HappyKatanakka - MA Game COMPLETED, Mods: CBM 1.92 and MA Jomon

http://www.llamaserver.net/pretAdmin.cgi?game=HappyKatanakka

First: Katanakka is a Ninja holiday celebrated on the same day as Thanksgiving so "that [ninja] still get the day off".

Moving on... Legowarrior and I have been working on a new mod nation, MA Jomon, for some time now. With the release of version 1.2, we feel like the mod nation is mature enough to undergo real MP testing to see just how balanced and fun it is (both to play as, as well as against). This nation is intended for use with the latest version of the conceptual balance mod so this game will feature two mods: CBM 1.92 and MA Jomon.

This will be an intermediate-level game and it has room for 6 to 8 players; decent players as well as newbie players with a couple of MP games under their belt and a good grasp of Dominions 3 are welcome to join. The only reserved spots are for Legowarrior and myself, and nations will be claimed on a first-come, first-serve basis. This game will be set in the Middle Era and whatever map we choose (dependent on number of players, player preferences and number of water nations) will need to have a least a modest number of water provinces. Ideally I'd like to see at least one water nation played since MA Jomon, like LA Jomon, has a moderate underwater presence despite being predominately a land nation.

Victory will come from holding that majority of world's capital provinces for three consecutive turns (so 4 capitals with 6 or 7 players, 5 capitals with 8 players) OR until the a victor is decided by vote. Diplomacy is not binding, nor does it need to be public, but trades must be adhered to. Roleplaying and in-game banter is encouraged but not required. The game will start be hosted on llamaserver with an initial 36 hour hosting interval, which will be extended as the game goes on and turns become longer and more involved.

I would like to reiterate that this game is about two things: fun and testing MA Jomon. I strongly encourage you to check out the development threads here and here, as well as the mostly-accurate strategy guides here and here. If you end up playing in this game you'll have to download the MA Jomon v1.2 mod; before the game gets too far along, I'd recommend you play a short SP game as MA Jomon just so you have an idea of what to expect. As the game progresses, if you have any feedback relating to the mod, please, please, please post it in one of the development threads. Of course, feedback is welcome even if you're just checking out the mod for the heck of it and aren't participating in this game.


A little bit about MA Jomon, taken from the development thread:

Rationale
The goal of this mod is to create a nation similar to LA Jomon, with its unique summons and units, but in the Middle Era. However, achieving this goal requires more than just taking Late Era Jomon and putting it in the Middle Era; this nation should be distinct from all other nations, with it's own strengths, weaknesses, and character. To help accomplish this we are drawing inspiration from not only Late Era Jomon, but from Heian Period of Japan.


Introduction
During the time of the Oni, many humans fled the mountains and surrounding areas and traveled to the coast seeking protection. The Ryujin came upon these humans and offered them succor in exchange for treasure and allegiance. Although wary of exchanging one master for another, the Joman saw no other choice and agreed. With the fall of the Oni, a new empire was formed around the worship of the Dragon King and the lesser kami of the land. A strict hierarchy was formed with the Emperor on top and the peasant classes at the bottom. The Ryujin played the human clans against each other, trying to gain prestige and fortune at the expanse of other Ryujin. With the coming of the New God, the Ryujin have ceased their petty squabbling and united with the Jomonese to conquer new territory and find new riches for themselves.

Race: Humans and Ryu Court
Military: Light Infantry, Medium Infantry, Samurai Archers and Cavalry, Ninjas Assassins,
Magic: Average Earth, Nature, Water and Air, weak Fire and Astral, unique elemental priest magic
Priests: Weak


Player Roster
Shatner: MA Jomon
Legowarrior: Shinuyama
Rejakor: Ulm
RabbitCook: Oceania
Nimiria: Jotuheim
Gurthang: Marignon
Holey Dooley: Man

I claim the Shinuyama! My Tengu versus your tengu!

Good choice, sir. May the best Japanese-inspired, katana-and-kami nation win.

What else could I choose? The only problem will be your Miko and Onna-Bushi, but Tengu striking from behind will take care of one of those issues, while the Onni-Bushi won't be able to move to far from their home, and so I can avoid them till I have some heavy fire power.

