Want an easy way to play Civ V online? Say hello to Giant Multiplayer Robot! (GMR)

Okay, will keep my brain on. I can't make it work yet anyway...so...hopefully it will be okay!

Another thought: you might want to have some sort of timezone or play-time (as in when each player will be playing the save(s), usually) clock or chart so players can order themselves so the save travels efficiently around the world.

The_J said:

That was enough for my purpose: https://www.virustotal.com/file/c90...200ecd174f7e9d9ba509d1e8/analysis/1331081620/

Your emails seem legit, the website itself is registered to one which is used here, the geolocation confirms Utah.

-> you have your links back.
Happy civving .

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Awesome! Thanks The_J, I respect and admire your responsibility as an admin!

Onan said:

Okay, so post DL I get the icon on the desktop, but launching it I get the error, GMR encountered a problem and needs to close. I tried re-running the setup program, but same error on launch. Then I removed the program and deleted the setup file, and re-downloaded, but clicking install takes me to the same error. No joy.

I'm running Windows XP, using IE 8. I never got to the point where I could put the authentication key in; and I'd logged in via Steam on the website first, before DLing the app.

Also: how will the system handle multiple games if the save (play this one) always has the same name?

I've sent at least three error reports via microsoft's system. The GMR app took longer than expected to DL / install the first time.

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Hey Onan, I'm sorry the desktop app isn't working for you! I never actually tested it on Windows XP (I don't think I even have an XP box anymore). But I have a few ideas that might help you get it working!

First, when you installed the desktop app from the website did it download a "Setup.exe" file, or did it just launch right into an installation? If it just launched right into an installation, try uninstalling it and then re-installing it from the setup.exe.

Another thing to do is make sure that you have the Microsoft .Net 4 Framework installed which you can download here. The installer for the GMR app should detect if you don't have this and install it for you, but depending on your system that might not always work

Let me know if any of those solutions work for you. Also, do you happen to be running Windows XP 64-bit?

I'm sure we can get this working, and I look forward to playing with you!

Onan said:

This looks like a service which basically takes the hotseat mode and enables it in a way that's a hassle free PBEM or, essentially, a Pitboss service. Very nice. These features might be implemented very shortly...but, knowing Firaxis, your work around might end up being useful/better even after they're released.

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Yep, that's exactly what it does. Really all this is is HotSeat mode in CiV and we help you pass along the save files. I hope that Firaxis implements a proper multiplayer for CiV at some point, maybe with the Gods & Kings expansion! But until they do we've got this nice workaround, and we'll continue to do what we can on our end to make it better

Thanks for the feedback so far, keep it coming! If you'd like to see what enhancements/tasks we have on our to-do list for GMR check out our Trello page.

Onan said:

Thanks for all the feedback, guys, and for checking it out for us, The_J.

I'm in the process of downloading and trying to join a game. Hadn't DLed the app yet, but when I was trying to pick a civ it didn't seem to be changing, just remained on other. So...will try again once the app is installed.

This looks like a service which basically takes the hotseat mode and enables it in a way that's a hassle free PBEM or, essentially, a Pitboss service. Very nice. These features might be implemented very shortly...but, knowing Firaxis, your work around might end up being useful/better even after they're released.

Tabarnak, I'm sure the turn order remains constant. It's not such a big deal as you think, not an advantage at all, really. Look at it this way: yes the game starts with the setup order for players turns, eg 1 2 3 4 5 6. But if you look at the sequence like this, 2 3 4 5 6 1...then player six moves before player 1. Shrug--everyone takes their turns separately here. There are no fast clicks. And on the opening turn, there won't be any enemy units near you anyway. Make sense?

I'll post about your service in a thread of players waiting to start a PBEM...see if we can get you some more traffic. I'm gonna join the Let's Play Civ game...and if that works I'll be 7 of 8. Get on in there, Tab.

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Actually turn orders do matter if it is 2vs1 situation or something like that. 3 will find out that his fortified units are wiped out by 1 and 2, and he can't do anything after that.

