PBEM FAQ and Index Thread

[kobayashi]

What is PBEM?
PBEM is an acronym for Play By E-Mail, which is how people used to play non-live multiplayer games before forum members were allowed to attach saved games to their posts on the forum. Now it is more common to use a forum thread rather than sending saved games by e-mail from player to player.

What version of Civ2 do I need?
You must have MGE (Multiplayer Gold Edition) and this should be upgraded with the latest patch so all players have the same version number (i.e. ver 1.3).

If you own TOT or an earlier release of Civ2, have no fear. Look no further than here to solve your problems.
http://www.civfanatics.com/civ2cedric.shtml

What kind of scenarios are suitable?
The initiator of a game would normally pick a scenario that was made either for MGE or FW (Fantastic Worlds) after playing it as a single player first. This PBEM scenario should satisfy the following criteria:

1. More than one of the tribes can be played – so something like Cruel Sea would be out of the question.
2. All the tribes being played should be balanced – scenario designers typically include at least one super-powerful AI tribe that should be excluded.
3. There is only one set of files – a scenario with multiple stages, a different events.txt for each tribe or seasons is possible but very messy.
4. Don't use scenarios which start with only one or a few cities - it will take forever before the game becomes interesting. For this reason, it is possible but not common to play a standard Civ2 game via PBEM.

How do you start a game (forum procedure)?
Begin a new thread titled “XXX PBEM” where XXX is the name of the scenario. In the first post, include the full name of the scenario you have chosen and the version number. Tempers will flare when players discover they are playing different versions. If there is no difficulty level mentioned, it is assumed the difficulty level recommended by the author will be used. At this stage you should also set house rules like “No nukes” or “Do not take any advance other than the one the AI offers you in negotiation”. If there is more than one option for the events.txt or rules.txt, state the version to be used. Then list down all the tribes for the scenario in the order that they appear in the actual scenario, like so

Federation – Me
Klingons – Open
Romulans – Open
Neutrals – AI
Orions – AI
Borg – AI

Other posters will indicate their interest to play as certain tribes and after a while the game can start.

Note: As PBEM games are slow, it is often better not the have the full number of players. 3 or 4 would be optimal.

How do you start a game (game procedure)?
The player who plays the tribe highest in the list starts a new multiplayer game and pretends that he is starting a scenario on a Network (a one player network is still a network). There are a few other menus where you need to pick options but they are more or less irrelevant. Just to be consistent, always choose Network game with TCP/IP. Then start the game without waiting for other players.

All players should consider assigning a password so that other players will not be able to access their map.

How does the next player play?
When the first player finishes his turn (the 'wait at end of turn' MUST be toggled on for all players) he saves the game. The save file is then attached to a post on the PBEM thread and later downloaded by the second player.

The downloaded file must then be saved in the folder of the scenario being played together with all the other scenario files. For instance if you are playing 'Hellas', the downloaded save file must reside in the folder called 'Hellas'. The procedure for playing is the same as for starting the game except you choose 'MP game - Network game - TCP/IP - Load a saved MP game'.

Do not fiddle around with bonus settings eg. double movement or double production. It cannot be undone during the same turn and it will affect every other player and you may be accused of cheating. If the first player has already chosen the bonus settings (usually none), nobody should need to adjust them any further.

Why does the AI move my units?
Two things need to be done to ensure this never happens. Firstly, the sequence of players must match the list when the scenario starts or else the AI will step in and mess things up. Secondly, at the end of your turn, you must activate a unit that was fortified or asleep for your entire turn and then press CTRL-N before you save. Otherwise the AI will still have the option to move all units which you have not moved yet. This must be done at the end of every turn and by everyone.

