complete works of sluggo V

Article 41                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Re: if you like goob - I like you
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/05

In article <3vuuj5$mk@boulder.earthnet.net>, The_Other_Guy
 wrote:

>Just thought I'd like to say that I like goob.  He's neat.
>

I agree, goob is the goobiest.

slugmo


Article 42                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Re: IBL Rules (v. 1.5)
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/05

In article <3vuq14$7mv@hermes.cair.du.edu>, ruhl@phoebe.cair.du.edu
(Robert A. Uhl) wrote:

[blah blah blah]

huh?


Article 43                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Re: IBL Rules (v. 1.5)
From:         chdillon@seas.ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/07

In article <4048u9$36v@hermes.cair.du.edu>, ruhl@phoebe.cair.du.edu
(Robert A. Uhl) wrote:

> In article ,
> Charles H. Dillon  wrote:
> >In article <3vuq14$7mv@hermes.cair.du.edu>, ruhl@phoebe.cair.du.edu
> >(Robert A. Uhl) wrote:
> >
> >[blah blah blah]
> >
> >huh?
> 
[etc.]

huh?


Article 44                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Re: Showing Cursor Coordinates...
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/07

In article ,
koehler@macc.wisc.edu (Pooh) wrote:

>
>   BWWWAAAA HAAA HAAA!  I used to be a geek, so I'd get it... BUT not
>everyone who plays bolo is a geek!
>

Au contraire.  By the very definition of the word, anyone who plays Bolo
*IS* a geek.  It will be a lot less painful if you just admit it now and
get it over with.

sluggeek


Article 45                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Re: Robert A. Uhl
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/10

In article ,
(Jolo) wrote:

>I agree with Nappy -- this is not meant to start a war.  I used to be
>known as one of the most good-natured players alive.  I just hate to see
>people get into arguments for nothing... the confrontational attitude
>recently taken on r.g.b. and #bolo makes me very uncomfortable.
>

Oh yeah?!?!?!!!!


Article 46                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Re: bases, pills, maps...  and winning
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/11

In article <40g8no$443@hermes.cair.du.edu>, ruhl@phoebe.cair.du.edu
(Robert A. Uhl) wrote:

>
>  HB is so far better than most players that my strategy against him
>would be to slow the game 'til I can spot an advantage. I would mine
>his supply routes and defend my pills like there is no tommorrow.
>Sooner or later, he would make a very bad mistake due to fatigue or
>annoyance, and then I would begin to expand. Of course, I may be
>completely and utterly wrong.
>
>  You probably are better than I am. Most people are. But I can think
>strategy better than you.
>

My guess is that you would never have time to even take a pillbox or lay a
mine.  The 5 minute time estimate mentioned previously is about right, I
would say, on a 50x50 or so map like a Chew Toy, Oil Rig, or Slugfest.  On
a larger map you may last a bit longer, but not much.  As vert mentioned
in a previous post, the only way you can really hope to understand
strategy is to play against various opponents and learn to understand how
to adapt and react in real time.  Strategy and tactics in Bolo are very
much intertwined, as different strategies require emphasis on different
tactics.  Furthermore, this complex interaction is dynamic, and only
through experience can one fully understand how to adapt a strategy to a
certain set of circumstances.  Perhaps you should play a few games against
some of the quality players on the internet and gain a realistic assesment
of your own ability before trying to state with authority that you know
more than they do.

slugmo


Article 47                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Re: Is Bolo Really Dying?  Maybe...
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/12

In article , ping@eden.com
(Terry Youngkin) wrote:

>What is the difference between dropped mines and layed mines oh bolo gods?

Layed mines are much more relaxed and happy.

slugmo


Article 48                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Neat Tracker Suggestion
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/16

Hey, with all the new trackers, etc. being activated/formulated recently,
here is a neat suggestion that takes advantage of the latest greatest
super duper technology and is super-easy to implement.  Instead of sending
out game lists in the form :

Host: mac746.kip.apple.com  Players: 3  Bases: 0  Pills: 0
Map: Slugfest I  Game: Tourn.  Mines: Visible  Bots: No  PW: No
Version: 0.99.6  Tracked-For: 39 min.  Player-List:
   mac746.kip.apple.com .............
   malcolm2.hsc.usc.edu .............
   d10.leonardo.net .................

