PBM Campaign BI.

[Dutch_guy]

I tried to start one for MTW, to no avail. So now I'm trying to start one for RTW BI

Anyhow , would anyone be interested in a PBM ( play by mail ) campaign ?

For those who haven't heard of this PBM thingy, this is in short what it is , and how one could make it work:

* playing a pbm is just like playing a regular campaign , only in shorter sessions, each player plays the campaing for a ( to be decided ) length of time, be it 10 years , 20 , or an intire kings/emperor's life.

* each player saves his campaign when his ''time'' is over, and then copies the save file to then send it to the next player in line.
He in turn pasts the save file into the save file directory, and continues the campaign.

Everyone who has the game can participate.

Faction, difficulty, play time, strategy must all be decided with the pbm group/players.

After each player's reign, a write up must be done, meaning one must write and post the highlights (sp?) of his or her reign, for all to see.
Posting screenies would be even better.

Now if that is the sole reason you wouldn't want to participate, we can ofcourse discuss this.

Now , an unmodded version is requiered, now I don't know if minor changes like making certain factions playable is allowed, but even if that causes problems , I'm sure everyone has made a backup of his or her descr.strat file ~;)

So , any questions concerning this PMB campaign can be posted in this thread or sent to me by pm.

Also for a little more information on how to pbm and all , check this link:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=30871

( yes we have a thing called throne room at the guild :D).

cheers.

EDIT : to the mods, please don't move this thread immediatly, since it concerns BI ,and more people can / will respond to it if the thread stays in the colosseum ~:bow:

EDIT 2 : To read all the right ups ( after action reports ) of this pbm , check this link:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=55882

EDIT 3 :

this is the order in which we are playing, this list is subject to change everytime another player wishes to join.


TinCow
Simon Appleton
Tibilicus
Destroyer of Hope
Littlegannon


:balloon2:

[TinCow]

Count me in. I loved reading the MTW games and I would be happy to participate in a BI game with good write-ups and screenshots.

[Dutch_guy]

Ok , great!

now, we'll discuss the details of the pbm once everyone-who would like to particpate - is accounted for.

:balloon2:

[Kraxis]

Every time I played this for MTW it was a blast.

But sadly I have already got a well modded game. It is hardly different from yours, but it contains both the BUG-fixer and the horde mod and of course a few of my own little fixes and tweaks.

I think if you are going for 'Ruler's life' then you need to be a civilized faction, preferably the WRE and ERE as they have a very hard time expanding fast and have the highest requirements.
If you pick a barbarian faction then it would have to be the less immersive 'X years' version.

By playing 'Ruler's life' then each player can easily keep track and get him to his man. Roleplaying him and so on, that also makes it so much easier to write the history of his life.

[Dutch_guy]

yes , that's true .

but a ruler can live to be ( in extreme cases ) over 100 years , so it can take a while for each player to end his reign ( + write up ), well you get the point.

The idea of the role-playing you faction leader is good, and will make for a very nice pbm and write up, so it is definatly an idea.

However , the reign period of each player is open for discussion ~:)

And to bad you can't play Kraxis, thanks for the input though.

:balloon2:

[Kraxis]

That is the trouble with that system. And time in BI is rather a lot less than the previous games.

Anyway, the two rulers of the Roman Empire are if I'm not mistaken already fairly advanced in age. Then you only need to give an older family member the trait as Heir, thus each ruler might get 20 years at best.
Btw, I haven't experienced any of those silly 100 year olds or anything close to that. Most of mine die off before 70.

[CountMRVHS]

I'd love to try this! Currently doing one with MTW:VI that works a little differently: we use the -ian code to switch factions. There's 3 of us: I play the Irish for 5 turns, then switch to the Picts and mail it to the guy who plays the Picts for 5 turns, then he switches to the Welsh and mails it to the Welsh guy, who mails it back to me. It's tons of fun and you get to compete against a *human* in strategic terms .... of course, the battles you fight are all against the AI.

But a more "straightforward," "sharing" kind of game is fun too. I did one as the Spanish in MTW before it got dropped.

I like the idea of playing for an entire king's lifetime. However, with 2 turns per year, this might take a long time, and not everybody gets to play all that often. My wife & i are trying to cut back to a couple of hours during the week (we play more on weekends, though) -- it's an addiction, man! ~:grouphug:

Anyway, that said, it would be fun to "roleplay" for an entire ruler's lifetime, if everyone didn't mind having to wait a few days or a week or so to get the game.

I'd suggest the ERE as the faction. They're probably the easier of the 2 Roman factions, but will be in the middle of the action so it won't be "boring" for anyone. Lots of opportunities for expansionists or those who prefer to turtle. Plus, you'd have the decision Byzantine Emperors had to make: focus on the East, or the Western front?

I play on H/H right now but am certainly having an interesting time.... I am flexible on the difficulty level, at any rate.

Keep us posted! Sounds fun,

CountMRVHS

[econ21]

I'm up for this!

