PBEM/On Line Play?

[blackcloud6]

Can you play this by PBEM or by On-Line play? If so, how does one do it?

[Paullus]

You can't play it online. To play PBEM you need to save the game and send it to you PBEM buddy who opens it and does his next move and saves the game.

[blackcloud6]

OK, thanks.

I figured the PBEM would work by just saving the files but that leaves me with a couple of questions:

1. Is the file encrypted in any way for each particular side?

2. Will the opponent be prevented from seeing my out of LoS units?

3. This relates to #2, what is the point you should save the file, at the beginning of your opponent's Administration Phase?

Is there any chance of on-line play being added in the future?

Thanks for your answers.

[Paullus]

1. No
2. In some degree. FoW is hard to follow in a Human vs human game.
3. If you click next segment in your Administration Segment you will see his troops but then if you don't he will see yours. You will need to have some kind of house rule to minimize the effect of seeing each others troops.

There is a chance but lots of factors will effect the decision so at the moment we don't know.

[blackcloud6]

OK, thanks for the answers.

It seems to me then, that this game is focused on solo human v. AI. I'm good with that.

[blackcloud6]

I think in PBEM play there would be a problem with Defensive Fires during movement. I guess the only way to solve that is by automating DFs and allow the AI do it for the player. The Campaign Series and the Steel Panthers series does this.

The only other way would be like VASL does, allowing a "movie within a movie" where the player makes his moves up to a certain point and then sends it to his opponent to see if there are any DFs. I play a lot of ASL by PBEM and after awhile you get a sense of when you need to send the file back. One also can set up "stop criteria" for a an opponent to stop watching, firing and return and the game continues from that point. That might be very tough to do in TotH.

[Gerry4321]

I agree with all you are saying about VASL-like PBEM. But the best would be if they could set up a live server like they do with VASL so as your opponent moves one hex and you don't want to fire you right away click the AI Continue button, etc. So people play ASL live like this and also use Skype etc.

Making this game multiplayer will increase its customer base PLUS increase its longevity many fold!!