Does this mean we can fully automate the game?
 

I'm quite the newbie when it comes to Play by Email or even just simultaneous games. Does this item from Richard's post mean that we can easily fully automate the game for testing purposes?

(Under 1.32 I believe)
23. Added - Command Line: Added an additional command line argument to
launch directly into a player’s turn.

To launch the game and have the host execute the turn
without any UI, use:
Se4.exe "[path + savegame.gam]" "[game password]"

To launch the game and have it jump right into a player’s
turn use:
Se4.exe "[path + savegame.gam]" "[player password]" "[player number]"

Re: Does this mean we can fully automate the game?
 

I believe so, yes. I use one of the commands for my Play by Web server.

Re: Does this mean we can fully automate the game?
 

What would be even better is if we could eventually have a command-line system for creating games--thus (1) preventing mistakes which bungle the automated systems and (2) getting rid of the honor system of not looking at the other players' empires. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

LL

Re: Does this mean we can fully automate the game?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>To launch the game and have the host execute the turn without any UI, use:
Se4.exe "[path + savegame.gam]" "[game password]"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This "works" but it doesn't even pop up a window or progress bar of any kind, and doesn't tell you when it's done. It also does not warn you if a player's turn file is missing, and it will have the AI run the missing player's empire for that turn.

Re: Does this mean we can fully automate the game?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by serpwidgets:
This "works" but it doesn't even pop up a window or progress bar of any kind, and doesn't tell you when it's done. It also does not warn you if a player's turn file is missing, and it will have the AI run the missing player's empire for that turn.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not quite correct. It opens a warning window when there is an old player file (but it does not when the file is missing). I think that it should NEVER open any windows when run like this from the command line.

PBEM helper has support for both, running the host and starting the game in the correct player. The SE4 patch is required for this to work, though.

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PBEM