A few observations/personal preferences:

- For it to be really fun, participants really should commit to write up their experience in a characterful way and to take screenshots. (I confess I did not do this in the last PBM as Pontus).

- A reign is way too long for a RTW PBM. I think 10 years is enough - that's 20 turns, more than enough to have some fun. Plus if you are writing an account of your experience, even 20 years is a lot to keep track of.

- I think we should use player1's bug-fixer and probably also quick-save/quick-reload after every turn to help sea-born AI factions (Celts, Saxons etc)

- I would prefer VH campaigns for a challenge and M battles for a historical "feel".

- I think "large" units is probably best too.

- I think WRE would be a fun faction to play, but would need an experienced player for the first 10 years. However, any faction should be interesting.

- In the unlikely event this call generates a lot of interest, we could have multiple PBMs going at the same time. A race between a WRE team and ERE team to see who can win by the earliest date sounds fun, for example.

[Jambo]

Cool idea! Unfortunately, reign of a King is probably too long for BI - unless that is, you mod the end date! ;)

One could ensure that the heir is always the oldest family member thereby shortening the likely reign time? Plus Kings will get killed and so some will have short reigns...!

I'd recommend the Bug Fixer, the horde mod (Alemanni, Saxons and Celts can all horde) and playing as Simon suggested at VH/M for the tough, but immersive feel.

[Dutch_guy]

ok so now the following people are in :

TinCow
CountMRVHS
Simon Appleton
ChaosLord

And Jambo would you like to play too ?

so the following has been decided upon I presume :

-player reign, I have to say I liked Simon's idea best , a 10 year reign.
-difficulty : vh (camp.map ) h /m ( battles ).
-unit scale: large
-faction , either WRE, ER, probably ERE (?). , other sugestions concerning factions are welcome too,
-bug-fixer , which I myself do not have, though I could get it if the majority of the group has it , or decides to play with it.

Some other stuff that needs deciding on :

-will we play with fog of war on ?
-Follow Ai characters on/off ?
-Time limit ?

anyway ,I'll get back to this thread later on-it's getting late over here - and with a little luck we could start the pmb tomorrow.
We'll probably play in order of the list made at the top of this post, though if anyone really wants to play first , second or last, the line up can be altered.

~:cheers:

:balloon2:

[ChaosLord]

I'm in, though I propose instead of writing things up as the king/emperor/grand whatever, we do it as an advisor. We can say the ruler is advised(controlled) by a council of advisors, and a new Head Advisor(the player) is picked by the council every 10 years. To represent this, we can train a Diplomat/Spy/Assassin in game and have them serve as the players piece instead of the ruler. Since Agents can acompany ships/armies/etc... it would work fine and add a more personal feel to the writeups. It also allows a realistic chance for death or assassination unlike playing as the ruler.

The player stepping down would just start a new Diplomat/Spy/Assassin(agent type left up player taking over) training in the capitol at the end of the turn, and that characters name can serve. The first to go will just choose from the starting agents. What does everyone think of that?

Also i'd prefer to play a barbarian civ, WRE/ERE/Sassinids seem too easy after the intial hurdle of finances and rebels. In particular I think the Alemanni could be fun, with the goal to unite all the Germanic tribes under their rule(defeat them completely, hordes and all) before fulfilling the other victory conditions. Alternatively playing the Celts and trying to reclaim all their former lands could be lots of fun too.

[TinCow]

I agree with the 10 year (20 turn) limit. Do we really need Medium difficulty battles though? The only challenge I've ever gotten is on VH. It would be nice if a few 'reigns' suffered the occasional defeat.

[Jambo]

Hard battle difficulty is quite a good compromise. It affords a tougher battle without completely off-setting the stone paper scissors aspects too greatly.

[Kraxis]

If the Bug-fixer and hordes mod are used then I can join. My own changes are mainly stuff that would affect my game and would have no impact on any savegames.

[CountMRVHS]

Hmm. I don't have any mods installed, and don't know what they do....

also, for the save/reload every turn, I haven't noticed the AI having trouble with naval transport in BI. I've noticed it in RTW 1.3 for the Roman factions, but nobody else. But the Celts were able to get to the mainland in my vanilla campaign no problem.

I play with Fog of War on; don't even know how to switch that but I guess someone could tell me if we insisted. I'd prefer to keep it on though, to keep us guessing.

The only modification I've done to BI is making the Celts and Berbers playable. Something I could easily switch back if it's a problem, but I doubt it would be.

The 10 year/20 turn thing seems fine & realistic to me. Probably would take too long to do an entire ruler's reign.

I look forward to doing the write-ups, but I've never posted screenshots (or even *taken* screenshots in RTW), so someone would have to help teach me how to do that.

Also, ChaosLord, are you suggesting we just write from the point of view of a particular agent? That sounds interesting, but some people might prefer to do a more omniscient summary of how things went. What if my diplomat character was half the world away from a battle I really wanted to describe in detail?

