Teach me!

[Beta]

Was logged in and playing my turn when the server severed (say that quickly seven times...) my connection. Game is not on (cough cough) GS now.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by vondrack

How about designing Civ4 Pitboss to be able to live with something so inherently unreliable as GS then?

Something like a "live ticker" feature that would reinstate the game automatically every N hours, should the GS servers go down in flames... Is it even possible to detect programatically that GS has crashed and the server game needs to be restarted?

The game detects the GS disconnect (and stops the clock ticking!) so clearly this is possible... not sure how easy it is to reconnect automatically (particularly since that would require saving the GS password locally, which currently isn't done).

I don't think it would be difficult to write a program to emulate GS's firewall-busting ability (not firewall busting per se, but it manages the ports better than directip does) ... I presume Firaxis (aka Take Two) has a contract with Gamespy, not to mention the cost of hosting a server to manage the matchmaking. Enough people connect via Gamespy that I don't see them using a small third party server...

[vondrack]

Originally posted by snoopy369
The game detects the GS disconnect (and stops the clock ticking!) so clearly this is possible...

Good catch! It should then be relatively little trouble to add a small code to Pitboss that would try reconnecting to GameSpy every N minutes, should it lose connection.

Or not?

Even such a small addition should generally cut down on Pitboss games downtimes, as reinstating a game would require no manual operation... basically, games would be down only as long as GameSpy would be down.

[alexman]

OK, the game is back up.

The problem with devoting time to improve Pitboss is that MP is only a very small fraction of the Civ4 universe (only about 10,000 usernames registered with Gamespy out of over 1,000,000 copies of Civ4 sold). Of the players actually playing MP, only a very small fraction has ever bothered with Pitboss. So improving Pitboss would basically have to be something that I would do on my free time, and there is not much of that.

[vondrack]

Perhaps if you did it soon enough, it would take about as much of your free time as you'd save by not having to restart the server over and over...

Kidding, of course... but one has to wonder if perhaps there would be more people using Pitboss if it was, like, easy and hassle-free. I find the format infinitely better than PBEM (as a matter of fact, I don't think I am going to ever play a PBEM again).

It's interesting that only 10,000 players have created a CIV account with GameSpy... this does put all things MP in a perspective. It cannot be reasonably argued that more people would play MP if it worked better - because to even find out if it does or does not work up to their expectations, they would have to register with GameSpy...

[vondrack]

::jaw dropping::

snoopy, will you tell us how you did it? Pretty please...

[Andydog]

Definitely something wrong with the game. I'm confronted by a diplomacy screen that won't close and the turn timer is not clocking over.

[Beta]

I log in and it shows that "Gyathaar has paused the game."

[Beta]

Originally posted by vondrack
... but one has to wonder if perhaps there would be more people using Pitboss if it was, like, easy and hassle-free. I find the format infinitely better than PBEM (as a matter of fact, I don't think I am going to ever play a PBEM again).

It's interesting that only 10,000 players have created a CIV account with GameSpy... this does put all things MP in a perspective. It cannot be reasonably argued that more people would play MP if it worked better - because to even find out if it does or does not work up to their expectations, they would have to register with GameSpy...

Yes - am surprised as well regarding the GS numbers. Pitboss is such a brilliant approach to playing the game! I will stillplay afew pbem's for variety - but for anything more than 5 players, and even then - it is pitboss. I suspect few know its true potential. The write-up was in the back of the small warlords manual. And there were/are issues in keeping it running smoothly. But, again, it is a brilliant way of making a turn-based strategy game run faster for games with a number of players. Don' t let it die!!!

[Rommel2D]

MP may be a quantitative minority of the game's user base, but it consists of a much higher percentage of dedicated players that I imagine stay with the game longer than most. Has Firaxis/Take-Two considered going to a nominal subscription fee system for MP to fund more development in this area of the program? $5 a year could (almost ) support a full-time programmer at the current participation level. A more stable and utilitarian MP system would in turn be likely to grow the participation base...

[vondrack]

I'd be happy to shell $20-$30 a year for something that would actually work every time I try to use it...

[Beta]

Ditto. Good idea Rom.

[condor223]

YAY, I found the game, entered my civ, but the game is paused by Guyathaar. I can't take my turn.

[vondrack]

I have paused the game myself unintentionally once or twice, too (even though it was just for a minute or two). For some reason, I keep mixing PrintScreen and Pause keys...

[Gyathaar]

oops.. I must have hit the key by accident..
dont remember seeing a message about it thou..?