Why does the AI change my production orders?
This is triggered when you lose a city and your AI makes emergency changes to concentrate on defense. To prevent this, use the LazyCiv version 2 created by Xin Yu.

http://www.geocities.com/suny1963/index.html

Lazy Civ Version 3 is available


What about Negotiations?
Usually players will agree to negotiate manually (PM, e-mail or even just posting in the thread) rather than letting the AI negotiate on their behalf. If you agree to trade technology A for technology B with another player. You can give A as a gift to your counter-party after which he will give you B in the same game cycle. Unless agreed, contacting another player’s AI representative is considered cheating.

Civ Diplomacy 3.0 is also available

What should I call the saved game?
The name should be a conjunction of the scenario abbreviation, tribe and turn to avoid confusion. For example: ZWKAllies24.net.

When possible, please upload your file rather than attaching it to your post

At what speed should a PBEM be played?
Players can agree before hand how long they have to post their move from the time the previous player posted his save game. A typical time limit would be either 48 hours or 72 hours. If this limit is set too long, the game will go on for a very long time.

What if a player drops out?
If a player knows he will be away for a while, he can request a temporary recess for a predetermined period or arrange for another person to play on his behalf (after giving him the player password if one is set). If a player disappears for a prolonged period (say twice the allotted time interval) without any warning, the other players have the right to let the AI take over his tribe until he returns if they so desire.

It would be ideal to have a KEYMASTER for each game who holds the passwords for each player. That way, other players can take over a tribe if someone drops out suddenly.

Duke of Marlbrough, our local Moderator, is willing to be a Keymaster for any game

If a game does not have a keymaster and a password needs to be removed, please use the password removal thread

What do I have to do if I trigger an event message during my turn?
if you trigger event messages which are important, it is you duty to mention it in the PBEM thread as the other players will not know about the event automatically.

What if i have a MAC version of Civ2?
Please refer to the original PBEM guide written by FMK and Henrik which is attached below. There are also many finer points covered there which might not appear in this FAQ.

Where can I learn more about scenarios?
You can visit the Civ2 scenario creation forum where new scenarios are born every day.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=14

 

[Henrik]

You might atleast want to add some stuff thats in there about how things are done for mac users, etc...

 

[Case]

Another thing which should be added to the FAQ is a reminder to set a password. Doing so only takes 1 second, and it ensures that no-one can look over your shoulder.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

How do you exchange techs? Say that two players agree to exchange a certain tech with each other outside the game. How then do you go into the game and gift that particular tech to the players AI counterpart?

How do you exchange cities for that matter? Do you have to 'conquer' a friendly Civ's city to 'swap' them? Wouldn't that enact the alliances they may have with other tribes in the game?

 

[Case]

Marlbrough, you can do all that stuff in a PBEM by running it as a normal MP game while you do the negotiations. I've participated in a couple of these and they work perfectly (though sorting out a suitable time with all the players in different time zones made my head hurt! )

The following is based on instructions posted by James J. Kirk on Apolyton: I've edited and modified it to replace the names of individual players of the game we were discussing, and have split the description into three categories.
Of course, any mistakes which appear in the following instructions are my fault and not Kirk's

-------------

Getting Started

The player whose turn it is should host the game, as everything revolves around him.

That player [to be known as 'host player' from here] should load the save game just like normal, except when they get to the part where it shows their IP address, they should copy it and give it to all the other players (preferably via an instant messenger program). Then when they get to the screen that says "Waiting for Players" the host should wait.

Everyone else: What you all do is we start off the same, clicking on Multiplayer, and then Internet game, but instead of choosing "Load a Saved Multiplayer Game" choose "Join a Multiplayer game." We enter the Host's IP address and then pick your civ and then there'll be a screen that says "waiting for players".

Host Player: Once all the other player are there and listed in the "waiting for players" click start game, and before long everyone should see the map.

------------------

Negotiations

From here on the players can use the diplomatic menus to conduct real-time negotiations with each other. The MP diplomatic screens feature far more features then in the normal games screens, and it is possible to swap or donate cities, tech, units, etc.