Factions: I can be persuaded any way. ERE seems like it would be a bit easier, but we've got to remember that we're all probably at different levels playing this game, so you might inherit a very difficult situation from the last player! Of course, that's part of what keeps it fun. That said, if we're playing something like VH/H, some veterans might feel it would be best to go for the WRE to keep it more challenging, if they're used to VH battles. I'm a little scared of going to VH campaign myself, but ready for the challenge:charge: . Anyway, my vote would be for ERE at this point, but I will gladly go along with what the majority wants to do.

CountMRVHS

[ChaosLord]

Not as the agent just as the diplomat/spy/assassin, but as the agent partly and head advisor that pretty much controls the ruler. The idea is that the council is made up of the influential people that are on the edges/behind the
shadows or it could be the elders/nobility/etc... Its open to interpretation.

I'm not suggesting everyone write this way, but this does give people a character of their own to control unlike the ruler who will end up controlled by many. There is also the ability for said character to die by assassination and such. Adds some mortality and chance to the players game that was there in MTW, but can't be done in RTW because of the 2 turns per year making playing as the ruler too long.

I proposed this also because more then one people describing things from like the heirs/rulers/X generals point of view could make them start to look schitzophrenic.

[Dutch_guy]

@ Kraxis:

Well the bug-fixer has been dicided upon, we wil install that ( for those , like me who don't have it yet ).
The all can horde mod , I don't have , and I don't know who else has it.

I think we should just go for bug-fixer.

further more , I would say lpay the game at : Vh ( campaign ) and H battles , this is what I normally do, and should provide a good challenge.

@CountMRVHS:

I , at the moment , don't have any mods installed on bi too, only just like you made some factions playable.
But installing the bug-fixer, shouldn't be much of a problem.

Also, I think for the screenshots ( for the write up ) fog of war should be off.

Screenshots you take by pressing print screen, then alt tabbing out of the game, open paint, past, then you'll see you shot , then save as a .jpg file.
Then upload it to image-shack , or photobucket , to make it possible to post them here

@ChaosLord:

your suggestion for the write up is a good one, though I don't know if I'm going to do it that way, you ofcourse are welcome to do it, and if it enhances the write up, we could all switch~:)

At all of the players;

Which faction is still the most important question at the moment.

As a civilised faction I would say ERE.
FOr barbarian faction I would say Franks , Saxons.

If the faction is decided , and the yes or no to the bug-fixer mod , then we're good to go
And I could start the pbm today.

:balloon2:

[Kekvit Irae]

Since this thread has gained quite a bit of popularity while in the Colosseum, I will move it now to the MP forums. :bow:

EDIT: Mah English R gud

[TinCow]

I agree with Fog of War off for screenshots, but on for gameplay. For those that don't know how, you can toggle it by bringing down the console with the ~ key and then typing "toggle_fow" (w/o quotes). Do it again and it will be turned back on.

As for mods, I will use whatever you want.

[CountMRVHS]

@Tin Cow - good compromise for Fog of War. I'll probably leave it on most of the time while I'm playing then take it off for a screenshot to pass along at the end of my turn.

@ChaosLord - ok, I get it. Sounds like a good idea, I may try this writing perspective. You're right about everyone writing from the same ruler's POV - would get odd.



Alright, I'll see about getting the BugFixer mod. If it's too big I worry .... I'm on dialup you see, so it may take some doing.

Everything else sounds good. I'm still for the ERE ~D .

Oh, where do we post our write-ups?

Looking forward to this!

CountMRVHS

[Dutch_guy]

Ok, so bugfixer it is

I too , am still for the ERE, could provdide a challenge - expansoin wise - and a challenge for the turtle style players- those who wish to fight the horde(s).

The posting of the write ups... I think we should at first post them in the colosseum , like this thread, that is , if that's Ok with the mods ?
To get some attention for the whole concept of pmbing.

Ok, I'm of to download the bug-fixer mod,and after that , I guess we can start ?

Il post in this thread once I'm starting, so everyone can still post his or her sugestions concerning factions, strategy ,expansion et all.

:balloon2:

[econ21]

I've asked Rob to move this to the Throne Room, as that's the forum dedicated to PBMs. I suggest Dutch_guy start a new thread in the Throne Room for write-ups of the campaign and that no one post in that thread unless it is to post a write-up. We can keep this thread for the administration of the game, so that readers don't have to wade through out of character stuff.

On the writing style, I think we should leave that to each individual's creativity. There's been some wonderfully off-beat perspectives in the past - I still remember Demon of Light's write-up of an Almohad campaign as a history teacher giving a short lesson to students about how boring the reign of Demon's king was. ~:)

I think ERE is fine, so starting today would be ok. Strike while the iron is hot. The problem with PBMs in the past has been that people sign up for them and then find they don't get the time, then the momentum dies out.

