"On air. On sea. On land. Still the Internet's greatest wargame simulation."
Ice World IV
| Deity: | John Yockey |
| Start Date: | October 7, 2002 |
| End Date: | January 4, 2003 (89 days) |
| Code used: | Wolfpack 4.2.11 |
| Winner(s): | Ski 976-SHEEP Zirconia |
September 26, 2002
The days got shorter. The temperature was falling. Lack of rain caused the harvest to fail. Rumors of open warfare were in the air. The Ice Lord called out,"Who is willing to set their longboats to the sea and go a viking! We need warriors to find supplies for our families."
The Ice Barbarian Warlord announces the start of Ice World IV. Players of all skill levels are invited to join. To sign up send the following information to johny@frii.com.
Country Name:
Password:
Preferred Email Address:
Empire Rank:
(for rank see http://www.empire.cx/simplerank.html)
Ice World IV will be hosted at empire.wolfpaw.net on port 6665. The game will be openned to players Monday October 10th, with the first update on Tuesday October 11th. There will be a five minute update window every 15 hours for the first five updates. After that there will be 30 hours between update windows. The update closest to midnight Saturday night will be disabled so there will be a 60 hour gap on weekends.
Before I forget this time, I am setting the following victory condition on this game: No more than 10% of the starting countries will be recognized in the victory declaration.
The game has been set up for naval warfare. Ice World IV will be about 93% water. Each country will start with one start island, and there will be many small free islands to fight over.
The following modifications have been made for this game:
The update time happens at a random time in a five minute update window. This is done by the server and has been tested.
Venture enterprise sectors from IW3 are back; however, based on player feedback the equation is now:
A venture enterprise turns 1 lcm and 2 hcms into 1 goods.
The total goods produced by a nation are automatically sold and generate $100000 * goods / (goods + 4000).
Goods and cash are automatically done first by the update.
Hopefully this will eliminate the Wicked effect from IW3.
The following modifications have been done to prevent 24/7 playing. Note that there is a minutes restriction this time and BTU generation has been reduced to 1200 per day. The server will limit logins per day to 50 per country. For this reason there will be no visitor country. So you should be able to play and keep your life without getting a co-ruler.
Radar range of all ships is doubled to make it easier to find each other at sea.
I've added a couple planes and modified some others for naval warfare.
There are some minor defects with sonar/ships on the wolfpack bug list that I may or may not address before or during the game, but I will tell the players if I do.
Deity,
John Yockey,
aka The Ice Barbarian Warlord!
Note that the server is currently running. If players wish to play around or test any of these features, they may do so. However I may interfere or reset the server without notice as I prepare for the game.
Empire 4.2.11
(KSU distribution 1.04, Chainsaw version 4.00, Wolfpack version 2.11)
The following parameters have been set for this game:
World size is TBD.
There can be up to 99 countries.
By default, countries use their own coordinate system.
An Empire time unit is 1800 seconds long.
Use the 'update' command to find out the time of the next update.
The current time is Thu Sep 26 20:52:16.
An update consists of 60 empire time units.
Each country is allowed to be logged in 180 minutes a day.
It takes 40.00 civilians to produce a BTU in one time unit.
A non-aggi, 100 fertility sector can grow 0.12 food per etu.
1000 civilians will harvest 1.3 food per etu.
1000 civilians will give birth to 5.0 babies per etu.
1000 uncompensated workers will give birth to 2.5 babies.
In one time unit, 1000 people eat 0.5 units of food.
1000 babies eat 6.0 units of food becoming adults.
Banks pay $200.00 in interest per 1000 gold bars per etu.
1000 civilians generate $6.00, uncompensated workers $1.00 each time unit.
1000 active military cost $83.33, reserves cost $8.33.
Happiness p.e. requires 1 happy stroller per 10000 civ.
Education p.e. requires 1 class of graduates per 10000 civ.
Happiness is averaged over 48 time units.
Education is averaged over 192 time units.
The technology/research boost you get from the world is 50.00%.
Nation levels (tech etc.) decline 1% every 96 time units.
Tech Buildup is limited to logarithmic growth (base 2.00) after 1.00.
Sectors Ships Planes Units
Maximum mobility 127 127 127 127
Max mob gain per update 60 90 60 60
Max eff gain per update -- 100 100 100
Ships on autonavigation may use 6 cargo holds per ship.
In order to build a nuke, you need 0.33 times the tech level in research
Example: In order to build a 300 tech nuke, you need 99 research
Fire ranges are scaled by 1.00
Options enabled in this game:
ALL_BLEED, DEMANDUPDATE, DRNUKE, FALLOUT, GODNEWS, INTERDICT_ATT,
LANDSPIES, NEUTRON, NEW_STARVE, NEW_WORK, NEWPOWER, NO_FORT_FIRE,
NO_PLAGUE, NOMOBCOST, NUKEFAILDETONATE, ORBIT, PINPOINTMISSILE,
PLANENAMES, SAIL, SHIPNAMES, SHOWPLANE, TECH_POP, TREATIES,
UPDATESCHED
Options disabled in this game:
BIG_CITY, BLITZ, BRIDGETOWERS, DEFENSE_INFRA, EASY_BRIDGES, FUEL,
GO_RENEW, GRAB_THINGS, HIDDEN, LOANS, LOSE_CONTACT, MARKET,
MOB_ACCESS, NO_HCMS, NO_LCMS, NO_OIL, NOFOOD, NONUKES, RES_POP,
SHIP_DECAY, SLOW_WAR, SNEAK_ATTACK, SUPER_BARS, TRADESHIPS,
"info Options" for a detailed list of options and descriptions
The person to annoy if something goes wrong is:
John Yockey
(johny@frii.com).
You can get your own copy of the source using:
ftp://ftp.empire.cx/pub/empire/server or
http://www.empire.cx/
Blue coloring on countries in the power charts indicates the eventual winners of the game.
Two days after start, October 9, 2002
Since there is no visitor account for Ice World IV, the Barbarian Broadcasting Company will be posting periodic updates for people to follow along. Two updates have now occurred. All but one country broke sanctuary by Tuesday morning. That country was replaced and all countries were Active before the first update.
Even though all countries self rated themselves as 3 or better, there was starvation the first update. Amber took the yellow jersey for the first update by digging up lots of amber colored ore but none of the grey stuff. Cathouse has taken the award
for building the first ship.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Wed Oct 9 12:02:13 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Temekula 35 14% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 300 1.6K 0 0 0 0 25K
Amber 35 16% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 550 1.2K 250 0 0 0 25K
eno 35 18% 3.5K 10 0 0 0 1.6K 1.0K 0 0 0 0 25K
Pendor 35 20% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 750 550 0 0 0 0 25K
Limbo 35 26% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 900 800 0 0 3 0 25K
Parpara 35 20% 3.5K 30 0 0 0 550 750 0 0 2 0 25K
Cathouse 35 23% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 600 500 0 0 1 0 25K
beep 35 29% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 150 400 0 0 2 0 25K
Wahbit 35 23% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 1.1K 350 0 0 3 0 25K
RedTape 35 22% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 1.1K 500 18 0 2 0 25K
Ski 35 19% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 950 400 0 0 0 0 25K
976-SHEEP 35 19% 3.5K 1 0 0 0 1.1K 300 0 0 1 0 25K
SiliconSo 35 17% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 1.4K 500 250 0 0 0 25K
Zirconia 35 17% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 1.1K 500 0 0 3 0 25K
Shakespea 35 16% 3.5K 40 0 0 0 800 500 0 0 2 0 25K
Spam 35 20% 3.5K 1 0 0 0 750 400 0 0 0 0 25K
Armengar 35 20% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 850 400 0 0 0 0 25K
NamNam 35 25% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 450 3 0 0 3 0 25K
Zern 35 23% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 900 450 0 0 0 0 25K
Myseria 35 20% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 1.0K 0 0 0 1 0 25K
Mackland 35 28% 3.2K 0 0 0 0 1.2K 400 0 0 0 0 25K
Thistle 35 22% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 650 27 0 0 2 0 25K
Kamoria 35 22% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 2.0K 300 0 0 2 0 25K
Tanugi 35 18% 3.5K 33 0 0 0 600 50 0 0 4 0 25K
Junta 35 23% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 1.1K 250 0 0 2 0 25K
Bubastis 35 23% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 800 0 0 0 2 0 25K
MELINUS 35 14% 2.6K 0 0 0 0 500 900 0 0 0 0 25K
Rook 35 18% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 1.4K 100 0 0 2 0 25K
fishing_n 35 20% 3.5K 2 0 0 0 900 0 0 0 5 0 25K
IndustMec 15 36% 3.5K 0 0 0 0 1.4K 0 0 0 0 0 25K
RS 35 13% 3.0K 100 0 0 0 1.4K 400 0 0 0 0 25K
routerman 35 24% 3.4K 100 0 0 0 400 0 0 0 0 0 25K
Iceland 35 14% 3.4K 100 0 0 0 900 0 0 0 0 0 25K
Naraxi 35 14% 2.7K 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25K
Zantonia 35 12% 1.8K 0 0 0 0 0 500 0 0 0 0 25K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.2K 20% 119K 550 0 0 0 30K 14K 550 0 40 0 845K
Three days after start, October 10, 2002
Countries have set sail in Ice World IV -- making an unusually high number of ships for this early in the game. 115 of the 121 ships are frigates. Players are eager to meet their neighbors. Especially if that neighbor is near the bottom of the power chart.
The Christopher Columbus Award goes to Ski for being the first country to find free land. Being the only country to find free land before the forth update gave Ski an edge in the sector race; however, a strong showing after today's update put the Sheep Shagger into the polka dot jersey of the sector leader. Bubastis is in the green jersey of the tech leader. While Temekula has been using a strategy of gold and technology to hold on to the yellow jersey.
It will be a couple more updates before countries start making contact with each other.
This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Thu Oct 10 19:03:21 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Temekula 35 37% 6.0K 0 0 0 0 600 1.8K 100 0 0 0 20K
Cathouse 35 44% 5.9K 150 0 0 0 900 450 50 0 2 0 15K
Myseria 35 37% 5.9K 100 0 0 0 1.1K 450 100 0 4 0 20K
Ski 40 27% 5.8K 150 0 0 0 800 500 100 0 6 0 15K
Zirconia 40 31% 5.8K 100 0 0 0 1.0K 700 100 0 8 0 15K
Bubastis 35 34% 5.8K 100 0 0 0 1.2K 350 250 0 2 0 20K
IndustMec 25 48% 6.0K 0 0 0 0 1.2K 50 250 0 0 0 20K
976-SHEEP 45 29% 5.8K 150 0 0 0 1.4K 37 100 0 7 0 15K
Rook 35 33% 5.9K 100 0 0 0 700 400 100 0 3 0 20K
Junta 35 33% 5.9K 100 0 0 0 1.0K 650 150 0 3 0 20K
Shakespea 35 34% 5.7K 300 0 0 0 1.6K 500 100 0 7 0 15K
beep 35 57% 5.8K 200 0 0 0 1.3K 400 50 0 6 0 20K
Pendor 35 39% 5.8K 200 0 0 0 1.1K 600 50 0 5 0 20K
RedTape 35 40% 5.8K 100 0 0 0 1.0K 750 100 0 2 0 20K
Spam 40 34% 5.8K 200 0 0 0 1.4K 400 50 0 3 0 15K
Thistle 40 32% 5.7K 200 0 0 0 1.1K 250 100 0 5 0 20K
Tanugi 35 40% 5.7K 250 0 0 0 750 350 100 0 5 0 15K
NamNam 35 46% 5.8K 150 0 0 0 750 450 300 0 4 0 20K
fishing_n 40 38% 5.8K 150 0 0 0 1.1K 200 50 0 7 0 15K
Kamoria 35 43% 5.7K 100 0 0 0 3.0K 400 22 0 3 0 20K
SiliconSo 35 32% 6.0K 15 0 0 0 2.0K 150 250 0 5 0 20K
Amber 35 29% 6.0K 0 0 0 0 1.5K 2.5K 400 0 0 0 25K
Parpara 35 34% 5.6K 350 0 0 0 750 450 26 0 7 0 20K
Wahbit 35 31% 6.0K 22 0 0 0 1.3K 350 50 0 4 0 25K
Limbo 35 36% 5.8K 200 0 0 0 1.4K 600 100 0 7 0 20K
Armengar 35 33% 5.8K 0 0 0 0 1.4K 900 50 0 3 0 25K
eno 35 20% 5.6K 10 0 0 0 3.4K 1.0K 400 0 0 0 25K
Mackland 35 60% 5.5K 0 0 0 0 1.2K 550 1 0 3 0 25K
Zern 35 37% 5.8K 200 0 0 0 1.4K 500 24 0 3 0 20K
routerman 35 33% 5.4K 100 0 0 0 850 700 0 0 3 0 25K
MELINUS 35 26% 4.3K 0 0 0 0 800 800 0 0 2 0 25K
RS 35 30% 5.2K 100 0 0 0 2.9K 600 0 0 2 0 25K
Iceland 35 24% 5.6K 100 0 0 0 1.0K 50 0 0 0 0 25K
Zantonia 35 35% 2.5K 0 0 0 0 0 500 37 0 0 0 25K
Naraxi 35 19% 2.8K 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.2K 35% 194K 4.0K 0 0 0 43K 19K 3.6K 0 120 0 720K
One week after start, October 14, 2002
This is the Warlord reporting from the Rook capital, where dozens of Rook farmers have come to protest for more government subsidies. This could get ugly as the Rook government ponders who is growing the crops while the farmers are protesting in the capital.
Elsewhere in Ice World IV, countries are beginning to encounter each other. So far, there has been peace in the world (except for the occasional hostile act against the peaceful citizens of beep). However that should only last another update or two. You can always count on a good amount of blood shed when empire players get together.
Ski has taken the polka dot jersey of the largest country. Bubastis has drained his treasury setting a blistering pace for the green jersey. Temekula continues to have a strong hold of the yellow jersey using a strategy of gold and tech, while ignoring expansion.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Mon Oct 14 16:58:31 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Temekula 35 57% 10K 0 0 0 0 1.2K 1.8K 150 0 0 0 15K
Cathouse 50 43% 9.8K 300 0 0 0 2.0K 400 100 0 6 0 5.0K
Rook 35 50% 9.8K 150 0 0 0 2.2K 850 100 0 3 0 10K
976-SHEEP 60 30% 9.7K 300 0 0 0 1.9K 850 100 0 10 0 5.0K
Zirconia 65 28% 9.7K 200 0 0 0 2.9K 1.0K 100 0 10 0 5.0K
Ski 70 27% 9.7K 300 0 0 0 2.1K 450 100 0 10 0 5.0K
RedTape 40 44% 9.9K 150 0 0 0 2.0K 500 200 0 4 0 10K
Pendor 45 38% 9.5K 400 0 0 0 1.8K 350 150 0 10 0 10K
Myseria 35 49% 9.6K 400 0 0 0 1.9K 300 50 0 9 0 10K
Bubastis 35 42% 9.8K 200 0 0 0 1.4K 700 400 0 8 0 753
Junta 50 39% 9.8K 200 0 0 0 1.7K 1.1K 250 0 5 0 15K
IndustMec 35 46% 10K 10 0 0 0 2.1K 350 600 0 0 0 15K
NamNam 40 54% 9.1K 150 0 0 0 1.7K 550 150 0 6 0 10K
Tanugi 60 35% 9.5K 400 0 0 0 1.1K 800 200 0 10 0 10K
beep 40 61% 9.5K 400 0 0 0 1.8K 550 150 0 10 0 10K
Thistle 45 39% 9.4K 300 0 0 0 1.9K 550 100 0 9 0 15K
Amber 35 45% 10K 10 0 0 0 2.6K 3.5K 650 0 1 0 20K
SiliconSo 40 41% 10K 50 0 0 0 2.6K 350 200 0 10 0 10K
Spam 50 35% 9.5K 350 0 0 0 2.2K 300 100 0 10 0 5.0K
Wahbit 40 46% 9.8K 200 0 0 0 1.9K 350 100 0 10 0 15K
Shakespea 45 38% 9.2K 600 0 0 0 2.6K 450 150 0 10 0 5.0K
fishing_n 50 41% 9.6K 250 0 0 0 2.5K 550 100 0 10 0 10K
Kamoria 35 72% 9.4K 250 0 0 0 4.2K 750 150 0 5 0 10K
Parpara 40 47% 9.2K 550 0 0 0 1.4K 600 100 0 7 0 15K
Armengar 35 57% 9.4K 150 0 0 0 2.8K 2.0K 250 0 8 0 20K
Limbo 45 34% 9.3K 450 0 0 0 1.8K 250 200 0 10 0 10K
Zern 35 66% 9.4K 350 0 0 0 1.9K 650 250 0 6 0 10K
RS 35 48% 8.7K 200 0 0 0 2.4K 750 150 0 3 0 20K
routerman 45 36% 9.2K 150 0 0 0 1.1K 850 150 0 5 0 20K
MELINUS 35 39% 6.4K 46 0 0 0 1.2K 500 150 0 5 0 25K
Mackland 45 77% 9.2K 100 0 0 0 1.0K 450 6 0 5 0 25K
eno 35 44% 9.5K 10 0 0 0 5.8K 1.0K 500 0 0 0 25K
Iceland 35 42% 9.5K 100 0 0 0 1.9K 350 0 0 1 0 25K
Zantonia 35 46% 3.8K 30 0 0 0 29 500 150 0 0 0 25K
Naraxi 35 41% 4.8K 100 0 0 0 200 100 0 0 0 0 25K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.5K 44% 321K 7.8K 0 0 0 70K 25K 6.2K 0 240 0 470K
Ten days after start, October 17, 2002
We have had a crash in Ice World IV tech race. Bubastis set a blistering
early pace, but ran out of funds and had to cut tech production. Bubastis
is now far behind many nations, leaving IndustMech clad in the green jersey.
976-SHEEP was the first nation to join the century club. Several islands
are now shared between nations. Peace has continued throughout Ice World
IV -- mostly because nations want to use resources searching for free land,
but partially because the free islands are small enough that they should
easily be taken later in the game.
This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Thu Oct 17 04:39:02 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Temekula 35 80% 17K 40 0 0 0 3.1K 1.1K 500 0 0 0 10K
RedTape 50 53% 17K 250 0 0 0 2.8K 1.1K 550 0 4 0 422
Cathouse 55 45% 16K 400 0 0 0 3.5K 750 200 0 9 0 2.0K
976-SHEEP 100 23% 16K 450 0 0 0 2.8K 900 100 0 20 0 1.4K
Pendor 60 39% 16K 550 0 0 0 3.0K 550 550 0 20 0 1.5K
NamNam 45 63% 15K 250 0 0 0 2.4K 1.3K 200 0 9 0 10K
Ski 100 28% 16K 450 0 0 0 3.8K 400 150 0 20 0 1.3K
Zirconia 95 26% 16K 300 0 0 0 4.5K 400 100 0 20 0 5.0K
Junta 80 40% 16K 200 0 0 0 2.0K 1.4K 600 0 10 0 5.0K
Rook 40 63% 16K 300 0 0 0 3.7K 100 350 0 8 0 10K
beep 75 37% 16K 500 0 0 0 2.5K 1.1K 150 0 10 0 2.6K
Tanugi 95 29% 16K 500 0 0 0 2.2K 1.4K 200 0 10 0 5.0K
Myseria 35 59% 16K 850 0 0 0 2.5K 500 250 0 10 0 309
IndustMec 35 71% 17K 200 0 0 0 4.5K 300 450 0 4 0 5.0K
Parpara 70 38% 15K 700 0 0 0 3.1K 1.2K 450 0 7 0 3.7K
Thistle 65 38% 16K 550 0 0 0 3.1K 350 200 0 10 0 10K
Wahbit 60 39% 16K 550 0 0 0 2.7K 550 200 0 10 0 5.0K
Amber 35 59% 17K 200 0 0 0 3.5K 3.4K 800 0 6 0 15K
SiliconSo 50 53% 16K 200 0 0 0 3.5K 700 100 0 10 0 2.8K
Spam 65 37% 16K 550 0 0 0 4.2K 550 100 0 20 0 2.8K
Bubastis 45 44% 16K 250 0 0 0 2.5K 1.6K 700 0 8 0 1.2K
fishing_n 60 40% 16K 450 0 0 0 3.6K 650 200 0 10 0 3.6K
Kamoria 45 65% 16K 500 0 0 0 4.7K 400 400 0 7 0 2.1K
Shakespea 75 31% 15K 850 0 0 0 3.8K 450 150 0 10 0 2.0K
Zern 45 77% 16K 550 0 0 0 4.7K 1.5K 500 0 7 0 1.8K
Limbo 60 36% 15K 650 0 0 0 2.3K 850 350 0 10 0 596
Armengar 50 52% 14K 300 0 0 0 4.8K 2.8K 300 0 10 0 15K
routerman 60 46% 15K 400 0 0 0 1.1K 900 750 0 6 0 15K
RS 35 67% 14K 250 0 0 0 1.7K 900 600 0 3 0 10K
Iceland 35 58% 16K 100 0 0 0 2.6K 700 250 0 1 0 10K
MELINUS 35 47% 8.9K 200 0 0 0 1.8K 500 5 0 5 0 20K
eno 35 70% 16K 100 0 0 0 6.2K 600 700 0 4 0 20K
Mackland 60 59% 15K 250 0 0 0 2.3K 850 40 0 6 0 30K
Naraxi 35 80% 8.1K 150 0 0 0 900 350 100 0 0 0 25K
Zantonia 35 71% 6.2K 100 0 0 0 400 550 250 0 0 0 25K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 2.0K 45% 529K 13K 0 0 0 107K 32K 11K 0 320 0 285K
Two weeks after start, October 21, 2002
This is the Warlord reporting from a 976-SHEEP petting zoo where I took my niece this weekend. She particularly enjoyed "Friendly" the sheep, who in true Bungy sytle lived up to his name. With all the grazing land 976-SHEEP has accumulated, he'll soon be bring petting zoos to every corner of Ice World IV.
Elsewhere in Ice World IV, tensions are rising as there are less than 400 free sectors left in the world. Ski was the first to draw blood. Unfortunately it was his own as his
troops got slaughtered assaulting a RedTape wilderness. Iceland was the first of successfully take a sector, and is now fighting routerman over a small unpopulated island. Fishing nation has found the Naraxi homeland and spent the Friday update harassing Naraxi until his frigate got boarded. Expect fishing nation to be back with some friends soon. Cathouse was the first nation to build land units.
One of the main battles from Ice World III was between Rook and Parpara. They have now found that they are neighbors this time, and apparently there is still some bad blood between them. Expect some fireworks between these two heavyweight.
RedTape has been filling the Ice World IV patent office with paperwork and is now clad in the green jersey of the tech leader.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Mon Oct 21 16:01:21 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Temekula 35 100% 35K 550 0 0 0 5.2K 950 850 0 0 0 25K
Cathouse 75 49% 36K 700 0 0 0 5.3K 200 300 0 20 2 1.6K
976-SHEEP 175 25% 35K 900 0 0 0 6.0K 400 350 0 30 3 5.0K
RedTape 65 56% 35K 850 0 0 0 5.6K 700 750 0 10 2 3.1K
Zirconia 135 27% 35K 900 0 0 0 6.7K 400 600 0 40 6 2.3K
Ski 125 36% 35K 800 0 0 0 8.3K 450 250 0 40 6 10K
Junta 100 40% 35K 450 0 0 0 3.5K 1.8K 2.7K 0 10 0 5.0K
beep 85 47% 35K 650 0 0 0 5.5K 900 1.5K 0 30 4 1.2K
NamNam 55 71% 33K 400 25 3 0 5.9K 250 950 0 10 0 25K
Pendor 120 31% 34K 650 125 10 0 6.0K 300 1.0K 0 20 1 2.4K
IndustMec 60 59% 36K 600 75 15 0 5.3K 700 2.0K 0 10 0 5.0K
Rook 60 61% 32K 1.1K 125 15 0 4.4K 450 1.8K 0 10 0 4.3K
Wahbit 85 41% 35K 900 50 5 0 4.0K 450 900 0 30 0 863
Parpara 95 38% 33K 1.1K 0 0 0 5.5K 550 1.1K 0 10 0 2.6K
Amber 40 86% 35K 600 16 4 0 4.3K 1.9K 3.6K 0 20 0 15K
Myseria 55 66% 34K 1.0K 75 10 0 4.5K 900 550 0 20 4 629
Tanugi 150 25% 33K 800 0 0 0 3.2K 450 450 0 30 0 10K
Thistle 90 41% 33K 850 150 20 0 5.0K 750 1.4K 0 20 5 10K
Spam 130 27% 33K 1.0K 0 0 0 5.2K 700 300 0 40 0 4.5K
SiliconSo 55 70% 32K 400 50 5 500 5.7K 8 1.0K 0 10 0 5.0K
Bubastis 60 60% 35K 800 0 0 0 5.5K 950 1.5K 0 8 0 1.5K
Kamoria 65 55% 34K 450 100 4 0 3.8K 1.0K 1.4K 0 10 0 322
Shakespea 130 27% 32K 1.4K 24 3 0 5.8K 400 650 0 30 4 3.5K
Limbo 110 27% 31K 800 0 0 0 5.8K 1.4K 1.1K 0 20 0 41
fishing_n 85 41% 30K 1.0K 10 0 0 7.0K 250 500 0 20 1 49
Armengar 80 42% 30K 600 0 0 0 8.9K 1.8K 650 0 20 0 15K
Zern 50 68% 32K 800 50 5 0 3.5K 1.4K 550 0 10 0 677
RS 35 97% 31K 400 25 3 0 2.0K 600 1.5K 0 7 0 1.7K
routerman 65 53% 29K 900 6 3 0 2.6K 1.0K 900 0 10 0 4.7K
Iceland 40 83% 32K 150 0 0 0 7.2K 1.6K 1.4K 0 3 0 3.2K
Mackland 55 64% 34K 200 0 0 0 4.7K 1.8K 450 0 5 0 35K
eno 35 95% 34K 100 0 0 0 8.0K 800 2.9K 0 10 0 25K
MELINUS 35 49% 11K 450 0 0 0 2.8K 550 100 0 6 0 35K
Naraxi 35 100% 17K 550 0 0 0 2.9K 300 350 0 10 0 25K
Zantonia 35 72% 10K 250 0 0 0 1.1K 350 550 0 8 0 30K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 2.7K 46% 1.1M 24K 950 105 500 176K 27K 37K 0 610 40 320K
Two and a half weeks after start, October 24, 2002
Since there is no visitor account for Ice World IV, this is a periodic report from the BBC. Old reports can be found at http://empire.wolfpaw.net. There are currently two main battles being waged.
Wahbit and Spam had a disagreement over who was the first to land on a small island between their countries. Wahbit became sick of all the Spam showing up in his telegrams, and threw Spam off the common island. Spam has pledged to take 35 sectors (the size of a start island) as compensation for this act. Spam frigates are now harassing most Wahbit's islands.
In the second main battle, Parpara became the first nation to use shells -- sinking a Rook frigate. However Rook has temporarily taken the advantage by having Shakespeare join the battle on his side. Rook now controls the island where hostilities began and is working on a second island.
Most of tech leaders are now able to build light cruisers and battleships that are capable of effectively bombarding enemy land. Most of the bottom ten countries are being targetted by at least one country above them. One of these countries has the armies of three other nations approaching.
976-SHEEP has now taken over the yellow jersey. He is now allowing his ewe friend wear the polka-dot jersey he had on before. When not posting bait to rge, he has been using most of his three hour allocation per day, and so have most of the other land/power leaders. I can't believe he caught anything with stink bait that smelled worse than his sheep.
This is the Warlord signing off for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Thu Oct 24 14:51:42 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money 976-SHEEP 175 40% 55K 1.2K 75 15 0 8.0K 1.9K 550 0 70 30 4.8K Zirconia 155 32% 51K 850 7 5 0 6.7K 2.5K 750 0 80 10 285 Cathouse 105 52% 51K 900 75 15 0 7.7K 1.7K 450 0 50 6 846 Ski 130 50% 53K 1.0K 100 10 0 9.9K 500 400 0 70 20 5.0K beep 100 47% 46K 1.1K 125 10 0 6.5K 2.6K 1.4K 0 60 10 2.7K Tanugi 150 37% 49K 1.4K 100 10 0 5.2K 2.9K 300 0 40 8 15K Junta 110 49% 45K 350 425 50 0 6.2K 2.1K 3.3K 0 20 0 15K NamNam 65 69% 40K 500 100 20 0 5.8K 950 1.2K 0 20 0 40K Spam 145 33% 49K 1.8K 75 5 0 5.0K 1.4K 400 0 50 0 2.1K Pendor 125 34% 42K 950 250 20 0 6.4K 1.2K 1.1K 0 50 20 5.0K RedTape 65 61% 42K 650 125 10 0 6.5K 450 350 0 30 10 5.0K Wahbit 95 45% 44K 1.1K 200 20 0 4.8K 1.1K 1.6K 0 40 7 290 Amber 50 80% 42K 1.0K 75 15 0 4.3K 1.4K 3.9K 0 30 10 15K Temekula 35 100% 35K 950 250 45 0 5.8K 400 1.2K 0 0 0 35K Rook 80 49% 39K 1.5K 375 45 350 5.7K 550 2.0K 0 30 20 742 Parpara 85 52% 40K 1.4K 175 25 0 5.7K 600 1.2K 0 20 5 5.0K Myseria 80 52% 38K 1.8K 200 30 0 5.0K 1.8K 900 0 20 4 2.9K Thistle 95 45% 40K 1.3K 375 40 0 5.0K 1.4K 1.3K 0 20 10 10K IndustMec 70 50% 41K 1.0K 150 30 0 6.4K 650 1.8K 0 30 20 1.1K SiliconSo 55 79% 39K 850 175 20 500 7.2K 350 1.4K 0 20 4 10K Shakespea 140 36% 43K 2.0K 75 10 0 6.5K 400 450 0 40 10 285 fishing_n 105 42% 40K 1.9K 25 10 0 7.8K 1.1K 350 0 30 10 187 Limbo 115 33% 37K 1.0K 75 15 0 8.6K 750 1.3K 0 20 0 3.1K Kamoria 70 59% 39K 550 300 15 0 3.8K 950 1.2K 0 20 1 1.0K Armengar 85 44% 36K 700 0 0 0 11K 600 750 0 20 0 20K Bubastis 60 60% 36K 1.2K 200 35 0 5.5K 250 1.3K 0 10 0 1.4K Zern 60 69% 39K 900 200 25 0 4.2K 1.0K 700 0 20 0 1.9K RS 50 76% 37K 550 100 10 0 2.6K 600 2.0K 0 10 0 5.0K routerman 75 50% 35K 1.4K 25 5 0 3.0K 1.0K 1.6K 0 10 2 5.0K Iceland 40 90% 34K 800 0 0 0 13K 1.0K 2.6K 0 6 0 10K Mackland 35 100% 34K 700 0 0 0 7.1K 850 400 0 5 0 55K eno 50 69% 36K 300 0 0 0 10K 12 3.3K 0 20 0 35K Naraxi 35 100% 28K 1.1K 0 0 0 3.0K 950 700 0 20 0 15K MELINUS 35 50% 12K 600 0 0 0 3.6K 550 400 0 6 0 40K Zantonia 35 74% 7.8K 250 0 0 0 1.3K 150 600 0 8 0 35K ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- worldwide 3.0K 50% 1.4M 36K 4.5K 580 850 215K 37K 43K 0 970 220 415K
Three weeks after start, October 28, 2002
I'm reporting today from a Tanugi tavern. Usually Octoberfest is a joyous time in Tanugi; however this year's celebration has been soured by a joint attack by NamNam and Thistle. Tanugi has lost two islands to NamNam and part of two others to Thistle. The Tanugians had a prolific exploration phase, so these islands were on the fringe of their empire. High Priest Matata is organizing his forces to strike back.
