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Home » Stars! 2.6/7 » New Game Announcements » Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) (beginners - lower intermediate - rusty oldtimers)
Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Mon, 16 April 2018 09:16 Go to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
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Messages: 1068
Registered: August 2005
Location: Berlin
Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9)
A pretty straight short game which is intended to lure back oldtimers (considering themselves beginner to lower intermediate) and to bring in new players. It's the 9th game I'll be hosting of this type. Each is a bit different and usually with a new bunch of players.

To make the battleground even, players experienced in the mean combat vs other humans will have to leave some leftover points in the race wizard (see restrictions).

Host is not playing and feel free to ask when you feel unsure about the conditions, Stars-version, abbreviations etc.

To get new players going, I'll give comments about your chosen race design to help you finetuining it. During the game several articles, tutorials and links will be provided helping you to find your way in the vast available knowledge base for Stars!.

If a friend told you about the game and you are keen on playing but lack a serial code, there are unique serial numbers available from Ron who is also running autohost, look in the following thread: Getting serial numbers.

Concerning problems of Stars with Win7 (64bit), here several solutions:
* http://starsautohost.org/sahforum2/index.php?t=msg&th=49 84

Game Info
Players: 6 - 9
Skill level: beginner - lower intermediate
Ranked: No
Version: 2.6 J rc4 (engl., used by autohost or 2.7 J rc3 (German version) (downloads)
Autohost: Yes
Turn generation: 5 turns a week (Mo-Fr) up to year 2430, then 3 turns/week (Mo-We-Fr) as soon as requested by at least one player. Weekends and holidays off (do notify me about holidays).
Host is playing: No
Universe size: small packed (240 stars in a 800x800-ly-universe), distant starting positions
Starting conditions: ACC BBS

Game Rules
1) No pregame alliances which means that players should not get in contact before the game starts to optimize their race designs for a later alliance.

2) Stars is an old game with many very well described bugs and loopholes. Some have become part of the game, some are considered game breaking and cheating. We rely on the players not to cheat. Using chaff, split-fleet dodge, mine damage dodge and the repair after gating loophole is ok, all other "cheats" are forbidden and most likely lead to your disqualification, for more info see the thread: Known Bugs (JRC3) - Player Exploitable Bugs / "Features" (or ask the host when in doubt).

3) Victory conditions: Last Man/Last Team standing or consensus. Winning team mustn't exceed 2 players. (I am serious about this... an alliance of 3 or more cannot win).


Restrictions for your race-design depending on experience
Players which have already played Stars games vs humans will have disadvantages by leaving leftover points in the race wizard and some PRTs (primary race traits) might be forbidden. I'll check the races and especially to the beginners I'll be offering some advice how to improve your design.

a) for beginners (no Stars-experience vs humans or 1 game and soundly beaten):
* banned: AR (Alternate Reality) and PP (Packet Physics)

b) for advanced beginners (up to 3 games vs humans and not part of the winning alliance):
* banned: AR
* all other PRTs: 60 leftover points
Leftover points can be spent as you like.

c) for rusty oldtimers and lower intermediates:
* banned: JoaT, SD
* AR: 0 leftover points
* all other PRTs: 120 leftover points
Leftover points can be spent as you like except on mineral concentration.

If in doubt where to sort yourself in, send me an email and ask.

About race design
Here some very helpful links:
* Stars! Official Strategy Guide: Basic Race Design (especially the info about breakpoints at the end)
* Basic Race Design by Art Lathrop
* "Race Design, Step by Step" by Mahrin Skel 1997 v2.6/7
* Lots of more articles: Race Design/Strategy
Take it as hints and inspiration, never follow it to the point or believe everything what you read in the articles. But some stuff is really good and helpful. Remember that you need to adapt what you read to our specific game settings.

If you want to get a feeling how your race fares, test it in small packed vs 8 random expert AIs. Your race should manage to conquere the first HW between 2430-40. If you need anylonger, rework your race design.

