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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ok, anyone donating for tar and feathers or being able to get a good discount?

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Also many states have a government agency that regulates Utility and phone companies. If your state has one you will be able to file a complaint against the phone company.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">There will come a time when Shrapnel will want to consider running game servers as a part of thier business plan. The industry will demand it as more and more game move toward Multiplayer and such.

You could always manage the server Geo, regardless where it is located. Shrapnel could use the fact that they host it as another selling feature for their games.

Sooner or later all, and I do mean all, games will be driven by the demand for multiplayer and Shrapenl as well as other game manufactures will have to wake up and smell the coffee. Why not get an earily jump on the trend and start supporting the genra now?

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Geo,

The offer still stands for me to make a mirror of PBW and share it off the full T1 we have at work. Don't worry, I've alreay asked the CEO and he's OK with it. Ss the senior systems admin, I know we have the rack space, IP address, and most of the spare parts to do it.

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man you guys... remember the server once moved across a few state lines...

did we cry like little childern who had their teddy bears ripped apart by evil brothers/ sisters.

hell yea... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Cable is not an option. I can get cable broadband, but my local cable provider does not offer a static IP, even at a premium. I might be able to get away with running a server since the IP #'s stay pretty stable unless the modem is reset. But I'd have to have the URL repointed occasionally.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">www.no-ip.com? i am with a cable here with dhcp which expires every 3 hours and i have zele.sytes.net pointing on my current ip all the time (given the pc is on http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif )
anyway i think this is good rest for some of us http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

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if your missing it that much, it's a sure sign you need a break.

sheesh. losing a teddy bear is much worse. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

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I still wish this was a for-profit web-site. Maybe people who host games pay a $10 or $5 fee, and other players are free.

I just think if PBW was swimming in money he could afford a T1 line or two, and a backup server. I don't know if Geo loves his real job, but maybe he could work for PBW full-time.

Let's see, 50 new games a month x $10 = $500 a month. Well, OK. Maybe Geo should keep his real job.

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You can always start the PBW club. You know have an annual membership fee of $10.00 and you get access to private area on the server for dedicated players. People you know that stay in games unless something drastic happens.

You could send out T-shirts with PBW on them. A membership kit that includes a subscription to SE IV Gaming News, a monthly newsletter filled with artilces and such. A sticker and a walet sized membership card.

Access to a back up server that mirrors all data from the public server so your games are always up.

A can have a yearly get together, we could call it the SpaceCon. Hold it in a differant city each year and have it dedicated to lan play and 4X gaming in general.

All of this and much more for a generous membership fee of only $10.00 a year. Count me in.

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Hmmm I guess the PBW community is too small for adds. (don´t spam) I know noone likes them but maybe they could help to trickle ina few extra bicks per month, even 50$ helps a little bit...

If nothing else works I say geo should move to the coast of Antarctica, declare an independent country there (hey everyone is doing it) and set up a satellite comm to the net... I´m sure the russians have some spare nuclear powerd comm stats up there... parhaps they would be willing to trade if someone created a mod for them with a communist alien race http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

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Well, I wouldn't think a T1 was needed. Speed was never a problem for me on PBW.

Personally, he should get some reimbursement for his time and have money to maintain it.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Cable is not an option. I can get cable broadband, but my local cable provider does not offer a static IP, even at a premium. I might be able to get away with running a server since the IP #'s stay pretty stable unless the modem is reset. But I'd have to have the URL repointed occasionally.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">www.no-ip.com? i am with a cable here with dhcp which expires every 3 hours and i have zele.sytes.net pointing on my current ip all the time (given the pc is on http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif )
anyway i think this is good rest for some of us http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, but would the realtime client crash everytime the ip was reassigned?

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No joy. The phone company guy came out today and fixed the phone line problem. But still no DSL. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

I called the DSL company back. They said it's passing the line test it was failing before, but apparently there is still a problem. They are sending out another tech to run it down.

They said by Wedsday, but the guy at the help desk said if I call back Monday morning and talk to the dispatch people I might be able to get it bumped up.

The saga continues...

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Arrrrrrrgh!

Let's see, how can I put this....

