Starting New MP Game-Tips Appreciated

[Codias]

I'm looking to get an eight player LAN-party style game going with some friends. I'm not going to have much time before next week to do a lot of dabbling myself to see what setup would work best. Here are some details and questions.

I think we want to start on the 1066 scenario as Dukes that are somewhat close to each other. Are there any Kings that have eight Duchies under them, or at least could with little modification? I think it'd be fun to have an eight player "try to become king" game. If this is possible in a later scenario but not this one that's fine too.

What stability issues are this game facing in multiplayer so far, if any? Network lag shouldn't be an issue since we'll be on our 100mbps network.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Cody.

 

[unmerged(21937)]

Germany or Byzantium. Byzantium has the added benefit of having strong techs at start (making warring more feasible) and it has Elective Law so, the strongest guy will be king.

A list of eight nice duchies in Germany:
Lower Lorraine, Milan, Verona, Swabia, Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria and Upper Lorraine

A list of eight nice duchies in Byzantium:
Kappadokia, Peloponnesos, Hellas, Dorostrum, Trapezous, Varna, Aegean Islands and Armenia Minor

The latter list intentionally leaves out Serbia, which is the primary successor at start of 1066.

 

[Swuul]

What stability issues are this game facing in multiplayer so far, if any? Network lag shouldn't be an issue since we'll be on our 100mbps network.

Network lag won't be a problem in your setup, but the capability of the computers will. Slower machines act "jerky" even in SP on faster speeds, add to that the information coming from the other computers too The best computer should be the host (best = good processor, lots of memory). All computers should also have all background processes turned off (like antivirus, autoupdaters etc). Unless all computers are *really* top-notch I don't suggest you try speeds faster than Above Normal. Above Normal is btw basically also the fastest speed you can play without pausing (lots of pauses from lots of players = MP game moves *very* slow if pausing is allowed...); during intensive wars the host should drop the speed to Normal or Below
Normal to let humans handle everything.

Hope you have fun

 

[Swuul]

As for a fun scenario with lots of action I suggest the "Kingdom of Jerusalem kamikaze" or shortly "KoJk" All players should be dukes (or Kings) around Eastern Mediterranean, allow heavy plotting and warfare between humans and see if you can be at the same time able to throw back the moslem hordes