News: Blacknova Traders

[Dark Knight]

i wasn't there to a comcast problem. you took care of the cheaters but i wasnt able to get any of my planets back. look like Megalith took all of the planets. good for him, not  :P . then i was way behind the game by then. Plz restart soon.

[Megalith]

lol computerkiller i built 200+ planets after the cheats 'left' not saying i didnt get any of the planets that i owned originally back after the cheats left and a few more in the process but 80% of my planets have been built by myself with genesis torps. out of whats left a lot were captured from players who werent the cheats.

 

 

[Dark Knight]

i dont hold anything bad for you but you know what happened. i came back and all the planets was taken but it look like you had more. i did that 2 games ago and being a newbie at the time was great. so i am not mad but  :P anyways.

[mupi]

*chanting*

RE-START

RE-START

RE-START

/chanting

[Megalith]

lol think its unanymous

[NiteShdw]

Should I change the settings for the next reset?

[Megalith]

I think that just incase the cheaters decide to join that the game should have IGB disabled, I know also some ppl have called for SOFA to be disabled and for a larger map, i'm not sure, I quite like the settings as they are, but I would say that;) will see what other players have to say on this. I can see a good Argument for a larger map as it is too easy to locate ppl on a small map but in a way that makes it essential you develop defenses quickly. Competition would be good but changing settings aint gonna provide that (except maybe for active Xenobes that play aggressively rather than just Xenobe planets).

 

5 planets maximum with 3 to own the sector is better than 4 with 2 imo(a big problem is joint ownership that can swap hands by changing corp to personal or back and if you have one corp one personal you dont own the sector). Not sure if its possible but could there be less planets on the map also? last few games theres been a lot of planets early on which mostly the alliance i was in captured.

 

Also can planet updates be at the same rate as other updates as i'm sure this is causing some browser problems as i've mentioned earlier. And if its decided to bring back IGB can it be a lot more profitable to bank on a planet rather than in the IGB (.05 planet .01 bank maybe)

[mupi]

Suggestions for new settings.. where to begin? :)

 

I like the bank, but there should be a way to disable loans without disabling the rest of the bank.  I don't think there is with the current code, so, I am OK with disabling IGB.

 

I would suggest that SOFA is too easily exploited.  First, there are problems which allow you quickly remove an opponents torpedoes (making them essentially worthless).  It certainly changes the dynamics of the game, and what you have to do to defend.  IMO, sofa is more trouble than it is worth.  (OTOH, sofa does help keep the "fat cats" at the top of the game on their toes...)  perhaps a hybrid game with SOFA disabled until a certain point? Say, no sofa until the game has been running two months, or two weeks to a month before the next scheduled reset?  This would allow newcomers to the game to "catch up", while preventing too much exploitation of the SOFA code.

 

I REALLY REALLY REALLY would like to see two games: an "advanced" game, and a "beginner" game.  The "advanced" game can allow things like IGB and SOFA, using preregistration/requested registration to help keep out the cheaters, while the beginner game can be "open" and rely on a squad of "enforcers" or "police" to keep the cheaters under control.  For those who are in the game regularly, the cheaters are pretty obvious.  the only constraint would be that the enforcers would have to agree to not "play" in the game, because to effectively deal with the cheaters, they would have to have admin access.  The biggest downside I see to this approach is that I don't know if 100 players is enough to really justify two games.  This would also allow different settings as far as smaller game/larger game and so on that change the quality of the game somewhat.

 

Game size:  with 100 players, 2000 sectors is too small.  Especially with the experience level we have, and the 5000 turn limit.  While early on, turns are at a premium, in the late game stage, players can scan the entire universe in one go. (though this is time consuming...but can be automated). (this is exacerbated by long range scans not taking any turns).  the suggestion has been made to enlarge to 10000 sectors, but I think that is too large with 100 players.  5000 seems about right for a single game with up to about 100 players.  You CAN scan the entire universe in one go, but only just.  There's enough room to develop a small empire without constant worry that some massive guy is going to come along and crush you.  I think it would be cool to have a 5000 sector universe, and 4500 max turns, so you can't quite scan the whole thing at once.

 

I agree that planet interest should exceed IGB interest, in the event of including an IGB.  we want to encourage players to have a bank planet. The current game, there was 0 incentive to have a bank planet, and a lot of disincentive. (Until the bank was disabled.  This cost me $1 trillion, BTW ;) )

 

Other things... a larger "universe size" (as compared to the number of sectors) requires larger engines to complete RealSpace trips in a single turn, and could be interesting.  Requiring larger engines would kick people out of Federation space sooner.  I do like having a small federation space; I never really understood allocating 200 sectors to fed space, when you can't DO anything with them. The only thing that might be interesting is giving everyone one planet in a fed space sector so they can have a "safe haven".  I don't think that's a good idea, but it could be interesting...  I like the 5 planets max in a sector, and a then requiring 3 to own the sector.

 

While I like the idea of more than 100,000,000 colonists max on a planet, I also think 300,000,000 is too much.  Maybe try 200M?  It might be really interesting though not so prctical without really digging in to the code, to tie max population to planet size (which of course is tied to your ship size.  This prevents players from building up fully populated planets without hitting average tech level of 24. 

 

If you allow sofa, I'd like to see the use of the "alternative" (WC?) sofa code.  I don't know if it fixes what I have observed, but it works a bit differently when your ship size is larger than your opponents. (the standard code only looks at fighter (comp) size, and it does things, IMO poorly).

