Is anyone actually playing this vs actual people?

[Dime Greenback]

I am playing (and hosting) a PBEM game myself (with simultaneous turns). We started with 11 players, who are by now (turn 93 or so) whittled down to eight, mostly due to dropouts for personal reasons or due to close proximity to a more powerful neighbour...

We do a turn per day (so if you count back you can see we started this shortly after release of SE4).

Compared to Stars! it takes about the same time, except for the bit hosting business, like Aussie Gamer described it. Something like the Stars! Autohost would sure be nice, but doing this by hand is not too much trouble.

BTW, seems I have the same crowd in my game, Possum! Both Yan and Ferendra are still active in my game.

To Raynor: Yes, you can generate a turn even without files from the players. In that case the AI steps in for the missing ones. In my experience about every other day or so one player or the other seems to be unable to send his orders, so this feature is needed.

As I see it PBEM is the best way to play such games, because playing a turn at an advanced state of the game takes far too long for LAN gaming or such. Of course you need to plan for a duration of six months or so to finish a game...

[Triumvir Emphy]

You can process the turn with out a players file, but the AI tends to make a mess of the ship design sets, but that isn't a biggy.

As for finding games, if you over to host a game you will have people beating down your door. I offered to host3 and am still getting emails from people wanting to join.

the only hassle is email tends to less than reliable, but if the gamemaster Posts the zip file on a website or in a yahooclub it should take away that problem.

I have been thinking about running a game, where i don't play, just tweak the AI's once in a while. I found you get nicer games when i run Ai vs Human team play than cut throat, you will also have less drop out.

My biggest grip is that some hosts don't always include all the files for the game, the txt files are needed to check events and combat etc.

If the game is not fast and furious enough for you, join more than one.

[Jourin]

Too me, multiplayer IS hotseat, as the internet is too impersonal and too slow and not as fun to me as face to face. But then I grew up on board games. Get together with my friends and we play hotseat and we have a good time. Also hotseat is Great for playing with girlfriends, wives, and children for it lets you spend quality time with your family and still play a game. With hotseat you can have a family game day and play a computer game. You can't do that with just internet games. For me, if a game does not have hotseat, its not multiplayer, so SEIV is one of the few "multiplayer" games available for me. I did not buy CTP2 because it didn't have hotseat where CTP1 did, and I am very upset and probably won't buy MOO III because it won't have hotseat. I am REALLY enjoying the Hotseat multiplayer games.

[Jason2]

I wish I had someone to play hotseat with

I find multiplayer by PBEM too be tedious and that a normal game would take about a year!

This game has incredible potential ... I envy those of you who can play hotseat. Wish my friends were as interested in strategy gaming as basketball... erk!

[Nitram Draw]

Hot seat is THE way to play. No more missle dance, no more bizzare tactics, no more single ship attacks. Anything you can do to the computer can be done to you!
All I can say Jason2 is find a player near you. You will be amazed how different the game plays.

[Seawolf]

PBEM games are ok too. Especially in simultanous mode. Turn around time can be in a day since everyone can gets their turns at the same time.

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Seawolf on the prowl

[Jubala]

I'm in a PBEM game with 8 human players and 10 AI. 2 or 3 humans have dropped (not completely sure), one because he was virtually innihilated by an AI neighbour early in the game and the other two for real life reasons as far as I know. We're at turn 51 and 7 of the original AI players are dust bunnies by now. We're having a bLast!

I started out writing a game story as play progressed but real life forced me to drop that about 20 turns ago. Hopefully I'll have time soon to go back and fill it in after tje fact and pick up the thread where I left off.

Anyone else writing game stories?

[This message has been edited by Jubala (edited 19 March 2001).]