GrogHeads Forum

Digital Gaming => Ally/Opponent Finder => Dominions III LFG and Strategy Discussion => Topic started by: Phobos on May 21, 2013, 06:35:24 PM

Title: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on May 21, 2013, 06:35:24 PM
There was some interest in an EA game, so I decided to get the ball rolling.

Host: PBEM Llamaserver.
Official game name: DawnoftheGrog (http://www.llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=DawnoftheGrog)
Age: Early Age
Map: Land of Legends (http://koti.kapsi.fi/elmokki/dom3/maplist/files/landoflegends.zip)
Turn Length: 48 hours. Players may also request temporary extensions. Turn length permanently extended upon request.
Number of Players: 10.

Mods: Other People's Mods 6. (https://sites.google.com/site/dominionsenhancedmod/home/otherpeoplesmods6.zip?attredirects=0&d=1)
Streamers and Standards (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attachment.php?s=bb2efb0613b63573917e1d4fec13bc3e&attachmentid=6545&d=1218103230)
Community Sprites Update mod. 1.11 (http://www.llamaserver.net/globu/Other_Mods/Community%20Sprite%20Update%20Mod%20v1.11%20%5bGlobu%20et%20al.%5d.rar)

"Other People's Mods 6" is a combination of three very popular mods (CBM 1.94, AwesomeEndgame, AwesomeGods) plus some bugfixes.

Game Settings: Special Site freq. 50%, Hall of Fame entries 15, Renaming is allowed, No graphs, Independents 9.  Subject to change by request

Victory Conditions: None.  Winner declared by total conquest, total dominion conversion or concession by remaining players.  Subject to change by request. 

Diplomacy Policy: None; do as you wish, keeping in mind consequences in future games, as well as later in that game (if you stab someone early, any alliance later in that game is likely to prove less trustworthy). Trades should be fulfilled.

Other rules:
Have fun.  Don't pointlessly ruin someone else's fun.

Don't use game exploits.  Most of these involve copy/pasting orders to achieve things not normally possible, such as hunting for blood slaves underwater, or copying the scripts of special units like Bogus and Friends.

The EA test nation is not a valid nation choice for this game.

I can update this page as required.

Nations:

Pangaea  Phobos
Ulm  Byrdman57
Mictlan Ubercat
Ermor ScottWAR defeated turn 20
Lanka Huw the Poo defeated turn 32   
Hinnom undercovergeek
Tir na n'Og Beelzeboss
Fomoria mkivcs defeated turn 21
Yomi Ogaburan
Abysia Phillipe
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: byrdman57 on May 21, 2013, 08:04:41 PM
I'd like to give EA Ulm a shot!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Ubercat on May 21, 2013, 08:19:20 PM
That other peoples mod appears to be broken. I tried to check it out but when I start a new game with it enabled I CTD. Disabling the mod allows me to successfully start a new game. I suggest that we stick to the mods that we already know work.

Oh, and I call Mictlan.  ;D
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 21, 2013, 08:28:47 PM
Interesting.  Is OPM the only mod you have active?

Because attempting to start a game with multiple mods active could create the issue you described.

edit:  I have no issue altering the mods used for this game, if any.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: ScottWAR on May 21, 2013, 11:01:27 PM
I'll give Ermor a try.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Huw the Poo on May 22, 2013, 12:37:27 AM
Could I join as Lanka?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 22, 2013, 01:37:00 AM
updated

5 players is enough to start defining some of the game settings.  I'll use the default options in the original post, unless someone wishes them to be altered.  While I have not noticed any issues with the "otherpeoplesmods 6" mod, I will be happy to alter that, if it will make players more comfortable.

With any luck, we should be ready to start submitting pretenders to llamaserver by the weekend.  I'll define the map one I have a better idea of the numbers of players involved (a map suitable for 5 players may not be suitable if more people wish to join the game). 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Huw the Poo on May 22, 2013, 03:21:37 AM
Thanks for doing this, Phobos!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 22, 2013, 05:16:39 AM
put me down for hinnom
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 22, 2013, 05:18:07 AM
i think the number of players is key - decide now if you want a small personal grogs one (the one uber,jason, huw, ysk and i had turned over very briskly) or a bigger one and post it on des etc
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 22, 2013, 07:14:21 AM
A smaller number of players would probably be easier to manage and lead to faster turns.  I'll probably cut off recruitment by the weekend.  I would prefer to leave some time for any interested parties to join, so a few more days will probably be enough.  Then I can set up the game on llamaserver.

This will be my first time acting as an admin, so I'll probably be laissez faire in that role.  As I see it, my main job once the game starts is to set the timer back and forth, as required.

Setting the game up is no major thing.  I have played a couple of games, so it is about time I administrated a game in turn.  I appreciate the prompt responses by all interested parties.  It looks like an interesting roster of nations, so far.   
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 22, 2013, 07:19:25 AM
re setting up the game - thankyou

re admining it - im sure we're all on hand to lend our vast knowledge to you!!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Ubercat on May 22, 2013, 07:35:40 PM
Quote from: Phobos on May 21, 2013, 08:28:47 PM
Interesting.  Is OPM the only mod you have active?

Because attempting to start a game with multiple mods active could create the issue you described.

edit:  I have no issue altering the mods used for this game, if any.

I disabled the other mods as you suggested and was able to start a game.

The first neighbor I encountered were the mythical endgame diversity mod. They attacked me with a terrifying size 6 Grendelkin around turn 4 that I was barely able to chase off. I suggest that players not be allowed to pick this nation for obvious reasons.  ;)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 22, 2013, 07:54:29 PM
lol I'll update the OP.

I think that is a testing nation.  You load it in single player to take a look at some of the end-game summons.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Beelzeboss on May 23, 2013, 01:40:34 AM
I would like to join as Tir na n'og. Thanks for organising the game.
If you want I can help with admining the game. It doesn't look that complicated.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: parone on May 23, 2013, 05:24:13 AM
god i wish i had time to join this.  i've wanted to try ea c'tis forever.  alas, i am all gamed up...
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 23, 2013, 07:13:01 AM
Quote from: Beelzeboss on May 23, 2013, 01:40:34 AM
I would like to join as Tir na n'og. Thanks for organising the game.
If you want I can help with admining the game. It doesn't look that complicated.

Ok, thanks a lot for that.  A co-admin could be useful.  Once the game has started, I'll PM you the admin password, so you'll be able to grant extensions.  An extra set of eyes watching the thread should ensure that the game can be delayed for someone, should an emergency arise.

I think I'll close recruitment for this game in a day or so.  At the moment, I am looking at the Desert Eye map (it comes with the game) or Parganos (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=49710).  I won't set anything in stone until the number of players is confirmed.  If anyone would like to put forward their preferences with the map or any of the game settings, feel free to do so.

 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 23, 2013, 07:28:47 AM
not a deal breaker but i would prefer a non scrolling borders map
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Huw the Poo on May 23, 2013, 07:29:27 AM
I'm easy with maps and settings in general, except that I would prefer score graphs to be disabled.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 23, 2013, 07:32:44 AM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on May 23, 2013, 07:29:27 AM
I'm easy with maps and settings in general, except that I would prefer score graphs to be disabled.

as a nay-graphs advocate and then playing with them on - its really a good game with them on - i suppose you could say its just national intelligence - it doesnt actually give a number just a gradient of peoples provinces, income, dom, gems and research and army size - id didnt think id use it til you consider declaring war on someone only to find theyve got the biggest army in the game by a mile!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 23, 2013, 08:14:11 AM
A non wrap map is not a problem.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F3sJ2t.jpg&hash=17f2bc7139ac679726b769bdaf2bdd3fa355f499)

Shadowshore. (http://www.llamaserver.net/wolfsbane/Shadowshore.zip)  This map would probably be better suited to 8 or more players, but we can use it with 7.  120 land provinces.

I'll set the game up with no score graphs, unless there are votes for keeping them on.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: mkivcs on May 23, 2013, 09:11:10 AM
 I'd like to apply to be number 8 if ok with everyone  - Fomoria
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Ogaburan on May 23, 2013, 09:42:29 AM
is there still room for one more?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 23, 2013, 11:17:16 AM
Quote from: Ogaburan on May 23, 2013, 09:42:29 AM
is there still room for one more?

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo      :P  :P  :P
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Huw the Poo on May 23, 2013, 12:38:37 PM
Haha!  I smell an alliance in the air!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: JasonPratt on May 23, 2013, 03:36:11 PM
I'm super-happy Phobos went ahead and set up a smaller EA game!

Having said that, I'm feeling rather swamped at this time so I'll probably pass on trying to register for it. :) (TBH I wouldn't mind if someone took over the Groghawk game adminning either... :( )
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 23, 2013, 04:13:49 PM
Ok, 9 players.  updated the OP.  I'll fill in Ogaburan's nation pick once they have settled on their choice.

I'll probably close recruitment in about 12 hours.  I'll try and accommodate everyone's preferences with the game settings, putting the matter to a vote where there are differing views.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Ogaburan on May 23, 2013, 04:59:28 PM
Quote from: Phobos on May 23, 2013, 04:13:49 PM
I'll fill in Ogaburan's nation pick once they have settled on their choice.

The Ogaburan, for they are many, have decided to give the Yomi a try.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 23, 2013, 05:16:27 PM
I use gender-neutral expressions for most official announcements.  Referring to someone as a 'they' is more polite than referring to them as an 'it.'

Think of it as a modified majestic plural, if you like.

Updated the OP with your nation.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Ogaburan on May 23, 2013, 06:18:14 PM
The Ogaburan do not mind, for they appreciate public display of respect.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Philippe on May 23, 2013, 08:12:54 PM
I'd like to sign up for EA Abysia, if that's still an option.

And assuming that it is, just wanted to mention that I dislike scrolling maps (though I could probably live with it) and dislike tunnels, though not quite as much.  Independants at 7 is good, but at 9 is probably better.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 23, 2013, 08:54:41 PM
Quote from: Philippe on May 23, 2013, 08:12:54 PM
I'd like to sign up for EA Abysia, if that's still an option.

And assuming that it is, just wanted to mention that I dislike scrolling maps (though I could probably live with it) and dislike tunnels, though not quite as much.  Independants at 7 is good, but at 9 is probably better.

No problem.  Thanks for joining.

I'll increase independent strength to 9, unless there are any objections.  If there are, I'll put the matter to a vote.

I may also look for a map slightly larger than Shadowshore, now that we have 10 players.  I should easily be able to find a square map, with no wrap-around borders, that suits our purposes.  It should also provide some leeway, if there is any last minute interest in this game. 