So far none of the fodder have fallen; however one of them escaped death on Sunday by dumb luck. Don't expect that to last too long. Cathouse was caught betting on the Giants and has gone broke this weekend; however he hasn't been broke over the update and should be fine if his citizens are productive enough.
Zirconia has proven to be a diamond in the ruff and has captured the yellow jersey. RedTape continues to lead the tech race. The tech leaders can now build submarines, and are producing a little over five tech per update.
There has been a regime change in MELINUS this weekend. We hope the new leaders will do a better job than the past. At this point some players have been asking about co-rulers or replacements. If you are interested in becoming a substitute or co-ruler, e-mail the deity at johny@frii.com with your usual country name, rank, and preferred email address.
This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company. Now if that Tanugi waitress would bring me another beer we can get back to your regularly schedule war.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Mon Oct 28 04:32:13 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Zirconia 165 47% 79K 1.3K 175 25 0 14K 5.4K 2.1K 0 100 10 4.7K
Cathouse 120 68% 78K 1.6K 225 45 150 13K 1.6K 650 5 80 8 -247
976-SHEEP 175 57% 73K 1.9K 425 50 0 12K 3.5K 600 0 100 40 2.4K
Ski 130 78% 74K 1.2K 600 65 0 13K 1.4K 600 0 70 30 2.3K
Tanugi 145 58% 64K 2.1K 400 35 8 7.8K 5.8K 900 0 50 20 10K
Spam 145 54% 66K 1.6K 275 40 0 9.7K 5.0K 800 0 60 2 1.1K
beep 95 66% 58K 1.9K 400 45 0 11K 3.6K 1.1K 0 60 20 2.1K
Pendor 125 49% 55K 1.4K 400 35 0 8.0K 1.8K 700 0 50 20 1.7K
Junta 110 62% 53K 500 950 115 0 7.8K 4.0K 3.6K 0 20 0 30K
NamNam 80 68% 43K 750 250 50 0 6.8K 2.5K 1.3K 0 20 10 35K
RedTape 65 81% 50K 750 275 40 0 6.7K 2.5K 400 0 40 10 3.4K
Wahbit 95 62% 50K 1.4K 400 45 350 7.8K 1.8K 1.3K 0 50 5 3.2K
Parpara 90 70% 44K 1.9K 325 55 400 6.0K 3.0K 1.0K 0 20 9 5.0K
Thistle 100 52% 43K 1.9K 700 70 0 6.2K 2.4K 1.6K 0 40 20 10K
Myseria 80 57% 42K 1.9K 325 50 0 6.5K 2.3K 1.1K 0 30 9 347
Amber 60 73% 47K 1.2K 225 35 0 5.1K 1.5K 3.5K 0 30 20 10K
Rook 80 62% 42K 1.8K 625 70 350 5.8K 1.2K 2.2K 0 30 20 2.7K
IndustMec 75 61% 43K 1.2K 375 50 0 7.0K 600 1.4K 0 50 20 2.2K
Shakespea 145 49% 49K 2.3K 225 25 0 11K 350 300 0 50 10 878
fishing_n 105 61% 45K 2.2K 75 25 0 9.8K 1.9K 150 0 40 10 1.5K
Temekula 35 100% 35K 900 425 70 0 5.5K 300 950 10 0 10 35K
SiliconSo 55 84% 40K 850 325 35 2.5K 11K 650 1.6K 1 30 8 4.6K
Kamoria 70 75% 44K 1.0K 500 30 150 4.0K 1.4K 1.0K 0 20 6 1.4K
Limbo 125 35% 39K 1.4K 300 55 0 8.2K 1.1K 1.1K 0 30 10 2.4K
Armengar 95 65% 41K 1.0K 75 25 0 12K 850 700 0 30 0 30K
Zern 60 86% 44K 1.6K 350 60 0 7.8K 1.2K 850 0 30 8 1.1K
Bubastis 60 63% 36K 1.6K 350 35 0 5.0K 200 1.0K 0 30 10 1.3K
RS 50 81% 38K 900 275 20 1.0K 3.5K 850 2.1K 0 10 3 5.0K
routerman 75 56% 36K 1.6K 75 10 0 3.0K 950 2.0K 0 20 4 5.0K
Mackland 35 97% 34K 1.4K 50 5 0 9.3K 32 850 0 5 0 60K
Iceland 35 97% 34K 1.1K 150 0 0 19K 850 3.0K 0 8 0 15K
Naraxi 40 84% 36K 1.2K 25 5 200 4.1K 1.1K 1.2K 0 20 0 15K
eno 45 78% 36K 1.1K 0 0 0 14K 12 3.4K 0 20 0 50K
MELINUS 35 51% 13K 700 0 0 0 4.7K 550 650 0 6 0 50K
Zantonia 35 75% 5.6K 250 0 0 0 1.5K 17 650 0 8 0 40K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 3.0K 63% 1.6M 47K 10K 1.3K 5.0K 287K 62K 46K 20 1.2K 350 440K
Three and a half weeks after start, October 31, 2002
Happy Halloween from the Ice World IV graveyard. Over the past three updates, several nations have been eliminated from the Ice World IV game. Todays report is on how not to play empire. Hopefully some of this tale will help the new players
lurking out there.
Here is the grave of MELINUS. MELINUS abandoned his county almost two weeks ago, and didn't notify the deity to find a replacement. Last weekend a player asked for an abandoned country that he could test the WinACE client with. However
his late arrival was too late to save MELINUS. Zirconia had already made plans and invaded MELINUS early in the week, claiming the first cap sack.
Here is the grave of Naraxi. Naraxi starved his civilians. Feeding your population is very easy to do. There are many reasons why it is important, but the most important is that starvation shows up in news. If you continually starve your
civilians, your neighbors will target your country -- thinking that if you can't figure out how to feed your people you won't know how to defend your country either. Five of Naraxi's six neighbors knew where Naraxi's mainland was and were racing to
be the first one there. 976-SHEEP won the race and claimed the second cap sack of the game.
Here is the grave of RS. RS was doing alright in the game. However when Pendor attacked, RS put up no effort to resist. Sure Pendor got the third cap sack of the game, but RS still had enough left to fight back. Reputation is very important in empire. If you have a reputation of not fighting back, all your neighbors will target your country. If you fight hard, in the next game your neighbors will think twice before attacking you. Empire players like having strong dependable allies. That's why you should always fight to the last man. So in the next game you can say that "I was RS that harassed Pendor for two weeks," not "I was RS that folded as soon as
I was attacked."
Here is the grave of eno. eno started the game very strongly and was in the top five during the first week. However eno failed to make any tech. When Ski's battleships arrived early in the week, eno had no weapons to defend himself with and
Ski scored the forth cap sack of the game. Unless you have made arrangements to get high tech weapons from an ally, all empire players should start making tech early and often.
Here is the grave of Iceland. Iceland was by far the most inquisitive player in the game -- filling the deity's mailbox with questions. Iceland was learning a lot from this game, but failed to be logged in for updates. Shakespeare attacked nine hours before the update taking but four coastal sectors. Had Iceland spent a couple minutes to be logged on for the update, Shakespeare could have easily been repelled. However by the time Iceland logged in one hour after the update, Shakespeare had claimed the fifth cap sack of Ice World IV.
This hole over here is soon to be the grave of Zantonia. Zantonia has done all of the above, and has only survived this long because most of his neighbors have built few (or no) ships or been involved in early bloody battles. However Spam is busily overrunning the Zantonia mainland, and may soon have the sixth cap sack, unless Zantonia suddenly shows up, for the update, and fights back.
Players who have lost their countries shouldn't take this too personally. Both Naraxi and Iceland tried very hard and learned a lot during this game. RS and eno showed some promise and understanding of the game. With a little more practice in the blitz games, they all may become good players.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Thu Oct 31 21:24:58 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Zirconia 205 67% 125K 2.2K 575 90 0 29K 9.1K 4.8K 2 140 20 10K
Ski 175 84% 125K 2.7K 1.2K 155 1.9K 23K 6.3K 3.0K 30 140 50 25K
976-SHEEP 210 78% 123K 2.8K 875 135 1.3K 25K 4.8K 2.4K 6 150 50 10K
Cathouse 125 89% 117K 2.1K 925 125 150 16K 3.7K 1.6K 5 100 20 10K
Pendor 160 77% 114K 2.2K 500 70 2.5K 15K 5.2K 1.9K 0 80 30 15K
Spam 170 77% 97K 3.0K 725 85 500 16K 6.7K 2.4K 0 80 20 4.8K
Tanugi 150 78% 91K 3.7K 1.1K 65 1.1K 14K 7.5K 900 2 60 20 5.0K
beep 100 88% 80K 2.6K 1.6K 135 0 17K 5.5K 3.2K 0 70 30 2.8K
Junta 110 76% 68K 1.0K 2.1K 230 0 13K 6.8K 5.2K 0 30 20 25K
NamNam 80 89% 61K 900 850 95 1.0K 11K 3.1K 3.0K 0 50 10 15K
Shakespea 165 79% 86K 3.0K 675 60 800 20K 450 1.1K 5 60 20 5.0K
RedTape 70 90% 62K 1.8K 600 135 700 10K 1.9K 2.5K 0 50 20 1.5K
Wahbit 100 79% 67K 2.3K 550 75 350 11K 3.0K 750 0 60 5 2.4K
fishing_n 110 74% 73K 2.4K 175 45 0 15K 2.4K 650 2 60 20 10K
IndustMec 90 76% 61K 1.7K 800 80 1.9K 13K 900 1.9K 0 60 20 1.5K
Parpara 95 83% 55K 1.9K 350 65 800 11K 5.8K 1.6K 2 30 10 4.7K
Thistle 100 77% 56K 2.4K 975 115 800 8.8K 4.0K 1.8K 1 60 20 15K
Amber 65 90% 57K 2.3K 500 90 0 6.9K 2.6K 4.2K 0 40 20 5.0K
Myseria 80 72% 49K 3.1K 800 130 2.5K 7.9K 3.0K 1.4K 2 40 9 371
Rook 85 80% 51K 1.6K 550 90 1.1K 7.0K 4.2K 2.0K 4 40 20 1.1K
Armengar 95 91% 54K 1.5K 350 50 0 12K 5.5K 1.5K 0 50 10 35K
Kamoria 70 92% 56K 1.4K 875 55 650 8.2K 4.0K 1.1K 0 30 8 1.3K
SiliconSo 55 94% 45K 1.8K 700 85 2.5K 12K 1.5K 2.5K 1 40 9 5.0K
Zern 65 90% 53K 2.5K 775 120 1.1K 9.7K 1.5K 1.1K 0 50 9 2.1K
Limbo 115 36% 39K 1.5K 650 125 0 7.3K 900 1.0K 0 30 10 4.2K
Temekula 35 100% 35K 1.3K 900 135 1.2K 5.4K 150 700 30 0 20 30K
Bubastis 60 79% 42K 1.9K 625 90 0 5.2K 700 1.2K 0 30 10 1.2K
routerman 80 66% 41K 1.9K 225 35 0 1.2K 1.3K 2.0K 0 20 6 1.5K
Mackland 35 100% 35K 1.1K 250 25 0 11K 350 750 0 7 20 50K
Iceland 10 92% 11K 750 25 4 0 8.7K 33 1.6K 0 9 0 721
MELINUS 4 100% 4.0K 750 0 0 0 4.5K 850 600 0 6 0 15K
RS 4 100% 3.5K 150 10 3 0 950 400 0 0 8 0 4.0K
Zantonia 10 78% 3.2K 150 0 1 0 1.7K 10 350 0 8 0 45K
Naraxi 5 24% 1.4K 350 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 10K
eno 0 0% 600 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 30K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 3.1K 79% 2.0M 62K 22K 2.8K 23K 380K 104K 61K 90 1.7K 520 400K
Four weeks after start, November 6, 2002
It's the day after the US election, and after counting the votes it is apparent that the Libertarians have been crushed and the Republicans have taken over again -- even in Ice World IV. Limbo's Libertarian dream of limited government if failing miserably. 976-SHEEP, Ski, Myseria and SiliconSorcerer are all voting with their battleships that Limbo will be the next country to depart Ice World IV. Governments with industry friendly policies and large defense budgets are dominating the power chart. The few wilderness sectors that the Greens have be able to get designated are being regularly shelled by battleships.
In the past weeks, Amber has angered some of his neighbors by invading both a beep and a RedTape colony. The citizen leader has recently responded by taking his colony back.
routerman joined NamNam and Thistle in attacking Tanugi. However on the following update, routerman was backdoored by Junta who has taken two islands on the opposite side of his empire. Leaders on both sides of this battle are busy making deals in smokey back rooms. This war will probably expand to include additional neighbors soon.
Parpara continues to hold off the combined forces of both Rook and Shakespeare. Parpara has managed to push Rook off one of his colonies and take a Rook colony. However Shakespeare will be growing stronger as he consolidates the territory taken from Iceland.
Mackland is surviving on the bottom of the power chart by making deals with his neighbors. He was recently seen paying protection money to Cathouse by allowing his neighbor to sack his capital.
One of the most vocal battles between nations has been between Zern and 976-SHEEP. This conflict began with Zern boarding a sheep vessel that had wandered into his seal hunting grounds. Since then Sheep vessels have been more aggressively mapping the prime seal breeding grounds. While this conflict has only been naval battles so far, one would expect that the seal breeding grounds will be replaced with petting zoos in the near future.
This has been the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcast Company.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Wed Nov 6 19:54:08 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Zirconia 210 91% 192K 3.4K 1.9K 240 1.8K 72K 12K 11K 20 200 40 20K
Ski 220 85% 172K 3.7K 2.5K 340 8.6K 53K 4.8K 6.7K 70 180 70 15K
976-SHEEP 220 94% 180K 3.9K 2.1K 320 4.0K 45K 4.4K 6.7K 20 210 60 10K
Pendor 165 96% 159K 4.2K 1.7K 170 11K 23K 6.7K 1.6K 30 120 60 5.0K
Cathouse 125 100% 142K 5.0K 3.7K 320 150 22K 3.4K 4.2K 5 140 40 4.7K
Spam 180 93% 141K 4.8K 1.7K 245 1.3K 27K 7.2K 3.6K 10 110 20 10K
Tanugi 150 97% 131K 4.8K 2.6K 145 2.5K 20K 11K 2.1K 20 90 30 10K
beep 110 94% 107K 4.4K 3.1K 285 4.0K 21K 3.6K 4.5K 50 90 30 10K
Junta 130 91% 98K 3.6K 3.6K 380 0 28K 7.3K 7.5K 0 50 30 4.0K
fishing_n 115 95% 106K 3.6K 1.1K 125 2.9K 20K 4.4K 5.7K 2 70 30 5.0K
NamNam 80 100% 84K 950 2.0K 255 5.0K 16K 3.8K 5.8K 4 60 20 25K
Shakespea 175 93% 120K 3.2K 1.4K 140 3.0K 28K 400 4.5K 30 80 20 310
IndustMec 90 100% 88K 2.4K 2.0K 220 5.2K 17K 5.1K 9.2K 20 80 20 2.9K
Wahbit 95 94% 87K 4.7K 1.2K 180 350 14K 4.4K 2.6K 4 80 6 2.9K
Parpara 105 87% 82K 2.7K 1.6K 140 1.1K 15K 4.1K 1.9K 20 60 10 4.7K
Armengar 95 100% 83K 3.4K 625 105 850 18K 5.5K 2.1K 0 70 20 40K
RedTape 70 100% 68K 2.1K 1.3K 260 700 10K 1.5K 3.4K 0 70 30 5.0K
Thistle 100 85% 77K 3.0K 1.6K 185 1.0K 12K 3.1K 2.9K 20 70 20 10K
Myseria 100 78% 66K 3.8K 1.3K 225 5.8K 12K 5.0K 2.5K 8 50 20 15K
Kamoria 70 100% 72K 2.5K 1.2K 105 1.1K 16K 4.3K 1.8K 7 40 10 5.0K
Rook 75 99% 66K 2.2K 1.1K 150 3.0K 13K 4.5K 1.7K 8 40 20 5.0K
SiliconSo 60 91% 57K 1.6K 1.8K 220 2.5K 13K 1.7K 3.5K 1 40 9 5.0K
Amber 55 100% 55K 1.6K 750 95 850 7.9K 2.7K 6.5K 0 30 20 10K
Zern 70 88% 62K 3.0K 1.4K 230 2.4K 12K 1.6K 1.9K 2 60 20 336
Bubastis 60 88% 49K 2.6K 925 125 0 9.2K 950 4.1K 0 40 10 35K
Temekula 35 100% 36K 1.6K 1.5K 165 2.1K 6.1K 6 550 30 6 20 45K
routerman 60 82% 46K 1.8K 300 30 31 1.2K 1.3K 2.5K 1 20 6 1.5K
Mackland 35 100% 34K 2.2K 775 110 0 5.5K 750 450 0 10 20 30K
Limbo 35 49% 20K 1.4K 1.1K 230 0 6.0K 150 150 0 20 9 10K
Iceland 5 86% 3.4K 300 13 3 0 1.8K 5 2 0 5 0 -2.7K
eno 0 0% 600 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 30K
Zantonia 0 0% 900 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 20K
MELINUS 0 0% 0 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 15K
RS 0 0% 0 29 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 603
Naraxi 0 0% 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 -733
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 3.1K 92% 2.7M 89K 48K 5.7K 71K 564K 116K 111K 380 2.2K 710 405K
Six weeks after start, November 16, 2002
One would think that all the water in Ice World IV would protect most nations from attack. However this has not been the case.
Each of the big four nations now controls three start islands each. They are currently expanding their empires by lawnmowing weaker nations on the power chart. Zirconia devoured the the Bubastis empire. Pendor swallowed SiliconSorcerer. 976-SHEEP followed up several weeks of naval engagements with Zern by invading the seal hunter's homeland. Ski finished off Limbo's territory and is now has his sights on the Armengar lands.
Not all of these countries will not make it to the victory circle because the victory declaration will be limited to three countries. Pendor has been openly friendly with Spam and Tanugi. 976-SHEEP has been openly friendly with Wahbit and Shakespeare. Ski has made no public alliances; however, has often worked with 976-SHEEP. Both Zirconia and Cathouse have allied with Mackland, but havn't declared anything with each other yet.
In the past week several nations have flirted with bankruptcy. Both Shakespeare and fishing_nation went broke by cutting their budgets too close. Both have returned to solvency, but their temporary lack of funds gave Parpara a brief break in his multi-front war. Zern went into bankruptcy when 976-SHEEP bombers hit his bank shortly before an update. This small openning allowed Bungy a relatively easy kill of Zern. Wahbit went bankrupt during a Spam raid on the Wahbit capital. While Wahbit is still fighting, Spam was able to inflict critical damage while Wahbit was bankrupt for two updates, and other nations are beginning to eye some of the outlying Wahbit islands.
Several nations are facing attacks on multiple fronts. Amber was dismissed from the game by Real Life and the combined attacks beep and RedTape. routerman has been eliminated by attacks from Junta and Tanugi. However Cathouse jumped several Junta islands while he was engaged with routerman. NamNam has joined Shakespeare and Rook in attacking Parpara. Several other nations have also been assisting the alliance against Parpara. However Parpara has held ground against NamNam and Shakespeare while advancing on Rook.
RedTape continues to lead the tech race, holding over an update lead over most nations. The leading countries are now at jet technology. Doctor Temekula has the most medical research as several countries are beginning to make some research thinking of nuclear weapons in future even though no Ice World Game has reached nuclear tech yet.
This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Sat Nov 16 11:26:56 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Zirconia 265 98% 255K 5.0K 4.0K 605 3.5K 96K 6.8K 19K 170 400 80 35K
Ski 295 87% 255K 7.0K 7.0K 955 18K 85K 4.7K 8.5K 170 340 110 40K
976-SHEEP 270 95% 238K 5.8K 5.0K 625 9.9K 62K 6.9K 10K 120 320 90 15K
Pendor 230 97% 217K 5.5K 4.5K 505 24K 80K 4.3K 6.0K 80 180 50 3.3K
Cathouse 150 100% 184K 9.0K 6.3K 485 1.5K 31K 1.4K 10K 20 190 70 15K
Spam 210 91% 190K 6.8K 3.3K 425 2.3K 44K 4.5K 5.7K 110 150 20 15K
Tanugi 175 95% 164K 5.5K 6.7K 270 6.0K 33K 8.2K 2.9K 90 150 50 5.0K
beep 145 95% 137K 4.6K 3.5K 410 4.5K 34K 5.0K 5.6K 100 120 50 10K
Shakespea 185 97% 166K 5.0K 3.1K 360 14K 39K 1.9K 5.7K 90 90 60 465
fishing_n 110 100% 117K 4.7K 3.9K 530 11K 36K 3.7K 11K 20 110 40 5.0K
NamNam 85 100% 92K 1.4K 4.3K 370 4.6K 23K 2.0K 8.3K 30 70 20 15K
IndustMec 95 100% 101K 5.0K 4.5K 475 11K 19K 4.5K 12K 20 90 30 15K
Junta 125 93% 101K 7.8K 5.9K 625 2.8K 29K 3.6K 5.0K 10 70 50 15K
Parpara 105 95% 90K 2.1K 2.2K 270 1.8K 22K 2.5K 3.6K 60 90 20 5.0K
Myseria 90 89% 85K 5.8K 2.7K 350 15K 17K 2.1K 3.5K 30 70 20 35K
Armengar 75 100% 78K 4.2K 2.2K 265 7.8K 19K 2.5K 8.3K 80 50 50 30K
RedTape 80 100% 76K 3.7K 2.5K 340 1.3K 14K 900 4.3K 30 80 30 286
Rook 80 100% 80K 2.7K 2.5K 190 5.3K 16K 3.5K 5.0K 50 70 30 10K
Kamoria 70 100% 75K 3.5K 2.1K 275 3.1K 22K 3.4K 3.9K 20 60 10 4.0K
Thistle 80 93% 69K 3.1K 1.8K 225 1.4K 13K 3.0K 4.4K 30 70 30 5.0K
Wahbit 65 64% 54K 2.9K 725 185 550 8.7K 2.5K 3.2K 0 80 10 4.8K
Temekula 35 100% 37K 1.7K 1.9K 265 1.7K 8.9K 250 2.2K 40 10 20 40K
Mackland 35 100% 37K 1.6K 1.6K 185 900 7.8K 150 1.2K 8 20 20 15K
Zern 5 87% 6.2K 1.0K 400 60 0 2.7K 0 350 0 40 6 -1.7K
routerman 25 89% 6.3K 600 7 10 0 750 600 2.1K 0 8 3 -1.9K
Bubastis 1 47% 2.5K 450 125 35 0 0 0 1.6K 0 20 0 -6.8K
SiliconSo 1 100% 2.9K 300 300 50 0 0 0 0 0 20 2 -6.7K
Zantonia 0 0% 900 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 15K
eno 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30K
MELINUS 0 0% 0 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 10K
Limbo 0 0% 1 400 125 35 0 0 0 0 0 9 6 -7.4K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 3.1K 95% 2.9M 108K 83K 9.4K 152K 763K 79K 153K 1.4K 3.0K 970 360K
Seven weeks after start, November 24, 2002
This is the Warlord reporting from the battlefields of Ice
World IV. Ski has taken over the yellow jersey as several of
the players of the larger countries are reaching their limits
on the size of country they can manage with only three hours
per day.
Three countries have been eliminated in the past week. Parpara
could no longer hold off against Rook, Shakespeare, and NamNam;
and abandoned his nation. fishing_nation became occupied by
Real Life, and couldn't defend his country against 976-SHEEP
and Ski. Junta has lost significant ground against Cathouse
and RedTape, but continues to fight on his mainland. Shakespeare
gained territory from all three dieing countries, and is now
one of the largest countries.
The battle between Wahbit and Spam is now the longest battle
of the game. This battle is also having a significant impact
on the formation of alliances between countries. Spam had
heavily shelled the Wahbit mainland, and was close to controlling
it, when 976-SHEEP intervened and attacked Spam's position on
the mainland. Spam has formed an alliance with Pendor and
Tanugi. Pendor is now battling 976-SHEEP near the ex-Zern
mainland. Wahbit has also been negociating with Zirconia for
assistance. Zirconia has also attacked some Spam outposts,
and Tanugi has sunk a Zirconia fleet.
RedTape continues to lead the tech race by almost a full update.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Sun Nov 24 22:06:13 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Ski 350 91% 311K 8.8K 12K 1.5K 30K 117K 3.3K 11K 300 400 140 20K
Zirconia 280 98% 292K 6.1K 6.0K 900 8.3K 116K 5.0K 24K 300 560 90 20K
976-SHEEP 330 94% 297K 8.6K 9.2K 965 27K 104K 8.6K 12K 240 430 140 4.7K
Pendor 225 100% 227K 7.5K 6.8K 790 40K 82K 4.7K 4.5K 210 240 70 3.0K
Cathouse 175 93% 201K 9.1K 6.2K 645 2.4K 46K 2.5K 14K 40 220 60 3.9K
Spam 195 98% 196K 6.8K 7.1K 525 3.5K 46K 3.2K 5.2K 160 200 30 3.1K
Tanugi 195 99% 189K 6.7K 11K 390 9.2K 46K 5.5K 3.9K 140 180 60 3.7K
Shakespea 255 91% 207K 7.6K 6.8K 810 23K 46K 1.8K 9.5K 180 120 110 2.1K
beep 155 98% 155K 6.5K 4.9K 500 7.3K 51K 3.7K 8.3K 180 120 60 5.0K
NamNam 100 97% 98K 2.3K 6.6K 595 7.3K 21K 1.0K 11K 50 90 20 15K
Rook 120 98% 104K 4.0K 4.4K 595 6.4K 30K 2.6K 7.8K 130 110 30 15K
RedTape 115 91% 103K 5.0K 3.7K 340 8.2K 34K 1.1K 6.9K 30 80 30 129
IndustMec 85 100% 94K 4.0K 5.5K 765 11K 20K 6.2K 14K 30 100 30 5.0K
Myseria 80 100% 84K 6.2K 3.6K 465 26K 19K 1.4K 3.0K 50 70 20 20K
Thistle 75 100% 80K 3.6K 2.3K 350 2.5K 15K 1.7K 8.0K 80 80 40 4.6K
Armengar 65 100% 66K 3.2K 5.3K 420 9.0K 22K 200 8.8K 100 40 50 25K
Kamoria 75 100% 76K 4.2K 3.1K 445 6.2K 21K 2.7K 4.5K 30 70 10 2.7K
Temekula 35 100% 37K 1.8K 2.5K 365 5.2K 7.5K 50 2.5K 30 10 20 30K
Junta 45 96% 40K 3.2K 1.4K 215 3.2K 8.9K 1.9K 5.0K 30 20 40 20K
Wahbit 50 68% 39K 2.5K 1.3K 190 300 6.1K 1.6K 2.2K 10 80 20 4.4K
Mackland 35 100% 37K 1.4K 1.2K 230 850 12K 250 1.6K 10 30 30 10K
Parpara 20 100% 13K 1.1K 700 115 0 3.1K 100 1.1K 10 60 1 35K
fishing_n 10 92% 20K 900 1.4K 210 2.5K 3.5K 200 3.5K 3 60 8 15K
eno 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30K
Zantonia 0 0% 900 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 10K
routerman 4 100% 1.7K 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -6.8K
MELINUS 0 0% 0 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 10K
Zern 0 0% 650 800 225 60 0 0 0 0 0 30 2 -21K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 3.1K 95% 3.0M 112K 114K 12K 239K 878K 59K 171K 2.3K 3.4K 1.1K 225K
Eight weeks after start, December 3, 2002
Today we are reporting from the broad Zirconia front. Many nations have had to face multiple opponents during Ice World IV, and it is now Zirconia's turn. Earlier in the week, Zirconia and 976-SHEEP declared an alliance. Zirconia was already engaged with Tanugi and Spam who along with Pendor form the other major alliance in the game, when he was attacked by NamNam, Thistle, and Rook. This attack was partitally a response for Zirconia grabbing two small Parpara islands after Rook and NamNam had driven Parpara from the game. Zirconia losses were great over the Thanksgiving Holiday as he wasn't around from Thursday morning until Sunday -- missing two updates.
