Security - Player 2 has already played this turn?

[Mobhack]

We will get to the botom of this one, somehow.

What I really need to have for debugging is some idea of the steps needed to get to the condition (ie a reproducible fault).

Nb - you can have several installations on the same PC, it is just that you MUST play your PBEM game in the exat same installation as you started it in. and basically with no file changes to that installation in the meantime (applies to both players

None of the following
- Changing file names to different PBEM slot numbers
- installing the game again to that path as that will reinitialise counters etc
- trying to play a turn in a different installation
- renaming the file path to the instalation in Windows or DOS etc


I have changed the file path comparison routine to be case-insensitive in the patch version (just in case for some odd reason something is returning the path in say uppercase only).

I have also added a routine to dump out some path and player details to a text file on loading a PBEM. This may help us debug any such problems in the future. The bug seems to affect only a few players (and I assume these folk know thier opponent and can verify the opponent has not done any of the above at his end ?) and only in some games. It may take a bit of time to track it down.

Unfortunately - none of our playtesters have managed to reproduce this problem, as yet.


Cheers
Andy

[embis]

Thanks Andy, Looking forward to the patch

[Stian]

When it comes to the security features Andy mentions, I have a couple of comments;

- Changing file names to different PBEM slot numbers

I actually believe it would be useful if this was allowed - I've had to use it several times (in spwaw)in the past when my opponent has forgotten to use the slot we've agreed on. Instead of him having to start and play again I could just rename the files. Also, with the reduced number of PBEM save slots in the free version this is even more important.

- trying to play a turn in a different installation

I have an opponent who usually plays one turn at work and then one in the evening at home. With the security in WinSPMBT this would not be possible for him.

I think that these features have been really well thought out by the developers and that they work really well for stopping cheats. At at the same time I believe they are a bit too paranoid and cause too much harm than good, especially since they obviously go wrong occasionally.

If they were more forgiving we wouldn't have to lose a savegame because of some minor mishap or bug. After all, it's only a *game*

Stian

[Pepper]

for the record, my problem was my error -- i was trying to play the game on an incorrect install of spmbt.

now if only i could figure out why another of my games has like 10 fails for each side and I can only explain one on my end ....

[DRG]

Stian said:
When it comes to the security features Andy mentions, I have a couple of comments;

I actually believe it would be useful if this was allowed - I've had to use it several times (in spwaw)in the past when my opponent has forgotten to use the slot we've agreed on. Instead of him having to start and play again I could just rename the files. Also, with the reduced number of PBEM save slots in the free version this is even more important.

It's REALLY not too difficult to agree to use slot "X" before starting the game is it? Allowing players to change slot numbers allows cheaters to florish. It allows players to set up two parallel games. It may not seem a big deal now but cheating used to be a serious problem to the point where people gave up playing PBEM and it's not anymore because of the anti cheating measures introduced. It's one of those " people who forget history are bound to repeat it" type of issues. Yes, sometimes they get in the way of things, that's true of any kind of security. One problem we are having which I think accounts for some of these reports is people are forgetting WinSPMBT is NOT WaW. Different game, Different designers, Different base code. They are not the same game and "procedures" that worked for WaW like renaming PBEM's to a different slot simply does not work in WinSPMBT

Stian said:

I have an opponent who usually plays one turn at work and then one in the evening at home. With the security in WinSPMBT this would not be possible for him.

I think that these features have been really well thought out by the developers and that they work really well for stopping cheats. At at the same time I believe they are a bit too paranoid and cause too much harm than good, especially since they obviously go wrong occasionally.

If they were more forgiving we wouldn't have to lose a savegame because of some minor mishap or bug. After all, it's only a *game*

Stian

The problem with allowing players to play secure PBEM on two machines is because unscrupulous players can play out a turn over, and over, and over and send you the one after they know where all your hidden tanks and ATGM are because they sent out their units on suicide missions the first three times to draw fire and now know where your units are.

If you feel your opponents can be fully trusted to play fairly then simply do not use the secure PBEM. However, all you need is one time where that arty sure seems to be right on target to trigger your own paranoia and it may or may not be misplaced but you'll always wonder if he did cheat. With secure PBEM you never have to wonder if your "buddy" is just a good player or he's been screwing you over.

Don

[wd_katana]

I am having both the same problem I am even getting statments that the obat files are diffent or corupted.
Now please tell me that if you own the CD version you can play other people that have bought the game and people that are using the free download.
mark

[DRG]

wd_katana said:
I am having both the same problem I am even getting statments that the obat files are diffent or corupted.
Now please tell me that if you own the CD version you can play other people that have bought the game and people that are using the free download.
mark

There are a number of OOB changes in the CD version so the OOB's will differ. We had originally planned to issue a patch to upgrade the DL version OOB etc the day the CD was issued but the patch has now grown considerably and is still growing. When it is issued it will upgrade EVERYONE'S game ( DL and CD )

The workaround for PBEM is simple. ( so yes, you CAN PBEM between the two versions )

Decide who's OOB's you are going to use with your opponent.
Zip them up and when you get them unzip them open up the game folders and look for the "Custom OOBS" folder that can be found in WinSPMBT\Game Data\OOBs\Custom OOBS. Build a new folder ( call it katana_PBEM for example ) then unzip the OOB's there. You can then load those OOB's into your game using the "Manage OOB's" feature found under the "Utilities" tab of the gameoptions program that starts before the game.

With that you or your opponent can reload your original OOB's anytime AND load the PBEM OOB's whenever you play.

This may sound complicated the first time but if you do it once you'll see it's not too big a problem. An alternative if to zip up all the CD OOB's and send them to your opponent and have him install them in his OOB folder and Default OOB folder or in a custom folder named CD OOB's and he can load then when he plays

The downside for you ATM is you will have to start this PBEM over becasue your opponent built his side with the DL OOB's and you built yours with the CD OOB's

Don

[wd_katana]

Don thank you for the info and the help
mark

[fossiili]

One simple and probably stupid question:

There is the PBEMRegistry-file in the PBEM Games directory. Shall I include it to the zip-package with DAT and CMT files I am sending to my opponent?

[Pepper]

fossiili said:
One simple and probably stupid question:

There is the PBEMRegistry-file in the PBEM Games directory. Shall I include it to the zip-package with DAT and CMT files I am sending to my opponent?

That is not necessary.