PBEM game...

Maquiladora · September 1, 2002, 18:30

Is anyone interested in starting a small/medium one? Accelerated start small map maybe some other quick start settings like MOD lite for Civ CtP. If that small game goes off well and its finished in a decent time, a possible larger game...

Personally i think theres still potential for good games without the human-human diplomacy. Like its been said, just do that through emails etc.

As the MP Tournament is (hopefully) starting next week this could be a good time to get some human practice

Admittedly not as fast as MP, thats the real human v human test, but still a good game can be had.

Anyone?

Locutus · September 2, 2002, 19:09

NukeBoy emailed me about PBEM games just a few days ago - he might be interested. I'll ask him.

I'm afraid PBEM might be too much of a commitment for me. I have the unfortunate tendency to sometimes be offline unexpectedly for several days or even weeks...

Otherwise I might have been interested...

Maquiladora · September 2, 2002, 20:30

Thats a shame Locutus. On the human-human diplomacy too, but i can see why its not your most important concern around here, seeing as no one seems to be interested in PBEM for CtP2 anyway.

I just got hold of CivCtP again having exchanged it awhile back after getting CtP2, maybe i can seek out some PBEM challenges over there. But i would still like to get a game on CtP2...

Locutus · September 6, 2002, 09:21

Nukeboy told me he's interested. I think I'll post a news item about this - might generate some more interest in this. How many people is ideal for PBEM anyway? 4?

Maquiladora · September 6, 2002, 09:53

Thanks Locutus.

I'm open to any suggestions in game type/settings/quickstarts etc. My preference really is 1v1, regular map, as it keeps it at a swift pace and makes human-to-human diplomacy in-game far less important.

leftover_crack · September 6, 2002, 14:09

I WILL PLAY

But how do I get PBEM to work?

leftover_crack · September 6, 2002, 14:10

I love CTP2 and always wanted to play PBEM but never saw an option for it

my email is stringpea00@aol.com

mapfi · September 6, 2002, 14:30

Well, to save you a search in the threads, here's what Locutus posted rather a while ago:

Quote:

by Locutus
They haven't been removed but they have been disabled. There were too many problems with them for CtP2 and the Activision programmers didn't have enough time to fix these problems before release, so they disabled these features. You can reactivate them though. To do this, open the file ctp2_data\english\uidata\layouts\spnewgame.ldl in a text editor (e.g. Notepad). Look for the numbers -490 (there should be 2 occurences, one in line 87 and one in 94) and change them to 490 (i.e. remove the minus sign). Save the file (and make a backup of the original, just to be safe). If you now start CtP2 the start-up screen will have 2 extra buttons, surprisingly called 'Hotseat Game' and 'Email Game'. Of course, these features weren't disabled without reason so noone can give you any guarantee that they are bug-free. However, experience showed that they overall work very well. The only major problem is that you can't have diplomatic negotiations with other human players, but this is a problem which modmakers (yours truly, to be precise) are working on.

Have fun!

Solver · September 6, 2002, 14:46

This is great stuff! Congrats about revival

.

leftover_crack · September 6, 2002, 14:54

Ya but no diplomacy will suck. Could we put something together using the SLC functions?

leftover_crack · September 6, 2002, 15:38

now that is vvvverryy interesting

}
EmailButton:SP_BUTTON_BIG {
string text "str_ldl_EMAIL"
int xpix 36
int ypix 490
int widthpix 140
int heightpix 32
}
HotseatButton:SP_BUTTON_BIG {
string text "str_ldl_HOTSEAT"
int xpix 186
int ypix 490
int widthpix 140
int heightpix 32

leftover_crack · September 6, 2002, 15:51

See and those basterds had it all ready to go except for the diplomacy and ranking features. Pathetic

Why didnt they add in 1.11?

Owell. I hope we modders can work on it. I know I could maybe do it. If only I had time to look over everything. Seems to me the folks at craptivision left somthing out. Thats why humans cant negotiate.

leftover_crack · September 6, 2002, 16:13

Just some observations. Im sure someone has said them.

Diplomacy seems to just not work well. I send a proposal in a hotseat to my human foe and he rejects/accepts like he were the AI...insanely wierd.

Keygen · September 6, 2002, 17:48

Locutus, I am sure that you can find a perma sub for you that he will play instead of you while you're absent and with the use of a moderator keep the game flowing with no hold ups.

Maquiladora · September 7, 2002, 07:08

Nice to see a few more people interested. I wanted to start a game while work was continuing on the human-human diplomacy fix but the general consensus (and its a small consensus) is that we should wait for some kind of fix. Ive seen Pedrunn working on it in the other thread.

centrifuge · September 7, 2002, 18:29

Could someone give me a quick workup of how PBEM works (Game merchanics I mean) ? I've never played a civ game MP, and if this is something where I wouldn't have to sit at my computer for hours at a time, I may be interested.