Anyway count me one in any future game you guys want to test out

@Onan: Good news! I was able to test out the GMR desktop app in a Windows XP VM and sure enough there was an issue preventing it from running. It turns out XP is picky about the icon file you use for the task tray.

I updated the app on the website with a fix, so you should be able to just run it if you already have it installed (it auto-updates itself) or you can re-install it if you prefer. Let me know if it works for you! I'm excited to see you in a game!

Everything went fine. I know that you can decide the turn order which is nice(less good players playing first?)

I'm ready for a game!

Edit : Good point EEE

EEE_BOY said:

Actually turn orders do matter if it is 2vs1 situation or something like that. 3 will find out that his fortified units are wiped out by 1 and 2, and he can't do anything after that.

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The problem here is not the turn order, it's the 2v1. The only way around that issue is to get yourself an ally who can help!

Oh and thanks Mel. Haven't had a chance to try it again...a bit later probably.

The program seems to have installed fine and to be working...somewhat.

However, I still can't pick a civ properly. Civs won't remain highlighted, so when I hit 'apply' I get an unknown civ (the default). There were no public games showing (is that right, the two from yesterday launched? plus a friend said he created another...so maybe I'm not seeing them for some reason?). I created my own and had the picking civ issue above. Cancelled the game after being unable to pick my civ.

Hmm, I think the Civ Selector probably doesn't work in IE8, and it may be tricky to get it to. However, if you set it to Other, and then set your civ in-game, the website will update with the civ you selected once you submit the first save file.

As for creating a public game, make sure your friend presses the "Public" button on the game details. Alternatively, he could search for you by your Steam Community username and invite you to the game.

I will try another browser.

I couldn't see any games listed at all, not the two I could see previously, not the new one supposedly started (maybe it was private, not sure). I'll see how that works in another browser, too.

And thanks for the game invite...

Onan said:

I will try another browser.

I couldn't see any games listed at all, not the two I could see previously, not the new one supposedly started (maybe it was private, not sure). I'll see how that works in another browser, too.

And thanks for the game invite...

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Hey Onan, try the latest version of FireFox or Google Chrome, those both handle the newer javascript we use great! We'll look into why the civ selector isn't working in IE 8.

Oh and the two public games you saw before have started, that's why they don't show up in the list anymore. I did however create a new public game called "Civ Fanatics" which I invited you to in GMR. You should be able to join it here.

Good luck, and let us know if you need any more help!

Okay, Mel, Firefox worked fine, I seem to have picked my civ and joined the 'Civ Fanatics' game just fine.

Out of curiousity, how often would you say you play a turn in a game with six or more players?

Other comments/requests: When browsing or joining a game, it would be good if you could see not just the players and civs involved, but also the map size, type, game speed, settings, etc.

I'm still curious how the system will name separate saves if you are in more than one game at a time...posts above seemed to indicate saves from your current game(s) would always have the same name in your saved game list.

Looking forward to testing out the service after the game gets started! I also mentioned it over on civplayers...maybe you've already done that too, as you'd already posted at weplayciv.

(Oh and I also tried picking a civ via Safari on my ipad. That didn't work either...but maybe it wasn't meant to. )

Onan said:

Okay, Mel, Firefox worked fine, I seem to have picked my civ and joined the 'Civ Fanatics' game just fine.

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Excellent! I'll wait another day to see if that game gets any more players then I'll start it. Looking forward to playing it with you

Onan said:

Out of curiousity, how often would you say you play a turn in a game with six or more players?

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I actually haven't really played any games with more than 3 people. We never had enough users on our service to do that until we announced this week. We've got 2 games that have been started right now with at least 6 people but the next person hasn't taken their turn yet. They probably just don't know that it is their turn, as they haven't provided an email address to the site so they can receive a notification. I think we'll add a way for a game host to set a turn-limit (i.e. 2 days) and after that limit we'll skip the player. Hopefully the guys that are in 'Civ Fanatics' we'll be more on top of taking a turn.

Once you start taking turns with GMR it works really well, and is easy to stay up on. My guess is everyone is new to it at the moment and not checking their turns.