I will try to finalise recruitment and get the game set up on llamaserver, after I finish work today (approx. 6 hours from this post).  That should give us the weekend to work out the rest of the details.   
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 24, 2013, 02:25:44 AM
Unless someone has another preference, I think we'll use Land of Legends for the game map.  It has 135 provinces., a number of chokepoints and port provinces that connect the central isle to the outer ring.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fkoti.kapsi.fi%2Felmokki%2Fdom3%2Fmaplist%2Fimages%2Flandoflegends.jpg&hash=9564e81d6b314696b0a50643a81c3c6bf2137888)

download link (http://koti.kapsi.fi/elmokki/dom3/maplist/files/landoflegends.zip)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 24, 2013, 02:49:37 AM
Ok, game is up on llamaserver.  The original post has been updated and has links to the map and mod.

Please check your pretender before submitting.  Ensure that "other people's mods 6" is the only mod enabled when you create your pretender.  The game will technically start once everyone has their pretender file in.  The game will not officially start until everyone has received their first turn and we can confirm there are no issues.  If there are any issues, please let me know, so we can resolve them promptly.

Once the game has officially started, I'll send the admin password to the co-admin, Beelzeboss.  If you require an extension or are having issues, let us know in the thread or via private message.  I'll try to keep an eye on the timer to prevent the next turn progressing, if it appears someone will silently have a stale turn.

The mod we are using makes a few changes to the Pretender Gods available to nations, in addition to some of the endgame units.  I can try to provide some impartial advice if you are having any difficulties.  I can also attempt to provide some technical advice if you would like assistance.

/wall of text.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: JasonPratt on May 24, 2013, 07:43:47 AM
{Australian voice} Pft, you call that a wall of text? That isn't a wall of text. Now that's (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=5981.msg144410#msg144410) a wall of text. {/Aussievoice}
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: byrdman57 on May 24, 2013, 09:32:18 AM
Just want to note that I'm currently lacking Internet access (except my phone, which can't run dominions) so I won't be able to submit my pretender until mid-week.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 24, 2013, 07:11:38 PM
No problem.  Thanks for letting everyone know.  I guess people can use the time to test their preferred strategies.  I can also leave recruitment open for a little longer.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: parone on May 25, 2013, 06:47:32 AM
is there any room here?  if is very possible my 'big game' over at dommods is all done(it sure should be), in which case, i'd be in a good position to start another game!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Philippe on May 25, 2013, 09:35:07 AM
A question about graphics mods.

Which ones can I and/or should I set as enabled when I create my pretender?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: ScottWAR on May 25, 2013, 11:09:40 AM
I don't think you need to have any of the graphics mods enabled. At least I hope not otherwise I will need to re submit my pretender,...because I am only using the OPP,.. I mean OPM mod.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 25, 2013, 02:35:57 PM
Quote from: Philippe on May 25, 2013, 09:35:07 AM
A question about graphics mods.

Which ones can I and/or should I set as enabled when I create my pretender?

i dont think jason confirmed it but AFAIK no graphic mods are required
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Philippe on May 25, 2013, 04:03:18 PM
Not trying to not use graphics mods.

My problem in my last game was that I rushed into Pretender creation before I had enabled the graphics mods that I wanted to use, and was stuck looking at vanilla graphics for the duration.

What I wanted to know was whether the three graphics mods that I wanted to use in Groghammer but didn't because of my lack of experience would overwrite some part of any graphics that were in use in this game.

At a very minimum, I much prefer looking at the modded standards.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 25, 2013, 06:19:49 PM
Quote from: parone on May 25, 2013, 06:47:32 AM
is there any room here?  if is very possible my 'big game' over at dommods is all done(it sure should be), in which case, i'd be in a good position to start another game!

Sure.  From memory, you wanted EA C'Tis.  I'll wait until you confirm before I lock in that nation choice.


Regarding graphics mods, it is not a problem for me to enable them.  You will not need to re-submit your pretender if you have already done so, but you will need to download the relevant mods before you start the game.

I'll update the game settings on llamaserver and provide links to the sprite mods once I have some spare time, later this morning.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 25, 2013, 07:31:05 PM
updated.  Links to the sprite mods are in the first post.  You will need to extract them into your ...dominions/mods folder before the game starts.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Philippe on May 25, 2013, 10:01:13 PM
There was also something called the Upgraded Sprites Mod that was mentioned in the Groghammer game.

I have that as well as the two other graphics mods installed in my setup.

I believe (perhaps wrongly) that it won't make any difference to the running of the game.  I'll probably be singing a different tune when the lamaserver starts rejecting my turns.

In the meantime, does anyone know what the effect of using the Upgraded Sprites Mod along with the other two graphics mods that have been linked to is?  Is it by any chance already included in one of the other two?

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 25, 2013, 10:39:50 PM
I think a lot of the alternate sprites have already been incorporated into CBM, thus OPM6.  At the very least, a lot of the pretender sprites have been updated.  There may be a number of unit sprites that are effected though.

I will have to upload the additional 'upgraded sprites mod' to llamaserver, as I can't seem to find it listed anywhere on the site.  For the sake of completeness, I'll upload that mod sometime this evening and update the game page then.

These sprite mods do not need to be enabled when creating a pretender as they do not modify pretender abilities (other than the sprites used), therefore you won't trip cheat prevention or have anything similar occur when the game starts.   
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 26, 2013, 07:15:16 AM
I can't find the other sprite mod on the llamaserver site, and I seem to be unable to upload the mod.

To keep things simple, I think it would be best just to run with OPM6, streamers and standards and the community sprite update.

Sorry to disappoint anyone. 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: JasonPratt on May 26, 2013, 09:11:16 AM
Quote from: Phobos on May 25, 2013, 07:31:05 PM
updated.  Links to the sprite mods are in the first post.  You will need to extract them into your ...dominions/mods folder before the game starts.

Btw, where the heck did you find them to activate them in the Llama mod list?? I spend a good half hour looking for them and could only find the Banners mod (super important though that is).

Update: okay I just saw that you couldn't find one of them either. The community sprite upgrade was where in the activation list, though?

As to the other, remember that you can always (re-)upload the third sprite mod yourself to the list. I was going to have to do that myself, I just didn't want to duplicate it for no good reason. (But I don't know that the third one is all that great. I do think it upgrades sprites which aren't part of the community sprite patch, but...)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Philippe on May 26, 2013, 12:41:21 PM
FYI only, the link to the missing Upgrade mod can be found in the first posting of the Groghammer game.  Requires a bit of hunting after that though.

A propos of nothing at all, why is that you aren't playing in this one Jason?

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: JasonPratt on May 26, 2013, 08:06:59 PM
The link to where the missing graphic mod is found isn't the issue. When an admin sets up a game on Llamaserver, there's a list of mods registered on Llama from which the admin picks to set the mods for the game. (Not the same place as where the mod can be found for download, although the description in the list usually contains the link.)

If the mod isn't registered with Llama it isn't on that list, and so the server cannot be set to work with the mod. Normally I would just upload the missing graphic mod to the server (which is probably what I'll do anyway), but I don't want to reupload the mod if it really is registered in the server list already. I don't know that that would hurt anything, but I don't know that it wouldn't either, and I don't want to risk messing up their server. Also, I'd feel even sillier if after I did that I found where it was originally on the registration list to begin with!

Or, was it intentionally deleted off the list at some point by the server admis due to viruses or something? I'm sure it was on there once upon a time because Ysk activated it for his first EA game, but neither I nor Phobos can find it now. (Frankly I can't find the community graphics mod either, but since he did eventually find it on the list I was wondering if he could tell me where it was on the list; about halfway down or a third of the way or whatever.)

It's kind of confusing. :)


Anyway, I'm not playing this round because (1) my internet was on the fritz back during registration and (2) I was feeling kind of overwhelmed trying to set up Groghawk already while playing two other games. Plus one less person helped it be a smaller faster game. :) So I skipped this one. I'm super-glad Phobos went ahead and set it up, and I'll be checking in on y'all's chatter here about it as you go.  :D
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 27, 2013, 02:32:17 AM
There are about 100 mods on llamaserver.  Most of them are nation mods or comprehensive mods like CBM and the Goon mods.  There are quite a few mods tailored to specific games.

Enabling a mod means scrolling through the list to find the mod, then activating it.  I tried uploading the upgrade sprites mod.  Maybe it was already up on the site, who knows?  I still could not find it after I refreshed my browser.  Maybe I need to clear my cache, I don't know.  It seems like a lot of work for only a minor benefit, especially considering that the OPM6 mod includes many updated sprites.

In other news, once the pretenders for Hinnom, Ulm and whatever nation Parone picked, are up, we can start the game.

     
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 27, 2013, 02:48:51 AM
Should get mine in today
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Huw the Poo on May 28, 2013, 10:05:22 AM
You'd think I'd be spending this time learning how to play the game, wouldn't you?  I still have no grasp on magic at all, don't know how to effectively create an SC, and don't even know what a thug is, let alone how to use one.

But no.  Until I learn any of the above, I have the same option I always have - rely on my frontline infantry then cry when my first opponent cuts through them like a hot knife through butter.

I think I'd better get reading...
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: ScottWAR on May 28, 2013, 10:40:34 AM
Well, since I have learned a good bit reading here, let me give you a brief as possible list of my most recent revelations..........

Magic- I use it in three ways......1-conjuring magic creatures,...some cheap to be used as canon fodder,...some not so cheap as fighting machines to be unleashed upon my victims.....er I mean enemies. 2-Zapping or holding the enemy in place.....either damage the enemy in combat,..or hold them in place for your troops to chop up. 3-construction-- both items, such as armor, for my generals so they can fight and live instead of hanging back watching the fight and creature like monstrosities. There is a lot more to magic I think, but I haven't experimented with it yet.

I create MY SC based on the above. Start a game and look at the laboratory, and then look at the research part of it,.....each field is listed for you to research....if you click on the name of the field,...for example conjuration......it will show all the spells in that field and what type of magic is needed for each spell to be cast....for example fire or earth or both. Whatever spells you want to be able to cast your SC has to have the specific magic type and at least the level (the number of fire or earth symbols to the right of the spell) of the spells you want to be able to cast. If there are 3 fire icons and 2 earth icons next to a spell you want to be able to cast,..you need to put at least 3 levels into fire and 2 into earth in the magic portion when you create your SC.

  Thugs- I THINK these are generals/monsters you use to attack the enemy with instead of commanding troops with. Almost always given magic items which can be created using "create magic item" in your SC's or magical generals orders menu.

Hope this helps.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Huw the Poo on May 28, 2013, 11:04:32 AM
Thanks ScottWAR.  I'm going to look into this thug concept, and see if I can come up with some bruisers.

Looking forward to this game a lot!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 28, 2013, 11:17:38 AM
Dominions is notorious for punishing players without a clear vision of their end-game.

