[23-Oct-2007] Fog of war

[joeknows]

I think think when the cash ins get big in a escalating speed Game time should be extended more than 2.5 minutes. By this time players are eliminated and the game will be ending soon anyway. for the 3 or less players left in the game they wont mind longer time to play because you are really into actually winning at that point your gonna want to think about were to put your 45 armies. Just an observation. glad you added somthing to it.
Also On my computer a lot of time is wasted scrolling up and down from map to move selection I cant get it all to fit in the window.
So maybe insted of adding time modifying it to be condensed or horizontal Map with moves buttons on left or right of it.

[Heimdall]

Fog Of War
According to Wikipedia, the fog of war is a term used to describe the level of ambiguity in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. Now you can turn up the ambiguity in your Conquer Club games with this radical new game option! The fog of war masks enemy positions that are not adjacent to your forces (or your team's forces). It also masks territory and continent names in the log. Originally suggested by seraphesy back in Jan 2006. Enjoy!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Guess it's time to renew my Premium membership now. Lack, you're like a drug dealer that keeps making the smack stronger and stronger. I need my fix.

[Heimdall]

[quote="fireheart"The game I won did not have the link to my next game. I did have to jump back to "my games" to get to the next game. Not a big deal, but if you want the link there, then it is not. I just thought you wanted to give us time to do our victory dance before we moved on to our other games. [/quote]

If you can't remember than you don't miss it that much

[JustCallMeStupid]

I think think when the cash ins get big in a escalating speed Game time should be extended more than 2.5 minutes. By this time players are eliminated and the game will be ending soon anyway. for the 3 or less players left in the game they wont mind longer time to play because you are really into actually winning at that point your gonna want to think about were to put your 45 armies. Just an observation. glad you added somthing to it.
Also On my computer a lot of time is wasted scrolling up and down from map to move selection I cant get it all to fit in the window.
So maybe insted of adding time modifying it to be condensed or horizontal Map with moves buttons on left or right of it.

I will respond to your last statement first. Get a larger monitor . My 22 inch doesnt have problems with any of the maps when set to small size.

Actually, I think the time limit in escalating games makes a great challenge for quickly deploying and eliminating someone. I like that Lack added 2.5 minutes after eliminating someone it really pressures you to deploy quick and start eliminating the next person. After rethinking my response as I type it.... Ive come to agree that if someone has planned things well enough to eliminate someone and turn in they should have enough time to plan for the next kill and finish off the game. That is the strategy of escalating games. Maybe 5 minutes added on would be more fair.
The only thing unfair about it is the guy who you fail to eliminate after eliming 3 or 4 guys. Well he would have to wait 20 minutes (if lack made the add-on 5 mins) versus only 10 minutes (kept at 2.5). Part of the point of speed games is so that players dont have to wait a long time. Its really a tough adjustment to make fair. I guess he will have to see what people say about it now and adjust accordingly.

[BrutalBob]

Also On my computer a lot of time is wasted scrolling up and down from map to move selection I cant get it all to fit in the window.
So maybe insted of adding time modifying it to be condensed or horizontal Map with moves buttons on left or right of it.

I will respond to your last statement first. Get a larger monitor . My 22 inch doesnt have problems with any of the maps when set to small size.

You can also use F11 which will slip your browser into "Full screen" mode and get a bit more screen area

[caspertk]

Great update! Keep up the good work, going great. Maybe the fog-of-war option will revive Assassin games (which I currently almost never play and I think I'm not the only one). In Assassin+Fog of war mode, it can really prove an exciting hunt, because you first have to find your victim before you can actually assassinate him.

* Sorry if this was already posted, I dont want to read through 9 pages to find out*

I like it how the games in My Games are sorted so that games in which it is your turn are on top. One very minor suggestion for the sorting of all the other games in which it is not yet your turn: currently they are sorted looking only at the amount of time the other player currently has left. Could you sort it in a way that below games where it is YOUR turn, first it will list the games in which ONLY 1 PERSON BEFORE YOU has to do his/her turn, then where 2 people need to do their turn before it's yours, et cetera. Then scrolling down will give a better impression of the order in which the games will be up for you.
I know it's a very minor issue, but still it makes sense if for example in 6player games the one in which my turn is next would be higher on the list than the one in which I just had my turn but accidentally the next time only has 3 hours left. Given the new sorting of My Games, that is.

I sure typed a lot of text about a small thing. Then let me end by applauding again for this great update. Really making premium members enjoy their membership this way!

[joeknows]

Just call me stupid, Thanks for your reply.

I did not take that aspect of the speed game into consideraration I was just excited to jump into a RT type game that moves along abit more quickly.
Of course the larger moniter would work better mine just konked out im using a back up now. Im sure a lot of people across the world have to use a smaller monitor it is all they can afford.
Also did not think about the dextarity issues that arrise later in the game with the speed. clicking the right deployment, quantity men. type of attack etc. all take quick thinking not usually required in risk ( I dont mind that point) I can adapt to quick thinking, But my fingers and eyes are hopeless for scrolling looking and clicking might as well play PS3 or Xbox with the kids if it is a fast button playing game.

joe

[Yablonsky]

For the timed games.....I totally disagree with giving an extra 2.5 minutes. Thats the whole point of limiting to 5 minutes. If you can't get it done....then your turn ends....plan your turn better next time.

