Hotseat Query - Why is the map revealed?

[MidKnight Lament]

Sorry if this is in a faq somewhere, but my gf and I just started a hotseat game only to find that when we saved and reloaded, the whole map was revealed. At first we thought that it was because she'd saved mid-turn rather than on the message box where you enter your password, but they both seem to do the same thing. Why is it so? How do we make sure the map stays hidden?

Edit: After having a search through AC-General, AC-Help, and AC-Multiplayer I can't seem to find anything about this brought up in the past. Am I missing something really simple here?

- MKL
<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by MidKnight Lament (edited May 06, 2000).]</font>

[LoD]

By any chance, has any of you discovered Secrets of Alpha Centauri or launched any satelite?

If not, what was the complete path to which you saved the file?

LoD

[MidKnight Lament]

We were only about 20 turns into the game, so the answer to the first question is no.

I did change the directory from the default though. The game resides in c:\Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri\saves.

I wouldn't have thought it would make a difference. Particularly as they give you the option to change it. I'm about to be told otherwise, am I?

- MKL

[MidKnight Lament]

OK, I reinstalled it into the default directory, and it seems to working fine for now. Go figure, hey?

Thanks for your help.

- MKL

[Sarxis]

I think it is a bug that occurs every so often; had it happen to me and a couple pbem players once within the first few years of the game. But actually what happened was the map editor was turned on by some unknown force...

[MidKnight Lament]

Ok, it happened again, but a bit differently this time.

We were about 20-30 years into a SMAC hot-seat game, and all of a sudden we could see each others' maps. Not the whole world this time, just each others'. However, the map I could see of hers was actually some turns old, and neither of us could see each others units on the map - just terrain and bases. These maps haven't updated themselves at all (we've expanded a fair bit more since), but if mind worms are active in each others' maps, we can see them. And no, we didn't exchange maps, but it was as if we had.

It's rather frustrating when we're trying to play a proper game against each other. She also started with my comm frequency (not sure if I started with hers), and I thought that was pretty crap too. Plenty of other little things that were annoying too. None of us got messages when anyone was starting SPs - in fact she finished the Weather Paradigm and I didn't even get notified at all!

I know half of these are probably well-known bugs, but they're really to the detriment of a hot-seat game. Very frustrating, and frustrated consumers aren't happy consumers.

- MKL

[joer]

I noticed the lack of notice for SP starts in MP games as well, just the other day. No biggie, it simply means that you have to check the SP screen more often, once you know it.

As for the comfrequencies, yes, that's standard in MP. One way to go around it is to simply agree beforehand that you have to meet before using the comfrequency. I still believe that a minimum of ethics and trust has to exist in every MP game.
Otherwise, you can simply edit it in the alpha.txt file (near the end of the #rules section) of the host. I am convinced this is not a bug.

All in all, both aspects are not so terrible that they destroy or even hinder the game for me, once I'm aware of them. I have never experienced that map problem so far.
(Now, that reported probe notification bug is a completely different issue...)
-joer.

[MidKnight Lament]

Thanks for the help; This forum is quieter than I expected. I suspected the commlink thing may hve been default (otherwise how do you chat to other players?), and your agreement solution sounds pretty good. We'll just know better next time. Same with the SPs. From now on we'll know better.

Any more ideas about the maps, anyone? This is the worst problem of the lot, because a lot of the mystery of finding your opponent is taken away.

- MKL

[MidKnight Lament]

Nobody??

Has anyone had problems in a Hotseat (or even PBEM) game with the map revealing itself?

- MKL

[Helium Pond]

Huh, I didn't know you could turn off the thing that gives all human players each other's comms. But, wow, there it is, right in the alpha.txt. Cool. Thanks for the tip.

Hmmm, just had a thought: has anyone ever actually played that way? It might be buggy, no?
[This message has been edited by Helium Pond (edited May 30, 2000).]

[Adam_Smith]

I have my alpba.txt modified to stop players from contacting each other before gaining commlinks. There are some things about it. In PBEM play it will only prevent you from contacting others. It wont prevent anybody else from doing it unless they have thier file modified. In IP gaming the host must have the file modified or it wont effect the game. It also will not prevent people from calling council before they have gotten all of the commlinks. If you have ever played a large game and someone has called council on year 2110 you have shared the misfortune of this bad programming. To stop this you will have to agree before hand that no one will call council before obtaining all commlinks. As far as PBEM gaming goes I only like to play one on one anyway and I like to start by IP.