 

I seem to recall in other games I have played, that if your organics production isn't high enough, that your population actually falls.  I'd like to see a return to that, if possible.

 

Other than that, enough discussion, lets get this going already :)

[Dark Knight]

i would like to see a little more money at the start of the game. maybe 5,000? i use up a lot of turns to get to 1-2-3-4 levels. a cut off date will do nicely. maybe after 2 weeks or something. hate to log on and see abcdefghij......... all killed the same day they are created.

[mupi]

i would like to see a little more money at the start of the game. maybe 5,000? i use up a lot of turns to get to 1-2-3-4 levels. a cut off date will do nicely. maybe after 2 weeks or something. hate to log on and see abcdefghij......... all killed the same day they are created.

 

The problem with this is it give those who start early an advantage.  Sure those who start later can ask alliance members or something.

 

The whole point is to start small....and of course we have a strategy to deal with that this game :)

[TFMF]

NiteShdw has given me admin control over the game. When would you like a restart? And more importantly, how do i restart it ;D

[mupi]

See the big red button that says "Don't Push"??

 

 

Just push it.

 

 

No, you idiot!!!! the OTHER Big Red Button that says "Don't Push"!!!

[br]Posted on: February 08, 2007, 07:42:34 AM

---

"computer... [chirp] abort self destruct.  Authorization mupi314159."

 

Oh wait, you were serious...

 

OK, I believe the sequence is:

 

1) Log in to admin control.  If you cant find it, just give me the access instead.

 

2) in admin, you should be able to "close" the server

 

3)with the server closed, change any desired settings (number of sectors, universe size, max colonists, interest rates, and so on.  If theres going to be an IGB, don't forget the update rates are different, so the apparent interest rate gap is different.

 

4)Once the settings are where you want them, I believe there is a "generate universe" link that will wipe out the old one, and create a new one.

 

5)Once the whirring disk drives stop (oh wait, you aren't in the same room with the server....), reopen the server.

 

6) don't forget to tell us who won :)  feel free while the server is closed, and before you look at the final rankings, to add...oh I dunno.... 100Quadrillion credits to my account first tho.  think of it as payment for services rendered.  On second thought, Just add it to my account after the next game starts.... :)

[TFMF]

These are the admin controls i have:

 

 

Any to suggest 'close server'?

[Megalith]

I havent hosted this so i have no idea :-\ (loves to be useful with these things hehehe)

[mupi]

try loading create_universe.php

[mupi]

hey no fair!!! you've disabled game updates while you try to get this sorted out....that means we are all frozen in time, and I for one have some strategy I would like to pursue.....  :P

[Megalith]

damn i thought it was me again, my timers been going loopy lol says like -81000+ seconds then 120 lol  :-\ looks like the reset is imminent tho :) will be good to try out some new strategies from the start again :)

[Amnot Borg]

frozen huh? no wonder I haven't gained interest or anything today. especially products to let me build a few new bases.

 

which settings to use? it depends on the type of game being played. explorer, pirate, trader

as we generally have much less than 100 players involved. this really matters.

 

some want to trade and build a score, some want to attack others, some want to explore and colonize.

each has merit but requires a general concensus of wanting to play using the particular rules of each type of game. with so few players mixing it up and allowing all these types creates problems. as we are playing for a high score and not how many planets we can build or how much credits we can collect.

 

trading guilds get attacked by prates and its exciting but not practical for long running games. the guilds will die out. the pirates will get fat. been there, done that. gets boring. factions split off to keep the game alive.

 

large galaxies allow expansion and trading but don't keep the groups separate enough to allow each to have their space and territory unless the game is cut short. wars will start. eventually. small galaxies mean people will meet sooner trying for territories and wars willl start, sooner.

 

IMO, if we can't get 2 games running at the same time for newcomers and more experienced types.

then, we need a large galaxy to keep groups separate and a short time limit of 4-6 weeks. no one can build high enough to destroy all of another group but scores can be used to determine better players/alliances. if xenobes are still allowed then groups/players can build up using alien supplies. ALSO, we do need in-game mods who will NOT play but can stop a cheater in their tracks before the entire game sucks and runs off new visitors to nitescifi. they can also help teach rules and explain the game.

 

does this help?

[mupi]

frozen huh? no wonder I haven't gained interest or anything today. especially products to let me build a few new bases.

 

 

some want to trade and build a score, some want to attack others, some want to explore and colonize.

each has merit but requires a general concensus of wanting to play using the particular rules of each type of game. with so few players mixing it up and allowing all these types creates problems. as we are playing for a high score and not how many planets we can build or how much credits we can collect.

 

Yeah, no new turns or anything :(

 

I would argue that having planets and having cash are both enormous contributors to the score, though.  However, doing (and surviving) battle will raise your score too.  Lots of things raise your score at first, like the first time you leave fed space, and the first time you visit a non-sector 0 special port :)  Ship size can affect score too.  I believe, though I haven't looked at the score code, that ship worth is worth more than cash...

 

FWIW.

[Amnot Borg]

 

I would argue that having planets and having cash are both enormous contributors to the score, though.  However, doing (and surviving) battle will raise your score too.  Lots of things raise your score at first, like the first time you leave fed space, and the first time you visit a non-sector 0 special port :)  Ship size can affect score too.

 

I did not know some of that. Interesting. Perhaps, I simply didn't notice it happening while I was scouting sectors so many many many times.