-Longturn is not so much a different variety of Civilization game as much as it is a different playstyle. Basically, the only official difference between Longturn and any other game of Civilization is that one game turn lasts one day. So, not 30 seconds or 2 minutes or "whatever the players agree" but an exact amount of time that remains constant throughout the game. This means that the server is running constantly and all players connect to it during the day - when they get the time - make their moves and adjustments, and then log off to continue with their lives. +Longturn is not so much a different variety of Civilization game as much as it is a different play-style. +Basically, the only official difference between Longturn and any other game of Civilization is that +one game turn lasts one day. So, not 30 seconds or 2 minutes or "whatever the players agree", +but an exact amount of time that remains constant throughout the game. This means that the server is running +constantly and all players connect to it during the day -- when they get the time -- make their moves and +adjustments, and then log off to continue with their lives.
This, however, has drastic consequences for the flow of the game and the overall gaming experience.
- Firstly, when you wish to play a standard game of Civ with other people, one of the main obstacles is getting everybody together at the same time. If you are playing it on the internet, most of the time there will be someone ready to play, but not too many people at once. Longturn games, on the other hand, have been known to gather many tens of players. Needless to say, a game with so many players offers unlimited possibilities when it comes to diplomacy, war, peace, alliances, cooperation and hostile behaviour. +First, when you wish to play a standard game of Civilization with other people, one of the main +obstacles is getting everybody together at the same time. If you are playing it on the Internet, most of the +time there will be someone ready to play, but not too many people at once. Longturn games, on the other hand, +have been known to gather many tens of players. Needless to say, a game with so many players offers unlimited +possibilities when it comes to diplomacy, war, peace, alliances, cooperation, and hostile behaviour.
-This also makes a Longturn game a major social event and the closest a Civilization game can get to Massive Mutiplayer ;) +This also makes a Longturn game a major social event and the closest a Civilization game can get to Massive +Multiplayer.
-Secondly, another obstacle is finding the time to play. Even the shortest game of Civ requires a time investment and nobody can do it in breaks between other things. If you don't have at least half an hour of 100% concentrated attention at your disposal, it doesn't make sense even to start. Longturn, on the other hand, can be played relatively casually and, if you can't spare a large block of time, it can be played in small chunks throughout the day. So, basically, if you are a working adult with a number of responsibilities, but you would still like to play a world leader in your favourite game, and do it with or against other people, this is the variant you want to play. +Second, another obstacle is finding the time to play. Even the shortest game of Civilization requires a time +investment and nobody can do it in breaks between other things. If you do not have at least half an hour of +100% concentrated attention at your disposal, it does not make sense even to start. Longturn, on the other +hand, can be played relatively casually and, if you cannot spare a large block of time, it can be played in +small chunks throughout the day. So, basically, if you are a working adult with a number of responsibilities, +but you would still like to play a world leader in your favourite game, and do it with or against other +people, this is the variant you want to play.
-Thirdly, unlike the short and fast games usually played on Freeciv servers around the net, you have a lot of time at your disposal to think through your every move, investigate every line of research and analyse everything you weren't able to analyse if you were playing a fast game. +Third, unlike the short and fast games usually played on Civilization servers around the Internet, you have a +lot of time at your disposal to think through your every move, investigate every line of research and analyse +everything you were not able to analyse if you were playing a fast game.
-Fourthly, and for me this is the most important aspect of Longturn, diplomacy is a blast. You can make alliances, negotiate detailed deals, squabble about individual tiles, twist arms, weasel out of agreements in a way you were never able to if you were playing fast multiplayer or just ordinary single-player games. And you have all the time in the world to negotiate, persuade and find the right words to do so. +Fourth, and for us this is the most important aspect of Longturn -- diplomacy is a blast. You can make +alliances, negotiate detailed deals, squabble about individual tiles, twist arms, weasel out of agreements in +a way you were never able to if you were playing fast multiplayer or just ordinary single-player games. And +you have all the time in the world to negotiate, persuade, and find the right words to do so.