%*&#&$@&^#&()%$@^

The trouble is this type of runaround is so normal an everyday occurance that it is almost predictable. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

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Well, hang in there Geo! Thanks for dealing with this hassle on all our behalf. The depth of frustration everyone is feeling is an indication of how much the PBW site means to us all. Your efforts are very, very much appreciated!
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">How typical. So I guess the DSL guys found some problem with the phone line so stopped looking for the real problem. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That is kind of what I am thinking happened as well. It's possible this line problem has been around teh whole time and I just wasn't aware of it cause the problem it caused with the voice line was intermittant and minor.

Trying to find the silver lining maybe fixing the line problem will have a positive effect on the DSL performance. When I got it setup originally Last year they had to set it at half speed over what was advertised because the conection dropped all the time when running at full speed. Maybe this will fix that. Or maybe not. Probably won't make a lot of difference for the website either way though.

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Since there may be a faint glimmer of light at the end of this bleak tunnel, perhaps we should start thinking of the logistics of getting the games up and running again. Should we do a reset to one turn prior to the collapse? Set all games to ALPU until everyone gets back up to speed?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is already handled.

All games are already set to ALPU in effect as long as I have auto processing turned off. Even if the game itself is set to automatic turns they will not run.

The great majority of games will not need set back at all. Only those that processed a turn during the 6-8 hours before I could get to the server and turn off the auto processing that day. The small handful that need set back can be handled on a one-on-one basis by the game owner. If they have teh files for each turn they can do it themselves. If they don't they can contact the PBW admins to get the files needed.

Geoschmo

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I have a satellite uplink system that I don’t use much. Should I FedEx it?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rofl. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, but would the realtime client crash everytime the ip was reassigned?</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">i don't know but i believe dhcp lease should Last more than 1 hour and 11 minutes (obviously my isp doesn't have enough real ip addresses) - once or twice per week is normal i think - any case we are waiting for the dsl :-)

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ah you get more with kindness than rudeness. But in time rudeness will get you more than kindness.

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just an idea...

Geo... would it be possible to have a sort of a backup server somewhere else. Perhaps someone here has the means to do this. He/she or their company or whatever could act as the game server in case such an emergency as this one arises... so the game doesn´t shut down entirely.

if its even possible... you´re the programmer you should know

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Say geoschmo, I just read the Last message not this threat from the start but how is the financial situation ? Shall we start to transfer money ?

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and just antoher thing to all people here that are impatient and didnt play for 2 weeks: hosts you can run the game on your computers too http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif dont be so lazy.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm in 5 games. 3 of them are hosted by someone else who is not playing the game. It's certainly not right to ask a person who was kind enough to generate and post a game to also run it when PBW is down. Of the 2 games where the host is in the game, 1 hasn't suggested it to me and the other is on vacation.

I suggested to my KOTH opponent that we run the game manually (after getting the master password from the host) but he pointed out that a person could cheat by knowing the master password. (which is why some games are set up by a "third" person.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Anything is possible. The limitation being fundage, and compatibility. The first isn't so bad if it's volunteer. The second is a little more complicated. I am not a programmer. I maintain the server, but my knowledge of how to make changes to the stuff is limited. About the only thing I would know how to do myself would be stick the server in a box and mail it to someone that had a static IP to plug it into. That's sort of a drastic solution for a temporary problem.

As far as a mirror site, I am sure it could be done, I just don't know all the ins and outs of setting it up.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Donations are always welcome. We currently have enough to cover the month to month expenses for a few monts time, which is good. The remainder stays in an account for unexpected expenses such as hardware failures and whatnot.

Geoschmo

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't feel it is right to lable the hosts as being "lazy".

However much something may be wanted, it doesn't give any person the right to characterize them in this way.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm not sure if someone already answered this, but it's my understanding that there are four copper wires leading from the street to your house: two are used for the phone, and the other two are used for DSL among other things. I wonder if the problem you're having is in the pair of copper wires being used for DSL. That would explain why your voice service still works but DSL doesn't over the same cable.
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">There are two pairs of wires leading from the street to your house. Voice telephony and DSL services both run over all four wires - they are modulated not to interfere with each other. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I see, I guess you learn something every day, thanks!