976-SHEEP is also engaged with multiple enemies, but hasn't lost as much ground. 976-SHEEP is currently battling beep, Pendor and Spam. This battle began as 976-SHEEP came to the aid of his ally Wahbit. Both Wahbit and 976-SHEEP have sacked
Spam and Pendor airports over the past week; however, Pendor just sank a major SHEEP fleet just this morning.
While this major battle goes on, Ski continues to be uninvolved and is munching on the small country of Armengar. Cathouse was attacked by Myseria mid-week. However Cathouse had just finished his invasion of Junta and quickly responded to Myseria by taking a pair of islands.
All twelve of the top countries have a plausible shot at victory at the end of the game. RedTape continues to lead in the tech race, but hasn't increased his lead over the past two weeks. The tech leaders can currently build SAMs. Cathouse has taken over the research lead and already has enough research to build the largest nukes even though technology won't reach nuke tech until January 1st.
This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Tue Dec 3 16:26:29 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Ski 370 100% 381K 8.7K 21K 1.9K 51K 139K 1.4K 16K 410 450 150 15K
976-SHEEP 325 99% 327K 10K 13K 1.4K 40K 131K 4.1K 14K 400 410 160 10K
Zirconia 230 96% 240K 6.8K 6.3K 1.4K 11K 85K 1.5K 18K 300 470 60 2.4K
Cathouse 230 92% 262K 11K 9.2K 945 7.5K 72K 4.2K 18K 90 250 60 5.0K
Pendor 225 100% 232K 7.5K 8.0K 860 49K 72K 1.4K 4.7K 240 270 110 4.9K
Tanugi 205 96% 205K 7.8K 13K 450 11K 50K 2.4K 4.5K 200 210 60 10K
Shakespea 255 99% 244K 10K 12K 1.7K 29K 61K 250 16K 240 180 160 4.0K
Spam 195 100% 206K 8.9K 12K 880 16K 57K 1.4K 4.2K 190 190 70 10K
beep 165 99% 165K 8.1K 6.5K 660 12K 65K 3.5K 10K 220 120 60 15K
Rook 150 97% 141K 7.3K 6.0K 795 12K 33K 3.0K 14K 160 130 30 5.0K
NamNam 135 88% 116K 4.0K 9.4K 870 12K 35K 750 13K 60 110 30 5.0K
RedTape 120 99% 118K 5.3K 5.8K 535 12K 40K 1.1K 7.2K 110 100 30 1.7K
IndustMec 80 100% 89K 4.3K 5.6K 895 12K 27K 6.1K 16K 50 100 30 10K
Thistle 85 87% 82K 4.2K 3.9K 575 5.0K 14K 1.4K 7.7K 100 110 40 15K
Myseria 70 100% 68K 6.5K 4.4K 625 27K 24K 1.7K 2.6K 60 70 30 15K
Kamoria 80 94% 78K 4.2K 3.9K 590 9.2K 16K 1.8K 6.0K 50 60 10 4.3K
Armengar 40 93% 40K 2.4K 4.5K 510 7.8K 12K 150 8.2K 80 30 40 5.0K
Temekula 35 100% 37K 1.6K 2.4K 405 4.8K 8.0K 40 2.7K 60 20 30 60K
Wahbit 55 100% 55K 3.0K 2.5K 345 550 10K 33 2.0K 40 100 20 2.9K
Mackland 35 100% 37K 1.4K 2.7K 510 850 16K 150 2.1K 10 40 30 4.6K
Junta 10 99% 7.5K 250 75 10 0 850 1.9K 2.1K 0 6 0 20K
fishing_n 3 100% 3.6K 250 325 50 750 1 0 1.6K 1 20 8 -2.8K
Parpara 0 0% 0 300 275 75 0 0 0 0 0 30 0 20K
eno 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30K
Zantonia 0 0% 900 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 4.4K
MELINUS 0 0% 0 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 5.0K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 3.1K 97% 3.1M 125K 153K 17K 328K 966K 38K 191K 3.1K 3.5K 1.2K 190K
Ten weeks after start, December 14, 2002
This morning we're reporting from the edge of the Empire black hole that causes Empire worlds to be shaped like a toroid and occasionally causes distortions in time. Ice World IV recently passed too close to the black hole as an upgrade was done to the server machine. It escaped without having to resort to a backup, but the past two updates had to be cancelled and some of the news reports are out of order.
On the field of battle, Zirconia continues to face off against five other nations. Zirconia has been holding on very well, and has recently been gaining ground on Rook. Surface ships are having a harder time navigating in the world as most nations are making heavy use of harpoons.
The 976-SHEEP dictator reports losing hundreds of planes and ships in the past week as he has exchanged an island with Pendor nine times. 976-SHEEP's latest tactic has been to station minimal fleets in the warzone to act as Pendor targets. "As long as penrod is spending time sinking my fleets, it's time he's not attacking my islands." Many nations of the world, have been using similiar tactics in order to run their opponents out of time.
Ski continues to be the fastest growing country. This is mostly due to strategy rather than tactics. Ski has continued to select to attack weak opponents at the right time, and has managed to avoid any conflicts with other powerful nations. Ski has finished off Armengar and has now seized onto Rook's recent weakness.
The last main battle is between Cathouse/Resvon vs. Shakespeare/Myseria. This battle began for the noblest of reasons -- Myseria was bored and decided to attack Cathouse. Cathouse has now taken back the island Myseria stole from him and few extra islands to boot. Resvon has attacked and taken an island from Myseria's biggest supporter, Shakespeare. This battle will only increase as the non-aggression pact between Cathouse and Shakespeare will end after the next update.
RedTape has changed his country name to Resvon. Some attentive countries had noticed that Administrator Derm was Mr. Ed spelled backwards. Mr. Ed took offense to the last report of not increasing his tech lead and has now stepped up production to increase it again.
This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Mon Nov 25 02:49:35 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money Ski 425 98% 411K 11K 28K 2.8K 74K 168K 1.4K 20K 600 490 150 10K 976-SHEEP 325 95% 313K 11K 18K 1.8K 50K 164K 4.0K 14K 570 450 150 4.6K Cathouse 240 98% 289K 13K 14K 1.2K 9.2K 101K 3.1K 21K 160 270 60 15K Zirconia 275 88% 242K 5.5K 5.9K 825 15K 93K 1.4K 17K 470 320 90 981 Pendor 225 100% 231K 7.8K 7.5K 880 50K 81K 350 3.5K 270 280 120 3.3K Tanugi 210 99% 211K 8.1K 13K 480 9.8K 63K 3.1K 6.6K 270 210 60 4.9K Shakespea 245 99% 258K 10K 14K 2.1K 35K 68K 300 19K 480 200 180 679 Spam 205 99% 211K 8.6K 12K 765 21K 54K 2.5K 3.8K 210 160 80 4.5K NamNam 125 100% 140K 2.8K 14K 710 16K 53K 650 16K 50 100 20 4.8K beep 165 100% 169K 7.5K 8.5K 790 18K 65K 3.2K 12K 230 130 60 3.9K Resvon 130 95% 124K 6.0K 4.3K 455 12K 39K 2.1K 7.2K 120 100 20 2.6K Rook 110 94% 110K 6.3K 6.9K 785 19K 21K 1.2K 12K 150 130 60 20K IndustMec 80 100% 89K 4.6K 6.5K 915 17K 28K 2.0K 16K 140 120 30 4.6K Kamoria 90 97% 84K 4.6K 4.8K 785 9.4K 19K 950 5.5K 80 70 20 3.6K Myseria 60 100% 65K 5.6K 5.2K 785 27K 24K 1.4K 2.9K 70 40 20 2.9K Thistle 70 100% 78K 3.4K 3.3K 550 6.4K 18K 1.1K 6.1K 100 110 30 3.2K Temekula 35 100% 37K 1.9K 4.5K 490 4.8K 8.2K 20 3.8K 60 20 30 115K Mackland 35 100% 37K 2.0K 4.2K 670 850 10K 150 2.5K 30 40 30 5.0K Wahbit 55 79% 46K 2.2K 1.2K 280 1.1K 8.1K 100 2.7K 50 80 20 10K Parpara 0 0% 0 300 250 75 0 0 0 0 0 30 0 3.4K fishing_n 3 100% 3.0K 46 100 10 750 1 0 600 0 0 0 -4.1K Junta 2 60% 150 100 75 10 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 10K eno 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30K Zantonia 0 0% 900 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 -662 MELINUS 0 0% 0 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 2.9K ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- worldwide 3.1K 97% 3.1M 122K 177K 18K 398K 1.1M 29K 192K 4.1K 3.4K 1.2K 170K
Eleven weeks after start, December 24, 2002
Happy Holidays from Ice World IV. Once again an Ice World game has reached Christmas and required a pause in the game. Several players tried to end the game by declaring victory, but the declaration has been contested.
The Spam alliance has been defeated. Most of their countries still have significant power; however their will to fight is gone. Their collapse begun as they were unable to advance on 976-SHEEP and Zirconia dispite greater number and resources. Rook then became occupied by real life and lost much of his territory. In order to emphasize the point, Ski attacked beep's flank shortly after beep lost most of his fleet while attacking 976-SHEEP. Breaking your opponents will to fight remains a key of Empire.
With the collapse of the Spam alliance, Ski, 976-SHEEP, and Zirconia declared victory. Resvon and Cathouse have contested the victory. Resvon has a three update tech lead over three countries that have declared victory and nuclear weapons are only a couple weeks away. However several former nations of the Spam alliance have now pledged their support to the countries that have declared victory. So Resvon, Cathouse and their allies will soon face off against most of the rest of the world. Resvon and Cathouse will have to hold off more numerous troups until the nuclear card can be played.
This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Tue Dec 24 10:29:44 2002
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money Ski 445 100% 434K 12K 35K 3.5K 107K 189K 1.1K 26K 770 580 170 20K 976-SHEEP 335 99% 348K 14K 23K 1.9K 59K 150K 1.4K 13K 690 630 180 15K Cathouse 260 100% 301K 13K 19K 1.4K 18K 93K 1.9K 20K 210 270 80 4.8K Zirconia 290 89% 254K 6.0K 6.3K 1.1K 18K 124K 1.1K 15K 380 300 70 10K Pendor 225 100% 232K 8.9K 12K 1.0K 47K 74K 350 4.3K 380 300 130 10K Tanugi 210 98% 213K 7.0K 14K 325 8.4K 81K 1.6K 7.8K 320 170 70 50K NamNam 125 100% 144K 5.5K 17K 1.4K 18K 47K 450 20K 100 120 30 25K Shakespea 230 100% 246K 9.9K 16K 2.6K 39K 59K 300 21K 630 210 180 314 Spam 175 98% 181K 9.0K 11K 790 26K 54K 400 4.6K 230 150 80 30K Resvon 140 100% 135K 6.2K 5.9K 450 14K 36K 1.8K 6.9K 140 100 20 10K beep 140 100% 145K 5.3K 4.2K 500 16K 53K 3.1K 13K 260 110 50 15K Rook 110 98% 113K 12K 9.7K 850 29K 26K 1.3K 10K 160 120 60 2.8K IndustMec 80 100% 89K 5.8K 8.9K 1.1K 17K 33K 1.7K 17K 170 120 30 15K Kamoria 90 100% 90K 4.5K 6.0K 975 9.3K 34K 650 4.8K 130 70 20 4.5K Thistle 80 94% 80K 4.2K 4.0K 740 8.0K 21K 900 6.4K 130 140 30 20K Myseria 55 100% 59K 4.5K 6.5K 940 25K 19K 900 2.6K 80 50 20 1.6K Temekula 35 100% 37K 2.4K 5.6K 510 4.8K 8.8K 0 4.3K 50 20 30 185K Wahbit 55 100% 55K 3.3K 3.2K 495 2.0K 12K 100 2.4K 140 100 20 10K Mackland 20 100% 35K 500 3.3K 540 750 9.4K 50 2.1K 40 30 20 10K fishing_n 3 100% 2.2K 46 100 10 750 1 0 600 0 0 0 -2.0K Junta 1 100% 31 100 75 10 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 10K Parpara 0 0% 0 200 225 60 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 -4.4K eno 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30K MELINUS 0 0% 0 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 991 Zantonia 0 0% 600 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 -2.5K ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- worldwide 3.1K 98% 3.2M 133K 211K 21K 468K 1.1M 19K 202K 5.0K 3.6K 1.3K 365K
Ice World IV is now over with Ski, 976-SHEEP, and Zirconia being declared the winners. All three of these nations followed similiar strategies. They each were amoung the leaders in number of exploritory ships built early in the game, and they found a lot of small free islands. This gave them the ability to grow faster than thier neighbors. The exploritory ships also allowed them to find weak neighbors first. They each bagged a newbie in the third week of the game (Ski/eno, 976-SHEEP/Naraxi, and Zirconia/MELINUS). Spam, Pendor, and Shakespeare were also following similiar strategies and had grabbed lots of land and bagged a newbie in the third week.
Cathouse had also made lots of ships early, and found a moderate amount of free land. Cathouse was ready to invade Mackland very early on, even before anyone else had done a cap sack. Mackland started off fairly well, but then started to give
his free islands away. I think he wanted to do what Wicked did in IW3, not realizing that the venture capital formula had changed. Cathouse had his entire army ready for an invasion, and I was logged on as Cathouse navigated a cargo ship over to check out the Mackland harbor only to find out that Mackland had moved his harbor. In the following telegrams, Cathouse was finally convinced to accept Mackland's offer of free supplies in exchange for allowing Mackland to live; and the Cathouse armies headed for Junta. For the rest of the game, Mackland allowed Cathouse to sack his capital each update and lived under Cathouse's protection.
Tanugi also got off to a fast start grabbing lots of free land. However this angered two of his neighbors who thought the High Priest Matata was being too greedy and overextended. Tanugi found himself under attack from both NamNam and Thistle. NamNam and Thistle had an undeclare alliance even before the first update. Tanugi fought well and only lost a couple islands despite a surprise attack, long supply lines, and multiple opponents. However by defending against the attack, he lost out on expanding against fodderous neighbors.
Early on the main battle was between Rook and Parpara. These two nations had a feud remaining from Ice World III, and ended up as neighbors. Note that this was not intentional -- start islands were assigned by a random number generator. Rook
immediately attacked Parpara. As the battle waged on, Rook convinced Shakespeare and NamNam to join the attack against Parpara. At first, Shakespeare only made a small effort against Parpara, but attacked with greater ferocity once he had defeated the newbie Iceland. Rook had to broker a cease fire between Tanugi and NamNam before NamNam joined the battle. Soon Parpara became frustrated with the time limit while defending against three opponents and left the game. However Parpara was holding on well until he departed.
Meanwhile Ski, 976-SHEEP, Zirconia, and Pendor had all moved on to thier second kill each against semi-experienced players. Ski moved in on Limbo who abandoned his country without any notice just before Ski attacked, which really annoyed Limbo's allies. 976-SHEEP and Zern had a long going naval battle going as 976-SHEEP sent a continuous stream of ships into Zern territory to map a spy on him. Bungy finally attacked, and quickly disabled Zern by bombing his bank right before an update. With Zern bankrupt, 976-SHEEP had an entire weekend to dismantle Zern's defenses and keep him broke by sacking Zern's capital. Zirconia attacked Bubastis who early drove his economy into ruin by building tech too fast too quickly. Pendor attacked SiliconSorcerer who had sent much of his fleet to assist Zern.
Spam got involved in a battle against Wahbit. This battle began over a single sector on a island these two nations both landed on. The two nations argued over who landed on the island first (for the record, Wahbit did land on the island one update before Spam did). Spam refused to give up the sector despite having found twice as much free land as Wahbit had, and threatened to take 35 sectors (the size of the start islands) if Wahbit took the sector. Wahbit ended up taking the sector, and the battle was on.
Tanugi, Spam, and Pendor were the first to declare a major alliance. With Pendor's help, Spam almost eliminated Wahbit. However Wahbit had friendly relations with 976-SHEEP, and Bungy rushed to his aid just as the Wahbit mainland was about to fall. Zirconia who had friendly relations with 976-SHEEP, promised aid to Thistle against Tanugi and Pendor. He also began cooperating with Wahbit to battle Spam. However Zirconia was also Parpara's ally in Ice World III. As Parpara was leaving the game, he gave maps of his territory to Zirconia so his former ally could grab part of his territory. This offended the Rook alliance which had driven Parpara from the game, and delayed Zirconia's aid to Thistle. Pretty soon 976-SHEEP, Wahbit, and Zirconia were facing off against Tanugi, Thistle, NamNam, Rook, Spam, Pendor, and beep -- with Zirconia facing the most opponents on the longest border.
Ski continued to avoid major battles against highly experienced opponents. First taking parts of fishing_nation whose defenses were compromised when his ally Limbo abandoned the game. fishing_nation quickly ceded his territory to 976-SHEEP and Shakespeare rather than allow Ski to get it. Ski then moved on to Armengar. Armengar survived early by appeasing Ski by abandoning all islands they shared. As Ski attacked, Armengar didn't try to defend any of his remote islands, but dug in on his homeland. Once Ski finally attacked the mainland, it took three updates for him to subdue it.
Spam was growing tired of the game and began to encourage his allies to give up. With Armengar gone, Ski finally got involved in the main battle by attacking Rook. However Rook had gotten busy in Real Life and quickly lost several islands to Ski and Zirconia. Rook agreed to peace, and Spam begged Ski to declare victory. Ski decided to ally with 976-SHEEP and Zirconia. He then gave notice to beep that he was ending their non-aggresion pact just a few hours after 976-SHEEP had sunk the main beep battle fleet. With most of his navy destroyed, beep was destined to lose several of his southern islands, and the Ski, 976-SHEEP, and Zirconia alliance declared victory.
This did not sit well with Resvon and Cathouse who had been pushing tech most of the game and were only a couple weeks away from nukes. They contested the win; however most of Spam alliance decided to support the win and turned on Resvon and Cathouse. Only beep decided to continue to oppose the win with Resvon and Cathouse. The battles in Ice World IV were mostly quiet over the Christmas period as nations moved armies for the new world order. Guns rung out again as the new year came. However that didn't last long as Cathouse had to withdraw from the game.
A full movie of the game can be found at http://empire.wolfpaw.net/map.mpg.
[Editor's note: a copy of that mpeg may be found here as well.]
Blue coloring on countries in the power chart indicates the winners of the game.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Sat Jan 4 16:01:49 2003
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Ski 463 100% 478K 13K 44K 4.3K 132K 206K 7.3K 28K 931 724 172 22K
76636.64
976-SHEEP 407 96% 410K 14K 36K 3.0K 65K 172K 1.3K 15K 885 702 189 50K
49666.40
Zirconia 350 91% 298K 11K 16K 1.5K 24K 141K 960 14K 515 433 65 85K
37613.19
Pendor 243 96% 241K 9.5K 17K 1.3K 47K 83K 283 6.8K 420 329 143 21K
28707.48
Shakespea 296 91% 302K 14K 20K 2.8K 46K 76K 296 23K 658 235 191 12K
26475.80
Tanugi 211 99% 218K 8.6K 19K 357 14K 99K 954 6.8K 410 203 79 76K
25922.59
NamNam 126 100% 145K 3.9K 16K 1.7K 20K 48K 364 25K 184 131 44 36K
23549.06
Cathouse 113 99% 154K 5.9K 13K 945 6.7K 43K 2.0K 16K 45 244 11 25K
19282.10
Spam 171 98% 169K 13K 11K 785 22K 77K 734 5.7K 217 139 77 9.5K
16737.64
beep 123 100% 127K 5.4K 3.7K 488 14K 43K 3.0K 11K 236 88 48 56K
14615.71
Rook 113 99% 120K 8.3K 12K 793 35K 40K 851 11K 158 117 55 68K
12535.73
Resvon 105 99% 109K 2.2K 3.2K 153 11K 33K 853 3.9K 69 63 16 42K
12479.45
Kamoria 89 100% 94K 5.2K 7.2K 1.2K 10K 40K 416 6.0K 159 81 15 14K
10589.02
Thistle 89 97% 87K 4.8K 4.4K 758 9.0K 23K 745 6.1K 147 150 37 22K
10231.73
Myseria 60 93% 60K 6.3K 8.3K 1.1K 24K 17K 657 3.2K 126 58 29 8.8K
8241.67
IndustMec 49 90% 51K 2.8K 4.5K 677 9.9K 16K 803 9.5K 54 78 13 25K
6622.27
Temekula 35 100% 37K 2.8K 6.4K 513 4.8K 8.7K 80 4.5K 62 24 27 245K
5480.65
Wahbit 55 100% 59K 3.2K 3.8K 502 5.4K 16K 2 3.2K 151 104 23 28K
3636.12
fishing_n 3 100% 2.0K 46 100 8 745 1 0 604 0 0 0 -1.1K
98.88
eno 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29K
46.11
Junta 1 100% 31 28 73 12 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 5.6K
41.51
Mackland 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9.4K
35.26
MELINUS 0 0% 0 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 -404
6.75
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 3.1K 97% 3.2M 133K 244K 23K 500K 1.2M 22K 199K 5.4K 3.9K 1.2K 770K
Blue coloring on countries in the report indicates the winners of the game.
Sat Jan 4 16:01:59 2003
# name tech research education happiness capital
0 Ice Barbarians 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0
1 routerman 104.42 54.93 0.00 0.00 126,40
2 Tanugi 243.08 78.37 23.48 22.93 104,78
3 Armengar 181.07 70.68 0.77 0.00 29,53
4 Zantonia 80.36 54.93 0.00 0.00 -28,72
5 Bubastis 128.55 54.93 0.01 0.00 -114,84
6 Kamoria 252.53 64.69 28.08 13.30 37,87
7 Rook 217.73 54.93 28.81 18.02 -77,57
8 Temekula 209.87 143.78 48.13 0.00 -39,37
9 eno 80.36 54.93 0.00 0.00 71,21
10 MELINUS 87.52 54.93 0.00 0.00 -147,-93
11 Myseria 255.35 123.21 48.88 14.98 -156,18
12 Shakespeare 203.17 54.93 14.36 11.24 -157,19
13 Iceland 99.03 54.93 0.00 0.00 176,26
14 fishing_nation 146.58 54.93 0.03 0.00 -116,26
15 Limbo 128.30 54.93 0.01 0.00 -47,-1
16 Parpara 157.30 54.93 0.03 0.00 -157,57
17 Zirconia 241.57 108.82 18.68 10.62 -145,-89
18 Ski 243.44 102.09 23.93 11.57 7,11
19 Junta 158.60 54.93 0.05 0.00 145,37
20 Naraxi 90.83 54.93 0.00 0.00 -91,-7
21 Resvon 263.88 112.61 53.50 18.66 75,-13
22 Amber 133.56 54.93 0.01 0.00 96,-72
23 Mackland 187.32 54.93 8.59 0.38 182,-38
24 976-SHEEP 231.76 84.65 12.72 10.16 -131,-45
25 beep 244.31 107.74 24.39 0.00 72,-52
26 RS 107.29 54.93 0.00 0.00 69,99
27 IndustMech 252.83 137.91 24.88 24.77 142,-66
28 Cathouse 256.64 124.46 33.91 7.21 133,5
29 SiliconSorcere 133.28 54.93 0.01 0.00 -25,-35
30 NamNam 252.68 54.93 36.74 18.54 174,62
31 Thistle 251.48 54.93 26.62 18.83 156,-100
32 Zern 124.30 54.93 0.01 0.00 -61,-35
33 Wahbit 140.04 54.93 0.01 1.43 -122,-68
34 Spam 225.02 54.93 4.98 43.46 -9,-89
35 Pendor 252.28 85.04 24.67 0.00 9,-81
36 BBC 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0
37 Lurker 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0
38 Mapmaker 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0
And now the Subbies:
Both the yellow and polka-dot jersey went to Ski. With a lot of skill and luck, Ski was able to continue to expand to be the largest country and be on the top of the power chart. Not a single nation fought back against Ski. Limbo's last login was the day before Ski's attack. Even in the final battle, Ski honored his non-aggression pact with Resvon and allowed 976-SHEEP and Zirconia to actively finish off the opposition.
The green jersey goes to Resvon. Resvon pushed tech all game and had a four update lead over the Ski/976-SHEEP/Zirconia alliance and at least one update over everyone else.
The white jersey goes to Zern. Zern is being named the best new comer because he actively tried to resist 976-SHEEP. Even after his mainland had fallen, Zern was trying to get unbroke and fight back. Armengar gets honorable mention for digging
in on his mainland; however he didn't try fight back on any of his colonies.
The Hydra award once again goes to Zirconia for fighting off five opponents at once. Admittedly the fighting this time around wasn't as intense as IW3, but one has to wonder if Zirconia has five heads. Honorable mention goes to Bungy for holding off Spam, Pendor, and beep.
The memorial Mirk-o-Vision award for excellence in announcing goes to Tanugi. Matata's stories of world exploration and needing medical attention for Thistles were hilarious. Zern's announcements on Gargool and sea hunting were also amusing. As was 976-SHEEP's petting zoos, and Resvon's tech reports. No doubt Amber will show up and accuse the award's of being fixed.
The Jerry Jones award for Micromanagement goes to Spam. Spam went to great lengths and pain to micromanage his economy.
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 7 00:07:06 2002
zdone y
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 7 14:28:07 2002
}To all players, thi sis Zantonia, I am looking for anybody who may want to be an ally with me, get in touch wiht via telgram/flash.
}
}
}Zantol
}
Why am I hearing the theme song from "Jaws"?
Cathouse
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Mon Oct 7 14:36:45 2002
} On Mon Oct 7 14:28:07 Cathouse wrote:
} }To all players, thi sis Zantonia, I am looking for anybody who may want to be an ally with me, get in touch wiht via telgram/flash.
} }
} }
} }Zantol
} }
}
} Why am I hearing the theme song from "Jaws"?
}
} Cathouse
}-- End of excerpt from Cathouse
I think the player who was rated "1" on the list has been revealed :)
VIU
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 7 14:43:46 2002
damn it... Now everybody knows I'm a "1" :)
decl w 16
Cathouse
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Mon Oct 7 15:53:36 2002
} On Mon Oct 7 14:43:46 Cathouse wrote:
} damn it... Now everybody knows I'm a "1" :)
}
} decl w 16
} Cathouse
}-- End of excerpt from Cathouse
Yeah, killing you is always a safe bet to survive ;)
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Mon Oct 7 16:28:11 2002
he figured out how to send a message to everyone at once, that ought
to be worth a 3-4 rating at the very least...
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Mon Oct 7 17:38:27 2002
Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Oct 7 18:04:17 2002
__ _
Hi boys! Single White .-:' `; `-._
Sheep looking for open (_, )
farm land for wild ,'o"( )}
grazing and fraternity (__,-' )
hazing. V/MC accepted ( )
Call now 976-SHEEP. `-'._.--._.-'
|tag3
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:17:44 2002
Alright, how many times can I be logged
in before it kicks me out .. and how many
minutes am I allowed to be on each time ..
Come on .. inquiring minds want to know.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:18:20 2002
Never mind on the minutes .. found it...
will make my life easier .. sorta
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:18:39 2002
Anyone got a client that'll run on a NT box?
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:18:50 2002
Damn .. I'm bored .. I need to kill someone.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:19:28 2002
Hot damn .. at least I'm not on the
bottom of the list again ...
Sheesh,
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:20:52 2002
Btw, for those of you who have notified
me... go fuck yourself. I'm not
changing my name. If this Amber
girl or suckass Lord Corwin dude shows
his face, I'm going to thoroughly
fuck him over and anyone that gets in
my way
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 19:18:57 2002
In fact, you're all nothing but a bunch of
panzies. If I had you in a blitz, I'd kick
all your asses
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Tue Oct 8 00:31:18 2002
} he figured out how to send a message to everyone at once, that ought
} to be worth a 3-4 rating at the very least...
Yep, definitely at least a 3. A one doesn't login, doesn't
break sanctuary, and forces the deity to replace him.
Since I have a country on the replacement list, Roddland the
one has been tossed.
Ice.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Tue Oct 8 07:25:20 2002
does the US and NATO have the SLOW_WAR option enabled or something?
it sure takes a long time to get all this red tape processed.
can't we just send in some commando's and take him down?
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Oct 8 07:40:28 2002
Amber,
WinACE runs on NT as a GUI app.
The Windows client from the Empire website runs in an NT DOS box.
Raw telnet is also an option...
> Announcement from Mackland, (#23) dated Tue Oct 8 08:36:35 2002
anyone know who S or 7 is (from blitz.empire.cx)?
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Tue Oct 8 09:41:15 2002
The first prophecy:
"MY world is bigger than the few huts you are living in. Go and
explore MY world. You will find good friends and you will have to
fight Evil. But those who anxiously stay in their place are not worthy
of MY loving kindness."
And so the Tanugians left their village and found out that they were
on an island. There was water all around, and Klaupe, a
young warrior, said: "I'll swim out into the world and will tell you
what we have to expect there!" and jumped into the water. Klaupe was
the best swimmer, he could cross the village's pond six times. The
Tanugians stood at the beach for hours, waiting for his return....
Then Matata, the priest, said: He must have found either good friends
and is now partying with them, so we should follow him. Or he faced
Evil and died, in which case we should follow him in numbers, face
Evil and crush it. And King Hakuna gave orders to cut some trees,
build rafts, and sail out into the unknown.
> Announcement from Bubastis, (#5) dated Tue Oct 8 15:17:13 2002
>> Announcement from (18) Ski dated Tue Oct 8 15:37:07 2002
>Amber,
>WinACE runs on NT as a GUI app.
>The Windows client from the Empire website runs in an NT DOS box.
>Raw telnet is also an option...
