RTGPete

With game 97 getting close to ending and a number of countries in other games in somewhat dire straights, it's time to open up the next game of Victory! Thus, Game 111 is now open for registrations! It will be termed game 91 because the code doesn't like 3-digit game numbers, so I'll just refer to it as game 91 from here on out. This is a special team game with 10 teams of 4 players each along with some setup enhancements. More details can be found in the attached setup document. It's pretty detailed, so you should go over it carefully before making your choices. Nations in this game are not assigned in a first-come, first-served basis, so you can sign up now or right up until it fills and you will have the same chance of receiving your preferred nation blocs. Unlike regular games, one player can run multiple countries in a nation bloc, so you could join with a friend and each run two nations if you liked, or find 4 players to each play one nation apiece in a bloc, or however you want to break it up within a 4 nation bloc. Solo players can sign up as well; in this case I'll try to form you into a team with other solo players. However, your varying preferred nation blocs (see setup form in the attached document) can make it hard for me to get you what you want. Your best bet by far is to form a team ahead of time, whether that's with 4 different players or fewer than that who are willing play multiple nations each to fill out a team. Once the teams are set and you know what nations your team controls, I'll send out emails to everybody and at that point you can assign your nations to each of your team members and pick your technology types as usual. If you have any questions about the setup process, feel free to send me an email at victory@rollingthunder.com Good luck everybody! Edit: this game has 7 teams signed up so far. I don't expect it to start before game 97 concludes. If you're a solo player, feel free to sign up for this one -- I'll get you into a team! Victory Game 91 Signup Information.pdf

I'll see what I can do - the game 96 database is intact, so compiling the results can still be done; I just never got around to it.

I've seen that happen, but given the incredibly vast number of orders that run just fine, it's really rare. Replacing hardware is tricky because the processing computer is so old; still, I'll see what I can do to mitigate or otherwise minimize the chances of the dropped letter issue. Update: I picked up a small hub today that offers a nice, tight connection for the device needed to translate data from the PC to the Mac. It worked fine on some simple tests I just ran--with any luck this will clean up the very rare but also very annoying dropped letter issue. There are other steps I can take in case that doesn't work, but hopefully this is all that will be needed.

Hi Guys, I will be setting up the base database for game 110(90) later today (June 4th 2024), and will deal with nation and tech choice assignments over the next few days - Supernova's Andromeda region begins running tomorrow (Wednesday, June 5th) which will keep me busy, but once that's done I will get back to setting up this game Once a nation is set with its tech type (American, British, German, Russian) there is no way for me to change that after the fact, so be sure you're happy with your tech choice. If you don't remember what you chose, send me an email asap and I can let you know what I have down for you There are a few empty positions (see below) which will have their tech types selected for them--I generally set typical land nations like these as German because it has a pretty well-rounded set of units. These nations can be picked up at any time, so if you have a friend who wants in, there is still some room....you can never have enough allies! Because the Victory! code doesn't like 3-digit game #'s, this will technically be termed game 90 to keep the code happy Edit: ......and game 110(90) begins on 6/9/2024 - all setup printouts were just emailed. The first turn is due 6/15/2024 but I'll back date anyone who comes in after that (up to June 28th, since at the end of the 28th the tech counter to turn 2 runs) back to the 15th. That way nobody will lose days right out of the gate. Once turn 2 begins on June 29th I can't do that any more (and I expect some players will start dropping days for intelligence-gathering purposes). Good luck everyone! Game 110 will be the same as Games 100-109. You can choose your nation when you register based on what is available – first come, first serve. We are currently taking registrations for the next regular 14 day game. This game will be Game 110 (Game 90). We will begin accepting registrations for Game 110 at 9 AM (MST or GMT-7) on September 18th. Game 110 is first come, first serve so if you are interested in a particular nation get your setup request in at 9 AM on the 18th or as soon as you can after that. Registrations before 9 AM on the 18th don't count so wait until then. Any questions - just let me know. Edit: a few nations opened up at the last second which I'm trying to fill. I'll still start this game up, filling active positions tomorrow (Friday, June 7th), and will continue to fill empties with more players as best as I can. Best of luck to all! Pete

I got up super early this morning and was able to grind out the rest of Andromeda - results are out, huzzah!

There is a tornado warning in the area where I'm at and there has been some pretty powerful weather all afternoon, so I'm going to hold off starting up SN Andromeda until things quiet down, to avoid any power loss issues should that arise. Hopefully I'll be able to get it started up later tonight, but if not then I'll get it grinding along tomorrow morning. Either way I would not expect results until Friday, as Andromeda takes a long time to run.

I'm not able to start Andromeda until later tonight, so I wouldn't expect results to be ready until Friday (hopefully morning). There's still a chance that results will be ready by late Thursday night, but I'm not counting on it.

Hi Guys, Game 109 will be the same as Games 100-108. You can choose your nation when you register based on what is available – first come, first serve. Registrations have begun so some nations are already gone but you have your choice of what is currently available: Game 109 registration began on January 14th. If you have more than one choice let me know (in case the first one is gone by the time I get your email) and the faster you get your choice in the better. The following nations are available at the moment, both in Northern Europe should you have an interested ally: Germany Poland Best of luck to all! Pete

One nation has opened up in game 98 - Switzerland If anybody has a friend who wants that position, let me know and I can get them in right away.

Whew, finally done - on my way to the post office to mail the hard copies now. Andromeda just takes forever to grind through the industrial phase and everything that's needed after that -- its database is so large I have to make duplicates and compress it in sections to get through the post-orders phases and results generation routines - that takes many, many hours in total. Thanks for your patience!

Andromeda grinding along. No major battles unless you count <insert your empire name here> against <your mortal enemy>. Not sure if I'll be able to get the results and data files done tonight - there's still a good bit to go in the convoy route/industrial phase, followed by a battery of various utilities.

I just haven't had time to keep up with the news reports of homeworlds falling - pulling and processing orders takes every waking moment. I did enjoy writing those little snippets, I have to admit.....just a time issue. The rankings use pretty simple calculations - tonnage of various items to simulate overall warship tonnage, industrial output calculations based on your industries and so forth. For example, Improved Industries contribute more than regular Industrial Complexes. That particular one does not take into account industrial tech (like 2nd Generation Industrial Science), but it does look at how many Industrial Complexes, Improved Industrial Complexes and Advanced Industrial Complexes you have and gives them each different weights to simulate their industrial output. For example, each Advanced Industrial Complex is worth 8 in comparison to each regular Industrial Complex (2000 to 250 base output). In a similar way, the merchant marine calculation is looking at Cargo Bays, Improved Cargo Bays and Advanced Cargo Bays. The colonization category sums up both unemployed pop and pop employed in installations in your empire.

The first Andromeda cycle of 2023 is grinding along......and grinding slooowwwwly. Best guess is tomorrow (Friday) at some point, hopefully (probably?) earlier rather than later.

Very, very rare to be sure - it's not something needed even remotely often, especially for active positions. For dropped empires, DECF can be run now and then without affecting anybody.

They have indeed