Host Wanted!

[Beta]

I concur with Keygen - if you have someone in mind - who is reliable and neutral - then hey!

[Keygen]

Yeah, someone who won't be biased in favor of strategamer and Stratega

[emperor]

I don't quite see how the host can influence the game in any way, and thus why it would matter whether he (or she) is from any particular site. All that the host does is to provide a server to which all the other players can log in. Technically it doesn't even matter if the host is playing in the game, since he still can't log into other teams' civs or get any information on the game that he shouldn't have access to.

[proviisori]

Originally posted by Lord Parkin
I don't quite see how the host can influence the game in any way, and thus why it would matter whether he (or she) is from any particular site. All that the host does is to provide a server to which all the other players can log in. Technically it doesn't even matter if the host is playing in the game, since he still can't log into other teams' civs or get any information on the game that he shouldn't have access to.

Keygen was joking.

[emperor]

Right, I'm not sure how I missed that first time around.

[Niessuh]

Finding a GOOD host should be priority over anything else. Due the whole bunch of people accessing the server, he must save several times a day and keep an eye on it constantly.
I can offer my computer when the current game is over, It's 2760 BC, so we have to wait more than six months...

http://www.civstats.com/viewgame.php?gameid=307

[Keygen]

We're still looking for a reliable and fast in responding person, to host this game.

PitBoss is going to be used so the computer that will host it will have to have static IP and be connected to the Internet all the time.

[emperor]

Originally posted by Niessuh
Finding a GOOD host should be priority over anything else. Due the whole bunch of people accessing the server, he must save several times a day and keep an eye on it constantly.

Actually, it is not necessary to save several times every day manually, since this is taken care of by the Pitboss autosave feature. However, the host does indeed need to be able to log in at least a couple of times a day to check that the game is up (inevitably there are the odd times when the power goes out or the server needs rebooting).

I'm currently looking into a potential host, though if anyone else turns up in the meantime by all means they're welcome to do it.

[emperor]

I'm currently looking into a potential host, though if anyone else turns up in the meantime by all means they're welcome to do it.

OK, Elucidus from the Strategamer site would be willing to host. He is a reliable and active player who has hosted (and is hosting) a couple of games at our own site.

One thing though, he'd like to play on the Stratega team if at all possible. Personally I don't see any problem with this, since the host does not really have any more priviledges than a normal player - he cannot access other teams' civs, nor can he get 'sneak peeks' at the map. (Not that Elucidus would ever do anything like that even if he could anyway, he's a highly respectable player.)

What are the opinions of the majority of the people here though? Elucidus has said that if it's a big problem for people, and no-one else can be found to host, then he'll just host it without being a part of the game on the Stratega team. But he'd prefer to participate if at all possible. (Also, I'm guessing that he'll probably be able to track and fix any problems with connections to the server much quicker if he's taking part in the game himself.)

[Keygen]

Indeed, PitBoss will autosave the latest session for each player as well as each new turn, keeping a backup of the latest 10 or 20 turns (can't remember right now).

Having a second volunteer to host the game wouldn't hurt either

[Keygen]

Originally posted by Lord Parkin

Personally I don't see any problem with this, since the host does not really have any more priviledges than a normal player - he cannot access other teams' civs, nor can he get 'sneak peeks' at the map. (Not that Elucidus would ever do anything like that even if he could anyway, he's a highly respectable player.)

Never had the chance to test this so you mean the keeper of the admin password will not be able to open any player's turn, like PBEM?

[emperor]

Originally posted by Keygen


Never had the chance to test this so you mean the keeper of the admin password will not be able to open any player's turn, like PBEM?

I'm not sure that an admin password is even a necessary requirement for a Pitboss game.

[Fosse]

He can just leave the admin password off and then won't have that as a key to log into people's turns.

I will also vouch for Elucidus being honest and reliable and a great choice for host.

Note for all though, the one thing the host does have is a running chat log of all "Chat to All" messages that have been typed since beginning the game. (everyone can access this in the chat logs, actually) So it's best to restrict your in-game chatting to one person at a time so it isn't public.

[astrologix]

Originally posted by Keygen
Indeed, PitBoss will autosave the latest session for each player as well as each new turn, keeping a backup of the latest 10 or 20 turns (can't remember right now).

Having a second volunteer to host the game wouldn't hurt either

Actually, it's not true Keygen I'm currently hosting two pitboss games for Civfr (french Civ site) and the program only does an autosave at the beginning of each turn. I'm currently doing a manual save 3 or 4 times per day to prevent to lose players moves in case of PC reboots or issues with the bandwidth which sometimes freezes the game.

The host must know the pass admin of the game to load the saved games and can see all the public talks on the pitboss control panel. He can write a message of the day which is displayed in game for each current player when he connects to the pitboss (EDIT : if a short message is set every day, the host can have a real time log to know in which order players are in and is useful to give to players the turn number, for exemple). The control panel don't show the private chats between two players.

[Keygen]

If you go to the following path you'll find that each player's (latest) turn is saved under "Recovery_(player's name) files. These files include PitBoss turns as well.

...\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Saves\multi\auto

Though haven't tested it myself admin password is optional but without it, in theory, everyone can start/close PitBoss or (re)load turns. In practice of course only those who have access to the host's machine can do it, if any.

I personally don't host any game but I have access to a host of a PitBoss, being the only to have the admin password.