Or you can use ptkei.
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Tue Oct 8 16:23:54 2002
Just to make sure everyone is clear on the conditions for the
victory declaration, no more than 10% of 35 starting countries
means a maximum of 3 countries will be recognized.
To be fair to the players that did not play in the test game,
you can download a copy of the Ice World IV plane file at:
http://empire.wolfpaw.net/plane.c
Actually there was a last minute plane addition that wasn't
in the test game either.
The test game and real game have slightly different land
configurations. There is a lot of free land out there. And
a friggin HUGE amount of water.
Ice.
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Tue Oct 8 17:09:19 2002
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Wed Oct 9 00:18:16 2002
Hot damn .. I'm on top .. told
you fuckers I'd win...
I'm declaring the top 3 players to
be the whiners of the game ...
Who dares to disagree.
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Wed Oct 9 01:53:12 2002
Dear Amber,
The chance of you winning this game are about the same
as Mr Saddam being around to attend the next "Gassing
your neighbors" convention ... and for the same reasons.
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Wed Oct 9 05:17:22 2002
Amber,
Your lack of iron production on the first update shows
all that you do not understand efficient edu and tech
production. You must make edu as soon as possible before
you civ population ramps up (exponentially). Tech production
is most efficient if you make a constant amount throughout
the game - even more so with log base 3. You cannot make
up the difference later no matter how much money you through
err... throw into it.
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Wed Oct 9 07:28:46 2002
Hard to argue with someone who claims to be
one of the top three whiners of the game...
Cathouse
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Wed Oct 9 19:31:13 2002
From the top of his palace towers, the Sultan surveyed his minions below. From this vantage point, he could see from coast to coast in all directions. Clusters of igloos dotted the landscape, and the peasants went about their daily work clad in the heavy furs. In the mines and the forests they toiled and sweated to acculmulate the building materials of a nation.
The Sultan's eyes furrowed and he frowned in a concerned fashion. "Ah, my people deserve so much better than this" he muttered, casting his eyes across the icy landscape. "I dream of land of warmth and plenty. A land of rich deep soils, fertile seas and forests of date palms as far as the eye can see. " He lifted his gaze to the foam crested waves on the horizon. "Somewhere out there, such a land exists."
The chronicals of Zern.
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Wed Oct 9 19:35:26 2002
From the top of his palace towers, the Sultan surveyed his minions
below. From this vantage point, he could see from coast to coast in
all directions. Clusters of igloos dotted the landscape, and the
peasants went about their daily work clad in the heavy furs. In the
mines and the forests they toiled and sweated to acculmulate the
building materials of a nation.
The Sultan's eyes furrowed and he frowned in a concerned fashion.
"Ah, my people deserve so much better than this" he muttered,
casting his eyes across the icy landscape. "I dream of land of warmth
and plenty. A land of rich deep soils, fertile seas and forests of date
palms as far as the eye can see. " He lifted his gaze to the foam crested
waves on the horizon. "Somewhere out there, such a land exists."
The chronicals of Zern.
> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Wed Oct 9 19:42:51 2002
>> Announcement from (32) Zern dated Thu Oct 10 11:28:29 2002
>The Sultan's eyes furrowed and he frowned in a concerned fashion.
>"Ah, my people deserve so much better than this" he muttered,
>casting his eyes across the icy landscape. "I dream of land of
>warmth and plenty. A land of rich deep soils, fertile seas and
>forests of date palms as far as the eye can see. "
"warmth and plenty"..."deep"..."fertile"..."date"..."palms"....
Is this Zern-speak for "The Sultan wants to pound sheep"?
Administrator Derm
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Thu Oct 10 02:04:12 2002
From his youth the Sultan had sailed the shallow waters of the Bay of Zern, honing his seamanship by
racing his brothers around the floating icebergs and hunting the Zern fur seals for their sweet meat,
thick furs and the tallow for candles. But that was so long ago ...
long before the ice had moved down
from the north and enfrosted the landscape in a deep winter. Where
once the people looked forward to a brief summer, now the ice was
everlasting.
The Sultan however, was an optimist. The climate, while not
without its drawbacks, did confer a certain beauty to the landscape
that did not go unnoticed. In the early morning, the first sunlight
shimmered and sparkled across the ice. The cry of sea birds of every
kind filled the air, and penguins,
seals and walruses lazed on the rocky beaches. The peace
and tranquility of the landscape was breathtaking.
The Sultan smiled and called to his servant. "Fetch my harpoon ...
we're going hunting."
The Chronicals of Zern.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Oct 10 14:03:34 2002
the suspense!
> Announcement from SiliconSorcerer, (#29) dated Thu Oct 10 17:38:46 2002
Suspense, you said it!
So did he find the sheep? What did he do when he did? Was that him with the sheep in the URL posted on the newsgroup?
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Oct 10 19:52:17 2002
sorry, the URL you mentioned has no affiliation with 976-SHEEP.
however, the following URL is:
http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/bungholio/SheepDungeon.html
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Fri Oct 11 03:20:39 2002
There is a story, that had been told since time immemorial,
to the children of Zern. It is about a monster
that lurks deep in the icy seas. Although no-one has actually
survived to give an eye witness
description of this monster, it is believed to be massive
and terrible. It lives in the seas surrounding
Zern, although it is not know how far its natural range
actually extends.
Many a grieving widow was made the day that their husbands
met this monster on the high seas, in the
small fishing boats that troll the waters of the Grand Straights
of Zern.... boats that disappeared without
a trace .. into the icey depths. They call it "Gargool .... the fiend
of the sea, monster of the depths and the eater of ships."
But as I said ... this is only a story for children.
The Chronicals of Zern.
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Fri Oct 11 04:58:40 2002
The fourty-second day of the journey...
"we are out here far too long. No land in sight. We were crazy to go
on this trip. Where is Matata, the priest?"
"He's in the cabin, for his rituals, my king."
"Have him come up on deck."
"King Hakuna, what a pleasure to see you. How can I serve you today?"
"Matata, I'm worried. We are at sea for weeks, haven't seen land since
we left Tanugi. Our food reserves are low, we reduced rations three
times already."
"Buuurrps. Excuse me, my King. We are on a mission, our Gods want to test
us. We should be patient, the new land is not far away. I learned this
when I sacrificed some food this morning."
"Uh, Matata. You are the priest. Your faith in the prophecies seems to
be endless. You even don't seem to suffer from our food shortage."
"Food will be plenty in the new world, Hakuna. We shall not listen to
our stomachs. And would you please now excuse me - I want to go back
to the cabin to the rituals. I just had a vision that the Gods require
another sacrifice of holy beer."
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Fri Oct 11 05:08:48 2002
Beer. Beer!
Did someone mention beer? And Holy Beer at that?
You know, they had a sign up over the door leading into
the Leasdership Class that said:
"Beer and BTU's Don't Mix"
I never passed that class, go figure.
So Tanugi has some beer. The hunt is on!
> Announcement from fishing_nation, (#14) dated Fri Oct 11 05:14:21 2002
Starvation *again*?
<look of unbelief>
Didn't anybody sent those guys some tips on how
to feed their population?
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Fri Oct 11 07:37:22 2002
wow there's lots of water out there. I think we should all go out
and rent the movie "waterworld" for inspiration. that would be a good
homework assignment for everyone, and to help kill idle time waiting
57 more hours for the next update. besides, that kevin costner guy
is pretty cool.
976-SHEEP
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Fri Oct 11 19:08:41 2002
hmmm ... Treasure Island might be more exciting.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Fri Oct 11 21:33:16 2002
i want another update
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Fri Oct 11 21:57:46 2002
Vote "y" for zdone :)
> Announcement from IndustMech, (#27) dated Sat Oct 12 12:08:20 2002
y
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Mon Oct 14 05:04:42 2002
What the Empire News will read:
Rook civilians starve in disasterous famine.
What will be published in the the Castle Daily:
Headlines:
Migrant workers go on strike.
No food in the supermarkets
Emergency workers sent to the farm district
Strikers sent to Gulag
Anti-war protesters march on capital.
"There's enough food on each ship
to feed 2 counties!! Why are we
looking to colonize when we can't feed
ourselves" Helen Waite, protester
Naval Commander-in-Chief recalled for incompetence.
"All you see is sea? What kind of response is
that?"
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Mon Oct 14 05:04:56 2002
What really happened:
Stupid ruler, juggling multiple RL responsibilites,
including helping daughter get to the next level on
Pokemon moves civs out of 'a' to 'c' without
checking impact on food production.
The whole reason was to improve BTU production
when (now if) islands were/are ever discovered....
Burned over 100 BTU's moving uw's to an empty
sector to starve them off without affecting
("significantly")
the rest of production, and juggling civs
to save their frickin' asses.
This country is on a maintenance diet, no
growth thus update. Only 8 food short for
starvation, a whopping 116 for no growth...
Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered...
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 14 10:52:54 2002
In the interests of fair play,
this is to inform you that I have
laid claim to all areas out to 25
sectors from my most northern,
eastern, western and southern shores.
Anyone disputing this statement may
file a complain with the Bureau of
Extra-Regional Affairs, C/O W.E. Grabbum
Or
You may contact our attorneys,
Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.
Your cooperation in vacating all structures
and or occupied lands will be greatly
appreciated.
> Announcement from Thistle, (#31) dated Mon Oct 14 11:56:48 2002
--------------------------------------
In response to Extra-regional Affairs:
Since your dept is interested in
'fair play' all nations complying may
assume to be compensated at market value
since this appears to be a 'eminent domain'
case.
Ambers accountants should calculate the FMV
as the future value of all cash streams
as generated from 'v' and 'b' sectors
using a generous interest rate and exchange
funds into the selling nations monetary
unit.
The Bank of Thistle is expected
to earn a commission for all exchanges.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Oct 14 12:53:46 2002
is there any way we can convince the deity to enable the zdone function?
this waiting 30 hours per update is unbearable!
I'd vote for the formula for a zdone to occur when 1/2 the active countries
+5 vote yes. Thus, if you are one of the pansies that wants to de-cap,
then you do not count in the equation. so with 35 active countries,
that makes it: 35/2 + 5 = 22.5 zdone's. That's not unrealistic.
SirShaggsalot
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 14 14:15:40 2002
It should be 100% to force the update. Some people might not log in till right before the update in these early stages since it's unlikely that anybody will attack them yet.
Unless you'd rather have people quit when they come in and find an unexpected update happened while they were away.
Cathouse
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 14 15:21:27 2002
We've heard an argument for and against
a proposed change in the zdone formula.
What say the people?
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Mon Oct 14 15:51:25 2002
bZdone = true
> Announcement from Thistle, (#31) dated Mon Oct 14 15:53:41 2002
Keep the update schedule as is.
We all knew the schedule when we
joined the game. Some people may
not have joined if the time between
updates were any sooner.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Oct 14 17:08:55 2002
re: zdones
ok, points well taken. I guess I am the only one without a life and
lives update to update. does nobody else log in hourly to check to see
if somehow mob_access got accidently turned on or something?
anyway, just kicking back some cold ones here, listing to some Rammstein.
976-SH33P
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Mon Oct 14 17:37:22 2002
I'd vote for mob access in a heartbeat.
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Mon Oct 14 18:06:15 2002
You've got to admire Bubastis ... he's
cranking tech and building ships ... sadly,
he hasn't found a spot of land and now we are
all hoping to see him go broke ...
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Mon Oct 14 18:54:50 2002
I'd vote for 15-24 hour updates ... one a day
is not unreasonable .. with no updates on
weekends. 30 hours is too long.
People more than likely joined this game
as it is the only one happening .. more than
they joined for the 30 hour updates.
Why don't we have a vote. Someone put forward
3 update options ... and everyone votes.
Having a set time for updates is better than
using the zdone option ... because you know
in advance when the update will be... so there
are no surprises.
Am I making sense?
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Mon Oct 14 19:22:49 2002
spam mail sez - "Give your hand a break, this mouse works!"
hmmm....nah, some things are better the low-tech way.
> Announcement from fishing_nation, (#14) dated Mon Oct 14 22:59:49 2002
?> Announcement from (32) Zern dated Tue Oct 15 02:50:49 2002
? I'd vote for 15-24 hour updates ... one a day is not unreasonable
? .. with no updates on weekends. 30 hours is too long.
?
? People more than likely joined this game as it is the only
? one happening .. more than they joined for the 30 hour updates.
I can not speak for everybody, but I joined this game largely due
to the 30 hour updates. I wouldn't mind another week of 15 hour
updates but I am playing in more then just this game *and* trying
to have a life, a 40 hour/week job and a university study, all at
once.
?Am I making sense?
A happy fisher.
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Tue Oct 15 05:18:53 2002
It seems every game has a spasm of bored people at the
beginning wishing for a faster update schedule. Back
in the day, the 4 update/day games had people whining
for 6 a day, today it is whining for q24hours instead
of q30 hours.
Of course, the deity announced the game a certain way
for a reason, and its fair for the players to assume it
will stay that way.
Enjoy the brief respite. In a week or two, you will
either :
a) be dead
b) be busy killing
In either case, unless your life consists of an anal
retentive production of chips/cheese/salsa and photo
ops using an inflated sheep (see Bungy's web site at
www.angelfire.com/empire2/bungholio) then you hopefully
have better use for your time than playing 6 hours/day
of empire ... or playing 30 minutes/day and whining for
5.5 hours about how you want zdone updates.
Oh, another suggestion is to join a blitz when you are
bored ... and take your friends with you.
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Tue Oct 15 05:21:59 2002
I rather expect a switch to 60hr/update in a couple of months.
-- VIU
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Tue Oct 15 10:54:22 2002
what idiot screwed up the territory command?
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Tue Oct 15 11:06:06 2002
Dear Temecola,
Thank you for your kind feedback on my website. It's positive
feedback like yours that inspires me to greatness. If you have
any requests for sheep poses, perhaps we can arrange a 1-on-1
custom photo session. Call 976-SHEEP to book a reservation.
Regards,
Shaggs Radammas, VP Customer Service
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Oct 15 11:10:47 2002
beep,
You can blame Ionica for the terr command changes.
They are useful, and very confusing to use.
Ski
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Tue Oct 15 11:28:53 2002
bastard just wanted to screw us over after he retired, that's my guess.
decl host Ionica
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 15 13:16:40 2002
I wanna see some practical examples
of the terr command ... egads, this
is just damn confusing
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Tue Oct 15 13:36:22 2002
The new territory commands are, I think, a way to help
the people who still use a text based client to keep up
with the winace whippersnappers. Territories don't have
as much value if you are using winace. The thing that
pissed me off the most about the change is that "ter" was
no longer a good abreviation for territory, you have to
use "terr".
Cathouse
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Oct 15 13:48:33 2002
Cathouse,
I disagree. I use the new territories and I use
WinACE. I will sometimes use a territory for
che management, another for distribution area
management and a third for highway planning
when playing in a large land map game where
realms are not really useful. The later versions
of WinACE include the ability to shade the map
based upon values such as the territory.
Ski
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 15 14:03:31 2002
Still, since I'm using a "text" based
client ... I'd like a practical example.
the Info doesn't do it for me ...
Thanks
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Tue Oct 15 15:58:11 2002
Ski: I didn't say that territories had no value, just
less value to people using winace. I find them
critical to gameplaying with a text based client, and
merely handy with winace.
Amber: Read Ski's last post for examples.
Cathouse
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Tue Oct 15 17:00:00 2002
today we commemorate beep's great uncle,
e e cummings, born today in 1894
no capital letters in annos till the update, eh?
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Tue Oct 15 17:03:19 2002
territory and winace
i lurked r.g.e for a couple of years and tried the
empclient but failed miserably until winace was
released
winace is was got me into empire
i use territories *a lot*, but have not figured out
how to use the multiple territory feature with winace,
i think that will be of more benefit to a text client
than graphical
(do you realize how hard it is *not* to capitalize while you
type when you have been doing it for 35 years...)
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Tue Oct 15 21:51:08 2002
duuhhhhhh.... Gee TC.
What's a territory???
> Announcement from Armengar, (#3) dated Wed Oct 16 00:05:55 2002
territory
The only use I make of them is to specify different
geographical regions as territories (instead of realms),
because they're more flexible than realms. Typically
I have a different territory for each warehouse.
Sinari
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Wed Oct 16 00:10:57 2002
how come easy_bridges is disabled?
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Wed Oct 16 02:32:47 2002
Yea, why is that?
Hmmm... Seems like a conspiracy to me.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Wed Oct 16 20:10:40 2002
so, it seems N Korea has nukes... big surprise there?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=North_Korea
> Announcement from Mackland, (#23) dated Wed Oct 16 23:45:14 2002
big deal
we have our abm's, right???
RIGHT!???
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Wed Oct 16 23:49:21 2002
-*- Ministry of Peaceful Anexation -*-
Please, allow me to reiterate, that
the Foreign Affairs Minister has given
the policy of this country. We claim any and
all (developed and non-developed) area's
out to our rightful national border -
Hence forth anything beyond our national
borders will be considered International territor
err .. damn scribes...
territory. However, anything with
25 sectors is rightfully considered
- who the hell gave a gurls name to
this stupid country anyway and is there
anyway I can change it? - to be part of the
Amber nation.
All complaints may be delivered via a
war declaration to Ice Barbarian.
After all, he did receive a keg for
allowing me into this game. And btw,
has anyone heard from that jackass
Lord Corwin? This is supposed to be his
country. He's the only one I know of who's
a friggen pansy-ass. At least he
could have used the name MunchMunch.
A hellava lot better than AMBER!
God! What a fucken moron.
> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Thu Oct 17 00:16:37 2002
Ice Barbarians: RedTape Says Has Nukes
By IDO IDO, Barbarian Broadcasting Company Writer
RedTape (BBC) - In a startling revelation, RedTape has told the Ice Barbarians
it has a secret nuclear weapons program, the Warlord said Wednesday night.
Spokesman Warlord said RedTape was in "material breach" of an agreement under
which it promised not to develop nuclear weapons before technology and research
levels permitted.
The commitment had raised hopes for a nuclear-free Ice World IV, but that hope
is dashed for the time being.
The two countries had just resumed high-level security talks less than two
updates ago for the first time in nine years. It was during those discussions
that RedTape informed the Ice Barbarians of its nuclear activities.
"We seek a peaceful resolution of this situation," the Warlord said. "Everyone
in Ice World IV has a stake in this issue and no peaceful nation wants to see a
nuclear-armed RedTape."
"The Ice Barbarians call on RedTape to comply with its commitments under theagreement and to eliminate its nuclear weapons program in a verifiable manner."
Ice Barbarian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said RedTape
told Ice Barbarian officials that it is no longer bound by the agreement.
The officials report that Administrator Derm was believed to have said "Get
stuffed!"
The Ice Barbarians have been suspicious about RedTapes's nuclear intentions
for some time despite the agreement.
A Barbarian Intelligence Agency report previously said that during the last
few updates, RedTape "continued its attempts procure technology that could
have applications in its nuclear program.
"We assess that RedTape has produced enough uranium for at least one, and
possibly two, nuclear weapons."
Assistant Secretary of Ice Nanoo Nanoo visited RedTape several updates back
and demanded that the country address global concerns about its nuclear and
other weapons programs.
In response, the RedTape government accused the Warlord's special envoy of
making "threatening remarks" and subsequently released pictures of him being
intimate with a small flock of very furry sheep.
A source said Nanoo also raised with RedTape evidence that RedTape may have a
uranimum-enrichment program. The program, which the Ice Barbarians believe
would only be used to develop a nuclear bomb, began before the first update,
according to the official.
Surprisingly, Administrator Derm of RedTape confirmed the allegation. "Yeah,
we're working on making a big-ass bomb. And we reserve the right to
indiscriminantly use it."
Apparently RedTape civilians agree. A recent nationwide referendum for a
new term in office for Administrator Derm received 16,958 "yes" votes out
of 16,959 registered voters. The remaining voter was later found to have
bled to death after attempting to use his own blood to tick "yes".
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Thu Oct 17 11:05:24 2002
no starvation! yeah!
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Thu Oct 17 11:12:40 2002
So when does the next w/e break start>
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Thu Oct 17 12:28:14 2002
*sigh*
this used to be such a nice, peaceful world...
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Thu Oct 17 15:46:55 2002
probably right after tomorrow's update
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Thu Oct 17 16:58:27 2002
-- Thu Oct 17 16:47 MELINUS pirates board Zircon
And now the seas aren't any more safer
than the land....
shame shame shame
God, we need more bloodshed
more guts, gore and cannibalism.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Thu Oct 17 18:24:27 2002
And the WORLD cries out in anguish
at the turmoil being spread by
Iceland and routerman.
Oh to hell with them, lets get back
to the gladitorial games. At least
they're not having drugged up lions
this year.
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Thu Oct 17 19:38:51 2002
Haven't I led the power chart long enough to be declared the winner by now? What more does it take? The Tour de France doesn't even have this many stages, and I've worn the yellow jersey so long now that is become yellow.
If the rest of you guys don't accept my victory, I might have to make some boats and take your land away!
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Thu Oct 17 20:13:39 2002
Dear Temekula
I fart in your general direction.
Follow your nose and send your ships.
We'll have a party when you arrive.
If we are lucky, we might have some of
Tanugi's Holy Beer.
yours truly
The Master of the Castle
ps. all labor disputes have been resolved,
we will have extra food for the banquet
at your arrival.
> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Thu Oct 17 20:26:26 2002
Claiming power chart "supremacy" based on nothing more
than iron and dust production is a fodderous claim,
at best.
I second Rook's flatulence....
Administrator Derm
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Thu Oct 17 21:45:01 2002
twelve
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Oct 17 22:35:02 2002
congrats to temekula for being a weiner.
may your sheep still be virginal when my seamen spew across your country.
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Thu Oct 17 22:38:51 2002
While he insults o'er dull and speechless tribes
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Thu Oct 17 23:24:37 2002
This past year there were 20 stages at the Tour de France, and the
leader after 9 stages was not on the podium in Paris.
> Announcement from IndustMech, (#27) dated Fri Oct 18 02:25:34 2002
So that means the winners lose a testicle.
> Announcement from IndustMech, (#27) dated Fri Oct 18 08:24:58 2002
Hmmm, or maybe the future winner already has...
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Fri Oct 18 13:46:32 2002
And in other news -
The CEO of 976-SHEEP says,
No more free shipping. It's eating
too much into our bottom line. If you
want our sheep, you'll have to pay
through the ass for it.
And Myseria has captured the -
Lowest amount of cash, without being
broke award.
When asked what happened to his wealth,
the leader became vague and shifty,
but our discriminating reporter can
honestly say they heard the bleeting
of sheep in the background and some
flunky refering to ordering more girlfriends
for the rest of palace staff.
This has been C. M. Oreevil bringing
you the latest and greatest news,
gossip and out-right for KANN -
C. M. Oreevil signing off.
> Announcement from fishing_nation, (#14) dated Fri Oct 18 14:40:30 2002
Explorers looking for new fishing ground complained
to the king (of fishing nation) that refinaries are polluting
the waters. These reports were disbelieved at first because
none of the kings advisor could imagine any reason to use
petrol.
> Announcement from fishing_nation, (#14) dated Fri Oct 18 17:05:03 2002
A godd damm airfield in Naraxi territory.
I can not believe my eyes!
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Fri Oct 18 18:47:11 2002
Don't give Naraxia a hard time, fish-breath. He's smart
enough to have an airfield ready so that when, via tech
bleed (ie, in about another 100 updates) he's able to make
a few sopwiths, he'll be able to defend himself against my
stealth bombers.
As to the rest of you and your flatulence, let me offer the
following :
Simethicone
1 tab PRN
#90
may refill as needed.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I've begun to use the yellow jersey to wash my car with. If any of you still
want it, come and get it. Oh, and I'm going to load up my
capital with zillions of dollars for the first lucky visitor!
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Sun Oct 20 05:09:47 2002
Seeing as only 3 nations can be in the winning alliance,
how about making it even more challenging?
Perhaps we should allow only one of the rated "8"s be in the winning team
Otherwise if 3 of them get together,
what chance has the next team of 3 got?
D
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sun Oct 20 07:26:00 2002
well, chalk up another one for the wonders of technology.
my "super deluxe VCR" went and automatically decremented the time
on it by one hour last night, thus observing daylight savings time
one week early. perhaps the managers at Zenith should invest in
some RESEARCH to go along with their technological breakthroughs.
In other news, 976-SHEEP colonists are breaking new ground on several
new petting-zoos. Unfortunately these are not open to the public,
as the activities contained within are private encounters between
consenting mammals. Apparently this has interested several of our
neighbors, who enjoy slowling naving past our shores while taking
souvineer pictures.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Sun Oct 20 16:19:13 2002
It has come to my attention that
in order to even get ahead in this game
I'm going to have to kill all you fuckers.
Except for 2 of you, who'll I'll
graciously allow to be my flunkies.
So, send $15,000 and asundry other
incentives to me, and I'll consider
allowing you to join the winning team.
All others, just send $20,000 and I'll consider
not wiping you from the world.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Sun Oct 20 20:03:05 2002
Amber - a suprisingly fresh country with a lightweight but amusing
effervesence; best served as an apertif.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Sun Oct 20 22:50:24 2002
beep? Who the hell is beep?
Sounds like a poor excuse for a country.
Almost as bad as Amber.
I should have taken the choice and
had this countries name changed.
Hmm, I was thinking more along the lines
of DeathByMe
Now, lets see.
Piss off beep.
> Announcement from fishing_nation, (#14) dated Mon Oct 21 03:24:52 2002
Never, *Never* try to play this game from work
during a lunch break. Not only do I get hungry
but some 600 civ on a cs will get very hungry aswell.
Damm!
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 21 11:06:35 2002
And the true test of a leader is
whether or not, his bluff is believed.
And if not, does he have the force to
actually back up what he's saying.
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Mon Oct 21 11:25:55 2002
I think we can all determine the answers to those questions
from the power report...
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Mon Oct 21 18:48:00 2002
Oh lord, just when I was thinking he might be good enough at this game to be worth attention ... he goes and says he determines the worth of a country by their rank on the power chart!
Ski, I'm not really winning the game. Not even close.
Amber(or whoever) ... if you really want to play coy, know that its not cute. Every few years someone tries cute. You are reminding me of (T)andy (Frosted) Frakes...
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 22 00:22:41 2002
CUTE! FUCK CUTE! I'm just subbing in
because I was asked to take over a
viable country. Personally, it doesn't matter
to me who wins. I'm just here to make sure you d
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 22 00:23:14 2002
Dammit .. I hate this damn client..
and to reiterate ...
I'm here to make sure
YOU DON'T WIN!
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 22 00:23:43 2002
And if the shoe fits ... wear it ..
Btw, Pendor .. remove your ship .. or
it dies
> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Tue Oct 22 01:01:32 2002
>> Announcement from (8) Temekula dated Tue Oct 22 10:48:00 2002
>
>Amber(or whoever) ... if you really want to play coy, know that
>its not cute. Every few years someone tries cute. You are
>reminding me of (T)andy (Frosted) Frakes...
Frakes!? There's a blast from the past. Wow!
I'd have to agree that "Amber" makes even Tedrick look calm,
collected, cultured and civilised.
Time to file the necessary paperwork to ensure that "Amber"
stays clear of the innocent RedTape women and children. I can't
be responsible for what they might do to him after a round
of binge drinking.
Administrator Derm
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 22 01:15:17 2002
FUK EWE TOO!
I heave knot been drunking berry mooch
And all your women look like dogs.
I prefer my sheep from 976-sheep
At least they're trained to please
> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Tue Oct 22 01:55:32 2002
>> Announcement from (22) Amber dated Tue Oct 22 17:15:17 2002
>FUK EWE TOO!
>I heave knot been drunking berry mooch
>
>And all your women look like dogs.
>I prefer my sheep from 976-sheep
>At least they're trained to please
The previously mentioned paperwork was to protect you,
not them.
Mere acts of sodomy and breakouts of anthrax are nothing
to these war-hardened women and children.
Administrator Derm
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Oct 22 06:48:56 2002
Teme, you think too high of your power report position.
I was pointing out to anyone that cared to look at the
power report that you have no depth and you have no defense.
You are a sitting duck waiting for someone with a few HCs
to blow you out of the game. I understand from your
posts that you are doing this intentionally.
This took too much typing for something that should have been obvious...
Ski
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 22 09:31:35 2002
Ahhhhh, in that case, by all means
file the paperwork. I wonder what or who
or even when my somewhat scurvy crews
will arrive
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Tue Oct 22 09:46:32 2002
So, even Jason gets to be taught "how to play empire" these days ;)
VIU
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 22 09:55:56 2002
What's with you people and your names!!!!
Don't you have a life. Come on, get
with the program. I'd think you could
come up with better than this. Why, back
in the old days there were some greats.
Mithrillian - now he wasn't a piker
Mirkwood - Did quite well once I beat
the stuffing out of him a few times
Afrika_Korp - Don't piss him off, he can
be quite nasty, although, if you have
the fire power, no sense in not pissing
him off ..
And my personal favorites - Lersing,
The_Scum and Ionica. And then there's
that one who had to be hand led around
Icy baby himself. Why, I remember when
he just got his training uzi. Killed
all the household servants and terrorized
all the neighbors cats and dogs. Even
scared Ol' Mrs. Murphy with that thing.
Before she ask us to take it away from him.
We did, after she was delt with for
complaining.
> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Tue Oct 22 10:49:01 2002
>> Announcement from (22) Amber dated Wed Oct 23 01:55:57 2002
>What's with you people and your names!!!!
You forgot Fodderland - one of the greatest wankers of all
time.
Administrator Derm
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Tue Oct 22 10:55:13 2002
Fodderland is the greatest empire player of all time :{}
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Tue Oct 22 20:44:35 2002
and in the news today, a yellow T-shirt was found in our laundry this
afternoon. Strangely, it was well worn, and needed a good washing. It
smelled badly of sheep vomit and had grass stains on the sleeves. Our
top scientists suspect it was previously owned/worn by temekula, but it
was left behind when his mommy called him from the playground where he
was nursing a sheep with some old beer he found. Apparently the sheep
vomited just as teme was about to mount her, and this threw him to the
ground, thus explaining the grass stains.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 22 22:55:08 2002
And so it comes to pass that due
to a corporate scandle, 976-SHEEP has
risen to the top of the pile of scum.
