Sirian Sirian

Travel to Realms Beyond Your Ordinary Gaming Experience

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Travel to Realms Beyond Your Ordinary Gaming Experience

from Stardock Forums
This thread is intended to recruit new players to the Realms Beyond community through our Metaverse Empire. We don't exactly need a thread for discussion, as we have our own GalCiv forum attached to the RB website. (Realms Beyond is a veteran community of gamers with an established presence in several strategy and role playing games). However, some have suggested that our "meteoric rise" in the galactic standings represents a "mystery" and a possible threat to other empires. Surely not, says we. :)

Why not wait for interested parties to find their way to the RBGC forum, if they wish to communicate with us? That seemed wise at first, but the suggestion has been floated amongst our own that we should research "communication theory" and create a device called a "univeral translator" and seek to open communications with other empires on terms they are used to operating, through channels they are used to using. The ultimate wisdom of this idea, and this so-called translation device, remains in doubt among RB leadership, as the first attempt to use the wicked thing resulted in misunderstanding leading to combat and nearly kicked off a minor war, but we are an adventurous people and will give almost any idea a try, so here we go. :D

Our Empire Motto: WE SEEK CHALLENGE THROUGH VARIETY!

http://www.galciv.com/metaverse/empires.asp?id=555


We seek mastery over the game. The ideal at RB is to be able to beat the game on any map size, without choosing to abuse the AI's various inanities, without having to have perfect terrain conditions. Any alignment, any victory condition, any habitability range, any political party, any combination of bonus picks. If a challenge lies before us, we will embrace it. Mistakes, setbacks and losses do not represent failure, merely a chance to learn, from which greater success can sprout and flourish.

No skill level is too high or too low for RB. All we ask is that you play your best and have a good time.

RB players venture beyond the ordinary. If you are like unto our brother in the spirit in which you play, you would be welcome to join our empire. All you need is interest, an RB-style gaming attitude, and the desire to participate. Our mission is to have fun, to pursue excellence, to play fairly, to uphold the integrity of the game, to embrace variety and challenge, push the boundaries of the game and gameplay, experiment, learn, grow, and do it together.

Our passion is the AAR. We live to read a good AAR and to write our own. Fun shared is fun doubled. The RB Epics tournament for Civ3 sees every participant post their own AAR after each tournament game, with the chief entertainment value being sharing insights, experiences, and laughs. Whether we will hold a GalCiv tournament remains to be seen, but the possibility is out there.

We keep a list of rules for our GalCiv gaming. This list will grow and evolve as the game evolves and our understanding of it matures. We voluntarily refrain from (in our opinions) game-breaking tactics that unbalance a game or pigeonhole it into one "best" path to victory. Some game elements may be broken or have loopholes. Some moves may just be "too strong" and kill variety. We do not use these moves. We do not have to use them. Mastery over a game is established by taking the high road, by trudging uphill and building our strength and endurance. Our interests lie in seeing the game refined to where the game balance provides extended replay value and neverending strategic challenge. However, unless and until that state of polish is reached, we will set our own boundaries to create this effect for ourselves, whether or not it can be found in the game as currently programmed.

If this sounds like your kind of gaming community, we invite you to travel to Realms Beyond.

Our forum for Galactic Civilizations:

http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/237344

Players interested in joining Realms Beyond should venture to our forum, read the lastest version of our rules, and confirm their assent to abide by the rules we have set. We place the quality of our gaming experience ahead of our standing in the competition. Excellence brings its own rewards, its own forms of recognition and respect from peers. That is something no measurement or score could ever fully depict.

Anyone who agrees to our playing philisophy and signs their John Hancock pledging their allegiance to our posted rule set will be confirmed onto our roster. Come one, come all, for the time of your life. LOL Our star is rising. Our destiny is written in the heavens. :HOT:

We are also hoping to generate enough excitement to lure out some of the other RB players who have yet to pick up GalCiv. Surely when they see the grand party we are staging at our best starbase, some will be compelled to join in. And as far as "threat to other empires", that's purely propaganda. We have no hostile intentions. Now if some players are impressed with our culture and decide to emigrate to our worlds, that would not constitute hostile action against other cultures on our behalf. ;) We cannot help but to be ourselves. :D


- Sirian

[Message Edited]
16,218 views 354 replies
Reply #201 from Stardock Forums Top
You should try moving down here to Aus. It's summer at the moment :). Hell, I've never even seen this thing you call "snow". The only disadvantage is that you end up wanting to go to the beach more than play Gal Civ :).