I would start with a goal in mind and work backward from there.  It will probably lead to a better experience than blindly responding to stimuli with whatever resources you can bring to bear, turn by turn.

30 seconds on the wiki (http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Land_of_Demons) and I see that Lanka gets access to some Donkey Kong demon expy's at blood research 8.  These guys are big, sacred, spellcasting giants, that automatically cast the spell 'Darkness' at the start of every fight.  These highly mobile commanders are capable of fighting a normal army by themselves, or leading an army of demons on an infernal march.  They could make for an interesting cornerstone of a strategy, especially if supplemented by research in other paths of magic.   

Lanka also gains access to a number of other sacred demonic units at lower levels of research, so I would probably try and pick up a few of those along the way to the Mandeha.

You probably won't even need to build a pretender to specifically summon these units, either.  That assumes you can blood hunt enough to empower one of your better blood magicians.  While you are at it, you can attempt to utilise some of the 'generic' blood magic to summon stuff like vampires or storm demons to supplement your end-game plans.

As you probably won't need your pretender to summon your special national units, you might think about what you actually need your pretender for.  Maybe you want to take advantage of a bless effect of some kind.  Maybe you need a powerful unit to capture a lot of blood hunting provinces early.  Maybe there are some other cool spells or units that you think will add an interesting synergy to your nation, so you need a specialised unit to gain access to them.

I hope that gives you an insight into how I look at the game.  I draw up the schematics for my nuke, then start my arms race, taking advantage of every spin-off tech I can find along the way.  Sometimes your nation starts with depleted uranium rounds or can produce a shoulder mounted fat boy every few months, sometimes it takes years of research in order to launch geo-orbital satellites carrying ballistic fusion warheads.

Even if you come up with an awesome plan, you still have to accept that someone else might have an awesome plan too.  It's all part of the fun. 

The mod inspector  (http://dom3-mod-inspector.googlecode.com/svn/branches/i-s-u/index.html?selectmods=1) is a handy interactive tool you can use to view the options available to nations, with mods in effect.

Hope this helps.   


Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Huw the Poo on May 29, 2013, 02:13:23 AM
Quote from: Phobos on May 28, 2013, 11:17:38 AM
Maybe you want to take advantage of a bless effect of some kind.

Now this, I have done.  I have actually designed a bless strategy!

Your comment about planning my end game then working backward from there makes sense, Phobos.  I'll have a plan in place by the end of the day!  Thanks a lot for your thoughts.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 29, 2013, 03:38:33 AM
To give an example of what I meant by my last post, in the slow game my main goal is to produce lots of Leshiy; giant shapeshifting bear spirits.  I plan on bombing every forest I can find with as many giant green bears as I can...bring to bear.

( •_•)   ⌐■-■ 

( •_•) ⌐■-■ 

(⌐■_■)


That is my focus.  I'm still doing other things with my nation, but that is all incidental to my main goal.

If I were going to focus on something else, like putting up a series of powerful global spells, or a different summoned commander, I would have designed my nation differently.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: ScottWAR on May 29, 2013, 08:07:33 AM
LOL, I have been thinking about a strat very heavy on thugs......and started to call it the Major Thug Offensive,....then I remembered a song from the cartoon Boondocks.....and Thuggin Love....is now the name of this strat for me. Thugnificent will probably be the name of my favorite Thug as well.

I don't know if it would be a good idea to link to the song here..........but if you are interested just google "Boondocks" and "Thuggin Love"
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: JasonPratt on May 29, 2013, 08:12:25 AM
Quote from: Phobos on May 28, 2013, 11:17:38 AM
Dominions is notorious for punishing players without a clear vision of their end-game.

Also for punishing players whose idea of their endgame is faulty despite being clear!

Case in point: I had a perfectly good build theory worth testing (to see if it really was perfectly good ;) ) in the Big Pretenders game. But I have a bad habit (hopefully finally broken) of thinking the Wrath of God must be awesome. If I can just get up to throwing that, I can use a high dominion and temples to push that into my enemies. I won't even have to invade much, just build up good defenses with some good garrison armies and some siege relief mobile forces, and let my dominion do the work! And hey, this pretender chassis (according to my calculations) is one of the two or three most cost effective ones available to this nation and age, maybe the most effective one, and if I imprison her from the outset I can take a high dominion, strongly positive scales, and enough magic to cast WoG. I just have to research up to it by the time she escapes, and as it happens this nation is arguably the very best research nation in Early Age (maybe the game)!

HOW CAN I POSSIBLY LOSE!?!?

Well, one way would be to abandon this plan about 1/3 of the way through to pick a fight with someone stronger than me, even though that seemed reasonable at the time (for reasons I won't go into here); but more importantly I already know from long experience the WoG spell (and some similar global dominion artillery spells) isn't nearly as awesome as I expect it to be. It's a harassment spell, maybe scores a cheap important kill every once in a while. But it isn't a game winning strategy.

And yet I still tried to do that.

And was wiped, after a very good start.


I still agree with this in principle, though: "I would start with a goal in mind and work backward from there.  It will probably lead to a better experience than blindly responding to stimuli with whatever resources you can bring to bear, turn by turn."


Incidentally, when building a pretender (this is for Huw, Phobos knows this already I'm sure): it's okay to take one or even two less ticks in the magic you think you need for your endgame goals. [WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ADVICE SEEMS TO BE FAULTY, MAYBE DUE TO CBM 1.94 OR ANYTHING BUILT FROM THAT!! TEST FOR VALIDITY FIRST!!] Each extra tic costs an increasing amount of points, whereas your empowerment costs start cheap and slowly scale up; and if you have a construction magic plan you can often add some relatively cheap booster items around Con4 or Con6. So I could have saved quite a few points in the Big Pretenders game (to put elsewhere!) by taking Astral 4 and Air2, even though for WoG I needed Astral 6 and Air 4. Any empowerment from nothing costs 50 points of course, but assuming you already have at least one pick in a magical skill the second level costs only 10 gems and the third not a whole lot more than that, and that's true even if you've bought a lot of magic skill to start with! So (I don't have the instructions which give the charts but these numbers will illustrate the principle) those four extra picks would have cost me nearly 200 points to buy up front (enough of a difference that I could have been asleep instead of imprisoned), but would only cost me 50 gems total to empower once the game started!

Naturally this only works if you have a good searching plan, and happen to be a bit lucky as to what you find; otherwise it will cost you more than that (up to two or four times as much) to alchemize what gems you do find. Still, it's one way to economize your pretender chassis design.

The same principle can apply to booster strategies, too, insofar as those typically rely on summons which open a stronger magical strength than you previously had. It only takes 10 water gems for my Water 2 mage to empower to Water 3, but when she summons a Water 3 mage, it still only takes 10 water gems to empower him to Water 4 (because he's that much stronger in Water to start with). And that's on top of any booster items you're forging. It would be cheaper and maybe quicker to use 10 water gems to take them up a notch than to spend 15 water gems on an item while waiting for the appropriate construction research level (which saves opportunity cost in gold, for hiring researchers and upkeeping them during those turns. Although you should be spending that money anyway, but the overall results move along more efficiently.) Of course the item has the advantage of being transferable, and maybe has extra benefits (like increasing your defense or protection).
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 29, 2013, 09:23:54 AM
i took everything i knew about construction and pretender design and designed my pretender for this game to be 2 magic short of his ultimate goal knowing that i could put items on his head, arms and body to boost him - and then chose a fountain of blood
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: JasonPratt on May 29, 2013, 09:30:06 AM
 ;D Well at least you can empower up two levels cheaply.

UPDATE: I'm sure I saw that was true in the original instructions, but testing it recently in a game indicated that taking a mage from Water 2 to Water 3 cost the original Water 3 gems. Possibly this is thanks to CBM 1.94?? Test this out before relying on it for a build!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 29, 2013, 09:32:40 AM
redesign sent in swiftly after that!

it wont be the same without you harrying my borders Jason, and in respect of that my pretender is The God of Blood, The King Sacrificer, Souless of the Plains...............

Pratt Gobbler
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: JasonPratt on May 29, 2013, 10:17:46 AM
You turkey. (https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wargamer.com%2Fforums%2Fsmiley%2Fdrummer.gif&hash=5381aaf47625deb9a509fe1bacec93ffd60fa0f4)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Philippe on May 29, 2013, 10:45:10 AM
Out of curiosity, is there a timetable for when this game is supposed to start?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Huw the Poo on May 29, 2013, 10:54:43 AM
Quote from: Philippe on May 29, 2013, 10:45:10 AM
Out of curiosity, is there a timetable for when this game is supposed to start?

We were going to start by last weekend, but then Byrdman said he was without net access until mid-week.  So presumably any time now.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 29, 2013, 11:08:24 AM
I will send a message to Parone, who expressed an interest in this game.  Everyone else has their pretender submitted.  If there is no response in around 24 hours, I will start the game.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: parone on May 29, 2013, 02:35:24 PM
hey folks.  i pm'd phobos, but while i'd really like to join, i'm not sure when i could get my pretender in.  might be a day or two.  so unless you really need me, you'd probably better go without me.

if you really need a 9th or whatever i'd make, i'll try to get something put together in a day or two.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Philippe on May 29, 2013, 04:49:49 PM
Given that we already have ten responsive players, I would propose that it's time to start.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 29, 2013, 09:58:12 PM
Well...we have 10 players already.

While another nation would make add an interesting dynamic to this game, it sounds as though Parone has a full plate with current game commitments.  With that in mind, I have elected to start the game.

I hope Parone has no trouble finding a new game once he has some more free time.

If anyone has any issues with their 1st turn, please inform me in this thread.  Once I have been assured that the game has started with no problems, I will consider the game to have officially started.

If there are any other issues, or if you require an extension, please inform myself or Beelzeboss and we can take appropriate action.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: parone on May 30, 2013, 06:05:25 AM
hey, just a question:

i actually tried to put together a rush job pretender for EA C'tis so i could join this game.  i had one made, but not with the mod you folks are using.

so i installed the mod and tried to create a pretender and i kept crashing to the desktop as soon as i clicked tools(create pretender)

anyone else have this problem?

ultimately, it was probably fortunate. 

have fun all.  kill eachother in a polite way...
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Ubercat on May 30, 2013, 07:59:19 AM
It's a conflict between mods. Disable your other mods and then try it.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (recruiting)
Post by: Phobos on May 30, 2013, 11:59:47 AM
No one has reported any issues, so I'll assume that everything is OK.