We here at ..... are seeking answers
to the question of why was the CEO of
976-SHEEP caught in the board room
with Dolly and Dolly and Dolly and Dolly
When for all intents and purposes, rumor
had it he was dating Maaaaary
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Wed Oct 23 11:56:33 2002
Will the server time fall back Saturday night to standard
time or will it remain where it is?
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Wed Oct 23 13:59:29 2002
yes.
citizen "what's an xor?" leader, beep
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Wed Oct 23 15:18:06 2002
Daylight savings time ends Saturday. Both options cannot
be valid. Will the server time change or not?
> Announcement from Myseria, (#11) dated Wed Oct 23 17:50:22 2002
? Will the server time change or not?
Yes.
citizen "what's an xor?" leader, Zlo, the other 1/2 of Myseria.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Wed Oct 23 18:04:28 2002
After massacring the defenseless
citizens of beep and taking over
a small but thriving community,
our scum sucking tyrant of a ruler
*Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
We're sorry for that last, it would
appear that our news reporter suffered
a small nervous breakdown.
We're happy to report, that after a
brief round of negotiations with the
citizen leader of beep, they graciously
ceded to our glorious and enlightened
ruler a small non-productive island.
Rumor has it, that a small summer palace
will be built there over the coming winter.
In other news, Kaptain Klark of the
Louis and Klark expedition report having
sighted more land.
Semore Vil reporting
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Wed Oct 23 18:22:26 2002
Temekulan Royal Palace
(Laundry Room)
"Where the hell is my ratty old yellow t-shirt?" Kushana screams, scattering wicker baskets in her fury.
Several maids flee. The old matron summons up her courage to
face the enraged queen.
"We were afraid it wouldn't stand another wash. We set it
out for collection by the Purple Heart. A slimy fellow
smelling of sheep stole it. The castle guard chased him,
but without a royal navy, he was able to escape in a leaky
frigate." She bowed her head.
Kushana fumed.
"Get the scientists in here. I want nukes"
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Wed Oct 23 22:54:54 2002
And as a gesture of good will,
our Fearless Overlord offered to the
citizen leader a custom trained companion
from 976-SHEEP.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Thu Oct 24 05:58:09 2002
} Wed Oct 23 17:04 Wahbit citizens starve in disastrous famine
Don't worry! Our relief expedition is under way!
PS: Hope your civvies like the menu. Well, there's egg and bacon;
egg, sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg, bacon and spam; egg, bacon,
sausage and spam; spam, bacon, sausage and spam; spam, egg, spam,
spam, bacon and spam; spam, sausage, spam, spam, spam, bacon, spam,
tomato and spam; spam, spam, spam, egg and spam; (Vikings start
singing in background) spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked
beans, spam, spam, spam and spam.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Oct 24 06:30:25 2002
argh! that's too much spam. do you have any non-breakfast foods?
spam pizza?
spam lasagna?
spam nachos?
spam pot pie?
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Thu Oct 24 07:52:13 2002
Well, the server is in Canada. So the server time will fall
back to Standard Time this weekend. Of course the real question
is will the update time shift with it? I havn't decided. If
you care, send a prayer to the deity.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Thu Oct 24 09:48:25 2002
We bring you a ship. Lost. Alone.
Tossed by the raging Arctic winds
and merciless ocean waves. Adrift
for several weeks. When luck rears
it's two-faced head.
"Kapt'n Roo. LAND-HO! Kapt'n Roo!"
"Excellent, Mate. Prepare to send
some of our men ashore for provisions."
"Umm, Kapt'n, it's already occupied."
"WHAT! You didn't mention this before."
"Twasn't my faults sir. The idjit in
the crows nest fell asleep."
"Then how the hell did we find the land?"
"We ran into it."
"Oh bloody hell, how much damage was
done?"
"Well, we did spring a leak. But I'm
sure we can fix it."
"Not good enough. We'll have to have
the men drag the Fruitcake up onto
shore for repairs."
"As you wish."
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Thu Oct 24 16:57:22 2002
I'm mildly curious, not building ships and all, how big
these 'free' islands are. Anything worth the trouble?
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Thu Oct 24 17:51:40 2002
Nope, not worth the trouble ..
Unless you're ready to plop down 1800 to
2400 civ's on the island first thing once
you get there ... *shrug*
You'd then fill up the island in 2 updates
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Thu Oct 24 23:02:09 2002
funny, winace didn't crash and burn on any of the other updates...
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Thu Oct 24 23:12:39 2002
My WinAce 2.1.0 was fine through the update (Window 98).
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Thu Oct 24 23:16:16 2002
then it's obviously something the jerkface deities and coders
deliberately put in the mess with me.
if (country=='beep')
screw him over
else
...
> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Thu Oct 24 23:17:22 2002
That code's been in there for years, beep.
Administrator Derm
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Thu Oct 24 23:20:27 2002
So that's what "toggle beep off" does.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Thu Oct 24 23:20:43 2002
don't think i didn't know that. those bastards; scum of the earth, the
whole lot of them they are.
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Fri Oct 25 05:25:17 2002
Fort Yupa, along the Temekulan Coast
Kushana stands tall, in her artillerywoman jacket, breeze
gently blowing through her hair. She looks out across the
assembled artillery and across the ocean at the limping
sheep frigate.
"I asked for nukes, but I'll settle for artillery," she
mutters. "FIRE!!!"
Several junior officers scatter. The commander faces Kushana
and clears his throat.
"I'm sorry, my lady, we are not allowed to fire on passing
ships. The God of this world forbids it."
Kushana stares silently at the retreating vessel.
"Get me the engineer who built these forts. I want him on
a raft sailing after that frigate."
(BTW, who the hell coded NO_FORT_FIRE, and what the hell were
they thinking? Am I the only one who found joy in typing
fire x,y 666
???)
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Fri Oct 25 07:53:01 2002
I found out about NO_FORT_FIRE a few updates before now, thanks to the better 1/2 of Zirconia (I wanted 2+ interior forts, I thought we will have a discussion on interior vs. exterior, instead I was enlightened).
-AUJ, 1/2 of Zirconia
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Fri Oct 25 09:03:56 2002
Notice for all WinACE users:
The text box provided for telegram and anno creation
does wrap at the end of the line. However, the CR/LF is
not forwarded to the Empire server. Please manually insert
them as you type so that we can read your teles/annos.
Thanks.
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Fri Oct 25 10:17:13 2002
No fort fire was quite explicit in the game anno version.
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Fri Oct 25 10:35:53 2002
As reported by the BBC
? In the second main battle, Parpara became the first nation
to use shells --
? sinking a Rook frigate.
Dont' listen to the Parpara Propaganda Pontificates (the PPP)
we use real wood in our boats...
=== The High Seas ===
Wed Oct 23 17:13 Parpara fires on Rook ships four times
Command: update
Updates occur at times specified by the ETU rates.
The next update is at Sat Oct 26 05:00:00.
The current time is Fri Oct 25 10:31:30.
Command: ship 104
shp# ship type x,y fl eff civ mil uw fd
104 frg frigate x,y 46% 0 18 0 23
1 ship (edited to fit the Winace window)
"We're not sunk yet".
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Fri Oct 25 17:23:38 2002
Welcome to Ice World IV:
Assault on the Artic Ocean
Today's advise to newbies is the motto
of the U-2 surveillance aircraft:
IN GOD WE TRUST,
ALL OTHERS WE MONITOR
... isnt Arctic spelled like this?
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Fri Oct 25 20:43:34 2002
Sir, we found land with games abundant.
So we won't starve, have we establish communication with homeland yet?
Not yet, but no sign of civilization anywhere.
Very well, establish base and start a sheep farm.
With a puzzled look, the first mate left.
The captain smile to himself,
we must be near Temekula or Zantonia,
their women, oh oh OH ...
(temporary lost in his memory).
Just do not get their culture, why is the damn sheep so valuable?
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Fri Oct 25 22:26:29 2002
Till time lend friends and friends
their helpful swords
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Sat Oct 26 03:02:31 2002
We update tonight??
I certainly don't understand the policy of w/e breaks.
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Sat Oct 26 04:38:14 2002
A proposal:
To adjust the weekend break so that the FIRST update AFTER 00:01 Saturday
will be cancelled. It is much more weekendish!
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sat Oct 26 04:56:02 2002
I agree with Parpara, I would prefer not having an update
1 PM european time on a saturday.
But don't worry, no matter what time the update is, I will
do everything I can to be there :-)
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sat Oct 26 05:08:54 2002
research?
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Sat Oct 26 05:22:45 2002
This would be so much easier if everyone was in the same time zone.
For the Japanese players, it is already Saturday night.
However, I am willing to change the policy to cancelling the first
update after 00:01 Saturday server time. If you care, send a prayer
to the deity.
Based on player input, the update time will not shift with the
change to Standard Time. The next update is in 60 hours at
4pm MST Monday.
> Announcement from Iceland, (#13) dated Sat Oct 26 08:58:05 2002
The great people of Iceland, deprived of their familial relations of their sister peoples of Greenland, now under the merciless terror of the Cisco router, call upon their fellow comrades to rise up and relieve the yoke of oppression, to rid the world of this evil. Assist us all ye who love or claim to love life, or even just those who claim. We implore you for assistance.
The Grand Cube of Iceland
> Announcement from Iceland, (#13) dated Sat Oct 26 09:01:27 2002
The great people of Iceland,
deprived of their familial
relations of their sister peoples of
Greenland, now under the merciless
terror of the evil Cisco router, call
upon their fellow comrades to rise up
and relieve the yoke of oppression,
to rid the world of this evil. Assist us,
all ye who love life or claim to love
life, or even just those who
claim. We implore you for assistance.
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Sat Oct 26 13:25:59 2002
I do not get this %^&&%^ update schedule.
I thought the update before Saturday midnight will not
happen, but we got a Saturday update.
Can someone explain the current update schedule a bit?
Now, when is the next update? Do I just add 60 hours
to the last update? What kind of IQ is pre-requisited
for figuring out this update occurance, or may be
some other skill is involved? I for one, will polish
up on those skills.
-AUJ, the annoyed (because the feeling of stupidity)
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Sat Oct 26 15:05:05 2002
Isn't it the update *closest* to Saturday nite?
> Announcement from Iceland, (#13) dated Sat Oct 26 15:21:20 2002
Does anyone remember the game Fizbin (ala Star Drek)? Think of the updates in the same way.
> Announcement from Iceland, (#13) dated Sat Oct 26 15:22:03 2002
Does anyone remember the game Fizbin (ala Star Drek)?
Think of the updates in the same way.
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Sat Oct 26 16:27:10 2002
To be absolutely clear about the current disabled update schedule:
Updates are disabled at 7AM MST Saturday and enabled at 1PM MST
Sunday.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Sat Oct 26 18:13:00 2002
That's good .. keep it as it is
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Sun Oct 27 03:43:34 2002
976-SHEEPS AGRESSION AGAINST ZERN.
Zern wishes to announce to the international
community of Iceworld a matter of grave concern.
This matter is the matter regarding the aggressive,
warmongering behaviour of 976-sheep.
Despite repeated warnings from the peaceful seal
hunters of Zern, 976-sheep ships have repeatedly
violated our national waters in flagrant attempts
to map our coastline.
These attempts were met with appropriate responses
from the Royal Zern Defence Forces who have boarded or
sunk three 976-sheep vessels .. as is our right under
accepted international law pertaining to a country's
right to protect its coastal waters.
After the first intrusion, Zern offered to return the
said Sheep's frigate as a matter of goodwill if the said
Sheep agreed to ask permission of Zern before further
intrusions were to take place.
The nation of Zern stressed our peaceful nature and
our wish for goodwill and cooperations with the nation
of said Sheep .. and in fact all nations in Iceworld.
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Sun Oct 27 03:43:40 2002
976-Sheep ignored these overtures of peace and sent
two patrol boats full of sheep spies onto the Zern
coastline ... which were promptly sunk by vessels and
artillery of the RZDF.
As the peaceful people of Zern were enjoying their first
spit roast that didn't consist of seal, we were rudely
interrupted by a telegram from the Sheep dictator
declaring war.
Well let me tell you this .. the people of Zern are fed up
with the warmongering and flagrant aggression of
the Sheep dictator who has shown absolutely no
diplomatic ability and in fact no desire for peace
whatsoever.
976-sheep expects that it can flagrantly violate
international law with impunity and agressively attack
a much smaller and peace loving nation.
Quite clearly, the sheep dictator not only poses a
threat to the people of Zern, but to all the peaceful
peoples of Iceworld who demand to live their lives
free of oppression and tyranny.
Not only that, but the evil nation of 976-sheep has
sort to morally corrupt our children by spreading
their perverted petting zoos across the globe.
Therefore, the nation of Zern, calls upon the United
Nations and all the peace loving countries of
Iceworld to rise up and take action against the
spread of tyranny, oppression and petting zoos
that is 976-sheep.
But, as we are a peaceful nation, we do not demand
the complete destruction of all petting zoos, but what
we do say is that a REGIME CHANGE is necessary
to ensure that these petting zoos are not used as
instruments of evil, and that 976-sheep denounces
its aggressive military expansionist policy.
We await the United Nations statement in relation
to this pressing issue and seek responses of support
from all nations of Iceworld.
But let me tell you this ... if the UN fails to take action
in regard to this issue, it will prove itself irrelevant, and
therefore Zern will have no choice but to lead a
coalition of forces to put down this Sheep dictator and
those that harbor his petting zoo's.
Though we are a small and peaceful nation, I tell you this;
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Sun Oct 27 03:43:49 2002
The Sheep petting zoo's across Iceworld will run with
rivers of blood if that is what it takes to secure peace,
freedom and liberty for the citizens of Zern and all who
believe in what we are prepared to die for.
You are either WITH US OR AGAINST US ... let honor
guide your choice and your word be your pledge.
May the great "Gargool .... Fiend of the Sea, Monster
of the Depths and the Eater of Ships" protect you and
your clan.
We await your reply ....
Your humble servant in peace,
The Sultan of Zern.
> Announcement from Thistle, (#31) dated Sun Oct 27 04:59:04 2002
Damn , I used all my 3 hours reading that
Zern anno !
Thistle
Admiral of the Blue
> Announcement from MELINUS, (#10) dated Sun Oct 27 18:51:23 2002
sounds like Oktoberfest is in full swing
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Sun Oct 27 18:58:07 2002
I thought we waited for Oktoberfest to end in order to
start the game.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Sun Oct 27 19:33:37 2002
re: updates
You bunch of pansies. Why I remember
when we had 4 updates a day.
16 ETUS at a time. You fucken woosies.
Keep the weekend updates the way they are.
> Announcement from MELINUS, (#10) dated Sun Oct 27 19:39:34 2002
Oktoberfest lasts forever
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Mon Oct 28 00:09:04 2002
god, i hate microsoft and pc's.
> Announcement from Iceland, (#13) dated Mon Oct 28 03:46:01 2002
Be grateful. Try playing this on an ASR 33 teletype with the bell going off for each telegram/anno.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Oct 28 10:15:46 2002
To: CFO@Cathouse
Cc: Anybody@Iceworld
Subject: ELIMINATE YOUR CREDIT CARD DEBT WITHOUT FILING BANKRUPTCY!
Dear Sir & Madam,
Tired of making minimum payments and barely getting by? This is NOT
debt consolidation or negotiation... THIS IS DEBT ELIMINATION
STOP MAKING MONTHLY PAYMENTS IMMEDIATELY!
Are you drowning in debt?
What will this package do for you?
1. It will terminate your credit card debt!
2. Allow you to stop making payments immediately!
3. Stop bill collectors dead in their tracks!
Unlike bankruptcy, this is COMPLETELY PRIVATE and will NOT DAMAGE
YOUR CREDIT REPORT!
You will NOT lose your country or any other assets!
Kindly send directions to your capital, and one of our associates will
promptly respond to your request.
Send directions NOW to stop making payments!
[cont]
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Oct 28 10:16:00 2002
Please post something outrageously witty within 42 seconds to removed
from all future opportunities. Under Bill s.1618 Title III passed by
the 105th U.S. Congress, this message cannot be considered spam as
long as removal directions and contact information are provided.
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Mon Oct 28 10:29:59 2002
So this is IceWorld? I see land and water.
Where are the snow-covered mountains?
Ski
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 28 11:26:10 2002
Hey Spam, my cap is at 0,0 Come get it... :)
Cathouse
> Announcement from fishing_nation, (#14) dated Mon Oct 28 15:06:27 2002
>> Announcement from (18) Ski dated Mon Oct 28 19:29:37 2002
>So this is IceWorld? I see land and water.
>Where are the snow-covered mountains?
>Ski
According to the preacher around the corner of or place there once were
lots of snow-covered mountains, but they melted and meted. They just
kept getting smaller and th water level rose.
Ofcourse, this is the same preacher who tells us that a white sheep
brings around babies...
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Mon Oct 28 20:56:17 2002
I'm going to have to break my rule about no ships ...
too damn costly to use aggies to feed this island, I want
to make fishing boats.
If anyone has any complaints, please file them with Amber.
He'll be happy to discuss your concerns.
Oh ... don't assume that just because I'm making fishing boats
that I won't adequately defend my harbor. Consider yourselves
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 28 21:53:01 2002
WHAT! .. Bullshit. If anyone comes near
my coast, they are fucken sunk. And I
restate my claim to ALL sectors
Sea, Air and Land within 25 sectors of
my farthest northern, eastern, southern
and western ships and or on my map.
If you fall within this criteria, then
VACATE the premises immediately.
Or ELSE!
As for Temekula making ships, that's
his business. Personally, I think he needs
to build a few battleships and sink
all your wussie asses.
> Announcement from Iceland, (#13) dated Tue Oct 29 03:29:13 2002
To all of our fellow IW dwellers
concerned about presumed Icelandic
territorial expansionist designs:
Rest assured, we want our place in
the Sun (or, rather, in the cold).
If you do not understand that we pose
no threat to the peace of IW, that we
only are searching as everyone else
is, then we can only bid you with the
famous Icelandic curse of "Go suck on
a cube."
The Great Cube of Iceland
> Announcement from Mackland, (#23) dated Wed Oct 30 09:01:37 2002
Will the sycamore-Diondega please let me know his country name in
this game, so that I may appropriately declare war on him?
:-)
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Wed Oct 30 09:35:22 2002
FOK EWE!
> Announcement from Mackland, (#23) dated Wed Oct 30 11:59:38 2002
so Amber=Diondega?
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Wed Oct 30 13:34:59 2002
As Jimi Hendrix used to sing, "No reason to get excited"
mass telex was social/off-topic
I would have sent it to more people
if I knew who they were :)
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Wed Oct 30 13:35:45 2002
} On Wed Oct 30 13:34:59 Rook wrote:
} As Jimi Hendrix used to sing, "No reason to get excited"
}
} mass telex was social/off-topic
}
} I would have sent it to more people
} if I knew who they were :)
}-- End of excerpt from Rook
You know who I am, but you're not going to help me enjoy this game ;)
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Wed Oct 30 13:59:12 2002
Here is an interesting Empire server bug. I have a supply
unit on a ship in a harbor. I pinbombed the civs in the
harbor and the bombing run reported 1% collateral damage.
The supply unit took damage!
Ski
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Wed Oct 30 14:23:44 2002
? Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Wed Oct 30 13:35:45 2002
You know who I am, but you're not going to help me enjoy this game ;)
"Really?"
I'm sorry, I mean, "Excuse me Sir"
here you go, Roman
http://www.mit.edu/activities/safe/humor/avoid-foul-language
I should have shared this sooner...
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Wed Oct 30 17:40:00 2002
Just to let you know, I mean no
offense, but the RedTape has just
got to GO!
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Wed Oct 30 17:54:30 2002
I'd like to kindly petition the deity to begin reporting
the research leader in this game. I'll warn the rest of
you ... look out for our doctors. They are expert in the
therapeutic amputation.
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Thu Oct 31 03:48:36 2002
Geez
Someone found Zantonia. Finally.
> Announcement from Iceland, (#13) dated Thu Oct 31 05:38:57 2002
As the shadow of the Bard crawls over my land,
and as his love of crushed ice becomes clear,
I bid my fellow countrymen to never give up the resistance,
never, never, never. I call upon the great nations of IW to
assist us in overthrowing the yoke of this menace to peace
and tranquility. There are so many resources that we have
worked so hard to collect, such as the 500 bars of gold that
await those that help us. Please, please, good peoples of
the Ice World, help us!!
As my meltdown continues in the wake of this unseemly attack
from the one who aspires to be the next Andrew Fastow
(of Enron fame), I am and always will be
The Great Cube of Iceland
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Thu Oct 31 07:11:17 2002
I found another Empire server bug
When I board a boat that has orders,
they are not cleared. I have an eno boat
still trying to execute orders that I did not give it.
Ski
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Thu Oct 31 07:45:10 2002
Now death shall stop his dismal
threatening sound, and his ill-boding
tongue no more shall speak
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Thu Oct 31 17:02:07 2002
God dammit.
Leave me alone, or you're going to
piss me off and force me to kill you.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Oct 31 18:00:52 2002
so is our deity going to be doing the next report from the front from
the fodder graveyard? it would only be appropriate, being halloween and all.
To all you sailors plagued by the
gut wrenching malaise of sea sicjness,
burp... The Greek word for ship is
"naus" where nausea derives from.
> Announcement from SiliconSorcerer, (#29) dated Sat Nov 2 15:31:56 2002
I see the vultures have finally descended on Limbo's carcass.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sun Nov 3 10:31:33 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SPAM INTRODUCES REVOLUTIONARY DIRECT
MARKETING METHODS TO ZANTONIA
Spam City, Spam - November 2002 - Spam today announced the
successful introduction of its revolutionary direct marketing
methods to Zantonia. `Our direct marketing will bring
unheard-of riches to the citizens of Zantonia', said CEO
Spamford Wallace, also known as the King of Spam. `We went
out of our way to bring this kind of progress to Zantonia.
As a token of our esteem of the Zantonian people, Zantonia
citizens are eligible for a tax cut from $6.00 to $1.00 per
etu and 1000 civilians, starting immediately!'
Since Zantonia hadn't even invented the telephone yet, Spam
had to train hundreds of sales representatives specifically
for Zantonia.
> Announcement from Myseria, (#11) dated Tue Nov 5 04:10:08 2002
NamNam (#30) os ore ship (#455) @ -62,62
NamNam (#30) cs cargo ship (#1568) @ -62,62
NamNam (#30) sb submarine (#1827) @ -62,62
NamNam (#30) sb submarine (#1828) @ -62,62
NamNam (#30) harbor 100% efficient with approx 1330 civ with approx 10 mil @ -62,62
NamNam (#30) mine 100% efficient with approx 890 civ with approx 0 mil @ -63,61
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Tue Nov 5 04:10:46 2002
Thank you :)
> Announcement from Myseria, (#11) dated Tue Nov 5 04:11:08 2002
Oops,
That was supposed to be a tele to myself as a reminder for my co-ruler,
Stupid ptkei.
Myst, 1/2 of Myseria.
> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Tue Nov 5 04:35:36 2002
What is it with people sailing along my coast. Don't they
realize that coast-mapping is a hostile act. Or do they just
not care cuz I'm so darn weak and small?
Frustrating, having to declare all these hostiles.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Tue Nov 5 06:51:25 2002
IMPORTANT WARNING! The following news story may help explain
what kinds of research the evil country of Temekula is studying:
story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021104/sc_nm/science_sheep_dc_1
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Wed Nov 6 04:42:41 2002
Dear Doctor Temekula,
You have to understand that this is no easy step for me, but
under consideration of your advanced technology, your research
efforts, and your clinical experience I have to come up with a
problem, which needs medication urgently.
We have Thistles.
They are not present permanently, but every now and then they have
been spotted on our islands. We are not sure whether Thistles are
a lethal infection, so far we have observed damage to our
civilization. It seems to be worse on neighboring islands, which are
completly covered by Thistles.
I have used the "battleship spell" and they have vanished for quite a
while, but this infection seems to be rather adaptive.
I even sacrificed some beer to our gods, and they came up with the
word "nuke". When I asked on the meaning of that, there was some
roaring "That's not about belief, that's science.
Go and ask a Knowing One!".
So now I hope for your support and advice on this problem, please find
a cure against Thistles. And in case even your research has no
antidote - can I have a prescription for a couple of nukes?
Your humble servant,
Matata,
Priest and Healer
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Wed Nov 6 11:02:24 2002
memo: from citizens' department of homeland security
due to increased risk of unclean terrorist actions by enemies of the people,
all elements are ordered to raise their alert status to amber until further notice.
...noticing the radio operator decoding a new message, the citizen admiral
asks "what's that?"
"we're to go to amber, sir!"
"kewl, finally get to see some action..."
> Announcement from routerman, (#1) dated Wed Nov 6 19:17:11 2002
Argh there be pirates on the high seas. Watch
out for the ones with "Junta" written on the
front of there ships.
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Fri Nov 8 10:22:07 2002
Goodbye cruel world ...
I don't have the time to play ...
enjoy the game ...
MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Fri Nov 8 14:25:08 2002
definitly seems like the 'real' amber...
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Fri Nov 8 15:24:46 2002
Yes .. I'm quitting .. Indust .. attack away
Pendor .. Attack away ..
I'm shelling the shit out of my bank ..
and my V ...
later all
> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Fri Nov 8 16:01:59 2002
>> Announcement from (22) Amber dated Sat Nov 09 09:24:39 2002
>Yes .. I'm quitting .. Indust .. attack away
>Pendor .. Attack away ..
>I'm shelling the shit out of my bank ..
>and my V ...
If that isn't a lame parting excuse...
I'm sure the lack of time had nothing to do with beep and
RedTape forces beginning to slap you around like the
little foul-mouthed wanker you clearly were.
Uninvolved parties are strongly advised to steer clear of
the established war zones as "vulturing" will be frowned
upon.
And shelling your 'v'? That's just daft. Your 'b'? That's
just rude.
Administrator Derm
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Fri Nov 8 19:31:14 2002
To quit this horrid act?
Out, treacherous villain!
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Fri Nov 8 21:03:34 2002
Message to the Evil Sheep Dictator.
Despite the fact that most nations apparently do not have
the balls (or the sense) to stand up to your evil
aggression .. we say this.
Good Luck ... your gunna need it.
Yours sincerely .. the Sultan of Zern.
> Announcement from NamNam, (#30) dated Fri Nov 8 21:18:30 2002
Tanugi/Matata, regarding your Thistle problem:
If you let them grow and wait for the right season you will
see they have quite wonderful flowers.
...But you should know that already, being a priest and healer?
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Sat Nov 9 00:53:25 2002
To all submarines of the free world.
ALL POINTS BULLETIN
Wanted .. Dead or Alive.
Light Carrier 2109, 1953 ... both belonging to the evil
Sheep Dictator.
You will know them when you see them .. they have
torpedo skid marks down the sides.
For aiding in the illegal bombing of the nation of Zern.
Sink them and you are my friend for life!
The Sultan of Zern.
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Sat Nov 9 00:55:16 2002
Make that Light carrier 1952 not 1952 ... that sort of
mistake was how I ended up sinking my own destroyer!
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Sat Nov 9 00:56:11 2002
that last anno makes not sense .. and I havent been
drinking either .. I mean 1952 not 1953 .. OK?
> Announcement from IndustMech, (#27) dated Sat Nov 9 01:35:14 2002
(TheEvilSheepPen)
TheEvilSheep in his wool flight suit and mirror sunglasses, looking
most macho but rather smelly, climbs into his waiting plane...
The black sheep shagger #666 with a new feature recently installed...
it is a Sheep Drive...
TheEvilSheep climbs in...fires up the powerful jet engines...
and lifts off...
then seconds later... engages the Sheep Drive... and...
K A B A A A A A A A A ! ! !
He's gone....
(Thanks Dave)
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Sat Nov 9 05:41:35 2002
how come amber rates his own private swimming pool? not fair.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sat Nov 9 08:30:09 2002
The baby seals are free! A dark cloud over the seal
poaching farms of Zern has lifted. Crying for help,
the Zern facist leader runs for the hills to escape
the wrath of 976-SHEEP warlords. But there are no
hills in this Iceworld. Zernicus is desperate for
help, so he pleads to the world:
"HELP STOP I AM BEING OVERRUN STOP"
"IF NO ASSISTANCE IS SENT SOON MY PEOPLE WILL TORP
ANOTHER ONE OF OUR SEA VESSELS IN PROTEST STOP"
But no one will help the Zern leaders on this day.
His fate is sealed.
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Sun Nov 10 04:33:38 2002
... and so a great darkness falls over the world. The
forces of darkness win a great victory .. the the flame
of hope flickers and wavers ... and may soon be
extinguished ... forever.
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Sun Nov 10 23:39:54 2002
how do scrap/scuttle/eliminate units owned by someone else in your sectors.
Meaning, I take over someone's sectors and their units are still there,
how do I destroy them so I can maximize my cap sack income.
Or at least get them off the unit census.
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Sun Nov 10 23:40:58 2002
From an "old-timer" who's still getting used to the concept of units and v's
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Nov 11 00:22:46 2002
use .. lboard .. and pboard .. I think
> Announcement from SiliconSorcerer, (#29) dated Mon Nov 11 11:54:08 2002
Free bmap to anyone who wants to kill Pendor.
Declare war on him, friendly to me.
(Limited time offer, for obvious reasons.)
> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Nov 11 18:19:46 2002
Free bmap to all my territory ..
get it while it lasts ..
