SteveThaiBinh

It's basically a rehashed version of FIFA Soccer '97.

It was a terrible game, truly awful in every way. There was far too much well-written dialogue, and the whole thing was infested with interesting characters and concepts. There weren't nearly enough dungeons filled with hundreds of identical monsters for you to kill easily by randomly clicking your mouse in their general direction.

Hope you're enjoying the new BBC radio adaptation. I am.

OK, a fairly uneventful ten turns: 1500BC: Finished researching agriculture, so I set it to Pottery next as suggested. The warrior SE of Moscow survived an encounter with a bear, and I gave him the woodsman upgrade. I'm going to send him to explore the east, as soon as he's done healing. 1400BC: Our worker has connected the cows to Moscow, so I've sent him to chop down some forest. This should finish just after the new worker is built, giving a boost to whatever follows him. 1350BC: Pottery is done, Priesthood is next. St. Petersburg's borders have expanded, and there's no sign of opponent cities nearby yet. 1325BC: Second worker is complete, and I've set him to build a cottage on the floodplain: 1300BC: Someone has founded Judaism . The worker has chopped his forest, giving a nice boost to the settler being produced in Moscow. The settler should be ready about the same time as the warrior in St. Petersburg, which will be handy. 1275BC: It was Isabella who founded Judaism (as she's just switched to Organised Religion). This is better than having a hostile neighbour, certainly. We have a worker who needs a task - I'd recommend helping to complete the cottage, then using both workers to connect and mine the copper by St. Petersburg as quickly as possible. It can't be long before barbarians start arriving, and we need some Axemen. :ph34r: Here's the file:

So soon after last time? OK, I'll go next.

I just finished Baldur's Gate 2 (great game ), and have gone back to the start of BG1 to play an evil character through both games. The sheer epic length of the games ahead gives me tingly feelings as I create my character.

I'd rate BG2 higher than BG, right up until the latter stages of Throne of Bhaal where there are too many stupid hard fights. The main city in BG2 (name escapes me) is head and shoulders above the design for Baldur's Gate City in the first game. Just my opinion, of course. Oh, and I tend to throw the packaging for games away the day I get them. It just takes up unnecessary shelf space.

You do know that Obsidian is a US company, right? The people who make the nice games, right?

Fearing the rise of China is as pointless as fearing globalisation. It is already happening, it just depends how we adjust to it. I'm not afraid of living in interesting times. I'm sorry about the Europeans who are rude to Americans for no good reason. When I lived in Spain there were a few people who objected to my being British, and it's never pleasant when it happens to you.

For irrigation, maybe?

Americans are not frowned upon here in Europe. It's the foreign policy of the current US government that most people don't like. I can understand why a patriotic American would resent even the suggestion that he should conceal his nationality when abroad. I can also understand why some Americans do pretend to be Canadian - sometimes you just want to enjoy your holiday and not have to spend every conversation defending or explaining US foreign policy, even to the most polite and constructive critics. An American friend of mine who opposed the war in Iraq still gets rather annoyed when she has to profess that opposition as a precondition to being treated in a civil fashion. She has feigned Canadianness from time to time.

Hey! Anomen heard that! And he'd be right over to sort you out... ...if he wasn't dead yet again.

"Is this site real?" Sure, why not? It's the kind of straight-talking, tough-talking foreign policy agenda that goes down well with any domestic audience. It probably helped Bush get elected, to the extent that he was, the first time round.

I think all the criticism so far in this thread has been wholly constructive and good-natured, and we do need to keep that up. I read the advice with interest but didn't feel obliged to take it, and I give advice for the next guy in the same spirit.

I considered Bronze Working, Animal Husbandry, Agriculture and the Wheel for research, and there were good arguments for them all. I'd also go for Animal Husbandry next so that horses appear on the map before the first settler is built.

I did. Oh, wait, do you mean right to the end? OK, no then. I played Shadows of Whatever and Hordes of the Underdark through as a set about three times. I made a really stupid Paladin once because I forgot to put any points into Discipline and he kept getting his sword knocked out of his hand, but a levelup sorted it out.

Don't blame us. We were happily discussing a real site when it disappeared. Atari and/or Obsidian created the vacuum into which the spam is pouring. As soon as they've thought up a good excuse for why it went down in the first place.

First of all, don't worry about the units all looking like they've survived a major battle - I've got the graphics settings on low, so I only see one warrior rather than the usual three. I tried to shrink the screenshots with Paint but my skills obviously weren't up to the task. In my first turn I found the Egyptians off to the west, so there could be some competition for those nice ivory resources at the green spot. Second turn, we founded Hinduism (Yay! ), and with none of our immediate neighbours having founded Buddhism, we may not have too many early unnecessary wars. I've converted, so we lose one turn to anarchy. I'm researching the wheel next, so we can get those gems connected soon and a road out to the ivory in the east. I've also set the warrior to return to guard Moscow - I'm not so keen on having an unprotected city: Fifth turn, I encountered a Malinese unit to the west: Eighth turn, I've met Mao - I thought the pink was the Roman Empire, but it turns out to be the Chinese (this is a very busy map ), and a unit from Isabella who, surprise surprise, has discovered Buddhism. The screenshot shows the positions of the Chinese, Egyptians and us, and the red dot is the Spanish unit whose empire is hopefully far to the west. For my last turn, the worker is complete and it's up to the next guy to use it. I'd go mine the gems, myself. I've set Moscow to build a settler next, but as it's the first turn of building that's easy to change. I have a scout exploring the map SW of Moscow to see if there are any claim-worthy resources, but nothing so far. Here's the save game - good luck!

I'd like to take the next turn - my own computer is in storage and this one is very close to minimum specs, but I've just checked it and it seems to work OK.

That's certainly the excuse we use. *Watches our lone silver medal swaying forelornly in the breeze* It's probably as much to do with funding decisions, though. The UK made a sudden jump from US-style self-funding of athletes to significant use of 'public' funds (from the lottery), and the result was a huge improvement in performance at the 2000 Olympics. Summer sports get more money than winter sports, hence the difference in results. I don't suppose it costs much more to pay a Brit to live in Austria and go skiing every day than it costs to pay him to live in England and go running every day.

Can anyone say "Neverwinter Nights Two" faster than Feargus?

Say what you like about the music, it is fantastic television.

Vaguely in order, but subject to change according to author's mood: 1. The Muppet Show 2. Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister 3. Doctor Who 4. Not the Nine O'Clock News 5. Sapphire and Steel 6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 7. E Street 8. Father Ted 9. House of Cards (and sequels) 10. The Eurovision Song Contest

Well, they're in California. I think it's still early.

I think it makes the sport much less attractive for the spectator if the skaters are falling too much, and that's never good for the long-term health of a sport. If I wanted spectacular crashes I would watch superbikes or something like that. I also thought they were falling more than used to be the case in the Olympics, but as I only watch skating at the Olympics I don't know if the same is true at national or regional championships. You would expect it to be if it's the scoring system that's to blame.