Good luck and have fun.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on May 30, 2013, 12:42:01 PM
no problems at my end - thanks for setting it up
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on May 30, 2013, 04:35:38 PM
Yes cheers Phobos for sorting this. All good and turns turning over nicely which is more than I can say for my strategy. Indie 9 is certainly fun.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: JasonPratt on May 31, 2013, 09:29:24 AM
Well, it's too late now, but my advice about taking one or two magic ticks less than the goal seems faulty. I tried testing it in-game recently, expecting that my W2 mage wouldn't have to pay W3 gems to get to W3. That expectation seems to have been blown, and I don't know where I made the mistake.

Of course booster items can still help, but you've got to plan further in advance for those.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: ScottWAR on June 01, 2013, 08:48:12 AM
I notice the timer is longer than 48 hours.....Is someone out of town or something?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 01, 2013, 09:58:57 AM
Beelzebob might have extended the timer.  I have not altered any settings.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 01, 2013, 10:13:45 AM
Do either of the admins mind just letting us know when this happens just so we know? Ta
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 01, 2013, 10:27:05 AM
I know about as much as you do, regarding the circumstances of this delay.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 01, 2013, 11:33:04 AM
(Message deleted because on reflection it wasn't a relevant comment.  Really should think before I post).
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Beelzeboss on June 02, 2013, 01:09:02 PM
I didn't alter the timer either.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 02, 2013, 03:09:35 PM
The turn probably seemed longer than it was due to the weekend.  Apologies for any unfair implications.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 03, 2013, 03:22:31 AM
Apologies for holding the turn up. Switched to a new windows 8 machine at the weekend and it don't work! I'll install Dominions on my mobile this evening so my turn should be in by around 9.00 GMT
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 03, 2013, 07:23:21 AM
Don't worry mate, I almost borked my own machine installing Linux distros; had to send my last turn in via Windows (normally I play in Linux).
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 03, 2013, 07:25:11 AM
I will keep my eye on the timer, just in case.  If it appear you will not get your turn in, I'll extend the turn.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: JasonPratt on June 03, 2013, 07:40:42 AM
Has the first turn already played? The Llamaserver extends the first turn since people tend to take longer making initial plans.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 03, 2013, 07:59:02 AM
Quote from: JasonPratt on June 03, 2013, 07:40:42 AM
Has the first turn already played? The Llamaserver extends the first turn since people tend to take longer making initial plans.

this is 6, or 5
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 03, 2013, 03:45:56 PM
ok thanks for putting up with that now vaguely up and running and turn submitted
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 04, 2013, 10:18:25 AM
Condolences to Hinnom for its misadventure in the Glade Woods.  Those Bear Tribe warriors are shockingly ill-mannered.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 04, 2013, 10:39:12 AM
Quote from: Philippe on June 04, 2013, 10:18:25 AM
Condolences to Hinnom for its misadventure in the Glade Woods.  Those Bear Tribe warriors are shockingly ill-mannered.

pffft bear tribe warriors - you should see the 4 Dark Vines at the other end of my territory - they are................

not fun
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 04, 2013, 10:57:58 AM
Yes, the indies in this game are quite brutal. Also, I feel like I got the short end of the stick start position wise. I'm quite close to two other player capitals, with little room to expans.  :(
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 04, 2013, 01:52:56 PM
Because the map is fairly small, I suspect that everyone is quite close to at  two or three other players.  The terms intimate and cozy come to mind.

It's far too late to mention it, but should the Hall of Fame been set to 15 with only ten players?  Maybe 5 would have been a more appropriate number. 

The other thing I'm wondering is about the ease of research.  I would have thought that research should have been made harder since we're all primitive illiterates.  But having said that, my Early Age Abysian mages don't seem to be quite as adept at doing research as my Middle Age mages were.

I really like the fact that you can't just stroll into an independant's territory without some forethought.  Makes the game more interesting.

The other thing I've been wondering is whether it is possible to have a game with all of the playable nations in use, but with some of them controlled by the AI from the get-go.  That would make for a slightly more nuanced kind of independant.  Or are true independants harder to deal with than AI-controlled players?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 04, 2013, 02:23:31 PM
I'm not sure AI players are very good.  Even if you designed their pretender for them, they don't really play that smart.  Even doing things like increasing their difficulty only gives them more money to spend and more points on pretender design.  The biggest threat they generally pose is early in the game, when the excessive armies they recruit can pose a serious threat, if you lack area spells or tough units.

Independents can be made a bit tougher, but it takes a bit of work.  Some people have put together 'campaign' maps, where the independent types are not randomly allocated, at least not for all provinces.  You can allocate all manner of units and special sites to provinces, even the magical items held by the commanders in those provinces.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 05, 2013, 09:47:20 AM
I can see that AI players aren't very good, but I guess the question comes down to whether or not they are more interesting/effective than regular AI independants.  Think of them as alternative AI independants rather than as alternative players.  My imperfect understanding is that independants don't really attack you unless they've been tampered with (not sure about that last part), so I would think that having AI players on steroids would create a wilder and more unpredictable game, especially in the early phases.

Having said all that, I have no idea whether it would be any fun to play that way or not.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 05, 2013, 10:05:47 AM
indys will and do attack you - its rare but it will happen
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 05, 2013, 10:22:17 AM
And I've seen it happen.  But I always suspected that it was the result of some player action that I was unfamiliar with. 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 05, 2013, 10:23:00 AM
Independent provinces do not attack, though sometimes they can grow in numbers.  This might be due to magical items owned by commanders, special abilities of commanders or random events (sometimes random events can effect independent provinces).  An attack by independents on a player nation is probably the result of a random event or spell.  In this case, it is not a specific province attacking you, but the result of a bad event.

As for AI nations...It would depend on the map and the game settings.  I can imagine that certain nations might add an interesting dynamic to a multiplayer game.  Certain nations are 'better' as AI than others, I think.  Late Age Ermor, with it's free zombie troops and extensive management requirements, comes to mind.  Other nations simply won't maximise their national strengths in an intelligent way, which for certain nations might be a requirement for competitive play.

Some people have created maps/mods for the express purpose of forcing the AI into 'better' decision making with regards troop recruitment.  Typically this is achieved by making certain independent troops too expensive to purchase.  It won't help the AI with things like research and spellcasting.   

 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 05, 2013, 10:25:50 AM
Quote from: Phobos on June 05, 2013, 10:23:00 AM
Independent provinces do not attack

100% positive?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 05, 2013, 10:57:58 AM
I am not completely certain.

I have not seen an attack launched from an independent province before, either on a player or on another independent province.  I have not seen groups of independents migrate to another province.  Sometime the population of a province will grow, but so far as I can tell, this has nothing to do with recruitment or movement.

I have seen plenty of independent attacks.  Sometimes these are the result of bad events, sometimes the result of hostile player actions.  There is usually a notice on your message board for the new turn, such as "the province has been unexpectedly pillaged by a barbarian horde" or "a village has been swallowed up by vine men."  These attacks have noting to do with the actions of an independent province.

So far as I know, independent commanders don't do anything other than defend.

Call it  90% positive, because I could be wrong. 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 05, 2013, 11:26:18 AM
it may be me - i know ive certainly read the opener - your forces have been defeated by the independant army - but as you say that could be generated from inside my province
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 06, 2013, 03:43:12 PM
What's the matter mkivcs, thinking maybe you made a mistake last turn?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 06, 2013, 04:35:35 PM
Making mistakes is a way of life for me.
Although I think there may be something wrong with our Giants today. I'm going back to the middle age and my trusty Ermor, I've seen fluffy bunny rabbits put up a better defence than that bunch did. I swear the three at the back just spent there time strolling back and forth chatting about the weather.

Much as I would love to hide from defeat I'm afraid to say that I've hit technical problems again. I've finally given up on the new machine I've been struggling with for the last week and reinstalled Dominions on my about to be scrapped old machine to do this turn. Now the Shrapnel site has bloody well gone down so I can't get the llamabanner mod required to run the turn. If I don't get it before the deadline just let me stall as I'm buggered anyway. If by some chance I do get it I shall continue to try to beat these Giants into some kind of fighting force and will fight to the bitter end. (Which I suspect will not be long in coming.)
I'll put the kettle on in the castle as it looks like we will have unexpected guests.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: bob48 on June 06, 2013, 04:53:08 PM
^Well, if its Geek, better make sure you have some choccie Hobnobs as well. He likes a biccie with his cuppa tea  :)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 06, 2013, 04:53:13 PM
And also while I'm complaining can I also say that not only did my troops get wiped in battle but my new graphics card which cost the equivalent of a minor European nation does not work (Well only when it feels like it) . Therefore I had to watch the battle using the inbuilt video card on the motherboard, with all options turned off I got 4 frames a sec. It took somethink like 30 minutes during which I saw very little as all the 'effects' were off and it was impossible to scroll. By the end of it i was checking the manual for a suicide your pretender option. I never even got round to watching the other two battles, hence my move back to my old machine and the new ones  been disassembled for replacement.
Anyway I tip my hat to the victorious party.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 06, 2013, 06:23:06 PM
I'll put the turn on hold until you can get a handle on your technical issues.

I think the Shrapnel Forum is down for an upgrade, as it's been unreliable the last couple of days.

If you are planning on going AI, that is another issue.  If that is the case, I'll see if I can find someone to send the turn in for you, if you are unable to do it yourself.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 07, 2013, 10:22:25 AM
Looks like the site is backup so should be able to sort when I get back home around 8 pm GMT  My turn should not take long as most of my troops are basically dead. Go AI ,not a chance I'll fight till the bitter end and count every troop I kill as a victory!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 07, 2013, 10:24:11 AM
any idea where the plan went wrong?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 07, 2013, 11:17:35 AM
Quote from: undercovergeek on June 07, 2013, 10:24:11 AM
any idea where the plan went wrong?