When conducting these negotiations it is highly recomended that you use an external chat program (AIM, ICQ, or MSN Messenger for example) to co-ordinate things, especially the order in which people talk to each other [while several pairs of players can negotiate simultaneously, each player can only negotitate with one person at a time]

--------------------

Finishing up

Once all the negotiations are done: The host player should save the game. Once this is done the other players should leave. When all the other players have left the host can then leave.


--------------------

Trust me, its simpler then it sounds

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

So, there is no way using PBEM that it can happen. I don't have blocks of time open to play multiplayer games, or else I would just play multiplyer. How would the city swapping happen? Still have to conquer it to switch? and enact any alliances that may exist with other (human or AI) players?

 

[Case]

You swap cities via the foreign minsiter options (which are greatly extended from those in the single player/PBEM game). In the MP negotiations there's an option which allows you to give cities the same way you can give units in a single player game.

Once you've made all the swaps, etc, the 'Host Player' saves the game as a .net file, and then you can continue playing as a PBEM. (ie they send the file onto the next player, and so on)

Also, you don't need every player in the game to be logged on at the same time for the game to work - you can conduct a quick one-one one swap.

 

[kobayashi]

In my games we simply give each other the required techs as gifts after negotiating via PM on the terms. This is viable if each player only has a few techs the other player doesn't.

Another way is to trade the techs via negotiation with the other player's AI (since the active player may choose from the other player's entire list of techs, this is preferable but not if players do not wish thier trading partner to see what they possess)

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

Originally posted by Xin Yu
Even if you hit CTRL-N the AI may still change your production (although your units will stay where they are). Here's my small program to counter that. This file does not have a readme so I put it here:

When you first use this program in a PBEM game, the sequence of action is:
a) load a saved game or start scenario
b) select your civ and start playing
c) run lazyciv.exe before the end of your turn.

When you have already played a turn with lazyciv.exe running, then when you start playing a subsequent turn:
a) load a saved game, but do not start playing.
b) run lazyciv.exe.
c) select your civ and start playing.

Once activated, lazyciv.exe should not be closed until the player finishes his/her turn, so that the most updated information can be stored. If the player close lazyciv.exe before finishing his/her turn, then any change in city production item and shield progress will not be recorded by lazyciv.

If the player saved in the middle of his turn then continued playing after a while, then the sequence of action doesn't matter. The only requirement would be that lazyciv.exe is running when the player ends his/her turn.

We have had an urgent need for your program in our ZWK pbem, but I don't really get how it works, still after reading your instructions.

The util just has 2 buttons (and a third for future use), one says minimize and the other About. How is the information saved? How do I know that it does the trick? When and where is the information saved? And how do I reload this information? -If the util just loads and saves from memory, then it'll be hard to reload the settings when loading in the next players turn.

Will all players need to use this util? And should one use it every time a game is played?

 

[kobayashi]

From what I can tell, when you run it it loads its info into the game (unless it is empty to start off with).

When you save your game, lazyciv detects this and saves the data as well.

This means you need a different lazyciv for every game and it becomes useless when the game is over i.e. you'll need to unzip a new one.

 

[Xin Yu]

Originally posted by Morten Blaabjerg


We have had an urgent need for your program in our ZWK pbem, but I don't really get how it works, still after reading your instructions.

The util just has 2 buttons (and a third for future use), one says minimize and the other About. How is the information saved? How do I know that it does the trick? When and where is the information saved? And how do I reload this information? -If the util just loads and saves from memory, then it'll be hard to reload the settings when loading in the next players turn.

Will all players need to use this util? And should one use it every time a game is played?

Unfortunately the utility has a bug and will not work automatically. Let me explain.

On your first turn, you do everything as usual. Just make sure you run the utility before the end of your turn (the utility must be remain open when you save your turn for the last time). What will happen is that all production information (item and shield accrued) will be recorded to the last 3 spaces of your cities' names. You can test if it works by giving one your cities a long name. When you refresh your screen you'll see the city's name got truncated back to 12 characters, and the last 3 characters will have strange lookings.

