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Thread: Welcome to the Throne Room! Rules, FAQ, and Links (Including File Upload Systems)

  1. #1
    Bureaucratically Efficient Senior Member TinCow's Avatar
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    Default Welcome to the Throne Room! Rules, FAQ, and Links (Including File Upload Systems)

    Throne Room Rules

    1) Follow the Org Rules.
    2) Have Fun.


    Pay particular attention to #2. This is a forum for playing interactive games with other people and for creative writing. The ultimate point of both of those is entertainment. If it’s not enjoyable, something is wrong and needs to be fixed.

    Throne Room Code of Conduct

    Many Throne Room games include complex rule systems which must be followed in order for the games to run properly. Violation of these rules can sometimes lead to severe problems because they may give one player an illegal advantage over another. Since many Throne Room games, particularly Hotseat and TW RPGs, allow for PvP combat, this can become a serious issue. As such, it is important that players make a good faith attempt to follow the rules for any game in which they participate. In addition, the level of creative writing and social interaction that goes on in the Throne Room poses other issues which have the potential to cause strife if the players do not behave properly. The following Code of Conduct has thus been implement to govern the behavior of all Throne Room players.
    1. Do not intentionally violate the rules of any game you are playing, unless it is with the consent of the Game Master or Game Organizer. Games don't run well when people ignore the rules, and this can lead to problems. Do your best to avoid these problems by making a good faith attempt to follow the rules. If you break a rule by accident, apologize and do your best to fix any problem that results in an amicable manner.
    2. If there is a dispute about the rules, try and work out the dispute with the Game Master or Game Organizer. Try and resolve the problem with the players of the game first. If the problem cannot be solved in this manner, then contact a Throne Room moderator.
    3. Keep IC and OOC separate. Many Throne Room games involve role playing. These games often include a great deal of in character (IC) conflicts which pit players against each other as foes. Remember that regardless of what your IC relationships are, this is just a game. Out of character (OOC) we are all friends and should behave as such. Leave the IC feuds in the game itself and do not let them spread to real life.
    4. Do not use another player's characters or writings without their permission. A lot of creative writing is done in the Throne Room. This often includes original stories and characters. Do not use another player's writing or any characters that person has created without their permission.
    Last edited by TinCow; 09-01-2012 at 15:37. Reason: title, more welcoming :)


  2. #2
    Illuminated Moderator Pogo Panic Champion, Graveyard Champion, Missle Attack Champion, Ninja Kid Champion, Pop-Up Killer Champion, Ratman Ralph Champion GeneralHankerchief's Avatar
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    Default Throne Room Games: A Guide

    Here in the Throne Room, PBM is our business. Unsure what PBM is? Don't worry, you've come to the right place. Essentially, PBM stands for Play By Mail, as in the old style chess/Diplomacy by mail games before the internet became mighty. The name, however, has stuck over the years. Total War PBMs come in many different forms, but the one factor they all have in common is uploading a savegame and passing it onto other players.

    How is this done? Easy.

    The .Org has its own file uploader that we make use of in order to upload savegames. If you wish to upload something, simply click on the link above, go to the appropriate year, click "Add entry", enter a name for the file, scroll down, and browse for the type of file you wish to submit.

    The uploader will only accept compressed (.zip, .rar) files, so please make sure you have software to do so before uploading. Examples of good compressor software are WinZip and WinRar. Once you have the link, simply copy it and send it on to whichever player you are sending the save file to. If the .Org uploader is not working, many players use Rapidshare as an alternative.

    If you are the recepient of a save file, then download the link, uncompress it, and put the save file in the appropriate "Saves" directory depending on the game you are playing. Launch the game and enjoy.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    With the "how to" out of the way, it's now time to discuss the different types of PBMs themselves. Generally, these games fall into three major categories:
    • Traditional "succession" games
    • Hotseat games, where each player commands a faction
    • Total War RPGs, where each player takes control of an individual character
    Succession games:
    These were the first games the Throne Room hosted and the only type of game for many years. The simplest definition of a succession game is that one player takes total control of the game, plays it for a certain amount of time, and passes the game onto the next player. The amount of time in which one player plays his reign varies depending on the preference of everybody involved. Recently, however, there has been a trend in which players take 20-turn reigns.