That's a difficult question. Usually if I lose a battle in the middle period game I can see what I did wrong and understand the issue. Here I was overrun by a more numerous enemy. My opponent deserves congratulations on the speed at which he recruited troops and ate up territory totally surprising me how quickly contact was made and the forces involved. To be honest I never got comfortable with this nation and didn't really have a roadmap to the next level so probably deserved to get taken apart.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 07, 2013, 01:50:36 PM
Well I would argue that your plan went wrong when you decided to invade me.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 07, 2013, 02:30:59 PM
Yes you are almost certainly correct. (And actually very out of character for me first time I've invaded anyone in this game.) I put it down to stress of dealing with computer issues  ;).  But I really did not see much choice. I'd had already gone one way and though no I don't fancy my chances there. Going towards you was the only other choice and had I not invaded you then my empire was likely to peak at around 5 provinces. Being new to this game its a bit of a learning curve and I'm slowly putting together the kind of game I prefer. From my first game I learnt that I prefer games without diplomacy and from this one I definitely prefer the bigger maps which I think suit my style of play better. (Or at least mean I don't get killed quiet so soon!)
I think plan is too strong a word in this particular game as someone said earlier this game requires a clear idea of where you are going and I just spent my time reacting to what happened around me.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 07, 2013, 02:35:49 PM
Fomoria can be tricky.  I have had some success with a big bless; berserk + quickness allows your sacred giants to kill a few units before they get tired or overwhelmed.  The berserk probably is not necessary, but it is nice to have when you can finally summon Morrigans.  Morrigans are pretty powerful, especially with the bless effects above.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 07, 2013, 03:42:04 PM
Well mkivcs has a solid earth bless, but his giants don't have a nature bless, which greatly reduces their survivability. I also managed to curse all his big guys, and the afflictions definitely don't help them :)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 08, 2013, 06:59:39 AM
^ Yes they are a sorry looking lot with various bits missing. I'll struggle to do much damage to your horde unless they trip over any of my missing limbs littering the battlefield.
One new motherboard later and I can almost enjoy losing, so nice to be able to watch a battle in all it's glory. On the subject of I do still have a few scouts out and last go (yesterday's)  watched a very strange battle where the indies seem to invade a player holding successfully.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 08, 2013, 07:28:23 AM
Quote from: mkivcs on June 08, 2013, 06:59:39 AM
^ Yes they are a sorry looking lot with various bits missing. I'll struggle to do much damage to your horde unless they trip over any of my missing limbs littering the battlefield.
One new motherboard later and I can almost enjoy losing, so nice to be able to watch a battle in all it's glory. On the subject of I do still have a few scouts out and last go (yesterday's)  watched a very strange battle where the indies seem to invade a player holding successfully.

did they invade from within and overthrow the province (this just happened to me) or did they move from one province and into another?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 08, 2013, 07:36:00 AM
I think the former. I would need to go back and look to be sure.(It was not you.)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 08, 2013, 07:41:39 AM
I'm having trouble sending my turn in.  Llamaserver hasn't acknowledged that I've sent it.  Either my service provider is holding things up (which wouldn't surprise me) or the Alpaca substitute is having a hiccup.  I've sent it in a second time, and I'm hoping that will make it go through at least once.

[It worked.  So far it's gone through at least once.]
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 08, 2013, 08:12:45 AM
Quote from: Philippe on June 08, 2013, 07:41:39 AM
I'm having trouble sending my turn in.  Llamaserver hasn't acknowledged that I've sent it.  Either my service provider is holding things up (which wouldn't surprise me) or the Alpaca substitute is having a hiccup.  I've sent it in a second time, and I'm hoping that will make it go through at least once.

[It worked.  So far it's gone through at least once.]

yeah, i never received the turn until i called for a resend - i think the servers grumpy today
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 08, 2013, 09:28:27 AM
does anyone have 5-10 air gems theyd like to trade/sell?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 08, 2013, 05:50:01 PM
Yeah, I got that as well.  I should have has the forethought to click the resend button for everyone, but I also did not to spam your account.

For those unaware of what we are talking about:

The DawnoftheGrog game page on llamaserver has a number of hyperlinks on the page.  One of these is "Request Turn Resend." Click that, then select your nation and click the "Resend Turn File" button.  The server will send out the file for your current turn.  Sometimes it can take 5-10 minutes, though it is often very fast.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 09, 2013, 10:24:47 AM
I wonder if Byrdman thinks he's sent his turn in.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 09, 2013, 11:40:06 AM
I just did. I was out of the house all day yesterday and never got a chance to send it in. Just sent the next one in as well  ;D
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 09, 2013, 01:46:48 PM
the indys are casting mind burn on me - WTF kind of boosters do they get at level 9!???  ;D

and errr............ about them air gems........
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 09, 2013, 07:03:11 PM
Mind burn can be cast by an Astral 1 mage, if they have a gem.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 10, 2013, 04:03:38 AM
Exactly! I'm fighting gem carrying mages instead of the usual plethora of spear chuckers - makes for some tactical choices!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: JasonPratt on June 10, 2013, 10:00:49 PM
A fairly well-developed MA Vanheim position may be opening up in the Groghammer game this week. See thread for details.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 11, 2013, 11:19:08 PM
Ulm is proud to announce that the dastardly pretender of Fomoria has fallen in battle. The brave soldiers of Ulm charged behind the giants and cut down Mr. Bigg. The rest of Fomoria's forces routed shortly thereafter.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 12, 2013, 03:16:59 AM
Ay but you forgot to say we made rugs out of your first besieging army with its giant bears. Mr Bigg is not dead he's just decided he would be better suited to a career in daytime TV.  I've left the key to the castle under the flowerpot (Inside the castle. )
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 12, 2013, 03:40:35 AM
Sorry to see you go mkivcs - see you in the next one
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: mkivcs on June 12, 2013, 05:57:31 AM
I've not gone yet I've still got 2 men left, just need to work out a tactic to beat odds of 200-1. On the off chance that I don't come up with a plan to do this cheers and good luck.   Hopefully you will all have another opportunity to kill me off again soon.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 12, 2013, 08:44:32 AM
I have a couple of questions about fortresses.

Does a building a fortress have any effect on income in the province that you build it in?  Based on what I could see in the manual it only has an impact on resources and supply.

Does a fortress draw supply and resources from all adjacent provinces, or just from the ones that are adjacent and under your control?  If the manual addresses this I seem to have missed it.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 12, 2013, 09:49:52 AM
You get a portion of all neighbouring provinces under your control but I'm unsure about water - the one that I put up near you and I is drawing hardly anything - but then that's not what its for!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 12, 2013, 12:04:37 PM
One of the things I've been wondering about is what happens if you build a Maginot line of fortresses.  I guess one of the side effects would be that if you build defensive fortifications too close to your main recruiting center you will weaken your production.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 12, 2013, 12:18:58 PM
My understanding is that a fortress draws resources from all neighboring provinces under your control, except it doesn't draw anything from water provinces (likewise, a fort in the water does not draw resources from land provinces). the percentage drawn is based on the admin value of the fortress. Throwing fortresses up next to each other does result in them competing for resources, which may result in low resource forts. This may or may not be an issue depending on your needs.

I believe the admin value of the fortress also has an effect on the income in the province.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: JasonPratt on June 12, 2013, 01:09:20 PM
True, there's some kind of formula about how much a fort increases income but I don't recall what it is. Only affects the province the fort is in, though.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 12, 2013, 02:26:42 PM
Today may or may not be the anniversary of the death of Giuseppe del Migo, one of Abysia's greatest leaders and philosophers.  His passing a year ago should not go uncommemorated.

I wish to celebrate the life and incineration of Giuseppe del Migo, a faithful servant of the true faith (or whoever cuts his paycheck), converter of the wicked, and successful in battle (if not very bright).

He met his end as the only friendly casualty in a successful battle against godless unbelievers.  His demise came about at the end of the battle as a result of standing immediately next to Negarsanel, prophet of The Flaming Word.  True to his faith Giuseppe del Migo went up in flames at the last moment (the dumkopf), but at least he delayed his flaming exit until after the enemy had fled the field. 

His pikemen and powers of persuasion have been sorely missed.

(And I'm still kicking myself in the head for doing something that stupid).
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 12, 2013, 02:45:05 PM
Pffft - wait til you kill 87 cap only elite troops of your own by poisoning them yourself!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 12, 2013, 07:10:58 PM
Fortresses draw resources from controlled provinces only.  If you click on the fort icon, you will see every types of fort has an Administration score.  The administration score determines what percentage of resources are drawn from nearby friendly provinces (high admin forts will be able to utilise more).  The administration score also acts as a percentage modifier to the income of a province with a fort  (it's actually half the admin score, expressed as a percentage).

Cheap forts are fast to build, but provide less income and resources.  Expensive forts tend to have a larger administration bonus.  Depending on your nation and scales, the type of forts you want to prioritise construction for will change, strategic considerations notwithstanding.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 12, 2013, 08:38:40 PM
Ermor has been defeated...Fomoria appears to be on it's way out as well.  Brutal.

Don't forget to send in your final turn.  While your options are limited, it will help the game progress to the next turn faster.  Maybe you want to send a rude or congratulatory message to someone, I don't know.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 13, 2013, 12:49:11 AM
Yeah, I saw the message re: Ermor. Don't even know where they are or who conquered them.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: ScottWAR on June 13, 2013, 12:18:44 PM
Ermor was taken out by Tir Na Nog. I had a force of over 100 units......over 25% of tem the best troops I can buy aside from cavalry.......along with around 6-8 cavalry....were attacked by a force of less than 50,....of which less than half were cavalry.........and destroyed.................with the smaller force taking barely any casualties. Needless to say I doubt I will be playing any more games until I can figure out how the heck that happens.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 13, 2013, 12:32:15 PM
What was your defence vs his attack values - 100 v 50 means nothing if his forces are 4 times stronger than yours

Magic involved?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 13, 2013, 07:12:39 PM
Sorry to hear that, ScottWAR.  Cavalry can be pretty devastating, especially if they were some of those sacred fairy commanders.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: ScottWAR on June 14, 2013, 01:45:40 AM
Yeah, the cavalry he had just ate through my troops. I am pretty sure my problem was I should have been buying a lot more cavalry as well. Oh well, live(in this case actually die) and learn.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Beelzeboss on June 14, 2013, 02:55:10 AM
I had some cavalry with glamour so to beat that you need to get the glamour of first and I think the easiest way to do that is using archers. If I understand it correctly glamour doesn't work on ranged attacks. And then swarm them, every time a unit gets attacked it gets -2 to it's defence for that round of combat.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: ScottWAR on June 14, 2013, 02:06:00 PM
Archers are ineffective against almost all cavalry because they wear armor......so you would need crossbowmen,.....and it seems those are fairly rare unless you start with them.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 14, 2013, 02:11:04 PM
They're rare in the early age; much more common in a late age game.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 15, 2013, 02:42:11 AM
GAH!  This bloody game has locked up my PC twice this morning.  I might have to see about migrating it over to Windows to see if that helps. :(
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 15, 2013, 02:54:46 AM
Spells might have helped out.  Anything with an area of effect or high precision would have been able to take out some cavalry.  Unfortunately, without knowing more about Ermor's capabilities I can't suggest many specific spells.  Spells like Blindness, Combustion, Mind Burn, Solar Rays and even Smite all hit the target without failure, though many of these spells can be resisted.  Spells like Flare are area of effect, so they damage everything in the space it lands, but the spell can still miss.

