Something akin to a standalone multiplayer server.Originally Posted by mandead
Something akin to a standalone multiplayer server.
How does it work?
It's like Play By Email but better organized.
I'll tell you what just occurred to me as purely cosmetic but that I'd love to see... bring back the dynamic city graphics, whereby the total size of the sprawl was related to the population of the city, and and graphics for most buildings were mixed in. In CivIV, this meant that the combination of era and civ 'region' determined which graphics were used, but there was fine variation in size and every city looked a little different due to the random arrangement of generic buildings with the specific buildings mixed in. I actually really miss that.
Simultaneous turns for first X turns, then sequential after that. I'd love an option to start a game in simultaneous turns mode, then convert to PBEM at some point, but a decent pitboss implementation would substitute for this
Thanks for the update, Greg! Glad to hear that 2K are still working on this great game.
I'd like to see the tech tree removed...as it's already so linear there isn't much point in choosing which one you want anyway....eventually you'll just need all of them to advance any further.
"Pitboss" actually comes from Persistent Turn Based Server (PTBS).
It's a dedicated multiplayer server that someone can run which allows players in the match to log in at any time to play their turn. Typically people play with turn timers set to 24 hours or more. Many players consider it to combine the best aspects of Play by Email (play a game over a long period of time, lots of time for diplomacy, no rush so you can micromanage your empire each turn) with the best aspects of regular multiplayer. Allowing players to log in in any order means you can have large Pitboss games that still move at a pace of 1 turn per day. With 18 players in a Play By Email chain, this would be nearly impossible.
It's my favorite way to play Civ multiplayer by far, which isn't surprising to people that know I created CivStats
Interesting idea, Gregory. Thanks for the reply.
I anxiously await this because it is the only way I'll be able to ever play online multiplayer. Just curious, how does the system handle someone who misses a turn? Are they replaced by the AI? Also, is there a way for players to log extra turns if everyone gets their moves in early in a 24 hour cycle? I mean, if three players are playing and they happen to all be online at the same time, can they play more quickly, then go back to the 24 hour timer when someone has to stop playing?"Pitboss" actually comes from Persistent Turn Based Server (PTBS).
It's a dedicated multiplayer server that someone can run which allows players in the match to log in at any time to play their turn. Typically people play with turn timers set to 24 hours or more. Many players consider it to combine the best aspects of Play by Email (play a game over a long period of time, lots of time for diplomacy, no rush so you can micromanage your empire each turn) with the best aspects of regular multiplayer. Allowing players to log in in any order means you can have large Pitboss games that still move at a pace of 1 turn per day. With 18 players in a Play By Email chain, this would be nearly impossible.
It's my favorite way to play Civ multiplayer by far, which isn't surprising to people that know I created CivStats
With the Civ4 version, if a player misses their turn, they just miss their turn. Anything they had queued to do gets done and a turns worth of production and science still happens.
The turn ticks over once everyone has completed their turn, even if the timer hasn't expired. The timer only ends the turn if there are players who haven't played by the end of the timer. So in your example, if everyone is online and playing, then the game will continue after all players complete their turn. Once someone stops playing and doesn't complete their turn, the game will wait until either they do eventually play, or the timer runs out
I'm also curious if a Pitboss will help improve (late-game) turn speeds. For example for a LAN.
Probably it won't matter much, but I could imagine a dedicated server -without the graphic engine- could help the game speed up.
And also remove a bit of that 'the slowest computer is the weakest link'. But maybe that's just wishful thinking
We have a private server on BF and there are already many games on PB Civ4. If Pitboss is for Civ5, we will gladly create games for you.
I hope it will be also for mac (we wait 5 months for the last patch)
Yeah, everywhere I look companies are slow as hell to patch or update their stuff.I hope it will be also for mac (we wait 5 months for the last patch)
If it's not released for Mac, then the patch will break the multiplayer compatibility, can't wait.
Any indications about progress with the patch? Are we going to have an ETA soon? Any news at all? We are so predictable; typically it takes about a week until we start becoming restless and asking for more info. I would expect threads to pop up soon asking: Where is the patch? etc
So you're looking for an ETA for the ETA?
There are actually quite a few ambiance related features that civ 4 has over civ 5. What you just named is one. Zooming in and hearing the sounds of cities bustling and/or resources like cows mooing is another. Units moving through forests or jungles and rustling the trees, causing birds to fly out is yet another.
There are plenty of things Civ V does well, but personality and ambiance are not on that list.
exactly!! kinda desperate isn't it?So you're looking for an ETA for the ETA?
Animations on improvements that are currently being worked, as well, and indications on unimproved tiles as well. That was lovely. It also had the gameplay advantage that you didn't have to go into a city screen to tell where they were working.
very true. Its minor details like this that gave Civ IV its flavour, something which is desperately lacking in this newest installment. I really hope that 2 years from now (when its all done and shiny) ill wont look back and regret the turn it took.
Yo dawg I heard you likes ETA's, so we put an ETA in your ETA so you can estimate while you estimate.So you're looking for an ETA for the ETA?
