PBEM support?

[Berkut]

Can someone comment on the planned support for PBEM?

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

For best human vs. human enjoyment there is PBEM in WitE!

We are playing lots of TEST PBEMs (and doing that for months and months now)... don't worry about PBEM... [:)]


Leo "Apollo11"

[Northern Star]

PBEM is the most interesting thing you can do!
I experienced what I call the "PBEM curse": once you start playing pbem you won't play against the AI anymore.
When the game will be released I'd like to play as more pbem games as I can [:)]

[elmo3]

We're using a workaround right now.  Once PBEM is full y implemented I'm sure we'll have more to say on the features of it.

[Berkut]

I agree that PBEM is the only way to really play any wargame.

Just hoping that some thought/work is put into the mechanics of the PBEM system. So often this is a hacked on afterthought, making PBEM a pain in the ass.

Look at something like Battles in Normandy/Italy to see how to do it properly...ideally the game should handle all the file creation AND COMPRESSION, at a minimum.

[Zovs]

I agree that PBEM is the only way to really play any wargame.

Well as a still active board war gamer technically I disagree. I typically meet 1-2 times a month to play ASL (Advanced Squad Leader) face to face with live opponents. I go to an ASL tournament once or twice a year (face to face action) and I have been teaching my 14 year old son ASLSK (ASL Starter Kit) so I know what you mean, but there still is a lot of active board war gamers out there, in the shadows, rolling dice....[8D]

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: dlazov66

I agree that PBEM is the only way to really play any wargame.

Well as a still active board war gamer technically I disagree. I typically meet 1-2 times a month to play ASL (Advanced Squad Leader) face to face with live opponents. I go to an ASL tournament once or twice a year (face to face action) and I have been teaching my 14 year old son ASLSK (ASL Starter Kit) so I know what you mean, but there still is a lot of active board war gamers out there, in the shadows, rolling dice....[8D]

WHAT??!! Someone still playing Squad Leader!!!??? [X(]

Tell me ... is Sargent Steiner still alive or did he finally buy the farm???

Sorry to say I am a Combat Mission man now. No more tumbling dice for me.

[Zovs]

Capt. Cliff,

You ready for a rude shock? Besides my self, my son and one of my best buddies, at his house we meet once a month (Thursdays) to play ASL usually there are between 2 and 12 people that meet here. Once a year he has a mini-tourny adn about 10-18 show up to play ASL.

There is another ASL group towards the city I have not been able to make it thier in a year or so, but they have 4-8 show up once a month (differnet from our group), I also know 2-4 in the city that play ASL and some in other parts of the state and in WI and IN that play ASL. There is also another group that plays a lot of MMP stuff (the old Gamers) using the OCS (Operational Combat Series) series. They have also (get ready) played a game of WIE (War in Europe the old SPI game) and my one buddy up in WI loves the TSS (Terrible Swift Sword) Civil War games. He also has a miniature group he attends.

There is a another group 20 miles from me that plays the classics (AH, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Afrika Korps, etc.) of about 10-30 people.

Oh, there is a WI group that plays Europa (the old GDW or GRD company that went belly up and the ones that created Fire in the East/Scorched Earth).

Lucky for me I live in IL but am very close to the WI border and it's only 1.5 hours into downtown.

So I know (persnally, or face to face) in my area 20-75 board war gamers.

Oh, and Sgt. Steiner is still alive (most times, lol) I have 2-3 of him (Beyond Valor 1 & 3). 

[FM WarB]

ORIGINAL: Berkut

I agree that PBEM is the only way to really play any wargame.

Just hoping that some thought/work is put into the mechanics of the PBEM system. So often this is a hacked on afterthought, making PBEM a pain in the ass.

Look at something like Battles in Normandy/Italy to see how to do it properly...ideally the game should handle all the file creation AND COMPRESSION, at a minimum.

Compression not necessary; I can Zip. Make it simple ala John Tiller games, not cumbersome ala Aegod games, please.

[PyleDriver]

Well I'm sure that this will be a WBTS system for PBEM. We can't stop a cheater, however you will know he is. Really who wan't to play with a cheater anyway... Right now we have PBEM going on and were playing an honor system among us testers...

[PyleDriver]

One last comment, my dad allways told me. Locks are to keep honest people honest...So people you play online need to screened, and if weird crap happens, you'll know...

[Shadrach]

Will PBEM work with the tools like PBEM Helper (http://www.nic.fi/~fuerte/pbem.htm) - I.e. pretty simple stuff, you need a savegame in a fixed format located in a known folder and it will zip it up and mail it to you. For this to work the game needs to not make the save game format obscure?