If you play a single player game with Ermor, focus your research on evocation spells, then have your Auger Elders go out and blast everything with stuff like Falling Fires and Astral Fires.  Once you get a bit of practice blasting armies, play around with some of the other spells at your disposal and using your Augers in conjunction with different armies.  It might give you a bit more confidence with the nation   

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 15, 2013, 02:56:38 AM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on June 15, 2013, 02:42:11 AM
GAH!  This bloody game has locked up my PC twice this morning.  I might have to see about migrating it over to Windows to see if that helps. :(

I'll keep my eye on the timer in case you have any technical issues.  Don't forget to make sure your new machine has copies of the mods and map this game is using.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 15, 2013, 04:17:02 AM
Quote from: Phobos on June 15, 2013, 02:56:38 AM
I'll keep my eye on the timer in case you have any technical issues.  Don't forget to make sure your new machine has copies of the mods and map this game is using.

Thanks mate, it shouldn't be an issue though hopefully.  I've played the occasional turn in Windows before so I don't anticipate any problems.  I intend to send in at least one turn today. :)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 16, 2013, 05:36:52 AM
Byrdman - what a fantastic battle we just had!  I can't believe I won it after an early rout of my sacred units (with supposedly boosted morale  ::)).  It seems clear you're about to conquer me though. :(
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 16, 2013, 06:19:38 AM
byrdmans in a game and hes not my neighbour? i thought he and ubercat HAD to be next to me..............

learnt last turn to always check the orders before pressing go - sent 3 600 gold pieces commanders into battle without any armies - they got mushed - sigh
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 16, 2013, 11:39:42 AM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on June 16, 2013, 05:36:52 AM
Byrdman - what a fantastic battle we just had!  I can't believe I won it after an early rout of my sacred units (with supposedly boosted morale  ::)).  It seems clear you're about to conquer me though. :(

That was a rather dramatic battle. I think if my dudes had stuck it out instead of running like pansies, we would have won. I do agree that I'm about to conquer you though :)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 16, 2013, 12:25:29 PM
The second battle was much more lopsided.  ;D
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 16, 2013, 02:56:13 PM
I have a basic question about magic.

I'm researching a certain school of magic, and take a look to see what spells are available to me in that school.

The spells are listed in three colors: white, greyed-out, and purple.

The white spells all show up at levels that I have researched, so white obviously means I know it and can use it, and greyed-out must mean I don't know it yet.

But every now and again a spell that I would expect to show up as white shows up as purple.  At first I thought this meant I was missing necessary magic gems,  but I'm looking at one right now that is at a level in that school that I've already researched, and that I have all the necessary gems for.

At one point I thought that it might have something to do with multiple paths, but there are other multiple path spells that show up in white.

Anybody know what it means when a spell is highlighted in purple? 

Offhand I'm not sure if there's any way to tell from the name that a spell is a ritual, global, or battlefield spell.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 16, 2013, 03:02:38 PM
It means it's a national spell.  You can't tell from the name whether a spell is a ritual or not, but I'm sure you've noticed that rituals are marked as such in the spell descriptions.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: JasonPratt on June 17, 2013, 11:54:23 AM
Also, if a spell affects globally, the description will tend to indicate this in various ways: anything that affects more than one province or all provinces with dominion or which lasts until the caster dies tends to be a global spell. (There are exceptions, like province domes, but while those last until the caster dies, it won't say an opponent can dispel it: being able to dispel something that lasts until the caster dies otherwise is a sign of a global enchantment. Also the description will sometimes just say "global".)

Ditto for a battlefield spell, if the description says "battlefield" or indicates that something affects an opponent directly, that's a battlefield spell.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ogaburan on June 17, 2013, 03:12:02 PM
Also, dont rely on the description of the spells... better use this;
http://dom3-mod-inspector.googlecode.com/svn/branches/i-s-u/index.html?mod=CB1.94.dm&page=spell
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ubercat on June 17, 2013, 03:31:30 PM
I've noticed that any spell which states the amount of fatigue incurred by casting it is a battlefield spell. Fatigue would be irrelevant for a ritual, as the caster presumably has the rest of the month to rest and recover.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 17, 2013, 03:51:51 PM
This issue came up in the only other multiplayer game I've played, but I never got around to asking the question.

Suppose you have a fortified city and a laboratory in the same province.

And apart from province defense, the only thing you have there is a gaggle of sages conducting research.

When a horde of slathering green-eyed monsters eventually shows up intent on reducing your ivory tower to a puddle of slime, what exactly happens?

The PD shows up on the battlefield, of course, but what about the sages who are essentially useless in combat?

Do they drop their books and run to get slaughtered on the battlefield, or do they stay behind their desks with their noses in their books until the slathering monsters burst into the room?

Assuming that the laboratory and other research facilities are inside the town walls, I would prefer to keep them at their desks until the last, poignant moment.  If nothing else, doing research is a good way to keep your mind off how hungry you are during a siege.

If, on the other hand, the game system is assuming that research needs to be conducted in a suburban executive park, then it's fair to assume that at the first sign of the enemy they'll drop their books and take up their useless places on the battlefield.

Anybody know if researchers stay behind the walls during a battle?

Assuming that they decide that building a wall with their own bodies is the most useful thing they can do,  is there any way to make sure that they survive the battle?  If you give them battlefield retreat orders, will they run back inside the fortress and be safe, or will they retreat to a neighboring province and possibly get slaughtered?

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ubercat on June 17, 2013, 05:49:06 PM
Everybody except PD stays behind the walls, unless you have ordered them to patrol. If there wasn't a fort there, then yes, they would get slaughtered unless you had stunningly good luck.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 18, 2013, 12:51:31 AM
Quote from: Ubercat on June 17, 2013, 05:49:06 PM
Everybody except PD stays behind the walls, unless you have ordered them to patrol. If there wasn't a fort there, then yes, they would get slaughtered unless you had stunningly good luck.

you can set your mages to reatreat for their battlefield action IF you dont want them to fight - as long as theres a retreat option theyll flee
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 18, 2013, 11:38:40 AM
Yeah...those monkeys will mess you up.

Their commander has a Soul Contract, a 70 gem piece of gear that allow him to spawn a free devil every turn.  With the number of devils in that province now, direct combat will not be effective unless you have a significant screen of scrubby units in front of your heavies.

Assassination is your best option.  Without a unit capable of leading those devils (demons require the undead leadership ability, granted by the Contract), they will rout immediately.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 18, 2013, 01:41:19 PM
I've finished my turn, except for one minor detail.

As soon as I hear back from someone I'll send it in.


Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 19, 2013, 10:14:53 AM
Another such victory and I am undone.


(Always wanted the chance to say that, but next time I'll pass on the experience, thank you very much).
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 19, 2013, 10:39:30 AM
That was a crafty little maneuver to stay alive Huw.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 19, 2013, 02:20:54 PM
May as well make as big a pain in the arse of myself as I can! :D
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 20, 2013, 11:18:44 PM
8 hours left in the turn, no message from Ogaburan.  I should be home before the turn hosts, so I will extend the game if necessary.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ogaburan on June 21, 2013, 04:22:31 AM
Ok,  I have no idea what happened... I keep sending the turn but it says its the wrong turn number.
Sent it like 6 times now, did it 3 times (asking for the turn from the llamaserver).

I dunno what to do...
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 21, 2013, 04:29:31 AM
clear your game folder.  Download turn 31 again.  redo the turn.  Try to ensure that whatever file you are uploading as an attachment, is the .2h file for turn 31.

I'll re-send the turn again.  If you are still having issues, then I will put the game on hold until I can find out more about this kind of problem.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ogaburan on June 21, 2013, 04:43:54 AM
Ok, ive sent it again... for the 7th time btw... and with a 4th file received form the llamaserver.

Something is extra wrong with this one tho, some of my provinces turned indie, while one of the provinces i lost to TNN shifted to Lankian ownership...
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 21, 2013, 04:53:07 AM
Okay, some quick google-fu and I managed to find some players that have experienced a similar problem before.

The solution was pretty straightforward.  Get in touch with llamabeast (send a PM via Shrapnel or Dom 3 Mods forums), give llama the details of the game and the issue you are having with the turn number.  Once llama has some free time, he should be able to send you out a new copy of the .trn file, assuming the problem you are having is the same issue other players have occasionally had in the past.

Otherwise, my options include rolling back and hosting the turn again.  If I have to do this, people should not submit turns until it is 'safe' to do so.

It would be better if you were to PM llamabeast.  I do not have a Shrapnel or a Dom 3 Mods account, though I guess I could make an account on Dom 3 Mods if you are feeling shy.

I will extend the game by 24 hours.  If you have not received any feedback in that time, I will extend the turn again.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ogaburan on June 21, 2013, 04:55:55 AM
Quote from: Phobos on June 21, 2013, 04:53:07 AM
Okay, some quick google-fu and I managed to find some players that have experienced a similar problem before.

The solution was pretty straightforward.  Get in touch with llamabeast (send a PM via Shrapnel or Dom 3 Mods forums), give llama the details of the game and the issue you are having with the turn number.  Once llama has some free time, he should be able to send you out a new copy of the .trn file, assuming the problem you are having is the same issue other players have occasionally had in the past.

Otherwise, my options include rolling back and hosting the turn again.  If I have to do this, people should not submit turns until it is 'safe' to do so.

It would be better if you were to PM llamabeast.  I do not have a Shrapnel or a Dom 3 Mods account, though I guess I could make an account on Dom 3 Mods if you are feeling shy.

I will extend the game by 24 hours.  If you have not received any feedback in that time, I will extend the turn again.

Turn got in, and im losing badly anyway so im barely effected by the bugs, so i dont really mind.
Tho the list of bugs now includes troops not moving with the army...

Am i the only one having problems?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 21, 2013, 05:04:47 AM
There does not appear to be an issue with my turn.

Perhaps the .2h file has been corrupted, that was one of the issues on the llamaserver faq page.  PM a contact e-mail address to me and I will follow the suggested advice.

If that still does not resolve any issues, then llamabeast will need to be informed.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 21, 2013, 05:25:11 AM
ok I juggled the turn around as suggested in the FAQ.

I did not open the file, just forwarded it back to Ogaburan.

Please try the turn again, but clear your game folder before you put the .trn file in it.  Let me know if there are any further problems.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 21, 2013, 05:35:37 AM
Oga, losing a province to me probably isn't an error as I'd ordered a scout to attack an undefended province; it wasn't yours at the time though.

Perhaps I should stop pissing about and admit defeat. :D
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ogaburan on June 21, 2013, 06:31:14 AM
@Phobos
I managed to submit the turn prior to you forwarding it, btw.
It seems when you or someone else who sint me asked for my turn to be resubmitted I got a "proper" .dh file.
The one where Lanka took a province.
I thought Lanka was dead and it was another glitch.

All is well now.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 21, 2013, 06:43:11 AM
We're not dead, we're just having a bit of a lie down!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 21, 2013, 07:18:44 AM
Yeah, the FAQ mentions that occasionally (very rarely) the e-mail service llamaserver uses can cause the file to become corrupted.  Resending the file does not solve the issue.  Changing e-mail addresses uploads a new version of the file and sends that out.  As the corruption issue does not happen very often, that is a way around the issue.

