Wolfpack Hvy Summer Fever 2013 is over

[Wolfpack]

The Wolfpack Hvy Summer Fever is over, Woof and 5 won. Congratulations!

- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Tue Jun 18 06:05:10 2013

sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Woof 331 100% 326K 7.1K 7.8K 790 7.4K 27K 1.6K 3.2K 277 296 105 296K
23650.34
5 228 100% 214K 11K 5.5K 687 4.6K 8.8K 151 5.0K 223 191 84 200K
15192.49
BigFish 221 100% 220K 5.3K 5.9K 315 8.0K 9.8K 362 3.6K 160 168 68 227K
14168.48
Ding 0 0% 0 29 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 77K
199.11
Loser 5 92% 4.0K 295 36 7 0 0 0 162 0 20 3 -13K
144.34
123456789 0 0% 0 162 105 20 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 3.6K
64.43
3 0 0% 1.2K 104 7 16 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 -2.5K
46.44
fodder 0 0% 0 4 27 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 -11K
-24.92
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 785 100% 765K 24K 19K 1.8K 20K 46K 2.1K 12K 660 706 260 777K


Coming up: Wolfpack Common Summer Fever! Watch this space for the
announcement.


> Announcement from POGO, (#0) dated Wed May 1 16:13:01 2013
Remember to change your country name *before* breaking sanctuary!

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Wed May 1 20:25:00 2013
I c what you mean!

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Wed May 1 23:39:30 2013
Hey, where are the grad students, errr, I mean uws?

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Thu May 2 05:42:32 2013
They were changed to gold bars?

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 15:47:03 2013
A player inquired how many military a mountain can support.

You can put as many up there as you like, but only up to 100 actually
work. Info CHANGES4.X:

Changes to Empire 4.0.10 - Mon Aug 18 12:34:58 EDT 1997
* Military in a sector now only produce up to maxpop, just like civvies
and uw's. No more stuffing 6K mil into a mountain to max it out. You
can still hold more mil there over the updates, but the extras just
won't produce anymore.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 15:56:48 2013
A player inquired what a nugget is (he used stronger language,
though).

The question that comes up in every Hvy game. The answer is in "show
product":

product cost raw materials reso dep level p.e.
dust d $0 gold 4 1.0
nuggets d $0 gold 0 1.0

A sector with product "dust" produces item "d" at no cost, using
sector resource gold, depleting it slowly (dep=4)

A sector with product "nuggets" does the same, but without depleting
the resource (dep=0).

Item "d" is gold dust, as in move d, load d, ...

To see which sectors produce what, have a look at "show sector c":

sector type product p.e.
^ mountain nuggets 100%
g gold mine dust 100%

Thus, gold mines deplete, mountains don't.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 15:57:55 2013
A player inquired how to send instant messages in this game.

Check out "info flash".

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 2 18:30:08 2013
I logged into 7 and broke (BAD PLAYER BAD)
then logged into 6 and made my name change. Can you fix 7 Hanuman?

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 2 18:37:48 2013
Hanuman has designed you country already if you look at distributions for
your country! FYI.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 18:46:59 2013
Ugh! Undoing break is much more work than changing a country name
for you. Don't do that again, Ding!

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 2 18:52:30 2013
I *promise* *X* really. But if someone logs in an want to change the name me
thinks you should do it for them and NOT charge me.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 18:54:20 2013
Might be prudent not to give me ideas.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 18:57:20 2013
I disabled #7 while I'm restoring it. When I'm done, I'll make it
available for play again, and let y'all know, so you can drag in
another player.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 19:01:40 2013
} Hanuman has designed you country already if you look at distributions for
} your country! FYI.

Except break screws up the sector designations :(

It worked in my tests, no idea what went bad since.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 19:19:56 2013
#7 is back in sanctuary now, and available for play.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 2 19:23:18 2013
I think we are full!
I dragged in another regular blitz player...
woot
woot

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 19:28:00 2013
*** Deity screwup alert ***

As part of the shotgun start, I tried to set up your countries.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite work as designed: my sector
designations got lost.

If you want me to restore my designations, ask me by telex.

Else, you probably want to run command "wipe *" to get rid of the
distribution I set.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 19:33:48 2013
The game filled up fast. Players flocking to the game makes me happy.
Pity I didn't create a few more countries.

