Carcassonne Central

Carc Central Community => Online Games and Competitions => World Cup of Carcassonne Central => Topic started by: danisthirty on July 28, 2014, 05:41:10 AM

Title: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: danisthirty on July 28, 2014, 05:41:10 AM
World Cup of Carcassonne Central - FAQ


How will the World Cup be organised?
This World Cup-style competition will be split into two distinct stages. The first stage will be the "group stage", the second stage will be the "knock-out stage". Only eight players will advance from the group stage to the knock-out stage.

In the group stage, all players will be organised into one of four groups. Within each group, each player will play a single game against every other player in the same group and will have a score calculated based on the number of wins, draws or losses they achieve. In calculating this score, a win will be worth 3 points, a draw will be worth 1 point and a loss will be worth 0 points.

At the end of the group stage, the top 2 players from each group will go through to the knock-out stage based on their score. If a clear top 2 cannot be identified based on score alone, total points differential (total number of points scored minus total number of points scored against) will be used as a tie-breaker. If the tied players remain tied even on total points differential, total number of points scored will be used as a second tie-breaker. An example group is shown below:

(http://www.dan.tehill.net/WC_GroupStage_Example.jpg)


In the knock-out stage, the eight remaining players will be drawn against each other according to the diagram below, and four quarter-final matches will be held. The four winners will take part in two semi-finals and the winners of these games will play each other in the final.

(http://www.dan.tehill.net/WC_Knockout_Structure.jpg)


What happens if a game ends in a draw?
In the group stage, a draw isn't a problem and will be recorded as such. In the knock-out stage however, draws present more of a problem as a clear winner needs to be determined to go forward and play in the next round. So in the event of a draw at this stage of the competition, a rematch will be required since we can't go to extra time or have a penalty shootout! In the extremely unlikely event that the rematch also ends in a draw, the winner will be determined based on the tie-breakers outlined in the third paragraph of the "How will the World Cup be organised?" section.


Who starts each game?
At the group stage, the starting player of every game will be decided upon randomly by selecting the "Randomize seating order" option on the pre-game setup screen. At the knock-out stage however, the player with the highest total points differential will start (followed by second tie-breaker if necessary). The exception to this is where a game has ended in a draw at the knock-out stage. In this case, the player who didn't start the tied game should start the rematch.


What expansions will be used, and when?
(see table below)

(http://www.dan.tehill.net/WC_Expansions.jpg)


How will the games actually be played?
At the group stage, each group will have an administrator who will help to liaise between you and your opponents to arrange suitable times for you to play each other. The majority of these arrangements will be made by email so please be prepared to pass on an email address which is current and checked regularly, as the competition will be significantly delayed if games aren't arranged promptly. Please also be aware that you will more than likely be playing against other players in different countries which won't be in the same time zone as you. Even if it isn't ideal, please be prepared to take part in early/ late games if a more suitable time is otherwise impossible to arrange.

At the knock-out stage, a similar administrator will be available for you to liaise with and arrange matches through.

Games will be played online using an excellent Java-based implementation of Carcassonne called JCloisterZone (this is freely available from http://jcloisterzone.com/en/). The current version of JCloisterZone is 2.7 so please ensure you have downloaded this version and have checked that it works on your PC well in advance of your first game. I recommend playing a dozen or so games against the AI opponent too as this will really help you get to grips with how the game plays.

At risk of sounding overly technical, each game requires a host machine owned by a player who may or may not be taking part in the game itself. If neither you nor your opponent can host, the group administrator will determine an available host for your next game and you will be supplied with an IP address and port number which you will need to use to connect to the game. This process is generally very simple, and is covered in further detail in the JCloisterZone FAQ (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=778).