I just had the file sent to my address and forwarded it to Ogaburan.  The address he provided is the one new turn files will be sent to.

If anyone has any technical troubles with their turn files, let me know.  If I can't resolve the issue by following advice on the forums, then I will put the game on hold until the server owner can take a look at the issue.

If Lanka has been defeated, then any remaining territory or army is a ghost.  It will be gone by next turn, which means that if you send an army against the force, there will be no resistance from Lanka.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 21, 2013, 08:04:31 AM
Hey!  I still have my monkey scout; he can be a vicious little bugger!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on June 21, 2013, 11:17:26 AM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on June 21, 2013, 08:04:31 AM
Hey!  I still have my monkey scout; he can be a vicious little bugger!

Not anymore. Poor monkey  :'(
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 22, 2013, 05:50:58 AM
Actually it looks like he deserted me when I couldn't afford to pay his upkeep.  My banana plantation was conquered and he wouldn't accept gold or porn. :(
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on June 22, 2013, 06:20:51 AM
Thank you for playing.  Best of luck in future games.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Huw the Poo on June 22, 2013, 10:33:42 AM
Yeah thanks very much for hosting it, Phobos.  It was fun while it lasted!  I might try Lanka again because I didn't really get a chance to see what they can do in this game.  We had very little expansion room to begin with, and we couldn't expand to the east because we were allied with Oga.  So we headed southwest - the only other option - and ran into Byrdman, who very promptly and efficiently kicked my arse!

I just couldn't get a decent army together with the territories I had.  However I think my bless strategy was good and the sacred units did relatively well.  Their gluttony can easily be countered by creating supply items.  Yeah, I'll definitely try them again.

Thanks for the education Byrdman.  I hope you're next to go down though! :D
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 22, 2013, 12:08:08 PM
People really do die from disease and old age in this thing.   Very annoying when you spent all that money on education and facilities.   I'm going to have to have a serious conversation with the Minister of Health and find out what he intends to do about it.  Not looking forward to buying new priests every other year.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on June 22, 2013, 01:42:23 PM
Quote from: Philippe on June 22, 2013, 12:08:08 PM
People really do die from disease and old age in this thing.   Very annoying when you spent all that money on education and facilities.   I'm going to have to have a serious conversation with the Minister of Health and find out what he intends to do about it.  Not looking forward to buying new priests every other year.

you could stop setting them on fire
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on June 22, 2013, 03:34:40 PM
Haven't torched one of my own people in months.  I've gotten pretty careful (i.e. paranoid) about that and try to keep the toasters and the toasted in separate parts of the battlefield.

The priest I just lost was immune to fire but died of disease.

The message I got didn't mention which one, but that whole crowd is pretty long in the tooth.

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Beelzeboss on July 01, 2013, 02:31:00 AM
Anyone interested in fire gems? I can use all other gems except blood slaves.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on July 03, 2013, 03:06:20 PM
Is it possible to get a turn delay over the holiday weekend? I've got a lot going on this weekend and won't have much time for Dominions turns.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 04, 2013, 07:39:41 AM
I will add 48 hours to the turn length, turn 42.  I will add more time if required.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 09, 2013, 03:43:23 AM
llamaserver has updated with the Dominions 3.29 patch.  You will all need to download the 3.29 patch, which can be found on the Illwinter Dominions 3 page (http://www.illwinter.com/dom3/).

I will delay the game if there are any technical issues.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on July 09, 2013, 08:56:01 AM
Might not be a bad idea to delay the game 24 hours and/or until everyone still playing has reported back that they've updated.

For the record, I've just installed the new patch.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 09, 2013, 09:01:47 AM
Good idea, thank you.

Game delayed.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: elitesix on July 09, 2013, 01:54:30 PM
My 2 cents about Lanka (I'm at turn 59 in my second ongoing MP game , and am the likely forerunner or at least top three though that might change):

They are absolute monsters through the game with the right bless. I went with Water 9, Astral 9, Nature 4. My scales were shit of course, but the essentials were Water 9 and Astral 9. +4 Defense, 50% Quickness, +3 MR, Twist Fate makes them insane. Quickness for killing, mr, def, and twist fate for defense against all sorts (in this last battle twist fate among my troops absorbed around 10 thunderstrikes).

They have some of the best thugs in the recruitable Rajaraksha and blood summon Dakini. Air magic is superb for evocations.

Late game, their sacred blood summons simply demolish. Danavas make great SCs.

The best part is, if you use demon only armies, starvation doesn't do much to demons even if they need to eat. Commanders, or at least nature commanders seem to eat first so your Yoginis can be in starving armies fine. Starvation only causes afflictions after 1 turn, so you need 2 turns of starving to see any effect, this is true for all troop types. Demons don't suffer any effects from disease (and starvation doesn't seem to give them disease anyway), and have high morale, so starvation only gives them afflictions. The only afflictions that will cripple a demon is to get double eyeloss, double armloss, or the cripple affliction. Lost an arm, Single Eyeloss, Mute, Battle fright, Weakened, Chest Wound, Limp, Feeblemind these do no significantly reduce the effectiveness of your force until you start getting several afflictions.

As long as you can manage to get supplies once every three turns in your demon army, you can actually let them starve and be ok...as you can tell, I like playing Lanka :)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on July 12, 2013, 01:01:38 AM
I'm going to be off the grid this weekend until Sunday evening. My current turn is in, but if the following turn is going to host before Sunday night, I'll need an extension.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 12, 2013, 01:13:19 AM
No problem.  I'll keep an eye on the clock.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ubercat on July 16, 2013, 11:56:39 AM
I'll be away at WBC http://www.boardgamers.org/#wbc (http://www.boardgamers.org/#wbc) from Saturday, July 27 till Saturday August 3rd. Shall I try to get a sub, or should we suspend the game for 8 days? If a bunch of people are taking vacations soon as in my other game, a suspension would probably be the better option. If I'm the only one going, I should get a sub.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 17, 2013, 07:11:09 AM
I'm putting 12 hours on the clock due to Abysia and Ulm having turns outstanding. 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on July 18, 2013, 03:57:01 PM
Quote from: Phobos on July 17, 2013, 07:11:09 AM
I'm putting 12 hours on the clock due to Abysia and Ulm having turns outstanding.

Sorry about that. I should be able to get my turn in this evening. Also, I will be out of town again this weekend and won't be able to get a turn in until Sunday evening.

On a side note, I'm finding that I may have overcommitted to Dom3. I'm in 3 games right now, and it's too much. If no one is opposed, I'm going to try to find a sub for myself in this game.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 18, 2013, 08:24:09 PM
No problem.  I will extend the following turn over the weekend.  Keep me apprised if your require more time over the coming week.

By next week, it is likely that the game will have an 8 day extension, unless Ubercat has found a substitute player.  In any case it is likely that I will permanently extend the hosting interval of this game, in the coming turns.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on July 19, 2013, 06:52:04 AM
I'm afraid I'm going to need a one day extension.

I'll try to get my turn in later today, but am not sure there will be enough time for it.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 19, 2013, 07:04:50 AM
done
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ubercat on July 23, 2013, 09:05:14 AM
I was going to ask Jason Pratt to sub but I'm wondering if I should bother? This game seems to already be suspended.

There are about three vacations going on over a 2-3 week period in my other game and we're having an extended suspension. Is the same thing going on here but it just isn't being discussed in the thread? It would save both Jason and I a lot of hassle not to do a sub. The way things are going, I doubt more than one turn would process in the 8 days that I'll be gone anyway.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 23, 2013, 01:23:35 PM
I do not know what is going on with Byrdman.  He said he was submitting a turn on Friday/Saturday and that he would be unavailable for the rest of the weekend.

He did not submit a turn, then llamaserver crashed.  I extended the hosting interval by 24 hours during that crash, which is why the turn has not already played.

I have received no communication from him, other than what you see in this thread.  He said he was going to look for a sub.  I took that to mean he was going to find a sub, not that I would have to find one for him.

I do not know what the protocols are in this situation.  I'll extend for another 24 hour period, then try and find a replacement player if he is still in absentia.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on July 23, 2013, 10:02:43 PM
I'm sorry about that. I'm working on finding a sub now. Hopefully someone will be willing to jump in soon.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on July 25, 2013, 12:01:53 AM
Sorry, I have been in a rush over the past week.  I will put the game on hold until a substitute player can be found.  As Ubercat has plans over the coming week, it is unlikely that he will need to secure a replacement for the period he is away.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ubercat on July 26, 2013, 08:43:28 PM
Yeah, I decided to skip getting a sub. That should give Byrdman more time to replace himself.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: byrdman57 on August 01, 2013, 09:50:15 AM
So I think I found a sub for me in this game named Shurp.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 01, 2013, 10:18:45 AM
Oh great!  Thank you for doing that.  If you can ask Shurp to pm either Beelzeboss or myself with his e-mail address, we can facilitate the changeover.

I will add some more time on to the clock.  With any luck, we should be able to return to a normal schedule one Ubercat returns from holiday.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on August 01, 2013, 10:20:23 AM
it hosts today according to Llama
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 01, 2013, 06:49:06 PM
Hello all.

I've been told that you need a sub for EA Ulm... I'm not a very good player but I'm willing to give it a try.  What do I need to do?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 01, 2013, 10:09:36 PM
Hi Shurp, thanks for offering to take over Ulm.

If you can use the private message function on this forum to send me an e-mail address of yours, I will make sure that llamaserver sends Ulm's turns to that address.  You will need to create a new folder in your ...dominions/savedgames folder to place the file.  When you run Dominions 3 and Play Existing Game, this game will have the same name as the new folder you created.

If you have any further questions about how to play or what to do, just ask.  I will try and provide unbiased answers, if I know the answer.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 03, 2013, 07:25:05 AM
Edit: Disregard

[I completed a turn.  It's not a very good turn, but I have some ideas worked out and once I get some intel on his forces I'll be in a better position to submit better turns]

[BTW, does EA Ulm have any effective way to boost its troops MR?  Iron Will is painful, one 170 gold mage for every 9 troops...]
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 03, 2013, 10:02:17 AM
BTW, what is the current view on scout attacks?  I assume my lonely scout won't disrupt his move orders.  It seems to be the only way I can find out what forces TNN is moving around (besides waiting to get attacked), but before I send scouts to their death I wanted to make sure it wouldn't cause any problems.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 03, 2013, 12:05:43 PM
Antimagic is an Astral spell that effects all friendlies on the field.  It boosts the MR of everyone, but it costs a gem.  It is in Enchantment.




