Is there any interest in a stable Vox Populi LAN/Internet experience?

So we played a round of MP with the 3.6.2 modspack. Ruins, barbs and events turned off, no other particular settings. Small map, quick turns, Pangea plus, simultaneous moves. Besides an early desync after a few turns, the game ran stable until we had a ctd at turn 100 or so. We didn’t go on after that but I’ll update this once I know if that game could be continued after reloading.
 
There's no need to turn off barbs and ruins. They won't cause desync anymore.
 
Hosannah said:
So we played a round of MP with the 3.6.2 modspack. Ruins, barbs and events turned off, no other particular settings. Small map, quick turns, Pangea plus, simultaneous moves. Besides an early desync after a few turns, the game ran stable until we had a ctd at turn 100 or so. We didn’t go on after that but I’ll update this once I know if that game could be continued after reloading.
Click to expand...
We had to reload a save game from a few turns earlier to get rid of the CTD but the game has been stable since then. We played another 50 turns with two desyncs but that’s it. Altogether, it’s a great MP experience so far.
 
Hosannah said:
We had to reload a save game from a few turns earlier to get rid of the CTD but the game has been stable since then. We played another 50 turns with two desyncs but that’s it. Altogether, it’s a great MP experience so far.
Click to expand...
If you have saves + logs activated it could be nice to gather it from both PCs and create a ticket about it on GitHub to fight this CTD and Desyncs.
 
Everybody who's interested in playing multiplayer should consider voting in the current poll. This way, we might be able to raise more awareness for the need to fix MP (which is luckily already happening).

[POLL] Do you play VP in multiplayer?

I'm actually curious how many people play VP in multiplayer.
forums.civfanatics.com
 
Enginseer said:
You can always make your own via

Single/Multiplayer VP Pack + Make Your Own Modpack + Lag/Stability/Crash Fixes + Dedicated Server Fix

Heyo I've created a simple single/multiplayer VP pack - it works for both! Make your own with instructions below. v3.10.14 with hook stability https://drive.google.com/file/d/1chLEY-rFxDN_HB2qHOfrHUx9c9fRNXt5/view?usp=sharing Multiplayer is unstable, if you are using other mods ontop of VP...
forums.civfanatics.com
Click to expand...
I tried, but Firetuner doesn't seem to connect. Have you ever had that before? It used to work flawlessly for me.
 
Very interesting, I have a "Civ weekend" coming up with friends so will likely try the new version - what settings have you played with (how many human and AI players, map type and size, barbarians, etc)?
 
Aad van het Kalifaat said:
Very interesting, I have a "Civ weekend" coming up with friends so will likely try the new version - what settings have you played with (how many human and AI players, map type and size, barbarians, etc)?
Click to expand...
If available the map option "Override AssignStartingPlots" should be set to "No". Personally I play without events but normally they work fine.
If you play with 6 or more players (including AIs) you and your friends should turn off "yield icons" after the end of Industrial era to avoid memory CTDs (even when you play alone vs AI tbh). If you still have them you can lower the graphics of the game (can help).
Barbarians work fine now :)
Quick combat to "on" and Quick Movement to "on" speeds up the game by a lot, especially during the end game.

Keep all autosaves and set one autosave per turn (if you have a problem you can load it without losing more than one turn).

If you and your friends could have logs turned on so you can report a problem on github (if you have one), that might be nice.
 
Thanks for the tips! We will have the weekend in two weeks, then I can share our experience afterwards. We usually play a small map with 4 human and 2 AI players, with barbs on and no events. Would be amazing if you could share the latest modspack around that time too, updated for the version closest to the weekend)
 
Chippy Smith said:
Hi! After playing Vox Populi with friends since 2018, I find it difficult to play the new versions by myself. Unfortunately, my group has had issues with early crashes in newer versions using the "MP_MODPACK" method of playing online multiplayer. Crashes / desyncs have always been an issue, but in older versions they tended to mainly show up in later eras, on larger maps, during AI wars; they were controllable to a degree. Our games in newer versions struggle to get out of classical, with crashes being all but fatal to the save during AI wars in Renaissance or later.

This post isn't me asking for advice on what we as players can do (there are many other threads detailing actions we can do to promote stability with CivV's flawed multiplayer system), but is instead me trying to gauge community interest in remote multiplayer Vox Populi; its stability, as well as its unique strategies compared to singleplayer / human vs. AI.

Do most users here enjoy playing Vox Populi singleplayer more, or with friends? Friends as allies, or friends as adversaries? Do strategies / playstyles differ in viability playing in a multiplayer environment vs. playing against AI, or is the optimal playstyle in Vox Populi the same regardless, just like vanilla Civ V? Is Vox Populi doomed to forever be unapproachable as a multiplayer experience, outside of asynchronized hotseat / play by email? Would a dedicated Vox Populi multiplayer instance improve stability to a noticeable degree, or would the effort yield negligible results? Are Civ V's flaws in its implementation of multiplayer too deep-rooted in the game for players to work around or for modders to improve, short of making a whole new game/executable?