I'll get my coat..
How long will getting this coat take?
Will the coat have animations?
Would this coat keep a Macintosh warm too?
Don't forget your hat. Hate for you to have to come back
Yeah, why can't you give us an ETA? We don't care if you change it later (unless it takes longer than expected, in which case there will be some serious rage!).
I've been using coats since Coat I was released. That was a great coat and it didn't have animations. If they add animations to my coat I'm never buying another coat from them again (although I'm already boycotting their coats because they require steam, and because they got rid of that awesome slider that was on the previous coat, and also because I'm no longer allowed to stack my coats, and not to mention that coats no longer have religions).
Yes, but not for another 5 months - and despite the fact that the reason people buy Macs is to be cool.
A patch? For CIV 5? Soon? WOW. I am surpirsed.
Oh so it will be for multiplayer. So the tactical AI is still dumb as a box of rocks. Ok, nevermind. It stays uninstalled.
I wish 2K/Firaxis would consider a patch that makes the AI smarter. Charge for it, let's say $10. I bet you many people will buy it. I will. I bet you it will pay for the expense of bringing some AI programmers back on board for a while.
Let's face it, a game like tihs is only as good as the AI. Even in multiplayer unless you are playing ALL humans, the AI affects that too. Its needs some more work and we all know it.
Civ5 Ai is ok its not possible to make a ai that can mess with human. If you can programm such Ki make it you will become the nobel price!
If not stay quite!
And an Multiplayer patch ist the best they can do!
Count me as one not too concerned about hearing an ETA.
I've learned when 2k posts something on these forums about a patch that it will usually gets released right about a month or so after the post. I'll just come back and check every week to see if it's ready or not.
An updated patch list, so we can see exactly what is begin worked on-- I understand you were not ready to release this information when you first posted about the patch, no worries, take your time with it and post when you are sure what is included, please-- is of more importance to me than an ETA.
I disagree, the AI still needs some work and they can definitely improve important aspects with minimum programming effort. There are certain AI "bugs-stupid behaviour" which could be changed with a future patch and I think we should continue asking for one. Check MadDjinn's video series for good examples of simple fixes that can make the game much better.
No offence but the mentality, 'oh the AI can't be improved' or 'try to program it yourself' is simply the wrong mentality. They should strive for improving the AI further especially in terms of battle-warfare if they want to have good business and sell future expansion copies.
Underneath the horrible grammar and spelling, your point is wrong.
The AI in Civ 5 isn't believable. It behaves absurdly. It's as likely to go to war as it is to have tea, and its tactical decisions are embarrassingly suicidal. Trying to bargain with the AI is like working with a teeter-totter, as they deals with them are always grossly unbalance one way or the other- regardless of relation or their needs.
The problem is that it's the not play to build an empire AI of Civ IV, it's not even really the play to win AI that people claim Civ V has, it's the play to screw over the human player AI where it makes decisions solely to hurt the human player (bad trades, declare war) even if there's actually no benefit for the AI itself or it might actually be worse off by doing so.
Yeah, the AI can have a 6 to 1 advantage in all aspects of the game and the player can easily widdle him to nothing. Not to mention how he likes to nuke the same city 5 times in a row instead of 5 different cities which he could have easily done. And those are only a few examples. The AI is great!! I am so wrong!
Also, I am not staying quiet any time soon. Good english in your post BTW.
Remember, just because the focus of the patch is multiplayer doesn't mean that AI changes won't be included, it just means that the majority of the patch content is related to multiplayer. Since the community has been complaining so much, I find it highly unlikely that the AI will not be getting any improvements in this patch.
Of Curse my English is not the best just want to say what i think.
And i dont say that the Ai is good i just said make an Ai who is better then flame the Programmers.
You cant make an Ai that can handle all this with this or every Turn have 1 hour calucates ..
I am not flaming anybody. The AI is not completely useless. When the game first came out it was. But it had gotten way better with many patches. I had some good times with the game but its still got major issues and it is not worth playing any more. That is why I say, make the AI better and I will pay for the patch. The concept of the game is great. But they quit too soon on the AI.
I'd just like to say, for people that are complaining it's a multiplayer focused patch, that single player has already gotten a lot of attention, and that the multiplayer crowd are people too.
Me, I'm a single player guy. But I'm glad the multiplayer guys are getting some of theirs too.
Of course, the game really shouldn't have needed this much work after it was released, and still needs a lot of work all around.
Does this really need to be the suffix to every post? Everyone gets it, the game was released too early, blah blah blah. Saying it over and over is not going to change history.
True but it could help the devs for when they release civ 6 to actually release a working version :/
Complety usless? Hmm You play another Game as I? Ive played 250 hours + and every Game was great and funy.
Somtimes the Ai ist stupid yes but that was in Civ 4 also so ... Human cant make a Ki that can mess with Humans thats not possible.
Thats possible in a chess game beacuse of limitet possible turns.
I feel as though it does. I don't want the developers to think releasing a game in such a condition is acceptable.
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