I am not sure how the thing with scouts works, but apparently one commander can occasionally block army movement.  I have not seen it myself, but apparently it can and does happen.

If you want to get an accurate look at someone's armies, you can sneak on to the province and use the 'attack current province' command while hidden.  According to what I have read, that has no chance to block movement.

As to whether it is an exploit or not, I can't answer that.  If any players want scout attacks, or similar kamikaze attacks prohibited, than I will add it to the game rules on the original post.




I have added some more time to the clock so that Beelzeboss can get his turn in.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Ubercat on August 03, 2013, 12:53:47 PM
I'm back.  :)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 03, 2013, 01:37:32 PM
That's what I was thinking -- attacking the current province with a scout.  Hypothetically attacking from another province could stall the army if they crash head into each other -- though that it should be unlikely.  And I believe coming in from the side shouldn't do anything at all.

BTW, I asked what *Ulm* could do to raise MR... Antimagic is a nice spell, but I have a shortage of 3S mages at the moment :)
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 04, 2013, 02:14:01 AM
The only other MR boosting spell I am familiar with requires maxxed out Alteration and high Earth magic.  Army of Lead.  There might be some other available options that are good for buffing squads, I don't know.  I don't have much knowledge of Ulm.

 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 04, 2013, 07:06:45 PM
Yeah, I have a ways to go before I hit Alt-9.  But I'll keep it in mind if I survive that long, thanks!

OK, I'm getting confused.  I just got attacked by three non-commander "Tuatha" -- where did these come from?  We are in EA, right?

Are there any other surprises I should keep an eye out for in this bucket'o'mods?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 05, 2013, 08:28:50 AM
The mod was created by the Something Awful community.  They balance mods according to their own metric.  I would struggle to explain all of the changes from an un-modded game of Dominions, but it would appear that many of the high-end commander summons have been made much more powerful in various ways.

I would suspect that the Tuatha you were fighting might have been a unit summoned automatically by TNN's pretender.  My pretender (Pangaea) summons Cockatrice in whatever province she is in, so it could be something similar to that.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 05, 2013, 05:13:06 PM
Yeah, I suspected something like that... I also noticed Wendigos are W5D5.  Youch!
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on August 10, 2013, 04:12:00 AM
I've had an emergency call out until monday night -can I get an extension?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 10, 2013, 06:00:56 AM
no problem
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 12, 2013, 07:04:03 PM
Well, this is getting ugly...

I'm not convinced the AI can do a better job than I can... but I have a few more ideas.  The next turn or two should make it clear.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 12, 2013, 09:46:48 PM
Don't get discouraged, taking over for another player at this stage of the game is a challenging proposition.  If there is any advice I can offer for dealing with certain tactics, or devising a few of your own, my inbox is open.  That goes for anyone.  I can't promise to give you good advice, but I might give you some food for thought.     
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on August 14, 2013, 04:33:55 PM
What I want to know is why your armies are so unreasonably big.

This is starting to feel like April '45 and I'm the Germans.

Is this a side effect of one of the global magic spells that you seem to have a monopoly on?

Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 14, 2013, 05:11:42 PM
I researched Enchantment first.  I picked up some Thaumaturgy and Conjuration along the way, but the bulk of my research went into Enchantment until I hit Enchantment 8.  Most of the undead I have come from the spells Carrion Reanimation and Army of the Dead, which can summon a hundred units at a time.  I also summoned some Pangaean undead commanders which allowed me to generate Manikins.  The Global Ritual, Gift of Nature's Bounty, increased my income and allowed me to recruit large numbers of normal troops from forts, as well as more Pan commanders.

The bulk of my forces are Maenads, special units generated by Panii.  They are basically naked, feral women that can go berserk and attack with claws.  They are inferior to light infantry, but upkeep free.  Each Pan can generate around a half dozen per turn, every turn.  They generate more Maenads in provinces with Turmoil scales. 

I just keep pushing Maenaeds to the front line and if they die, I don't care, because the corpses they leave behind makes my remote undead generation spells more effective.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 14, 2013, 05:48:28 PM
OK, this is just too frustrating.  His armies keep bouncing around all over the place and I have no way to find out if what I am attempting to do will actually accomplish anything.

TNN (Beelzeboss), do you just want me to go AI, or what?
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on August 16, 2013, 07:20:46 PM
Due to an unforseen event (Parzifal) and my girlfriend's fondness for Wagner,  I'm going to need a 24-hour extension because I doubt I'll be able to get a turn out tonight.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Philippe on August 18, 2013, 09:10:42 AM
What exactly just happened?  I just got a message that the game is over, but I don't know why and I can't tell who won (it was either Pangaia or Tir ).

The tables that are being displayed are interesting. Two players seem to have done wildly more research than anyone else.  Next time I play I would really like to know how that's done.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 18, 2013, 10:31:36 AM
I did not get the game over message, so perhaps it was a corrupted file or something?  In any case, I clicked the resend turn button on your behalf.

As for research, I don't know how others did it, but my early high research came mainly from my pretender god, who has multiple magic paths and from Magic+3 scales that I picked in design.  I put up a few forts as quickly as I could with my poor income scales and recruited a number of Dryads, which are cheap, sacred researchers.  I also invested in provinces that had tribal shamans in order to pull some of them in for research.  The downside is that I have an excessive number of Nature 1 casters.  Because they are all sacred, the gold upkeep on them in minimal though.

Construction was a late pick for me, so I did not bother forging any items that boost research, such as Lightless Lanterns (fire) or Skull Mentors (death).  I suppose rushing construction in order to forge lightless lanterns could be a strategy for Abysia.   
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Shurp on August 18, 2013, 07:13:16 PM
OK, this is clearly pointless.  I've gone AI.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 18, 2013, 10:25:38 PM
Ok, thank you for playing.  Seeing as you feel your position is not good and you are not having fun playing Ulm, I will not bother looking for a replacement player.  You efforts have been appreciated and I hope you got something from the experience.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on August 22, 2013, 05:25:05 PM
i cant get a turn out of llama - i didnt know there was one until i got the 12 hour reminder and it wont resend
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 22, 2013, 05:45:49 PM
No problem.  I can't offer any technical assistance or advice at this time, but I will try and investigate the matter tonight.  I'll add a couple of days to the clock, just in case.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on August 22, 2013, 05:49:08 PM
Quote from: Phobos on August 22, 2013, 05:45:49 PM
No problem.  I can't offer any technical assistance or advice at this time, but I will try and investigate the matter tonight.  I'll add a couple of days to the clock, just in case.

ta
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on August 27, 2013, 07:14:44 PM
Extended the game for 12 hours as I will not be home until tomorrow morning.

edit:  Added another 12 hours just in case, as it is getting close to hosting and Abysia has it's turn outstanding.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on September 03, 2013, 05:14:50 AM
extended turn by 12 hours.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on September 06, 2013, 06:16:25 AM
added 24 hours to the clock.
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on September 15, 2013, 04:58:56 PM
can i get an extra 24 hours? trip to london tomorrow i wasnt expecting - thanks
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on September 16, 2013, 08:52:34 AM
no problem
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on September 30, 2013, 01:38:30 PM
ive got to drop out guys - work and life crisis and ive missed the last 3-4 turns - ill go AI at then of this turn if thats ok
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Chelubey on September 30, 2013, 05:08:31 PM
Quote from: undercovergeek on September 30, 2013, 01:38:30 PM
ive got to drop out guys - work and life crisis and ive missed the last 3-4 turns - ill go AI at then of this turn if thats ok

According to llamaserver's scores data Hinnom is still possess plenty of riches despite being one of outsiders.
If admin and players agree, I can sub in for Hinnom.
I'll be able to do much better than normal difficulty AI (at least in "newbie" MP games I did well in generall and even won a few ones).

Yet, I'll have to ask for several days delay to join it in in this case order to
1) Take a look what's going there at all.
2) Contact everyone, update diplomatic relations and find challenging long-term goals for the nation (something extremely important for hopeless nations both to have self fun from the game and to bring fun into the game for others). Defining diplomatic relations and finding long-term goals are obviously directly linked here.
(Yet I don't have a clue what is situation there, maybe Hinnom is ganged already so there is no choice to make - that would be even more simple to receive).
3) Make first turn (I didn't play AwesomeEtc mods yet, so the first turn would take a bit more than others - a grasp for middle-term goals will be needed).
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: undercovergeek on October 01, 2013, 12:45:35 AM
I've sent the 'go AI' turn - I'm assuming if a different don't go AI turn is received the game can be taken over
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Phobos on October 03, 2013, 11:14:33 AM
Apologies, work, home and other constraints have prevented me from keeping up with the social aspect of the games I am involved in.  I have not even checked my personal e-mail account since early last week, which is where PM notifications for this forum are sent.

Just so you are aware, there are (were) 3 players with the admin password;  Beelzeboss, Undercovergeek and Myself.  Beelzeboss was volounteered to be a co admin for this game.  Undercovergeek had some technical issues that required altering the address his files were sent to, so he was given the admin password to resolve that issue while maintaining privacy.  The only proviso I placed on their use of the password was that they leave a forum notification of any adinistrative action taken, for the benefit of other players.     

I am sorry if you were not afforded an opportunity to get involved in this game.  Ultimately, this is my fault for being oblivious to your request, but I thought that you should be aware that I was not the only player capable of servicing your request.

If you still have an interest in subbing for a nation, feel free to take over Pangaea for me.  My blood sacrifice strategy is somewhat hindered by the presence of multiple other nations with the same ability. 
Title: Re: Dawn of the Grog: Early Age game (in progress)
Post by: Chelubey on October 03, 2013, 03:38:27 PM
Quote from: Phobos on October 03, 2013, 11:14:33 AM
I am sorry if you were not afforded an opportunity to get involved in this game.  Ultimately, this is my fault for being oblivious to your request, but I thought that you should be aware that I was not the only player capable of servicing your request.

Nevermind - just coincidence of various circumstances.

Quote from: Phobos on October 03, 2013, 11:14:33 AMIf you still have an interest in subbing for a nation, feel free to take over Pangaea for me.  My blood sacrifice strategy is somewhat hindered by the presence of multiple other nations with the same ability.

Well, I've got a special curse and most of my MP games finished in deep lategame (some even beyond 100 turns).
All these scores of full-eqed SCs running around, national warehouse which can hold all forged items no longer, empire-wide battle scripting taking countless hours... It is something I'm now running away like from plague.
Hinnom in this game was already almost too large to be acceptable (for subbing) according to my special tastes. However at least it didn't look like a power with chances to win the game different from zero. So at least I knew I could ease myself somewhat playing such a nation.

As for Pangea here - it is one of victory pretenders... in lategame... and such a huge nation. Oh!
No, no, thanks, not for me.