Opticraft Community

Alright, that's one down. Anybody else want to try it out?

Howdy, folks. How long has it been since I've last been on?

Well, I'm here to bring up a completely different type of forum game-- one that might not be familiar for some, while some might feel right at home with these types of forum games.

Play-by-Forum, or Play-by-Post, games are where each participating individual plays by posting on this thread-- depending on the medium, it may be a role-play, an online game, a party function or something else of a similar caliber. Replies usually follow a certain format to keep the pace of the game's process and to discern between in-game actions and outside-interactions. There are lots of games that involve Player-to-Player interaction, either with (Co-Op) or against (PvP) each other.

This particular forum game will be for the interest of a particular game-- one which has seen many moons of various Play-by-Forum interactions and is best known as a Campaign-and-Conquest game in that respect.



[spoiler]The Lazax Empire-- once a beacon of totalitarian control and unchallenged power-- quickly crumbled under the weight of rebellion and civil unrest. The various races waged war against the remaining survivors of the Lazax year-after-year, until the winds of war became an eerie silence. After many millenia, the secluded races of the former galactic empire regained their strength and returned to the ruins of the empire to rebuild and re-occupy the throne of the empire.

Thus began the age of the Twilight Imperium...[/spoiler]

Twilight Imperium is best described as a "Space Opera in-a-box," designed and created by Christian T. Petersen and published by Fantasy Flight Games. Its original conception is in board-game form, but has also taken the route of online (real-time or play-by-forum) game sessions. Twilight Imperium is "a game of epic galactic trade, politics and conquest." In a nutshell, the base game handles up to 6 players-- each controlling one of 10 unique races-- vying for galactic control over the ruins of the Lazax Empire. In the center of this conquest is the legendary planet Mecatol Rex, the former capitol of the Lazax.

Each player will utilize their varying strategies to command their galactic forces, develop trade relations with others, engage in high-stakes space battles, fulfill general and secret agendas, organize in diplomatic assemblies and, ultimately, claim galactic dominion over the entire space system.

The overall goal of the game is for one player to reach 10 Victory Points by achieving various objectives (or by drawing the Imperium Rex card, which, effectively, ends the game).



While the game may look complicated at first-glance, the core mechanics that drive the game are, actually, rather simple. Instead of rolling dice or drawing cards to determine actions, each player has an allotment of Command Tokens to use for the various actions. Some actions include tactical troop deployment, reinforcement production, strategy activation, or they may simply pass their turn to the next player. Cards do exist in the game, but are seldomnly handed out so as to not overwhelm each player with too many options to choose from.

The base game, in board-game form, can usually last between 6-8 hours, depending on experience level. Play-by-Forum games are played at the pace of the players, fitting their schedule and giving them a chance to decide what they want to do-- which means most PbF sessions of TI can last a few months. With this in mind, who would like to participate in a Play-by-Forum game of galactic proportions? Who would be willing to risk galactic conquest for the name of their homeworld? Who among you would attempt to challenge the diplomatic powers of the galactic empire? Who will conquer the throne of the Lazax Empire and take control of Mecatol Rex?

This is a really fun and involving game in which I personally enjoy. If this is something that you would like to participate in, feel free to join! I'm starting out the head-count with 6 players to start, but may bump up to 8 if there is more interest.

Player 1: ---
Player 2: ---
Player 3: ---
Player 4: ---
Player 5: ---
Player 6: ---

There are a lot of online resources for this game in which I am happy to share with everyone.

Here is an example of a PbF game of Twilight Imperium in-progress (one in which I am participating in):
[spoiler][/spoiler]

You must follow and include information outlined in the Moderator Application Template. From what you provided in this thread so far, it does not convince us that you will take the responsibility seriously. Moderator is not just a rank -- it's a responsibility.

Please follow the application template more closely, and put more effort into your application; then, the Admins might make a decision to consider you as a possible candidate.

SMP Player Rules and Guidelines

Eh, what the heck? I might as well give this a go
Xeadin

I really do like your builds from an architectural perspective-- in fact, I really liked Zion for its mysterious and ominous appearance. There's just one problem to Zion:

What's inside?