In the event of any potential technical issues it may be worth considering an instant messaging program such as Skype so that you're able to communicate any problems to your administrator/ opponent as soon as possible. If you fail to connect to your game within 15 minutes of the mutually agreed start time and can't be contacted by email or instant message, the game will be a "technical win" (50 – 0) for your opponent. Please don't let this happen as it will seriously hinder your chances of reaching the knock-out stage or even knock you out of the competition altogether if it happens at the knock-out stage!


Prizes?
Everyone who takes part will receive a specially-designed Carcassonne Central World Cup souvenir tile. Everyone who reaches the knock-out stage will receive an additional prize (yet to be decided) and the overall winner will receive a copy of the original and hard to get "Cathars" expansion for Carcassonne.


Should I write a match report afterwards?
Many people enjoy reading about games of Carcassonne even if they haven't taken part in them. If you feel inclined to write a post-match report then please feel very free to; it should be posted in the "CarcCentral Carcassonne League" forum. Such reports often include screenshots of the end-scores breakdown as well as the final landscape that emerges from your game, but ultimately it's up to you what you include. If it helps though, you may like to use a simple screen recording program such as "Screen Recorder" by Sketchman Studio (www.sketchman-studio.com) to make a video of your game. Being able to watch the game being replayed is often very helpful when you're trying to remember what happened!


Final notes?
At the end of the day, this World Cup is a competition and you should be keen to do whatever it takes (within the rules) to win. Whilst it isn't nice to have features stolen or meeples trapped, we're all adults and this is just a game so give as good as you get and try not to take it too personally if and when things go wrong!

Good luck, have fun and don't forget to let me know how you felt it went afterwards!



Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Paul on July 28, 2014, 05:53:28 AM
Just finished reading this. Can't wait to start.  :(y)
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: danisthirty on July 28, 2014, 06:05:07 AM
Neither can I! Not long to go now...

Have you downloaded JCloisterZone and played it much yet Yellow?
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Carcking on July 28, 2014, 07:01:06 AM
How about this for a name: "The World Cup of Carcassonne Central"?
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: mas9dj on July 28, 2014, 07:03:47 AM
I can't wait for the world cup ^^ Will we represent each one country or just ourselves? Also, so awesome you're even giving prices away to the winners, thanks for your kindness Danisthirty!
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Paul on July 28, 2014, 09:02:12 AM
Neither can I! Not long to go now...

Have you downloaded JCloisterZone and played it much yet Yellow?

A few games. Nothing fancy to learn. :)
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: danisthirty on July 28, 2014, 09:22:49 AM
I can't wait for the world cup ^^ Will we represent each one country or just ourselves? Also, so awesome you're even giving prices away to the winners, thanks for your kindness Danisthirty!

I'm anticipating there being at least two or three countries which could be represented by more than one player so to avoid arguments I'm going to say that anybody can represent any country unless it's already been taken by someone else! :) This may defeat the purpose of having a flag at all, so I'll also point out that the flags aren't compulsory and you can invent your own countries/ flags or simply ignore them and represent yourself!
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Rosco on July 28, 2014, 11:26:36 AM
Exciting stuff - i have a few scores to settle after the league so watch out!!!
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Paul on July 28, 2014, 02:34:05 PM
I can't wait for the world cup ^^ Will we represent each one country or just ourselves? Also, so awesome you're even giving prices away to the winners, thanks for your kindness Danisthirty!

I'm anticipating there being at least two or three countries which could be represented by more than one player so to avoid arguments I'm going to say that anybody can represent any country unless it's already been taken by someone else! :) This may defeat the purpose of having a flag at all, so I'll also point out that the flags aren't compulsory and you can invent your own countries/ flags or simply ignore them and represent yourself!

How about states?
  Each state or grand city has it's own flag as well.

In my case, it's the city, state, region and country, so I have four flags to choose from.  ;D
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: mas9dj on August 04, 2014, 04:15:17 AM
What happens if during the course of a game someone disconnects? Is there any oficial way to proceed in that case?
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: danisthirty on August 04, 2014, 04:19:52 AM
When we ran the league this wasn't a common problem but it did happen occasionally. On those occasions we just started the match again. The nature of playing online requires a certain amount of mutual trust and respect between players, and that includes trusting your opponent not to disconnect and pretend it just crashed if they're losing.

