Never Played PBEM... could someone explain the process?

[WaxonWaxov]

Hello all,

I've never played a PBEM game (civ or otherwise) in my life. Could someone explain the process?

Do you only play one turn then email the file out and wait for it to come back to you? Seems to me that could takes ages.... or maybe that's the point.

thanks.

 

[Bevertje]

that's how it works

 

[Netsurfer733]

Woh...you mean it doesn't automatically get sent back to you or anything?? Gotta do it manually/copy and paste it all the time?!?

How is this tolerable...?

Btw: Yes I'm new here, just registered to learn this answer Glad I didn't have to make a new topic for it! (and me + my friend just bought Civ4 as our first Civ game besides Call to Power 2 and we just played our 1st game today...we LOVE it!!)

 

[tals]

If the you set your email address and smtp server in the game (alt d) or the game creator sets it up then when you generate the turn it will auto send it onto the next person. Also when you receive a turn you can just go into it by opening it.

However the downside of pbem in Civ 4 at the moment is it is on a pass the parcel system whereby each player passes it to the next player. This means turns are so slow it is not true. A PTBS server is due out soon which means hopefully turns will be simulatenous and a lot quicker. But not seen any recent announcements or updates regarding this. PBEM at the moment really only works for under 5 people in similar time zone (IMHO) shame because I love the possibility of pbem but really need this PTBS server.

Tals

 

[Netsurfer733]

Ah coolness, Alt+D you say? I'll have to give that a shot. I really only want to do it with my friend so it'd just be 2 players for now so it doesnt seem TOO bad

 

[tals]

2 players will work very nicely - bang in some AI players and very nice. On the setup screen the computer screen icon allows the email etc settings to be set per player.

Although me - with 2 players i'd go for some online simulateneous sessions on Civ 4 - MP goodness at its best

Tals

 

[Netsurfer733]

Oh cpu icon eh? That helps even more

And really quick, what are those simultaneous turns all about? We haven't tried 'em yet and I couldn't find them in the game manual or online FAQ's...

 

[Ashtrix]

Ah you need to read his reply more carefully... the simultaneous turns are managed by a program called pitboss (or equivalent): which hasn't been released yet!!

I am in 4 PBeM games ATM... it is painfully slow, but with a few games on the go, it keeps things more interesting... it would be good if at the start instead of doing one tunr and passing it on, we could do like 5 turns at once and then pass it on... if there was some facility to allow that for the first few 'rounds' it might help get to the nitty gritty earlier.. (but really I am just being pandantic now)

right now i have a good hotseat game going with my wife too, so thats fun way to play multi

 

[Netsurfer733]

Ah you need to read his reply more carefully... the simultaneous turns are managed by a program called pitboss (or equivalent): which hasn't been released yet!!

I am in 4 PBeM games ATM... it is painfully slow, but with a few games on the go, it keeps things more interesting... it would be good if at the start instead of doing one tunr and passing it on, we could do like 5 turns at once and then pass it on... if there was some facility to allow that for the first few 'rounds' it might help get to the nitty gritty earlier.. (but really I am just being pandantic now)

right now i have a good hotseat game going with my wife too, so thats fun way to play multi

Heh well I was just asking about simultaneous turns in general, not by e-mail, but thanks anyway Oh and I did just check out via 1 player LAN what sim. turns are about, they look pretty good except i dunno whatll happen when combat ensues + stuff...

But is that "pitboss" thing being officially released by Firaxis or is it a mod? And I will try out that hotseat now that it has come well recommended!

 

[tals]

Not quite true you can play simulatenous turns now - just not by pbem. Set up a Multiplayer game - I tend to use direct join rather than have the marlarky of going into the lobbys and choose the simulatenous turns. Simultenous turns means just that both players take their turns at the same time. Basically the turn does not occur until all the human players have ended their turn. Works very nicely and as you can save an MP game you can play it over days/months/weeks/years - you choose

Combat - its the same as the usual turn system - you can get players able to move out of danger if they click quick enough etc but the pros easily outweigh the cons

Tals

 

[Netsurfer733]

Ahh so it does kind of have that element of "omg a mounted archer is coming! RUN!" in it??

Actually...I think I might like that if it is, hmmm..... anyway am I right 'bout that?

 

[tals]

Yes pretty much - best way to find out is try it with your friend

Tals

 

[Netsurfer733]

Heh will do...it's just that he has such an incredibly small amount of time so I needa make sure we're all prepped + ready

 

[greg walker]

could someone please help
i am trying to set up my first game of pbem with some friends (also 1st game ) and want to know what i put in the smtp box as i am a complete dunce techically and also does it prefer a certain email address ie hotmail.com

 

[tals]

If you give your isp someone here will be able to tell you what SMTP server it uses. If you are sending from hotmail then I don;t think there is an easy free way. I also had terrible problems sending Civ turns to ahotmail account to the point it killed the pbem game I was playing so i'd not recommend it.

Tals

 

[greg walker]

my isp is aol.com
what about the other players in my pbem do i need to know who there isp is as well?
thaks for the future help

 

[tals]

AOL - ok a quick google pretty much gets the smtp address

http://members.aol.com/adamkb/aol/mailfaq/imap/

smtp.aol.com

Note

The SMTP server requires authentication in order to send mail through it. Just as with the IMAP server, log in using the normalized AOL Screen Name and its AOL Password. You do not need to use the AOL SMTP server, but your message will not appear in your AOL Sent Mail and may be blocked by filters that do not believe AOL members should be sending email without using the AOL SMTP server.

Don't forget for pbem - smtp server address knowledge is not required - its main advantage is when you process a turn it will send the turn automatically through your isp's mail server - if it doesn't have the information you will manually have to email the turn file.

Tals