The buttons of the utility have no practical use at all -- one will tell you who made this utility (that's me), one will minimize the window, and the third one has no function.

On turn 2 and subsequent turns, you open civ MPE, select your civ, enter your password, then AT THIS MOMENT run the lazyciv utility. This will restore your cities production from what you have restored last turn. Don't wait till your turn has started, when your chance for restoring production will no longer be there. While lazyciv is running, it will automatically save your city productions whenever you make a change.

Now the bug: the program will only restore production for the human player(s). However when another player plays, the human player civ was reset to that player, so YOUR production items won't be restored. So you need to hex edit your saved file to change the human player to your civ in order for this utility to work. You only need to change one byte. Use a hex editor to open the saved file (.net) and change the 40th position (if each row has 16 positions, we are talking about the 8th position on the 3rd row) to your civ color (01=white, 07=purple). Then you are ready to go.

Once started, you should use the utility every turn (if not you'll restore turn 1's production to turn 3, for example, which doesn't make sense). You need to have the utility running at the beginning and at the end of your turn. It doesn't matter if in the middle of your turn it is running or not.

Sorry about the inconvenience. I haven't sorted out how to fix it yet.

Ah, forgot to answer your last question. It doesn't require all players to use the utility at the same time. He who used the utility will get productions restored regardless other players' choices.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

How it sounds like it works to me is:

You have your lazyciv saved game. You start the load process and activate your lazyciv file. It restores your cities production to the settings they were at at the end of your last turn (production levels and queues). Then the new turn starts and adds the cities production to your already redone queues. The changes the AI does to your city shouldn't have an effect at all since the game play is not done for that player using any of the AI changes.

 

[Xin Yu]

Originally posted by Duke of Marlbrough
How it sounds like it works to me is:

You have your lazyciv saved game. You start the load process and activate your lazyciv file. It restores your cities production to the settings they were at at the end of your last turn (production levels and queues). Then the new turn starts and adds the cities production to your already redone queues. The changes the AI does to your city shouldn't have an effect at all since the game play is not done for that player using any of the AI changes.

That is correct! Both the queue and the shields are restored. But I noticed that AI can change production without losing shields, so the shield restoring part is not necessary.

Due to the bug, a slight modification to Duke's procedure:

You have your lazyciv saved game. You use a hex editor to change the 40th byte of the saved game to your color. You start the load process and activate your lazyciv file. It restores your cities production to the settings they were at at the end of your last turn (production levels and queues). Then the new turn starts and adds the cities production to your already redone queues. The changes the AI does to your city shouldn't have an effect at all since the game play is not done for that player using any of the AI changes.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

Yes, sorry, I didn't mention the hex edit part because I was trying to give a brief overview of what I though it was. It looks like my brief overview was one sentence short of being a full overview.

Nice utility for PBEM games.

 

[Ohwell]

How do you gift units?

I know how normally, but what if the AI said he is too powerful to get aid and such, or you are at war?

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

Originally posted by Ohwell
How do you gift units?

I know how normally, but what if the AI said he is too powerful to get aid and such, or you are at war?

I am curious also. It seems the only way might be to do a simultanious connection between the two players and gift stuff that way.

Unfortunately PBEM does have some limitations that can really get in the way of a game. LazyCiv2 seems like it may have taken care of one of the major ones, but dealing with the AI is still a major obstacle.

I'm just glad that Koby had mentioned in another thread that as the Allies, if the Minor Axis and your senate force you into peace, just talk to the Minor Allies and they can force you out of it.

 

[kobayashi]

Giving units
1. You can give units to AI races freely
2. If you give a unit to another human player, that unit must immediately set its home city to the receiving city. You can move the unit to another city later set its home there.
3. No giving of naval units.

Important cities
You are not allowed to sell the city walls of any of the primary (Berlin, London and Moscow) or secondary objective cities (Ploesti, Port Said and Salingrad) as well as the torpedo cities (Brest and Kiel).

