STARWEB EMAIL DISCUSSION GROUP (THE SEDG) (Sponsored by Flying Moose Technologies' Starweb Analyzer - http://flyingmoose.cjb.net) VOL 35 June 5, 2000 CONTENTS Feature Article - ALLIANCES PART II Questions - Building PBBs and shooting SEDG Web Page URL The Captain's Log - So, How Many Games Are You In Anyway? The Swap Corner - Analyzer mapping for Idiots (like me) Correspondence - The turn 1 ring 2 gambit - The FBI Stance FEATURE ARTICLE - ALLIANCES PART II I have previously discussed the styles and structures of alliances. For this article I wanted to talk more about optimum sizes, optimum makeup, behaviors (scoring, combat, extermination). Optimum Size What is the optimum size? I suppose this will depend on several factors. If the game is populated with a bunch of lone wolf players who don't communicate then even a group of 3 will have great success taking what they need with little worry. If an alliance of 7-8 players has already coalesced in the game then there is no doubt that one of nearly equal size is necessary to ensure survival. Survival is of paramount importance because if you don't then obviously you can't score . But survival does not ensure that you will do well. There is no doubt that the most stable political situation in a game is 2 sides. When the whole web polarizes into two sides (and does combat) then the alliance that is best organized will obviously win. If you take the players abilities out of the equation then the game will become a horse race between the best merchant and/or berserker in each alliance as these character types have a scoring advantage. These games are very easy to predict and quite lackluster. Games with 3 alliances or even 4 can be quite interesting due to the number of different ways the game can go. A&B can fight while C waits on the sidelines to pick off the winner OR decides for a scoring push while A&B are locked in a death grip with each other. These types of games are rarer but will ensure alliances of only 3-5 players. They are amongst the most interesting of games. Optimum Makeup Well, you can't always control who your friends are. When you meet 5 players and 2 won't talk, 1 fires on you and the remaining two want to ally but are both EBs, you have to work with whatever the fates throw at you. But if you had your druthers there are some combinations that work well (and others not so well). In addition some character types repeated in an alliance can work very well while others will only weaken your scoring chances by diluting your resources across too many players. Let's take the combinations first. A 6-player alliance with 1 of each character type allows the least competition for resources. The merchant does the hauling; the EB gets all the juicy worlds (which make him the ideal friendly Jihad target for the Apostle in the late game); the rocks (poor population/mine worlds) get plundered by the pirate (if he wants to plunder) and then turned over to the EB. Heck, even good worlds can be given to the Pirate for first plunder then returned to the EB. Near game end the Pirate divests himself of many keys/ships so the berserker and Apostle can PBB the best EB worlds for points. In this way the Apostle depends on Jihad for points instead of competing for worlds with the EB. If you have a smaller alliance you may want to examine your goals. The best military alliance would have at least the Pirate/Berserker/Merchant types. The Merchant gets to full ship production first utilizing half the ships for hauling compared to the nonmerchant. In the early game the merchant has the most surplus ships available for WAR! Given to the Pirate for his capture abilities this can be a big problem for an enemy hit with 30 ships on turn 6! The berserker is critical for his robotic abilities to claim territory (HWs a specialty) that are still under fire. In terms of scoring The Apostle who really does well combines his Jihad abilities with his EBlike abilities. Here he keeps crappy low pop worlds to totally convert and still kills high pop worlds in Jihad. He would prefer an alliance without an EB but that has a berserker. The Art Collector would like a large alliance where each player just gives up his art. They don't like other Art Collectors in their alliances. Similarly multiple EBs won't work well together unless 1 subjugates his scoring position to the other. What does work well in multiples? Well, Berserkers can hit the same worlds in tandem and each gets full points for the kills made. It's called the cooperative kill. So if 3 berserkers come to a world and 1 drops a PBB while the other 2 do AP the first berserker gets the 200 point bonus and points for the kills and the other two get full points for the kills. Pirates often work well together since they score so poorly in general. It is not uncommon to have 2 in an alliance and neither wants to plunder. They both will want a good fight and it's good to get them on different fronts so they don't inhibit their capture