    Once your reign is over, it is usually expected that you do a write-up, or detail several notable events that happened while you played. These may be as detailed or as in-character as you wish. If you do choose to do a write-up, in-game screenshots help with the overall quality of your work. To take a screenshot, use the appropriate screenshot button on your keyboard. If you have a screenshot storing program such as FRAPS, you're set and can edit them at your leisure later. If you don't, then alt-tab out of the game, save the image, and return to the game.

    In order to not stretch the thread, it is recommended that you resize and/or crop screenshots. You can use any image editing software to do this. Many people use free programs such as Irfanview; I personally stick with good old MS Paint. Once you're done editing, images should be saved in .JPG form. To upload them, go to an image hosting service such as Imageshack or Photobucket.

    A very good example of a succession game is Re-unification, an RTW:BI game in which a group of players took up the challenge of playing the Western Empire and successfully turned fate on its head.

    Hotseat games:
    Currently, you can play a hotseat-style game in M2TW. Myrddraal has created a script that allows you to do the same in RTW, but the coding in M2TW is the only one that supports the hotseat feature without modification of the game files. As of this writing, there is no Hotseat option for Empire, unfortunately.

    Hotseat is essentially a Total War multiplayer campaign, with all battles automatically autoresolved. You take command of one faction, as in normal TW, make your moves, end your turn, and then save the game and pass it onto the next player. The difference is that your opponents are human, which makes diplomacy more of a factor and overall strategy much more difficult.

    Normally, hotseats are password-protected to discourage cheating. Anyone wishing to start one need only follow the guide in spoilers, courtesy of Privateerkev, TosaInu, and FactionHeir:

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    For Kingdoms:
    1 Go to the M2TW main folder.
    2 Find medieval2.preference.cfg
    3 Right click on it and select properties.
    4 The properties window for the file opens.
    5 At the bottom is the Attributes field.
    Deselect Read-Only.
    6 Hit the Apply button. Close the Window.
    7 Open the file with wordpad/notepad.
    8 Find [hotseat]
    9 Add below that admin_password = yourpassword
    "yourpassword" means what ever password you want
    10 Save the file.
    11 Right click it again, select properties and enable the Read-Only attribute.
    12 Create the hotseat save like normal. Disable the console if you don't want others getting into it.
    Go into the first player's login screen.
    13 Check whether you can open the console with ~
    14 Type in the console "logon yourpassword" which is what ever password you entered in the config file and hit enter.
    15 Do you get an error message? make sure the ` is not in the field like it is when I first open the console
    16 If not type "logoff" and hit enter
    save the game
    17 Quit the game, start the game again, load the save and repeat step 13-16 to check.

    18 It should all work now, start playing and have fun.
    --------------------------------------------------------

    You will then have admin access to your hotseat game. Just enter in your admin password at any player login screen. Even with console disabled, you can still access the console in there.

    Here are some basic commands from Tosa (his words are in quotes).

    To reset someone's password:

    When that is set, you open the console, login with the password and then type: clear_password <faction_label>

    Replace <factionlablel> by say byzantium
    The password will then be removed, the first player who enters can set a new one.
    If a player drops, and you can't find a replacement, you can set their faction as AI controlled:

    It also allows to change control to the AI (so 1 inactive player? => set faction to AI control and move on). Type control <factionlabel>
    To set someone elses password:

    There are also functions to set the password (type set_password <faction_label> <password> <password> ).
    Other cheats should work but it is advised that you inform your players so everyone knows.