We can start updates earlier than planned, but only if all players
telex me their agreement.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 2 20:08:09 2013
So Hanuman managed to answer the question 'bout "What the f are nuggets?"
with an answer to "What the f makes nuggets?" with some
additional infomation that 'nugget production
is non-depleting. But those of us know coding are confident that
nuggets are not dust nor are they bars, so perhaps the recoded grind to make
nuggets dust. OR perhaps there is a new sector S which is a smelter and it melts nuggets
to bars, or perhaps, banks use nuggets say 2 nuggets = bar.. hmm... one question
brings on so many many more.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 2 20:12:56 2013
oo ooo ooo.
just realized one of those columns NOONE EVER READS under product is followed by an un named
column which apparently IS the product and the thing under PRODUCT is the NAME of the product
and one can thing conclude that nuggets are another name for dust. ooo. oo oo.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 2 20:19:17 2013
Re "we can start updates earlier than planned": telex me when you're
ready for updates. Updates will start when everybody did that, or
at the time scheduled now, whatever comes earlier.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 2 21:51:40 2013
I vote for update on sat.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 2 22:58:27 2013
where does one find the peitk client (python based?) cuz I have a mac with 10.3x (not lion)
and me thinks python works on that. Or am I wrong?

Otherwize have to stay in the windows world. or telnet in kernal (yuck)

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Fri May 3 01:17:58 2013
Yes the peitk client does work on mac, at least the old one
does. I've not tried the new one on the mac yet.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Fri May 3 08:21:50 2013
As you know, the shotgun start includes basic country setup, except it
didn't work due to a deity screwup: the sectors all became 100%
capitals.

I offered to restore the designations. What I meant was restoring the
*new* designations, because giving some players 100% capitals, and
others 100% productive sectors would be unfair.

If you wondered whether access to this automatic setup would be an
advantage, then I'd be flattered, but the clear answer is no.

The automatic setup is really basic. It has a capital, a radar, a
fortress, six iron mines, two lcm and two hcm plants, four gold mines,
a bank, a gun and a shell factory without materials, an enlistment,
two oil fields, a library, a tech center, four harbors, a warehouse,
and 25 highways. If you left it unchanged, you'd make roughly 450d,
100b, 2800i, 740l, 370h, 120m, 170o, 300 units of education, and 30
units of tech.

Moreover, the automatic setup doesn't take the shape of your island
into account at all. What does that mean? Fairland start islands
consist of identical sectors arranged differently. The automatic
setup completely ignores how the sectors are arranged. It manages to
put harbors on the coast (barely), but they could be all bunched
together in one corner of your island.

If you want to know how the automatic setup looks for your country,
ask me for a map.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Fri May 3 08:25:28 2013
As far as I know, PTkEI 1.18.1 has problems with current servers.

There's a new PTkEI2 project at sourceforge.net/projects/ptkei2
announced by ptk...@gmail.com. You could try sending e-mail there for
support.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Fri May 3 14:54:14 2013
A player asked for ship, plane and land unit details.

There are games where discovering these as toys become available is
part of the fun. This game isn't meant to be like that. However, I
neglected publishing the unit details. Since they're unchanged from
Hvy Plastic 3, you can reuse its documentation at
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/index.html#config
Only the information on ships, planes, land units and nukes applies;
ignore the rest.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Fri May 3 15:08:05 2013
Folks inquired about the number of countries in Fever games, in
particular whether it'll always be eight.

Eight is just a wild guess of mine. Turned out to be pretty close
last time. This time, I should've guessed higher.

What I really want is automated player registration, and automated
sizing of the game to demand. We're working on it.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Fri May 3 15:22:52 2013
A player inquired about presence and size of expansion islands,
presence of deity mil, and resources.

Discovering these things is part of the game, but nice try.

Now, just to keep the board as level as I possibly can: in the Hvy
Plastic games I ran, expansion islands had precious few resources,
just a few drops of oil and a bit of uranium.

This game might be similar. Or totally different. One honest way to
find out (the dishonest way involves all-inclusive tours of the
premier chateaus of Bourgogne).

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Fri May 3 15:27:51 2013
Let the bloodshed begin !!!!

Woof!
Woof!

> Announcement from 5, (#5) dated Fri May 3 16:15:17 2013


> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Fri May 3 16:19:23 2013
"Well Your Honor, I don't remember much. After I told those clowns from PETA
that is wasn't a hairless dog when I first got it, things get kind of blurry."

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Fri May 3 20:17:17 2013
could I get a count on who MIGHT want an earlier update?
Because all of a sudden I don't want it to fire as I am fiddling
can we get an idea of who's in for one?

> Announcement from fodder, (#4) dated Fri May 3 21:12:27 2013
Ding,
I called for one.
Am I a masochist?