We all know that interior detail and design is not everyone's strongest point, but that quality cannot be ignored entirely-- especially with something that you gave an interesting backstory for. Does the city just rest on a bed of grass? Is Zion free for everyone to meander into and question what happens within? What does the city of Zion look like inside the strange buildings? The lack of interior design makes me want to ask for more.

In addition, the Temple of Aquarius is very well done architecturally, with a mixture of materials that blend together. There's a bit more interior design to see here, but what ultimately makes it a temple to begin with? Is there a throne or a set of thrones for those in power? Perhaps a statue in honor of an important figure? Use of the interior space is important as well. There are also a few domes above the main lobby space that could be used as well, not just for show.

I think I may have mentioned this to you before, but "Rushing on most builds tend to destroy them," and unfortunately this might be what I'm seeing here. You have excellent taste in design, but you seem to rush past the other important qualities in the process. My advice is to take it slow and think about what each part of the build is accomplishing, because anything you build has to accomplish some sort of task-- other than to look good from the outside. If you have some sort of limiting factor during the day, make a goal for yourself to accomplish a certain amount of the build during the time that you are on.

Rejected. You have very strong potential, and I think you can outshine yourself by pacing yourself during the design and construction process. The more time you spend on your builds, the better the outcome, and the less likely you'll skip over some of the important details.

You have some neat builds, but unfortunately some of them lack in fine interior detail-- most notably, Jorrvaskr. You have the first level of the building, but what about the space above the fire pit?

Also, I would've found your Dragon build a lot more impressive if it was all hand-built by you alone. Remember that building quality is significantly increased when you have more than one person actively contributing on the same project. A few blocks here and there is fine, but it looks like a fair amount of the dragon was a collaboration between you and FIREBALL4801.

Ultimately, I feel you could've done a much better job with some of your builds in terms of size-- especially the Biomes build. While nice and oriental, it seems very small, very condensed and extremely limiting in terms of how much detail and/or ideas could've been put into it.

Rejected. You have some room for improvement, but the trail has already been set out for you. You have adequate exterior detail, and you seem to have a knack for organic sculptures. Work on those weak points outlined above, and I'm sure you'll be well on your way on the next application

Please keep in mind that you can only bump yourself up one rank at a time here. What you have so far on our server more than qualifies you for the Recruit rank, but you only need to contact an in-game operator to check your build for that.

And as TheWholeLoaf said, only builds that have been made on our Creative server count towards a promotion.

Rejected, but please talk to either me or the next in-game operator to get your build checked.

What does the game output tab, on the launcher window, show when you try to connect?

This is an In-Progress build that I am currently working on in the Builder world.

This is a conceptual replication of the Galactic Federation Carrier MS-21A, nicknamed Atlas I.
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Complete album can be viewed here.

The build is accessible via /home Xeadin:carrier

This application is just for record-keeping purposes. Rank in-game has already been changed.

In-game name: Xeadin
Age: 22
Location: Shoreline, WA; USA
Timezone: PDT [GMT -8:00]
Join Date: Sept. 22, 2014 (First started April 14, 2011)
Were you recommended by any staff?: Nick3306
Why you should become an Operator: I've been with the community for a few years now, taking a momentary leave of absence to deal with college. With that out of the way, I am now able to re-involve myself with the community once more. I have had extensive experience as an Operator during the *Classic-creative* era. I have offered support to other players and enforced the rules to the letter, and will continue to do so.

Ingame name: Xeadin
Join date: Sept. 22, 2014
Briefly describe your creation: The Maluminaeros Towers is one of several major airship trade and public transport stations. Airship manufacturers that contribute their fleet services to a large portion of the towers include Huey Crafters & Co., McCenna Engineering, and La'Fanz Machineworks.
What world is the creation on: Recruit2 (/home Xeadin:maltower)
Links to screenshots of the creation: http://imgur.com/a/anY5E#0
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]
Names of players who helped contribute: None
Extra: Images are not enough to capture the true scale of this build. It's recommended to view the pictures, then visit the build in-person.

While this is a great idea, do keep in mind that we're trying to keep the creative server as close to Classic as it can be. We never had any of those separate channels that SMP has, and it wouldn't do much good if people were to experience any kind of issue and nobody could hear them because they were on Local chat.

In addition, a lot of players are far more separated from each other as opposed to SMP.