Misc
* Inactivity: Players which have missed 3 turns will be set to inactive. I'll look for replacements if appropriate or may put in some last orders myself to upgrade the defenses but the game won't stop.
* No rule but especially new players I want to urge not to play in more than 2 games (better even only 1 game) of Stars. You will encounter various difficult tactical challenges and there are lots of good articles available, waiting for you to get inspired by them and to apply their ideas somehow onto your specific situation. After turn 30 orders and thinking will consume time and a good game will be in the back of your mind all the time. It's more fun to play only 1 game but to do this one right.

A note about game length and what you might have to expect
With the above turn generation and assuming the game will last for about 60 turns, the game will be played over a period of around 16 weeks (about 4 month). While this is rather short for a Stars-game, I want to remind everybody, it is not wise to sign up for the game when you already know that eg in 2 month you will be away/without internet connection for several weeks.

Small packed games with 6-9 players tend to be very fast paced. Thus you better don't expect a long peaceful development but skirmishes along your frontiers and somebody trying to invade your colonies perhaps as early as in the 10th and first fleets with destroyers in the 20ies. Early scouting is important not only to know your possible enemies but also to find a suitable ally. It's not at all like playing against the AIs, humans are tricky, nasty and look out for your weak spots.

Don't despair when you get wiped out. Usually you learn more from loosing a game than from winning... and the advantage of a short game: you can apply your newly gained knowledge soon in the next game and kick some admiral's ass.

Since this game is also for new players, the host will describe in detail how to use the autohost interface to upload/download turns.

There were other Fledgling Admiral games, the rules were slightly different, though. But to get you an impression, here what the players wrote about it:
FA1 - FA2 - FA4 - FA6 - FA8


If you are interested, please send to altruist (at) arglos (dot) net :
* the race file
* the password (none is needed but if you want to set one)
* your desired email address (which will be revealed to the other players after some time in the game)
* your nick at autohost
* a short note about your Stars-experience

We aim to start the game in about 2-3 weeks. I'll keep this post updated to display the players taking part.

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bump Mon, 16 April 2018 09:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
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Location: Berlin
bump (in case that bug is still around that single post threads aren't shown as new)

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Re: bump Mon, 16 April 2018 09:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
mrvan is currently offline mrvan

 
Officer Cadet 1st Year

Messages: 220
Registered: May 2014
I'm in (assuming the 'new beginners' game is indeed dead).

I don't like the AR ban for advanced beginners, I played AR in the previous game and I think I did pretty well, even if the game was over too soon. I understand that they have a quite different playstyle from a 'normal' race, but so do -f races and 3i HEs. But I guess I can try to get myself classified as lower intermediate and even get some points for free Smile


[Updated on: Mon, 16 April 2018 09:51]

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Re: bump Mon, 16 April 2018 09:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
Registered: August 2005
Location: Berlin
mrvan wrote on Mon, 16 April 2018 15:26
I'm in (assuming the 'new beginners' game is indeed dead).

I don't like the AR ban for advanced beginners, I played AR in the previous game and I think I did pretty well, even if the game was over too soon. I understand that they have a quite different playstyle from a 'normal' race, but so do -f races and 3i HEs. But I guess I can try to get myself classified as lower intermediate and even get some points for free Smile


That's right... win your fist game and then, if you have still not gotten wiser, you are free to play an AR in such an environment *evil grin

So far we have 2 players (green: race file received; red: no race file yet):
1. mrvan (adv.beg)
2. AngeLwitcH (beginner)


[Updated on: Mon, 16 April 2018 12:52]

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Mon, 16 April 2018 20:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
talkingbologna is currently offline talkingbologna

 
Senior Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 86
Registered: November 2016
Location: 1947
I'll play, also. I was hoping these past two years at SAH to see another FA, good man.

