There's been lots of talk on Play-by-Email (PBEM) on the forums, but not much happening so far. Kengel did manage to get a game going, but it seems to have died. That thread does a great job of describing how to play a game - see
http://apolyton.net/forums/Forum2/HTML/000819-3.html , and also addresses several of the problems in PBEM games. Here's a summary of the problems, as I see them:
1) The 200-shield temple problem. If another player builds the wonder you're building, the AI will change production, to another wonder of its choice, or maybe to a temple or a warrior. If you have enough shield to build the AI's choice, you will have it on your next turn, like it or not. Possible solutions:
a) Hack the save file with Kengel's program from the referenced thread.
b) Issue a warning to all other players when you complete a wonder. Probably not a good idea, since it opens up the possibility of someone destroying the wonder-building city.
c) Play a "no wonders" game (my preference).
2) The diplomacy problem. You can't talk directly to another player, since the AI is in charge. Possible solutions:
a) Have both players be online, join the game, and do the usual MP diplomacy routine.
b) Have a host load the game, and run the diplomacy on two computers - see the referenced thread.
c) Run diplomacy asynchonously. For example, the Romans and Aztecs agree via Email to trade Code of Laws for Ceremonial Burial and 50 gold. On their turns, the Romans gift Code of Laws to the AI Aztecs. On the Aztecs' turn, they gift Ceremonial Burial and 50 gold to the Romans.
3) The start-of-game problem. To avoid the early-game problem of pressing the Enter key and waiting a day for your next turn:
a) Use accelerated start. Can produce wildly uneven starts, but in a multiplayer game the leaders can be pulled back to the pack via alliances.
b) Have a neutral party create a map where all civs have roughly equal terrain, and, say, 4 cities and 8 units.
From what I've seen, it takes forever to play out most MP games. Email games would also take forever, but the players could at least stay in touch with the game by making their moves on a regular basis.
I'm interested, anyone else?
