Rome Total War Vanilla? Alright then, can you sign me up?
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Rome Total War Vanilla? Alright then, can you sign me up?
Put Ingnoramus and Gaulgath ahead of me on the list
Has anybody else started? Or am I supposed to be going?
Maybe give it a day or so, then run with it? Lots of PBMs have been derailed by people walking off with the savegame or just disappearing. The show must go on...Quote:
Originally Posted by Zomby_Woof
I am still going to do it, I was waiting for your write-up, but I haven' t gotten BI yet, so someone can go ahead of me.
I think RabidGibbon needs to do his write-up first.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ignoramus
This campaign does not need BI. If you patch the original to RTW up to 1.5, there should be no problem.
But I'll leave the order of play to Monarch and Zomby_woof to work out.
Hello,
New member Menelmacar has expressed an interest in joining this PBEM. Is there still room for him?
Things have slowed down; I've still been waiting for RabidGibbon and Simon to post their write-ups before I start my turn but seeing as I've already had one Menelmacar is more than welcome to take my spot.
Darn, maybe we should skip them?
It's not usual in PBMs to wait for people's write-ups - they take time - although I can see the logic. Anyway, prompted by guilt, I have produced mine. I can delete it and copy it later if RabidGibbon decides to post his write-up (he preceded me). But hopefully it should provide enough background for the next player so they understand what is going on.
Briefly reviewing this thread, it looks like Mount has stepped out for a while and Zomby_woof is willing to defer to newcomers. If we go by the first come first served principle, I make it that Ignoramous is the next in line, followed by Galgauth and then Menelmacar.
So unless someone shouts out stop, I think Ignoramous can just download the save and start.
As I said before, players should bear in mind that the 10 year innings at this late stage of the campaign will involve a lot of fighting and a pretty big writeup. Don't take it on if you can't see it through. In-game hints: watch out for our army embarked off Greece and try to sink the Scipii one sailing off Lepcis Magna.
I PMd Gibbon ages about it but no reply. I dont think s/he can be bothered otherwise I would have got a pm back sayiing its being worked on or something.
carry on keeping me in reserve until there is no-one else left. I'm more than happy to defer to give other folks a chance, especially if they are new to PBEMs
Question:
My "raw" preferences files are modded to remove things like Green Arrows and large banners, this may be a barrier to me joining this campaign.
Is it?
No - that doesn't matter. The key thing is to be running the right patched version. Stuff like green banners don't matter. (And I agree with Froggy's guide - they must die!)Quote:
Originally Posted by Braden
I am not sure how long this campaign will last though, so you might consider starting a new one.
I currently can’t log in to the Guild at home for some reason….no problem here at work which is very strange. Once I’ve sorted this issue out (bet it’s those blasted Cookies!), I may just start up a game myself. I also need to look at the storage facilities here on the .org with regards holding the .sav files.
I tried to do a PBeM via the .com, but I got two people interested, then they dropped out. This was likely as I wanted it to run “by reign” rather than 10 years like this, and some of my other “rules” may have been too much.
I’m patched ok. 1.5 Rome & 1.6 BI so I’ll monitor the progress of this game over the next week or so before deciding what game to start myself.
Seeing as how only one RTW PBM has ever been completed, I've started getting anxious about this campaign. It's nearly a month since I finished my turn. I'll PM Ignoramous, but I think we need to think about finding new players. If he drops out, I would be inclined to say first person to post here can pick up the savegame. The show must go on.
I don't mind continuing this game with those who remain. Even though I'm proposing to start a new Rome PBeM soon, that won't be for about a week at least (week until I post full details, then how ever long it takes to get a player base), so I'll be able to continue this campaign as well.
There is still Menelmacar, who posted a few days ago in the Entrance Hall that he would like to have a go as well. But I really don't know whose turn it is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Appleton
Ok. This is getting a little rediculous. And to be quite frank I dont want to trawl through the thread in a 'who asked first' hunt. If Ignoramus fails to reply to Simon's PM by Friday, then I hereby officially bestow the honour of carrying on this pbem onto the hands of Braden. Braden you seem to have an actual interest in pbems, I'm sure you wont let us down ;)
…guess it comes from years of RP (online and Live Role Play). I’ll carry it on for a further 10 years.
You’re only about 231BC I believe.
Just put the .sav in the pbm dump and let me know the file name and advise me who to be next after me please.
I'll see how I can do.
The file is in upload directory as Seleucid230S.zip. Give Ignoramus until Friday, Braden, after that it's all yours.
In terms of the future playlist, if you do take the game on Friday, maybe you could PM Menelmacar to confirm he will take the turn after you? We used to have a "wake-up call" system like that - so the new player would make sure he has a successor - to try to avoid the kind of long pauses we've experienced here.
Sorry guys, I haven't been able to upload 1.3, let alone 1.5, so I guess I'm out, sorry for taking so long.
OK, thanks for getting back to us, Ignoramous.
Braden are you in a position to pick up the game now? You should have enough time to have a go before launching your own PBM.
I'm starting to feel a little guilty about us skipping over Gaulgath. If he posts here again, perhaps he should go after Braden? If not, then Menelmacar. If this PBM ends before both have had a go, hopefullly we can find another PBM and put them to the top of the list for that.
I'm rather keen to start a Europa Barbarorum PBM - the latest version seems pretty stable now (I've played 44 turns and had only 2 CTDs, neither of which was reproducible).
Wake-up Call to Menelmacar – no problem.
