Crystite map

[themuzzer]

Where can I find the old tite map or new one if it's been updated. Thread name, link etc etc would be handy. Thanks in advance.

[Chuckie Chuck]

It's stickied right at the top of the general discussion forum you posted in

Review - Mule Tools.  Take a look, it's a review complete with download links of the two available tite maps and a joystick emulation tool.

[jagov808]

Using these tools represent 'cheating' in my opinion. Obviously there is no way to rid the game of them as people look to find an edge. It doesnt really provide anything different than a good memory and clear mind though. When one considers this, the real cost is the lost opportunity to exercise one's mind. Since many of you are on the cusp of older middle age, this is such a wasted opportunity that it would make playing not worthwhile.

If winning is so important you can always just hunt for new players, or add your own fake bots. There are many ways to help win. If one were to invest thousands of hours in this game though I feel they ought to come away from it with more than just a laudable rank.

[Chuckie Chuck]

Is using a pen and paper instead cheating?  Cause that's what people have done since the 80s.  These just save paper.  You will notice this subject was discussed in the review.  It is an aid, not a cheat.  If you understand the way tite is laid out to begin with, you know there is a pattern that can be predicted, and you can do it on paper, or you can do it on here, I like the programs, I personally prefer Rogue Cat's over Ciscoheats.  Cisco's does a lot of stuff automatically and that's cool and all, but I like the look of Rogue's better.  I like working the map myself better, it keeps me sharper than having a program do it all automatically, but I would not consider either to be a cheat.

I don't always use it, but like I said, people used to do exactly what these do with pen and paper.

[jagov808]

I realize someone was going to bring up pen and paper. That is also a form of 'cheating' in my mind.

What if I developed software that would automatically select the best land I was eligible for from my preselected choices at summary? It would only be an aid.

Aid/cheat, its a fine line. Imagine playing a live poker game and bringing out an odds calculator on every street. It doesnt really give you an edge because good players know the odds, and if you didnt know them you could break out pen and paper. People would be annoyed.

Back to mule, your trackers dont give enough advantage to make games lopsided. If you like them, then thats fine with me. I just think they deprive you of some mental exercise and fun, the only one really being cheated is those using them.

[Chuckie Chuck]

and then, it could be that not everyone has a photographic memory to remember what the results work when other people assayed plots and that's why they write stuff down.  I don't see it as taking away the challenge.  I don't like the automatic one, as I said I prefer Rogue Cat's which is fully manual.  You have to mark everything, it's really quite time consuming, but if you keep it upto date you can reference it to plan your next plot selections and what mules you want to move around.  I use it about one every 5 to 10 games.  It takes a lot of energy, and focus, but that's the benefit for me, I get distracted and make mistakes, and it keeps my mind more focused on the game.

[jagov808]

I think you have raised an eloquent defense sir. It is just unfortunate that these tools render my superior memory redundant.

[Rogue Cat]

I'm getting into this thread a bit late, but the topics are worth it. I guess we already talked about these before, not sure... Some tools certainly kill the funny factor of any game, (call them calculators, simulators, bots, automatizers, etc), but each one will consider them in a way or another depending on the "standards" they have for the game.

The classic pen-and-paper has been used since old days, as many users consider it as fair, while the "memory" standard would not. Some users consider the trackers as fair because they don't do automatic actions, while others consider it as cheating, be it because of violating the "memory only" policy, or for providing more than the classic "pen-and-paper" functions. As every user has different standards about it, they would never reach an agreement, unless they played in different "categories" or "groups" in the game.

Let's imagine that there were a league for pen-and-paper users, other for memory-only, and other for trackers. In that case, everyone would be happy about their ways in the game, because they all would share the same standards for the game. But because there is no "universal" rules or guidelines set for it, no one can "force" any standard for the rest of players.

Sadly, crystite is no what it used to be in original MULE. I loved exploiting my crystite fields facing the risks of pirates and random market prices, but we all know that this doesn't happen that often nowadays. It's the "ore trick" what gets the highest profits. That also kills the funny factor of the game in certain way for me, but I'm no one to "force" my standards or rule sets on others, unless they agreed to play under those guidelines.

Might be an interesting way to give more dynamism to the game, adding limiting factor rules or something: allowing no more than 3 ore plots for a "crystite mode" (killing the ore trick), reducing the number of available high crystite plots to 1 for a "hardcore mode" (making gameplay more aggressive among players), allowing no assays for a "blind mode" (this would make the trackers mostly worthless)... you know, challenge paths. Scripting this versions for MULE might require having multiple instances installed. Discuss.

[jagov808]

I wish we could disect the game into many modes, one with no events would be another idea. We struggle to find enough people for the normal game though.

Even though I have the memory standard, I think the 'ore trick' is legitimate because it is a replicable strategy whereas crystite depends to some extent on random factors and the luck of one's starting position.  So I think you are right that everyone has a different view of the game.