Civ4 PitBoss Available

1) yes they have to play in order and remember to hit the End Turn Button

I think what he is implying is that if you don't hit the end turn button then your turn is lost - its not so clear as the other formats where it is obvious what needs to nudge the game forward. I'd almost want it to ask if I want to end my turn when exiting if an end turn hasn't been done already.

Tals
 
If anyone is running pitboss on a LAN i'd love to see some specific testing regarding joining a game when someone is joining for the first time - i.e game is setting up and also when they are loading their turn. I suspect connection maybe more difficult at these times, could get better the higher the processor - not sure how possible it would be to increase the retry time to save the possibility of timing out.

Tals
 
If someone could figure out WINE or the devs could compile it with Winelib or something (dare I wish for native?) and get the server app onto Linux that'd be wonderful. I just don't know anyone that runs a windows server. In any case, it'd be a huge hassle to rile one up and manage it just for Pitboss. At the very least please make sure it gets ported with the Mac release this spring/summer.
 
I won't be installing this on any of my Windows 2003 servers here as I'm not about to put the game and DirectX on them just for this. I may try to just copy the install files across and see how that works, but I'm not sure that it's worth the trouble to only be able to host one game per server.

If the server gets reset/crashes does the game persist? If so I may consider running it on a spare XP machine. With the security patches coming from MS even a stable server gets reset more often than the length of time that I would like to see the games last, or is this just meant for quick games? I'd like to be able to use it to help manage PbEM style games which normally last for many months.
 
tals said:
2056 - not sure whether tcp or udp so did it for both.

If PitBoss would just support a port number as an option when you start it, then you could at least think about running multiple copies on a single server if you have multiple IPs available (by forwarding each IP to a different port on the same machine).

But it would really make more sense to make the port configurable (at least in some range), and let the players specify both an IP and port to contact. It could still default to 2056.
 
I'd agree - multiple ports would be very useful and also the ability to host multiple sessions. That said I am concerned re possible connectivity issues - which would get worse once you start hosting multiple games.

Not sure why people keep mentioning running these on fully blooded servers - pitboss will work great on the old bit of junk you have scheduled for the waste disposal so load it on that :) However I would agree Linux port would be useful.
 
Picturtle said:
You have to click on the Change MOTD button, it'll pop up a dialogue that allows you to type in a new MOTD.


doh...I guess I thought that when you clicked on that to make it change to what you typed in the box. Thanks

cmonster
 
KayEss said:
If the server gets reset/crashes does the game persist? If so I may consider running it on a spare XP machine. With the security patches coming from MS even a stable server gets reset more often than the length of time that I would like to see the games last, or is this just meant for quick games? I'd like to be able to use it to help manage PbEM style games which normally last for many months.

It is as persistant as your last save - however at the moment the auto save does not appear to be implemented so it is down to the admin to ensure the games are being saved - easy to achieve - just click the save button on the server screen. I would see a pitboss server running for months ala a pbem game but with that lovely simulateneous turn option.

Tals
 
I see that the Pit Boss server does not require a very high end computer to run. I don't have a junky old PIII or anything lying around to dedicate to pitboss but I do have a second computer that is occasionally used for multiplayer gaming and frequently used for internet access (web browsing, yahoo email) for my wife while I am gaming on the main computer. Would the pitboss server run ok in the background of a mid-range computer while someone is playing Counter Strike Source or some other such high end game?

Here are the specs on this second computer:

AMD Athalon XP 2100+ (1.74Ghz)
Saphire Radeon 9600 256MB
768MB DDR PC2700 333Mhz
80GB Western Digital 7200 RPM, ATA-100
 
My experience with PitBoss (after 2 days).

-

The Black Roses PitBoss (you've probably seen it in the lobby)

PitBoss is running on my Media PC (Athlon 2200 XP; 1GB RAM; *wireless conx).

0. Under ideal conditions, PTBS seems to run very well. In a couple test games with random players it felt just like a normal MP game (except for the 24 hour deadline which freaked out a few joiners.)

1. *The wireless conx is important as PTBS will crash if the machine loses its conx even for a minute. Unfortunately, this machine does lose connection a couple times per day (due to either DSL or Router reset, or some mysterious loss of wireless connection that requires manually "repairing connection." - any ideas here? If windows knows the connection needs to be repaired why can't it do it itself?).

PTBS needs some exception catching, so whatever process it is hanging on will not lock up the server indefinitely, even after the connection is restored.

2. Auto save DOES seem to be working. PTBS saves after every complete turn/round is finished. That means it saves after everyone has completed their turn for any given round; not after each player has submitted his orders.

In short, so far so good.
 
Personally I wouldn't run anything like that whilst playing Counter Strike or the like - for one at Turn Gen it has been reported CPU hits 100% so you will feel it.

Tals
 
tals said:
Personally I wouldn't run anything like that whilst playing Counter Strike or the like - for one at Turn Gen it has been reported CPU hits 100% so you will feel it.

Tals

Thanks Tals

Im now thinking of getting a cheap $100 off lease 1ghz PIII to run pitboss server, and to play MP3's in my basement rec-room.
 
Out of interest does anyone know how big the transfer file will get with a huge game with 18 players on the end game stages. Does the file keep growing?

Tals
 
What could be quite neat - not sure how easy it would be to achieve but have the game produce an HTML page this page would show:

Current Players - which have submitted which haven't
Their scores
Current Game Turn
Turn to next one

And various others ones. Then anyone could see the current game status.

Tals
 
tals said:
Out of interest does anyone know how big the transfer file will get with a huge game with 18 players on the end game stages. Does the file keep growing?

Tals

The file should keep growing. I play massive games, modded to be about 10x that of a standard game.. and the save game hits over 2 meg late in the game.

I have a question about the server. I take it I cannot play Civ (like a solo game) whilst running a PTBS server?
 
Great_Scott said:
The file should keep growing. I play massive games, modded to be about 10x that of a standard game.. and the save game hits over 2 meg late in the game.

I have a question about the server. I take it I cannot play Civ (like a solo game) whilst running a PTBS server?

Pitboss has no effect (as far as I can determine) on your running of other games at the same time.

Tals
 
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