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August, 2000
In This Edition
WOLFPACK HAS A NEW LEADER!
Steve McClure has recently stepped down as the leader of Wolfpack. For four years, Steve lead Empire into a new era. Unfortunately, all things must end sometime. Steve will remain part of the Wolfpack team.Jim Simons (coruler of Escher) has graciously agreed to take over as lead for the Wolfpack Empire project. Jim brings many assets to the table, and we look forward to his leadership.
WinACE 2.0 IS NOW AVAILABLE! See Clients and Players tools.
NEW EMPIRE WEB SITE ONLINE!
Located at gaming site, The Wargamer, and hosted by by Bob
Dalton. Includes a windows server. http://www.wargamer.com/empireRoman Parparov has a new Empire site coming online shortly. It is an updated version of his Empire Invitational series web sites. This new site will be called Mausoleum Empire Entertainments.
Links/Resources/Getting Started
Home of Wolfpack Empire: http://www.empire.cx
Bob Dalton's site : http://www.wargamer.com/empire
Empire Hall of Fame : http://web.mit.edu/madpit/www/empire/
Help for Newbies : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Hangar/6344/all.htmlCheck into the player's section on the Wolfpack Empire site for information on clients, upcoming games, and blitzes. The Help for Newbies site is an excellent resource to get you started.
Twisted Mind 2000, first update August 16th. Deity Pat Loney.
Details: (from Pat Loney)Code: 4.2.7 with some custom programming. Updates: 48 etus per day. Updates will roll throughout the week. Weekend: No updates on the weekends. Co-rulers: Allowed, encouraged. Options: No food, no iron, no trade ships, no easy bridges Land Setup: Mostly continental. A fair amount of room per player. # of Players: As many as can play. Arrakis: He is allowed to play, but I bet he doesn't remember how. Militia: signifacant reduction in maintainence cost.Pat Loney is accepting registrations for this game. Send
e-mail to rqloney@strategiccastle.com. Apparently, this is
not working for some people. Alternatively,
rqloney@www.strategiccastle.com does appear to work for them.
All skill levels welcome. Send the following information:
country name:
password:
preferred e-mail address
e-mail of any co-rulers.
Chocolate or vanilla:
Estimated skill level (1-10):Sycamore Blitz I, a two week long blitz.
Code: 4.2.7 Updates: 60 etus/update, updates every 45 minutes. Weekend: Updates are enabled for weekend play. Co-rulers: No word Options: Blitz, No Food, Bridge Towers, Mob_Access Easy Bridges, Market Land Setup: 10 continents/islands # of players: 10 Starts: 1st and 14th of each month 0600 GMT Signup: Countries 1-10, passwords 1-10 visitor account: visitor/visitor at x10.indstate.edu/6665This new blitz has been established by John Davies
(virtuamem@my-deja.com).Sycamore Blitz II, a month long blitz.
Details:Code: 4.2.7 Updates: 60 etus per update, 2 updates per day. Updates at 8am and 8pm EDT. Weekend: Updates are enabled for weekend play. Co-rulers: No word Options: Blitz, No Food, Big City, Bridge Towers, Easy Bridges, Go Renew, Market Land Setup: Modified fair land. ~75 sector start isles. # of players: 12 currently Starts: First of each month, first update at 7pm EDT visitor: visitor/visitor at x10.indstate.edu/5678This new blitz has been established by John Davies
(virtuamem@my-deja.com). SIGNUP IS REQUIRED. This is not a
typical blitz, and blurs the lines between blitz and long
term games. For registration, see the game's website at:
http://books.indstate.edu/empire/Rabid Castle Bltiz
Code: 4.2.7 Updates: 30 etus/update, updates every 5 minutes Weekend: Updates are enabled for weekend play. Co-rulers: No word Options: Blitz, No Food, Big City, Bridge Towers, Easy Bridges, Go Renew, Market, Mob_Access Land Setup: Modified fair land. More mountains. # of players: 12 Starts: First of each month, first update at 7pm EDT visitor: visitor/visitor at x10.indstate.edu/5678 Signup: Countries 1-12, passwords 1-12This new blitz is great for testing, as you develop quickly.