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Considering it's now nearly 3 pm, I think we might be able to chalk this up to more lip service.

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http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif Darn (we need one crying)

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You mean like http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/cry.gif or http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/bigcry.gif?
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/cry.gif
http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/bigcry.gif</pre><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

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More like http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk...e/cussing2.gif

Phone companies. Can't live with them, Can't live without them.

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Should I call FedEx? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

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Now, THERE are some worthy and applicable icons...hehe.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Geo, we've got the rack space and static IP addresses available. Depending on the requirements, we should have 99% of the parts in stock at work. If it's a x86 application that is. If it's not more than $100 or so, I'll pay for the parts myself to get another server ready.

I don't know about mirroring, but if PBW went down again and assuming the data files would fit onto a CD-R or two, burn the PBW data files and Fed-Ex them over. I could put them on the backup server and post the IP addresses here in the forums.
Once the main site is back, I'd shut down the site, upload the latest files to you then redirect traffic back to the main PBW server.

Just an idea, if you're interested email me.

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Cool Icons http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif all 3 fit http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

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My players are beginning to get restless. What would be involved for me to manually run the turns until the site comes back up? How would I then return the PBW game to the latest turn?

Thank you,
Merry

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It is not too difficult. We used to play by e-mail all of the time. Then we figured out the PBW and realized how great it was.

Anyway...here is the scoop.

You must have a copy of the Last gam file that was sent. (Any will do, but the most recent is best.) Then have all of the players send their plr files to you.

Put them into the save game folder.

Load the program

Load the game

Indicate that you are the host (the Last player on the list.

Put in the master password for the game.

Run the turn.

Send the gam file to everyone and wait for their plr files.

If there are any errors, you can probably sort it out. The most likely problem is that the first round of plr files will not be the right turn. For the players that have the wrong turn, send them the old gam file and ask them to play that turn, even if they have played it once before.

I hope this is helpful.

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Thanks for the advice. Two questions:

1) Change of routine creates the possibility for human error. If someone sends me an old or corrupted .plr file, does the host program generate an error message? I'd hate to sned out a .gam file and have someone say "I want to try again".

2) When the PBW site comes back up, how do I pick up with the latest (manually generated) .gam file?

Thanks!
Merry

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1. You'll get an error message and the option to terminate the current host run to replace the faulty file.

2. On the PBW game admin screen choose "Upload replacement turn manually" and upload the current turn.

No problems.

BTW. All Newbie Galactic 3 Players, the Emergency web site is up for you to upload your turn files, or mail them to me.
If the PBW server get's on-line before the turn is run the turn will be run on the PBW server.
I'm checking to see if i can get the current game files from Geo, in that case I already have almost all player files.

You all got the URL by mail.
The server is behind both a hardware firewall and a NAT router and a software firewall, this should not pose any problem but if you can't reach it mail me asap.

[ August 13, 2003, 07:39: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

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Thank you! I know PBW will run the turn even with old .plr files, So, I upload .gam file and this will show all players as having not yet uploaded their .plr files? (i.e., what happens to existing .plrs from before the PBW went down -- can their existence inadvertently trigger the PBW host)?
Thanks, Merry

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If you upload a replacement turn, I think the old .PLR files are removed an dthe turn you upload will be sent out to all players as a new turn for them to run.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That is correct.

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I don't wish to sound impatient. But, is there any kind of ETA on when PBW will be up and running again, or maybe even an update on what's going on.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">There is a tech at this very moment onsite trying to figure out what the problem with the line is. Unfortunatly that's all I know right now. Assuming they find the problem in the next couple hours, something of which I am confident but by no means certain, the site will be back up and accesable this evening. Once the DSL line is fixed I have a bit of router re-configuiring to do. I can't do that till I get home from work but it shouldn't take too long once I do.

If they can't find the problem with the DSL line, well I don't care to think about that for the moment.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif
Geoschmo

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Take something precious to him hostage, demand satisfaction. Take his Nextel, they all have Nextels.

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... err, what's a Nextel?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif , something masquerading as a phone.