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Fri May 3 21:23:35 2013
anyone know why on my mac 10.8 with python 2.7 I can get empire.py app buildt but it
just blips out of existence when I run it?
Python 3.3 didn't have build app tool.
using ptkei2

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Fri May 3 21:37:57 2013
Don't you think that 1234567890 should be 0123456789 instead?

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Fri May 3 22:53:17 2013
We have too much respect for Zero Mostel, that's why.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Sat May 4 05:30:15 2013
Ding, you can change your vote on early updates any time by telexing
me again.

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Sat May 4 13:18:01 2013
It's time for the Possum Lodge Word Game! Today's special guest is Mr. Ed, also
known as Resvon. And for today's prize is a good one, especially if you have
ever wanted a big roll of $50 bills wrapped up by a rubber band. Because we
have a whole bag of rubber bands. Okay Mr Ed, cover your ears. Uncle Red, you
have 30 seconds to get Resvon to say the word "funny". "funny". Go!
Okay Brett, during the course of a game, you post several announcments that
make people laugh out loud because they are.....
Expected! (Mr Ed nods his head)
No, no. When they are really humorous they are....
Overlords!! (Nods his head again. Red shakes his head.)
Let's try this. Some players like to read these announcments and even run a
country because they are what?
Part of the game?
Times almost up Uncle Red
Harold, I can't get through to this Clod. Mr Ed, you just don't relate well to
others.
Me? Your clues are aweful, Red. That's the funny part about all this.
DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING

> Announcement from BigFish, (#2) dated Sat May 4 13:51:17 2013
Now that announcement was expected, Overlord's, and part of the game - not sure how funny it was though :P

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sat May 4 14:45:30 2013
I am going to try to sound MORE BRITISH this game
I will attempt to spell correctly
I will NOT invade the first neighbor I find
I will use diplomacy
F dat UPDATE!
F dat UPDATE!
F dat UPDATE!
F dat UPDATE!

> Announcement from BigFish, (#2) dated Sun May 5 14:39:09 2013
So . . . . update soon?

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Sun May 5 15:46:18 2013
One country hasn't voted, yet.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Mon May 6 01:18:37 2013
ann
ann

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Mon May 6 14:09:35 2013
*** Attention, please ***

The first update will be on Wednesday. Use "show updates" to see the
update schedule.

> Announcement from BigFish, (#2) dated Tue May 7 05:30:45 2013
Yipppee! :)

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Tue May 7 20:16:50 2013
it would be yippee if His holiness, (wo)man of power, purveyor of truths
coder to celebreties, master of linux, bsd, unix and VAX.
had actually ran the the update TODAY!

Ding

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Wed May 8 04:35:11 2013
Use "show updates" to see the update schedule.

[0:640] Command : show u 1
Wed, 08 May 2013 04:33:17 +0000, Turn 1, ETU 59
Updates occur according to schedule:
1. Wed, 08 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000
Updates occur within 300 seconds after the scheduled time

You still got to wait less than 90'.

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Wed May 8 06:00:34 2013
You have a new telegram waiting.

(heh)

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Wed May 8 06:44:39 2013
So calm,
deceptive.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Wed May 8 17:46:30 2013
waves, barely brushing the beach,
a noticable .00001 mm of ocean rise from Global warming
Off in the distance Mount Iskaeltisglyndeumbrankenlifjall is spewing
ash over the flotilla heading in that direction,
with anxious horses on the beach ready to run
while Viscount Belitoni, with a perfectly timmed Don Quixote bread,
holds his round belly puzzled at the smoke.
"Will it damage the ships? Will it hurt the horses?"
No one answer
No one seems to be attending to Belitoni,
Damn those women, some drunken event call Beltone is going on,
those Hedonistic people, mud, paint bonfires and drink.
Belitoni just wanted a warm room and a young farmgirl.
He prefers the rural women, so much more muscular so much more much....
Belitoni smiles, will have to make sure the wife does not see him and the flight
off as those lassies board.

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Thu May 9 07:30:03 2013
Yo Hanuman!

What's with the barren islands?
Good for running around...but no bones???!!

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Thu May 9 07:59:02 2013
Judging from recent BULLETINS, there are plenty of bones to go around.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 9 12:37:56 2013
Even though the rest seem like hard packed sand
and would make a reasonable military outpost Bellitoni look up at the towering volcano and wondered
how many men would he lose ascending it peak to look down the throat of the devil.
Perhaps this solitary giant will have its uses. For now he needs to make camp and get the tents for the women set up.
He chuckled as his tough life, as the smell of chislic wafted from his cooks grille.

