Qvadriga: Roman Chariot Racing Game

[ComradeP]

Banzai Cat, I've often wondered if it was possible to win the mini-games in Centurion. Often, I seemed to have destroyed the enemy ship in the naval battle and...lost.

[Gusington]

To be honest I don't remember if I won the Centurion minigames...but I do remember loving the overall game a lot.

[BanzaiCat]

The battles in Centurion were the most fun. I liked the gladitorial combat also, and the naval battles next. My least favorite was, of course, the chariot races. I always came in last place, no matter how much bribery or cheating I engaged in. So I learned to love it anyway sans chariots.

The diplomacy side of things was fun, too, even if totally scripted. The Cleopatra seduction was one of those "Ah-HA" moments in 1990 gaming.

[steve58]

..if the river barge is rockin, don't come knocking.

[Gusington]

Those graphics blew me away in 1990 :)

[Boggit]

I understand that this is going to be a 1 player game. Are there any thoughts as to adding a multi-player option to the game? Indeed, would this be possible?

Multiplayer has been a possibility since the development began. However, when the single player racing system was done the most important additional feature was a campaign, which later grew until it actually became the core of the game. Multiplayer is still a desired feature, but it would need a huge effort to make it possible because this kind of game requires some special features: dedicated servers, simultaneous turn playing, variable number of opponents, fast turn pacing. But if people connect with the racing system, this is a future task I would like to try.

http://www.wargamer.com/article/3494/interview-qvadriga-developer-interview

LOL, MP is not a desired feature with this kind of game it's a necessary feature especially if the inspiration is the classic AH Circus Maximus - who would play that solitaire? And 'huge effort' because of "dedicated servers, simultaneous turn playing, variable number of opponents, fast turn pacing"???? What the heck, the game is sold via Slitherine they have servers for such turn based games and the server based PbEM works great in other games. And this server based PbEM naturally allows simultaneous turn playing, variable number of opponents etc.. I don't get it...this may be a good game but it could have been awesome for the boardgame fans just by making it a MP game.

Another Circus Maximus player! I'm not so old after all!! I totally agree with you point on multiplayer. I think this game would be totally awesome, instead of just great fun. The interaction betwen players with CM was great, and it would be amazing to have that dimension with Qvadriga. The Slitherine MP lobby supports messaging (at least with FOG), so imagine that in between the bursts on the races. Oh, well updates can happen...(living in hope ;) :))

[Nefaro]

I've been enjoying it in regular stretches.  I end up playing more races than I initially intend to, so that's a good indicator.  :D

[Nefaro]

Have taken some time to formulate some of my own Qvadriga strategies into words..


Tips:

1) Don't change lanes in the middle of a corner, unless your lane is green and you absolutely need to move outward one lane.  Even if you are about to run over a dead horse or broken chariot in your lane.  It's better to be stunned for a turn than broken.

2) Likewise, never accelerate in a turn unless you are nearly stopped.

3) Move the camera ahead every turn to make sure your lane is clear for about two turns worth of length.  Plan ahead with that info.  If you hold down the left mouse button while scrolling the camera, it will not automatically pan back to your chariot team.

4) Use the whip on the long straightaways.  You move much faster.  Just make sure the extra travel distance this gives you doesn't extend it into the turn.  Your horses aren't always damaged by using the whip and it's even better if your horses are tough.  I often lead off the first turn of a race using normal accelerate, and then use Whip to accelerate for the next 3 or 4 turns.  There isn't much difference in the normal or whipping acceleration in the first turn, so may as well not risk it unless I have a big accel advantage.

5) If in doubt, and competing teams are nearby, use the Prevent/Watch Attack order by default.  They often attack if starting next to you.  On corners that aren't green, use the Control order as much as possible.

6) If you see a competitor moving faster than you, but still behind and in a nearby lane, move over into his lane and block him.  There are multiple advantages to doing this.

7) Try to turn on the innermost lane you can handle, all else being of no consequence.  Just don't adjust lanes or speed while in the turn, as previously mentioned.

8 ) It's also best to have your movement end right before a turn, so that it will only take one turn to go around it.  That leaves an extra turn for whipping your horses into a faster speed down the stretch, or moving to block someone who will come out of the turn and possibly pass you.

Been playing a fair bit, and these have generally been good strategies for me.  There are other smaller ones, but these are the notables.

[JudgeDredd]

Haven't been able to stop playing this game for the last 4 nights!

Lost my battle though. Too many crashes and not enough money.

I must learn that slowly slowly catchy monkey

Nefaro - those are all things I have spotted too.

Another one is don't be too scared to use the pull the reigns back option when your turn into a corner is dark orange or red...it WILL save your chariot - and if you are in the inside lane anyway, you'll still go round it fast...though you'll have to likely whip again to get up to speed quickly

[undercovergeek]

Haven't been able to stop playing this game for the last 4 nights!

Lost my battle though. Too many crashes and not enough money.

I must learn that slowly slowly catchy monkey

Nefaro - those are all things I have spotted too.

Another one is don't be too scared to use the pull the reigns back option when your turn into a corner is dark orange or red...it WILL save your chariot - and if you are in the inside lane anyway, you'll still go round it fast...though you'll have to likely whip again to get up to speed quickly

dont think i havent seen you buying this JD - i just havent had a chance to take the piss!!!

