PBEM Question

[vitamin j]

Hi All!
I've been lurking for several months. Learning a lot on these boards. Man, I love you guys! Anyway I've yet to play a pbem
and have some questions about the procedure, being mostly computer illiterate. If someone would be so kind as to post a sort
of flowchart-like list of things to do, I'd really appreciate it. Like how to get a game, how to retrieve it and send it, etc. If it seems
to obvious to you, that's the kind of stuff I'm looking for! Also maybe a short explanation of how diplomacy works via e-mail (in
the game itself- ex. how would a treaty be completed) If someone would at least point me in the right direction that would be great. Thanks in advance.

vitamin j

[cbn]

To join a game contact Tau Ceti or maybe even look at one of the threads for replacement players. Once you are in a game

1. receive turn by email-- download it (I have a specific directory for Smac downloads which is now my default)
2. Unzip the turn using winzip or other such program ( Noting which directory you send it to
3. Start AC (I usually exit out of other programs first )
4. Follow and cliclk on the prompts which IIRC are

Multiplayer
Load Multiplayer Game
Load Hotseat/email game

5. Then select the filename of the game you want and click on it
6. The turn will open (perhaps prompting you for a password)-Hit OK -- NOT "save and exit" of course
7. Play the turn as in SP
8. Hit Turn Complete (you may see some AI movement now)
9 Hit save and exit-- naming the file to go to the next player-- I generally use very specific filenames which include the alias of the person I am sending it to but thats a personal choice
10 zip and send the file as an attachment to the next player


Diplomacy

With the AI diplomacy is exactly as you are used to in Single Player. But with other humans the diplomacy box is totally different. The nature of the game is such that you cannot get a response until you get the next turn. I offer a treaty and hit accept-- the next player on his turn sees the offer and hits accept and I get a notification next turn that my diplomatic offers are accepted. For this reason , many players do their negotiations by email before making the in-game deals so they do not waste several turns on in-game dickering. Its really easy to understand when you open up a game.

If you wish , I could send you a turn from one of my old games so you could go open it ( you will see how easy it is) and check out the diplomacy screen. Just specify Smac or Smax and email me at sharris41@hotmail.com and I'll send a turn or two along. You can fiddle with them to get the hang of things before getting into games of your own.


The biggest difference is warfare and movement in that you often do not get to see what killed your unit. You get a screen message telling you but it just doesn't seem the same. Likewise you may not see the ship that has slipped past your ship while in SP you get to see an AI unit that comes into visual range even if it slips away again. In multiplayer all you see at the end of your turn is the moves of any AI controlled factions that play between you and the next human in the turn order.

Hope this helps-- I really think that you will find all this to be real user friendly and the best thing I can recommend is to play around for 10 minutes with an esablished PBEM turn and you will have the hang of it

[vitamin j]

cbn - thanks a lot! you're response was exactly what i wanted. now i just have to fiddle around with outlook express a little bit.
maybe i can handle that!
regarding the combat/movement thing: i would've thought you might get a "last reported sighting" thing for units that made contact with your sensor/sight range during someone else's turn...no such luck, eh? anyway, thanks again.

vitamin j

[cbn]

"fiddling with outlook express"

Many players use accounts at yahoo, hotmail, msn or other internet email for these games-- while these accounts cannot be used to get a username on the board they are what most people use for game turns-- Its what I do so that my work and home emails do not get congested with game stuff-- Game turns can get quite large later on!!

(It also prevents having to change email addresses when you change jobs or internet providers)