Trafalgar, 1st in the BLOCKADE series of games. Deity "Savoia"
Began: June, 2000 Code: 4.2.5 Updates: 60 etus/update, updates every 36 hours Weekend: No weekend updates. Co-rulers: Allowed. Options: Go Renew, No Fort Fire, Tech held at 40, Res Pop, Super Bars, Tradeships Land Setup: 20 start islands, 20-25 sectors each. 40 free islands 1-3 sectors each. visitor: visitor/visitor at calt.insead.fr/6665back to top
Empire Invitational I, deitied by Roman Parparov
<romm@kaplun103-2.tau.ac.il> ended on January 28th. NATO (Escher
& Mithrilien) was the winner. Final power:as of Fri Jan 28 14:45:25 2000 sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money NATO 436 100% 417K 11K 18K 3.2K 22K 74K 692 5.9K 521 132 107 36K AUJ 210 100% 191K 2.9K 12K 1.6K 21K 46K 8 10K 290 120 100 50K Pervo_Per 265 88% 199K 4.7K 5.8K 540 8.7K 50K 250 7.5K 90 80 50 15K beep 110 99% 106K 4.6K 13K 680 15K 12K 500 5.7K 160 40 50 15K Ski 140 92% 115K 4.3K 5.6K 870 5.8K 30K 600 4.6K 110 70 50 4.0K Catallica 85 100% 83K 4.2K 8.3K 1.3K 7.2K 15K 400 2.4K 110 50 30 10K ^^^ 85 100% 88K 3.9K 10K 2.0K 18K 20K 150 6.0K 150 90 70 5.0K Kraftwerk 120 96% 113K 3.7K 5.8K 650 11K 50K 450 2.9K 140 50 30 30K Plundaria 90 100% 92K 4.0K 5.5K 440 2.5K 25K 300 9.1K 100 60 60 5.0K Banzai 80 100% 83K 4.2K 5.4K 650 8.4K 30K 400 2.6K 110 30 50 2.2K Pendookul 95 89% 85K 3.2K 4.4K 440 7.7K 24K 100 1.4K 110 30 40 10K Arrakis 10 81% 12K 300 875 65 300 1.9K 150 2.9K 0 20 8 1.9K Mysidia 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.8K Old_Farts 0 0% 0 13 7 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 -293 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- worldwide 1.7K 96% 1.6M 51K 95K 13K 127K 378K 4.0K 61K 1.9K 780 630 145KThis game was an invitation only game. Only experienced players
entered this game. Complete posting on the game may be found at:http://x71.deja.com/[ST_rn=ps]/getdoc.xp?AN=578761206&CONTEXT=965230858.871104538&hitnum=7
Empire Invitational II, deitied by Roman Parparov
<romm@kaplun103-2.tau.ac.il>, ended with a server crash and a cancellation. This game discovered the 4.2.7 corruption bug.
South Pacific 2000, deitied by Pat Loney ended on 6/9/2000. Escher,
Luxuria, and Bikini were the winners. Pong got honorable mention.
Final power:sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money Escher 730 96% 528K 18K 31K 5.6K 46K 0 1.6K 46K 780 1.8K 170 685K Luxuria 680 97% 432K 16K 20K 3.0K 39K 0 2.1K 36K 620 2.0K 250 720K Bikini 630 98% 390K 13K 24K 3.0K 82K 0 1.4K 33K 500 960 170 515K Pong 580 96% 411K 15K 18K 2.3K 32K 0 2.5K 33K 740 1.4K 160 440K Ski 350 99% 264K 12K 17K 1.9K 52K 0 600 14K 160 750 110 80K Pendor 325 95% 234K 8.7K 9.6K 1.5K 55K 0 1.3K 12K 260 710 70 155K Mongol_Ho 345 96% 169K 8.7K 15K 1.8K 18K 0 1.1K 17K 290 280 40 20K Fish 200 96% 129K 8.1K 13K 1.5K 23K 0 500 18K 170 350 50 10K Rook 165 98% 105K 7.6K 6.8K 1.1K 35K 0 650 14K 150 270 20 10K beep 175 99% 106K 5.2K 8.9K 1.1K 19K 0 350 10K 170 510 80 10K Zem 190 99% 95K 6.0K 14K 1.5K 38K 0 400 10K 200 190 30 10K Dynonia 150 98% 68K 8.6K 6.7K 1.2K 23K 0 550 12K 120 130 30 5.0K Savoia 175 94% 68K 4.3K 7.3K 1.4K 28K 0 250 4.0K 130 130 60 35K Kamor 115 97% 78K 6.3K 5.4K 845 6.9K 0 250 8.8K 100 210 20 10K Pern 95 98% 51K 4.0K 8.7K 660 22K 0 250 7.5K 70 80 60 2.7K Quartz 95 97% 68K 6.2K 6.2K 780 3.3K 0 150 4.3K 40 170 20 15K Valhalla 115 99% 55K 4.0K 4.2K 385 6.5K 0 250 8.1K 60 110 30 5.0K wacko 125 93% 72K 2.7K 4.2K 1.0K 11K 0 500 4.7K 60 100 20 3.8K Shagger 258 100% 0 6.5K 6.2K 630 1.4K 0 0 0 969 0 0 150K Talonia 40 91% 28K 3.0K 2.4K 200 7.8K 0 100 3.9K 20 20 10 2.2K LastOutpo 15 92% 14K 1.1K 250 75 6.2K 0 50 150 10 0 9 -3.4K Endymion 25 100% 19K 1.9K 450 175 5.2K 0 150 2.2K 0 2 0 1.6K nomiguchi 30 97% 20K 1.4K 1.9K 390 4.2K 0 0 2.2K 30 50 10 4.3KTradeships at tech 155, base 150 tech with very high tech decay. All land consisted of 19 sector islands, surrounded by 11 sector islands that were defended by "Shagger" (deity established, and replenished) forces. Fishing boats dominated the game. Top countries had literally hundreds of them.
