lukasbradley
Chieftain
C3C Server- Why wasn't this done?
Pardon me for being presumptuous in this thread, as I am assuming many things. First and foremost, that this topic has not been covered recently, nor was it mentioned in the C3C Requests, Fixes and Changes Forum. Part of my disdain for the C3C expansion resides in the lack of a feature so simple, it boggles my mind that it has not been included. I wished for it back when Civilization 2 was first mentioned in magazines. After that, I assumed Civ 3 would have it. Then I waited for Play the World, and was still disappointed. Finally, after so many pre-reviews and announcements promised to fix all the multiplayer problems of the past, I assumed it would be included in C3C. To my extreme displeasure, it has not.
What Im thinking of is a CivServer utility. Like most other multiplayer games, a server-based utility exists to facilitate gameplay. Instead of a single player acting as host, the server becomes the central communication point to the game. Instead of a single game state being maintained by a player host, a CivServer could maintain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of simultaneous games. If someone needs to drop from the original game, they may log back in at any time and finish their turn. The server could automatically email, page or instant message the next participant that it is their turn. Since the game state is maintained by the server, a game can take as long as it takes. One player doesnt need to quit because they are being summoned to dinner, or because it is 3am and they need sleep. Games can go on like chesstaking weeks or months if need be.
It seems blindingly ignorant that a program such as this does not exist. With games that can last days and weeks, it would be impossible to play a traditional game online with multiple people. The closest thing feature to what I am describing is Play By E-mail, the asinine notion of emailing a saved game round-robin to all players. This approach is extremely cumbersome, especially when the communication model is already streamlined for live multiplayer play. Also, Play By E-mail is very susceptible to cheating; an international tournament would be impossible. Hacks would be devised nightly, and there would be no way to monitor moves until an entire round was completed.
I do not believe the Infrogrames, Firaxis, or Atari companies are filled with bad designers. After all, they have presented us with arguably the best strategy series of all time. However, the lack of this function is overwhelming to me. Do they have a relationship with GameSpy or some other entity that prevents this? Is there a strategic benefit to its exclusion? Truly, I can find no reason why.
C3C does offer a set of game-play upgrades I do enjoy. However, it does not warrant replacing Play The World as an expansion pack. As far as the multiplayer aspect is concerned, the only new offerings are the handful of new civilizations. In short, I think this expansion back is a sorry attempt to wrench a few more dollars from a user-base for a company that has touched over $200M in debt.
This lack of functionality is not without solutions. As a software developer, I believe it would be fairly straightforward to create a CivServer open-source project. It would include all the functionality I described above, and more. What is presently missing is the current communication standard between players. Does anyone have information regarding the nature of the messages sent from player to player?
In short, I wanted to offer my criticism of the expansion pack, and offer a possible solution. Perhaps this issue is now being approached, and a solution is only a matter of time. If not, and some of you are also interested in a CivServer, please contact me. If you have information regarding the communication protocol of Civilization clients to a host, I would be extremely interested in hearing from you. Please contact me at the email address at the bottom of this message.
Thank you.
Lukas Bradley
lukasbradley@hotmail.com
Pardon me for being presumptuous in this thread, as I am assuming many things. First and foremost, that this topic has not been covered recently, nor was it mentioned in the C3C Requests, Fixes and Changes Forum. Part of my disdain for the C3C expansion resides in the lack of a feature so simple, it boggles my mind that it has not been included. I wished for it back when Civilization 2 was first mentioned in magazines. After that, I assumed Civ 3 would have it. Then I waited for Play the World, and was still disappointed. Finally, after so many pre-reviews and announcements promised to fix all the multiplayer problems of the past, I assumed it would be included in C3C. To my extreme displeasure, it has not.
What Im thinking of is a CivServer utility. Like most other multiplayer games, a server-based utility exists to facilitate gameplay. Instead of a single player acting as host, the server becomes the central communication point to the game. Instead of a single game state being maintained by a player host, a CivServer could maintain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of simultaneous games. If someone needs to drop from the original game, they may log back in at any time and finish their turn. The server could automatically email, page or instant message the next participant that it is their turn. Since the game state is maintained by the server, a game can take as long as it takes. One player doesnt need to quit because they are being summoned to dinner, or because it is 3am and they need sleep. Games can go on like chesstaking weeks or months if need be.
It seems blindingly ignorant that a program such as this does not exist. With games that can last days and weeks, it would be impossible to play a traditional game online with multiple people. The closest thing feature to what I am describing is Play By E-mail, the asinine notion of emailing a saved game round-robin to all players. This approach is extremely cumbersome, especially when the communication model is already streamlined for live multiplayer play. Also, Play By E-mail is very susceptible to cheating; an international tournament would be impossible. Hacks would be devised nightly, and there would be no way to monitor moves until an entire round was completed.
I do not believe the Infrogrames, Firaxis, or Atari companies are filled with bad designers. After all, they have presented us with arguably the best strategy series of all time. However, the lack of this function is overwhelming to me. Do they have a relationship with GameSpy or some other entity that prevents this? Is there a strategic benefit to its exclusion? Truly, I can find no reason why.
C3C does offer a set of game-play upgrades I do enjoy. However, it does not warrant replacing Play The World as an expansion pack. As far as the multiplayer aspect is concerned, the only new offerings are the handful of new civilizations. In short, I think this expansion back is a sorry attempt to wrench a few more dollars from a user-base for a company that has touched over $200M in debt.
This lack of functionality is not without solutions. As a software developer, I believe it would be fairly straightforward to create a CivServer open-source project. It would include all the functionality I described above, and more. What is presently missing is the current communication standard between players. Does anyone have information regarding the nature of the messages sent from player to player?
In short, I wanted to offer my criticism of the expansion pack, and offer a possible solution. Perhaps this issue is now being approached, and a solution is only a matter of time. If not, and some of you are also interested in a CivServer, please contact me. If you have information regarding the communication protocol of Civilization clients to a host, I would be extremely interested in hearing from you. Please contact me at the email address at the bottom of this message.
Thank you.
Lukas Bradley
lukasbradley@hotmail.com