I hope Gaulgath comes back in otherwise it’s a short player list for the campaign. Anyway, I am in a position to get started (I’ve got some game time put aside for the 16th).
I’ll go over the rules again, make sure I’m up to date on those then get started. Will PM you (and Gaulgath) when I’ve successfully commenced my 10 year tenure.
As for “find another PBM” – *cough* impending PBM by me……(hint, hint).
Edit - I’ve PM’d Ignoramous, I’m willing to send a CD-ROM to him with the patches on if he wants.
- hate to see someone missing out on game-play.
Don't forget I'm still here if you do run out of players
Have taken over now. One turn down. I’ll PM Menelmacar and Gaulgath today advising them of this and that Menelmacar is next up – should be this time next week when I’m done.
….and my initial reaction on first looking at the Seleucid Empire was….Eeekkkk! My tenure will be radically different and more “economical” than the previous incumbent (sorry to them).
Now at Winter 230 and another settlement has been added to our Empire, also three more battle honours to list.
I am happy for either Gaulgath or Menelmacar to start my new campaign once that begins.
BTW – playing with FoW on so I can’t see what the AI is doing. Actually, I don’t even know the console command to disable it.
:inquisitive: Running down the treasury was a deliberate policy. We were enjoying massive surpluses for quite a long time, but it ruined a whole generation of governors. If your surplus goes above 50k, the chances of them getting bad traits goes up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Braden
BTW: to toggle fog of war, press the ` key (on a UK keyboard at least) to bring up Rome shell. Then type "toggle_fow". But you are right to play with fow on - toggling if off might only be useful to take a picture of the extent of the reign.
Ah no sorry, by "economical" I meant with man-power not money. Smaller, more rational armies rather than the mixed up armies that are scattered about, less reliance on Mercs. Front line troops (Silver shields etc) in Garrisons - rather use Levies. Also Mercs as Garrisons? Think I'll address that also.
For example: I’d rather destroy the walls of a city, and have to pay for rebuilding them, than have my warriors die needlessly against troops on city walls better suited to that type of fighting. Phalanx units on city walls against Legions = very bad idea. So, less siege towers more sapping.
Oh no! I'll spend money like water (ask the wife) - an Empire wide building programme has been launched to change the front line cities into ones capable of producing the best troops. Also much use of (and recruitment of) diplomats to bribe a few rebels. More spies and Assassins also in the queues.
Edit: Radical Idea – Looking at the write ups for this campaign so far I notice how hard it is to get the pictures to fit correctly. How does the following grab you? I do my write up (and inclusive of all previous write ups), with pictures as an Acrobat file, upload it to the pbm storage with a link on the forum.
I’ve done a quick test on the write up I’ve done so far (with a few test screens) and it all seems to work wonderfully.
Alternatively, I’ll put the whole thing into a .PDF document (all nice looking) once the campaign is finished. Something for people involved to keep separately from the Guild forums (and easier to read).
Just an idea.
Steady on - I'd rather be accused of profligacy than irrationality! ~;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Braden
One problem for the Seleucids is managing the distances - the armies in faraway Armenia and Libya are whatever could be cobbled together. Some large garrisons were effectively prisoners - some of our cities are so large, low loyalty tied the troops down until just recently we captured some wonder in southern Greece that raises loyalty., Hopefully, the field armies in Greece are more balanced. You may need the numbers against the Romans but you can always try the Donald Rumsfeld approach of lighter forces.
The Silver shields proved a bit of a disappointment when I used them - I came to the conclusion that levy pikemen (a legacy - I never built any) can do virtually as well (or as badly), but your mileage may vary. We are about to get legionnaires in Egypt, which should help with the phalanx on walls problem.
On the mercenaries - I recall splurging on them in Greece as for a time I had only a single stack of Seleucids in there and needed to maintain loyalty in newly conquered cities. Replacing them over time might make sense. But I'd keep hold of the Cretans and Rhodians, as they were the Roman killers in my battles in Greece.
I converted the tgas to jpegs and reduced them to 80% - I thought that was ok; are they still too big?Quote:
Edit: Radical Idea – Looking at the write ups for this campaign so far I notice how hard it is to get the pictures to fit correctly. How does the following grab you? I do my write up (and inclusive of all previous write ups), with pictures as an Acrobat file, upload it to the pbm storage with a link on the forum.
I’ve done a quick test on the write up I’ve done so far (with a few test screens) and it all seems to work wonderfully.
Alternatively, I’ll put the whole thing into a .PDF document (all nice looking) once the campaign is finished. Something for people involved to keep separately from the Guild forums (and easier to read).
Just an idea.
I'm not sure a pdf is a good idea - people generally like to surf the web in a fairly passive way, I don't think they'd bother to download a pdf of a PBM write-up.
However, as a complement to (rather than substitute for) online writeups, pdfs might be a good way of preserving things for posterity. The links for pictures for old writeups tend to get broken after a while.
Armies - Don’t get me wrong, I understand the driving factors behind what created the armies currently in the game. It’s just now, as we’re being so successful in beating back our enemies and expanding, it could be the perfect time to trim them down.
Point taken about the Silver Shield Phalanx’s. I wonder how far away from getting Silver Shield cavalry we are…..
Yup, can build them now (sure I spotted them somewhere in a recruitment list) – they will be essential to taking cities as intact as possible.
Useful mercs will remain always – like Cretans.
PDF – ok, as a compliment I agree. A few page effects and it does actually look really nice as well. Pictures – yours were perfect size, but I can’t testify that I’ll be as successful as you at getting the scale right (I’m a bit of a trial and error man).