It would be good if this game has someone who undertakes to coordinate the logistics and make tough decisions if necessary (eg about who's next in line to play). I nominate Dutch_guy as he initiated this idea. The key thing is to make sure the ball keeps rolling. I rather liked Kukrikhan's groundrule that the player post every two days just to confirm that they were still playing, otherwise the game moves on to the next player. We should use the Throne room uploader to store savegames. It's probably a good idea to have a "wake-up call" system, so that the next in-line person is alerted to confirm that they are still interested in playing. That can help ensure a smooth transition, rather than waiting around for players to show up and download the game.

If Dutch_guy does not want to take on that role, I can do it but it should not be an onerous job.

[CBR]

Throne room it is then.


CBR

[Dutch_guy]

Ok thanks for moving this thread CBR.

Some good ideas there Simon, I'll post a thread dedicated to this pmb campaign in the throne room.
And I'll update the thread every 2 days if there is no activity in the thread , while it's still active, thanks to Kukrikhan for that idea.

So, I'll start a ERE campaign today-as a matter of fact in a couple of minutes, and myabe send the file over to TinCow as soon as today.

We should pass the game on in the following order :

TinCow
CountMRVHS
Simon Appleton
ChaosLord
Tibilicus
Destroyer of Hope

after ChaosLord has completed his 10 year reign, you should send it back to me, or to any other player who has shown intrest in this campaign , and posted that he would like to play.

Everyone can join, you'll just be added to the list. ~:)

CountMRVHS

The bug-fixer mod is about 360kb, and will take about 10 seconds to load, even with a dialup ~:)

From now on , all write ups will be found in the throne room.

All other questions should be posted in this thread.

:balloon2:

[TinCow]

Sounds good. I promise I'll finish both my turn and write-up promptly.

[Dutch_guy]

I've finished my reign.

it is now TinCow's turn, I stored the save file to the .org's throne room section you should be able to download it from this location :

http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Upload_Index.shtml

I'll start my write up as soon as possible, though I've taken a lot of screenshots , so the entire write up may take me a while.

I'll make sure it's finished by the time TinCow wants to do his write up

:balloon2:

[TinCow]

I'll d/l the save when I get home from work and I should be able to finish it tonight, unless there are some ridiculously long battles. What's the battle time limit set at?

[Dutch_guy]

Depends what kind of battles and how big heh armies are.

So in sieges you'll get aprox. 45 minutes and field battles 30 - 45 , maybe more in some cases.

You should be able to finish every battle with lot's of minutes left.

:balloon2:

[tibilicus]

If it's not to late I would like to get invloved. Also over at my clan site (link is in sig) we are hoping to run a series of PBM campaigns from there.If interested check it out. Just a note MSN is required for are clan PBM as we obiously don't have the file hosting capabilities but the file is only a very very small one. Any way on topic.Once again if it's not to late I would like to get involved.
Tibilicus

[Dutch_guy]

ok, I'll add you to the list Tibilicus, good to have you onboard ~:)

ChaosLord should be the one to send you the game.

:balloon2:

[CountMRVHS]

2 quick questions:

1 Are we downloading the savegame directly from here, or emailing it to each other in a chain?

2 Is the Bug-fixer patch the one that's stickied at the top of the Colosseum? Obviously haven't downloaded it yet but will do that either tonight or tomorrow.

CountMRVHS

[TinCow]

1) From here, the games will be uploaded through the Org system.

2) Yep, that's it. It installs easily with no problems.

I've finished half of my turn and I will complete the rest tomorrow night. Apologies if this is a bit slow, but I am doing a lot of micromanagement and taking a great deal of notes so that I can do a decent write up. So, expect my game to be uploaded late tomorrow night with the write up to be completed by the end of friday.

[econ21]

Yes, let's use the uploader - then people can't run off with the savegames. Also people who are not playing may want to download the saves and see how things look.

TinCow, you are not being slow. Most of us have day jobs or studies too.

[Dutch_guy]

Take your time, taking notes is a good thing , looking forward to your write up.!

:balloon2:

[Dutch_guy]

TinCow, in the upload section there is a PBM file , dated from the 19th of october.

Now I don't remember if that was when I uploaded the save or if it's your new save, that CountMRVHS should continue on.:bow:

:balloon2:

[econ21]

I'm assuming it's your save, Dutch_guy. It's probably an idea if subsequent players call their savegame files something like ERE_370.rar, to identify the date (e.g. 370AD) and avoid confusion.

[Dutch_guy]

yes , that sounds good Simon, we should start doing that, from now on:bow:

:balloon2:

[TinCow]

I will name it properly when I upload and I will post in here as well. I am ashamed to say I wasn't able to finish last night. I had several large battles that I was not expecting, so I still have five turns to finish. I don't have work tomorrow though, so I promise I will stay up until I'm done tonight.

On the positive side, while I can't play at work, it has been a bit slow this week and I can do the write-ups. I completed the write-up for my first day's play yesterday and I will be done with yesterday's turns by this afternoon. As such, the write-up shouldn't be more than a day behind when I complete the game.

[Lord Winter]

Is it to late to join?

[econ21]

Is it to late to join?

