Questions...

Players

Games

Ladder

... and answers

Players

How do I join the Ladder?

If you play in any of the games that were registered on the Leadeaters' Advanced Civilization ladder, you automatically became a member of this one. Otherwise, you may become a member by joining here.

Even if you became a member because you played in an old ladder's game, I advise you to join the mailing list.

Why do you use a mailing list to support the ladder?

There are several reasons for that.

First, it provides a place to discuss the game, announce new games, call for replacement players.

The second reason is that to hide the E-mail address of the ladder members from possible spammers. In order to reach the ladder members, one must send a message on the mailing list and in order to do so, one must be a ladder member. A third, related reason is that one must supply a valid E-mail address to join a mailing list and spammers usually prefer using fake addresses.

Won't I get spammed if I join the mailing list?

I can't promise that this will never happen. What I can promise however is that any post unrelated to the game will result in a warning and a second attempt will cause the offender to be banned from the list. I know that this won't stop anyone from trying to join again from another address but that's the best I can offer.

Okay, I have joined the mailing list. Now what?

As soon as your membership is approved by the moderator, you will be added to the ladder page. You will start with 1000 ladder points and your ladder score will go up and down with every game that you play.

How do I use the mailing lists?

There are various addresses that you can use as a member, and various restrictions on each. Here is a summary:

Games

What do I need to play?

In order to play this game, you need a copy of Avalon Hill's Advanced Civilization computer game and the patch to bring the game to revision level 1.11b1. I can't help you get the game if you do not have it, but the patch and the instructions to install it are right here.

I'm on a Mac/Windows 2000/Unix.

Check out the DOSBox project at http://dosbox.sf.net. This will allow you to run DOS within your existing system for Civ. It's somewhat slow, but it works.

How do I start a game?

Send a message to the mailing list. State the number of players that you expect and the frequency of play. Remind each player that in order to play in your game, they must be playing at the proper patch level (1.11b1) and direct them to the download page if they need the patch or require instructions to install it.

When you have received replies, you may consider sending another message to announce that you are no longer looking for players. Contact all players through their E-mail address and ask all of them to confirm that they have indeed installed the patch 1.11b1 (I mean it).

Randomly choose a playing order and ask each player in turn to select a nation and an initial starting area. Some hosts ask players to submit nations in order of preference, I personally prefer to let each player choose a nation to play with a full knowledge of the previous players choices. It takes a little longer to setup the game this way, but given that the fastest Advanced Civilization games that I have seen were played in just over eighteen months, this doesn't significantly increase the length of play.

What are my responsibilities as a host?

As a host you have to initially setup the game. Okay, we've got that covered already. What else?

You must send a player file (one with a 1st, plr, pl2, pl3 or pl4 extension) to each player every turn and ensure that each player returns a host file (one with a hst extension) in a timely manner. You may need to play for players who fail to submit their turn in time or find someone else to play a player's turn. You must process all host files in order to generate the next generation of player files.

You will find that the most difficult part is to get all players to return their moves in a timely manner every turn. It is up to you to decide on a time limit to return the host files, although it way be wise to discuss that issue with the players prior to the game. My personal system is to send a message every day to all players to list what files I have yet to receive. Two days after sending the player files, I also resend them to players who have not responded yet. After four days, I play the missing turns myself. I know this sounds harsh but I haven't heard complains from many players.

You must realize however, that players have a personal and professional life outside Advanced Civilization and take planned absence and vacations into account. If a player warns me ahead of time that he will be unavailable for a short time, I usually wait for him to submit his move when he return. For absences longer than a week or ten days, I ask players to appoint someone to replace them while they are away. I normally pause the game when one third of the players are away (three players or more in an eight player game).

Some players will give up playing once they start loosing hope that they can achieve a good standing in the game. When this happens, you must ask on the mailing list for a volunteer to replace the bastard player who quit. The scoring system is designed not to penalize too much a player who takes over a nation that is not doing to well.

Last but not least, you must report the status of your game from time to time. It is a good idea to post the game scores to the mailing list now and then. When a player is replaced, the replacement takes over effectively at the beginning of a turn. Even if the new player takes over in the middle of a turn, the original player's penalty will be based on the nation's score at the end of the game and you must post the scores prior to the movement phase (usually in the file whose name ends with 20.plr).

How do I join a game?

Don't even think about it unless you are running Advanced Civilization release 1.11b1.

Watch for any message on the mailing list that calls for players in a new game and reply to the sender as quickly as you can.

What are my responsibilities as a player?

Help the host in any way you can. Returning your moves in a timely manner is an excellent start.

I started playing/hosting a game some time ago, can it be registered registered on the ladder?

If all the current are ladder members, no problem. But you must also be able to provide a history of the game; namely, what the scores were when every player who did not start the game at the beginning took over from another one. If any past players are not ladder members, a variant scoring rule will be used.

What is the differences between a temporary substitution, a permant substitution, and a replacement?

Ladder

What are Ladder Points?

Ladder points reflect the player's ranking on the ladder. A high ladder rating is an indication that a player is good and active while a low ladder rating probably reflects that the player is no longer active on the ladder.

All new ladder members start with 1000 ladder points.

The total number of ladder points between all ladder members is always one thousand times the number of members.

How does my game score affect my ladder rating?

Players win and loose ladder points for each ladder sanctionned games that they complete.

Illyria earns 29.3% of the pot (rounded down to 205 ladder points) plus one, for a total of 206. Since the Illyrian player must also pay 100 points to the pot, he goes up 106 points on the ladder.

What happens when a player gives up playing on a game?

If a player quits a game, he scores no points. He may however, be required to pay all or part of the ante.

Example: the game above lasted 20 turns.

When the original player of Egypt left during turn 10, the score were such that he had achieved 10 percent of the game spread. At the end of the game, he must pay back (100 - 10 . 7) . (10 / 20) or 15% of the ante to the replacement player who goes up 40 points on the ladder rather than 25.

During turn 12, the player of Assyria gave up while he scored 0 percent of the game spread. At the end of the game, he has to contribute for 100 . (12 / 20) or 60% of the ante. Despite his relatively low score, the replacement player goes up 27 points on the ladder.

In an 8 player game, Player A, Crete, drops out during turn 10, with 0,0% of the score.
Player B takes over Crete, then drops during turn 13, with 7,0% of the score.
Player C takes over Crete again, then drops during turn 17, with 7,0% of the score.
Player D takes over, and drops during turn 19, with 5,0% of the score.
Player E finishes the game as Crete, which takes 22 turns.
 
Player A pays (100 - 8 * 0,0) * (10 / 22) = 45.
Player B pays (100 - 8 * 7,0) * (13 / 22) - (100 - 45) = -35.
Player C pays (100 - 8 * 7,0) * (17 / 22) - (100 - 45 + 35) = 52
Player D pays (100 - 8 * 5,0) * (19 / 22) - (100 - 45 + 35 - 52) = 13
Player E pays (100 - 45 + 35 - 52 - 13) = 25.