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Home » Stars! 2.6/7 » New Game Announcements » Polygon (New game for six to twelve players)
Polygon Sun, 30 August 2020 06:03 Go to next message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
Since „Musical Chairs" didn't quite catch the general fancy Confused , I am giving something else a try and offering a game very similar to vmanuel's „Don't Stop, Can't Stop".

"Polygon" is a temporary generic name. It will be replaced by a more descriptive name once the number of players is finally determined. Six players: Hexagon; seven players: Heptagon; and so on to Dodecagon for 12 players.
The universe will consist of a central polygon of uninhabited stars and smaller clusters facing each of the sides. Each race will start in one of the smaller clusters, which will consist of 25 planets. The distance between the sides of the central polygon and the sides of the smaller clusters will be slightly above 300 LYs.
The number of stars in the universe will be determined by the number of players. For each smaller polygon of 25 stars, the central polygon will contain 35 stars. So number of stars ~ number of players*60.)
The universe might be stretched before the stars are rearranged in order to have a distance from rim to rim of 300 LYs as stated above.

Sample files for a game with eight players can be downloaded here in a couple of days.

Minimum number of players:

6. Maximum number of players: 12.

Races:

CA - banned.
IT - banned
Factoryless HE - banned (i.e. factory settings must be 10/10/10 or better and population growth rate 10% or lower)
Joat cannot take NAS
AR - will be slightly favoured: No "Kill Starbase" orders against AR races (they are legitimate against other PRTs). ARs may build up to 5 colonisers without colonising module up to the year 2420.

Communications and player relations:
This is a silent game. No communication with other players by ingame messages or outside of the game. No 'speaking names' for ships or bases.
All other races must be set to "Enemy" at all times. No alliances. No tech trading. Nuttin'
Players will be listed in the forum as participating, but player names will not be announced on SAH or in the game; Player 1, Player 2 etc. will be used instead. Race names which are the 'Trademark' of a player are prohibited. Generic race names (JoaT, Picardi etc.) are prohibited.

Game settings:
All game settings will be left unmarked, with the exception of "No Random Events".
Universe size will be determined as described above.
Player positions will be set to "Distant", but the HWs will be relocated.

Conditions of victory:
PPS will be turned on no sooner than 2500 if a player owns more than 33% of all planets. All active players will then vote. The victor is declared if all active players vote for him. Voting will be repeated every 10 years.

Turns:

Turns will generate at 20:00 GMT.
Daily gens until at least 2430. Slowing down to M-W-F as soon a player requests this after the given year. After 2480, if a player requests it, the pace will slow down to Monday - Thursday. The game will not slow down further unless all remaining players unanimously vote to do so.
Every player may request up to two turns to be dropped. After 2475, surviving players get an additional request.

Cheats:

Since magic9mushroom has a very comprehensive list of cheats and an extremely sensible stance on permitting or banning them, I will abide by his list as posted for Once More: https://starsautohost.org/sahforum2/index.php?t=msg&th=5 646&prevloaded=1&rid=1927&start=
(However, please take note of the exception granted to AR above under 'Races'.)

Race files, set-up and hosting:
Please send an email to victorstarshost (AT) gmail (DOT) com with your race file. Please do not use a password for the race file. Victor will do the set-up (may he and his empires flourish til the end of time!), moving the HWs in that process.
However, Victor will not be doing the day-to-day hosting. XAPBob has agreed to take on this this task as I intend to play in the game myself. He will take care of all player requests during the game changes of schedule, requests for delays etc.). If conflicts about the rules or other questions arise, he will ask Victor to help him come to a decision. However, I do not expect this to be necessary, as Stars!-players are known to be gentlemen.

If in doubt, please follow the spirit of these rules rather than the letter!


[Updated on: Sun, 30 August 2020 06:50]

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Re: Polygon Wed, 02 September 2020 15:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
XAPBob is currently offline XAPBob

 
Lt. Commander

Messages: 957
Registered: August 2012
Despite the fact that I proofed the original...

What happens to a PP race, just have the second world in the same starting polygon I presume.

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Re: Polygon Thu, 03 September 2020 01:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
Yes, that is what I would ask Victor Manuel to do when rearranging the universe.

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Re: Polygon Thu, 03 September 2020 05:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
Addition to the original announcement:

If a player misses 3 turns in a row, the game will be put on hold. If no replacement for the player is found within 3 days, the player will be set to 'dead'.

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Re: Polygon Tue, 08 September 2020 22:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
vmanuel is currently offline vmanuel

 
Chief Warrant Officer 3

Messages: 187
Registered: October 2004
Location: Dallas, TX USA
Two race files received so far.