BTW, I bumped up my score with a 10k painful millitary conquest win. It took me until the last 3 alien systems to realise I was 3 techs from terror stars and it would be a simple matter to spam constructors than to invade. I was never really threatened that whole game though, so maybe it's time to move up difficulty levels.

-Smegged
Reply #202 from Stardock Forums Top
Hi, I have a question to you Galactic Emperors... ;)

Unfortunately, I reduced our empire score by some 5k points (sorry for that :( ). Does not matter too much due to the great performance of you guys, but it upsets me a little bit, anyway.

I submitted two games this month (still lacking time for gaming :( ). The first game's score (8k) directly added to my score as expected for the month's first game. My score was 29k, then.

The second game (submitted yesterday, 7k points) REDUCED my score by something like 5k points. I am back to 24k now.

My question is: Does anyone of you know how the Metaverse scoring of games after the first game of the month works? I think that something like an average score might play a role, but I have no idea, actually.

As a side note, I had expected to score higher in the second game, as I had set Yor & Torians to "Incredible", (all the rest had been "Genius") and, by chance, had drawn a quite favorable map. However, I finished the game quite early (June 2189), so maybe I ran into kind of an "early finish penalty" (a read about somethink like that somewhere in the forum). Actually, I do not think this matters, but, who knows ...

Thanks in advance, and have fun! :)

- Physicist
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #203 from Stardock Forums Top
I think that something like an average score
End of quote


Games are group by blocks of 30 days from your last submission. The first block gets full score, the second loose 5%, the 3rd loose 10%, and so on. If you submit 20 games in a month than stop playing for a month, you can expect your score to go down when you next submit a game. If you submit a couple of games every month, your score should go up every month, or at least remain stable.

~SDC~
Reply #204 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks, JaxomCA :) ! This explains my reduced score - not quantitatively, but qualitatively (which is enough to satisfy my curiosity, for the moment :) ).

I should play more, then I would not run into "problems" like this ... ;)

- Physicist
Reply #205 from Stardock Forums Top
Well it is a little more complicated than what I said, but that part explains your lowered score best. I know there is an Excel spreadsheet somewhere with the fomulaes to calculate score but I don't remember in which tread I have read about it. I think the total of each block is divided by the square root of the number of games within that block. So if you play much more, you will run into another kind of problem. ;)

Incidently, the score shown within the empire page and the score in the player's list do not match. I am not sure which formula applies to which score.

~SDC~
Reply #206 from Stardock Forums Top
mods site now updated to v2.01 ->http://files.galciv.org :HOT:

~SDC~
Reply #207 from Stardock Forums Top
it. I think the total of each block is divided by the square root of the number of games within that block.
End of quote


Yes.

I ran into kind of an "early finish penalty"
End of quote


Map size and difficulty are the main components of your score. However, part of your score comes from the techs you research and the wonders and trade goods you build. So if you finish early, you don't get the late game techs, so your score suffers. Which most people think is a pretty silly system, but we were not consulted :notsure:

Physicist, are you actually a physicist? I'm a graduate student in condensed matter physics.
[Message Edited]
Reply #208 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks for the help, guys :) . The main point I still do not understand is the following:

I have submitted 7 games up to now; the 2 recent ones are in Time Block (TB)1 (0-30 days in the past), the other 5 games in TB3 (60-90 days in the past). TB2, in the middle, is empty.

I know that I scored someting like
score(TB1) = 21k points
in the first block as this was my score before I took the one month break. No idea how this score is assembled, sum(points)/sqrt(Ngames) does not seem to give the proper result, but that's not the point.

The 2 games in TB3 scored 8.4k and 7.6k; assuming the formula mentioned above, this adds up to
score(TB3) = (8.4k + 7.6k)/1.4 = 11.3k.
Thus, I would expect my score to be someting like
score(TB1)*factor + score(TB3)

Just to get a first number, let's assume factor=1, then I get a raw score of 21k + 11k = 32k. My actual score is 24k, however (score on empire page). So, my question is, where did I lose 8k? Is there kind of an additional penalty for the "empty" second TB, or is "factor" = 0.6 ?

