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[darkflagrance]

Is the fortress so deeply in jeopardy now that no one will take up its defense?

Will no one step forward, willing to brave the fires of hell for the glory of dwarfdom?

[ajar]

Hat raise to the one who can play it.

[nil]

Well, I always hate to bring up the next Sparkgear before the current one is technically over, but then it's been a while since anyone braved a turn on this one anyway.  Are we gonna be so luck to have nahkh spearhead number 7, or will the rest of us have to muddle through?

[Danarca]

Holy.... Batman....
Ok now I see....
.....
Well, a job well done, a fort so utterly fucked up that none can play it.

I say we lay down a couple of rules for #7 so it's still playable after 2 weeks, shall we?

[AlienChickenPie]

Here are my observations:
1. People are unreliable when booking spots for a DF game weeks in advance. Spots should open up periodically, to make sure people can follow through on their commitment. Opening the spots 3-7 at a time should do it.
2. When a player fails to show up or declines, it's rarely a clear 'no' before the turn begins. It's usually more like a 'sorry' the day after or late in the turn. This means other people who want to play that turn can't, because it still counts as taken. Players should claim their turn a day in advance or up to, say, 6 hours into the turn. Failure to do so should forfeit the turn.
3. Flying SoFs completely raped the fortress and the FPS. No flying SoFs. As en extension, no flaming civs and civs so strong that you end up shutting yourself off completely forever. I don't know much about the effects of flying civs on FPS, but it could make sense to ban them too.
4. The map's small size made it increasingly hard for players to leave their mark on the fortress and build nice things. I know I felt very constricted, and it was just turn 6. Future maps should be larger, but not so large as to make a healthy fortress overly laggy. This requires some testing or polling.

Seeing as DS is going to be busy, and nahkh is nowhere to be read, I humbly request a go at the administrative position. My campaign promise is a community game to which you could set your watch, as well as your funny bone.

[nil]

I agree completely with your points, with the small caveat that failures of 1 and 2 were mostly a matter of either nahkh or DS/Barb being busy rather than not trying at all.  Historically there would be 2-4 different signup periods, and nahkh was usually pretty strict with being on time for the handover.

But yeah, I recommend a standard 4x4 (give or take a little) map with underground water, magma, and at least two of the following: HFS, evil biome, bottomless pit, or a sedimentary layer.  Either use a public mod like Dig Deeper (or Relentless Assault  ) or make sure to test whatever personal thing you've put together beforehand.

But the real key to a good Sparkgear is active administration.  A good first post with funny comments on different turns, making sure people get the handoffs right, keeping Barbarossa in check, etc etc.  Something like what Nahkh started to do for SG5 (a gradually updated animated picture showing the changes to the fort over the years) would be doubleplusgood.  And, most importantly, if you're losing interest/getting drawn away to other stuff, don't just disappear!  Try to designate a replacement, or at least let everyone else know so they can do it themselves.  If you wanna take the lead here, ACP, it's fine by me... just don't half-ass it.

(that's is assuming nahkh doesn't show up, which isn't really a safe assumption)

[AlienChickenPie]

I don't think 1 has a lot to do with their commitment or skill, it's just poor planning on the players' part, which causes problems later on. Even an admisintrator who trolls the thread 24/7 can't do much about a guy who blew off his turn.
2 does depend on active administration, but this can be reduced by defining a grace period. Once the grace period is over, the first person to claim the spot gets it. There isn't any need to mess with stuff like understudies or permission, as the worst thing you could possibly have is a skipped or failed turn.

[nil]

I don't think 1 has a lot to do with their commitment or skill, it's just poor planning on the players' part, which causes problems later on. Even an admisintrator who trolls the thread 24/7 can't do much about a guy who blew off his turn.

Didn't really mean to say otherwise, just wanted to point out that nahkh used to do exactly what you were talking about.  Definitely a good idea to break up the list into smaller chunks.

2 does depend on active administration, but this can be reduced by defining a grace period. Once the grace period is over, the first person to claim the spot gets it. There isn't any need to mess with stuff like understudies or permission, as the worst thing you could possibly have is a skipped or failed turn.

Sure, if you're lucky you can get people to self enforce.  But sooner or later you're gonna have people misinterpret the rules, come up against special cases, that sort of thing, and when that happens it's pretty awesome to have the guy who made the thread around to make judgement calls.