I've played where you have 60 seconds to play your turn...and even less at 30 seconds. You don't accomplish a whole lot, but you plan your turns much better and you pay attention to what is going on.

I would really like it if the Speed play had a settable time....5 minutes...10 minutes...or whatever....instead of a set 5 minutes.

I really love the site here...and have donated...not just for the Gold rank, but because I like the site....

You do great work and I know how hard it is...I've done some programming myself and know its not as easy as it looks.

[stoneheartedgurl]

this is going to make assassin games much more difficult.. i like it

[bringiton4]

Has there been any consideration, in Fog of War games, to not telling everyone in the chat (1) the amount of territory someone has and (2) the amount of army bonuses they get?

I ask because it makes it relatively easy to determine when to kill someone for cards when, for all you know, they could be somewhere else in the map - except the turn thing gave it away.

[Herakilla]

so you suggest that you cant see whos which color? or maybe the order in which players go? how you estimate when your turn is coming then? or talk to others on chat effectively.

@ the post about assassin:
i can see a fog assassin game and it looks great to me lol, gonna have to drag some xi gamers into it

[bringiton4]

No, I just mean, on someone elses's turn, it should NOT say:

"XX has 5 territories left"

If you happen to border his 5 territories, you now know you can kill him - whereas, otherwise, you'd have no clue.

It doesn't involve colour in anyway

[Herakilla]

No, I just mean, on someone elses's turn, it should NOT say:

"XX has 5 territories left"

If you happen to border his 5 territories, you now know you can kill him - whereas, otherwise, you'd have no clue.

It doesn't involve colour in anyway

what i understand is you want the game log to say something like

"(insert player name) recieves 5 armies for ? territories"

or something along that line? i would support that

[Herakilla]

i hate edit button but i wanna add

if you are shown getting a bonus but not which one, why not make the armies similar or the same

[demonskier]

hey lack ummmm i hope im not repeating anyone but first of all fog of war is awesome second i think that spectators shouldn't be allowed to look at fog of war games because if someone has a friend then his friend can tell him what is going on everywhere he can't already see

[Herakilla]

hey lack ummmm i hope im not repeating anyone but first of all fog of war is awesome second i think that spectators shouldn't be allowed to look at fog of war games because if someone has a friend then his friend can tell him what is going on everywhere he can't already see

its already like that, any player not in the game will only see ?'s everywhere

[JustCallMeStupid]

Ya I tried to spectate a game and it was very boring.... A bunch of ?'s attacking a bunch of ?'s. And everyone in my current 4 games is ridiculuosly slow so I cant join a fog game yet... then again there is always premium.

[bringiton4]

No, I just mean, on someone elses's turn, it should NOT say:

"XX has 5 territories left"

If you happen to border his 5 territories, you now know you can kill him - whereas, otherwise, you'd have no clue.

It doesn't involve colour in anyway

what i understand is you want the game log to say something like

"(insert player name) recieves 5 armies for ? territories"

or something along that line? i would support that

Exactly. Something like that.

Another thing - why should bonuses be broadcast (if only amount of armies) - if the entire point of Fog of War is NOT to be able to tell what your opponent has unless you can see it?

[lackattack]

The log gives hints, think of it as an intelligence report. The FoW games have elements of memory (from the map) and deduction (from the log). I've heard people say the log shows too much and too little. I don't think we can please everyone! Besides, it's too soon to mess around with. We should spend more time playing FoW first.

[bringiton4]

Fair enough, fair enough.

In other news, when I spell the word "colour", as opposed to "color", it gives me a spelling underline thing.

Lack, aren't ya Canadian

[bryguy]

i dont really care for fog of war, and herakilla, DiM might kill u for taking his avatar and sig

[gloryordeath]

once again this web sight gets better!

[dicemaster42]

the sorting may work better if u can take into account how many players still need to go before you...that would be a better indication of which game ur gonna play next rather than how much time the person playing has left

[picaman]

I hope that i am not repeating what was already stated but there are already 10 pages of posts. I like FOW, and when the game is done I can't go and look to see where I stood. That is, I look at the finished game and still see ?? where I would like to see the actual army's and the color.

NO it doesn't change the outcome of the game to see that, but I for one would like to know.

[Aerial Attack]

One of the things I've noticed about FoW. In real time, I pretty much try to remember where people have/had terrs - which ones were taken and what not (usually I get to see these things happen on the map). So, for speed games I don't really use the note to self. I've played a couple and they were excellent.

I entered the Fog of War tournament and have 6 casual games going at the same time. Every time my turn comes up, I have to correlate my previous note to self with the hints from the Game Log. For a six player game, that's a lot to have to be aware of. Just for those 6 games, it takes me nearly 45 minutes to prepare to take my turns !!! I'm getting a little better. Have a system of Notepad, and game chat (make sure to click Note to self EVERY time). I also track bonuses they are receiving (likely sources any ways).

It takes a LOT more effort to properly play a FoW game - which I'll probably still lose !!!