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Thu May 9 14:45:48 2013
Must be something special in the chislic that
keeps the Natives content...

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Sat May 11 05:46:00 2013
Don't know how, but my paw changed INSERT to OVERWRITE.
Now I can't seem to change it back.

There's no INSERT key to toggle!?! Argh!!!
Damn machines!!

Better to stick to bones!!!

Woof! Woof!

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sat May 11 05:51:02 2013
Belitoni watch the men gather their belongings, readying for the great volcano
ascent. Many men will be lost, but the treasures we hope will be
conmensurate. All those lean young bodies, Belitoni thinks youth has the
bodies, but power and money get young women as well, not always as enthusiastically
but time does rob you of somethings no matter how hard to you try.

Now where are those horses?

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sat May 11 05:57:08 2013
me thinks we need to have Hanuman move the update up 2 hours. More reasonable hour
and more of us would be on me thinks.

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Sat May 11 05:59:26 2013
methinks everyone is on

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sat May 11 05:59:47 2013
There is a rumbling in the mountain!

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sat May 11 17:45:25 2013
I soOOO wish that MA (I think I got that right or is it RK) would allow ME to
define the order of the info displayed on units, EXAMPLE: I right now want info
on mil and civs and mobility on my cargo ships. Later I will be more interested in
units and cargos. Would be nice if I could just preference the list order....
Ding

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sun May 12 03:35:29 2013
anyone care to explain why: level # ?des=} returns
command: level # ?des=}
} -- unknown name
??

> Announcement from BigFish, (#2) dated Sun May 12 03:45:20 2013
Perhaps do you mean des=) instead of des=} (subtle character difference)?

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sun May 12 05:59:57 2013
Belitoni suveryed the womens tent
now where was Mei Ling, He wanted to play his Mei Ding A ling.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sun May 12 06:04:16 2013
sheez how long a window?
/

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Sun May 12 06:30:41 2013
The humble Empire conditional in ?cond&cond... is a surprisingly
complex beast.

A cond is of the form left operand, operator, right operand.

Operators are simple: one of '<', '=', '>', '#'.

Operands can be identifiers, numbers or strings.

A number is either an integer or a floating-point number in the usual
syntax.

A string is enclosed in a pair of "'".

A normal identifier consists of letters, digits and '_', starting with
a letter.

A funny identifier is a lone character that can't start any of the
above.

The "interesting" problem is figuring out what an identifier means.
That depends on context.

If just one operand is an identifier, then it names a selector.
Examples:

* ship * ?mil<5

All ships with less than 5m loaded

* land * ?att>1.2

All land units with attack factor 1.2 or better

* ship * ?name#''

All ships with a name (a favorite with the deity)

It doesn't matter whether the identifier is on the left or on the
right, left is just what players prefer to use.

If both operands are identifiers, things get complicated: either can
then name a selector or a symbolic value for the selector named by the
other operand. Empire caught a serious case of DWIM (do what I mean)
there, in 4.2.15: if an unambiguous interpretation exists, it picks
it.

Examples:

* cen * ?d=n

Here, "n" names selector newdes, and "d" is a valid value for newdes
(defense plant). You might ask why "d" isn't interpreted as
selector and "n" as value. That's because "d" could stand for des
or dfense, but only unambiguous abbreviations get recognized.

* plane * ?wing=g

This could mean selector wing and value g, or selector wing and
selector group, or value 'wing' and selector group. The first one
wins, because wing is an *unabbreviated* selector name. If you
abbreviate it, say "?win=g", it gets rejected.

* ship * ?typ=civ

"typ" names selector type, but "civ" is not a valid value (no ship
type "civ;" exists). "civ" names selector "civil", but "typ is not
a valid value (only numbers are). So this one's rejected because it
makes no sense.


Armed with this knowledge, we can now figure out what "level # ?des=}"
means.

Both "des" and "}" are identifiers.

"des" names selector des. "}" doesn't name a selector.

"}" doesn't name a value of selector des, either.

Thus, the name "}" can't be resolved, which the server duly reports:
"} -- unknown name". .

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sun May 12 06:34:46 2013
ARGGHH>>>>>>

God mods'
arghhh.....
argh.....
arh....ggg...
argh.....argh...

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Sun May 12 13:33:13 2013
Far be it from me to tell players how to play the game. Just so much:
given the size of the game, what about going for a *solo* victory?

