Games [Game Over] RA:APB-themed Mafia Game VII (B0tes Edition!)

[VERTi60]

18 minutes ago, JackoDerp said:

I don't think we were ever going to find the Airfield this game

Airfield wasn't the objective to find and/or destroy, but if discovered, players could opt to switch from classic mafia into boat/sub hunting. It was a very rare scenario, mostly for the end game where all key players and even helicarrier were destroyed and all roles were identified.

[ChopBam]

Change thread title?

[OrangeP47]

6 hours ago, Alstar said:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I GODDAMN MISSTYPED THE COORDS GODDAMNIT.

To be fair, I only said I was at C2, I deliberately left it vague which way I was facing, and a lot of others used that tactic as well.  I *might* have been at C3, but yeah it was safer to target C2.

[Alstar]

You don't understand, i misstyped c2 as c3. And I haven't noticed that until verti said so. 

[Jeod]

Docs pls?

[Nodlied]

I am gone for one day and this is what happens?

Good job!

 

(I'll wait with my judgement on the game until the endpost.)

[VERTi60]

 Game End

 

  
Congratulations, comrades! You were able to find and destroy the Allied fleet, which allowed us to maintain the naval superiority in the region.

Now we can sink the allied dogs like the sinking rats they are... 

 

 

[Game Over] SOVIETS HAVE WON!

Game Winners:
 

Category 5 Hurricane, the Soviet Missile Submarine, is victorious!
 

ChopBam, the Soviet Sub Pen, is victorious!
 

FRAYDO, the Soviet Spy Plane - Naval, is victorious!
 

Jeod, the Soviet Attack Submarine, is victorious!
 

Nodlied, the Soviet Missile Submarine, is victorious!
 

OrangeP47, the Soviet Attack Submarine, is victorious!
 

Voe, the Soviet Attack Submarine, is victorious!

 
I'm also rewarding some of the players of the game:

FRAYDO - I spy with my little eye… Award, for scouting KY on N1

JackoDerp - First Hit! Award, for Hitting Nodlied on N1

Killing You - I spy with my little eye… Award, for scouting chronoshifted voe on N1, allowing Allies to have 4 coordinates for N2

Shade939 - At least you tried... Chronoshifted players: 2/5

Jeod - Red October Award - successfully escaped detection and Night Kill and helping town push the suspects

Voe - Silent Hunter Award - Hitting a enemy player during Day

OrangeP47 - Finding and destroying the Allied Helicarrier 

Chopbam - Honorable mention for protecting friendly Submarine

All Active TOWN Players - despite Allies being lucky N1 acquiring many targets, town quickly turned the tables around and took initiative.

 

Quote of the game:

 

“What’s your gameplan, allies” - Voe

Allow me to quote Pushwall

“Fight, lose, fail”

-Alstar

 

 Player Roles & Game Information

 
Player Role Infos:

(click for large)

Don't forget to check out the DOCS, as there is more information to the game, as well as some of the funny moments!
 

• Allied Doc

 

 Game Log & Naval Map reveals

 

(click for large)
 
 

Original topography and player unit placement:

 

Ending player unit placement on D4:

 

Player unit statistics on D4 before Allied surrender:

 

 Game Balance & Comments

 

Before I get to revealing balance and commenting on game, let me first note that the game was designed to give each of the factions opportunity to win the game relatively fast with tempo based, synergistic actions, but everything was relying on Naval Map scouting, coordinating and planning.

While Soviets only had the basic mafia mechanics to win the game, e.g. lynch, they also had the advantage of knowing/expecting what they are up against, thus logically concluding player roles after a fashion. However, they were completely blind on Naval Map (which could result into friendly fire) and didn't know what to expect regarding Naval Map reveals, because they only had one public scout unit, which could also help scum.

Allies had the big advantage of doing extra scouting, revealing player positions and enormous firepower combined with the Depth charge, Cruiser Support Fire and ultimately the Allied Helicarrier, which multiplied all of their actions. With this, they were able to have multiple town kills per phase. However, they had to deploy the Helicarrier first and had to be lucky revealing, prioritizing and eliminating important units before town can use them to detect them.

Third Party Mystery unit was in the game to turn the tide from one side or another, causing a bit chaos and misleading. With the mechanic to teleport players around and causing misinformation regarding results, its purpose was mostly to serve as a distraction and also as extra topic for both sides to discuss during the course of game.

All three sides had their roles, abilities and mechanics designed to be "rock, paper, scissors." Each unit countering another one but was vulnerable to other as well (e.g. naval/ground/air). This was also affecting night actions. For example, TP Chronosphere and Allies couldn't target a unit protected by Sub Pen, but Sub Pen couldn't target a player already chronoshifted (unless the chronoshift didn't violate any of the basic unit placement rules), which could benefit Allies to cause extra misinformation for Sub Pen. Chronoshifts could also cause extra casualties or "unit mergers", which could possibly turn the game's outcome in an instant - however, considering the big size of the map this was less likely to happen but couldn't be ruled out either.