Plus a lot of what I'm talking about is basically cheerleading.  Keeping the excitement level high, giving people something to aim for, etc.  I think it's good for any succession game, but its especially important with Sparkgear rules since the limited timeframe makes people less likely to write up stories good enough to carry the thread on their own.



edit:  VVVVVVVVV  Sounds good to me!  VVVVVVVVVV

[AlienChickenPie]

The OP is definitely needed for judgement calls, no question about that. My proposition is to make the rules more permissive of self-management, to make sure the game can still progress in a fashion even if a crisis comes up at a time when the OP is unavailable.

[The Architect]

So, if I can get this thing playable/working again, is there any interest? Or even if it's technically playable, would it still be too "effed up" for anyone to care? It looks like some of the rules/mods you set for yourselves are now unwanted? I mean free-flying SoFs when the game's flight system isn't even polished yet seems a little over the top.

[Danarca]

Yeah, enforce the old rule where invaders need a path into the fortress.
And remove flaming civs ._.

If it goes to hell maybe designate a backup-player, so 2 players each get a turn, and the "main" players turn goes canon if he completes, and if not the backup player goes.

Or maybe, a variation, have 3 players signed up for a turn, and 6 hours before the turn starts player #1 posts on the thread to indicate he's ready.
2 hours before player#2 posts if player# haven't, and if neither have posted when the turns begin player#3 gets the turn.

The organizer would of course have to post in the thread which player gets the canon-turn.

[The Architect]

Ok, it looks like about a season would be required to clear the FPS problems, and secure the entrance(s). At the current abysmal FPS, that would be hell. The question is, who in their right mind would want to play a succession game on a 1x1? You've all been hanging out with dwarves too long. That's just CROWDED!
On the bright side, 4-5 magma towers could easily clean the main crap off the map periodically.

Suggested ground rules for next game:
A)1 main entrance, period. Heck, you have like 5 and it's a 1x1 map. Why does everyone think they need a new hole in the fort with an extra 4 levers to operate it?
B)1 main vertical shaft, hopefully for mining, living and working. Of course shortcuts will occasionally be needed. Let's not kid ourselves; you are never going to see a playable 150 dwarf fortress on here and have significant pathing problems with this. A 3x3 with up/down stairs along a main hall works GREAT. Like so:
#####
#      #
#>  <#
#>  <#
#>  <#
#      #

C) ONE LEVER ROOM. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, designate a big effing square "THE LEVER ROOM", spell it out in the rock if you have to (like I did in another succession game) and put a (N)ote on every lever. Lock some assholes in there with a few workshops and build an elevator to move goods in and out (dump on bridge x, pull lever x, goods fall to lever room. dump on bridge y, pull lever y, goods fall from lever room). stationing nobles on the platform and dropping them in to always be on lever-pulling call would make the idea even more dwarven than it already is.
D) Don't stockpile crapola. Let's face it, there isn't much use for the 2,000,000,000 large/narrow/small cave spider silk clothing items you get, and even if it was useful, the lag isn't worth it. It's not like you won't have enough trade goods to pay the caravan 100x over for any goods you may want and probably don't really need. Burn/dump the sh*...
E) Discuss and lay a few other ground rules/building strategies/organization plans!! If you have a clear and simple layout, everyone will know where the f* the basics are and still have room for their dwarven ideas.

If there were 6 legendary growers working on those farm plots, they MIGHT be all planted, and if you dedicated everyone in the fortress to agriculture, you would never be able to deal with half the production, or likely even harvest it.

Of course you can say to hell with those suggestions, and you may very well do so. But I am only speaking for the good of Sparkgear...

[Danarca]

You gave me an idea, always trade the caravan all of our narrow/large/small items UNLESS it's made of a metal.

[Heron TSG]

Yeah, I had a bit more to do this weekend than I thought. I had to finish transposing and learning a piece before my concert.

Ready for #7 though.

[ajar]

Hehe Architect, it's fukken SparkGear it has no sense. Everyone makes their own projects that never get finished and others just try to built something on them and transform them into something more sensible.

+I'm looking for a 1x1.

Ready for SG7  too

...has sketches for a dwarven Ark...