> Announcement from fodder, (#4) dated Sun May 12 15:04:10 2013
I am expecting to achieve a solo loss!
Does that meet your hopes?

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sun May 12 17:10:30 2013
A sea of calm waters surround Belitoni's new yacht.
A far off volcano refuses to summit to his mens advances and he wonders
if ever they will succeed. Smullueion pirates in flimsy but fast
speedboats have been pissing off a couple of his admirals. He just
told his fleet commanders 'Buck up Barbies, you weren't promoted to whine."

Did like the recent advisor's report on dwindling resources, seems the rate of
consumption is far exceeding their known reserves. Wish there were minerals in
the ocean.

Danm why have scientists if they can solve the problems?

Ding.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Sun May 12 19:36:34 2013
A player inquired why some Native sectors have more military than
others.

My setup script put 10 extra military in a many more sectors than
intended. By the time I noticed, it was too late to undo, and I kind
of liked it anyway. I fished the extra mil out of sea sectors,
though.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sun May 12 23:56:58 2013
3 Men, 1 rather old and round and two young soldier stood before
Belitoni.

Belitoni was clearly controlling himself. One of the young sailors was
white and shaking.

"I understand that you three are responsible for all communications
during this operation."

"Ah..Yes your Eminence," said two of them.

"So, it should be easy to explain why we sent 3 civilian ships, to
face a fully functional military battery?"

"Ah.. Ah.." the clearly shaken young man stammered.

"You Highness, it is I who is responsible, the other young man," said.
"The incoming telex's clearly showed that fortress fire sunk out pt 201, but
I missed the telex". Once reviewed, we determined that it would be safe to
proceed. 450 military and 1200 civs should have been fine."

"Fine? There were children on those boats!" We send families only when the
risk is reasonable! This fiasco was NOT reasonable.
When I was a child I watched Kaptain Kangaroo and every day was brought to you
by a letter: say X, and a number, say 8, and also a word. Do you know what word
I am thinking of?"

"Um..Umm.." A darkening spot appeared on the left left of the pale white sailor.

"BULLSHIT! That is what I am thinking."

Pointing to the older man, "Throw him over!"

Belitone walked away.

> Announcement from 5, (#5) dated Mon May 13 01:30:23 2013
"5 shells a ship owned by Ding eleven times"

Rookie gunners under training session. They will
improve.

Bellatoni's children died screaming like little girls,
but they would have grown to fierce warriors, can not
allow that.





> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Tue May 14 05:01:06 2013
A player inquired why ships do not return fire when interdicted.

It's how interdiction works in Empire: you move, and every hostile gun
in range gets a free shot. Has been that way as far back as I
remember.

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Tue May 14 13:23:49 2013

Going back to what I said in the beginning of the game,
if you have a single, only, solo, desolate, secluded,
separate, solitary and individual island sector,
shouldn't it have setting of Oil 10 and/or Urn 10 instead of being
arid, depleted, empty, impoverished, barren or otherwise
unproductive ?

Just saying...


> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Tue May 14 17:19:12 2013
Woof receives $10 for reporting a bug in info.

I usually reward bug reports in gold. Except for info, because info
is riddled with bugs, and if I paid for them in gold, you guys could
cause runaway inflation by debugging it. Good for info, bad for this
game.

Thanks, Woof!

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Tue May 14 17:19:50 2013
A player read in "info torpedo" that you need just one gun to launch
torpedoes, and inquired whether that is correct.

It is. One gun is as good as five as far as torpedo is concerned.
You might want more to guard against damage destroying your only gun,
and to fire shells.

> Announcement from fodder, (#4) dated Tue May 14 22:12:34 2013
Sure...When Woof is sitting off my island
ready to pounce on the first "nac" that comes
along, you have to give him some helpful advice!
First money, now this...If I were a conspacy
theorist, I'd suspect some collusion going on here...
:)

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Wed May 15 00:19:09 2013
ok so why are we going to update every other day? Dang
miss read this.
Miss and update and then bam get punished with two days before the next one.

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Wed May 15 05:52:21 2013
less than 8 min till the update...







NOT!

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Wed May 15 05:56:28 2013
A player expressed his desire for continental games in a telegram[*],
although in slightly less reserved language.

Not an excuse, just an explanation: setting up a balanced continental
game is harder. I think we did a decent job in Hvy Metal 2, but it
was a ton of work.

[*] Yes, gentlemen do not read each other's mail. But deities do.

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Wed May 15 05:58:39 2013


What helpful advice?

