The painful backstab! |
This is designed to get you started quickly on The Judge, an automated Diplomacy adjudicator.
If you are unfamiliar with Diplomacy, you may want to check out the Diplomacy Home Page (part of the Diplomatic Pouch Webzine.
If you prefer German, there is a very nice
(but graphically-intensive) guide in German at
http://www.stud.uni-bayreuth.de/~a0011/dip/.
And now there is a German language judge to go with it.
And there is now a French language judge. Get all the info at: http://www.infini.fr/~abrinq/diplomacy/
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The painful backstab! |
In the body of your message, type the words get package. You'll get a series of files which you should print and read later.
(By the way, if these
are unresponsive [they may be "
down"]) try another:
For the most up-to-date list of active Judges, check out the Diplomatic Pouch's Openings List:
http://www.igo.org/DipPouch/openings/openings.html
Each Judge is effectively an island unto itself. While they are also basically the same, each is running a slightly different version of the judge software so there is a little variation among them (some of the later version support more variants and have a few bugs ironed out), but basically they are just different places to play the same game. Since Diplomacy players are a fairly addictive type, many people play games on several judges just in case one needs to go down for an extended period of time. By playing on multiple judges, you can hedge your risk of losing a lot of games with one freak electrical storm. Plus, by not being limited to one or two judges, you get more options when you're looking for a new game by searching the entire list of open games (I will explain this below, in Step 3: Getting a List of Openings).
If you want to play games on multiple judges you will have to register with each one. The Judges do not share registration information. This includes dedication rating (I will briefly explain dedication below, in Step 11: Understanding Promptness) which attempts to measure how consistently prompt you are on all games on an individual judge.
Many people find it convenient to register with all the judges at once by sending out a blanket email (the registration form is identical). So, if you wish to do this, simply included more than one address in the TO: field when you register in the step we're about to undertake. If you are unsure if you want to register with many judges, just pick one for now, and you can always register at the others later.
However, the Diplomatic Pouch website has added a feature to allow players with web access to register for any and all judges desired in one convenient step. You can check this out at http://www.igo.org/DipPouch/Email/registration.html. Be sure to come back here when you're done though, because there is more to learn!
Copy the registration form below (either cut and paste it
or retype it). Change
the data from my info to yours.
Please change the information. It sucks when people register as
Charles the Fifth The Judge Keepers are getting tired of people
sending this form
in as is without modifying it to represent their own info.
We don't need any more Charles V. Habsburgs playing Diplomacy!
Please change the information.
Send it to the judge you chose in step 1, or to as many as you wish if you are registering at more than one judge.
REGISTER Name: Charles V. Habsburg (CHANGE THIS OR FACE CONSEQUENCES) Phone: (510) 555-1212 (CHANGE THIS) Site: Holy Roman Empire and a bunch more, etc. (CHANGE THIS, etc.) Address: Monastery of San Geronimo de Yuste, Estremadura Country: Spain Email: charles.v.habsburg@holy.roman.empire Level: Novice, Intermediate or Expert (PICK ONLY ONE!!!) Birthdate: February 24, 1500 Sex: Male END
Note: Your level should reflect your diplomacy skills, not your judge skills. Don't submit this without picking one and only one level. We are sick of seeing people who claim to be Charles the Fifth and "Novice, Intermediate or Expert." Your registration will eventually be deleted (and you may have problems) unless you submit accurate info.
The list used to be also available by email, but there were some technical problem which currently prevent this.
If for some reason, the www.igo.org system is down, each individual judge can always give you a list of all its public games (with or without openings). Send an email to the judge, and in the body type list. The long file you get back will list all the public games on the judge that you have chosen to start with.
The game name is "andy." The season is Spring 1901 (movement phase). The Variant is standard diplomacy (standard) but the names of the actual people playing each country are kept secret (gunboat). Deadlines occur every 48 hours. Andyhre is the moderator who assists the judge's automated processes.andy S1901M Standard, Gunboat, 48 hrs, Moderated (andyhre),Press:W-P-. Judge newcomer game! Forming: 1 more players needed.
Pick a game (I'll use andy). Pick a password (I'll use password, but you should use some other word). Send the equivalent of this message to your favorite judge:
signon oandy password signoff
The first word is always signon (not singon). The second is the letter "o" for observer and then the game name combined. The third should be your password. The judge will reply saying you are accepted (if you typed it right) and from now on you'll receive all broadcast press and game results.