[Berkut]

ORIGINAL: Capt Cliff

ORIGINAL: dlazov66

I agree that PBEM is the only way to really play any wargame.

Well as a still active board war gamer technically I disagree. I typically meet 1-2 times a month to play ASL (Advanced Squad Leader) face to face with live opponents. I go to an ASL tournament once or twice a year (face to face action) and I have been teaching my 14 year old son ASLSK (ASL Starter Kit) so I know what you mean, but there still is a lot of active board war gamers out there, in the shadows, rolling dice....[8D]

WHAT??!! Someone still playing Squad Leader!!!??? [X(]

Tell me ... is Sargent Steiner still alive or did he finally buy the farm???

Sorry to say I am a Combat Mission man now. No more tumbling dice for me.

Oh, I didn't really mean PBEM is the only way to play wargames - more that it is the only way to play wargames via PC.

I am fortunate enough to live in an area with a very active FtF gaming community. About 30 of us meet once a month all day Saturday to wargame (had an excellent game of Paths of Glory this Saturday that went to turn 20, and I won by 1 VP as the CP), and I generally manage to get together 2-3 additional times per month for FtF gaming.

[Berkut]

ORIGINAL: PyleDriver

Well I'm sure that this will be a WBTS system for PBEM. We can't stop a cheater, however you will know he is. Really who wan't to play with a cheater anyway... Right now we have PBEM going on and were playing an honor system among us testers...

Compression IS necessary - there is no reason to add another manual step in the process for the players, and another point of failure to deal with if they other guy is using some other kind of compression utility.

Just have the game do it itself.

[Zovs]

Oh, besides here in the USA where we can play board war games face to face I found this:

http://www.boardwars.forum24.ru/?1-15-0-00000039-000-0-0-1271087215

[;)]

[HannoMeier]

From my point of view, it is most important to have:
 
- a good replay function of the opponents turn (movement and all combats)
- which also works for team games (like 2vs2 games, where 2 players could see the moves of the 2 other players)
 
This works for example in HPS Panzer Campaigns.
 
Regards, Hanno

[FM WarB]

Good point, Hanno; replays are especially useful in team games and PBEM play should support them.

HPS games also allow you to save the file before ending the turn and sending it along. This allows you to review your turn and plan ahead while waiting for the opponent's move. This is useful, once you get over the "Damn, I forgot to move THAT unit!?!" moments.

[Neal_MLC]

I don't like PBEM games simply because everyone I play beats the crap out of me[:D]

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: dlazov66

Capt. Cliff,

You ready for a rude shock? Besides my self, my son and one of my best buddies, at his house we meet once a month (Thursdays) to play ASL usually there are between 2 and 12 people that meet here. Once a year he has a mini-tourny adn about 10-18 show up to play ASL.

There is another ASL group towards the city I have not been able to make it thier in a year or so, but they have 4-8 show up once a month (differnet from our group), I also know 2-4 in the city that play ASL and some in other parts of the state and in WI and IN that play ASL. There is also another group that plays a lot of MMP stuff (the old Gamers) using the OCS (Operational Combat Series) series. They have also (get ready) played a game of WIE (War in Europe the old SPI game) and my one buddy up in WI loves the TSS (Terrible Swift Sword) Civil War games. He also has a miniature group he attends.

There is a another group 20 miles from me that plays the classics (AH, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Afrika Korps, etc.) of about 10-30 people.

Oh, there is a WI group that plays Europa (the old GDW or GRD company that went belly up and the ones that created Fire in the East/Scorched Earth).

Lucky for me I live in IL but am very close to the WI border and it's only 1.5 hours into downtown.

So I know (persnally, or face to face) in my area 20-75 board war gamers.

Oh, and Sgt. Steiner is still alive (most times, lol) I have 2-3 of him (Beyond Valor 1 & 3). 

Nice to know that ASL is still alive and kicking, and that you have such a large player base. But I sure don't miss the hassle over LOS, moving in the open and all the other problems with a board game at tactical level. I am sure if you tried Combat Mission you'd fall in love!!

[Zovs]

Sorry I am an old ASL junkie (started playing Squad Leader in 1978 and switched to ASL in 1987) its like an old mistress. Once your in with a good bunch of guys we all pretty much know the LOS from map to map at a glance and rarely string it, also there is usually enough fellows around so that looking up rules in the mighty tomb is also a rarity.

Don't think I'll ever get a divorce from the old gal...