The only help I've asked for is (repeating myself of the sake of
clarification):

If you have a single, only, solo, desolate, secluded,
separate, solitary and individual island sector,
shouldn't it have setting of Oil 10 and/or Urn 10 instead of being
arid, depleted, empty, impoverished, barren or otherwise
unproductive ?

And everyone knows that if you show the dog a bone,
he's gonna run after it.
What conspiracy theory?

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Wed May 15 17:19:10 2013
A player inquired whether it's possible to transfer cargo from a land
unit on a ship to its carrier, or maybe even to another ship in the
same sector.

The ltend commands lets you transfer commodities between a ship and a
land unit it carries. You can't tend to/from land units on other
ships, even if they're in the same sector; you need to go through the
carrier or the sector.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Wed May 15 17:22:19 2013
To further clarify re interdiction & return fire: interdiction never
draws return fire in any shape or form.

Interdicting planes get intercepted normally, but that's not return
fire.

Interdiction not drawing return fire isn't realistic, but it's simple
to understand, simple to implement, and playable. To understand why,
consider the following example.

I navigate an outmoded frigate. You interdict it with all forts in
range (fort interdiction is automatic), and those of your ships and
land units you put on interdiction mission. Damage gets tallied, and
applied to the hapless frigate.

Simple enough so far. Now let's add return fire. Everything I have
in range of anything you fired fires back. But what fires at what?
Each of your firing assets is in range of a possibly different set of
my assets returning fire.

Say a nice patch to get that done that falls from heaven (thanks!). I
grin, because while you totally sank my barnacle-encrusted frigate, I
got a free potshot at your guns. I bring up my next floating museum
for another free salvo, and repeat until your guns are quiet.

"No fair!", you cry, "My other guns should return fire to your return
fire!" Maybe they should, but that would involve more nice patches
from above, and more complexity.

The current rules may not be realistic, but they make for a fun game.

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Thu May 16 06:02:44 2013
argh...
put some stuff in the wrong place.

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Thu May 16 15:39:43 2013
Ho! Ho! POGO under attack!!
What's the world coming to?!


Thu May 16 09:15 POGO ships torpedoed by marauding U-boats


> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Thu May 16 20:25:31 2013
It's time for the Possum Lodge Word Game!
And today's prize is a great one. If you have ever dreamed of an all expense
paid trip to Hawaii, this is the prize for you - a bottle of sleeping pills!
today's special guest is Steve McClure (do a "version" and see). Cover your
ears Steve. Okay Uncle Red, you've got 30 seconds to get Steve to say "Bread".
"Bread". Okay, go.
This is an old political term, Steve. Something and Circuses?
Democrats!
No, no. Ahhh, this is something most people eat just about every day.
Oh, that's easy. beep's wife.
I'll try a different approach. The 60's/hippy movement used this term to refer
to money.
Why didn't you say so, Red. That would be drugs. I barely remember the 60's.
That's because you were born in 1967. Time's almost up, Uncle Red.
Okay, Harold. I think I've gotten this one. Let's try Word Association Steve.
(Steve nods in agreement)
Day
Night
Girl
Boy
Barsoom
In-bred
DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING

> Announcement from fodder, (#4) dated Fri May 17 05:59:24 2013
I am giving up.
I am not competent enough to play anymore.
I have found that I do not understand some fundamentals.
This has removed all the enjoyment I had when I was ignorant
of my failings.
I wish you guys all the best.

grant aka fodder/4/Wales

> Announcement from Ding, (#6) dated Sat May 18 03:25:03 2013
ooo this is sad.

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Sun May 19 18:26:19 2013
So this guy shows up to the talent agnecy with a first rate mutt. He tells
the booking agent "I tells ya this dog can talk. He really can."
The agent is very skeptical so the guy continues.
"Okay Spot, what covers a house?"
--ruuf--
"See, he said 'roof'. Now, what's my name?"
-rawf-
"See, he said 'Ralph' Okay, who was the greatest Empire player of all time?"
-woof-
"See, he said 'Woof'."
Much less than impressed, the talent agent grabs the guy by the collar and throws
him out the door rolling him several times into the trash. A few seconds later
and there is a loud dog yelp and he too lands in the garbage. Picking himself
up, the dog brushed the grim off and says. "Hmmm, maybe I should have said Mirkwood."

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Fri May 24 05:57:59 2013
Fodder's show is over. Move along folks.
Move along.

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Fri May 24 06:07:44 2013
that sucked

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Fri May 24 06:40:10 2013
So, the fodder che are tough little devils and they took their toll.

