famous2c

[Bloody-OAK]

I'm a little disappointed about the soon end. In the description of the game was written "end of the game: ultra high". The finish line score was 10.1195 points and it ended when somnos reached 10.715 points. Is that ultra high?

[drwr]

It does seem a little low by today's standards.

When I designed these parameters, typical games ran to about 7500 points on average. A game that ran in excess of 10,000 points would be really weird, in fact impossible in the original Flying Buffalo rules; and this noticeably changes the dynamics of the game. (Raiders' scores tend to peak early and plateau, while Emperors build exponentially, so a final score in excess of 10,000 points tends to favor players like Emperors over Raiders.)

I never imagined people would want to play games up to 50,000 points or so, which have become popular since then. A final score that high really changes the landscape completely. The introduction of games like these have redefined the meaning of "ultra-high".

I'll readjust the scoring parameters to be consistent with this expectation.

David

[somnos]

Hi

Flying Buffalo has an Extra-Long SW game that goes to 25,000 points. I love those games but you are correct that the scoring dynamic changes. In games over 20,000 points there is time to complete a campaign and exterminate an enemy and even to start a 2nd or 3rd campaign. In some games one alliance exterminates another. It doesn't matter how good your scoring advantage is if you are exterminated. So, players often hunt positronics or traders in opposing alliances.

I would suggest that you make the games group into certain categories.

Usual - 7000-10,000
High 10k - 15k
Very High 15k-20k
Ultra high 20k-25k
Are you kidding 25-40k

In the very highest scoring category you find the most warlike players who want a war to end. Raiders play to fight and many players who play smart will forgo allying with an emperor or positronix to go for the win.

El
Somnos

[drwr]

Here is the new table I have settled on:

Code: Select all

    EndOfGameScore = {
        -5: (2000, 3000),
        -4: (4500, 5500),
        -3: (5500, 6000),
        -2: (6000, 6500),
        -1: (6500, 7000),
        0 : (7000, 8000),
        1 : (8000, 9000),
        2 : (9000, 10000),
        3 : (10000, 11000),
        4 : (12000, 15000),
        5 : (20000, 40000),
        }

I wanted to keep the numbers in the range -3 .. 3 ("very low" .. "very high") in a mostly-sensible range, because these are the values that might be picked automatically by the server. Thus, with the default settings, your game might have an end-of-game score anywhere between 5500 and 11000, but probably between 7000 and 8000. If you pick "absurdly high", your game will have an end-of-game score between 20000 and 40000.

David