate (usually 24h)	2-3/week	2-3/week	1/day	1/day
	Number of days to wait before turn is 'pushed'		4		5

[t_ras]

It looks like we have some ties:

• Ocean coverage - I'd rather have a more fertil land, why suffer more 
• Unity pods - c'mon! don't you love surprises 
• Allow Diplomatic Victory - any vistory is a victory. If I reached the point I have enough citizent to win this I probably diserv it. I'm not really happy to give this one up

[Armageddon]

On the 3 ties:
Unity Pods: I would accept, if...
Ocean: Let's have some land to move, not more than 50% water
Allow Diplomatic: I care less

[t_ras]

Ok, I give up ocean cover.

[sisko]

so it's 30-50% ocean coverage and pods only at the starting positions.
is that ok for everybody?

[Armageddon]

ok by me

[t_ras]

Unity Pods: I would accept, if...

?

[Armageddon]

I could go with Pod scattering. I like it very much in SP games.
But I remember the game 4's crowd where Pod scattering unbalanced the game and killed it.
That's why I would set it off for MP games. But if you wish I would agree with Pod scattering, but it seems dangerous if the Cult or Pirates participate in the game.