How multiplayer is working out for you guys...

En Forcer · #1 September 2nd, 2004, 01:29 PM

I'm curious how the mechanics of multiplayer are working out for folks. Especially since there appears to be several ways to run a game.

So far I have only experience with PBEM and mailing files back and forth. This is pretty straight forward and works with no problems.

But I am intrigued with the network-Online variant some of you guys are running. I also see some jargon like "quickhost" game and abbreviations for settings and such and am wondering how it works.

Are all of you on line at the same time and playing simultaneously (at some agreed upon time) or are you doing a Version of the PBEM files updates but instead of emailing them they are submitted to the network?

I'm trying to determine if I can get into one of these network type games given my busy schedule. If it doesn't require a constant internet presence or is somewhat flexible then I would like to try it out.

Any light you guys could shed on this stuff would be really froody!

archaeolept · #2 September 2nd, 2004, 01:38 PM

its extremely simple and easy, which is why PBEM has been eclipsed. basically, someone w/ a server runs the game, and anyone can connect and play their turn when they wish, and it is automatically submitted. W/ quickhost, immediately upon everyone having submitted their turn, the game will host; otherwise it will force host after a specified time period if some player hasn't managed to get his/her move in on time.

PrinzMegaherz · #3 September 2nd, 2004, 02:08 PM

I prefer to host games, because there is now way I could get a stale turn that way. In addition, being host makes it easier to get in touch with your fellow players.

En Forcer · #4 September 2nd, 2004, 02:12 PM

Quickhost forces a turn after a specified time? Interesting. So say I miss my turn, in essence I just idle for 1 turn with no orders and gain gold - upkeep? Sounds useful. Especially if there is a problem with someone not being timely in their turns or whatver.

reverend · #5 September 2nd, 2004, 02:43 PM

I'm in a regular ( -> quickhost ) game, and so far the turn-schedule is ok. In the beginning you can even get two turns in a day.

For fun, I usually play a Blitz with a couple of friends. We're also connected by Ventrilo, so it's a real bLast.

Thufir · #6 September 2nd, 2004, 03:07 PM

Quote:

En Forcer said:
I'm curious how the mechanics of multiplayer are working out for folks. Especially since there appears to be several ways to run a game.

...

But I am intrigued with the network-Online variant some of you guys are running. I also see some jargon like "quickhost" game and abbreviations for settings and such and am wondering how it works.

One of the nicest aspects of quickhost is that it automatically hosts when everyone gets in their turns, meaning that the first 10-20 turns go much quicker than they would if hosting were done on a fixed interval. I suppose you could have this effect in PBEM, but it's really much cleaner when hosted by a machine.

There's a guy (one Esben Mosehansen, by name) in this forum who's setup a server with a very nice web front end. Here's some links:
Dom2 Server Home Page
Example of a game in progress
mosehansen server thread

Quote:

I'm trying to determine if I can get into one of these network type games given my busy schedule. If it doesn't require a constant internet presence or is somewhat flexible then I would like to try it out.

There are some members of this forum who are of like mind, so from time to time you'll see an announcement of a game that's starting where they'll say at the outset that it's 48h quickhost, or something like that. I believe there's on open now at: thread

En Forcer · #7 September 2nd, 2004, 05:13 PM

*****in'!

Thanks, Thufir.

And for the links too. All helpful stuff.

DeathDaemon · #8 September 2nd, 2004, 08:18 PM

Do you guys ever get corrupt turn files? I was getting them quite frequently when I hosted and played from the same computer. Read a post saying its related to both instances sharing a temp file that is open/created/deleted by one instance and not noticed by the other.

So I eventually hosted all my games on another machine, but probably 1 out of 15/20 turns I had to manually copy over the trn file as I got a corrupt file message and crashed the game. Even worse is the first message of my turn saying the host recieved a corrupt file and didnt execute your orders... this frustrating event has happened maybe 3 times over a couple weeks.

Mostly these errors are from WinXP host to/from WinXP client. My WinME client almost never gets these errors, more like 1 out of 80 turns.

Cainehill · #9 September 2nd, 2004, 09:23 PM

I think I've seen only 4 or 5 corrupt turns out of ... 2000 or 3000 turns. Two or three of those were on the same machine, which turned out to have problems.

This makes me suspect that you have a problem with your system - probably either bad memory, or corrupt / bad hard drive / interface. Recommend downloading and running diagnostics for memory and HD especially, and completely defragmenting the hard drive.

Of course - it could also simply be Windows XP.

Edit: Also, when hosting / playing on the same machine, I think the most common error is that the _game_ will crash, saying Nagot Glick Fell or some such, and reporting that it couldn't open a temp file (due to the other instance of Dom2 having it open already). Then again - WinXP may not be locking the file properly, thus allowing both to write at the same time.

But again - you get 1 in 20 corrupt even using a separate machine. It's gotta be your system - bad memory, corrupt OS, virus, bad install of Dom2, something.

Sheap · #10 September 3rd, 2004, 02:09 AM

Network multiplayer is superior to PBEM in just about every way. Most importantly, it doesn't require so much human interaction, all that mucking about copying turn files from place to place. On the downside, it does require a computer with more or less permanent internet connection to be the host.

Fortunately, if you set up your game on the forums, you don't have to host your own game. The Mosehansen server is publically available, and holds - I think - 24 simultaneous games. And if Mosehansen is full, or if you need special handling (like running a mod or an old Version, or whatever), then I'll host for you.

Corrupt turnfiles are very rare with network, so I agree, you probably have something weird going on with your setup.

The only thing really to watch out for is: If you are playing on a network multiplayer game, and you do things exactly wrong, the server can generate your turn before you expect, and possibly before you are completely ready. But this isn't a bug, just a nonobvious behavior, and so it is very easy to avoid.