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Mon, 16 April 2018 20:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
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[unfortunately I can't edit the first post, update follows in next post]


[Updated on: Sat, 21 April 2018 22:02]

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FA9: 4th player Sat, 21 April 2018 22:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
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Location: Berlin
So far we have 4 players (green: race file received; red: no race file yet):
1. mrvan (adv.beg)
2. AngeLwitcH (beginner)
3. talkingbologna (lower intermediate)
4. LittleEddie (rusty oldtimer)

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Re: FA9: 4th player Sun, 22 April 2018 06:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
platon79 is currently offline platon79

 
Chief Warrant Officer 3

Messages: 185
Registered: February 2004
Location: Norway
If there should not be enough players to start the game, I have a race I could try out, but that would probably be in the new category d:

d) advanced, non-rusty players:
* banned: JoaT, SD and also HE
* AR: 30 leftover points
* all other PRTs: 150 leftover points
* Are not allowed to join an alliance
* Cannot attack HWs before at least 2440, or some other number.
* If enough beginner players are present before launch, d-races are omitted.

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Re: FA9: 4th player Sun, 22 April 2018 08:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
mrvan is currently offline mrvan

 
Officer Cadet 1st Year

Messages: 220
Registered: May 2014
We could also do a 3x2 with a beginner paired with a more advanced player. That could be a great way of transferring knowledge and tricks to us noobs?

[btw I think the race file in/out is mixed up, AFAIK I didn't submit a racefile yet, still testbedding Smile ]

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Re: FA9: 4th player Sun, 22 April 2018 16:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

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platon79 wrote on Sun, 22 April 2018 12:33
If there should not be enough players to start the game, I have a race I could try out, but that would probably be in the new category d:


mrvan wrote on Sun, 22 April 2018 14:16
We could also do a 3x2 with a beginner paired with a more advanced player. That could be a great way of transferring knowledge and tricks to us noobs?


Well, sorting in beginners and advanced beginners is easy, with lower intermediates and oldtimers it gets a bit more complicated and I am judging it on an individual base.

Mixing in players of too different experience and skill is in my experience not a good idea, so we'll try to avoid that. The announcement is only 6 days old and included the statement that we aim to start in 2-3 weeks (perhaps a too bold statement or not, we'll see). We'll wait 2 full weeks.

If not enough players have shown up after 2 weeks, I am open to widen the player field because, although suboptimal, it is better than no game. In case you are interested and don't fit into the player conditions as of now, post your interest and I'll put you on the waiting list (even if we have played together/against, please, send me some lines about your most notable games and victories). For such players I'll think about a different approach on restrictions: Send in your race design you'd like to play with, I'll go with the general gist of it but will alter it with some "handicaps", send it back to you and you can accept it or opt out... the handicaps will be a challenge and severe enough that I think you will have a rather high chance to loose against a dedicated newbie alliance. But, please, don't be disappointed that I'll give precedence to players who fit into the experience range.

mrvan wrote on Sun, 22 April 2018 14:16
[btw I think the race file in/out is mixed up, AFAIK I didn't submit a racefile yet, still testbedding Smile ]


Uuups, sorry, you are right, mixed it up, here the correct list:

So far we have 4 players (green: race file received; red: no race file yet):
1. mrvan (adv.beg)
2. AngeLwitcH (beginner)
3. talkingbologna (intermediate)
4. LittleEddie (rusty oldtimer)

Weiting list (too high experience/skill):
1. dlrichert (higher intermediate to advanced) (email-address needed)
2. platon79 (advanced) (email-address needed)


[Updated on: Sun, 22 April 2018 21:02]

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Mon, 23 April 2018 12:48 Go to previous messageGo to next message
TheJorrus is currently offline TheJorrus

 
Petty Officer 1st Class

Messages: 69
Registered: November 2002
Location: South Africa

Ellooo very very long time i'd like to join too Razz
Me very rusty oldtimer...

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Mon, 23 April 2018 13:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
Registered: August 2005
Location: Berlin
TheJorrus wrote on Mon, 23 April 2018 18:48
Ellooo very very long time i'd like to join too :p
Me very rusty oldtimer...