VLM.

We'll see whose steel is stronger.

Since there might be one other that likes to play as the Shinuyama, I might have to switch. It's a toss up between Arcoscephale, Erui, C'tis or Man. Don't know yet.

Ulm it is. Samurai vs Teutonic Knights... sounds like an overwrought fanfic that contains the word "epic" more than once in the title. Then again, Dom3 lends itself to that sort of thing.

Should be fun.

I would like to participate, but I have 0 MP experience... I have almost 2 years of Dom3 SP experience and I have a preference for the MA era. I have also no idea how to join, how to link to the server, etc. I suppose there are "pointers / help threads" somewhere. If you agree to have a "bumbling newbie" among your players, I would like to play MA Man.

If you haven't played any MP, you should read the guides on the shrapnel forums for something of what to expect.

SP is very misleading in that it only prepares you to deal with AI hordes, so when you play against players who'll mind hunt your thugs and stealth attack every province in your empire in a turn, it's unexpected.

Everyone has to learn somewhere, but reading the guides/LP's will give you some idea of what to expect in a MP game.

ZorbaTheHutt's MA Arco LP; http://lparchive.org/Dominions-3/

Various SA Forums LP's (may need an account to read); http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthrea...hreadid=3454638

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthrea...hreadid=3302467

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthrea...hreadid=2813783

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthrea...hreadid=3425051

Thx for the answer Rejakor,

I have already read most of those things. I like to prepare :-)) I have not yet found a "clear to understand" guide for the technical aspect of MP.

I can understand if one doesn't want a bumbling newbie in this game and I will not be offended in any way if I am told to "go play with the kiddies".

Well, that you're putting a lot of things in quotes is kind of offputting, but like I said everyone has to learn somewhere.

One thing you have to understand about MP is that the guides are written on the basis that you are responding to enemy tactics or using tactics yourself or both. There is no 'one surefire way' to win any MP game, or even one specific strategy. There is a lot of carefully scrutinizing what your enemy is doing before developing your own strategy to defeat him.

The only strats that work 'right out of the box' are the rush strats, whether it's a carrion dragon or blessed sacreds, and most of those strats mean that you have to win the entire game in the first 24 turns or basically be rendered irrelevant by researching and mages that you have no way of keeping pace with because you've sunk your scales for a rush strat.

So you read guides to learn 'how to deal with thunderstrike spam' and 'what works against elephants'. And each of those guides will have 15ish answers and you'll be able to use like 2 because your nation won't have access to all those things.

I did not mean to overuse quotes. I apologise if I have somehow trod on some very large, gnarly and smelly toes. I do have a tendency to use quotes a lot

I admit I am a little hesitant to have an MP novice joining in, but I started MP play in pretty much the same way you did (I played a ton of SP and read strategy guides and AARs voraciously). When I did play my first MP game, I came out swinging and made a very good showing of myself. Also, you've been doing some excellent testing and offering excellent feedback for the MA Jomon mod, which helps too.

If you feel like you're ready for the transition from SP to MP, then you're welcome to join. One thing to consider is choosing a water nation because being underwater should exempt you from some of the early game perils of MP (barring a second water nation rushing you... which we may not even have). Of course, if your most familiar with, or most passionate about, a specific middle era land nation then choose that instead.

Lemme know what your decision is and I'll run with it.

Thank you

I will follow your advice and I will play as Oceania. I have tried and do not like the Lovecraftian UW nation (R'lyeh) and Atlantis, both are not varied enough for me. I have read that Oceania has been changed for the better. We will see

I will need some help with the setup. I understand that I will need to have a legal copy of dominions3 (check), only the right mods enabled (check), the map (when selected) downloaded (to be done), but the rest is a mystery to me.

Llamaserver emails you a .trn file. You put it into a folder inside your savedgames folder. You go into the game and go 'play an existing game' and the name of the folder you put the .trn file is the game you click on. You then play your turn and hit 'end turn'. Then you email llamaserver back the .2h file that appears in the folder you put the .trn file in once you hit 'end turn'.

Also, my toes are perfectly well groomed, thanks for asking.