Any progress on TCP/IP connection.

[Yonkyu]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses.
To Suicide-junkie: Yes I would love to have serial tactical combat included, but I figured that would be WAY to much to ask for now. And the PBM site is OK but not much of an improvement to me. I still have to wait much longer than with a direct connect it still depends on the e-mail response time which can be real slow.
To yojimbo: I agree completely. Tactical combat is really essential for a complete feel to the game.
To possum and Gera (good to see ya here, bud): it is indeed a sore point with me to.
And finally to Will: Uh, as I am new to this forum, do you work for MM. If so, I think Aaron can speak for himself and doesn't need a "bodyguard". I realize the amount of effort that is needed to keep a game like this going but the IP connection issue is not difficult. There are many tools out there now to do the trick with minimal additional programing. I appreciate your input but the original question stands (unanswered): What is a rough time frame for adding an IP connection? And from the sounds of others, I think drones are way down the list of priorities.

[Dracus]

This was address once before,
TCP/ip was never truely promised to be added to the game. It was stated as something they would like to do sometime in the future.
So to answer your question there is no timeframe and may never be a timeframe to add this.

[geoschmo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Yonkyu:
And the PBM site is OK but not much of an improvement to me. I still have to wait much longer than with a direct connect it still depends on the e-mail response time which can be real slow.

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This is incorrect. You can't have actually played a game there with your buddies and still think this. You really should try PBW. You will be suprised if you give it half a chance.

You don't have to wait for email. You can download your files directly from the website and upload directly to it. You can literally play as fast as you all can get your turns done. There is a little more clicking than you have with a persistant TCP/IP connection, but it's just as fast once you get the flow. No email lag at all cause you aren't using email.

geoschmo http://seiv.pbw.cc

[Dracus]

I have to agree with geo there,
the pbw can work just like tcp in a sense.
You all can upload all your turns to the site and a minute later download your turn, repeat. no waiting for e-mail. I ran 10 turns in a test game this way before the e-mail sent me the 1 turn.

I think for tcp to truely work in this game, you would have to code the game so that the player who set up the game was always the first player and the others would have to join in turn. once the required number of players joined then the host would have start the game. the game would have to be able to link to all the copies of itself on each system. Sounds like a lot of coding.

[geoschmo]

I one important way, PBW is actually better than TCP/IP.

In a TCP/IP game, what happens if the host has isp problems, or has to leave the game to work. I suppose you could save the game and pick it up later.

But then what happens if the host gets wiped out in the game? Is he/she supposed to stay on line so the others can keep playing?

With PBW you don't have to worry about that cause the server is the host. If a player leaves, the others can decide to stop and come back later, or they can go on without him and let the ai do it, or they can even find a replacement to take over for him.

Just something to think about.

geoschmo

[Gera]

Click "End Turn". Select option to keep game open or to close it. Use preferred method to upload files to PBW site. Scan for game files. When available, download files. Load into SE4. Play turn. Repeat cycle.

Yeah, that sounds a lot better than true TCP/IP where you only click "End Turn" and the game notifies you when the next turn begins.

As to some of your other comments, many people only play multiplayer games with only one other person. If the host gets eliminated, the other player wins. Schedules are not an issue. If one player has ISP problems, postpone or play by modem. The solution to the problem should accomodate this type of play as well as play of larger Groups.

[geoschmo]

Gera,

In my post I acknowledged the extra clicking. I was simply stating that there wasn't the email lag to deal with that the other person was talking about. I was strictly talking about the speed of play. It's not perfect, but nothing is.

geoschmo