Wehrmacht Error
If the gift unit you receive miraculously transforms into a wehrmacht unit, you may use it freely. However if you make a breakthrough and get the Axis tech by accident, you should not research or use any Axis technology. - Of course if the Germans gave Axis to someone like the Italians and they gave it to the Allies, the Allies would be free to do as they wish.

Collapse of Government
As the Allies, you are not allowed to purposely ignore a treaty and cause the downfall of your government in order to switch to another.

These rules are additional rules. Individual games can choose to have their own variations and it is best stated if these rules are to be followed before a new game starts.

Do not post replies to this - use the Evolution thread. I will edit or add rules as and when the need arises.

 

[SlowThinker]

Originally posted by Xin Yu
Unfortunately the utility has a bug and will not work automatically. Let me explain...

Now the bug: the program will only restore production for the human player(s). However when another player plays, the human player civ was reset to that player, so YOUR production items won't be restored. So you need to hex edit your saved file to change the human player to your civ in order for this utility to work. You only need to change one byte. Use a hex editor to open the saved file (.net) and change the 40th position (if each row has 16 positions, we are talking about the 8th position on the 3rd row) to your civ color (01=white, 07=purple). Then you are ready to go.

Is this corrected in the April/6/2002 version?

Originally posted by Kobayashi
Why does the AI move my units?
Two things need to be done to ensure this never happens... Secondly, at the end of your turn, you must activate a unit that was fortified or asleep for your entire turn and then press CTRL-N before you save.

But this may be unpleasant if all my units are in danger and I want to keep them fortified...

________________________________________________
About the Ctrl-N problem: how do it arise?

Do I understand well that the .sav file don't include the information which civ have played and the computer plays the given year repeatedly with all the colors that precedes the human color?
I mean
the white human plays, game is saved
the white AI plays, the green human plays, game is saved
the white AI plays, the green AI plays, the dark blue human plays, game is saved
and so on?

Originally posted by Kobayashi
you must activate a unit that was fortified or asleep for your entire turn and then press CTRL-N before you save

Isn't this confusing? I have a suspicion that you can use any unit that has movement points remaining...

 

[TimTheEnchanter]

Originally posted by SlowThinker

Is this corrected in the April/6/2002 version?

I use the one at the start of this thread. When starting the game and it asks for your Gender, start lazyciv and it should work fine. No hex editing to assign "human civ" required.

Be aware there is a slightly modified version later in the thread (april 16th) if you use Cedric's "Upgrade" patch.

Originally posted by SlowThinker
But this may be unpleasant if all my units are in danger and I want to keep them fortified...

________________________________________________
About the Ctrl-N problem: how do it arise?

Do I understand well that the .sav file don't include the information which civ have played and the computer plays the given year repeatedly with all the colors that precedes the human color?
I mean
the white human plays, game is saved
the white AI plays, the green human plays, game is saved
the white AI plays, the green AI plays, the dark blue human plays, game is saved
and so on?

Isn't this confusing? I have a suspicion that you can use any unit that has movement points remaining...

You can activate any unit with at least some movement left and hit control-N.

The problem isn't that it starts over with the white civ, but that it starts with Your civ on the turn you thought you had just ended. And the AI is very much convinced that it knows better than you what to do with your units. So it takes any units that have movement left (including fortified and sleeping units) and starts walking them all over the countryside. It is particularly fond of taking garrisons out of cities, leaving both the units and the cities unprotected and causing disorder in the cities (in monarchy/communism). Hitting control-N will wipe out the movement allowance for every unit, so the AI can not do this, however it doesn't work if you already have the 'end of turn' flashing. You have to have a unit activated for control-N to work

 

[SlowThinker]

Originally posted by TimTheEnchanter

The problem isn't that it starts over with the white civ, but that it starts with Your civ on the turn you thought you had just ended.

I think I understand. The game is saved when the green plays for example, and so the loaded game starts with green. Ctrl-N finishes units only, but the player (and so the AI) can proceed the city management.