Inactive pbem player file access?

[BoerWar]

It would be nice to be able to open a pbem file and browse around (without having access to make changes) while waiting for my opponents to return it. How hard would that be to program?[8|]

OBTW, great game.

[JanSorensen]

While not exactly the same you can almost accomplice this yourself.
 
When you are almost done with production - save the game under a different name.
The reload finish your turn and save the game under the name you would normally use and mail that to your opponent.
 
If you wish to inspect the game you then simply reload the former of the two saves.

[Joel Billings]

Not sure how hard that would be. I think WanderingHead has said it's a feature he'd like to add in the future (he's been working on a few items in the code). Not sure if or when it might happen.

[BoerWar]

ORIGINAL: JanSorensen

While not exactly the same you can almost accomplice this yourself.

When you are almost done with production - save the game under a different name.
The reload finish your turn and save the game under the name you would normally use and mail that to your opponent.

If you wish to inspect the game you then simply reload the former of the two saves.

Good idea! Thanks guys.

[BoerWar]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings

Not sure how hard that would be. I think WanderingHead has said it's a feature he'd like to add in the future (he's been working on a few items in the code). Not sure if or when it might happen.

Jan's idea is good as a workaround, but it would be nice if it were built into the game.

[WanderingHead]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings
Not sure how hard that would be. I think WanderingHead has said it's a feature he'd like to add in the future (he's been working on a few items in the code). Not sure if or when it might happen.

I intend to try ... that's all I can say. Progress will depend on how easy it is.

We'll need a new graphic for the top left.

movement phase -> arrows
production phase -> gears
viewing phase -> binoculars (!?)

ORIGINAL: BoerWar
How hard would that be to program?

Depends on the existing code structure. When I glanced at it a while ago it looked do-able inside the engine (just adding a "Viewing" state for each player), although I will probably have some difficulty with the UI part. Wait and see ...

[WanderingHead]

ORIGINAL: WanderingHead
We'll need a new graphic for the top left.

movement phase -> arrows
production phase -> gears
viewing phase -> binoculars (!?)

BTW - I was thinking I'd implement this as follows.

From the open file menu, add a check box for "open 'read-only'".

If 'read-only' is checked, then upon selecting a file a new pop-up would prompt for "open as which player?" (to determine FOW). Then you'd be prompted for the correct password for that player.

Then you'd be in the game in the "viewing" state. No activity would be possible, only viewing (here is where the current implementation makes it hard or easy - if I can just forbid all "movement phase only" activity and all "production phase only" activity it could work, but somethings [like infra repair] are possible in both phases, which may complicate things if I have to find every little thing). No saving is possible. Also, loading the game in this way should not increment the load counter.

Should get rid of the "save" warning when you exit from viewing state.

Finally, for PBEM games I'd like to have it automatically progress to the "viewing" state after ending the turn and saving the file, rather than immediately exiting. Then the player can observe the state of things after his build before closing the file at his leisure.

[BoerWar]

ORIGINAL: WanderingHead


BTW - I was thinking I'd implement this as follows.

From the open file menu, add a check box for "open 'read-only'".

If 'read-only' is checked, then upon selecting a file a new pop-up would prompt for "open as which player?" (to determine FOW). Then you'd be prompted for the correct password for that player.

Then you'd be in the game in the "viewing" state. No activity would be possible, only viewing (here is where the current implementation makes it hard or easy - if I can just forbid all "movement phase only" activity and all "production phase only" activity it could work, but somethings [like infra repair] are possible in both phases, which may complicate things if I have to find every little thing). No saving is possible. Also, loading the game in this way should not increment the load counter.

Should get rid of the "save" warning when you exit from viewing state.

Finally, for PBEM games I'd like to have it automatically progress to the "viewing" state after ending the turn and saving the file, rather than immediately exiting. Then the player can observe the state of things after his build before closing the file at his leisure.

This would be perfect. [&o][&o][&o] Hope it works.

[kondor]

Good idea guys, I fully support this... (only by words [:D])

[Petiloup]

ORIGINAL: BoerWar

ORIGINAL: JanSorensen

While not exactly the same you can almost accomplice this yourself.

When you are almost done with production - save the game under a different name.
The reload finish your turn and save the game under the name you would normally use and mail that to your opponent.

If you wish to inspect the game you then simply reload the former of the two saves.

Good idea! Thanks guys.

Wouldn't that trigger a load count at 2 for the file?

[BoerWar]

ORIGINAL: Polonthi

ORIGINAL: BoerWar

ORIGINAL: JanSorensen

While not exactly the same you can almost accomplice this yourself.

When you are almost done with production - save the game under a different name.
The reload finish your turn and save the game under the name you would normally use and mail that to your opponent.

If you wish to inspect the game you then simply reload the former of the two saves.

Good idea! Thanks guys.

Wouldn't that trigger a load count at 2 for the file?

No, I tried it on one of the files in the 2v2 tourney today. What you do is save it as a different file name which dumps you out of the game. Then you load up the game on the new file name and when you are done save it as the old file name. As long as you aren't trying to lose actions that have been taken it appears to work ok. It's a little extra work, butit will be handy to be able to plan ahead with some recent info.