But, did we find a bug or a feature?

In several sectors, all of my mil and lands were by che killed and we are not
old owner, yet we still "own" the sector.

Withdrawing all mil intentionally from a sector, we are still old owner.

Did I miss the memo?

#2

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Fri May 24 17:50:44 2013
A player observed that he didn't lose some sectors even though che
wiped out the occupiers.

When che kill all occupiers, the sector reverts to the old owner, but
only if it's still loyal enough to the old owner. Over time, an
occupied sector shifts its loyalty from the old owner to the occupier.

The player futher observed that moving all military and land units out
of an occupied sector did not make the sector revert to its old owner.

The player is an old fart^Wexperienced one. Sectors used to revert
between approximately 1993 and 2008.

Changes to Empire 4.3.17 - Sat Sep 20 16:07:44 UTC 2008
* Occupied sectors no longer revert to the old owner when all
military and land units go away. This feature was added in
Chainsaw 3. It wasn't integrated properly with the che code
(things went wrong when che killed all defenders, but couldn't
convert the sector due to its loyalty), and combat code (if an
attack killed off all local defenders and got defeated by reacting
units, the sector changed ownership anyway, silently).

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Sun May 26 04:34:31 2013
A player inquired whether a sector's population limit is taken into
account when the sector is conquered and people join the guerilla.

Nope. The more civilians, the more che. The only limit is that a
sector can't have more than 255 che.

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Wed May 29 22:27:27 2013
It's time for the Possum Lodge Word Game!!!!!!!
And today's guest clue giver is Ray Hyatt, AKA Plundaria. And he is playing
for a really special prize. A gift certificate for a box of 100 Barsoom
Condoms. There's Large, Meadium, Small, and Barsoom. Barsoom Condoms - When
size better not matter.
Okay, Mr Hyatt, you have 30 seconds to get Uncle Red to this word - Breasts.
Breasts. Okay, go!
Uh, Red?
Red!!!
RED!!!!!
Huh? What?
You forgot to take your fingers out of your ears and the clock is running. But
women have these and men don't.
More than one pair of shoes?
No, but keep that 'pair' part in mind. Remember the first time a girl let you
get to first base? What did she let you play with?
Her first baseman's mitt.
(SIGH) Okay, your wife pulls these out when she want's you to do something.
That would be divorce attorney's phone numbers.
Time's almost up Mr. Hyatt.
Red, this isn't working. Let's go take the Possem Lodge Van down to the Sears
(cont)

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Wed May 29 22:29:05 2013
Automotive Center and let them fix the heating system.
You want to let those guys work on the Possem Lodge Van? They're a bunch of boobs!
(Ray looks up at Harold) Close enough?
Close enough!
DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Thu May 30 23:54:06 2013
Hey Lodge Fans, it's time for another Possem Lodge Word Game!!!!!!
And let's have a nice big welcome for our very special guest, beep. Today beep
will be playing for a brand new car
radio
knob.
Cover your ears beep. Uncle Red, you have 30 seconds to get beep to say the
word 'Broke'. 'Broke'. And time starts now!
beep, this what you are if you don't have any money.
Married!!
Yeah, well, we can't argue that. Ummm, suppose you had money yesterday and
today you don't have any. What would you be?
Hung over.
No no no. Try and concentrate. You have no job. You owe a lot of money to a
lot of people. You can't pay your bills. Somebody would say that you are....
A recent college graduate with a BA degree.
Time's almost up Uncle Red.
Why do you always say that, Harold. Every game you say that.
Hey, don't pick on Harold. After all, every time he gives you the warning,
the other player always gets the word. I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Fri Jun 7 16:44:48 2013
Ahem!

Hello folks!

It's been a while since there was any news and quite honestly,
we were always out on BTUs the last few weeks to be
able to share updates, but we now have a small update to share.

The nation of Loser has decided to join hands with Woof.
They have pledged themselves to the Woof life and the
assimilation process has begun!

We welcome our new brothers and sisters to Woof-ire,
(Woof-empire for the cheesy-impaired). We would like to inform
all guests, who enjoyed access to Woof would now be given
immediate extensions to allow them to enjoy the beaches and
mountains of Loser, or as we call it, New Woofland.
It goes without saying, any aggressions on New Woofland would
also be treated appropriately.

Thank you!


> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Sat Jun 8 14:20:45 2013
A player inquired about how to attack spy units.