Welcome to FA9. If I recall correctly... just a mere 9 years ago you were in FA6, weren't you?
Please, send me a few lines about your rustyness *grin
And the usual stuff: racefile, password send as email to my above address


So far we have 5 players (green: race file received; red: no race file yet):
1. mrvan (adv.beg)
2. AngeLwitcH (beginner)
3. talkingbologna (lower intermediate)
4. LittleEddie (not so rusty oldtimer)
5. TheJorrus (rusty oldtimer)

Weiting list (too high experience/skill):
1. dlrichert (higher intermediate to advanced) (email-address needed)
2. platon79 (advanced) (email-address needed)


[Updated on: Tue, 24 April 2018 03:34]

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) - 6th player - deadline for race files Fri, 27 April 2018 11:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

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Sign in time is almost finished, a 6th player has shown up.

Time to set a deadline for race files: Friday, 4th May is the last day you should have sent in your race file, earlier is better.

TheJorrus, I still need your email-address, just send me a note to altruist (at) arglos (dot) net

dlrichert, platon79: I can't guarantee you a spot. But I'd rather like to start the game with 8 (max 9) than with 6 players. So, at the moment you'd be in and thank you for your understanding if you are kicked in case other newbies show up. For your race files: no JoaT, no SD, 120 leftover pts, additionally I'll make some changes to your race files and send them back to you therefore you know what you have to cope with.

So far we have 6 players (green: race file received; red: no race file yet):
1. mrvan (adv.beg)
2. AngeLwitcH (beginner)
3. talkingbologna (lower intermediate)
4. LittleEddie (not so rusty oldtimer)
5. TheJorrus (rusty oldtimer) (email-address needed)
6. Novice052 (beginner)

Waiting list (too high experience/skill):
1. dlrichert (higher intermediate to advanced) (email-address needed)
2. platon79 (advanced)

[updated nicknames, player experiences, races in]


[Updated on: Sat, 28 April 2018 17:57]

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Sun, 29 April 2018 13:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Micha

 

Messages: 2342
Registered: November 2002
Location: Belgium GMT +1
Good to see there are still new Stars! games starting!

Don't let this wonderful game die!

mch

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Sun, 29 April 2018 16:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
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Micha wrote on Sun, 29 April 2018 19:57
Good to see there are still new Stars! games starting!


Hi Micha.

Micha wrote
Don't let this wonderful game die!


We are trying.
It takes longer to find enough players but it seems still possible, even to find beginners (at least in the mean art of playing in a highly competitive game of 6-9 human players).


Small update about players and races in:
So far we have 6-8 players (green: race file received; red: no race file yet):
1. mrvan (adv.beg)
2. AngeLwitcH (beginner)
3. talkingbologna (lower intermediate)
4. LittleEddie (not so rusty oldtimer)
5. TheJorrus (rusty oldtimer)
6. Novice052 (beginner)

Waiting list (too high experience/skill):
1. dlrichert (higher intermediate to advanced)
2. platon79 (advanced)

Restrictions for players with too high skill level:
Since restriction for all skill levels are public, I'll partly reveal the restrictions for those with too high skill levels:
# no JoaT, no SD, 120 lefover pts (similar to restrictions for intermediates)
Additionally I'll look at the proposed race design and then make a few design dependent changes to rather drastically alter it while still going with the gist of the design. And I must say, after the first of those race designs was sent in, I do have my fun *grin (and hopefully it is mutually).
Those changes I'll publish after the game is finished.
There are no further restrictions, so those players can freely attack and ally like everybody else.

[update: race in... only 2 more race designs missing]


[Updated on: Mon, 30 April 2018 05:48]

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Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9): universe generation - setup Mon, 30 April 2018 06:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
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One player asked:
Quote:
would there be a particular arrangement of the players in the setup or is it going to be more random?


Definetly more on the random side.
I'll check the universe and player starting locations to avoid some very weird setups like half the universe free and all players crowded in the other half. But apart from that, you will have to cope with what the Stars universe generation throws at you.