Note: Instead of saying signon ogamename password you can also say observe gamename. I mention this because the DEAC judge, which uses German translations, allows you to use the second format but not the first [it uses "Z" instead of "O" (Zuschauer rather than Observer) so the command is signon zgamename password] and thus it may be safer to learn this second format if you ever have to interact with a non-English judge. The other option is to learn the word for observe in any language for which there is a judge!
HINT FOR OBSERVING: Try to find a game without partial press (the third character of the press code is a dash, not a P). These games are more fun to observe because the players must broadcast to communicate.
The command is similar to when you just observe except:signon ?andy password standard gunboat set preference AEFGIRT signoff
You decide to learn the judge by helping these players finish their game (by taking over the 3-unit Austria). You should get a detailed listing of the game (send list jenifer to the judge) to make sure the game is not for Albanians-only or some such restriction, and you should consider sending an email to the person listed as the GM to make sure the power is really abandoned. Assuming you qualify, type:jenifer S1903R Standard, Gunboat, 48 hrs, Moderated (andyhre), Press:W-P-. Openings: Austria (3/3)
The 2nd word now replaced "?" with "a" since you know for a fact which country (a=Austria) is available.signon ajenifer password standard gunboat signoff
If the game accepts you (it might reject you if it has a flag which prevents new players from joining), you'll be told that you've been allowed to take over the position, and you'll be given a deadline for moves. Now you just need to send some press and enter your moves!
Broadcast press
To send a broadcast in the game jenifer, type:
Two notes: (1) Once you've joined the game, you no longer need to enter the variant information when you sign on. (2) Be careful typing endpress as one word all by itself on a line or else you may end up sending more information than you wish. You have been warned.signon ajenifer password broadcast Hey, the New Austria will conquer you all(or whatever message you wish)endpress signoff
Partial press
Now say you want to write to Russia and Turkey
and tell them how great you are:
They key is line 2. RT: means Russia and Turkey. Had you wanted just Italy, you'd type press to I. Also, anything between the press line and endpress line will be sent, so please remember to type endpress.signon ajenifer password press to RT Austria will conquer you both endpress signoff
This is also a good time to write to the master and tell her/him you are a newbie:
(The M in Press to M stands for Master. Typing Press to GM (don't do this) will send a copy to both Germany and the Master.)signon ajenifer password press to M Austria is a clueless newbie. endpress signoff
Note how the moves follow standard Diplomacy syntax. Vienna is moving to Galicia with support from Budapest and Trieste is taking Albania. If this syntax does not make sense to you, you need to learn how to play Diplomacy, which is not the purpose of this document. The judge uses 3-letter abbreviations for provinces where possible, but you can always enter the full name. For some provinces, like Liverpool and Livonia, you need to use other abbreviations (Lpl and Lvn, respectively). You can learn the legal abbreviations by requesting get map from the judge.signon ajenifer password A Vie-Gal A Bud S A Vie-Gal F Tri-Alb signoff
If you ever are uncertain where the units are, simply list the game (send list jenifer to the judge) and you'll get the scoop on each piece's location.
signon ajenifer password F Gre - Alb signoff
If you'd rather disband the unit for strategic reasons, you'd say:
signon ajenifer password F Gre Disband signoff
The syntax for adjustments varies somewhat from that used for moves and retreats. You have to list the action (build or remove ) before the province, so to build an army in Vienna, type:
signon ajenifer password Build A Vie signoff
If faced with the need to remove a unit, say in Bohemia, you'd type:
signon ajenifer password Remove A Boh signoff
Note that the syntax for a disbandment during a retreat (A Boh Disband) differs from a removal during the adjustment phase (Remove A Boh). This can cause some confusion at first.
This sounds basic, but every new player I know has been late (and one was kicked out) simply from having an uncorrected error flag. Of course, if the error caused an order to be ignored, you should resubmit the order correctly in addition to merely clearing the error flag.signon ajenifer password signoff
For more details on reading a game listing and understanding when the deadlines will fall, you should send get deadline to the judge. However, I've also written a quick explanation, as an introduction.
You should be set for basic judge play now. For more detail, see my longer version of this Guide, which I still have not gotten around to writing and read the judge files you got in Step 1 (you printed them out like I told you, yes?). Experiment a little as well. The worst that can happen is you can be eliminated by the end of 1902, but you will learn a lot and you will have cool stories to tell afterwards. Have fun and good luck!