Multiplayer Q&A

[munzy76]

Originally posted by PreTzeL_22
If this question has not already been asked:

How are you supposed to finish games, unless they are really short. I doubt people will want to spend ten hours straight in order to do so.... Will some kind of system for saving games be availible?

There are many fanatics that do spend 10+ hours playing in order to complete a game but in Civ2 there was a way to save in mid-game. I bet this will also be in PTW.Also, there are different modes of play that will shorten the amount of time it takes to play a game. I expect to see mods out that reduce the amount of time to research allowing short games that go through the full span of civ techs.

 

[RouTaran]

i forsee myself playing the long games. when i used to play BOTF online, me and a couple friends used to spend WEEKS! playing a single game. For those of your that dont know, botf is a turn based game and it works much like the simultanious mode in civ3. Its just the effort that goes into building up your empire. You put so much of yourself in it.
I think the only time any of us are going to be playing the "short" games are those which we play against/with random people on the net.
With friends im sure everyone will play the long game.

 

[Dantius]

What happens if a person drops out? What becomes of their cities?

 

[Edgar Newt]

I tried for two plus hours last night to successfully launch a MP game through the in-game Gamespy menu. I either crashed each time or was stuck in the "pick a civ" screen, but without my fellow players. All of my attempts were with the 1.04f patch already installed and with my firewall disabled. Others in the "gamespy lobby" were having the same problem. Have people been successful?

By the way, I am well within the the system requirements.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

Edgar Newt

 

[rdomarat]

Do I have to use GameSpy to run a multi player game? I've got four machines in my internal LAN not connected to the internet, and it would suck to have to connect my LAN to the internet and send traffic to GameSpy when all the packets just needs to go through my router.

 

[getdowntonite]

I've reading all of your posts about the game, but I can't find it in stores anywhere. Are all of you playing pre-ordered copies or beta's? Do I need to be patient or order from Amazon.com?

Thanks from the newbie!

 

[taltom]

Hi Edgar,

Did you read the Readme file that came with the expansion to see what steps you might need to perform to connect your computer directly to the internet, in case you're connecting through a router? After following these, setting up port forwarding on my router and putting my computer in the DMZ, I was not only able to play, but I could also host. I suspect the problems I had on occasion were caused by people who tried to join who weren't properly prepared.

 

[Edgar Newt]

I did read it. I don't use a router, just the dsl modem straight to the phone line. I disabled my software firewall and virus programs. Still nothing. Tried hosting a lan game against AI. No problem. Just can't participate in internet games.

So do I return the game to EB or do I trust that a successful patch will be released before that window shuts?

Very disappointed in Firaxis.

 

[RouTaran]

are you sure everyone involved had the patch installed? The same thing happened to me when i tried to play my first MP game The game stalled, i didnt have the patch installed and i think they did. Later on in the day when i played a game with a friend (both had original CD version) game worked fine, we played for over 5 hours! It was too much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

only downside (a pritty big one unfortunately) was that i couldnt sell him units to help his war against the EVIL computer

 

[Chieftess]

Originally posted by getdowntonite
I've reading all of your posts about the game, but I can't find it in stores anywhere. Are all of you playing pre-ordered copies or beta's? Do I need to be patient or order from Amazon.com?

Thanks from the newbie!

Just be patient. Check your local stores, they'll have it eventually.

 

[daheri]

i've heard some rumors saying you cant add AI players in the network games... is this true??? i mean this can't be true!? you have to have ai players in turn based network games if youre just a couple or more human players...

any of you know anything bout this?

 

[taltom]

You can add AI players (to a total of 8 AI + Human players) to turn-based and simultaneous mode games. You cannot add any to the turnless mode games, though.

 

[MrSparkle]

Is double production and double movement in PTW? I really would like to know becuase if they ain't, i probably will not buy it.

 

[Beeblbrox]

Does anyone know if it is worth me as a UK resident waiting for the European release of PTW, or could I just order it from USA Amazon and not see any difference? I'm not really bothered about seeing U's in th spelling of 'colour' in the Civilopedia.

 

[Civanator]

@Beeblbrox- if you want to save money on shipping and handling, wait about a week for the UK version. If you want to spend the money buy the US version, but it probably won't get to you for a week, so wait for the UK version.

@MrSparkle- there is an option for "accelerated production" where the production is basically doubled, but you must go into the editor to double the movement for units.

@Edgar Newt- never disable your firewall and virus programs, just open the nessisary ports to play the game.

 

[Flexmaster]

I've read the posts about opening ports in order to be able to play this game. However, no one seems to say how exactly one goes about doing that.

I'm running Windows XP Professional. No firewalls that I know of except for what XP may have to offer.

Does anyone know how to open the ports necessary to run this game in Windows XP?

 

[Franses]

Originally posted by Flexmaster
I've read the posts about opening ports in order to be able to play this game. However, no one seems to say how exactly one goes about doing that.

I'm running Windows XP Professional. No firewalls that I know of except for what XP may have to offer.

Does anyone know how to open the ports necessary to run this game in Windows XP?

I have not opened any ports on XP myself yet but if you need to you can do it by going to your Internet connection, open properties, open advanced, open settings, services tab, hit add and off you go.

PS: Hope I translated it all well. I have this awfull Dutch version I can not get used to even though I am Dutch. LOL. Anyway, some of the words I use may be different in your case.
Good luck.

 

[Datheus]

If you have dial up, you really shouldn't have to worry all that much about firewalls.

And to everyone that's asked, Yes. The whole MP stability/lag issues are common. The 1.04 patch does help quite a bit with the crash issues, but I've had it crash even with 1.04 running. But even with 1.04, lag is still a horrible horrible problem. I heard someone say that you needed a ping under 100 to play a lag-less game, but I doubt that's true. If you manage to get the game to actually beginning, you'll most likely lag.

But he trick is once the host clicks "Launch Game" just wait (assuming you don't crash) It might be instinct to assume the game froze, but it hasn't Only abort after a few minutes have passed and you're still waiting. you'll have to be patient. Sometimes the game will just load. Other times you stare at the main menu for a while.

I've seriously considered returning this game, but I don't know that my local store accepts returns do to piracy I'll just have to pray on a patch that fixes all the problems. This is certainly the last time I buy a Firaxis game.

 

[Barberja]

CompUSA is selling PTW for $ 19.99 this week. A local EB store priced match for me. Also, Best Buy should have it.

 

[betheballdanny]

Are you able to pause a game?