Maquiladora · September 8, 2002, 06:13

I found this from a CtP1 Multiplaying thread, sums it up quite well :

Quote:

There are two types of games in Call to Power, Online games and Play-by-Email games (PBEM for short). Online games are played much the same way as most other multiplayer games are - several players are connected to a game server at once, and they're playing their turns at the same time. It usually takes two or three 4 hour sessions to finish a game (online gamers, correct me). If you're on a modem connection, it's highly possible that you will not be enjoying such a game, also, you are connected all the time to the Internet, so it will also cost you.

This is why the second type of games, PBEM, is so popular. PBEM games generally take many months to complete, but you can well be in several at the same time, and also it has some nice advantages, like the roleplaying that is done by players. Here's how PBEM works: game started creates the map, usually gives each player a quick start pack, like 5 Settlers and 3000 gold, and the turn is travelling by email. Which means, you will receive the turn in your mailbox, as an attachment, which you open, and play a turn. One turn. After it's finished, a savegame is put on your desktop that you attach to a message and send to the next player, the one after you. In a fast game, you can count on receiving a new turn every day. PBEM games usually have moderators that receive a copy of each turn - in case the game gets stalled, they are responsible for finding where the turn is, and what action is to be taken.

and abit more

...

Quote:

Here are some basic things you should know about PBEM:

1. PBEM is the way to start a game with human opponents without having to worry about the time pressure:
"Damn I have to leave. I have an urgent job to do"
"Common harry up dude! I don't want to wait a whole life to play the next turn!"
"I am an American. I can play from 1:00AM-5:00AM (GMT). Man, I am Europian and I can only play from 6:00PM-10:00PM (GMT)."
"Is it day or night?"
You can play via email at any time you like and yes you can go to the rest room without having to worry about what excuse to find .

centrifuge · September 8, 2002, 12:38

Thanks Maquiladora.
Sounds good! Do you think we could create a PBEM tournament?

Maquiladora · September 8, 2002, 12:48

Most certainly, IF and its a big one, the human-to-human diplomacy works. Alot depends on that, and besides that, on how many people would be actually be interested in this type of game(about 4 so far

). Lets concentrate on starting first

Vultur · September 21, 2002, 12:56

There is place for an other player?

Maquiladora · September 21, 2002, 13:30

Quote:

Originally posted by Vultur
There is place for an other player?

At the moment theres no plans to start a game at all, because humans cant make proposals or gifts or any other communication to another human in game. I dont think anyone is continuing work on it now so we'd have to start a game without human-human diplomacy, and not alot of people want to do that.

Maquiladora · September 21, 2002, 13:58

Hmm strange database error doesnt show me as the last reply

Immortal Wombat · September 21, 2002, 17:22

If I read the Civ2 newsitem of Sept 14th correctly, I don't think Civ2 had Human-Human diplomacy until last week either... we should be able to manage

Maquiladora · September 21, 2002, 19:04

The cpu takes over negotiations when its not the humans turn in Civ2, so it makes it still possible to exchange maps and techs and stuff. (that was before the fix announced on the 14th that is)

Like i said in the first post of this thread, i have no problem without human to human negotiations, its just getting other people interested in starting a game and someone to moderate.

I havent tried yet, but is it possible to play scenarios through pbem?

Locutus · September 21, 2002, 19:14

Yes, Maq, scenarios work fine.

Well, Maquiladora, Vultur, centrifuge and NukeBoy are interested in a PBEM game (leftover_crack won't be posting here anymore anytime soon, if ever) - sounds like you guys have a game! All you have left to do is determine the settings and start playing

Maquiladora · September 21, 2002, 19:22

I was counting IW in that too unless he wants to state otherwise... or moderate for us

Ill PM the others and see if theyre still interested. We can iron out the details and possibility of 'quickstart' settings then.

Maquiladora · September 21, 2002, 19:35

hmm there seems to be 2 NukeBoy's

One Nukeboy and one Nuke Boy. Ill assume its the second for now.

centrifuge · September 21, 2002, 20:25

I'm in...

Though, you'll have to let me know what adjustments need to be made to which files, in order to make PBEM work. Other than that, Let's roll

Pedrunn · September 21, 2002, 20:39

Wait!!!
You can make proposal in PBEM with one of my codes!
Of couse you guys will have to give up of some proposal types.

The ones that use arguments like give gold (argument = gold amount), give city (argument = wich city), reduce pollution (argument = pollution amount).
Of couse i could just remove the argument of some of them like reduce pollution but without the amount, etc...
And you guys cant make counter-proposal and threat (I could remove the button if you like).

Are these sacrifices bearable???

It is up to you to decide.

centrifuge · September 21, 2002, 20:45

See what you can do Pedrunn

,

ohh, about my question above, I found the answer... Suppose that I should reread the thread once in a while