LOL Sekoms - team F.I.S.T!
OK with me if OK with Neo … and HEY, I’m already nominating you to be our official ambassador to handle diplomatic relations! 
Some good suggestions there Qwerty.
I’ve created a hangout too.
I’ve added Brian, Qwerty, Rosslessness, Hulk, MattS.
Hey Guys, I’ve been away and haven’t had a chance to read this thread yet.
If you need something from me please email me directly, though it will probably be Friday before I can check in any more code.
Chris Lee has been keeping me in the loop, but I just want to confirm you are after a new setting for speed and deadline for this game? 2/3rds speed and 10h deadline?
Anyhow, I should be able to get back and read the forums on Friday or Saturday if nothing is super urgent.
Hangout didn’t work for me … we can comment here through for all to see.
BTW, if this game doesn’t start really soon, I’m going to have to bow out as I have some extended offline time in early June.
If we were to use some prefix to our names what about:
Cpt. A, Cpt. B, Cpt. C
Emperor A, Emperor B, …
Ruler A, Ruler B, …
or whatever title you can imagine…
The + is that such title does not disrupt the nick.
HULK:
Better give your gmail, if you don’t use hangout, you should receive an invitation via gmail. In either case I suggest installing “Hangouts” extension in Chrome.
I put in Hulk’s gmail. If he has not used Hangouts on that address he will probably have to activate it.
The Chrome extension enables a desktop tray icon that pops up with messages. Also install the app for your phone.
For reference I’d sent Jay a wishlist of suggested features (from Brian) for a Formal Team Game. It would involve the game admin creating teams and colours. Players would join a team. Team members are allied but cannot interact with other teams or AI. This would mean an additional stage to join a specific team when joining a game.
None of this is going to be in our game this time around. I am sure it would take some time.
The changes to add some time options is much simpler for now.
Can we wait until the weekend and kick off then?
Team F.I.S.T. It is.
I emailed Jay regarding the one thing that we need before we start, which is the Max Turn Wait Time. I’d love the shape/color control for the map, but we have a work around for that. As soon as I hear back from Jay that he was able to add our time to the options, I’ll create the game and we can get started.
I’ll look over the most recent settings opinions tomorrow, and post a final. I’ll try to consider as many people’s opinions as possible, but in the end we have to pick something and go with it. Each team game we play gives us a better idea of what works and what to ask Jay to incorporate into Team Settings.
So you have about 12 hrs to support your favorite setting before I get back on here and post our final settings! Have at it!
As mentioned, I have concerns about how long this game will run, given that the start time keeps getting pushed back. I’ll have very, very limited Internet access for two weeks in June, so if I’m still in the game, I’d have to turn over control to one of my F.I.S.T. (LOL!) teammates.
For instance, the current team game (which is almost done … but win by 33%) started on March 2nd … and the game parameters were 15 players, 6/12 turn, 32 stars/player, medium distance, rare/expensive Warp Gates, and starting cash of $1,500. So even though a “concede” has been proposed, this will take 45 days … and it’s possible due to team tactics it went faster than “normal”
So even with 6/10 turns, if we have similar specs, but 24 players (6 AI’s), you are looking at two months minimum - three more realistic … and possibly longer since if there are balanced battles, those can go back-n-forth for a while.
This may have some bearing on the parameters that Brian picks - am wondering since we’re still figuring out team play, if a shorter game is better to help fine tune and have Jay add features to support it.
Brian is right that eventually you gotta pick something and run with it … but just want everyone to be aware these large scale games take a while!
With speed in mind, plentiful resources and cheap settings will speed up the mid game. Players will have to move fast to get an edge over enemies.
I agree the last game should have lasted much much longer.
So… Hulk, you are advocating for Quad speed?
I’m leaning towards just doing 8h max wait turn if we don’t have time to wait for Jay. It is already in the system, and you still only have to check in once every 24 hrs to stay in the game. We can pause if we must. Just say so on Hangouts or I’ll even post an email address in game, where you can email in an emergency to have me pause it because you would AFK if you don’t get to a computer in a couple hours.
Is there anything in the game at the moment that shows who has missed a turn and how many turns they have missed?
LOL on Quad speed - that’s crazy, especially for a big game.
I’m just setting the expectations for this game so people know what they are getting into. Plus pointing out my personal RL commitments that if it goes into June, I’ll either have to AFK or (with notice/permission from the other players), have to turn over control to my F.I.S.T. teammates. That’s why I suggested a while ago looking at 24 stars/player and “close” settings … but no sweat if that doesn’t work - I’m just one player.
Yes LDG, it is in RED right under the bar that tells you when the next turn is due, and the submit button. It says something like 1 of 3 Turns Missed.
Ah no I mean is there something to tell the game owner who has missed a turn and how many?
No, but I tend to keep an eye on the clock and leaderboard. Granted, if it cycles while I’m asleep I won’t see who failed to submit a turn, but I will see that the Turn time didn’t move forward. If I see that happen 2 times in a row, I could pause it right before the next cycle and call out to players asking everyone submit before I resume the game.
That might be a good compromise. Any time the turn submission time doesn’t move for two turns, we can do an ‘all call’ The google hangout group is a great idea. Just have to remember to ignore it when you are busy with other stuff. I have mine set to show up on my phone, but it doesn’t make noise if I’m not actively using my phone at the time.
Well, I’m going to start playing with settings. See if I can’t go with 24 stars and get the map shape tightened up a bit to improve game speed.
So I’ve spent some time playing with map (scaled it down with closer scatter) and fewer stars per player. It ended up looking more like a traditional circle with a secondary set of players in the center. Not at all what I wanted.
So in the interest of speeding this game up play wise, so we can get most of it done before we lose too many players to vacations and such, I think we just speed it up with mechanics tweaks. Plentiful resources, better starting cash and a strong home world.
Lets see how it plays out, and we can provide feedback to Jay on what we really need for a proper team game.
Everyone pick your team ID. Reminds me of clan names in StarCraft 2. Keep it short and sweet. First come first served, so no one can steal FIST!
I’ve seen FIST Hulk (which seems dirty) and Cpt. Qwerty (if Cpt is what they wanted) I think those work just fine.
I’ll have a link and password here in a little bit, as soon as I can decide on some of the settings. I’ll repost the team positions too.