To adapt and cope with weird starting situations is an essential part of a tact & strat game. If your race design is in need of at least 70% germanium concentration on the HW, well, then you gambled and might loose (and you shouldn't gamble in a strat & tact game). For the beginners: it can't get too worse, HW mineral concentration never falls below 30%. If you see that another player's HW is very close to yours... early war or early alliance (both can have its merits). If you discover yourself in a remote corner with no neighbours nearby, well, easy and secure early development but you might be the last to find an ally and start techtrading much later than most. So almost all things have pros and cons and it depends on you how to handle it.

We'll also play with "random events on" that means comet strikes, wormholes, mystery traders and a chance to find some small tech boosts on planets colonized for the first time.


[Updated on: Mon, 30 April 2018 06:11]

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9): universe generation - setup Tue, 01 May 2018 11:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
mrvan is currently offline mrvan

 
Officer Cadet 1st Year

Messages: 220
Registered: May 2014
Race file sent! Looking forward to the game!

Note that I'll be traveling the second and fourth weeks of May, but I should be able to get my turns in, especially the early turns shouldn't be too time consuming.

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Tue, 01 May 2018 21:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
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All players have sent in their race files.
Some are still busy finetuning a thing here and there, so we'll just keep the set deadline of Friday, 4th May. Only a few days until then anyway.

green: race file received; red: no race file yet:
1. mrvan (adv.beg)
2. AngeLwitcH (beginner)
3. talkingbologna (lower intermediate)
4. LittleEddie (not so rusty oldtimer)
5. TheJorrus (rusty oldtimer)
6. Novice052 (beginner)
7. dlrichert (higher intermediate to advanced)
8. platon79 (advanced)

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FA9: game generated - we are ready Fri, 04 May 2018 14:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
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Announced 16th April... 18 days, 93 exchanged emails and 23 race files for 8 players later... we are ready to go!

I've just generated the universe and year 2400 (the 6th universe looked fine enough for me).
Player list is as in above post.

In the next hours I'll be sending you your files for year 2400, so you can look into it. If I have done any mistakes, mixed up race files or you got the wrong file, please, tell me. At this stage it is easy enough to redo it.

The files will be also sent to Ron, who will set up the game at autohost. This might take a few days and we'll happily and politely wait until then.

After Ron has set up the game, you'll be getting a notification with your upload password at autohost and the link where the interface for our game is located.

The next turn won't be generated before everybody has uloaded his 1st turn, I'll also write something up to explain the interface.

Happy fighting!


[Updated on: Fri, 04 May 2018 15:00]

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FA9: game breaks / delays Fri, 04 May 2018 15:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

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Location: Berlin
A comment on game breaks:

As announced:
If requested we'll put the game on hold for special holidays (like Eastern, Chrismas, National Independence, Revolution Day or whatever they are called in your society and/or religion). But you need to notify me about it, best a few days before.

Additionally:
To cope with the harsh reality that some of us have what's called a real life that's interfering and competing with the importance of gaming, everybody gets ONE delay card that allows you to ask for one turn generation to be skipped.
I'd recommend to use this delay card only later on. For the first turns it will be mostly easier to just adapt your orders: just give ships and planets orders in advance for several turns, so that most things will run smoothly even when you miss uploading new orders. As a matter of fact, it is a very good idea to do this always even if you don't expect to miss the next turn. It helps a lot managing your empire and cuts down the micro-management (the bane of all 4x-games).

[please, don't close this thread but let us wait a few more days in case something goes amiss]

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Fri, 04 May 2018 15:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
AngeLwitcH is currently offline AngeLwitcH

 
Crewman 2nd Class

Messages: 19
Registered: November 2017
Location: UK
Happy days, good luck everyone! Razz

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Re: Fledgling Admirals IX (FA9) Fri, 04 May 2018 19:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
talkingbologna is currently offline talkingbologna

 
Senior Chief Petty Officer

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Registered: November 2016
Location: 1947
Good Luck

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Topic can be closed Wed, 09 May 2018 19:38 Go to previous message
Altruist is currently offline Altruist

 
Commander

Messages: 1068
Registered: August 2005
Location: Berlin

Year 2402. Everything seems to run smoothly.

Topic can be closed.

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