Setting up a TCP/IP game

[Leon Trotsky]

A few TCP/IP questions:

Does the "rescue faction leader" Probe Team mission work with fellow humans? Does it require SMAX?

How come units randomly disappear, or that Alien Artifacts pop up in my bases? Would running SMAX instead of SMAC solve that?

How do you eliminate unused/AI slots? My comrades and I have been creating scenarios, eliminating their factions within the editor, and then launching the map. Is there an archive of "virgin" (unedited) random maps with enhanced start locations? (nobody in fungusville, nor three factions in a continent that would barely fit one).

Are TCP/IP and hotseat savegames interchangeable?

Is there a way to turn on battle confirmation, or to slow down combat?

I think I had a couple more, but I forgot them...

[Xian]

Here is a very nice map with custom staring points for the type of game you describe

Much larger and an excellent distribution of rescources

One more question: Does anyone know how to save and reload a TCP/IP game?

[Kyttn]

You can save a tcp/ip game just like any other SP game. When you want to start playing again, whoever saved the map must host a game, and select Load Game as the map type. You can carry on playing frmo where you left off, and switch teams if you feel like it

[Lazerus]

Re: Setting up a TCP/IP game

How come units randomly disappear, or that Alien Artifacts pop up in my bases? Would running SMAX instead of SMAC solve that?

If somebody retires a design in an IP it can cause all units of that type of all players to vanish (so tell everybody not to do it with formers !!! which i've experienced)

Are TCP/IP and hotseat savegames interchangeable?

Yes, a hotseat is just a PBEM on the one computer and it's quite common for people to IP play the first 40-50turns and then switch to PBEM for more thought on the later turns. When you're done with the IP the host should save it, from there just load up the file on the hotseat/PBEM option.

Is there a way to turn on battle confirmation, or to slow down combat?

Turn simultaneous moves off, means you'll be sitting waiting for the other player to click turn complete before you can do anything though. Generally its a good idea to play with it on, then as soon as people meet turn it off, allowing for combat to be initiated fully by the attacker. Otherwise the attacker could attack with 1 unit then lose everything because lag prevented him moving more units which were destroyed by the quicker clicking defender.

[Leon Trotsky]

Re: Re: Setting up a TCP/IP game

Originally posted by Lazerus
If somebody retires a design in an IP it can cause all units of that type of all players to vanish (so tell everybody not to do it with formers !!! which i've experienced)

I am aware of that bug, but didn't that only happen with basic unit designs? Besides, what happened is that a infantry unit of mine just disappeared the moment I unloaded it from a foil.

Originally posted by Lazerus
Yes, a hotseat is just a PBEM on the one computer and it's quite common for people to IP play the first 40-50turns and then switch to PBEM for more thought on the later turns. When you're done with the IP the host should save it, from there just load up the file on the hotseat/PBEM option.

And I thought I was original for proposing that to my buddies... oh well.

Originally posted by Lazerus
Turn simultaneous moves off, means you'll be sitting waiting for the other player to click turn complete before you can do anything though. Generally its a good idea to play with it on, then as soon as people meet turn it off, allowing for combat to be initiated fully by the attacker. Otherwise the attacker could attack with 1 unit then lose everything because lag prevented him moving more units which were destroyed by the quicker clicking defender.

Simultaneous move... it's been ages since I've last heard of that one. We only attempted to play with that once, but quickly changed our minds. Still, we don't get to see the battle odds, despite the preferences menu dictate that we should.

Also, is there a way to control the semi-accelerated start in TCP/IP games? Maybe this isn't that normal, so I'll explain: in the games we have been playing, the first base gets a population of three, recycling tanks and recreation commons. More problematic is the fact that every player is given a random number of techs - we had to restart a game in which the university player began with five techs, industrial base among them.

Also, how do we fix the colour schemes?