No, come on board - I think it works on a list basis. Dutch_guy is in charge of maintaining the list of players, but by my reckoning you'd be the sixth player. I'm not sure whether the campaign will last 50 years, but it may well.

[Dutch_guy]

Destroyer of Hope, I've added you to the list. you're number 6 to get the save file.

The campaign might be over by then, though with a little bit of defensive play, there should be enough time.

:balloon2:

[Lord Winter]

Thanks

[TinCow]

Ok, I have finished and uploaded the save. The file is PMB-BI-ERE-383ad.zip in the uploads section. More conveniently, just use this link:

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/PMB-BI-ERE-383ad.zip

Sorry for the delay, I had no less than 16 major battles in the last five turns along with a few minor skirmishes. Things have worked out well though and I think the next person will be happy with their position. I will have the write-up complete and posted tomorrow afternoon.

[cunobelinus]

is it too late for me 2 join 2?

[Dutch_guy]

Ok, thanks for posting the link TinCow, it is now CountMRVHS'sturn.

Littlegannon, of course you can join, I've added you to the list, you get the save once Destroyer of Hope is finished.:bow:

:balloon2:

[CountMRVHS]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to let you know I've studied the Bug-fixer long & hard and decided that I don't want to install it just yet. I'm having much fun with BI as it is, right now, and I just want to play around with it some more before I go making changes. Some of the changes to retinues & traits in particular seem like they have the potential to unbalance the game. This is not in any way to denigrate the fine work of Player1; I only feel like I want to get all the mileage out of the "vanilla" version first. Plus what can I say, I'm nervous about deleting/renaming files and folders.

So, sorry about that, but you can go ahead and pass the game along to the next player in line. Looks like you've got a good group of people interested anyway, and my stepping down might allow people at the end of the line to get a chance to play.

I'll be following your progress and updates. Best of luck! :charge:

CountMRVHS

[Dutch_guy]

Ok, to bad you can't play, you could think about making a copy of your BI Data folder and then a data folder with the bug-fixer installed- that is , if you have the space on your HD.

Well, at least for now, to keep the pbm moving- so to speak - we'll move on to the next one on the list , meaning Simon.

CountMRVHS, if you want to join ( again )at any other moment, feel free to post here.

:balloon2:

[econ21]

OK, thanks for the heads up, Dutch_guy. I will download the savegame and get on it. :charge:

EDIT: Just read the write-ups - nice work by both my predecessors! And TinCow, what can I say but "wow!" - you had one heck of a decade!

[Ludens]

And TinCow, what can I say but "wow!" - you had one heck of a decade!
Seconded! Excellent work, TinCow!

[TinCow]

I'm very interested to see how the Celts do in our campaign. I was massively surprised to see that they had expanded to the continent and had largely defeated the Romano-British. If they are able to maintain their hold on the mainland and expand, that will be a first for all of my games.

[Dutch_guy]

It would be great if the Celts moved in to europe, that would be great, and would add a lot to the randomness of the game


:balloon2:

[Ianofsmeg16]

just read the write up, very exciting gentlemen!
please carry on!

[Tricky Lady]

Yes, I have to say that the stories are very well-written. :yes: And many pictures. Me very much like!

Good job!

[econ21]

Just to let people know, it is now 388AD and so I am about halfway through my decade. The Huns are gone and we are marching on Rome. :charge:

[cunobelinus]

thnkz alot can u write the order down so we can see the order

[Dutch_guy]

The order of play can be found in my first post.

:balloon2:

[econ21]

Another holding post - a project deadline has sucked up my gaming time, but it is now 391 AD and I should be able to wrap things up on Friday evening or over the weekend. Probably won't get to Rome though. :shrug:

[ChaosLord]

Hmm, i'm going to have to back out of this guys. If i'm lucky i'll be getting Civ4 tommorow, if not lucky then over the weekend. Either results in addiction and me not playing BI, so take me out of the lineup. I am looking forward to reading about the rest of the reign though.

[Dutch_guy]

Ok simon, take your time, we'll destroy Rome some other day.

ChaosLord, I've taken you out of the line up, if you want to continue at any other moment , I'll add you again.

:balloon2:

[econ21]

OK, I've ended my ten years and uploaded the file as ERE_393S.zip or some such.

The next player should be able to end the campaign - we need three more provinces and have armies about to strike Rome and Carthage. One more push and we're there!

(I wonder if barbarian BI campaigns are longer? The WRE and ERE ones seem rather brief.)

[TinCow]

(I wonder if barbarian BI campaigns are longer? The WRE and ERE ones seem rather brief.)

I think people take a bit more care with PBM games since we know that others will be monitoring and evaluating our progress. When playing a normal campaign I will often let armies sit around while waiting for them to be maxed out or simply delay fighting a battle for a season simply because I don't feel like playing another major siege at the moment. In PBMs, people often seem more driven to maximize the time they're provided and as such expansion is much faster.