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Nov 12 06:00:06 2002
Hello! This is Australian National Exterminators. We've got
a GREAT product we just know you'll be interested in. Today,
we're offering our special customers a one time deal for our
nationally recognized product "Wahbit-be-gone" which has won
countless awards for its effectiveness in eliminating your
pesky furry creature problem. If you act now, we'll toss in
our special Elmer Fudd bobble-head doll, which sings "Kill
the wabbit Kill the wabbit!" for free!
http://www.wavsource.com/tv/looney_tunes/kill_wabbit2.wav
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Tue Nov 12 08:23:09 2002
If anyone has plans to attack the Evil Sheep Dictator
now might be a good time ... I will be occupying his
attention for a few more updates at least (I hope).
Yours helpfully, even in death... the Sultan of Zern.
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Wed Nov 13 07:13:34 2002
Wed Nov 13 06:26 Zern shells a ship owned by 976-SHEEP thirty-eight times
Is that a record?
SiliconSorcerer makes good battleships .. I can highly
recommend them.
The battered but not defeated Sultan of Zern.
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Wed Nov 13 08:07:26 2002
From Minister of Zernian Communications:
Wed Nov 13 06:26 Zern shells a ship owned by 976-SHEEP
thirty-eight times
Is that a record?
----------
It may be....
Were they all blanks?
Q. Who put the 7 bullets into Mussolini's dead body?
A. 300 Italian sharpshooters
Zern, are you Italian? :)
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Wed Nov 13 08:23:48 2002
a record? sure is! a record for most shells wasted in order to
sink a half dozen pt boats.
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Sun Nov 17 04:00:09 2002
Deity, Contestants, "Enemies",
Unfortunately I have to resign from this game of Ice World IV.
Congratulations to Rook, Shakespeare, NamNam & Co. (yes, fishing_nation,
I saw your subs), I just don't have time to fight so many countries at
once. Recently, when repelling a NamNam assault I just ran out of 180
minutes. The game began to put too much pressure on me, and I started
making grave errors, and not having fun in general (which is principle!)
It only consolates me that two countries 2.5 times my size were unable
to gain any ground on me.
So the white flag is thrown. See you in the next game.
Thanks to John for another great topical game. It forced me to remember
again many tricks of naval battles I haven't used for a long time.
P.S. Deity may confirm, that I still have numerous Empire resources
to hold ground. I just don't have RL resources, and no corulers were
available.
P.P.S. See you all in the LOTR 2 game! I hope we will at least match
the previous 39 players, and I remind you that a co-deity slot is open.
> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Sun Nov 17 20:26:00 2002
Ignoring a plea for mercy .. Pendor forces slaughter the
last now defenceless Zern warriers and a nation disappears
into oblivion.
The Sultan, leading a final charge on horseback, died
valiently in the service of his people.
It is rumoured however, that his eldest son, Prince of what
was formerly Zern escaped with the aid of Sheep secret
service agents .. (now theres a twist) ... his future remains
unknown.
The Sultan is dead ... Long live the Sultan.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Mon Nov 18 22:29:32 2002
near as i can figger, this server must be on some converted cargo
ship out in the middle of the atlantic. sitting out in international
waters, its primary function is probably sending out porn spam and
hosting gambling sites.
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Tue Nov 19 00:02:24 2002
If beep are right I demand we also get access to the porn on the server!
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Tue Nov 19 07:44:47 2002
looks like somebody is trying to infringe on the 976-SHEEP trademark:
http://www.kiwi-sheepskins.com/sheepskin-detail.asp?product_id=MC001
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Wed Nov 20 17:43:16 2002
we propose a world-wide truce for one hour, beginning at the
next hour.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Wed Nov 20 19:07:14 2002
kewl, first vulcan nerve pinch... now we can get back to war as
normal, unless some of you _really_ need to know which bachelorette
gets picked.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Thu Nov 21 10:06:27 2002
i hate it when the update happens in the last minute of the window.
why can't those stupid coders make sure it happens in the first minute
of the update window?
> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Thu Nov 21 10:22:40 2002
Feel free to pile on everyone.
No hard feelings.
At least the pussy won't get the gold.
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Thu Nov 21 10:55:55 2002
I've had several requests to adjust the parameters of the game.
One request is to increase the time between updates to 42 hours.
The other request was to increase or remove the minutes limitation.
Even though I'm against both proposals, I'll put them up to a vote
of the remaining players. No change will be made unless a super
majority of the players want a change. No change will be done before
Sunday.
While I'm at it, do players want Thanksgiving off? The default will
be an update at 10pm on the 28th.
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Fri Nov 22 00:39:14 2002
SHEEP has made Dilbert
Check out:
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/
and click on Monday's link (11/18) to start the series :)
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Sun Nov 24 22:05:41 2002
Based on the vote of the players, there will be no changes to the
parameters of the game, and there will be no break for Thanksgiving.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Nov 28 01:05:26 2002
Tired of running out of time for the day?
Tired of listening to the smaller guys yap about
how they get all their country maintenance done
in less than an hour?
Tired of typing so fast just to get enough commands
entered in your allotted 180 minutes per day?
Tired of having 'the busy days' where all you do is
battle, and still can't get enough terminal time in?
and then having those 'light days', where you can
sit back and read the news online? Wish there was a
way to balance it all out?
Well then listen up, cause what I'm going to
introduce you to is the next generation in
empire time management. It's a program where
you and your allies take turn using your allotted
minutes. Think of it as a "empire time share."
Here's how it works. You and your allies have a
collective pool of minutes. You take turns using
those minutes any time you need them. Of course,
there are some minor blackout periods where the
minutes may be pre-book by another party member,
but that's just a small hinderance to this wonderful
program.
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Thu Nov 28 11:20:59 2002
Where can I sign up for
the "empire time share" program?
Sonds like a wonderful idea. As with that vacation
appartment in Spain. I had a great week of rain there
for the price of four weeks Hawaii (so far).
It is all a matter of coordination. I was just unlucky
with my time slot, and, well, maintainance does cost.
With all the wonderful experiences, i'd love to do the same
in empire.
Hakuna
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Thu Nov 28 11:22:32 2002
May I have the form my Dearest King just gave you?
Thank you.
<snip><snap>
Never again a week in Spain at the end of the world
with lousy weather and no heating.
Matata
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Nov 28 11:23:39 2002
I hear spain has some lovely beaches, especially the recently remodeled ones
with the back sands, and oil enriched waters. I hear it does wonders for dry skin
problems.
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Fri Nov 29 00:51:40 2002
Fewer voices...
Alms to the Dead
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Fri Nov 29 23:53:01 2002
Dear deity, dear fellow rulers,
The nation of Spam is DISMAYED and SHOCKED by the Empire Time Sharing
Program proposed by 976-SHEEP. Sharing minutes among allies is
Unamerican, no, worse, it's COMMUNISM! Every FREEDOM-LOVING nation in
IceWorld should join us in our quest to EXTERMINATE these
sheep-shagging commie bastards!
As EVERYBODY knows, EVERYTHING of any value WHATSOEVER is to be SOLD
for MONEY on FREE MARKETS by NATURAL LAW! We DEMAND that countries
can AUCTION OFF their spare minutes!
The Rulers of Spam, Defenders of the Free Market and the UNALIENABLE
Right to Advertise and Sell Stuff Nobody Needs or Wants
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Dec 2 12:23:18 2002
The warmongering country of 976-SHEEP is appalled at Spam's suggestion
that we have any affiliations with the communist governing ways.
It is our belief, that Spam himself is a communist. Just look at
his country name, Spam. A quick visit to www.dictionary.com
reveals that communism is all about organizing a collective
labor party for the common advantage of all members. Sure
sounds like what Spam is trying to do.
976-SHEEP is clearly an enterprising war machine. "976" just in
itself is all about free market enterprising for the benefitial
love ewe rooms of the shagaramma.
Sinari
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Fri Dec 6 05:45:04 2002
We need to know! Did Administer Derm get fired
or is this some type of Dr. Jekel / Mr. Hyde
transformation?
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Mon Dec 9 05:21:50 2002
>> Announcement from (3) Armengar dated Thu Dec 05 04:56:11 2002
>It seems the Ski just fell on our heads.
>Now where is the magic potion when you
>need it? :-/
I've heard it's on level 28 of moria... the bloody chromatic
dragon always killed me before I got it.
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Mon Dec 9 05:22:45 2002
>> Announcement from (18) Ski dated Fri Dec 06 23:45:23 2002
>We need to know! Did Administer Derm get fired
>or is this some type of Dr. Jekel / Mr. Hyde
>transformation?
More like Mr. Hyde / Mr. Hyde, to be sure.
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Mon Dec 9 06:50:31 2002
It was a quiet morning. Mr. Ed took the compress off his
aching forehead and stared, bleary-eyed, into the mirror.
The bruise on his forehead was beginning to turn black and
looked distinctly like a cloven hoof.
Muttering, Ed wandered into the lounge, kicking beer cans
and wine bottles out of the way. Slumping into his black
leather recliner he pulled the remote control from between
the cushions and flicked the TV on.
A twangy bassline erupts in surround-sound. Mr. Ed groans
as he struggles to find the <STOP> button for his DVD
player. The remote flies across the room, bouncing off
the stuffed Elfhead mounted on the wall. He takes the
Walther PPK from his bathrobe and empties the clip into
the screeching player.
It whines to a stop. Ed checks the DVD case resting on
the chair arm: 'Why Don't Ewe Love Me - IV'. He's about
to make a pithy comment when there's a loud crash outside.
Walking towards the door, he slaps in a full clip and
peers between the yellow ducky drapes. A finger
unconciously scratches his butt. "Well what do you know.
I haven't seen one of those in years."
Holstering his weapon, Mr. Ed lets the bathrobe fall to
the floor and pulls on a stained 'Revelstone Sux' t-shirt.
Glancing around for the Revos, he spies them laying
partially in the overflowing ashtray. They're broken, but
Mr. Ed doesn't care.
He grins. "Time to get evil. MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!" Mr. Ed
glances in annoyance at the Evil Empire collectible he
just stepped on before grinning again.
"Finally! They've found his mama -- now the party starts."
Mr. Ed belches loudly and heads out the door.
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Mon Dec 9 15:30:54 2002
From the news:
Mon Dec 9 15:12 thirteen times Spam sends a telegram to Kamoria
"War and Peace " or just "War" or just "Peace"?
:)
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Dec 9 15:31:10 2002
Spam! Spam! Spam!
:)
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Tue Dec 10 07:59:02 2002
Mr. Ed dons his shades and walks out the door. His uniformed
soldiers hold a struggling woman attired in only a corset.
Seeing Mr. Ed, she continues to scream, spit and writhe around -
clearly the source of the previous crashing noises.
Mr. Ed puts on his most dashing smile. "Why Mary Arden. How
nice to see you. You look... ravishing. Or, as your son might
say:
Who fears a sentence or an old hag's saw
Shall by a painted cloth be kept in awe."
"Throw her in the paddock with the other trollops. I've got
to deal with her son."
Mr. Ed jumps in the waiting jeep and grabs a six-pack from the
cooler on the backseat. "To the bunker."
The beer quickly disappears. Mr. Ed orders the driver to stop
at the drive-through liquor store. "A case of Heineken, a
bottle of 151, a couple Jagermeisters and a bottle of soju."
The pretty attendant runs off to fill Ed's daily order.
The radio suddenly crackles. "Sir! Sir! Fleet Black Hawk is
down! Black Hawk Down!"
The driver looks questioningly at his fearless leader as a tear
runs down his face. "Black Hawk," Mr. Ed says, "the battle group
with the most ambitious orders - striking at occupied territory
half a world away. Destroyed. 150 BB's, 25 AC's, 75 HC's,
10 LC's, 60 DD's, 15 MB's, 100 SB's and 20 AAC's."
"But, sir. You never authorised the additional budget for that
fleet. All they managed to scrap together for Black Hawk were
5 FT's, a crippled PT and a destroyer captained by that guy we
hired from Exxon. Odds are that all they managed to do was dump
a bunch of bloody fish bait on Shakespeare's shores."
The girl returns with the pallet of booze and loads it into the
back of the jeep. She hands Mr. Ed the soju and the bill. "Will
there be anything else, sir?" He can't help but notice the
breasts that are inches from his nose.
"Go to my house and wait for me. I'll be back at noon."
Mr. Ed picks up the mic. "Launch battle group Winona. Time to
steal us an island."
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Tue Dec 10 11:07:17 2002
I'll draw the form and model of our battle,
limit each leader to his several charge,
and part in just proportion our small strength.
My Lord of Oxford, you, Sir William Brandon,
and you, Sir Walter Herbert, stay with me.
The Earl of Pembroke keeps his regiment:
Good Captain Blunt, bear my good night to
him. Yet one thing more, good Blunt, before
thou go'st. Where is the talking horse
quarter'd, dost thou know?
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Tue Dec 10 18:59:35 2002
question: '24' and 'nypd blue', or 2 hr a&e special 'cleavage: mankind's
fascination with breasts'?
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Tue Dec 10 20:31:34 2002
I'll take "boobs for 1000, alex"
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Tue Dec 10 22:38:37 2002
I've been notified that the server will be upgraded between
9-11 am MST on Thursday December 12th. Since I will not be
around to verify that the server comes back correctly, the
update on Thursday will be cancelled.
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Wed Dec 11 00:07:39 2002
>> Announcement from (25) beep dated Wed Dec 11 13:00:05 2002
>question: '24' and 'nypd blue', or 2 hr a&e special 'cleavage: mankind's
>fascination with breasts'?
Just like beep to ask the important questions... though I fear
the answer is somewhat obvious...
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from IndustMech, (#27) dated Wed Dec 11 00:10:58 2002
btw the boob show is on again now.
> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Wed Dec 11 05:51:21 2002
Found this one.
Note that sheep are not mentioned.
Hedgehog song
Bestiality sure is a fun thing to do
But I have to say this as a warning to you:
With almost all animals, you can have ball
But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.
CHORUS 1:The spines on his back are too sharp for a man
They'll give you a pain in the worst place they can
The result I think you'll find will appall:
The hedgehog can never be buggered at all!
Mounting a horse can often be fun
An elephant too; though he weighs half a ton
Even a mouse (though his hole is quite small)
But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.
CHORUS 2:The spines on his back are so awful thick
you'll end up with naught but a painful prick.
He has an impregnable hole when curled up in a ball,
Hence the hedgehog can never be buggered at all!
Screwing a cow while she goes moo-moo
Will be entertaining to both her and you
Or you might try a tiger, if you have enough gall
But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Dec 12 04:47:51 2002
It's a chilly morning, the groggy 976-SHEEP CEO stumbles
into his den. Still slightly hung over, he reaches for the
button on his desk for his assistant to come in.
The assistant arrives, carrying the daily news and a frown.
"What seems to be the problem, son?" the CEO asks.
"We had a bad night, Penrod and Spasm raided our Wahbit
mocassin factories (yes, there is a market for mocassins
for Rabbits in the lands of 976-SHEEP) overnight. We
lost 5 carriers and roughly 100 planes in the invasion.
Fortunately, we were able quickly repell them," mutters
the assistant, "I suppose this means we should all update
our resume's."
"Now, now, there son, you have much to learn about the
economics of warfare. Those were just decoy and obsolete
planes and ships. Here, look at the spreadsheet," the
CEO punches up a Locust123 chart showing the numbers,
"See here... our maintenance costs have been slashed
by 30%, this means us upper managers can expect another
6-figure bonus while forcing our workers to work thru
the holidays."
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Thu Dec 12 16:01:43 2002
isn't this update an hour early?
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Thu Dec 12 16:08:08 2002
That might be why it was cancelled
? Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Tue Dec 10 22:38:37 2002
I've been notified that the server will be upgraded between
9-11 am MST on Thursday December 12th. Since I will not be
around to verify that the server comes back correctly, the
update on Thursday will be cancelled.
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Fri Dec 13 05:59:53 2002
so what's going to happen over Christmas/New Year?
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Fri Dec 13 06:05:11 2002
We will get presents at Christmas and get drunk at New Year :-)
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Fri Dec 13 07:45:27 2002
Since the major players want this game to continue into
nukes and all active countries are getting bigger, I want
revisit changing the game parameters again. Proposals
are encouraged. My latest is slowing the game to 54
hour updates without weekend breaks and reducing the
login time to 120 minutes per day. This proposal
should maintain the deity's scenario.
Any other ideas?
Ski
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Fri Dec 13 08:46:33 2002
The update on Christmas day will be disabled. If you want more time off,
you'll have to "pray" to the deity. Offerings of Christmas beer will be
accepted.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Fri Dec 13 10:17:41 2002
The nation of 976-SHEEP would like to second the motion of slowing
the game, since our elves are busy knitting wool mittens for sale
on ebay.
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Sun Nov 24 14:47:52 2002
Looks like the clock is completely stuffed at the moment...
By my calcs, we should be having an update in under 2 hours.
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:06:19 2002
I thought we should have an update now......
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Sun Nov 24 17:16:28 2002
Do we really want to wait till Monday for the next update?
Cathouse
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sun Nov 24 17:18:47 2002
many players who logged in roughly an hour ago have bailed
for the night and may not be on for the update.
clearly a decision needs to be made. at times like this,
we look for guidance from our most excellent deity.
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Sun Nov 24 17:19:27 2002
So this week we are only having what, 3 updates? We skipped one already, everybody should be very ready now...
Cathouse
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:21:10 2002
There is a difference in begin ready and being logged on.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sun Nov 24 17:22:39 2002
the server was also not accessible for about 4 hours earlier
this evening. it only came back up 2-3 hours ago, with a very
wrong time.
common courtesy would be a factor here guys.
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Sun Nov 24 17:23:49 2002
You sure you want my guidance right now. I left the Christmas
party early so I could force the update at the right time.
However most of those still logged on are voting to cancel the
update.
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Sun Nov 24 17:24:11 2002
Update! Update! Update! :)
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:28:15 2002
I would be pretty pissed if I was attacked by Cathouse after
desperately trying to login a couple of hours ago!
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sun Nov 24 17:29:41 2002
you said there are 5 peeps logged in right now.
how does that compare to the loggins at all the other updates?
that might be an indicator of who is "ready".
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Sun Nov 24 17:31:11 2002
There are usually 10-15 players logged in for the updates.
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:31:47 2002
Most people are fighting, I bet we should be more than 5 people logged in
if people was expecting the update.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Sun Nov 24 17:32:02 2002
just make a decision, please! :-)
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Sun Nov 24 17:33:03 2002
I was pretty pissed when I was kicked out right in the
middle of my attack and wasn't able to get in for hours,
but it's all part of the game...
Cathouse
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Sun Nov 24 17:34:13 2002
OK, today's update is cancelled.
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Sun Nov 24 17:34:50 2002
Oh, and while we are at it, I'm opposed to any slow down
in the game. I kinda like that as a bigger country I have
at least one disadvantage to the smaller countries: time.
I don't hear the smaller countries clamoring to slow down
the game.
Cathouse
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:36:00 2002
I thought time limit was my biggest problem, but the last days I have
also discovered the BTU problem, and that's even worse...
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Sun Nov 24 17:38:24 2002
Good point Pendor, make that I'm glad there are two disadvantages
in being big. First game I've seen any disadvantage for getting large.
Ever.
Cathouse
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:40:45 2002
I can live with the time restriction, even though it just make me use more
time because of scripting. The BTU limit is a much bigger country. As I
see it you simply don't have enough BTUs to fight, so it's actually
a very bad thing for a wargame!
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Sun Nov 24 17:45:38 2002
Actually after the game is over, I'll want to start a thread
about how the game went. I was getting tired of games that you
have to play 24 hours every day, but I'm not sure that the hours
restriction is the correct solution.
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Sun Nov 24 17:47:29 2002
I've not run into the BTU problem, but I've not micromanaged
as much this game either...
Cathouse
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:50:36 2002
John, the hour restriction is no solution. You can handle a small country
in 3 hours, but fighting and managing a 200+ sector country is no fun.
One solution is to start scripting, but that just makes you use even more
time!!!
We need to change (or remove) some of the micromanagement in Empire,
otherwise the game will die. Not many people are willing to spend 3-5 hours
a day to play a game. After being away from the game in 18 months, I now
begin to remember why I stopped playing, it's simply to timeconsuming.
Bo
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:55:10 2002
Cathouse when you start fighting a well defended country, you'll run into
the BTU problem, trust me!
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sun Nov 24 18:02:41 2002
Taking some of the complexity from the game
is just as likely to kill it.
I think a good compromise on the time problem
with this game is to extend the weekend break
by 12-18 hours.
Most of the remaining countries are large ones
anyway.
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Sun Nov 24 19:23:30 2002
Now the system clock is going wild........
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Sun Nov 24 19:26:52 2002
Ooops....
I see that has been noticed already....
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sun Nov 24 20:12:51 2002
} > Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Nov 24 17:50:36 2002
[...]
} We need to change (or remove) some of the micromanagement in Empire,
} otherwise the game will die. Not many people are willing to spend 3-5 hours
} a day to play a game. After being away from the game in 18 months, I now
} begin to remember why I stopped playing, it's simply to timeconsuming.
} > Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sun Nov 24 18:02:41 2002
} Taking some of the complexity from the game
} is just as likely to kill it.
Shakespeare, you seem to confuse complexity with micromanagement.
For instance, designing a good road or highway network is complex. It
requires more thought than time.
But `check mob, check cms, move cms, improve road, wait an update,
lather, rinse, repeat' isn't complex, it's stupid. It requires time,
but hardly any thought.
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Mon Nov 25 00:13:36 2002
Interesting that the news refuses to reset....
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Mon Nov 25 01:11:08 2002
status of update?
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Mon Nov 25 02:53:31 2002
Last evening a little after 4pm the machine the server is on crashed.
The server was restarted at 7:21pm, however the clock was not set.
I was on at 10pm to see that the update happened correctly; however,
I received a barrage of flashes, telegrams, and announcements to
cancel the update. Thus last night's update was cancelled. The
next update window will start at the regularly scheduled time of
10am MST Monday. I have sent an e-mail to the System Admin to fix
the clock.
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Mon Nov 25 03:02:52 2002
no updates until monday?
I almost forgot when last update was..
well, I must still have some unit with some mob somewhere.
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Fri Dec 20 11:41:13 2002
To All Nations of Ice World IV:
We hereby declare the countries of Ski, 976-Sheep
and Zirconia to be the winners of Ice World IV.
The battles and carnage have been great. I believe
the reefs created by the sunken ships along the
border between 976-Sheep, Wahbit and Zirconia and
the alliance of Pendor, Spam, Tanugi, NamNam, beep,
Rook and Thistle should soon be ready to be declared
industrial sectors ready for populace. I think
the lack of fort-fire has allowed all of us to gain
a much greater appreciation for land artillery.
We wish to thank all of the other countries who
bordered us and provided assistance and friendship
as needed.
Please respond quickly with your acceptance or
rejection of this win declaration so that we can
plan accordingly. Once the game has ended, we will
have lengthy discussions about this game setup.
The Ice Barbarian Warlord definately created one
of the most challenging games I have seen.
Ski
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Fri Dec 20 12:11:38 2002
That is EVIL. Tanugi will not accept this.
The Gods will crush you for this premature
Blam.
Hakuna steps over the corpse of the priest.
"Ski did well and deserves the win. All hail to Ski."
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Fri Dec 20 13:22:19 2002
It has been a long and hard struggle for Pendor, many brave
men have lost their lives. We welcome the peace and are
looking to celebrate christmas without war.
The nation of Pendor accepts the win declared by Ski.
King Taron of Pendor
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Fri Dec 20 13:30:28 2002
Shakespeare supports Ski/Sheep/Zirconia
winning declaration
Of the three players in this game attacked
by three or more players at once, two
didn't fold and are on the winning side.
Congrats on showing your mettle.
> Announcement from Thistle, (#31) dated Fri Dec 20 14:27:25 2002
The Nation of Thistle accepts
the win declaration as stated.
Congratulations to Ski SHEEP Zirconia.
I had some good fun attacking
Zirc and lost too many carriers to
his missiles.
Thistle
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Fri Dec 20 16:09:13 2002
From the Castle of the Castle
We agree to the declaration.
Well done to the victors.
Well done to the survivors.
Well done to the Deity.
Stick three forks into it, it's DONE.
Rook
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Fri Dec 20 16:59:08 2002
Good game.
the setup was excellent and the battles were pretty fun.
my only contraint were BTU.
I would change max BTU to 1000 or so.
Late in the game I was constrained to share the BTU
across the enemies and to log on at weird hours just to avoid
btu losses when btu >640.
NOFORTFIRE is extremely good
v sectors are good
Three hours a day was pretty good.
Update window should be the rule and not the exception
(i didnt cover about 50% of the updates i believe)
I would have liked the game hidden
and even better without radar sectors.. (just ship radars!)
May be worth to start a tread on rec.games.empire
but I guess the game is going in the right direction
where you dont have to be 24/7 on all the time.
the only thing, as i said I would like to have more BTU so I
dont need to log in every 8 hours or so.
(no btu accumulation rate , just increase max BTU from 640 to 1000 or so
good game, lots of people have learned a lot I believe.
> Announcement from Kamoria, (#6) dated Fri Dec 20 17:15:51 2002
The nation of Kamoria acknowledge the win declaration.
Congrats to the winners and our deity !!
I'm looking foward the discussion we'll have on r.g.e.
Warzen.
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Fri Dec 20 17:33:41 2002
I heartily dispute the win declaration. We're not far from
nuclear weapons which will greatly change the complexion
of the game.
For those of us who chose a strategy of maximizing technology
over land/military forces, such a declaration is a total
slap in the face.
This is nothing more than a cop-out from those who wish
to a) not play during holidays and b) prepare for the
next game. Well I say, how about ending this one properly.
I will be quite interested to hear what Cathouse (who
also has pursued technology aggressively) has to say
on this matter.
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Fri Dec 20 21:05:49 2002
Resvon is right. I reject the Ski win declaration.
This game has been interesting from several standpoints and
I'm not going to agree to a win by the people who have
followed the standard "lawnmower" strategy in a game where
creative strategy is clearly called for.
Have empire players become so complacent that they can't
fight the good fight over the holidays? Especially in a
game where time is strictly limited.
Also, I would reject this win declaration even on the grounds
of Ski picking from among the top countries an "alliance of
convienience" because he's tired of playing.
This game can certainly last till nuke tech, and I'm guessing
I can make it last long into LOTR if necessary. Which is
why I will propose an alternative win declaration so that if
you guys are all tired you can accept it and have your
holidays off and get ready for LOTR.
I propose that the techological mights of Cathouse and Resvon
are the winners of this game.
Cathouse
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Fri Dec 20 21:27:01 2002
Shakespeare reiterates his support of Ski/
Sheep/Zirconia winning dec.
LOTR shouldn't be the issue here. LOTR II
can be delayed, just as other proposed
long-term games have been delayed to
allow current games to run their course.
This has been the best long-term game
I've been in. If there's a challenge to
Ski's dec, let the game continue, but
let's not let LOTR II be the issue.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Fri Dec 20 22:06:15 2002
i'll fight on. when ski was offering to negotiate an end to the
game was one thing, when he attacks me after i agreed to support his claimit is another.
to winning the game is another. my alleged allies can do whatever their alleged
sense of honor compels them to do.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Fri Dec 20 22:13:10 2002
how hard can it be to support line wrap so you can see
what the hell you are typing? sheesh, reminds of when i went back
to reread my thesis...people must of thought i was illiterate.
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sat Dec 21 01:31:41 2002
Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!
> Announcement from NamNam, (#30) dated Sat Dec 21 03:17:49 2002
Accepting Ski/Sheep/Zirc win, but I guess that don't mean much now...
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sat Dec 21 04:06:34 2002
Spam gladly accepts the declaration of victory by Ski.
Honestly, we'd be very glad to see this game end. No matter how, as
long as it ends. I'm sorry to say that, but it was not nearly as much
fun as it could have been.
We Spammers learned to loathe the login time restrictions. Once
things became serious, we needed most of our time for fighting. So we
had to script everything else to save login time. Scripting is slow,
and it is no fun. In the end, the login time limit caused us to spend
_more_ time on the game, not less.
The time limit also forced us to play when we didn't want to play.
No, you can't do the economy tonight in your spare time, you have to
do it tomorrow, when you're supposed to work. This sucked.
None of us will ever play a game with such a login limit again.
We also learned to loathe the slow BTU growth. BTU shortage blunted
many attacks and greatly contributed to the general stalemate. I
suspect our enemies had the same problem.
[cont]
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sat Dec 21 04:07:37 2002
Ski found and employed the winning strategy for this game. He avoided
getting embroiled in time consuming, unprofitable wars with strong,
determined opponents. He carefully picked, fought and won the fights
that could be won given the game parameters. He deserves to win.
Congratulations, Ski!
Our warmest thanks go to our allies, first among them Pendor. It was
a pleasure to work with you!
Finally, we wish to thank our gracious deity for hosting this game,
and running it so well. You can't improve the game without trying
things, and not all things you try work out equally well. In our
opinion, the login limit didn't work out. We rather liked the beefed
up naval radar and many of the plane changes, though.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sat Dec 21 04:34:10 2002
OK it's Byz here :)
I've let the others talk for me in this game !!
we want out mainly for Christmas (some of us have young children and they want our time)
I am more than happy to have Ski/Sheep/Cathouse to declare victory just to get a majority to win.
We here did not feel that Zirc played well enough to be a winner but that Ski has and SHEEP has put in a realy good game (well done Bungy).
But zirc was not that good - but we were mainly tied down fighting SHEEP and wahbit (who also fought very well).
Cathouse can have the win if it finishes the game.
We have not enjoyed this game and the slow BTU's stopped us taking wahbits start island on at least 3 occations (we just ran out of BTU's and had to withdraw). This has meant that no one can win against a good opponent.
this means that the game will NEVER finish the game :(
so if Ski/SHEEP/Cathouse will get > 50% lets just do it to end the game as most of us will just walk.
this will leave Cathouse, Resvon, Zirc, Ski and SHEEP (it will go on for months)
We are off for a Christmas break and then on to LOTR II :)
Happy Christmas !!!