-Longturn.net games are starting a few times per year in roughly regular intervals, although there is no rule. They are announced well ahead and registrations are usually open roughly a month ahead. To play a Longturn.net game you need to do three things: -
1. Install Freeciv21. This can be found on GitHub. Games are run on the latest stable release, however you can also play with the latest unstable release. -
2. Register at Longturn.net (this site). -
3. Sign up for the game when registrations are open AND confirm participation a few days before it actually starts. You need to do BOTH otherwise you will not be able to play the game. This is a measure to reduce the amount of idler as much as possible. +Longturn.net games are starting a few times per year in roughly regular intervals, although there is no rule. +They are announced well ahead and registrations are usually open roughly a month ahead. To play a Longturn.net +game you need to do four things: +
1. Install Freeciv21. This can be found on GitHub. +Game servers are often a recent master branch commit or tagged release. Players can play stable, or +newer unstable releases. You can also find Freeciv21 on Flathub and Snap. Flathub is stable only. +
2. Register at Longturn.net (this site). +
3. Sign up for the game when registrations are open AND confirm participation a few days before it +actually starts. You need to do BOTH otherwise you will not be able to play the game. This is a measure +to reduce the amount of idlers as much as possible. It is highly recommended to join our Discord +server (see link on the left) to stay up to date with games and join our fun community. +
4. Not 100% required, but highly recommended. Join us on Discord. +This is a fun community and the best way to keep up with how game planning is going. +
-The first game, now called LT0 was started around 2004 on the Polish -Civilization fanpage civ.org.pl. You can read about the first -game here: http://www.civ.org.pl/freeciv/Slow/slow-eng.php. -It was decided that the game is a bit too slow paced, so a new 3X -movement ruleset was devised - basically, all units had their movement -points and vision radius tripled. -
--The first game administrators were LoD (LT0), Gislan (LT1, LT2) and Lo'oris (LT3). -Ever since LT4 Longturn was cared for by maho, and the -games were hosted on his server, pagema.net. At the beginning -of 2011 maho resigned from his post, and akfaew took over. -
- --There are three main types of gameplay: -
--Experimental games are designed to test new features and new Freeciv -versions. After a new version of Freeciv is released, an experimental -game is started. Regular games will be based on the rulesets of an -experimental game. New players can be spawned into an experimental game -at any time. Their starting technology and units are based on the -average of existing players. Because of this, there are no winners or -losers. Longturn has some custom patches for the server. Before a patch -can be accepted, it has to be tested in an experimental game. -
- --In a team game, you and your team mates fight against other teams. -Diplomacy between teams is disabled. Team science is shared. Only one -team can be victorious. -
- -+In 2018 wieder_fi became the main game and server admin taking over duties from akfaew. Louis94 joined as +game and server admin in 2019. In the same year we added Corbeau and Panch93, who helped expand our social +media presence. +
+Most recently, in 2020, we forked Freeciv 3.0 and created Freeciv21. We released our first +stable 3.0 in April of 2023. During this +period we picked up some developers: jwrober, TriClad, daavko, and soundnfury. As of summer 2024, jwrober and +TriClad became game and Discord admins. Not bad after 20 years! +
+For more history of game admins, you can refer to the games page. +
+
+Longturn games are broken down into two categories: rules and gameplay. The game rules are based on what we +call a "ruleset". We have a few standard rulesets and then some games will be a completely different set of +rules. The standard rules are LTT, and LTX (described below). Alternate rulesets are: Avi(ation), Sim(ulation), +and scenarios. Scenarios are a combination of a ruleset, a custom map, and gameplay rules. +
+Gameplay is the "style" of game. We have Teamless (also known as Free For All), Team, League, and Scenario +games. +
+
+Longturn Traditional (LTT) games are designed to play with rules that are very stable, well tested, and +understood. The rules are very stable, have been tested extensively across many games, and provide a level of +rule stability many players enjoy. +
+
+Longturn Experimental (LTX) games are designed to test new features and new Freeciv21 versions. After a new +version of Freeciv21 is released, an experimental game is sometimes started. +
+
+In a team game, you and your team mates fight against one or more teams. Diplomacy between teams is disabled +in the game server, but many teams will create a Discord server specifically for the game to have very open +communication between team players. Only one team can be victorious. The parameters of the rules can be +customized based on the team captains on what kind of game they want to play. +
+
+In teamless (Free For All) games the key to victory is diplomacy. In order not to be left behind with +technology, players need to quickly form alliances. Its very rare a single player can win all alone, the cost +of war alone is a big deal. Alliances can be formal in game, or agreements in other communication channels, +such as private Discord DMs. +
+
+The League is a type of gameplay that allows players of similar skill levels to play together. League "O" is +for brand new players. League "A" is for players with some skill, maybe played a few games. League "B" is for +winners of League "A" games. Lastly, there is a League "C" for winners of League "B" games. For more +information see The League +
+
-In teamless (Free For All) games the key to victory is diplomacy. In -order not to be left behind with technology, players need to quickly -form alliances. -
+Scenarios are special games that incorporate a custom map, rules, and team alignment. For example, see +Russian Civil War +Scenario game we played recently. -{% endblock %} \ No newline at end of file +{% endblock %}