If we want a longer campaign next time, we could pose some interesting starting conditions. Say for instance that we play as the Huns, but are not allowed to settle down anywhere other than Corduba. Similarly we could play as the Franks, but require the first player to capture a port city, build a fleet and then horde and settle in Britain.

[mystic brew]

i'd like to put myself in as a standby, if the game is still going on by that time...

reading the thread now and it seems very entertaining.

[Dutch_guy]

I have absolutely no idea what our plans are concerning the continuation of the PBM, obviously with just 3 more regions it will be over in no time, I give the PBM no longer than 3 (play)years.

We should have to discuss the matter with all the players, we can simlpy start another campaign, if we want to , or just continue playing this one, untill the entire world is conquered..

Anyhow, please share your ideas on the matter, in the mean while Tibilicus should upload the save.

And good luck to Simon with the write-up, looking foreward to reading it.

As for your question mystic brew, I've put your name on the player list, but we still as you might have read, need to discuss our playing plans.]

:balloon2:

[Kraxis]

You could 'suffer' a massive reverse at Carthage, then go attacking the Burgundians (always strong it seems).

[econ21]

OK, I've posted my write-ups.

I think what happens to this campaign should depend on those left in the queue. If they want to play on, then so be it.

Or they could start a new campaign with a different faction, putting themselves at the top of the list to play.

I think I'll send Tibilicus a PM as a wake up call.

[Dutch_guy]

I just want to prais you on your well..... exellent write-up...I enjoyed it a lot, to say the least, and others will certainly enjoy it too:bow:

As for this PBM, I have sent Tibilicus a PM, telling him of his turn.

And since the PBM is almost over, sieging Rome et al...
We have to decide what to do , start another one, wait till Tibilicus finishes his write up and officially ends this pbm , or let those other players in the list start their own ?

please post your suggestions regarding this issue.

:balloon2:

[TinCow]

Good write up! I'm glad to see more roleplaying of the generals. It was easy for me to massacre with the faction leader since he had so many nasty traits, but "the Kind" definitely would not do that.

[mystic brew]

my 2 cents.

finish the campaign. i'm happy to try something else.

[Ianofsmeg16]

Just read Simon's write up, awesome man! i hope whoever's next can keep up the great work!

[TinCow]

I'm in favor of a horde faction, but I think we should set some kind of 'unusual' goals or requirements to make it more interesting. Horde the Franks and settle only in Athens or something.

[Dutch_guy]

That would certainly be interesting, and hard too.

Franks only get something as 3 horde stacks, with a bunch of peasants too.

But the idea is good

:balloon2:

[Dutch_guy]

Anyway , I sent Tibilicus another PBM , asking him to continue the pbm -thus finishing it, and I'm awaiting his responds for the next 2 days, after that I'm letting the player next in line play, meaning Destroyer of Hope

Just letting you all know

:balloon2:

[econ21]

Good idea, Dutch_guy. I think Tibilicus lasted posted on Thursday, so if you give him two more days, he's had a week to log in to the Org. Players have real lives, but if the interregnums are too long, the campaign loses momentum and dies.

In future, it might be a good idea to use a "wake-up call" system (I think was originally Demon of Light's idea. ie e-mail the next but one player on the list to play to confirm that they are still interested and available. That might stop these kind of awkward pauses.

[Dutch_guy]

yeah that is a good idea, and I think you even suggested that at the start of the thread.

Though , I thought PB would qualify too - in stead of email.

The disadvantage of Pm is that one would need to log on to the org. which is of course not required for e-mail

:balloon2:

[econ21]

Yes, I mistyped - I meant send wake-up calls by PM them rather than by e-mail. I don't think Org members have to make their EMs public, so it is more onerous to go that route. It's true they may not log on to the Org and receive PMs, but in those circumstances it's not unreasonable to move on to more active participants.

[Dutch_guy]

ok, thanks for clearing that up.

And in the future, we - or well I - should wate a little shorter for the participants to react to their reign.
To keep the PBM going in stead of slowly losing interest and then coming to a complete standstill...

I'm giving Tibilicus his last day , since day 1 of the promised 2 is up.
After that I'll inform the player next on the list of his turn.
And I'll try to get him to pick up the game faster , than in this case.

:balloon2:

[econ21]

Yep, after tomorrow, it would be a good idea to tell Destroyer of Hope he's on and, following the wake-up call idea, at the same time alert Littlegannon that he's next in line. Hopefully one or other of them can at least get us to our victory conditions.

[Dutch_guy]

yes, I hava just done that.

Now all we can do is wait, I requested some kind of confirmation, so I hope we'll hear from them soon.