Also, all unit roles were assigned to players randomly by the Random Role Assigner Script which was developed to quickly prepare RA:APB chat games. Only Shade939 requested special role. Irish requested a custom unit but we were not able to finish the role (reasons explained after D1) so he ended up with Sub.

 

Let's take a closer look at the units and mechanics:

Soviet Attack Submarine, being the "vanilla town" was actually very important asset, mostly because of the "submerge" ability. On one hand it gave Soviets the opportunity to "try and test" players, however, it also gave Allies and Third Party the necessary information for their Night Actions. Submerge's primary action however was to hide against random shooting during Day and Night (e.g. from Cruiser Support Fire or Chronosphere).

 

Soviet Missile Submarine was more or less a tactical unit for the Soviets, having extra unit tile to survive random shooting and also the late game unit able to counter Allied Helicarrier scouting/night killing action. Capable of shooting during the night, it could also help destroying suspects quicker or help with "role unit proving".

 

Soviet Sub Pen was the most important asset for Soviets. Being the town doctor and cop at the same time. With that said, it's also vulnerable in that regards as losing it would be a powerful loss to town. Sub Pen was vulnerable to Cruiser Support Fire and Allied Helicarrier's buffed Night Kill as well as random fire or Chrono vortex.

 

Soviet Spy Plane was the town's eyes. As it was mentioned, it was important to reveal the map for town in case Airfield is destroyed, and also to have better visibility for discussions during the day. Ultimately, every map reveal was situational and could benefit either Soviets or Allies or even Third Party, so it was more or less important for the game to progress overall. Spy Plane was pretty much safest unit on the Naval Map, unless attacked by Anti Air unit or later as being a target to Allied Helicarrier Night Kill.

 

Allied Gunboat and Destroyer were the primary Allied scouting units to get coordinates of important Soviet players. They were also the only units capable of doing the Depth Charge Night Kill, hence coordination and planning was the key to success.

 

Allied Cruiser was the Allied primary damage dealer. Capable of multiple shoots during the Night, it could also serve as scout and killer at the same time. With the buff of Helicarrier support, it could become even more deadly. However, in order to be efficient, it required info from the other Allied units first. Cruiser was essential for Allies in order to help destroy the Soviet buildings, especially Airfield once that option was available.

 

Allied Helicarrier was a mid/late game support unit for Allies, basically being their personal Airfield. During Night 1, Allies received a Mission Objective from Brigadier-General Carville to deploy the Helicarrier on the map in order to unlock special buffs for their Night Actions, but the deployment of the unit had to follow the basic unit placement on the Naval Map. It required a bit of scouting, luck and planning, but the reward of deploying the Helicarrier was big. It could become to be a game-changer in certain situations, since it allowed Allies to have special Helicarrier Night Kill (not meant to be as extra action, but as an alternative option to classic Depth Charge) that allowed them to target certain players even without the coordinates. It was mostly designed to destroy Sub Pen, Spy Plane and Chronosphere, since these units were otherwise hard to detect and/or destroy with other abilities. You can check the exact buffs for Allied Night actions in the Allied Doc.

 

Troll Chronosphere was the mystery unit of the game, and Chrono Vortex was a result of what Shade939 requested (influencer/controller). As mentioned before, the unit was in game to cause some chaos so that it's harder to determine other player actions and outcomes. There was a possibility that it could also shift the game outcome, however the probability wasn't that big, but still possible. To clarify, the unit wasn't designed to be strictly anti town or anti mafia: Third Party had an objective to successfully chronoshift 5 different players, from which one had to be Allied Ship. Thus, it was in best interest for the Third Party to stale the game until this is completed.

The Chrono Vortex was put in game so that the Third Party could still continue completing its objective, however, there was no control selecting certain players anymore. The Vortex was only deployed as random location in selected Quadrant. Hence the Chronosphere was far more dangerous, since Vortex was more or less RNG based. I've put in the "suck in mechanic" to fulfill what Shade939 has requested, but this mechanic was pretty rare if deployed in quadrant with none or small number of viable targets (e.g. Q2 or Q3).

As you have discovered during the course of the game, the Chronoshifted units could end up teleported close to other units, which would raise some red flags giving the other player a proximity alert. Also as mentioned before, the chronoshifted units that end up being placed on map incorrectly (e.g. too close or hitting ground/other unit) had limited possibilities to use their Night Actions and couldn't be targeted by some of the Night Actions as well such as Sub Pen's Shelter. Chronoshift and Chrono Vortex could also end up destroying a unit completely (in rare scenario destroying more units at the same time even), or even splitting them (Vortex was coordination based instead of player based, so it could split units in half, but this is meant as destroying part of the unit, not having player sharing two coordinates at the same time). 