How about adding bolo:// to the beginning of the IP address, i.e.:

Host: mac746.kip.apple.com  Players: 3  Bases: 0  Pills: 0
Map: Slugfest I  Game: Tourn.  Mines: Visible  Bots: No  PW: No
Version: 0.99.6  Tracked-For: 39 min.  Player-List:
   bolo://mac746.kip.apple.com/ .... ...... 
   bolo://malcolm2.hsc.usc.edu/ ...........
   bolo://d10.leonardo.net/ ...............

This way, you can add Bolo as a helper application to Internet Config and,
with ICeTEe installed you can just command-click on the URL of the IP you
want to join, and Bolo will open up pointing to that address.  As this
only involves changing the display of the IPs, it shouldn't involve a lot
of work to implement, and it is just downright nifty.

slugmonkey


Article 49                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      NEW MAP:  Big Ass(tm) Chew Toy
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/17

Here is the latest in the Big Ass(tm) series of maps.  This map is
modelled after the popular "Chew Toy II" map, only much, much larger.

Happy "Big Ass(tm)" hunting,
sluggo

[ encoded binary deleted ]


Article 50                  [ top | bottom ]

Subject:      Re: Bolo Subcultures
From:         chdillon@ucla.edu (Charles H. Dillon)
Date:         1995/08/21

In article ,
grovesa@starbase1.caltech.edu (Andrew K. Groves) wrote:

>In article ,
>eapu294@taurus.oac.uci.edu (Louis Gascoigne) wrote:
>
>
>> True, but then again, I argue that Bolo is a game of reflex and
>> technique more than it is strategy.  The game only begins to become
>> strategic if you can take pills VERY expediently and know how to "cover
>> the map".  If you can keep from losing your stuff, then you actually
>> get to choose where and when to use it.
>> 
>
>Your first sentence summarises my point. I would say that new players are
>more likely to become quickly discouraged with the game if they play on
>small, fast maps. If they get to play on a larger map with a decent ally,
>they will have much more fun. Of course, if they want to move on to the
>Chew Toy-type maps, fine.
>
>For me, the fun part of learning Bolo was being able to make mistakes and
>try out stupid things knowing that it wouldn't greatly alter the balance
>of a game or piss off my allies. If you goof around on a tiny map, you're
>very likely to forfeit the game quickly, and with any luck, your ally will
>cuss you off the board. Not a pleasant learning experience.
>
>Bring back Reoccurring Duck Theme. Anyone remember that?
>

I agree with the good doctor.  To me, the games that are the most fun, and
the type which does not seem to exist anymore, are the tracker games where
people join at various times, grab a few bases and work on defending and
expanding their part of the map.  Of course, this type of game really can
only occur on a larger map with enough varied terrain to make this sort of
thing practical (Reocurring Duck Theme is an example thereof).  

The problem with the tiny tarmac map genre is that typically, the game
consists of little more than a base rush and a series of spikes.  These
maps typically have only a few bases which are realistically useful, so
that if one player happens to turn the wrong direction or be placed on a
bad start square in the early stages of the game, the contest is, for all
intents and purposes, over.  On tournament-size (Everard, DC, etc.) or
larger maps, there is enough room that one unlucky break or error in
judgement does not determine the outcome of the game.  If I beat someone
in 2 minutes on a chew toy map because I happened to turn the right way on
the base rush when they didn't, it really says nothing to me about my
ability or theirs, only that they either guessed wrong or were just
unlucky.  Also, that type of game isn't really much fun for either side,
unless you enjoy being a "dummy hero".

The statement that Bolo is a game of reflex and technique more than
strategy is really not true.  Even on the tiny tarmac maps, to be able to
win you must have an understanding of how your own and your opponents
resources are allocated and be able to judge what and where to attack and
when.  Reflex and technique are certainly essential to implementing a
winning strategy, but are only part of the total picture.

It seems that many of today's newbies, such as Mr. Gascoigne, have never
really played any real games on the mid to larger size maps.  I find this
most unfortunate, as games on these maps are, to me, much more interesting
and challenging, as there is room for much more variation in strategy, and
the depth and complexity of the game increases substantially.  Whereas a
game on a tiny tarmac map will consist of a single battle at most, I have
played games on maps such as Wash DC where there was at least one battle
at every group of bases on the map.  It is, IMHO, much more satisfying for
either side to play a game such as this than to play several single-battle
games on tiny tarmac maps.  And, as the good doctor pointed out, this
gives newbies a chance to play for a while, make mistakes, and eventually
learn from those mistakes rather than being discouraged by losing a game
where they never really had a chance to even play.

slugmosis