Author Topic: Keep Calm and Play Carcassonne (Read 5360 times)

danisthirty · « **on:** March 23, 2020, 04:24:27 AM »

Hello all.

In light of the fact that many of us are socially distancing ourselves at the moment, and consequently cutting back on the kind of social interactions that we normal get through boardgaming, I wanted to float the idea of bringing back our Weekly Online Game (see here for more detail about of what I'm talking about).

The games would be played using JCloisterZone (download from here) which is free and offers a wide variety of expansions. I think it would also be useful to have a live chat/ conference ongoing elsewhere that people can drop in/ out of as they like. There are lots of possibilities here, but I'll share details once a solution has been decided.

The purpose of these games would be threefold:

For a bit of friendly company and light-hearted banter (without leaving the house)
To have some fun in the process
To play some Carcassonne!

I'm looking to schedule a once or twice a week online Carcassonne evening for anyone who wants to participate, or more regularly if necessary. You don't need to be an expert player as these games are all about providing some fun and company for anyone who feels like they could use some... which has got to be pretty much everyone given the current global situation!

I'm hoping this will get a good response, so please post here a) if you're interested and b) what days/ times suit you best for a game. As I say, we don't have to limit ourselves to one slot per week, but lets take a consensus to establish when would be most possible/ useful for most people.

Looking forward to catching up with you!

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=4562.0

jungleboy · « **Reply #1 on:** March 23, 2020, 04:32:51 AM »

Merit for you and I'm definitely in! I'm on Portugal/UK time (CET -1) and I'm available pretty much any evening these days!

danisthirty · « **Reply #2 on:** March 23, 2020, 04:58:46 AM »

Quote from: jungleboy on March 23, 2020, 04:32:51 AM

Merit for you and I'm definitely in! I'm on Portugal/UK time (CET -1) and I'm available pretty much any evening these days!

Thanks JB. I'm hoping others will join us too!

TheSteveAllen · « **Reply #3 on:** March 23, 2020, 06:32:10 AM »

Sounds like an excellent idea. When I get a chance from Dragon Dice refereeing duties, I will be joining in.

jungleboy · « **Reply #4 on:** March 24, 2020, 04:34:42 AM »

Should we try to organise a game for this Wednesday evening European time?

danisthirty · « **Reply #5 on:** March 24, 2020, 04:40:07 AM »

Quote from: jungleboy on March 24, 2020, 04:34:42 AM

Should we try to organise a game for this Wednesday evening European time?

Wednesday works for me. 8:30pm UK time?

jungleboy · « **Reply #6 on:** March 24, 2020, 06:59:39 AM »

Quote from: danisthirty on March 24, 2020, 04:40:07 AM

Wednesday works for me. 8:30pm UK time?

Done! Who else is keen? Anyone from the old weekly games? Rosco? MrNumbers? B1nder?

totor66 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 24, 2020, 11:43:08 AM »

from experience be careful, on evening it is extremely overloaded and most of the games crash.

I speak from experience

danisthirty · « **Reply #8 on:** March 25, 2020, 03:33:25 AM »

Quote from: totor66 on March 24, 2020, 11:43:08 AM

from experience be careful, on evening it is extremely overloaded and most of the games crash.

I speak from experience

Thanks for the advice.

Does your experience of this extend to when one of the players is hosting the game rather than using the online server?

totor66 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 25, 2020, 04:54:49 AM »

We use online server, but I wanted to try to understand how to setup "hosting the game", it seems much much more stable

Does a "how to" exist ?

danisthirty · « **Reply #10 on:** March 25, 2020, 05:30:48 AM »

Quote from: totor66 on March 25, 2020, 04:54:49 AM

We use online server, but I wanted to try to understand how to setup "hosting the game", it seems much much more stable

Does a "how to" exist ?

Yes it does. I wrote a FAQ for JCloisterZone some years ago. That can be found here but is also linked to from the JCZ web page.

If you're unfamiliar with networking then it may be a bit of a struggle configuring your router to allow any particular laptop/ PC to accept incoming connections. However, it's all documented now as I had to work it out to allow us to play our first CarcC basegame league using JCZ in 2014.

jungleboy · « **Reply #11 on:** March 26, 2020, 01:26:53 AM »

Great game with danisthirty and Decar last night with I&C, T&B and the phantom.

Final scores:

187

153

150

During the first half of the game, we gradually accumulated points with Dan and Decar in the lead after sharing a decent city while everyone got a feel for the game. There were a few big early moves:
- Dan trapped my big meeple and builder in a city, but I luckily drew the one CFRF tile to complete the city about halfway through the game.
- I trapped Decar's builder in another city which he couldn't recover.
- Dan played his big meeple on a farm pretty early on, with 77 tiles still remaining. I eventually did the same.

By about the halfway stage, the main narrative of the game was set, with Decar consistently in the lead by 15-20 points but Dan and I battling for the biggest farm, setting the stage for a close finish. I managed to tie the main farm with fewer than 10 tiles left (bottom left corner of the board) and that pretty much clinched the game for me as I already had a small lead over Dan and also had two eight-point cloisters on the board and outright ownership of two of the trade goods, all of which allowed me to overtake Decar too. I was a bit surprised at the final score because it felt like a much closer game throughout.

Thanks for the game, let's do it again soon!

Decar · « **Reply #12 on:** March 26, 2020, 02:17:21 AM »

Thanks for the game last night Dan and JB!

It's been far too long, and it was great sitting in my new cave. Made some silly moves, but probably not enough to recover 38 points!

I have to say, based on this experience the online server was up to the task. I'll see if I can set my router up this morning to forward ports, just in case.

Great having a pre-match call before the game with Squiffy and Dan too.

danisthirty · « **Reply #13 on:** March 26, 2020, 02:48:30 AM »

Thanks for that great report JB, and congrats on your impressive victory. I'm surprised you didn't mention your staggering run of useless tiles throughout much of the middle of the game? I was especially annoyed as I needed any ffxx tile to connect my double farmer and was worried he might never get joined to the main farm, whereas you seemed to be drawing ffrr after ffrr without any real purpose for any of them! Conversely, I seemed to be relatively fortunate with my tiles but it still wasn't enough to beat either of you. Well done, and thanks for the game!

Quote from: Decar on March 26, 2020, 02:17:21 AM

I have to say, based on this experience the online server was up to the task. I'll see if I can set my router up this morning to forward ports, just in case.

Other than the little NPE rave, everything seemed fine. While there appear to be a lot of people connected to the online server, few of them were actually playing so I guess this wasn't generating too much load.

Quote from: Decar on March 26, 2020, 02:17:21 AM