    Afaik, the console also allows cheats such as money injections (I'ld suggest to update the players in advance about that so they can make a judged decision).
    For M2TW:
    Also one note about the auto_resolve section of the code, if you want to enable battles to be player controlled, then pick 0 instead of 1

    --------------------------------------------------------------------

    To set up M2TW for hotseat in the first place.
    Open medieval2.preference.cfg

    Find [multiplayer] or [hotseat]
    If they do not exist, create them before the [ui] section. Even if they do exist, overwrite with the following:

    [multiplayer]
    playable = true
    hotseat_turns = true
    hotseat_scroll = false
    hotseat_autoresolve_battles = 1
    hotseat_disable_console = 1
    hotseat_disable_papal_elections = 0
    hotseat_save_prefs = 0
    hotseat_update_ai_camera = 0
    hotseat_validate_diplomacy = 1

    [hotseat]
    admin_password = abc

    Where abc is the password you want as admin password.

    Save the file, close it and mark read-only.

    Start up the game, pick grand campaign and select your factions for the game. Clicking on a faction icon will highlight it, clicking again deselects it. Choose as many factions as you like.

    Then choose the other available settings and start the game.

    On the game turn screen, Admin access you be set to "yes". If it is not, exist M2TW and start it up again (first verifying whether you did the first steps correctly).

    Then open up the console using the appropriate key for your particular localized keyboard. There, type:
    Code:
    logon abc
    And you should get a feedback message telling you it was successful.

    Rest as per [the Kingdoms] guide.


    A very good example of a Hotseat campaign is the Broken Crescent Hotseat, which lasted for over a year and spawned over 2,500 posts.

    Total War RPGs:
    These are the Big Berthas of the Throne Room. TW RPGs, also known as mega-PBMs, first appeared in May 2006 with the start of the classic "Will of the Senate" PBM, an RTR Roman campaign. Since then, they have been the primary style of PBMs in the Throne Room. Some of these games have been known to last for over a year. As such, they typically require more effort and dedication from players than the other forms.

    The rules vary from game to game, but each player takes control of one in-game character (usually a general) and RPs him throughout his life, fighting all of his battles when necessary as well. The collective will of these players also serves as a decision-making body, dictating what territories shall be taken, who to go to war with, etc.

    Every set amount of turns, when the body meets, the players can also run for the executive role, whose name varies depending on the faction (in the past, it has been called "Consul", "Chancellor", "Megas Logothetes", etc.) and has moderate power. Its exact duties depend on the game, but the position can be in charge of construction, recruitment, army movement, and general money management. The individual players also have responsibilities aside from voting, such as moving their avatar around, fighting battles, setting queues in cities under their control, and possibly more.

    These games are by nature post-intensive, and several threads may spring up for each game. Some examples of these include an administrative reports thread, a "deliberations" thread for the decision-making body, a battle write-up thread, an in-character stories thread, multiple "alliance" or "House" threads, a Status and Orders thread (in which you detail your wishes for the character and whatever he owns), and more.

    The best example of a completed TW RPG is King of the Romans, a 15-month effort that detailed the story of the Holy Roman Empire. At any given moment one or more RPGs are going on, and they can usually be joined at any time.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I hope this guide was helpful and not overly wordy. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and of course, have fun!
    Last edited by Zim; 04-13-2011 at 07:11. Reason: title
    "I'm going to die anyway, and therefore have nothing more to do except deliberately annoy Lemur." -Orb, in the chat
    "Lemur. Even if he's innocent, he's a pain; so kill him." -Ignoramus
    "I'm going to need to collect all of the rants about the guilty lemur, and put them in a pretty box with ponies and pink bows. Then I'm going to sprinkle sparkly magic dust on the box, and kiss it." -Lemur
    Mafia: Promoting peace and love since June 2006

    Quote Originally Posted by TosaInu
    At times I read back my own posts [...]. It's not always clear at first glance.


  3. #3
    Nur-ad-Din Forum Administrator TosaInu's Avatar
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    Default Updated LDM

    Hello,

    The LDM is working again and a new category is added for all your 2010 PBM save files: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/local....php?catid=201

    Please tell me when you experience problems with it.
    Ja mata

    TosaInu

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