[JudgeDredd]

lol - and I deserve to have the piss extracted from me. I was absolutely convinced this was the one that I would hold out on. This was the one where I could hold my head high and say "This, my friends, is the time when the Judge says no and MEANS no!"

Unfortunately, like most of my chariots, I fell over. Saw a video and thought "Oh...that actually sounds so much deeper than the demo showed" (it was a dire demo). It's light and quick to play - two very important aspects when you're wondering what to play....you see the icon and go "Well, that's easy and quick"...before you know it, 4 hours have gone, many, many races have been partaken in, many horses have died, many chariots have been wrecked and very little money has come your way!

The one tiny fault I've seen is the AI choices. I don't know if they're just random or not...but I've seen the AI go full pelt, whipping horses round the inside line of the arena and I've seen them select the option to protect against attack...even though there is no-one near them or even in the next lane at times.

But apart from that - can't fault it. It really does kill several hours when you actually only fired it up for a couple of races

[Nefaro]

Nefaro - those are all things I have spotted too.

Another one is don't be too scared to use the pull the reigns back option when your turn into a corner is dark orange or red...it WILL save your chariot - and if you are in the inside lane anyway, you'll still go round it fast...though you'll have to likely whip again to get up to speed quickly

Yeah, it can be quite advantageous to take the inner lane if your horses have been injured enough to slow you down or the other lanes are overcrowded with vicious Aurigas ramming and whipping anyone nearby.  I've moved over to the first lane numerous times, for a clear shot around a corner, and slowed down before reaching it, in order to shoot past those on the outside which I can't outpace.

Unfortunately, like most of my chariots, I fell over. Saw a video and thought "Oh...that actually sounds so much deeper than the demo showed" (it was a dire demo).

I picked it up after watching Das' YouTube LP.  I'll link it below for anyone else who may be curious. 

What made it real easy to buy was the price.  $20 is an easy sell.

The one tiny fault I've seen is the AI choices. I don't know if they're just random or not...but I've seen the AI go full pelt, whipping horses round the inside line of the arena and I've seen them select the option to protect against attack...even though there is no-one near them or even in the next lane at times.

But apart from that - can't fault it. It really does kill several hours when you actually only fired it up for a couple of races

I've been happy with the AI choices because it's not been very predictable.  That's always a good thing when it comes to AI.  It's been notably troublesome when my turn starts and an AI driver is close to me.  I'm never sure whether they will chang lanes, whip/accelerate, or attempt to attack me in some way.  Even when I think that I'm being brilliant in cutting off one which is quickly going to pass me, they sometimes change lanes thus nullifying my attempt to block.  It seems like some of them have different AI "personalities" depending on the strengths of their chariot, horse team, and equipment, too.  Have had some nasty bastards ramming and wrecking other racers left & right, while some just try to speed past everyone and defend against aggression.

I think the AI is fine, because it's unpredictable and there are different styles.

[JudgeDredd]

I agree - now thinking about it - that an unpredictable AI is better than a predictable one (they will always do Y when they are in situation Z).

[tgb]

Some good news and some not-so-good.

First I think I found a pretty serious bug in the auto-resolve:  In my last race we were down to just 3 surviving aurigas (tough circus). After having a horse die and a wheel damaged, there was no way I was going to recover from third place so I hit the auto-finish button. Instead of getting third-place money, I was just awarded a finish.

In other news, 1.1 is now up (that was fast).  Here's a list of the changes:

v1.10 March 11, 2014
NEW FEATURES
- Every team's upgrades are shown when the status info is activated.
- Leaders' names are faction-coloured.
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
- All debug traces removed avoiding disk usage while racing.

BUGS FIXED
- A non faction-leader auriga could win the epic campaign after winning the third race in the Circus Maximus.
- Injured player-owned aurigas that become leaders now show "injured" status at the local leader chart.
- Normalized acceleration levels for light chariots.
- Campaign race events cease their effect after leaving the campaign.
- Solved balancing bug that could give rival leaders less upgrades during a race.
- Prevented being able to get heal services without enought money after a purchase.
GRAPHICAL GLITCHES SOLVED
- Control/escape orders were not properly positioned if player crashes at the first three seconds of the turn while playing in dynamic mode.
- If auriga manages to escape, textures could be incorrectly drawn at the first turn after ending the race while playing in dynamic mode.
- Crowd restored to some empty spots in the stands at Camulodunum
- Prevented danger line getting too dark at the highest levels.

TYPOS
- Car-Quadriga references renamed to just "chariot" avoiding confusion.
- Text cuts prevented at the results screen
- A number of misspelled words corrected

I don't know if it is save-compatible, but I don't see why it wouldn't be.  I'm starting a new campaign just to be on the safe side (and because my current one is in the toilet)

[Nefaro]

Some good news and some not-so-good.

First I think I found a pretty serious bug in the auto-resolve:  In my last race we were down to just 3 surviving aurigas (tough circus). After having a horse die and a wheel damaged, there was no way I was going to recover from third place so I hit the auto-finish button. Instead of getting third-place money, I was just awarded a finish.

That's not a bug.

If you use the Auto-Resolve to finish the race for you, it automatically gives you a "Finish" reward no matter what.

It's a reasonable trade-off since it can actually save your auriga from death or your chariot & horses from being destroyed.