Improved Multiplayer

[Maltrease]

Sometimes I get really anxious for the next turn in a multiplayer game and it is hard to wait until everyone else finally gets around to submitting their turns.

Maybe with the next patch it would be possible to play a multiplayer game as much and whenever you want without having to wait on the other player to submit there turn.

Of course I don't want to play against any AI. I still crave the clever tactics and diplomacy that only a real human opponent can provide. The game would need to know exactly what each player would have done if they submitted their turn on time.

Since I manage programmers for a living I know this actually wouldn't be very hard. In fact I even started the process for Illwinter.

Pseudo code:

function turnGeneration() {
...
if(opponentTurnExist) {
//use submitted turn
} else {
generateExactOpponentsTurn();
}

//TODO write generateExactOpponentsTurn()
...


Hopefully this will get added. Because it would really make the game a lot better!

[Gandalf Parker]

Im not sure what you are wanting.
You want stale turns to be treated as though they were AI, then back to everyone being a human player?

[Maltrease]

Right! Say you and me are playing a game together.

We start off just fine. But then some stupid RL issue pulls you away from the game. Then computer would step in for you so I am not forced to find a more productive use for my time.

The computer would play and do exactly what you would do. So when you come back your plans are not interupted. Later I might need to do something else and then the computer would step in for me.

[Strages Sanctus]

He's joking, you silly wizard

[Maltrease]

Oh.. and not exactly a stale turn. More like. I got my turn in, I want a new turn to play NOW, so the computer would take yours for you. As long as the computer did exactly what you would have done anyway its not like you missed much.

I SUPPOSE I could wait like 5 or 10 minutes after I submitted my turn before I would demand a new one. That would give you some time to do your turn manually if you were available.

[Agrajag]

And how exactly would the AI do exactly what you would have done anyway?

Or is this just a joke like Strages Sanctus is implying

[Maltrease]

As a programming manager it is not my job to figure out how to actually do things, only to assign the job. As you can see from my first post I already mapped out 95% of the task. All that needs to happen is the creation of the generateExactOpponentsTurn() function.

[Manuk]

Maybe you can play infinite MP games if the AI does it for you. But I suspect you will lose most of the time.

[Maltrease]

Gandalf, perhaps my post is a bit of a joke. I have a few minutes to kill while eating lunch and I DO NOT have any MP games available where I can submit a turn.

So I thought I might put on my pointy hair hat and kill a few moments.

Your idea is interesting... and I know it has been talked about before with having an AI fill in temporarly for a stalled player. So to possibly bring "value" back to the thread maybe that is an area of discussion.

Even if you were only able to que up troops, or tell the AI somehow hire mage commanders and set them research while you are away it would be useful. You would still be hurting badly by missing early turns, but later in the game if you are not actively at war you might do just fine missing a few turns this way.

What would be really GREAT is if you could set yourself to this mode manually (toggle it on or off). If you know you won't be able to take turns due to a vacation or other commitment you can turn yourself to autopilot. Then you don't need to find a temp player or make everyone else in the game wait for the timer to run out before a new turn is generated.

Perhaps that is a more reasonable request then my initial one. OF course if Illwinter does want to implement my orginal idea I would not complain.

[TwoBits]

Hey, being able to que commanders seems to be a simple and wise addition. The bare minimum you should be allowed to do if you know your host will need to "force" a turn or two while you're gone...