Most probably I overlooked or misunderstand something (it's still quite early in the morning here ;) ). And, to be honest, it is not *that* important (I am just curious). I started a new game last night, so I hope to contribute some *positive* amount of points to our empire score in the near future ... :D

vincible: Yes, I am a physicist (using this as nickname is not very creative, I know... ;p ). I am a PhD student who is about to finish his thesis in the next few months - hopefully. Actually, the urgent need to write my thesis was one of main reasons for my 1 1/2 month break from gaming... I am employed at an institute for astro-particle physics, but what I actually do is development of superconductivity based cryogenic particle detectors (working temperature approx. 100 mK), so practically, I am working on condensed matter physics, too. :) Most things are condensed at a temperature of 0.1 degree above absolute zero ... ;)

- Physicist
Reply #209 from Stardock Forums Top
Well well,

After having well and truly trounced the Crippling AI on both a tiny and a large map (with sub-optimal picks) I think it may be time for me to move up to Maso.

The last game I played I went Industrialists, +50 social production, +50 military production, +10 pop growth. I absolutely whalloped the 5 Genius AI players. I now know why selling tech has been eliminated on Maso difficulty. It really does make the game dead simple. But for now, it's time for bed :).

-Smegged
Reply #210 from Stardock Forums Top
You might want to try a Crippling game without the tech sales before you speed off to Maso. Just a thought. :)

- Sirian
Reply #211 from Stardock Forums Top
I'd second what Sirian says. After an easy crippling cultural win on a large map, I jumped to maso. The jump in AI intelligence from Genius to Incredible is quite a leap. After getting in bad shape in three straight maso games (3 AIs @ incredible--2 @ genius), I think I am finally in a position to win one. After this one, I think I will then go for my first on a large map playing with the hand I am dealt to the bitter end.
Reply #212 from Stardock Forums Top
Happy New Year from the Metaverse Review!

http://metaversereview.joeuser.com

Headlines Include:

~ A special message from the Metaverse Review
Reply #213 from Stardock Forums Top
Physicist, check out this thread ( http://www.galciv.com/browser/msgboard.asp?id=120131&BoardID=GF&MaxReplies=50#120158 ), I believe it will answer your quantitative question about the scoring system.
~SDC~



[Message Edited]
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Reply #214 from Stardock Forums Top
Physicist posted a Maso victory and has managed to add points to his profile this time. Hopefully, the scoring woes are behind him for an extended time period now. :) Congrats on winning a Maso game, as well.

- Sirian
Reply #216 from Stardock Forums Top
JaxomCA: Thanks, I have found this thread myself a few hours after posting my question. :) Have not made the calculations yet, however.

Sirian: Thank for the congratulations. I have to admit, that the game did not really feel as like a Maso game, as ...
* I chose my favorite picks
* I drew a very lucky starting position (when the colonization phase was over I knew that I would win this game)
* Most important: this was "Maso-"; two AIs were set to Genius intelligence. :p This made the step from my last game easier, where three AIs were set to Genius and two to Incredible.

One strategy that help me was "Sirian's Oscillating Spending" (SOS ;) ) strategy :) . When I started playing GalCiv, I permanently divided my spending to militray, social and research (after the initial colonization phase with 100% military). From your AARs, I learned to always concentrate spendings to one branch and change the branch when I got what I needed from the first branch. That way, I was suddenly able to get a lot more trade goods/wonders without rushing them. Also, I much more planned my spendings, money was not just "flowing somewhere". Thanks! :)

- Physicist
Reply #217 from Stardock Forums Top
JaxomCA: Congrats to promotion! :) What vice do you intend to choose? ;)

What is your next goal? #1 in the average score ranking? :)

- Physicist
Reply #218 from Stardock Forums Top
:CONGRAT: Congrats Physicist :CONGRAT: ,

sounds like the maso wins are starting to flow all 'round. I managed to clock up my first one myself :CONGRAT: . I really like this game :). A fundy event did lessen the acheivement for me, but all it would have done is prolonged the game by a few turns (it came late, once the game had already been decided).
Reply #219 from Stardock Forums Top
I play all Incredibles. I tried two Genius AI ONE time, and it made the game harder, because I chose both evil civs to dumb down. Oops. Dumbing down the Altarians and Drengin would have been better, but I thought I'd just "go good" and cruise to alliance win. Didn't count on a runaway Arcean, the Altarians flipping alignment, and other wrenches thrown into the gears.