Onan said:

Other comments/requests: When browsing or joining a game, it would be good if you could see not just the players and civs involved, but also the map size, type, game speed, settings, etc.

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Yes these are great suggestions! I've added them to our to-do list

Onan said:

I'm still curious how the system will name separate saves if you are in more than one game at a time...posts above seemed to indicate saves from your current game(s) would always have the same name in your saved game list.

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When you launch the game from the GMR client to play your turn for a specific game, we download the save file for that game and place it in the HotSeat saves folder and call it '(GMR) Play this one!'. We overwrite any existing file there by that name (which shouldn't matter since you'll never need to load it again after you play your turn). This way, every time you go to play a turn in CiV you always load the file called '(GMR) Play this one!'. This makes it really simple and minimizes the chance that you'll accidentally load the wrong game.

Then after you take your turn and Civ is prompting for the next player to enter their password, you simply save the game with any name at all (default it generates is fine) and the GMR app will catch the save file after it's written to disk and prompt you to submit it as your turn for that game. If you go ahead and submit it, the app will upload the newly saved file to our server and it will move it on your hard drive to a folder called 'GMR Archive', which is a sub-folder of the HotSeat save directory. Again, you'll never need to load that file, and this keeps the file list clean inside of Civ!

I hope that makes sense. It's kind of complicated, but let me know if you have any other questions about it!

Onan said:

Looking forward to testing out the service after the game gets started! I also mentioned it over on civplayers...maybe you've already done that too, as you'd already posted at weplayciv.

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Looking forward to it too! I did post on several forums such as weplayciv, apolyton, civplayers, and the 2k games forums. But please feel free to post there as well! Any extra support will help encourage more people to join and try out the service with us!

They way the saves work sounds simple and elegant. Nice job.

Hmn, if the settings are flexible until after the game is started, then my other suggestion might not make as much sense...though even knowing what settings the host is intending would help people find the type of game they want.

Onan said:

They way the saves work sounds simple and elegant. Nice job.

Hmn, if the settings are flexible until after the game is started, then my other suggestion might not make as much sense...though even knowing what settings the host is intending would help people find the type of game they want.

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Thanks! Ultimately a lot of things are up to the host when creating the game in CiV. But I agree that it would be nice for the host to indicate on the website what they're planning before the game is actually created.

This looks like an interesting alternative to the yet non-existing Pitboss

Do you think it would be difficult to have an option for modded hotseat games ?

Gedemon said:

This looks like an interesting alternative to the yet non-existing Pitboss

Do you think it would be difficult to have an option for modded hotseat games ?

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As long as all players in the game agree to use the same mods then it should work great as it is now. However that requires careful planning before hand. We're planning on adding a way for a host to indicate on the website what mods they'll be using before a game starts, that should make it pretty simple to put together a modded game

This looks like a really sweet service. Thank you so much for making it and good luck.

Some friends and I just started a game, and the feature we could really use right now is easy recovery from user error. A player in this game saved the game mid-turn. GMR robot naturally killed Civ V and (with the player's misguided blessings) sent this save on to the next player.

Now those two players are rather confused and don't know what to do. Granted, this was a stupid mistake, and GMR doesn't need to be able to stop every stupid user decision, but I think a good feature to roll back to a previous turn so we can recover (easily) would be quite useful. In addition to the case of someone accidentally submitting the wrong save, it would be useful if e.g. we encounter a game-ending bug that we need to go back a few turns to avoid, or one of the players accidentally breaks an out-of-game rule we had agreed upon so we wish to have them play their turn over, etc.

A related feature I'd personally appreciate would be archiving of incoming save game files, and not just outgoing ones.


In this particular case I'm thinking the workaround is for player a to load the archived save which was unwittingly sent to player b, end turn, save on the interturn and send that save to player b by email. Then player b can load the emailed save, play it, and end turn and we are back on track. That should work, yes?

Also, hm, I'm having some trouble surrendering (as the last human player) from a test game. http://multiplayerrobot.com/Game/Details/75 if you wish to look into it. Not a big deal or anything, I guess it will just show up forever in games where it's my turn though.