PBEM security

[WanderingHead]

Again ...

I know there has been a lot of discussion of this already, and I admit I did not read it all in detail.

I think that a very simple solution is a third party dice server. Any time dice are rolled, some descriptive text is sent to the dice server, and the dice server sends the rolls with the description to the originating computer and to all other emails on the list (the PBEM players).

Anyone interested can compare the dice results to the saved game they receive later.

In my view, it would be better to _not_ have the unit die rolls predetermined before the start of the turn. Right now, you can experiment with different alternatives and you know exactly how they will turn out. If you use the dice server as a neutral third party for the game, you could still experiment with alternatives without the server, but this means that the results could not count (opponent should veto results that aren't accompanied by dice server reports), and you'd have to go through re-rolls for your ultimate results. So you wouldn't really know how it will work out.

The obvious place for a dice server is matrixgames.com itself, but there are others out there already.

Any plans to support such a feature for PBEM play? It seems obvious that something for better security is required.

[pyrhic]

I was thinking of something along the same lines...I was thinking of just having a central online repositry for the save files. You go in, you play, you save. Since the save is loaded remotely and doesn't leave the site, it can't be downloaded remotely and tested. hmm...maybe your idea is better, mine's starting to sound like a WaW game server

[celebrindal]

Doubt you need to use the server, there is a built in count function that shows how many times the game is reloaded.

[pyrhic]

there are too many ways around that...

[PeterF]

It seems obvious that something for better security is required.

The problem lies in turn #1. It can be replayed indefinitely before transmitting.

[WanderingHead]

As an example, TripleA (the free Axis and Allies clone) uses the Irony Games dice server (http://www.irony.com/).

ORIGINAL: PeterF

It seems obvious that something for better security is required.

The problem lies in turn #1. It can be replayed indefinitely before transmitting.

The dice server perfectly eliminates this problem, because everyone knows the strategic possibilities for turn 1, but if you use the dice server then you can't know the actual rolls without that same information also being sent to all of the other players.

With the dice server, the only rolls you can keep are the rolls you can't discard, and the only rolls you can discard are the rolls you can't keep ...

[Paul Vebber]

TCP/IP will solve nealy all replay cheat issues. Not the solution for everybody, but it is a solution.