Editor in Chief of the Kaynan Space News.
All Space, All The Time - Kaynan!
www.myhood.biz

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Re: Polygon Wed, 09 September 2020 16:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Star Daze is currently offline Star Daze

 
Senior Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 86
Registered: November 2002
Location: Seattle, WA or thereabout...
Any update on: "Sample files for a game with eight players can be downloaded here in a couple of days."?

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Re: Polygon Wed, 09 September 2020 17:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
vmanuel is currently offline vmanuel

 
Chief Warrant Officer 3

Messages: 187
Registered: October 2004
Location: Dallas, TX USA
Let me do one this week, it'll be an example of how I plan to set up for an 8-player game.


Editor in Chief of the Kaynan Space News.
All Space, All The Time - Kaynan!
www.myhood.biz

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Re: Polygon Fri, 02 October 2020 12:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
platon79 is currently offline platon79

 
Chief Warrant Officer 3

Messages: 185
Registered: February 2004
Location: Norway
Since there has not been much enthusiasm: So as not to make you disheartened, I would just like to say that I would have loved to play in this game, and I know there was at least a couple of others that expressed the same. But OnceMore is still going strong, and I have a rule against playing in multiple games at once.. Wink

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Re: Polygon Sat, 03 October 2020 11:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
Not disheartened yet.
Smile
I realise that few people will like to play in a second game like Once More. Long time since I've played anything like it. 5 MTs? In a couple of years?
Shocked
Anyway, Polygon will stay open for interested parties. No hurry on this.

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Re: Polygon Thu, 29 October 2020 08:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
iztok is currently offline iztok

 
Commander

Messages: 1202
Registered: April 2003
Location: Slovenia, Europe
Hi!
> So number of stars ~ number of players*60.
Ugh! Shocked I'd strongly suggest not going much over 35 planets. With 60 planets per player will the game after 2460 become a MM chore, and after 2480 a constant battle vs. Stars! hard limits. I've been often in similar situation, so I should know.

BR, Iztok

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Re: Polygon Sun, 01 November 2020 14:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
Haven't we all been there?
Wink
I'm open to changes on that. But I don't think we'll see a lot of interest in this game while Once More is still in full swing.

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Re: Polygon Sat, 21 November 2020 00:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
nmid

 
Commander

Messages: 1608
Registered: January 2011
Location: GMT +5.5

Count me in.
I'm rusty as hell but would love to join in Smile


I'll check here once or twice a week, but am accessible on gmail more readily.
Please mail me on my gmail id with my nomoreidsleft user name.


[Updated on: Sat, 21 November 2020 00:48]




I know my minefields.. but I'm a chaff sweeper.
I used to curse when I got stuck in traffic... till I realised I AM traffic.

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Re: Polygon Sat, 21 November 2020 13:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
paran0rmal is currently offline paran0rmal

 
Crewman 3rd Class

Messages: 7
Registered: July 2019

Good thing I check this forum at least once in a few months. I was one of the last survivors of "Don't Stop, Can't Stop", which was a great game! Would love to play in this one too.
Diplomacy is fun, but takes darn too long, besides, ship movement can tell much much more Smile

Count me in!

By the way, for all of those wondering how the previous game went, you can read about it in Game stories » Can't Stop, Don't Stop has stopped.

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Re: Polygon Wed, 25 November 2020 02:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robert is currently offline Robert

 
Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 393
Registered: November 2002
Location: Dortmund, Germany
I am back after 13 years - count me in Very Happy



2b v !2b -> ?

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Re: Polygon Wed, 25 November 2020 02:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
Since I will be playing as well, that makes at least four of us. IIRC, Victor told me somebody else had shown interest as well.
If we get six players, I'd be for starting the game. But that would also be up to the participants themselves. If they prefer a larger game, so be it.

Cheers,

Matt

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Re: Polygon Wed, 25 November 2020 03:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robert is currently offline Robert

 
Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 393
Registered: November 2002
Location: Dortmund, Germany
We should announce the start in the game "Once More" so maybe we can convince 2 more players... I would prefer 8 players over "just" 6...

But I would not mind starting with 6 players also... And I dont mind doing the math (geometry) if we end up with 7 players Wink



2b v !2b -> ?

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Re: Polygon Thu, 26 November 2020 03:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robert is currently offline Robert

 
Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 393
Registered: November 2002
Location: Dortmund, Germany
Question about the rules...

Is the rule "everyone is enemy" ment to be followed by the word or by the spirit?

For example as SD it might be uselful to set someone to friend so he can not chaffsweep the minefields, which is a war-tactic, but would require to set the "enemy" to "friend"...