About the possible anomaly in game:

A chrono vortex is an unfortunate side effect of the use of Chronosphere technology.
It is essentially a rift in the space-time continuum that rampages through the battlefield, destroying everything in its path.

It appears as a giant whirlpool of bending time, defying the laws of physics. It's size on Naval map is always - 2x2. This devastating event has a 20% chance of happening each time the Chronosphere is activated, thus making it more common than another devastating side effect the Chronosphere can unleash from overuse. Vortexes were generated near the device in use and appeared as swirling space-time rifts, and would change location each phase. Each vortex lasts until it hits a unit or building, which it can either damage, destroy or even chronoshift to different random location next phase if it's a Naval Unit.

I might add more info here once I receive  questions.

 

Now a few comments to actual game-play I have observed.

Despite the disastrous outcome for the Allies, I think the Allies had a big chance of winning the game. At first it seemed that Allies were indeed lucky enough, gaining enough coordinates for N2 as they acquired 4 different player coordinates that they could select for the Night Kill either because of their scouting/shooting actions and day reveals . This alone was beyond my personal expectations, as I expected players would be more careful revealing their coordinates and also considering the chance of hitting players by random.

I think it's quite obvious that the Allies went downhill once the Cruiser was removed from the game. Whether it was by luck or by a "n00b mistake" is debatable, the fact is that the Allied team decided to "bus" their Cruiser in order to become less suspicious, but that didn't help them either. I would like to point out that sometimes it's not the best idea to bus your team mate, sometimes it could be worth causing some diversion, distraction or even counterclaim to buy some more time. Cruiser was certainly worth it considering the fact it could have been used to fire at the extra coordinates which could have caused multiple Night Kills. What followed next however, was the fact that Allies themselves didn't have a solid plan nor initiative during Day talks, they were on the defense most of the time. Perhaps also unlucky due to IRL reasons as well, since Alstar was busy working at Market and couldn't contribute as much, which helped identifying him as one of the suspects. Lack of coordination and discussion in Allied Doc also caused two Night Kill misses (the first because out of 4 possible targets they picked a Sheltered player even though Alstar was already thinking it would end up that way, and the 2nd was probably a typo in coordinates). Deployment of the Allied Helicarrier also took three tries/night actions, which is something that was expected but definitely didn't help Allies crying for a miracle in their current situation. 

Shade939 was also not very successful considering the fact he outed himself on D3, maybe for the hope of stalling the game and giving the Allies a chance while he could still function as Vortex. With shade possibly influencing the game there was still a chance Allies could get an initiative, but that didn't happen.

That being said, the removal of Chrono Vortex and Cruiser at the same time gave Soviets a large opportunity to complete the game quickly, which happened as both Alstar and KY finally agreed on something that surrender IS an option. Personally I would like to see some more effort and fight till the end, but I agree the chances were dim and it was hard to maneuver if you can't predict the outcome and being already outed on Naval Map and already marked as suspect. 

Overall the game reminds me of the first RA: APB game, where also one simple mistake/slip and inactivity caused Allies to fall like dominoes.

Hence it would be beneficial for the future that if you know that you won't be active enough or you don't feel like being mafia, send a notification to the GM ahead so that alterations could be made in game setup.

Although the game ended up as it did, at least we don't need a break for Christmas/Festive Holidays and we can look forward for more games instead Next Year. That being said, I wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

Here's a question for players: Would you like to play a Chat Game next Friday 28th? (not naval based, but it's an option if this setup is something you like)

[OrangeP47]

Forget to post the dead doc or did I miss it?

[VERTi60]

3 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

Forget to post the dead doc or did I miss it?

We didn't have enough active dead players this time around, unless you are interested what Shade would type alone

[OrangeP47]

Just now, VERTi60 said:

We didn't have enough active dead players this time around, unless you are interested what Shade would type alone

Well he is very prolific

I did almost demand a doc with him while I was vortexed

[VERTi60]

2 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

I did almost demand a doc with him while I was vortexed

Hmm yea that one could be interesting.

[Shade939]

33 minutes ago, VERTi60 said:

Hmm yea that one could be interesting.

I would have enjoyed mocking the foolish mortals who thought that destroying a device capable of distorting time and space itself was a good idea. 

[OrangeP47]

1 minute ago, Shade939 said:

I would have enjoyed mocking the foolish mortals who thought that destroying a device capable of distorting time and space itself was a good idea. 

Yet you'd be in the doc with the *one person* who was arguing to save you

[Shade939]

3 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

Yet you'd be in the doc with the *one person* who was arguing to save you

If it makes you feel any better the vortex didn’t disappear until it teleported another three Soviet vessels after the game ended. 

