TC Multiplayer Video Game Organization Thread

...create a world. (I could do that, but I'd prefer you took the lead. Also it'd mean shuffling files from the computer I run DF on over to this one that has a network link, and then working out if I've got an appropriate file-sharing thing... if you start, I could follow your lead. Or work out if I still have a valid login to dffd.bay12games.com while you're doing this.)

Option 1: Create New World! (choosing "Pocket/Smaller/Small/Medium/Large" for World Size, and a similar number of options for half a dozen other settings.

Option 2: Design New World with Advanced Parameters (choosing directly from one of the default options of [Large, Medium, Small, Smaller, Pocket]x[Island, Region], or taking one of these parameter sets and fiddling with it to create something new... e.g. high vulcanism, less cavern layers, better metallicity, more/less erosion).

The simplest thing might be to "Design New World with..." using the "Large Region" option but with no fine-tuning (unless you really think you ought) to generate the world. On completion of Worldgen, choose to export the map/etc (before formerly accepting the WorldGen result, but of course do accept it) and run the Compress Bitmaps batch-file so that you can make at least the "regionX-<foo>-world_map.png" available to everyone who might be interested, if not all the text outputs as well.

Maybe also go into "Start Playing", select to start a Fortress (assuming you don't want an Adventurer succession game) and plug at least "Aquifer: No" into the Site Finder (if that's your preference), but ideally some other definite things (River: Yes/No; Savagery; Flux/Metal/Soil/Clay choices; whatever you think might work) and find a good (or partial match) and take note of its location (e.g. screenshot at the right time to get the "X" currently flashed-on on the World/Region-scale maps, so you can find the right Local map and manually position the area again) and any details you think relevant from the various tabbings (biome are (for each relevent F-key) and layer information, neighbours, and probably what the relative elevation and cliff indicator sub-screens show)... either with screenshots or by writing a brief description).

Don't (e)mbark! Do the above a few times (different Site-Finder settings, and/or trying to zero in on alternate "matched desirables" locations for the original Finder settings), and present maybe half a dozen choices (on a standard Large Region, all but the most picky of Desirables will generally find multiple possible embarks) to those of us who want to play. Make a copy of the save\regionX folder, at some point, so that you even make test-embarks (on the copy) if someone is curious about "...exactly how canyonesque is the canyon?", or similar. But personally I'd normally like to be surprised.

Then either we argue about what to do (and you get to Embark based on our arguments) or the nominated next person in the ring makes their decision upon the transferred file (I just tried a test, and 60Mb save-directory becomes 55Mb when zipped up, which even my bad connection to the outside world should be able to handle... it'll be smaller for non-Large Region saves and larger as the seasons go by and more changes are made to the saved world), based on/despite the open discussion. Either way, I suggest using the "Plan Carefully" approach, but it's up to the person who Embarks. Whichever, they'll play for a season (say), make some kind of report about progress and aspirations (e.g. "Left room for Trade Depot inside the walled enclosure, but that still needs to be built before the first traders arrive in Autumn, and the bridge access isn't completed yet so I haven't blocked the non-bridge route") and then make sure the save is made available to at least the next nominated person, but perhaps even everyone else (if they want a sneak-peak).

Also, I suggest everyone involved makes sure they have [AUTOSAVE:SEASONAL], [AUTOBACKUP:YES] and [AUTOSAVE_PAUSE] in the d_init.txt file, and you (or whoever starts the game) also activates the [INITIAL_SAVE:YES] option if necessary. Even if you don't usually do this (or generally make it save-scum compatible), it makes for a sharper cut-off.

(There may be things I've not thought about. All the above is from my own, solo, playing experience. Regular bay12 succession players may well have more comprehensive/compact guidelines based on hard-learnt experiences. Feel free to suggest corrections to the procedure.)