:balloon2:

[tibilicus]

Ok first of all i'm for completely forgetting about this. Even worse I have only just seen the PM's that have stacked up in my PM box so i'm for not replying to those.
Any way I have not been around to much in the past week or so and have completely forgotten about this.
Most of my time now spent on BI is spent on MP wich belive me takes up most of it lol. Any way can some one give me all the links I need as im aware that you are using some sort of bug fixer patch or something? Also a question on that will it require me making another copy of rome with BI in it or will it still let me play Mp online no problems. I will try my best to do this although my free time for the next week or so is very little unfortunately.~:(
I will however try to complete my task and do a good write up aswell. Once again sorry for breaking the flow of things guys.
Tibilicus

[econ21]

Don't worry, Tibilicus, this is just a bit of fun, not life or death. (Thanks for the PM also.) I'm not sure where Dutch_guy has got to in arranging the order of play, so I'll leave that issue to him.

Bugfixer is discussed at (and can be downloaded from):

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=55464

IIRC, it creates a backup of your original files, so there's no need to install two copies of RTW. The changes are minor - e.g. fixes to vices and virtues - and should not affect MP in a substantial way.

[Dutch_guy]

Ok, after you've downloaded the bugfixer, you can upload the save file from this location :

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/?C=M;O=A


Have fun !

:balloon2:

[tibilicus]

OK I will not be able to take it this weekend as I have to much going on but if I can get it on monday then I will try and get it done for next Friday. Hope that's ok with every one.

[Dutch_guy]

too bad you can't complete it any sooner, but if that's the way it is,then I'll keep the thread alive untill you've finished the pbm.

:balloon2:

[tibilicus]

By the way if you feel im slowing the PBM down feel free to put me back a few places on the list when im less busy if you think that will speed things up. ~:)

[Dutch_guy]

well I don't think putting you down on the list would speed the pbm up, since I haven't got any confirmation pm wise of the other players - if they would be able to play in your stead,

These mails were sent when we couldn't reach you :)

Anyway, imo , just make sure you finsh and post the write-up by Friday, that would be ideal.

:balloon2:

[tibilicus]

I will try but this week is another busy week. Also looking at the write up were very near victory. I think we just need to take Rome and a few more provinces then ERE will rule the world!
Any way will try and get this done for you.
Tibilicus

[Dagobert II]

Hey All;

This looks like fun, If you haven't started yet, I'd like to come in.
Let me know when the next game starts!

I only have one question. Session battles are played out on the
screen versus the AI, would'nt that shortchange a player's strategy?
I figure I'd take a hit too //the fun is what is worth it...

[TinCow]

I'm not sure I understand your question.

[Dutch_guy]

I think you've posted in the wrong section Dagobert II, I think your talking about the Multiplayer campaign - where the AI autocalcs the battles.

If not, then please refrase - so we can Understand your problem

:balloon2:

[Dutch_guy]

Ok, Ive pmed Tibilicus, to urge him to post his write-up.

It will conclude the PBM, unless something went very wrong.

This post was just meant to bump the thread ~:)

And rekindle the interest in any ( future ) PBMs


:balloon2:

[tibilicus]

Ok now I know your all going to be mad but I couldn't do the PBM. Every time i tried to instal that bug fixer thing it wouldn't let me do it for some reson so I can only do PBM on normal BI unless some one can help me with the downloads and all that.
Tibilicus

[Dutch_guy]

so, in your PM you said you couldnt find any trace of it on your pc, but bugfixer only replaces a few files, and backs those up before installing.

If you have installed bug fixer, and it says its installed, just play the save and see what happens.

best of luck.

:balloon2:

[Dutch_guy]

And do you think you can finish the PBM this weekend ?

If not, I'll to send it to the one next in line.

In order to finally finish it.

:bow:

:balloon2:

[tibilicus]

To avoid more hold up your probably best sending it to the next person in line till I get it sorted. Oh and sorry for the hold up.
Tibilicus

[Dutch_guy]

Well, to bad you can't play Tibilicus, though next time, I would appreciate it if you'd be able to post sooner, also the latter is for other players in general, not just directed at you :bow:

Anyway, I've PMed Destroyer of Hope, since he is next in line.

'Hopefully he'll be able to finish it this weekend, and post the write up right after that.

:balloon2:

[Lord Winter]

Sorry but i have been busy and can't play.

[Dutch_guy]

Ok, well then I myself will pick it up.

To finish it.

you can expect my write up by thursady - friday.

cheers.

:balloon2:

[Dutch_guy]

Have finished my turn.

The write up should be posted tomorrow evening ( Dutch TIme ).

SInce I'm out the rest of the night.

Also : *Bump* ;)

:balloon2:

[Dutch_guy]

Ok, we have a major problem, the PBM upload directory seems to be hacked ! :

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/

:balloon2:

[Dutch_guy]

Sorry to be cloging up this thread with my own posts...

but , Tosa dealt with the wannabee NAzi hacker, so the PBM upload is fixed.

I've yet to upload it, have all ready by tomorrow night.

thanks.

:balloon2:

[Dutch_guy]

I am pleased to announce that the PBM is finished, and I have posted the write up for my last short reign in the write up thread.

I want to thank everyone who showed enthusiasm at the idea of this PBM.

