Carcassonne XBox

[mjharper]

Any idea where  can get one from?

Not really. Even amazon.de doesn't really have much on offer there (see here). I picked mine up at the back of a shop after a long hunt…

[GameJunkieJim]

I've actually come to this site as a direct result of wanting more information after purchasing the XBox Live Arcade version of Carcassonne. I had played it years ago, but recently became re-acquainted and re-addicted.

What I know about the XBLA version:

Carcassonne XBox Live Arcade is 800 Microsoft Points, or right around $10 US.

Developed and Published by Sierra Online

It allows for 1-4 human players locally, and 2-5 players online.

It supports 720p HD resolution.

It is the base version of the game, encompassing 72 tiles and up to 5 players. It includes the 12 tile River  expansion as an optional play type.

It has a scalable board, allowing for potentially limitless expansion in all directions.

Scoring:
During the game-

Road: When a road is completed with two end pieces, the player with the most followers on the road receives one point per tile. A follower tie means both players get the points.

City: When a city is completed, the player with the most followers receives two points per tile, and two additional points per pennant tile. Unlike the board game, the two tile cities are four points, instead of two points. A follower tie means both players get the points.

Monastery: A monastery is completed when it is completely surrounded by tiles. The player receives nine points.


As mentioned earlier, the player gets their follower back upon the completion of those structures.

At game end-

Incomplete road: The player with the most followers receives one point per road tile.

Incomplete city: The player with the most followers receives one point per city tile, and one additional point per pennant.

Incomplete monastery: The player receives the one point for each attached tile.

Farms: The player with the most followers in each contiguous farm receives three points per completed city adjacent to that particular farm. Cities that touch multiple farms are re-used for scoring purposes.

In the case of any ties, the players are awarded the same score.

For those of you that don't know, XBox 360 has an achievements system to track your progress, add replayability, and allow people to brag about their accomplishments in their games. XBox Live Arcade Titles allow a total possible Gamerscore of 200.

Here are the Carcassonne Achievements, a description of the Achievement, and the point value for the achievement:

Big City    
Score a City with 3+ tiles in Single Player    
5

King of the Road    
Score a Road with 5+ tiles in Single Player    
5

Farm Boy    
Score a Farm supplying 4+ Cities in Single Player    
10

Rack Up the Points    
Score 50+ points in Single Player    
10

King for a Day    
Win 1 Ranked game    
15

Top Score    
Score a total of 2000+ points from all your Carcassonne games combined    
15

Top of the Heap    
Win a Player Match against 3 or more opponents    
20

Count of Carcassonne    
Score 150+ points in a Single Player game    
20

Metropolis    
Score a City with 9+ tiles in a Player Match vs. 2 or more opponents    
25

Mirror Monk    
Score 2 adjacent Monasteries in Single Player    
25

Lord of Carcassonne    
Beat an opponent in a Player Match by 50+ points    
25

Ultimate Score
Score a total of 5000+ points from all your Carcassonne games combined    
25

I hope that helps some. I'll be lurking this forum here and there. See you on XBox Live!

Gamertag: GameJunkyJim

[mjharper]

Thanks! That does help

From what you say, it sounds like 3rd edition scoring. Mind you I heard that players were given the choice between HiG and RGG rules… I also heard that the River is actually the River II, not the original one.

[Gantry]

That's a great writeup, gamejunkyjim, would mind if we used it for our main page articles?  On the main web site (click the yellow Carc Central title), in the Articles, About section we're starting to fill those in.  (We've only been in existence for about 6 months, there's a lot more stuff we have yet to add.)  Your post would make a great addition to this section!

Would you mind re-submitting your xbox article?  On the main web site, in the User menu on the left, there is a Submit Article link.  If you fill it out, it will be submitted for inclusion, I'll have a quick lookover, and approve it for the Articles, About section, and the article will be forever attributed to you.  (Plus you'll earn yourself a nifty 'Author' status!)

 

[GameJunkieJim]

Sure. You can reformat it to make it look nicer, I admit to playing around a bit with the forum tools.

You can assume anything I write here is yours to do with as you see fit for future reference.

[GameJunkieJim]

Thanks! That does help

From what you say, it sounds like 3rd edition scoring. Mind you I heard that players were given the choice between HiG and RGG rules… I also heard that the River is actually the River II, not the original one.

I understood that the River II expansion had a fork, this one doesn't seem to have that, just 7 tiles with various border features. A couple curves, but no splits.

[mjharper]

Sounds like the original River, then. It would be good to see the tiles, though. I've been asked about an XBox specific set of rules and FAQ, you see…

[GameJunkieJim]

Sounds like the original River, then. It would be good to see the tiles, though. I've been asked about an XBox specific set of rules and FAQ, you see…

I'll start a game and try to take the clearest picture possible (My camera is only a 2.1 MP though and it tends to be blurry)

[GameJunkieJim]

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y71/GameJunkieJim/Carcassonne/?action=view&current=CarcRiverTiles.jpg

I used a shoebox to steady the camera as much as possible.

[Wishmaster]

Looks like the original River to me.

[mjharper]

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y71/GameJunkieJim/Carcassonne/?action=view&current=CarcRiverTiles.jpg

I used a shoebox to steady the camera as much as possible.

Cheers! Bonus points for that man!

Looks like the original River to me.

Not so fast… see the fourth tile from the bottom? That should have a cloister on it. Which is not helpful - because now we need to know what other tiles from the basic set are not quite the same.

[GameJunkieJim]

Not so fast… see the fourth tile from the bottom? That should have a cloister on it. Which is not helpful - because now we need to know what other tiles from the basic set are not quite the same.

I could try to get my buddy to cooperate with me in a game and stick all the tiles together as symettrically as possible. I wouldn't know how to say what's different or not.  Might be tomorrow before he comes over though.

[mjharper]

I could try to get my buddy to cooperate with me in a game and stick all the tiles together as symettrically as possible. I wouldn't know how to say what's different or not.  Might be tomorrow before he comes over though.

That would be awesome. I can't imagine there would be much difference, but then I wouldn't have guessed there'd be a missing cloister, either.

[GameJunkieJim]

That would be awesome. I can't imagine there would be much difference, but then I wouldn't have guessed there'd be a missing cloister, either.

For your perusal. It's not that clear, but then again I have a 2.1 MP camera.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71/GameJunkieJim/Carcassonne/CarcAllTiles.jpg

Hopefully it helps you.

There may be a problem with the "prettyfying" of the tiles when things are completed. It makes little models pop up when things are closed off.

[mjharper]

Isn't that 83 tiles, rather than 84?

Ah- does it discard the original starting tile if you use the River? That would explain 83…