abilities. I suppose theoretically Apostles could do cooperative kills together also but I have not seen this nor have experience with it. Multiple merchants - they work well together also since they have such a huge scoring advantage. In fact having more than 1 merchant may be a peaceful way to stop a merchant from running away with the game. Since a merchant with only 2 allies (and gifts away his own HW) can bring 60 metal/turn to each HW, he can theoretically make 1440 points/turn from 3 empires. So an alliance of 5-6 could house 2 merchants. Behaviors I have already intimated which combinations score best off each other or are better in combat. One should adjust one's goals depending on the makeup of your alliance. If you find yourself as an Art Collector allied to an EB and Apostle you might try to remain more friendly promoting trade to score, as you won't be the finest warriors in the web. Similarly two pirates and a berserker would be awesome fighters wasted on peacetime pastimes. But whatever your makeup you should set goals commiserate with your abilities. If you find yourself in a 7-way alliance in an extralong game then nothing short of exterminating all the other players in the game would be a suitable challenge to fill out the game. Of course this is just my opinion but it's a sure thing you would be able to push your merchant or berserker to an early win. No matter what the size, composition and goals of your alliance there are a couple of behaviors that will ensure success and maximize your enjoyment. 1) Honesty. Deal truthfully with your allies. Tell them what you will do and sometimes more importantly, what you won't do. Don't welsh on a deal. 2) Communicate. More screw ups and poor coordination happen due to a lack of, or failure to communicate. Good Gaming ----------------------------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS - Can anyone answer these? Chris Richards asked: If I fire with a fleet on the same turn I create a PBB with it, do the 25 ships that turn into the PBB get to fire? Or does the fleet fire 25 shots less than there are ships on it? John Shannonhouse replies: A long time ago, it used to be that if you fired while building a PBB, you would not fire with those 25 ships. That was not the intent, and the program was changed. Now you *do* get to fire with those 25 ships while building the PBB. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- STARWEB EMAIL DISCUSSION GROUP - is now available on the web. Look for our new MAPPER'S SECTION on the SEDG Web Page. http://www.accessv.com/~somnos/sedg.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FEATURE - THE CAPTAIN'S LOG 000528.0818-4 By Walt Schmidt walts@dorsai.org So, How Many Games Are You In Anyway? "The Great Society is a place where...men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods." - Lyndon B. Johnson President Johnson clearly was not a Starweb player. If he had been, perhaps his quote would have read a bit differently. Why you may ask [I DON'T hear anyone asking you anything, Nemo] [And a good morning to you too, Alter]. It seems many of us have chosen to be in more than just a few Starweb games, at the same time. In the early 80's, I was in over a dozen games. Perhaps not all that many by some of today's standards. But, clearly more than I could handle at the time. Can you say burnout? Another story for another day. Nowadays, I prefer to keep the total of games I'm in at one time to no less than five; This while maintaining a balance between two-week, monthly, multi and private games. [AH, Nemo] [Yes Alter?] [HOW do you maintain a balance when you're in an odd-number of games - and have four criteria?] [With much difficulty, Alter, with much difficulty] [RIGHT]. At the moment I'm in: 2 multi's, one of which is anonymous; two monthly's, again, one of which is anonymous, and; one private two- weeker. One could argue that the multi's are equivalent to two-games with the same due-dates. This would bring my total up to seven games. Again, not a mighty quantity considering some. Looking at the evolution of Starweb, and where it's at right now (so to speak). As has been written by others before me, I believe you have a small base of players who at any one time, make up a goodly percentage of the active players. I'm not even sure how often new players are added. Looking at some of my own and my friend's young-ones, and the games of their choice, say "Age of Empires II - The Age of Kings," I don't see them being all too interested in Starweb - not enough immediate gratification for them. Which got me to thinking - what about a private eMail game with the first 4 turns due on a Monday through Thursday of the same week. Then, having received turn 5 on a Friday, each turn thereafter due on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays! Think about it. At the end of week two you've processed 7 turns, week three 10 turns. And, by the end of the first month you'd be past the dozen-turn mark!!! Let's