WinACE 2.0 has been made available. Download is available at http://www.empire.cx/clients.html. WinACE is a GUI based Empire client for Windows with substantial capabilities. This version fixed 16 bugs. Improved/added:
o Map scrolling
o Map drawing (refresh rates vastly improved)
o Tightened error handling
o Nuke support
o Sector damage analysis
o Updated build projection tool
o Plane combat parsing and report
o Production summary report
o Logic for calculating firing ranges.
o Logic for parsing version options
o Additional telegram support
o Updated command line support
A new server is available, 4.2.7, which fixed a few things.
Download is available at http://www.empire.cx/server.htmlUNFORTUNATELY, 4.2.7 (and backwards to 4.2.5) introduced an
extremely obscured data corruption bug which crashed the Empire
Invitational II game. So far, the most stable release is 4.2.4
which is quite less powerful and balanced than 4.2.7. Wolfpack
is working to eliminate this bug as soon as possible.
Bob Dalton has graciously put together a Win95/Win98/NT/2000
server package based on the 4.2.4 code. This is available at
http://www.wargamer.com/empire/, click on the "Empire File
Downloads" area on the right.
Change is in the wind! Wolfpack has now passed the leadership baton to Jim Simons. I personally know Jim, and feel strongly that he will be an excellent project leader.
So what comes next? On rec.games.empire, we have recently seen several discussions regarding the current status of Empire. There have been discussions about how to improve the game, especially with regards to micromanagement and helping beginners. Most prevalent though is the perception that Empire is a dying game. Is it?
I keep statistics on games and their results. Over the last five years we have seen a more or less steady flow of games each year with 1998 being an exceptional year. The number of games averages 6 per year. Where do we stand now? If we count EI-I as a 2000 game, then we are currently at 3 games for the year, with a 4th about to begin. That's about the right pace, since we are just past the halfway point for 2000. There's a fifth game, EI-II, but it crashed.
Still, over the last five years the Internet as a whole has seen a massive increase in the number of users going online. For Empire, this massive influx has been entirely missed. The user base for Empire remains more or less as it was five years ago. In that sense, you could say Empire is at least static, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it is dying. Rather, it's at a
crossroads.Recently, we have seen increased activity on the web in support of Empire. Roman Parparov started a new site for his series of games. Bob Dalton's started a very information general Empire website. There are other sites as well. Several new blitzes have come online, and a blitz subculture seems to be developing in Empire.
Is it enough? Probably not. Empire needs to be brought to the masses. That doesn't mean it needs to be dumbed down. What we have now is (minus the 4.2.7 bug) a very stable server that is ready for the numbers of people we could potentially draw.
If we don't take advantage of the opportunity presented to us, Empire will not die. Rather, 10 years from now the community will most likely be much as it is now. But, to not take this chance that is before us could be nearly as harmful as death.
Empire depends on innovation, programmers, volunteers, and deities. Without them, we would not be here now. The larger our community is, the larger the pool of prospective helpers. If we do not seek out this larger pool, we could find ourselves with too few deities, and too few helpers.
The time is now for us to take advantage of the power the Internet now has.
- Empire News Editor
Oil is a precious resource in many games. Early on, you do not need a great amount of oil. As your tech increases, you become more efficient at drawing oil out of the ground. Each point of oil content in the ground generates more oil on the surface at higher tech. Hold off on building oil wells on those high oil content sectors until your tech gets a fair bit higher. Use up lower oil content sectors first.
Some planes can lay sea mines. This is a powerful ability when you want to lay mines off your neighbor's coast who has not yet gone to hostile relations with you. anti-sub planes (as) and naval planes (np) have this ability. Use the drop command to drop shells, which become mines as soon as you drop them in water. (Look ma! Instant mines! Just add water!)
From the archives:
> Announcement from Mirkwood, (#10) dated Sat Feb 10 16:35:39 1990In an action of unparalleled insanity, the Elven-King today ordered the continent of Fleer to withdraw from Elven territorial waters immediately.After waiting the customary forty-two seconds and seeing that the continent had defied the High King's decree, naval action was of course ordered.The continent, of very solid construction, withstood multiple torpedoings and bombings. Reportedly, marines are having better success at boarding. Marine officers expect to scuttle the continent later tonight.
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