IMO if players want to cooperate, they can - even when not breaking the rules when followed by the word, wolf-lambing for example...

So... I would prefer to have a rule like "everyone has to be treated as enemy and no cooperation is allowed" instead of "we have to set all players to enemy always".

Comments?

"Rules are written for those who lack the ability to truly reason. But for those who can, rules become nothing more than guidelines, and live their lives governed not by rules but by reason."
~ James McGuigan



2b v !2b -> ?

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Re: Polygon Thu, 26 November 2020 03:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
I thought I made it explicit enough:

"All other races must be set to "Enemy" at all times. No alliances. No tech trading. Nuttin'"

Apparently not. The war tactic Robert describes is forbidden by the rules.
Wolf&Lamb is forbidden by the rules (it is one of the prime examples of tech trading).
Any kind of cooperation is forbidden ('Nutting').

Go by the words of the rules and by their spirit.

You are on your own in this game.

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Re: Polygon Thu, 26 November 2020 04:50 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robert is currently offline Robert

 
Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 393
Registered: November 2002
Location: Dortmund, Germany
Yes - I do understand your rule - and I understand the intention behind the rule.
It just does not match as well as it should...

In other words: I totally agree on the "spirit of the rules" but I dont like the "words" which I have to follow.


[Updated on: Thu, 26 November 2020 04:51]




2b v !2b -> ?

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Re: Polygon Thu, 26 November 2020 04:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
I can understand that it handicaps SD a little bit. But I'd much rather have very clear rules than start making exceptions.

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Re: Polygon Thu, 26 November 2020 05:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robert is currently offline Robert

 
Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 393
Registered: November 2002
Location: Dortmund, Germany
ok...


2b v !2b -> ?

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Re: Polygon Fri, 27 November 2020 17:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
LittleEddie is currently offline LittleEddie

 
Lieutenant
Helped track down one or more Stars bugs

Messages: 517
Registered: February 2011
Location: Delaware
I send a race file in,

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Re: Polygon Sat, 28 November 2020 21:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
magic9mushroom is currently offline magic9mushroom

 
Commander

Messages: 1361
Registered: May 2008
Robert wrote on Thu, 26 November 2020 19:22
For example as SD it might be uselful to set someone to friend so he can not chaffsweep the minefields, which is a war-tactic, but would require to set the "enemy" to "friend"...


Layering minefields will usually make a full collision-sweep impossible over distances of >45 ly due to the 512 fleet limit (although a partial one is still possible). At that point, there's little benefit to setting them to friend - they can't prevent a detonation at the destination, and leaving them as enemy strands a bunch of chaff in different locations from speed bumps (using up fleet limit for the next turn, whereas if you set them to friend they'll all go to the waypoint and could be merged immediately) and gives at least a chance of the main fleet actually striking a mine.

(There are some situations in which you can't do this, of course. Just pointing out it's an alternative in most cases.)

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Re: Polygon Tue, 01 December 2020 02:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robert is currently offline Robert

 
Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 393
Registered: November 2002
Location: Dortmund, Germany
I have one more question (actually two):

as there will be some serious work being put into the setup of the game, will there be something done that extreme mineral concentrations on the HW will be avoided?
It just might give a huge advantage/disadvantage for -h vs HP if g-conc is extremely high/low...

And regarding planetary distances inside of the hw-cluster: will there be a more or less fair distribution so that the "next closest" planets are not too far away,
or is this also more or less "luck"?

I am just not sure if I should pick a race-design which is "robust" to bad luck or if there will be a lot of work in the remapping so "extrem bad luck" can be avoided.

I dont want to push in any direction, I just need to know for my race-design Smile



2b v !2b -> ?

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Re: Polygon Tue, 01 December 2020 02:54 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Ludi Magister is currently offline Ludi Magister

 
Master Chief Petty Officer

Messages: 103
Registered: April 2019
Mineral concentrations on the HW will be determined by chance. Within the usual bounds of Stars, that is: Germ will be 30 or higher. Victor is going to put a lot of work into the setup to ensure that the habs in the HW-cluster are representative for the hab distribution in the whole universe. I wouldn't want him to have to do additional regens so as to set the G concentration within certain limits. I don't want to take every element of luck out of the game.

So, yes. Do build a 'robust' race.

Planet distribution in the HW-cluster will be random too. However, the distances between planets will be around 81 LYs on average. Some might be a lot larger, some definitely smaller. You might end up with long distances to the planets nearest to your HW, but small groups of planets near to each other further out. Again, these distances are determined by chance in a normal game, so it will be up to chance in Polygon as well.


[Updated on: Tue, 01 December 2020 02:58]

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