"info Spies" provides at least two hints that apply here. Here's one:

Spies are also very fragile. If they are caught in any kind of
combat, shelling, bombing, etc. and take ANY damage at all, they
die.

The other one is hidden under "SEE ALSO".

> Announcement from 5, (#5) dated Sat Jun 8 14:33:15 2013
If you suspect a spy on your mainland,
set a few art land units on interdict missions
spaced appropriately.


> Announcement from 5, (#5) dated Sat Jun 8 14:36:50 2013


> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Sat Jun 8 14:39:23 2013
The last announcement from 5 was sabotaged by a spy, methinks.


> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Sat Jun 8 16:09:31 2013

ITS HOT AS HECK TODAY!
WHY IS IT ALWAYS HOT IN SUMMER AND COLD IN WINTER?

And one other question that I get asked many a times is
"I see a LOT of capitals in New Woofland. What's up with that?"

Just like the first two lines, for non New Woofland-ers,
ignore the capitals.

> Announcement from BigFish, (#2) dated Sat Jun 8 16:14:39 2013
So many questions to ponder . . . :)

> Announcement from Woof, (#8) dated Mon Jun 17 15:27:00 2013

There's not much happening now as it is, so . . .

I, along with 5, officially stake claim as winners of this game.



> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Mon Jun 17 23:49:32 2013
It's time for the final edition of this season's Possum Lodge Word Game. And
this weeks grand prize is the big one - a case of fruit flavored KY jelly. If
you think you might end up in prison, this is the package for you. And our
very extra special guess is Dr. Sean Eddy (AKA Mirkwood). Dr. Eddy, you have
30 seconds to get my Uncle Red to this.... Uh Uncle Red, cover your ears.
You sure know how to spoil the fun, Harold.
That's better. Okay, 30 seconds to get Uncle Red to say the word "recount".
"recount". Go!
Okay Red, after an election is really, reaaly close, and you think there was
some kind of fraud going on, you usually have one of these.
A Democrat in office?
No, this is if you don't want the Democrat in office, you want the guy that
really got the most votes to win. So then you have this.
Oh, a screw job.
(sigh) Oh, uh, what does the term "Hanging Chad" mean?
A gay porn actor?
Time's almost up Dr Eddy.

> Announcement from 1234567890, (#1) dated Mon Jun 17 23:51:24 2013
Let me try one more shot at this. Red, remember when you were single and you
used to have money and go out every night.
Oh yeah. I remember those times. I still enjoy thinking about those days and
recounting the fun I used to have....
DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING

> Announcement from BigFish, (#2) dated Tue Jun 18 03:11:20 2013
BigFish acknowledges the Woof/5 victory. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Tue Jun 18 06:04:19 2013
*** Hvy Summer Fever 2013 is over ***

Congratulations to the winners Woof and 5!

Updates are disabled. A brief game report will be posted to
rec.games.empire.

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Tue Jun 18 06:09:14 2013
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Tue Jun 18 06:05:10 2013

sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Woof 331 100% 326K 7.1K 7.8K 790 7.4K 27K 1.6K 3.2K 277 296 105 296K
23650.34
5 228 100% 214K 11K 5.5K 687 4.6K 8.8K 151 5.0K 223 191 84 200K
15192.49
BigFish 221 100% 220K 5.3K 5.9K 315 8.0K 9.8K 362 3.6K 160 168 68 227K
14168.48
Ding 0 0% 0 29 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 77K
199.11
Loser 5 92% 4.0K 295 36 7 0 0 0 162 0 20 3 -13K
144.34
123456789 0 0% 0 162 105 20 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 3.6K
64.43
3 0 0% 1.2K 104 7 16 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 -2.5K
46.44
fodder 0 0% 0 4 27 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 -11K
-24.92
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 785 100% 765K 24K 19K 1.8K 20K 46K 2.1K 12K 660 706 260 777K

> Announcement from Hanuman, (#10) dated Tue Jun 18 06:21:05 2013
Tue Jun 18 06:06:11 2013
# name tech research education happiness capital
1 1234567890 168.26 0.00 3.53 0.00 87,19
2 BigFish 195.85 0.00 19.97 0.00 -39,29
3 3 140.13 0.00 0.91 0.00 64,32
4 fodder 128.34 0.00 1.10 0.00 45,3
5 5 192.76 0.00 15.82 10.35 -30,0
6 Ding 123.81 0.00 0.41 0.00 -46,-32
7 Loser 151.98 0.00 5.08 0.36 79,-21
8 Woof 195.40 0.00 20.19 13.88 12,-24