Pbem

[poweraxe]

Seeking opponent(s) for a WW1 PBEM, grand campaign.

2p or 4p (if enough people are found). I'd like to take the Entente/France, but I'm fine with either.

[Sunken]

I am very interested!

My contacts: sunken9@hotmail.com

[Mitra]

I cannot contact anymore my adversaire from more than a month (hope he's fine); if you still not playing take my in the count of players for the match

[poweraxe]

I'm fine, was gone for a while due to a number of reasons (work and personal), but I'm back now. If you're still interested we can start a game sometime soon, perhaps with an eventual 4th opponent.

[Mitra]

Not you the opponent of my other match (Uwecat) ; yes of course I'm interested

[poweraxe]

right then, 2p or 4p is both fine with me, though 4 might be more difficult to find. what do you think?

[Mitra]

Sunken is still interested to play? If yes we need only a fourth player

[poweraxe]

I've send Sunken an email to ask if he's still interested.

[Mitra]

I think is better post also in the game section, I fear here the people see little of WWI messages mixed like they are with that of other games; is more difficult organize for WWI.

[Altaris]

I'd be interested in signing up for this. Haven't played since 2010, so may need to be brought up to speed on the PBEM aspect tho.

[Mitra]

Hi Altaris, no problem, is verify easy. You play your turn, save the turn like in single, and close the game. you find both the save file and the email file in the game directory. When you receive the email files from all the players. you place them in the directory, open the game, load the saved turn, and press the change turn button. The secret is remember to don't do any change between the sanving of turn and the turn change moments, because the game will lost the syncro.

Good now we are three, only one missing

[Altaris]

Sounds good, I've read through the MP manual too and think I understand how it works.

Do you guys use Dropbox for file distribution?

I'd like to play on the Central Powers side, either Germany or Austria is fine with me.

[poweraxe]

We did not talk about file distribution yet, but using dropbox is fine for me.

[Altaris]

Sounds good.

Keep me posted, I'm ready to start whenever you guys are.

[powcarrot27]

sounds interesting. I'd like to give it a go if spots are still available.

[poweraxe]

definitely, there is still room for 1 more (Sunken let me know a few hours ago he has no time for a pbem due to work), so welcome.

[Mitra]

ok, then lets start; first we must decide the sides: Altaris want one of CP, Who want be CP also? Carrot do you have questions about the PBEM exchange in the game (if you have not previous experience with him)?

Ok for dropbox (who create the folder to share?)

[Altaris]

I can set up the Dropbox if you guys want. Just send me the email addresses you use for Dropbox and i'll set up in a few hours from now.

So if I'm understanding correctly, each phase, we do our orders, and instead of hitting Next Phase, we go in and generate the PBEM .ORD file. Each player then needs to put the .ORD file on Dropbox. When all 4 .ORD files are out there, each player needs to copy all the .ORD file to their save folder and then click next phase. Rinse, repeat, for each phase of the game.

Is that correct understanding?

I'd prefer either Germany or Austria, but I'll go with whatever is needed.

[poweraxe]

I can set up the Dropbox if you guys want. Just send me the email addresses you use for Dropbox and i'll set up in a few hours from now.

So if I'm understanding correctly, each phase, we do our orders, and instead of hitting Next Phase, we go in and generate the PBEM .ORD file. Each player then needs to put the .ORD file on Dropbox. When all 4 .ORD files are out there, each player needs to copy all the .ORD file to their save folder and then click next phase. Rinse, repeat, for each phase of the game.

Is that correct understanding?

I'd prefer either Germany or Austria, but I'll go with whatever is needed.

That looks like the right procedure to me. I'll sent my dropbox email via PM.

[Mitra]

So if I'm understanding correctly, each phase, we do our orders, and instead of hitting Next Phase, we go in and generate the PBEM .ORD file. Each player then needs to put the .ORD file on Dropbox. When all 4 .ORD files are out there, each player needs to copy all the .ORD file to their save folder and then click next phase. Rinse, repeat, for each phase of the game.

Yes, but you must generate the ord file with the save turn file also, because you need to restart the turn with this, the ord files must be sent to opponents. Remember the save turn button generate also the ord file, so when you finish to do what must be do during the turn simply save and go out from the game. I suggest to save the backup of every turn and ord files.

[Altaris]

Mitra/Poweraxe, I have set up folder and invited you guys. Carrot, I'll send you a Dropbox invite once you send me your email.

[poweraxe]

Received the invite and accepted.

[Altaris]

Have you guys decided which sides you are taking?

[poweraxe]

France would be my first choice, otherwise Russia (so Entente)

[Altaris]

Okay, got all email addresses and invites sent out for Dropbox folder.

So, to revisit the PBEM format, am I understanding correctly that the format should be:

1 - Initially, all players should start a new 4P Grand Campaign game, choosing the side they will play
2 - Players should then complete their orders for the first phase (Warplan selection)
3 - Once done with phase orders, go to Main Menu and choose Save. *** DO NOT TAKE ANY OTHER ACTION AFTER THIS, OR SAVES WIILL HAVE SYNC ISSUES ***
4 - Player should exit the game and go to their WW1 Gold installation directory, then navigate to Data->SaveGame folder. They should find the most recent .ORD file in the directory, and post this to Dropbox.
5 - Once all 4 players have put their .ORD file on Dropbox, each player needs to *copy* (not cut/move) all the .ORD files to their Data->SaveGame folder.
6 - Each player should then start the game up, load their latest save, and click on the "End Phase" button to go to next phase.
7 - Player should then make a backup of all the files in their Data->SaveGame folder in case of issues or rollback needed. (Seems to me to keep the SaveGame directory clean, it would be best to archive these files to another location to avoid clutter in the game menu).
8 - For each phase of the game, repeat steps 2-7.

One thing I noticed while testing this out: after you process the turn, you need to go ahead and do your orders for the new phase at that time. Otherwise, you don't have a save file post-processing, and all the .ORD files are renamed to .BAK. This means if you process your turn, then exit the game with the intent of doing orders later, you don't have a way to retrieve your post-processing data.

Looks like it may be a little tricky, but manageable.

Who else is interested in Central Powers, and do you want Germany or Austria? I'd like to start coordinating on strategy.

[Mitra]

yes better save in archive every turn .sav and .ord (or .bak) file. I don't have preference for the side so Carrot at you the choice of side you want.

[powcarrot27]

I'd like to be Russia

[Mitra]

ok, so carrot Russia,poweraxe France, Altaris do you want Germany? for me is the same.

[powcarrot27]

how do you disable the AI? I go to multiplayer and play by email to start a new 4 player game, but the AI still chooses events.

[Mitra]

don't care about the initial paper messages, is normal that they appeared as choiced by the AI.