Maybe I could stand to acquire a better understanding of the game and its intricacies, but for me, multiplayer Vox Populi is a much fuller strategy experience compared to singleplayer. I feel like Vox Populi is a dynamic multiplayer game due to the viability of numerous playstyles and their interactions; for every specific action taken against a player by player, there is a tangential reaction that player can employ, often utilizing a different game system. This is to say that I believe the variety of ways in which one can play Vox Populi truly shines in a meaningful way in multiplayer. I think that singleplayer Vox Populi is a more rigid meta when trying to play optimally, and that static environment is almost an antithesis to what makes Vox Populi cool.

As a longtime lurker, it was the establishment of the VP Congress that got me to actually use this account. Having a vote in making this game more polished, with more "balance" and meaningful mechanics, was too enticing; I had to end my lurking ways. However, the feature that I think would make Vox Populi THE strategy experience on PC is functional, user friendly multiplayer. If it's impossible because of Firaxis, or it's because of the amount of work required; either way I understand that it's a lot for unpaid developers to address. The fact that we have Vox Populi as is, with regular updates that improve the experience, is just awesome. It's a prime example of fandom gone right, but can we get much higher? Is there any interest in a better Vox Populi multiplayer?
Click to expand...
I come to this forum once a few months to check if the problem has already been solved. As far as I know, developers would have to release the source code of the multiplayer (?), they released some of the code previously but as far as I remember, that part wasn't responsible for netcode.

I am keen to pay 100 pounds if someone will sort this horsehocky out. I am sure there are more people like me to fund someone.
 
Have you done modpack for the new version? Can you share it? Love to try the fixes it with my friend
Hosannah said:
I tried, but Firetuner doesn't seem to connect. Have you ever had that before? It used to work flawlessly for me.
Click to expand...
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20230718-212732.png
    Screenshot_20230718-212732.png
    499.5 KB · Views: 47
I have one but with: 1) even more ressources 2) 3/4 UC mod;

3.7.7_EvenMore.zip

drive.google.com drive.google.com

I did a complete game with it with a friend. We had 2 CTDs in 350 turns for the non host but we could continue the game by loading the last autosave. Wa also had only one or 2 force syncs (loading screen before the AI could play).

Was a good experience :)

Do not forget to put your map inside Assets/Maps folder on every computer. Even if it is continent for exemple you need to go inside the modpack to find the mapscripts "continent" compatible with VP and copy it inside the Assets/Maps folder for each player.
 
Thanks a lot! Can't wait to try it out this weekend. Quick question: the extra resources and 3/4 UC mods look interesting and we might try to add them to our games, however I was wondering: do you think adding these extra mods may come at the cost of multiplayer stability? We've tried Magnus Mutatio at some point in the past, and it absolutely broke the multiplayer. I'm guessing that with every mod we add, it might increase the risk of destabilizing the game, so perhaps it's better to start without adding those.
 
Even more ressources is fully compatible, and I have no problem with 3/4 UC since its last update.

If you have a loading screen at the end of the first turn do not play the game and start again.If it happens again something is wrong (Maps problem, or someone with a wrong installation of the modpack).
 
Last edited:
seroperson said:
3.7.7 Modpacks are here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DfDLhjBSOAGUOTOojx1_4up_xA0dSb9G
Cross-posting from discord channel
Also looking for feedback on current MP stability, so feel free to post it here or fill a github issue with all the saves and logs from both host/non-host players in case of any desync/CTD.
Click to expand...
Hello,
I had a good session with my friend on 3.7.7 from turn 0 to winning the game at turn ~350.

The most problematic part for us was the 2 non-host CTDs during the AI turn: we both had to delete the cache folder to be able to continue the game (no more CTDs at the end of the turn after loading ), maybe something got corrupted there (cache folder) which triggers CTDs ?
Sadly non-host didn't had log activated so we can't post on github.

For the next game logs (and saves) will be enable for both so we will be able report if we face problems.

The stability is infinitely better now than 6 months earlier, thank you a lot :love:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
Vox Populi or Realism Invictus?
Replies
15
Views
618
rkkn
R
C
Is there a version of Vox Populi that's most compatible with the majority of mods out there?
Replies
7
Views
667
ryanmusante
ryanmusante
J
Can't start a game with Vox Populi
Replies
13
Views
1K
j_kosta
J
O
No city states spawn when using (2) Vox Populi?
Replies
1
Views
357
NigelC
N
E
Events in Vox Populi
2
Replies
29
Views
3K
epicivfreak
E
Top Bottom