[OrangeP47]

2 minutes ago, Shade939 said:

If it makes you feel any better the vortex didn’t disappear until it teleported another three Soviet vessels after the game ended. 

Just teleport Voe all 5 times  

[ChopBam]

No honorable mention for successfully protecting Jeod?

[VERTi60]

1 hour ago, ChopBam said:

No honorable mention for successfully protecting Jeod?

I suppose yes

[Voe]

Thank you Vertigo. This was a game worth of coming back to. Well balanced and designed, I wouldn't mind playing another Naval APB Mafia with the same set-up

[Nodlied]

I already enjoyed the game as it happened, but holy cow do I like the mechanics now that I've read up on them. I also really like the fact that the game starts out more slowly and becomes more intense the longer it goes on (Helicarrier deployment and scouting/shooting on the map and all). Reminds me of my own games.

Also, the inclusion of ''side'' objectives like protecting/destroying the airfield, locating enemy/friendly units, figuring out how to deal with the Chronosphere, and deploying the Helicarrier made for a fun experience. Allies had a bunch of bad luck though!

I like the balance so far. 10/10, would play again.

[Jeod]

Agreed, at face value the game appears a dud, but further reading shows the complexity and variety of the setup. I, too, would sign up for an additional Naval theme.

[VERTi60]

Question is if you would also play it as chat game version, which ofc would be simplified - smaller map, no airfield or chronosphere.

For a forum version I can also try different setups I had in mind (different mystery but with similar mechanics, different units and different mission objectives).

[Nodlied]

22 minutes ago, VERTi60 said:

Question is if you would also play it as chat game version, which ofc would be simplified - smaller map, no airfield or chronosphere.

For a forum version I can also try different setups I had in mind (different mystery but with similar mechanics, different units and different mission objectives).

I wonder if it could work in a chat version. Unless the map updates are automated, I don't think that we'll have enough time for the day phases while waiting on coordinate reveals.

[VERTi60]

15 minutes ago, Nodlied said:

I wonder if it could work in a chat version. Unless the map updates are automated, I don't think that we'll have enough time for the day phases while waiting on coordinate reveals.

They are pretty fast, as you have seen Orange's minigame responses. It is partially automated and I can make it fully automated, but w/o actual images.

[Jeod]

1 hour ago, VERTi60 said:

Question is if you would also play it as chat game version, which ofc would be simplified - smaller map, no airfield or chronosphere.

For a forum version I can also try different setups I had in mind (different mystery but with similar mechanics, different units and different mission objectives).

I would like to see a wider variety of naval units--make the game AR themed instead of APB.

[FRAYDO]

Put me in the "would play again" boat. No offense to the scum team, but this game had so much more potential for frustration and fun. Just as well, though. I was running out of Kongou pics.

[Jeod]

4 minutes ago, FRAYDO said:

Put me in the "would play again" boat. No offense to the scum team, but this game had so much more potential for frustration and fun. Just as well, though. I was running out of Kongou pics.

[Killing_You]

6 minutes ago, FRAYDO said:

Put me in the "would play again" boat. No offense to the scum team, but this game had so much more potential for frustration and fun. Just as well, though. I was running out of Kongou pics.

None taken. We had a new person, an absentee, and a terrible player (that last one is me). It was a difficult time.

I would definitely like to give this setup a second try. It didn't seem like that much of a fair introduction to a pretty cool setup.

[OrangeP47]

1 minute ago, Killing_You said:

None taken. We had a new person, an absentee, and a terrible player (that last one is me). It was a difficult time.

I would definitely like to give this setup a second try. It didn't seem like that much of a fair introduction to a pretty cool setup.

You're too hard on yourself.

Verti seems to like throwing newbies onto the scum team, but honestly I think the success in Death Note was just a fluke.  Some town experience first really helps.  To fool town, you must become town.

[Killing_You]

1 minute ago, OrangeP47 said:

You're too hard on yourself.

Verti seems to like throwing newbies onto the scum team, but honestly I think the success in Death Note was just a fluke.  Some town experience first really helps.  To fool town, you must become town.

I actually don't think I'm a bad player as Town. I'm just terrible at being Scum, mainly because I don't really enjoy it as much. Although, I feel like I did a good job trying to push on ChopBam.

[OrangeP47]

Just now, Killing_You said:

I actually don't think I'm a bad player as Town. I'm just terrible at being Scum, mainly because I don't really enjoy it as much. Although, I feel like I did a good job trying to push on ChopBam.

If this was a month or two ago, I might have taken the bait and gone more in on Chopbam, and things could have gone differently for you.  It's just over the course of the past 4-5 games, I've always thought he was scum, and I've been wrong every single time, so I'm not as likely to subscribe to any pushes against him anymore.