even take this a step further and use pull, not push, technology. With the right security, RL could make the turns available online (11 a.m. the morning after, perhaps) for us to download. Then if asked - So, how many games are you in, anyway? The answer would be simple - One, one at a time! So, how many games are you in, anyway? - Shai Dorsai ! Nemo ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FEATURE - THE SWAP CORNER By Lee Knirko Analyzer mapping for Idiots (like me) I had promised Elliot that I would prepare an article on making manual maps for Starweb games. The procedure starts with determining "loops" which are worlds that connect together in squares, rectangles, or any number of worlds. Then, arrange the loops following some basic rules. The rules are (a) avoid putting 2 connectors at corners, (b) always put 4 connectors at corners, and (c) put 3 connectors in resulting empty spaces. Then, go looking for more loops. I always have prepared a number sheet of 5 columns of 51 numbers each. Post the world connectors for each world in the spaces provided, and (laboriously) enter the unseen world numbers. Then, when the map is pretty far along, consider if you went the wrong way and are ending up with a long rectangle instead of the preferable square. Well, the Analyzer mapping has added a great deal of convenience to the task. Right clicking the map sections gives you two alternatives. One, a listing of all worlds not yet mapped, and better, after clicking on a world, which turns it white, the second option is a list of worlds attached to the selected one. You can move the worlds around to make a compact map. When you get to the edges of your map, arrange the worlds so the long lines go to the extreme side to side, or top to bottom. Then you right click on the end world, select "copy" and insert the second world at the extreme other end. BTW, if you select a world that you don't want, choose the "cut" selection to get rid of it. (Editor's note: Lee is referring to worlds that connect to the far side of the web and the analyzer will draw in the connection across your beautiful map. The answer is to create a copy of a world and place it on each side of the map - a wraparound world that the analyzer marks with a '+' on the top right corner to indicate to you that this world exists on another border of the map). Printing the map takes some extra procedures. You need to use the "export map" command and select one of the two options. I use "BMP". Then you need to open your graphics program. I use "Paint Shop Pro", a free download for at least a 30 day trial. After opening, I search in the Game folder for the BMP file, open, adjust to full screen, and then print either in color or in B/W. (Editor's note: You can use the Analyzer map on your screen for doing your turn. We created the export map function (as a graphic file - a BMP or GIF) for those who wished to print it out. The Analyzer doesn't have it's own graphic viewer/printer program as this is a very large task to create and there are many free graphic viewers out there such as Microsoft Paint and any web browser). After 25 years of doing it "the hard way", thanks to Mike and Elliot, I can now do it the "easy way"! LEE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CORRESPONDENCE In Volume 33 I asked: Has anyone seen the famous turn 1 'Guess the connection to ring 2' gambit work? I received a note from FBI - Rick Loomis says: Aaaarrrrgh! Yes, the program will allow it, but the typists won't. Please tell everyone that writing two orders for the same fleet is ILLEGAL. If we see it, we may disallow both. (Otherwise, the obvious next step is to write 255 orders for the same fleet, and one of them is bound to work. And we do not want people writing 255 orders for the same fleet, just so one will work! David Benepe took a swipe at the PBB question: On the "brief order of events" in the Starweb rules, "Building" is #3 and "Combat" is #5, which suggests that the 25 ships will NOT be available for a fire order. We normally associate #3 with Industry builds, but PBB's are also "Built" (with FxxxB orders). PBB's are specifically referenced in #7 Special combat (PBB's and Robots) but I believe #7 is limited to FxxxD and FxxxRn orders. If this is not obvious, dont feel bad. I went through all but two turns of an Anonymous game as a Berzerker before I rechecked the rules and discovered I could build a PBB on the same turn I move/fire or drop! (Somehow, I won anyway). Of course the program supercedes any interpretation of the rules, so a test is required to answer the question... David Benepe Editor: Well, we have it from John Shannonhouse that the ships fire and produce bombs! But you are correct - one might presume that the build would come before the firing and preclude it. Well, that's it for Volume 35. Don't be afraid to submit articles or suggestions. They don't have to be long. Address your correspondence to Elliot Hudes at somnos@compuserve.com