Thank-you to John for running the game it was a good try but it became painfull rather than fun and I knew the game was up when the BTU's hit :(
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Sat Dec 21 06:23:23 2002
Geez and I was looking forward to your 4th attack on my main island.
:)
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sat Dec 21 06:41:50 2002
Wahbit don't be down !!!
You never know what Santa will bring :)
PS don't tangle with fluffy bunnies again (only 1 half this time)
:)
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Sat Dec 21 06:45:59 2002
heeh..
Well, frankly I dont play for winning,
but... I am not happy if winners are people that just fought
the last 10 people of the powerchart.
As Spam not being impressed with me. I must say that
it is difficult to share 240 min adn 1500 btu
between 6 (six) enemy nations.
I found myself in the position of having to attack
incoming fleets and hit and go airport sack
to avoid being attacked in strategic places
Frankly I am not impressed by Spam, Tanugi or any of
my enemies. Spam didnt manage to run
Wahbit out of the game soon enought.
As I said If i hadnt to fight on the opposite side
Tanugi (hundreds of ships and planes were coming that way)
Pendor (some support ships )
Thistle (very time consuming subs and airplanes)
NamNam (far away islands that took quite a bit of resources)
and finally Rook, (which fortunately (for me) was busy in real Life)
all of those (bedises pendor) dint have anything else to do than attack me...
if i hadnt to fight this, Spam would be gone ages ago.
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Sat Dec 21 06:51:34 2002
So we decided to keep the statlemate on Spam front
just making more damage than receiving it.
and I guess we got that.
If a country that is being attacked by 6 enemies and
holding still doesnt deserve to win, and you want to give
the victory to players that just sit back running the economy
and attacking totally newbies, than empire is not a wargame anymore.
is the game over or we continue..
I am having fun.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sat Dec 21 06:56:46 2002
Zirc,
what you fail to understand is that we arranged to get all
those nations to attack you :)
We were busy fighting wahbit and sheep.
the last thing we wanted was to have problems to the west so
when you attacked we had a response ready for you :)
Thus you went from top of the power chart to 4th place.
Therefore your troubles were due to diplomacy and not by a
chance of fate.
Also as we always suspected wahbit was being supported by Sheep.
so it didn't really suprise us when sheep joined.
What you also fail to realise is wahbit is a good player and
our war with him was started because he attacked us over one sector :)
You cannot take a 35 sector island of a good player with these
BTU limits because a good player cannot be left a single foothold.
However if you think wahbit is a crap player why not say so :)
> Announcement from Myseria, (#11) dated Sat Dec 21 07:32:24 2002
Better late than never:
The country of Myseria accepts the win declaration.
However nuke tech will soon be reached, we do not expect it to
change much in the balance of power...
It looks like we're going to keep fighting anyway, which is no
problem here, we're still having fun ! ;-)
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sat Dec 21 07:35:48 2002
The country of 976-SHEEP suspects that the evil nations of
Cathouse and Resvon are researching technologies for weapons
of mass destrucion. We are thus requesting support of all
neighboring countries of these demonic monsters, and grant
976-SHEEP access to your airfields and harbors for purposes
of shutting down such attempts of Cathouse and Resvon from
developing these weapons.
The Bunglord
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Sat Dec 21 07:40:06 2002
The country of Zirconia urges the axes of evil
of Cathouse and Resvon to accept unconditionally
weapon inspectors.
also we expect to provide a detailed report
of nuclear and biological programs
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sat Dec 21 09:33:59 2002
Zirc,
This is another third of Spam. I think you fought quite well, given
the circumstances. You just had a certain downward momentum in the
power chart :)
Is that good enough to deserve to win? Well, in this game it is. You
won the masochism contest by holding out until Christmas. Now enough
of your enemies had enough of this game setup, so you win. There,
have a victory. Congrats & enjoy!
As to inflicting more damage than receiving it, *chuckle* that's a
good one. But it doesn't matter now.
As to Empire not being a wargame anymore. Well, a wargame isn't about
fighting alone. It's also about diplomacy, and that's why you were
pigpiled. It's also about picking your fights carefully. The BTU
shortage makes decisive action against strong, determined opponents
hard, maybe impossible. So why do that? We did, and that's why we
lost. Ski didn't, and that's why he wins.
Markus, a.k.a. Dorwinion
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sat Dec 21 14:00:49 2002
The country of Shakespeare, currently at
war with the diabolical countries of Cathouse
and Resvon, pledges full co-operation
of all countries wanting access to my
front line airfields and harbours next
to these two countries.
I do so in the interests of promoting world
peace and stability.
> Announcement from IndustMech, (#27) dated Sat Dec 21 16:09:28 2002
I'd like the game to continue.
I call on Pendor to support your allie beep.
Tanugi and Thistle I'll help with Zirconia.
IM
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sun Dec 22 09:23:46 2002
well as announced on pre-friday.
Most of spam are going from the game for Christmas :)
Zirc seems to want to carry on regardless !!
But as I said the other day my children come first at this time of year :)
Bye
Byz
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Sun Dec 22 09:33:55 2002
Spam is leaving when the party is starting?
the attack you mentioned was long overdue..
and was triggered by the fact that you were unimpressed.
I just used 800 btu 2 hours and the ships i had around
(no real plan), to get 3 of your airports (full of stuff...)
and damage 2 islands, and I could go on more.
if everything your attacks are about are to launch missiles
to empty carriers and to torpedo some ships,
then i am quite a bit unimpressed.
I hope to be your neighbor next game.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sun Dec 22 09:35:17 2002
yawn !
zirc seems to think that he is macho by attacking a country that most co-rulers have left :)
I am not playing anymore (I just had a break from putting up
christmas decorations)
One co-ruler may have a look in now and again.
For what it's worth the only player who looks like winning
this is Ski as at least he stops attacking countries who have
said they will support a win :)
Zirc obviously cannot accept that the only reason we will
support his win is that we want to get on with Christmas :)
So he thinks he will be shown to be a great player by attacking countries that are not actively playing !!
Application for LOTH II
Zirc "Roman hear is my application for the game I won in ICE IV"
Name : Zirc
Ranking : 10
Roman "10 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!"
Byz
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sun Dec 22 09:36:52 2002
Zirc,
I don't care :)
that one will be playable :)
this one has got pointless due to the BTU limit
:)
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Sun Dec 22 09:51:23 2002
sorry to say,
I have won last 4 games i have played.
and I dont play much
you are telling me about btu limits? you had one front.
i had 3 and 6 enemies.
I rank myself 7, not 10.
I learned a lot from other player and reconizing
their superiority gave me good feedback at the end.
I got most of my game looking and attacking
Ionica, Ice, Mirk, CCCP and Escher.
those players are still superior to me in many aspect.
the fact that there are not many left playing this game
make it not fun anymore. So I dont play often (doubt in LOTR)
for me it is just not fun to keep attacking the weakest players
and you dont learn much.
Ski is a good player, but I am not going to like a game
where the winner didnt fight main battles.
I still consider this as a wargame. Economy is secondary.
my only regret is that I should have attacked you
earlier, instead of focusing on players that demonstrated
to be way better than you. By now you would have been at the
bottom of the chart.
end rant
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Sun Dec 22 09:55:11 2002
and btw..
I forgot in this update you started attacking me...
so I assumed you were continuing to play.
I dont bug players that stop playing. (Rook or NamNam(?))
it is just no fun.
but I will make an exception in your case
wave
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Sun Dec 22 11:32:43 2002
You want disclosure? Here's Resvon's disclosure:
We are developing nukes and plan to use them.
I don't contest Ski's portion of the win - he and I have a long-standing
friendly relationship with game-ending NA agreements in place - I contest
976-SHEEP and Zirc's. If Ski decides to nullify our agreements simply
to end the game, then I'm not in much of a position to contest. Zirc
and SHEEP can't touch me, though. Not before I (and my other friendly
neighbor, Cathouse) get nukes and start to make em glow.
To those that think nukes won't matter: given the natural geography
of IW IV, a few well-placed nukes will have a dramatic impact on nations.
We're not dealing with 300-sector islands. We're dealing with 35-sector
mainlands and 10-sector & under hopping points. Even if wasteland-capable
nukes are a fair bit off (slightly over two weeks) - ever seen what the
smaller babies can do to a naval fleet or airfield?
I reiterate my disgust with the general apathy of nations and applaud
IM's words of support to beep, Pendor, Tanugi and Thistle.
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sun Dec 22 12:03:15 2002
Zirc,
Please don't put words in my mouth. I never claimed to be
`unimpressed'. I said `I think you fought quite well, given the
circumstances'. I also conceded defeat. I have nothing to add to
that.
For reason I don't quite understand, you chose to continue your
attacks. Well, I fought back for a little while until I realized how
stupid it is to fight after one side conceded defeat and offers
cooperation. So I stopped.
If you have fun attacking an unattended country, be my guest.
Merry Christmas,
Markus, a.k.a. Dorwinion
> Announcement from Mackland, (#23) dated Fri Jan 3 16:44:48 2003 I officially declare that I no longer have a chance of winning this game.
:-)
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Sat Jan 4 00:06:44 2003
how come instead of the motd i get a 'show sect s' every time
i log on?
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sat Jan 4 00:11:45 2003
Are you using the new version of winace?
I'm using Jim's old version. I used
the new version on another computer,
and got that message "show sec s".
I never got the message about the number of
logins.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Sat Jan 4 03:56:30 2003
Zirconia wrote:
} aslo, reduce harpoons range by 1/2, as well as their damage
I disagree. Over-the-horizon anti-ship missiles have been a deadly
reality for more than thirty years now. I'd like Empire to model
that.
But they do need work.
It is _much_ easier to hit a civilian ship or an obsolete warship than
a modern warship with a sophisticated ECM suite, anti-missile missiles
and CIWS. The anti-missile capability of aac/agc doesn't really
capture that.
Anti-ship missiles, except for the very latest designs, have serious
difficulties in littoral waters, and are next to useless against ships
in port. Empire doesn't capture that.
} spies needs some makeup. they are expensive and not really useful.
Yes, spies need work. When spies became a threat in LOTR, we just
llooked until blue in the face. Each llook gets another 10% chance.
Silly.
Markus
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Sat Jan 4 10:28:37 2003
i've been playing this game for a dozen years and i don't
think i have ever seen this:
976-SHEEP frigate searching for land...
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Sat Jan 4 10:55:21 2003
oh, that's the name of the ship...err..._was_ the name of the ship.
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Sat Jan 4 13:54:43 2003
are we done?
who still needs to surrender?
> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Sat Jan 4 16:02:44 2003
The game is now over. Ski, 976-SHEEP, and Zirconia are offically the
winners. Updates are now disabled. The game will stay up for a few
days so players can comment on the game.
> Announcement from IndustMech, (#27) dated Sat Jan 4 17:20:14 2003
Thank you John for running a great game.
And thanks to the other players who taught me
a few things.
John
> Announcement from Kamoria, (#6) dated Sat Jan 4 17:45:51 2003
Nice game Ice Barb !
Thx for all.
I think you can begin your thread on r.g.e about the setup of this game.
Warzen Kamor.
> Announcement from Myseria, (#11) dated Sat Jan 4 20:08:02 2003
Thanks everybody for the lessons that you taught us and
thanks John for hosting the class room... ;-)
Zlo, the other 1/2 of Myseria.
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sat Jan 4 20:09:57 2003
Thanks to the diety for a fine setup. I
look forward to a discussion on RGE
on the game.
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sat Jan 4 20:13:00 2003
As an aside, I'm hoping the
diety will post the final tech report
on RGE.
> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Sat Jan 4 20:41:00 2003
Happy New Year to All!
Congtratulations to the winners.
Thank you Ice for the great setup
Thank you Allies for your cooperation
Thank you Opponents for your competition
Thank you all for the additional lessons
cheers
Rook
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Sun Jan 5 05:08:47 2003
I'm looking forward to see the tech report, John please post it.
> Announcement from Thistle, (#31) dated Sun Jan 5 05:56:08 2003
Great game, enjoyable scenario.
Congrats again to the winners.
"Zlo, the other 1/2 of Myseria."
Who is the first half of Myseria????
Thistle
> Announcement from Myseria, (#11) dated Sun Jan 5 06:44:59 2003
: Who is the first half of Myseria????
The other half is Frank/Myst...
He hasn't played last 2 1/2 weeks. ;-)
Zlo, the other 1/2 of Myseria.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sun Jan 5 12:07:12 2003
I liked the big world size, lots of space to nav and sonar and stuff.
The doubled ship radar was nice, once we got ships which could actualy
benefit from the increased range, it would be nice if there was a +1
modifier to the frigate's range which would have made the initial
land grabbing easier.
The venture was great, with a fixed cap at $100k per country it leveled
out this source of income across all countries. Bars and Civs were the
only income advantage for larger countries, and the income from these
was reduced to a good level.
I would have liked bridge_towers to have been enabled, that would have
helped move stuff from island to island. Easy_bridges off is ok.
But the biggest deviation from most games that I found most challenging
was having the no_fort_fire option. It made it harder to level fodder
by not being able to capture their forts and deiting their islands.
It also meant that shells were consumed more quickly by ships and
arty's.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Sun Jan 5 12:08:23 2003
But looking back, I scratch my head and wonder what I ever did with
all my CMs in non-venture games. did we just stockpile guns and shells
in those games?
Bungholio
> Announcement from Thistle, (#31) dated Sun Jan 5 13:04:25 2003
What I liked:
No_Fort_fire made for some challenge in defending
islands. A plus to the attacker.
The 3 hour time limit was good for the smaller
countries, leveled things out a bit. From
listening to some of the complaints perhaps
keep the limit just expand it somewhat.
Really enjoyed the new naval/air units, added
some fun to carrier based ops.
Really enjoyed this game right up to the end...
Mike
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sun Jan 5 16:04:30 2003
Congratulations to Ski, SHEEP and Zirc
for a well deserved win.
The game setup made for the best long-term
game I've played. The three hour time
limit made alot of players sign up, and
the more players there are the better the
game. The time limit also prevented players
from playing 24/7, which created a more
enjoyable game. The BTU accumulation rate
was set too high. 40 civs per BTU created
more of a limit then the signon time. Blitzes,
Mr Slowly and the Sycamore games are set
at 8 civs per BTU.
NO_FORT_FIRE was great. Instead of wailing
on opponents in a mindless, low-tech way,
players had to engage in more tactics.
I think it was NO_FORT_FIRE that led to
the many player casualties. There are many
players who didn't finish the game on
the power report.
The distance between start islands was great
too, creating a naval game that still didn't
negate the requirement for land units.
> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Sun Jan 5 16:43:52 2003
BTW, perhaps I'll see some of you
in Mr. Slowly.
I'm doubtful for LOTR II, since I'm
not big on fixed tech games.
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Mon Jan 6 01:57:18 2003
What do you mean?
The game is over??
????
Damn it. First, my King shoots me in the back,
I crawl home, drink ann healing potions I can find
(small green bottles, labeled "Einbecker Mai-Ur-Bock")
then, recovered, I find the country of Tanugi just
resembling the King: fat and lazy.
Now I'm back, ready to kill
and you say "It's over!"??
&?#**?????
Matata, alive.
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Mon Jan 6 01:57:53 2003
Congrats to all
winners and survivors.
and some of the dead did well......
;)
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Mon Jan 6 04:04:31 2003
Thanks to Ice_Barbarians for running a great game, as always when he is in charge,
the game ran smoothly and without problems.
Congrats to the winners!
The world size and the amount of water was great. The distance between
islands made naval battle very important, I've never used so many carriers before.
The new (and modified) planes was also great.
Venture enterprise is very good, and should be the standard in coming
games. Combined with less tax and payoff from bars it's a good thing.
The time limit at first seemed like a good idea, but during the game I
started to hate it more and more! During the initial expanding it wasn't
a big problem, and I could easily take out the first opponent without
time problems. But micromanaging 150-200 and prepare war-operations is
simply not possible in 3 hours. You had to drop one of them or start
scripting. I did use scripting at some point, but I just made me use
even more time than I would have done without the time limit! If future
games will experiment with time limits, at least the limit should be
related to the update and not real life days. The different timeframe
used for updates and time limit, made it even worse. I'm sure the time
limit was a good idea, but I don't think it should be used again.
The BTU limit really sucked. I don't remember how fast you gain BTUs in
a "normal" game, but we simply had too few in this game. I think the
combination of BTU and time limit destroyed the game, at least from my
point of view. It turned the war I fought against SHEEP/Wahbit into a huge
stalemate, without any chance of advancing.
It was a great game until I got so tired of the limitations that I just
wanted it to end as soon as possible!
After being away from empire in 18 months it was really fun to be back,
but I now realize why I quit playing. Empire is simply to timeconsuming,
if you are committed to do well. I guess the time limit was a way to try
and limit the amount of time used, but it didn't solved the problem. We
need to find ways to minimize some of the micromanagement, otherwise I
think the game will die.....
Bo
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Mon Jan 6 09:24:06 2003
Ice World IV was a very good game. John obviously put
much thought into the setup. I also assume that he tried
to make changes to accommodate comments / gripes from
players in previous games. I think most of the
'enhancements' were successful. However, a few
conflicted.
Venture sectors that consume 'cms is a good idea. Adding
these with the current non-linear production equation
prevents large countries from making too much money. It
also prevented the 'Wicked effect' as seen in IW3 where
a small country could produce huge amounts of cash. With
the current equation, the upper limit is $100K at
infinite venture production. This coupled with reduced
bar income, reduced civ income and TECH_POP definitely
limited the run-away cash of large countries that allowed
'lawn-mowers' to overrun the world. The lines below
emphasize the importance of these changes.
library/school l 3000 edu 27000
technical center t 19 tech 80297
Income from taxes 453798 civs, 415706 uws +186233
Income from bars 7672 bars +92064
Income from venture capital 16746 goods +80719
I was only putting 30 dust into tech, but with 450K civs
I was spending over 1/3 of my budget on tech and edu.
Every available sector was making 'cms for venture but I
still only gained $80K. Even with the reduced taxes,
income from civs and uws was the primary source of
income.
The update window should become a standard game feature
instead of an option. However, with NO_FORT_FIRE and
large water distances, update scripts were not that
useful and the update window did not make that large of a
difference. The update window does cause clients such
as WinACE to lose sync between the local database and the
server database. The user needed to remember to execute
'Update All' after the update actually occurred.
Rolling updates are a good idea. It prevents some
timezones from being penalized while others have
convenient update times. 30 hours was a good period in
this game when countries were less than 200 sectors.
Thereafter, with the BTU limit and time limit, it became
too fast. I would have preferred that once all 'active'
countries had exceeded 100 sectors that the game would
have been slowed further. I too spent considerable time
writing scripts to perform country management when I was
actively fighting. This consumed additional time rather
than saving time.
The time limit impacted me more than the BTU limit.
WinACE wastes BTUs. I quickly learned which default
configurations to use to limit BTU use. I also created a
few canned scripts to locate problem areas which
expedited management. Ship orders also saved considerable
time. BTW, the WinACE implementation for ship orders is
almost unusable.
I was lured into running my country solo since the game
had a time limit and a BTU limit. That was a mistake.
The game setup had many land masses and consequently,
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Mon Jan 6 09:24:13 2003
lots of ships which required lots of time to manage. This
is one of those conflicting requirements issues. Empire
players desire 'great naval battles'. We had them in this
game! They also want reduced air superiority. That was
true until about tech 150 when the long range jets
finally made island to island air combat an option. This
scenario would be interesting at a fixed tech of about
110.
Doubling the radar ranges on ships made ship radar very
useful. I thought that change was excellent. I would
like to see the impact of reduced land radar range. (I
know it would not be realistic but I think it would help
the game.) Then land unit radar could be made useful.
(Also not realistic but intriguing.)
The login limit was also a good addition that should become
standard. The new planes were an interesting addition.
I made great use of the NTRs during the middle of the game.
I did not have much success with the NFBs or the NREs.
They would probably be more useful if the water distances
were increased and JF1s weakened but I think a game like
that would become too arduous.
I would have liked bridgetowers to be enabled. I think SPY
units have too low of a success rate at assaulting (~10%).
The commandos could have been significant in this game if
they could get on shore. I liked the slow tech growth. I
got to play with many units that I seldom bother to build.
Disabling TRADE, MARKET and LOANS made the game play better
but was another cause for additional time commitment.
Limiting the win declaration was another good idea. Pat
tried that in TM2 but it was ignored. Another interesting
idea that would solely be on player honor and integrity
would be to request that all player communication be in the
game. Many players use email to hide communications and
NA agreements to hide treaties / cooperation. I would like
to see a game with these techniques banned.
I am sure these opinions will be debated at length.
I thank John for creating and running this game. It was
creative and it ran smoothly. I look forward to his next
creation. I also look forward to seeing all of you in
LOTR II!
Ski
> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Mon Jan 6 09:52:43 2003
The login limit almost forced the players
to use off-game communications whenever possible.
There were also very few annos......
You don't waste your precious time on
writing.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Jan 6 13:04:40 2003
The country of 976-SHEEP would like to thank the deity and all
players for a good game, and we are offering free passes to our
many sheep petting zoos. For info and directions, please send
a SASE to:
Telegram 24
bmap info request ^Z
declare alliance 24
Our sheeps are well groomed, and awaiting your arrival!
Bungy
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Jan 6 14:23:30 2003
There is no way in which to ban players from communicating
with each other outside of the game. Furthermore, there is
no way to enforce such a system even if you used an 'honor'
system to ban it. Lastly, as Tanugi pointed out, using login
time to send telegrams would be an poor use of limited login
time.
-Mith
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Jan 6 14:29:49 2003
Regarding the time/btu/login limitations...
The login limitations never became an issue for Spam.
We were able to manage ourselves well enough that we
were encouraging each other to use *more* logins in
order to help conserve login time. I.e., if you're
logged in and twiddling your thumbs, log out and look
at offline information before going back in.
The BTU limitations were a very, very serious impediment
to the game and created an artificial constraint on player's
abilities to prosecute battles. At least twice, I was party
to large scale assaults that ground to a halt due to BTU
limitations, and not skill limitations. In my opinion, this
was silly.
The time limitations had, in my opinion, exactly the opposite
effect than intended. As others have noted, it forced countries of
medium size and larger to create offline scripts to manage
their countries. This was a serious pain in the ass and
resulted in *more* time spent on the game and not less.
<cont>
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Jan 6 14:33:22 2003
The time limitations combined with the BTU limitations made
it very difficult to manage a country and conduct warfare during the
mid-game when a great amount of country management needed to
happen every day to micro-manage the economy.
Personally, I refuse to play in a game limited in such arbitrary
ways in the future.
I will be the first to stand up with anyone who says that
Empire has become too complex for its own good, and that
the amount of time needed to play Empire needs to decrease.
But, I happen to hail from an era of Empire where time was
not the issue that it is now. Having these artificial limitations
is not the answer to the problem at hand. It is nothing more than
a very thin band-aid. In my opinion, it backfired horribly in this
particular game, though I applaud John's efforts to try the
limitations.
<cont>
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Jan 6 14:37:34 2003
Empire is a game of strategy. Having countries over run other
countries in the game is what you *want* to happen. Putting
barriers in place to make it far more difficult to prevent
players from doing this is antithetical to the game.
These artificial barriers made it even more important to
roll over fodder, since they were nearly the only kills
that happened in the game. The barriers made it nearly
impossible for countries to defeat other competent countries.
In every other respect, I think this game was well done.
But, the arbitrary limitations must go. It was an experiment that
failed horribly.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Jan 6 14:39:55 2003
how much country management were you doing, Mith?
I thought you were one of these guys who could manage a 1000
sector country in under an hour?
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Jan 6 14:40:28 2003
I agree that the update window scheme should be part
of the default code. This helps limit the utility of
update-time scripts. You can still perform them, but it gives players
defending against such attacks a chance to respond.
Venture capital is a good idea, and the peak limitations
on it combined with the impact of higher population on
tech production made for a much better economic system
than has been seen in some games. Very nice work John!
Contrary to some, I think it was a good idea to have
bridge towers disabled.
-Mith
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Jan 6 14:45:21 2003
I rather enjoyed the end result of the time limitation.
I think wahbit and I both showed that we were able to knock a
competent player off of a start island. Part of your problem
was that you were trying to outfit AND use an assault force
within a short period of time. I was setting stuff up, then
coming back 10 hours later to use it. Unfortunately, in several
instances, Pendor logged in during my waiting period and gave
me several telegrams to mourn over.
Bungy
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Jan 6 14:45:50 2003
Sheep,
I've managed 1500 sector nations...but that was more than
a decade ago now, and the game is very different now than
it was then.
Since Spam was restricted in size, we were micro-managing
the nation to a high level. This was most expressed in
venture production and in optimization of UWs. We've had max pop of
UWs for weeks now. Also, our supply situation was far
better than some nations we observed. This paid significant
dividends for us. I think we got more bang for the buck
than most, if not all, of the nations in the game in
economic terms. Making that a reality required a lot
of micro-management.
Also, the scattered islands nature of this game required
more attention to gain the most utility from each of the
little islands. They were not self sufficient for optimal
production through much of the game. This became less of
a problem as the game wore on, but for several weeks the
need to hand manipulate fleets of cargo ships required a lot of time
staring at maps and writing up scripts.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Jan 6 14:51:28 2003
Sheep,
Though I respect yours and Wahbit's abilities and mean
no insult, the reason we never completely took over
Wahbit's start island had to do mainly with the time
and BTU limitations when faced with competent players.
As for our creation of assault forces...over a period
extending at least a month, we almost always had a force
capable of seriously hurting Wahbit's start island. After
our second major attack on that island, we decided not
to attempt to take it again. Our third major attack on
it was only to deny it to you and Wahbit. Our continued
efforts there were meant only to turn it into a muddy
trench that would remain largely unusable to you and Wahbit.
The strategy would work for as long as you and Wahbit
remained fixated on trying to defned and/or use the island
to your advantage. The fact we couldn't take it was proved
by your attempt to take the island to the west of it, which
resulted in a significant tactical loss to you. You couldn't
take an 8 sector island, and we couldn't take a 30 one.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Jan 6 14:59:23 2003
But you just said that you were spending a lot of time micro-managing
your country. I did very little, if any, country management, as you
can see in my massive piles of excess iron. "Time" was a limited
commodity in this game, which I chose to "spend" in a military effort.
I am sorry you chose to play sim-city, and micro-manage your UW's.
You could have made the same "tradeoffs" as me, and could have gone
all military.
> Announcement from Pendor, (#35) dated Mon Jan 6 15:02:19 2003
Did anyone managed to capture a 35 sectors start island from a
competent player who had a decent defence and was actively
defending his country ?
Bo
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Jan 6 15:04:10 2003
I took out the Zern island, which was well defended and he was actively
fighting back.
Ski took down the Armengar island, which was heavily fortified.
I also took down the Mackland island, while catland was logged in
and fighting back.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Mon Jan 6 15:34:51 2003
Sheep, I don't think you understand. The micro-management
of the nation of Spam was NOT done using login time. In fact,
at the peak of the economics demands on micro-management, we
were using at most about 10 minutes of login time per day.
The micro-management occurred in scripts that were created
offline, sometimes as much as 140 lines long, and fired off
during a very short login. Result dependent management was
done at the end of any economic scripts that were run, and
the nation then had all other login time available for
militaristic purposes. We made no trade off.
---
I wouldn't qualify Zern or Armengar as competent opponents.
Cathouse is competent, but he also had significant external
pressures on him.
.,
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Mon Jan 6 17:25:18 2003
Here is Mr. Ed's take on things:
I too hated the time and BTU limitation. As has been noted, the time
limitation really prevented any interesting announcements which I
personally find adds great character to the game. As also noted,
the BTU limit was quite inconvenient when waging war. With the pure
amount of resources required to affect invasions in this layout (i.e. I
need sea, land and air), against a half-decent defense, the limit
proved prohibitive. In other setups, an invasion could typically be
implemented with only one of these 3 (massive air force, army or
navy) which made coordination and management (BTU consumers) far easier
to deal with.
I love no_fort_fire - I had asked for this to be a standard feature
years ago. It's terrific.
The physical setup was... interesting. Though I got real tired of
establishing cargo ship networks to traverse goods to/from 5 & 6 sector
islands to maximize their usefulness. It would have been nice to have
some bigger islands in between the 35-sector land masses to act as
better bases (both offensive and defensive).
I'm still unsure of venture sectors... it was an interesting application
of resources and islands but largely helped trivialise the value of
banks/bars. No longer were bank(s) a strategic target as part of an
economic warfront with a nation - economic warfare was largely eliminated
with the venture sectors ("Oh! He nuked my island with venture's and
a bank! Quick - create a few additional venture sectors.") And it
added even more micromanagement ("yes - let's turn that two sector
holding into a venture capital producing resource").
Like Spam, my islands were massively micromanaged. I spent untold
hours offline squeezing every last resource out of my islands to
direct it into technology. At the end (when I admittedly had further
increased education and tech spend) I was producing 54 technology and
almost 3000 edu per update costing 75K (vs. tax income of 43k). Which
leads me to my biggest gripe:
technology beyond 180 is worthless unless you can reach 300+
That's 120 points of technology where you, as a tech producer, are at
a massive disadvantage. There is no compelling technology between
180-300 for any of the planes, ships, units. Sure you get a few
surface to surface missiles and general upgrades of existing equipment
(at a significant cost) but that's it until you can reach nukes and
stealth. Thus my strategy of becoming best buddies with my immediate
neighbors to insulate myself from attack whilst trying to reach these
milestones. Problem is that games never reach this point anymore as
people get too worn down.
I'd like to see the tech levels of these ultimate items lowered and
perhaps some of the more superfluous equipment upgrades dropped out.
As it exists, tech 260 fighters vs tech 180 fighters doesn't yield
much advantage at all. It's only through generation upgrades that
benefits are realised. If this isn't changed then there will only
be one existing strategy - crank some tech for a bit and then drop
it and just massively build up forces ala Ski. There's no value in
solely being a tech producer - but perhaps that's the desired effect.