With all incredible, the political balance between the AI's is better. You can better gauge who will come out stronger. Of course, I cant wait for the next patch, when (supposedly) the orbit bug will finally be squashed. :) Then the AI's won't fold so quickly once enemy ships reach their planets. We shall see.

Five Incredibles scores higher. I suggest players moving up to Maso go the full monty. Then if you want to try variants with one or two dumdums you'll have a better strategic foundation to work from. :)


- Sirian
Reply #220 from Stardock Forums Top
#1 in the average score ranking?
End of quote


That is an impossible goal unless Maxtipherous starts submitting games of less than 60k. Or SD removes the cap on gigantic military conquest AND I turn in better scores than he does. My second place average can be beaten if somebody submits fewer games of less than 60k than I did.

Nah my next goal is to limit myself to play only 1 game every 2-3 days. That is the best balance between total points gain, average points per game and continued enjoyment of the game.

Now what vice do I choose? Oooh, can't tell on a public forum! ;p

~SDC~
Reply #221 from Stardock Forums Top
Smegged: Congrats to your Maso win!

JaxomCA: Yea, try not to lose the enjoyment of the game. That's by far the most important goal to set. :)

Sirian: I understand your points and basically do agree, but I am not sure about the game balance point. I have played three games with mixed AI intelligence levels up to now (ok, that's a small sample); AIs of "mirror" alignment always had identical intelligence. These games were fun (for me) and did not feel inbalanced. The step from Crippling to Maso is a large one, and being able to trade with some "genius" AIs *does* make life easier for the Maso rookie. :)
Another, personal point is a psychological one: I once tried "full monty" Maso, and although being the #2 civ, I was conquered by a technologically and economically far superior AI (I did not submit this game). Actually, this was the first and only time I saw an AI (Toria!) conquer the whole galaxy including, in the end, me... :( . I think that I simply drew a bad map there and a few genius AI would not have changed the situation much, but anyway, I still have nightmares ;) of these Torian Avatars running over my defending Dreadnaughts and Sol being conquered by one (!) single Torian Combat Transport ...
My plan is to move up to 5 "incredible" AIs in one of the next games, of course. :)

- Physicist
Reply #222 from Stardock Forums Top
Runaway AI's... make them your friend! If it's late enough in the game, there are options. I really should take time to write an AAR for my recent Maso cultural victory. You are not going to believe it. :)

:CONGRAT: CONGRATULATIONS RB PLAYERS! :CONGRAT: WE'VE SUBMITTED 200 GAMES! :CONGRAT:

Only 100 more to catch up to the next-lowest top-10 submitted games tally. :D

Seeing how fast we racked up 100k this week, our friends in the Canadian Star Federation may become concerned. If they have even noticed, that is. Some of them may be on holiday and come back to a surprise. :SURPRISED:


- Sirian
Reply #223 from Stardock Forums Top
If it's late enough in the game, there are options.
End of quote


Yeah...crank out the Antimatter Missles and use 'em like currency...and hope you never see them again.

Reply #224 from Stardock Forums Top
what I actually do is development of superconductivity based cryogenic particle detectors (working temperature approx. 100 mK), so practically, I am working on condensed matter physics, too
End of quote


I'm looking at high-Tc superconductors. Or hoping to anyway... I'm still setting up the experiment. All I've succeeded in doing so far is spending a lot of money, but I'm hoping to start taking data this semester.

our friends in the Canadian Star Federation may become concerned. If they have even noticed, that is. Some of them may be on holiday and come back to a surprise.
End of quote


People have been making jokes about them being on holiday for as long as I've been here. Their empire manages to stagger on, though. Don't count them out!
Reply #225 from Stardock Forums Top
We have an applicant, Jonus2000, but I did not receive the email. Looks like another one of those "second thoughts, backed out of the email" situations. Jonus, if you are out there, give a holler and maybe we can set you up. :) We don't bite, honest. ... Well, only when there's a full moon on Tuesdays. ;)

- Sirian