And also my thanks to the participants, for their dedication and great write ups:

Tincow and Simon Appleton

:balloon2:

[econ21]

Well done, Dutch_guy! To paraphrase the A-team, I love it when a good PBEM comes together!

[gardibolt]

That writeup is a really fun read. Nice work, all!:2thumbsup:

[TinCow]

I'm up for another one if anyone else is. RTW, BI, mod, whatever... I'll do anything.

[econ21]

I'm up for another one if anyone else is. RTW, BI, mod, whatever... I'll do anything.

Yes, me too. At the moment, I have three versions of RTW on my computer - the current vanilla one with BI, RTR and EB. I am currently focussed on EB right now but there are too many CTDs to recommend a PBM with it right now. I like RTR a lot and it would be fun to do a PBM with that mod. Otherwise, there are a lot of BI factions we have not covered.

But I think we should aim for another two, ideally four plus, players to sign up to make it worthwhile.

[Zomby_Woof]

I don't fully understand the PBMs but I'm interested in joining one. Particuliarly in a Barbarian Invasion one.

Edit: I'd also be interested in an original Rome: Total War or RTR PBM also.

[Dutch_guy]

I'll join in last run was a lot of fun.

And TinCow you should start a new thread - dedicated solely to the new PBEM.

EB would be my suggestion, haven't experienced any CDTs so far in my Roman campaign.

As for RTR, liked the mod a lot, but quit after playing v. 6.0 to death.

So I'd prefer EB, or just plain RTW BI.

:balloon2:

[econ21]

Well, we could try EB: I would definitely participate. But there is a big caveat emptor. It is around 243 in my Roman EB campaign and it is absolutely brilliant. But it is also near unplayable. I am having daily CTDs, which get very frustrating when you have to refight a battle, win spectacularly again and then be rewarded with another CTD! Dutch_guy, just out of interest, what year are you on in your Rome campaign? Divinus Arma had to abandon his after CTDs.

We might be able to pull it off, but if my experience is anything to go by, players may have be creative and get around CTDs by reloading and varying their previous turn, sometimes not loading scripts and sometimes using autoresolve.

[Dutch_guy]

I am at most 8 years in the game, not far in I know - darn CIv4.

And I haven't experienced any game breaking CTD's thank god, so if I have the time I'll continue my campaign, though school and CIv4 may - read : most certainly will - hinder me.

:balloon2:

[Tricky Lady]

It's been ages since I participated in a PBEM and you guys set the (write-up) standards really high with your last Eastern Roman PBEM :sweatdrop: but nevertheless I would like to join this PBEM... If if if... (time - which mod etc etc).
I'll keep an eye on this thread and will confirm my (un)availability when you decided which mod/faction/difficulty setting you'll play.

[Ludens]

I would also recommend against EB: not only does the number of CTD's vary highly amongst different computers, there also many glitches, oversights and things-not-working-as-intended. I suggest waiting at least until the EB team releases their patch before playing an EB-PBM.

[Zomby_Woof]

I think using BI with the latest patch is the best way to go.

[Monarch]

Good luck guys, I really enjoyed reading your ERE game. I wish I could play but I am new to RTW so probably would lose your empire on a harder setting lol. But yeah, good luck and I cant wait to read your end product.

[Tricky Lady]

I wish I could play but I am new to RTW so probably would lose your empire on a harder setting lol.

That would add a nice dimension to the game as the next player will then have to fight to strengthen the empire again. That's the nice part of a PBM (plus: everyone's always asking for harder campaigns, so... :juggle2:)
Why don't you just join? :smiley:

[Zomby_Woof]

My vote goes for something more challenging like the Seleucid Empire or one of the non-hordeable barbarian factions in BI like the Celts or the Alemanni.

[Dutch_guy]

I've played the Celts, didn't find them to be a challenge...quite easy actually, only the very beginning of the game is a little hard ( Romano-British invasion ) but after that Western Europe is yours to plunder as much as you like.

:balloon2:

[TinCow]

Ok, let's do RTW or BI and do one of the more minor factions. Alemanni sound good to me, but like I said I'm open to pretty much anything.

[econ21]

Ok, let's do RTW or BI and do one of the more minor factions. Alemanni sound good to me, but like I said I'm open to pretty much anything.

OK, reading the recent posts in this thread, I think there is sufficient interest in a new PBM BI campaign. I agree with Dutch_guy and second his idea that TinCow choose a faction - say Alemanni or whatever - and open a new thread to set out the groundrules and sign up players on a first come, first served basis. :balloon2: I suggest we use the latest patch (1.6).

If TinCow wants someone else to oversee the campaign and/or take the first 10 years, I'd be happy to do so or we could find other experienced volunteers. But as TinCow first raised the issue and did a great job on the last PBM, I think it would be good if he took the lead this time.

[Dutch_guy]

yes, sounds good.

Also I'd prefer not to take the first reign - just because I did it last time.

If that becomes a problem, and Judging from Simon's response it won't, then I'd be happy to help out and take it anyway.

:balloon2:

[TinCow]

I hear and obey.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=59603