Hopefully it won't happen again but please let me know if it does. Be sure to take screenshots too!
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Paul on August 04, 2014, 04:51:01 AM
Here is a link to an online irc chat on my server that is up 24/7. Anyone can log in typing in a nickname.
  It's purpose is mostly for the disconnections or trouble connecting with JCZ.

http://sydby.com/carcassonne/irc/index.html (http://sydby.com/carcassonne/irc/index.html)

UPDATE: There's apparently a voice chat option in the irc league chat. If two people would like to test this see how it goes (or with me). Just left-click on a name and you will see Voice Chat amongst a few other options.

 :meeple:
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: SRBO on August 04, 2014, 02:16:21 PM
how to join?:)


Edit: Seems i missed the deathline and missed the topics too haha, nvm already got the answer
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: farin on August 05, 2014, 01:45:10 PM
about disconnect problem, that mind me the autosave option to save game every turn can be handy -> adding to feature list
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: danisthirty on August 06, 2014, 05:58:09 AM
An autosave option would be very handy in the event of crashed games. We may need to seek your advice on how to reload online saved games though, as previous attempts to do this have not been very successful.
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Paul on August 19, 2014, 08:24:04 AM
Thought I mention that the irc league chat also has a voice chat option, for anyone who wants to try it.

http://sydby.com/carcassonne/cc-league.htm (http://sydby.com/carcassonne/cc-league.htm)

Click on a person's nickname a popup menu appears you can choose Voice Chat.
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Jéré on August 21, 2014, 02:40:58 AM
Suggestion for next tournament:  Instead of automatically accord a prize to everybody who takes part, use this this prize as an incentive for participants to play all their games within a specified time frame: 3 weeks sound very reasonable, in my opinion.
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: danisthirty on August 21, 2014, 02:47:24 AM
@Jere - I completely agree with you; 3 weeks should be more than enough time for most people to play 4 games. We're definitely losing momentum now because of the lack of action in Group A.  :-\
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Andrew the Ambo on August 21, 2014, 02:58:43 AM
Bear in mind that 3 of us have played all the games we can between us.
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: danisthirty on August 21, 2014, 03:07:11 AM
Absolutely Andrew, that was never in question. I'm really grateful that you've been able to make things work with rfielder and monwil given the awkward time zones...  :(y)
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Paul on May 13, 2015, 01:51:50 AM
I made a simple iframe page hosted on my server to have both irc chat and CarcC on one page. Rekommended 1920x1080 resolution. Feel free to use this if if's more comfortable for you.

http://sydby.com/carcassonne/irc/forumchat.html (http://sydby.com/carcassonne/irc/forumchat.html)
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: danisthirty on May 13, 2015, 04:01:15 AM
I made a simple iframe page hosted on my server to have both irc chat and CarcC on one page. Rekommended 1920x1080 resolution. Feel free to use this if if's more comfortable for you.

http://sydby.com/carcassonne/irc/forumchat.html (http://sydby.com/carcassonne/irc/forumchat.html)

 :(y)
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: jungleboy on October 13, 2016, 02:01:29 PM
jma03 and I are playing our WC game on the online server and the game has hung. Jma03 is trying to play his builder but he can't. I have saved the game. How can we recover it and keep playing?
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: jungleboy on October 13, 2016, 02:03:08 PM
jma03 and I are playing our WC game on the online server and the game has hung. Jma03 is trying to play his builder but he can't. I have saved the game. How can we recover it and keep playing?

Now it seems to have solved the problem itself and is working for now.
Title: Re: Carcassonne World Cup FAQ
Post by: Halfling on November 04, 2016, 12:20:12 AM
Is it time to set a date to have the knockout round completed by?