It has been a very long time since I've played in any dedicated way
so maybe I'm just not remembering how things have always been. :)
I've also got to ask... is there *any* value in the "stealth" planes
with ratings below say the 80% for stealth bombers & fighters? I played
around with a few blackbirds and found that they were intercepted
every single time - by sams, no less. Can't recall that from my history
lessons. And speaking of sams... can someone tell me this - if I
happen to stick a sam into the underbelly of a fighter, transport,
bomber, whatever - isn't that plane going to have more issues than would
allow for it to land and execute 2 more sorties? I know I shouldn't
throw realism into the mix, but I was pretty unhappy with the results
sams produced (regardless of their production price).One thing that also bugged me
about harpoons: I understand that they
don't need to see the ship to drill it (over the horizon targetting),
but they should at least have to know where the ship is. There were
times where I had seen a ship # used in an attack and had guessed that
it probably couldn't have navigated out of harpoon-range... but I had
no idea where it was. So fire away at the ship # as see what happens.
Look at that! Successful hit! Bleh.
The rotating updates were fantastic! Being currently in Australia,
I really appreciated not having every single update occuring in the
dead of night simply because a majority of players were based in North
America.
I still lament that the major war ended and enemies all turned into
allies - it certainly left those of us who were trying to fly under
the radar into later stages in a bad way - but I do understand it.
Shame on us for not adopting an appropriate strategy to meet the
evolving game and political conditions.
So thanks for hosting the game, Mr. Barbarian. Thanks for being good,
what effectively were allies, Ski and Cathouse. Thanks for being
a peaceful neighbor, beep (though I really wanted to see what the
massive minefields between our nations might have yielded - 210 mined
sectors at last count). Thanks for being someone to use my few tech
toys against (after taking out the Fodderland-lover Junta), Shakespeare
(who really needs to sleep more and not be online all the time).
Cheers.
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Jan 6 18:08:28 2003
there are plenty of good tech toys between tech 180 and 300.
land units: tech 190 MTIF and MIF
ships: tech 220 ASW Frigate, tech 240 ASW Destroyer, tech 260 Nuc
attack sub
planes: tech 195 JF2's, tech 200 Apache choppers, tech 280 Tridents
and while we're on the subject of tech stuff, why is it that nukes
don't come into play until tech 280? if we are trying to be
'realistic', (without bringing up the fuel option topic, LOL),
then from what I remember back in school was that nukes were
developed about the same time as jet technology.
Imagine a game where nukes at tech 125 were part of the game...
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Mon Jan 6 19:46:17 2003
Sheep, you could only name 3 things for a 120 point tech
spread. That's more to my point.
I was, of course, making a wildly broad statement - but you
actually highlighted my real frustration which was the nuke
level. Exactly as you describe, it seems to be completely
out of whack with "reality". As is, the nuke "range" is 280-380
or so... a nice near 100-point spread - why not begin that
evolution earlier.
And if I'm going a straight tech path, I'd like to
get some satisfaction for my efforts... i.e. having a few
nukes to beat back the unwashed masses that the rest
of you represent. ;)
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Tue Jan 7 05:38:34 2003
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Jan 7 06:44:59 2003
Those low-tech nukes would have to be incredibly expensive.
Only a large country should be able to afford them.
This might cause some nice synergy. Small country
builds tech and nukes and then sells them to large
countries. Of course, trade would have to be enabled.
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Jan 7 06:47:32 2003
I agree with Resvon regarding stealth. I ignore
stealth as a feature because it is useless.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 06:47:55 2003
"Damage" to a plane has generally been described as being
damage to the air *wing* represented by the plane. Thus,
a 40% JF1 has 40% of its original complement of planes...
all of which are capable of performing their missions, but
run into problems when they encounter a 100% wing of JF1s...which have a
2.5:1 superiority in numbers.
Theoretically, the same applies to ships and units. This
isn't well described/implemented in Empire though. But,
it works.
*small* caveat on the lack of interesting platforms from
180 to 300. The nuclear attack sub can be exceptionally
powerful because its sonar is capable of telling you
exactly how many mines are in a sector within sonar range.
-Mith
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Jan 7 06:50:38 2003
I thought sonar could not detect mines until tech 310.
Is that incorrect? Do all nuclear attack subs detect
mines via sonar?
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 06:53:04 2003
I agree with Resvon also regarding stealth.
As for 'reality', the SR-71 Blackbird was fired at many
times during its service in the USAF. It remains the only
plane type ever built for the US military that has not
seen any embarked crew die in service.
The damn thing was so fast it out ran any missile that
tried to catch it. Absolutely stunning plane, especially
given the technology of the day.
And on earlier nukes...the Manhattan project was incredibly
expensive. Massive facilities needed to be built, and several
technologies were adapted and later dropped in pursuit of the
goal of making a nuclear weapon.
Perhaps nuclear weapons should have a scaled, based on tech,
cost of production. Nowadays, nuclear weapons production in
the US is comparitively cheap. It's one of the few areas
of militaristic spending that has actually decreased in price.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 06:53:23 2003
*head scratch* you could be right Ski, but I am not sure.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 06:53:51 2003
A quick perusal of 'info sonar' bears you out Ski. I stand
corrected.
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Jan 7 07:01:46 2003
The cost scaling could be simulated be adding additional
nuke types at different advancing tech levels
that have the same yeild but cost less.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 07:29:31 2003
Yeah, it could. I'm not sure I like that idea either though.
Personally, I think the lists of ships, planes, and units
are far too long. Nukes aren't too bad, but could very
easily get to be too long too.
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Tue Jan 7 11:17:29 2003
i never even noticed there was a limit on logins, but the one time
i really really needed to login and do something, the time limit killed
me. in general i think the only 'good' way to limit the need to be
long gone TAMU games. 'course that would probably mean that everyone would
want the BTU costs for various commands that are mainly used for country
management be removed.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 13:16:10 2003
} > Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Jan 6 14:45:21 2003
} I rather enjoyed the end result of the time limitation.
} I think wahbit and I both showed that we were able to knock a
} competent player off of a start island. Part of your problem
} was that you were trying to outfit AND use an assault force
} within a short period of time. I was setting stuff up, then
} coming back 10 hours later to use it. Unfortunately, in several
} instances, Pendor logged in during my waiting period and gave
} me several telegrams to mourn over.
} Bungy
If you are referring to you kicking Spam off Wahbit prime: that
doesn't count. Don't misunderstand me, I don't want to belittle your
success. It was a great move, excellent timing. But the island was
not competently defended. You caught us off balance. We just had
used every shell and loads of BTUs to raze the island.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 13:16:35 2003
} > Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Mon Jan 6 17:25:18 2003
} One thing that also bugged me about harpoons: I understand that they
} don't need to see the ship to drill it (over the horizon targetting),
} but they should at least have to know where the ship is. There were
} times where I had seen a ship # used in an attack and had guessed that
} it probably couldn't have navigated out of harpoon-range... but I had
} no idea where it was. So fire away at the ship # as see what happens.
} Look at that! Successful hit! Bleh.
Been there, done that. I agree it's silly. Unfortunately, it isn't
entirely trivial to fix.
By the way, the same argument could be made for fire. It's not much
of an issue, as firing ranges are usually below lookout ranges.
[cont]
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 13:16:58 2003
One option is to require a fix on the target, i.e. target is visible
on a super-coastwatch, that also looks from all land units and ships.
Which would make a swell command all by itself. But that doesn't
cover planes targeting information from planes, which are a very
important source of targeting data in the real world. I don't know
how to capture that.
If a fix is required to launch a marine missile at a ship, then
players should be able to fire them into a sector. They'd pick up a
suitable target there, similar to interdiction.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 13:28:50 2003
} > Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Mon Jan 6 09:24:06 2003
} I think SPY units have too low of a success rate at assaulting (~10%).
*groan* I'm glad I didn't try %-)
I believe spies could evolve into an interesting addition to the game.
But we're not there, yet. Back to the drawing board...
Markus
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Tue Jan 7 13:30:06 2003
Fun: improved ship radar. Everybody seems to like it.
Fun: changed planes. I have some reservations on ntr and perhaps nfb,
though; they look a bit big for carriers. Real world marines use
transport choppers.
Not so much fun: the size of the expansion islands hit the sour spot
between `rock' (economically useless, limited logistical worries) and
`self-sufficient' (set up economy once, then forget about it). I'd
rather fight than ship around stuff.
Odd: big carriers are useless.
No fun: BTU shortage.
No fun: login limit. Spoiled the game for me. Sure, Empire has a bad
problem: it takes too much time to play competitively. Let's attack
the root of that problem: let's search for ways to reduce the amount
of (useful) work to be done between updates. Limiting online time so
that I can't get enough of the useful work done online just forces me
to write scripts, thus increases playing time even further.
Markus
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Tue Jan 7 15:38:55 2003
the missing line in that was "the need to be always on is to reduce the
number of BTU's available as was done in the long gone TAMU games"
> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Tue Jan 7 15:55:31 2003
e.g., i don't think there is a compelling reason for budg, build, del,
des, dist, mov or any similar command to cost a BTU. if you eliminate
BTU cost from any but the 'biggie' combat commands you can control the
need to feel like you must have 24x7 coverage of your country by
limited the available BTU's and controlling their regeneration to
the amount that's appropriate for a particular world map. a player should
be able to feel like he can set up his defenses and go to sleep without
fearing the old 3AM assault.
> Announcement from Kamoria, (#6) dated Tue Jan 7 16:08:05 2003
Why don't bring this discussion to R.G.E ?
Warzen.
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Tue Jan 7 21:13:24 2003
All right, since pretty much everybody posted, I will post as well.
Game was pretty good. I got pretty happy fighting multiple enemies at once. My
only disappointment is that games are ending because players get exhausted. (I
mean, we declared victory and all of a sudden all the enemies I had became allied
against the people that were contesting the victory! ?Anyway?)
Setup was excellent. I would have like it better with no radar sectors and with
higher btu limit. I pretty much was using 640 btu in the morning and 640 btu in
the evening every day. (I would have rather got 1200 btu to play with all
togheter..) Also, 640 but are not enough to occupy and defend against
counterattacks a 35 sectors island. I like air warfare but I figured it out that
it was too btu/time consuming. So I tried to rely on fire rather than bomb?.
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Tue Jan 7 21:17:10 2003
let me start over (forgot about enter..)
All right, since pretty much everybody posted, I will post as well.
Game was pretty good. I got pretty happy fighting multiple enemies at once. My
only disappointment is that games are ending because players get exhausted. (I
mean, we declared victory and all of a sudden all the enemies I had became
allied against the people that were contesting the victory!)
Setup was excellent. I would have like it better with no radar sectors and with
higher btu limit. I pretty much was using 640 btu in the morning and 640 btu in
the evening every day. (I would have rather got 1200 btu to play with all
togheter..) Also, 640 but are not enough to occupy and defend against
counterattacks a 35 sectors island. I like air warfare but I figured it out that
it
was too btu/time consuming. So I tried to rely on fire rather than bomb.
I would agree that probably btu rate was too low, but max btu should be increased
from 640 to 1000 or so. Three hours a day was plenty to run my
economy and wage wars (with the most important battles over the weekend
update break!). I must say that my coruler (AUJ) did a pretty good job
automating all the economy. I usually do not micromanage later on in the game
since I don't care if I make 5% more or less. Good road improvements in the
big islands, autonavigate and order were necessary in this game to save time
and btu.
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Tue Jan 7 21:17:57 2003
ok will start over again.. sorry!
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Tue Jan 7 21:37:47 2003
All right, since pretty much everybody posted, I will post
as well. Game was pretty good. I got pretty happy fighting
multiple enemies at once. My only disappointment is that
games are ending because players get exhausted. (I
mean, we declared victory and all of a sudden all the
enemies I had became allied against the people that were
contesting the victory!)
Setup was excellent. I would have like it better with no
radar sectors and with higher btu limit.
I pretty much was using 640 btu in the morning and 640 btu
in the evening every day. (I would have rather got 1200
btu to play with all togheter..) Also, 640 but are not
enough to occupy and defend against counterattacks a
35 sectors island. I like air warfare but
I soon figured it out that it was too btu/time consuming.
So I tried to rely on fire rather than bomb.
I would agree that probably btu rate was too low,
but max btu should be increased from 640 to 1000 or so.
Three hours a day was plenty to run my economy and wage
wars (with the most important battles over the
weekend update break!). I must say that my coruler (AUJ)
did a pretty good job automating all the economy.
I must say that I usually do not micromanage later on
in the game since I don't care if I make 5% more or less.
Good road improvements in the big islands,
autonavigate and orders were necessary in this
game to save time and btu.
No fort fire is SURELY good. I would make V sector use
some oil as well. (so we get some decent use of those oil ships).
Food was just a nuisance (after a few updates fishing boats fill
your harbors pretty well). Many people believe that food is
a key factor in the game but I cannot recall a single game that
food wasn't just plain pain.
Update windows are ok, but I would increase to 15 min or so.
(at least if you got attacked by script you have some time
to react after reading all those telegrams?.
Now you would have maybe 2 minutes or less)
Spies need a makeup. In this game were useless
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Tue Jan 7 21:37:57 2003
because poor assault chance. (tried with about 50 commandos..
landed maybe 4, moved around 0)
I would like games with some mountains? and ~ sectors.
Now the fun part of the story.. the summary of our game.
Game started with the invasion of Melinus (replaced too late by AK)
, and Busbastis (this was far away from our land
and took quite a bit of tactic and speed, but once we
got there he didn't fight back..) at this point we colonized
all islands with uw from conquered populace and enjoyed
to the top of the powerchart. We picked Mackland as the
inexperienced player to help. So we avoided to invade his
island and gave warning to all the nations that periodically
were asking why we were allied with him. Anyway, as usual
, when you are up there in the chart everyone is ready to be
friend of you. At this time I was ready to leave for a break
(20 nov - 8 dec) and my coruler took full control.
Everybody was happy and friendly, and the idea was to
give a hand to Thistle in his battle vs Tanugi and Pendor
, meanwhile helping a little bit Wahbit in his fight vs Spam.
Just to have the coruler have some fun.
If I had to stay I probably would have attacked Wahbit (sorry)
and maybe sheep (I had a zillion of commandos around there?)
and took over most of the Parpara land when he left.
At this point I have no idea what happened but in 10 days
(around thanksgiving) all the friendly countries
(thistle, namnam, rook, got excited and jumped on us
with spam, tanugi and pendor) I got back with a country being
attacked from 3 sides out of 4 and no real plan of action.
The economy was pretty sound but the enemy was very close
to land on undefended main islands). I imagine Spam
orchestrated all this but I would love to have an idea of
what happened!..
So, getting excited receiving about 500 telegrams a day,
I started fighting back. Quickly pushed Rook and Thistle
away from main islands. Got some islands back from
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Tue Jan 7 21:38:06 2003
NamNam and invested most of the effort against Tanugi.
Most of the tactic I used was to move in with a carrier,
strip aircover, kill the radar and paradrop with ntr or jt
into the airport and kill all the planes. Then empty the
carriers of the planes and sacrifice it to enemy fire.
I got an amazing number of airports this way using very few
planes. Everytime I was impressed why people left all those
planes in airports so little defended. As long as the enemy
didn't have too many planes near and with full mob I was
happy. Then, Tanugi started accumulating a amazing number
of ships about 15 sectors from my main island
(4000 bars in there!). Pendor was sending some small
fleets here and there (that were welcomed with
harpoons aimed to the carriers and bb).
Anyway what I did this time was paradropping the radar
and the airports. (now, why you have a radar that can
spot your own fleet is a mistery to me). Took the number
of all capital ships and send the harpoons the same or
next update. One of the main battles vs Tanugi/Pendor
was just before Xmas break (and 1st win declaration)
where 2 of my battleships sunk hundreds of enemy ships.
(I had to use carriers and ntr to refuel bb of shells, and
I had to fly shells (with jt) from Spam front about 100
sectors away!). This battle pretty much ended Tanugi
treat on the west side. I guess he lost 100 ships and 100
planes in one night, as well as few expensive units.
I lost probably 5% of what he did, in a counterattack
that I must say, I didn't expect. (also, didn't have time or
btu to set up minimal defences)
So, I finally started using all the forces I concentrated
to attack Spam. Before that, I just play hit and run with Spam,
launching the sacrificial carrier and getting his airports
full of planes. Actually, Spam sunk one of my fleet out
there at one point. But that fleet was very obsolete
(mostly tech<100) and was just sitting there since mid
november waiting for free btu and time. I must say that
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Tue Jan 7 21:38:16 2003
all the carriers my enemies sunk here and there were
pretty much empty. The only big mistake I made with
planes was to leave a pretty good amount of planes in
an airport that thistle managed to shell heavily and finally take.
I totally underestimated Thistle that time!.
I was not impressed by any of the guys I was fighting.
For example I saw a lot of enemy planes getting flak
from my ships and sectors, to occupy/bomb sectors
that they didn't have a chance to hold. Enemy airports
were barely defended. Fleets were disorganized and lots
of enemy resources were put into attacking small islands
instead of jumping directly into big islands. (at the end you
just need a 20 ship fleet with 1 eng and 10 units to
make a real mess).
Anyway, last battle was with cathouse. We prepared in
4 updates a (probably too large) fleet of about 200 ships
(150 of which destroyers, they are fast (22 sectors with
127 mob) and they hold a unit!). sent some ptboats scouting
for interdiction and targets and then send the dd to
get rid of airports and radars. Then moved in undetected
with some other slower ships, cargo, carriers, battleships.
Without encountering much defence, just a zillion of sam
that were neutralized by landing infantries, we got deep
into cathouse land in no time, and he gave up without
fighting. Planes were flying just to drop supplies and
military into the occupied sectors.
About stealth. Not sure why people thinks that it is useless
but I think it is the best feature in the game.
I use apaches all the time and they are great.
(how to you kill airports with a strong air-defence otherwise?).
I would definitely do something on harpoons. (decrease range
and effectiveness ) They basically kill naval welfare.
I dint build a single ac (useless and expensive), and anyway it
is not a good idea to put harpoons in interdiction, since a
destroyer (or missileboats) can strip missiles of much more
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Tue Jan 7 21:38:25 2003
value than the ship. I would get rid also of ptboats.
Too fast, too cheap and too dangerous.
I would introduce small nukes around tech 200 or so.
Just to reward little tech countries a little more.
Thanks to the deity to not put markets and loans.
Hidden game would have been fun. Power report give
just too much information. We should get a semi-hidden option.
Now if you red all of this let me give you what I think is
the most important rule to be a good empire player.
It is more important to minimize expenditures than to maximize income
That means do not build anything that you don't use within 2 updates.
Thank for the game. It was fun.
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Wed Jan 8 01:29:53 2003
OK here is a relative newbie's take on the game
Re the Login time and BTU debate:
It seems to me that John had 2 purposes in mind in designing this game.
1. How to have a life and play Empire competently at the same time?
I found that even 3 hours/day was too much time on Empire,
, because this had to happen every weeknight, once things got going.
Yet this was barely enough for me, and I was a smaller country.
2. How to prevent 24/7 camping by the computer
by those with too much free time as this is an advantage?
The limited time did not really stop this happening,
as my main opposition, Spam,
often turned up in the middle of an attack,
which made all the difference between success and failure.
Presumably, with 3 co-rulers,
they would just login frequently,
see what was happening, and if all was quite
log-off again.
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Wed Jan 8 01:32:38 2003
So my suggestions are:
1 Have a game where updates occur even less frequently
(eg 42 hours, or 54 hours),
once contact is made.
The rolling update time worked out well,
, so all time zones suffered equally.
2 Keep a time limit, but tie it into the update times
(eg 3 hours/update, rather than 3 hrs/day).
Increase the BTUs to keep those who need them happy.
3. Decrease the logins further,
to maybe 20 or so/update.
to prevent camping
Thus you have to be prudent as to how frequently you login.
The above would not make everybody happy,
but it depends on what sort of game you want to play.
Those who want to be able to do everything in an update
might want to play another game on another server,
set up with unlimited time and 24 hour updates.
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Wed Jan 8 01:34:57 2003
With these limitations, you would have to prioritize what you do,
as Sheep and Zirc did, and think about time management.
It also gives intermediate players a bit of a chance
to fight back and learn.
It might help keep people like me in the game.
Another interesting result of the time restriction,
is that it affected the geopolitics of the game.
It suited Sheep (and later Zirc) more to ally with me,
rather than gobble me up,
which he could have easily done when I was fighting
Spam and Pendor (and I knew that Zirc also
had his eye on me).
I was able to offer the commodity of time,
and basically fight some of Sheep's battles for him.
Maybe Mackland was doing the same for Cathouse.
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Wed Jan 8 01:38:10 2003
Re Spam's Attacks
I learnt a lot from Spam.
He (they) obviously planned his attacks very carefully
and nurtured his forces. He
would reconnoitre thoroughly before attacking
(he always seemed to find that one sector gap in my minefield).
His capital ships always seemed to have enough
mob to withdraw to safe waters in the same update after an attack.
He took no risks,
which mostly worked in his favor.
I took a few risks and (I think narrowly,
mainly due to ignorance re the finer points of Empire) failed.
A couple of risks however, might have
gotten Spam home, the time/BTU problem not withstanding.
Spam didn't know how close he was to being successful
in taking my mainland (esp when Pendor also sneak attacked
and wiped out my airforce and all my remaining HCs/BBs,
and Zirc was eyeing me off,
diverting some of my precious few naval resources).
There were 2 full updates when I didn't have a cap,
then overspent on mil and went broke,
when I was totally powerless (boy I learnt a lot from that).
> Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Wed Jan 8 01:39:50 2003
A more adventurous advance by the large number
of capital ships on my Eastern coast,
might have allowed enough of my territory to be controlled
and defended before Sheep arrived, a few updates later.
Overall Impressions.
This was a fun game, but still took too much time for me.
Learnt an awful lot, and I take my hat off to Spam
for his expert exploitation of my weaknesses.
Thanks to Sheep/Zirc for support and tips.
Thanks to John for being a wonderful deity and
answering my pesky questions whenever I encountered a new situation.
Hope to be a tougher opponent next time!
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Wed Jan 8 06:32:55 2003
All this talk of tweaking the time limitations, extending
the length of time between updates, and modifying how many
BTUs you get to spend is nothing more than trying to treat
the symptoms of a horrible disease. "Gee, you have AIDS and
now have a leasion on your neck. Here, let me put a bandaid
on that lesion for you. So sorry you're feeling sick. Next."
People, the core of this problem is that Empire has become
a monster game to play. Resvon and any other player who's
been here more than ten years can attest to this. Games used
to have 4, 6, even *8* updates a day back in those days.
The point of a game isn't to make it as complex as possible
and then figure out how to make it playable (which we're
failing at). The point is to have fun. Empire was incredibly
fun back in the 80s and early 90s. That's changing.
Now, co-rulers of mine refer to having to accomplish "work"
on the country. Work? Isn't this play?
<cont>
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Wed Jan 8 06:37:08 2003
Fun isn't having to login, fire off a bunch of census, comm,
and prod commands for every region of your country and having
to stare at the output for hours while building massive scripts
to fire off on your next login so you can conserve login time.
The artificial time restrictions make that sort of behavior
a big benefit to experienced players who know how to do that
and can make it work. This *inreases* the gap between new
and experienced players, making it even harder for the
newer players to succeed. It isn't fun, but experienced
players will do it so they have a better chance of winning,
which is fun.
beep talks about making the 3am update attacks less likely.
I'm up for making them *more* likely. Empire is increasingly
becoming a game where experienced players create defensive
quagmires that are very difficult to work your way through.
<cont>
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Wed Jan 8 06:40:53 2003
The *main* strategy of games now is to gobble up fodder
as fast as you possibly can while signing NAs with competent
neighbors until such time as you're ready to fight them.
This was *heavily* exaccerbated in this game, where every
country lacked the time and BTUs to effectively deal knock
out blows to other competent nations in 1:1 wars.
Empire is a game of strategy. It is *OK* for a competent
nation to get roto-tilled because they lack the strategic
foresight to see a brewing situation for what it is.
Complexity keeps going up. Time restrictions get placed
on games making it *more* difficult to deal with the
complexity. Co-rulers are the norm for anyone other than
underclassmen in college (by and large) because we lack
the time to play effectively in this environment. Despite
this, the solution we seem to want to put into place is
to *FURTHER* restrict BTUs and time restrictions?
People, that's not a game I want to play.
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Wed Jan 8 09:12:20 2003
} > Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Wed Jan 8 01:29:53 2003
} 2. How to prevent 24/7 camping by the computer
} by those with too much free time as this is an advantage?
} The limited time did not really stop this happening,
} as my main opposition, Spam,
} often turned up in the middle of an attack,
} which made all the difference between success and failure.
} Presumably, with 3 co-rulers,
} they would just login frequently,
} see what was happening, and if all was quite
} log-off again.
Nah, it was a combination of dumb luck and careful research of your
habits :)
Markus
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Wed Jan 8 09:13:16 2003
} > Announcement from Wahbit, (#33) dated Wed Jan 8 01:39:50 2003
} A more adventurous advance by the large number
} of capital ships on my Eastern coast,
} might have allowed enough of my territory to be controlled
} and defended before Sheep arrived, a few updates later.
Yeah, but I had screwed up mil and shell supply at that time. I
didn't lack the initiative, I lacked the explosives :)
This was one of my major screwups in this game.
Markus
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Wed Jan 8 09:15:56 2003
There's nothing wrong with discussing how to make games more enjoyable
for you by limiting logins and online time. I doubt it will work for
you, but I might be wrong. I know it won't work for me.
But let's also talk about how to reduce the number of things to be
done each update. Once we get that down to a manageable level, a good
part of the problem evaporates. If you can do 90% of the worthwhile
stuff in two hours, the odd maniac that uses sixteen hours to do 99%
gets a 10% advantage for his troubles. I can live with that.
So here's my call to players, in particular players more experienced
than me: please identify time consuming tasks. For each task, ponder
whether it has a healthy fun/time ratio compared to other tasks.
Once we identified the time suckers, we can search for ways to make
them less time consuming, or get rid of them.
Markus
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Wed Jan 8 14:09:14 2003
Asking players to brainstorm solutions will not be
productive. Taking the initiative in making code
changes and then trying them in a long-term game that
you are running will advance the cause. Overlord was
actively doing that just prior to leaving the community.
Ice made a different type of scenario to deal with
these issues. These changes will only get implemented
if a deity-coder makes the investment in time and
runs a game. Many people complain about the complexity
but do not attempt to create even partial solutions.
Ski
?
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Wed Jan 8 14:56:43 2003
I don't think asking for public input is a negative process Ski.
Each player plays differently. How I play, and what I find time
consuming, might be significantly different than how you play.
The presence of requests to the public also does not in any way
affect the abilities of deity-coders to effect changes. Telling
the world what you find time consuming in this game would be
a good thing. So, contribute to the cause :)
-Mith
> Announcement from Zirconia, (#17) dated Wed Jan 8 18:20:12 2003
time consuming stuff:
1) too much money in the games.
2) too many sectors in the game.
I would like to see a game where all income is divided by 10.
at that point you would think twice before
sending a bb or a cal in enemy waters without
be sure that they are going to come back
right now , i just send them without much worry.
if they have troubles I can make 2 more with 2% of my budget.
actually what happen is that i make them anyway...
as a result I will get a lot of units that
are underutilized and time consuming.
also, dont bother setting up defences.
the game is biased vs attack.
so just take the initiative. no defence is
going to stop a decent attack if the opponent
is not on.
what I liked in this game is that i didnt feel
the urgency of being on for updates. I guess
I missed 50% of them.
Time window, scenario setup guess worked
well in this way.
> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Wed Jan 8 18:38:55 2003
well, spam, if you want a data point for your "script kiddies"
thread, I will have you know that I did not do ANY country maintenance
via scripting. I did experiment though, with making a script to dump
everything, but upon looking at the dumped text file I said F-
this, and did it all realtime. so your point of *experienced* players
gaining something here does not apply in my datapoint.
Bungmeister
> Announcement from Resvon, (#21) dated Thu Jan 9 00:56:28 2003
Sheepers...
you mean to tell me that you manually moved crap from
little islands to bigger islands via cargo ships?
Or did you not bother with this level of micro managing?
Perhaps because I was smaller I needed to, but I had
cargo ships ever 3 sectors between all my islands so
I could have centralised production that rapidly, via
a script, moved goods from one island to the furthest
outreaches.
Other than this, I didn't have much micro managing
necessary in later stages... as Zirc said - what took
time was considering defenses and analyizing budgets to
determine what war products to create (or to alternately
feed more $$ into edu/happy/tech).
Online defense vs. passive defense is still night and day.
Just no comparison between the two.
As always, the best defense is a better offense.
Mr. Ed
> Announcement from Spam, (#34) dated Thu Jan 9 06:42:24 2003
Bungy, I'm sorry but you don't count as an experienced player :)
Hey, got any bmaps you'd like to share? ;)
-Mith
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Thu Jan 9 08:22:32 2003
re: fewer sectors
This is a conflicting requirement. John was attempting
to provide for great land, air and sea battles. You
can only have that if you have lots of water (91%
in this game) and islands / continents with enough
sectors to support these kinds of battles. The smaller
islands were meant to be expendable and to change hands
often.
> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Thu Jan 9 08:27:33 2003
re: requesting player input for game changes
I know that this game thrives on player input
into game scenarios and server code changes. I want
that to continue. My point is - I hear various players
griping about the complexity of the game and demanding change
but I do not see much effort to actually make this happen.
I am tired of hearing about this issue repeatedly without
those griping actually doing something about the problem.
This gripe shows up in RGE about once every month!
Copyright © 1998-2013 Wolfpack. All rights reserved.
Maintained by Wolfpack and Hosted by www.wolfpackempire.com.
Questions and comments