Test Game (pre-beta)

[Ry Vor]

Mike has patiently awaited a major delivery like he got Thursday.  So although he is like Flash in some respects, he may need some time to get to it all.  We had agreed the priority was to have the Kingdom Dossiers in pretty good order, and then we implement other stuff on the fly during this test game.  Again, this first act is to test the new gen order entry, test battle, and get gut feedback from the test players on the kingdoms, and hopefully all the other new elements and what they add to strategic opportunity. The more feedback, the faster we can go.

Still thinking the beta starts in about a month.

[Lord Diamond]

I, for one, plan to use only the new order entry and turn parser for this game. I haven't been using the rurn parser in favor of my own spreadsheets and Power Point map, but I am ready to give it a full and complete test. Feedback will be as rapid as I find issues or have suggestions.

[Frost Lord]

That is a good idea.  I have a detailed excel file (complete with VBA macros) that use to do my orders.  It ropes off the number of orders that I can issue based on my influence, tells me when I have reinforcements coming, supplies a running total of food/gold as I enter orders, allows me to sort in my standing orders with a click of a button and then sort them out just as fast, and warns me if my groups try to force march, move through water, or skip an area on their path.  I am going to do the same and only use the new Online Order Checker to do my orders.  I will supply feedback to UncleMike as I see problems and areas for improvement.

I also keep my own map in PowerPoint, but I will only use Bananas Parser for this game.  So I will use this as an opportunity to supply him with any feedback as well.

Ry Vor:  You get everything else.  

[VballMichael]

You guys are high tech. I use a sheet of paper to record what my region looks like. Then I update my paper map with a black marker. Then I write out my orders with kind of a running total on gold and food. Then I look at old turns if I think I need some info from them.
Ok, I will try to join this century and try to use the parser and new order system . But don't judge me if you see some loose pieces of paper with notes on them....

[IMPERIAL_TARK]

LOL!  I'm right there with you Vball! Especially with markers, calculators, and paper maps all over the kitchen table, much to the chagrin of my wife  

[Jumpingfist]

I think it is cool how many different ways everyone keeps track of there turns. For me I mostly memorized all the commands and costs of orders so just set the map up on one side of the screen and enter orders in the other. As I update the Banana Parser map with movements and artifacts I get an idea of what I want to do that turn. The Parser can do so much more than what I use it for it keeps track of your emmies and others you know about or did not notice until you click the PC and see an enemy emmy in it.

I am interested to see how long it takes to do turns and how quickly the learning curve will be to quickly do my orders using this new gui. I also fully plan to put it through its paces enter combinations of orders for it to keep track of based on sequence of the game.

[Hawk_]

I think it is cool how many different ways everyone keeps track of there turns.  For me I mostly memorized all the commands and costs of orders so just set the map up on one side of the screen and enter orders in the other.  As I update the Banana Parser map with movements and artifacts I get an idea of what I want to do that turn.   The Parser can do so much more than what I use it for it keeps track of your emmies and others you know about or did not notice until you click the PC and see an enemy emmy in it.

I am interested to see how long it takes to do turns and how quickly the learning curve will be to quickly do my orders using this new gui.  I also fully plan to put it through its paces enter combinations of orders for it to keep track of based on sequence of the game.

how do you track explored squares for the first few turns?

[Jumpingfist]

I think it is cool how many different ways everyone keeps track of there turns.  For me I mostly memorized all the commands and costs of orders so just set the map up on one side of the screen and enter orders in the other.  As I update the Banana Parser map with movements and artifacts I get an idea of what I want to do that turn.   The Parser can do so much more than what I use it for it keeps track of your emmies and others you know about or did not notice until you click the PC and see an enemy emmy in it.

I am interested to see how long it takes to do turns and how quickly the learning curve will be to quickly do my orders using this new gui.  I also fully plan to put it through its paces enter combinations of orders for it to keep track of based on sequence of the game.

how do you track explored squares for the first few turns?

Under the MAPs tab you can click "mark explored". a little gui will come up that allows you to type in coordinates and select non-PC or cleared or US or non-US.  The easiest way to do this is when you get your results cut and paste from the orders issued that turn section.  Copy all the spots your group moved in then use the left right arrows in the gui to remove any PCs you ran across.  

[DuPont]

I do my map in Photoshop - I have a layer for each game so I can just switch from one to the other. I will try the Bananas thing, though, for this test.

[Sinestro]

Blah photoshop. Don't you have to pay a fee for using it now? I know a lot of software companies are going to fee based rather than buying the program and having a disk. I believe Adobe and the Microsoft Office suite is like that now.