FriedFish

The Civilization 4 server is here. Thanks to Apophis, Tactical Gamer Civilization 4 players now have at their disposal a dedicated Civilization 4 PitBoss server.

First, what is PitBoss?
The PitBoss, Persistent Turn Based Server, will allow a group of players to connect and play normally when all players are connected to the server and will automatically transition to a longer 24 hour turn timer when a player leaves. This will allow a group of players to start a game normally on the weekend, then continue to play the game at their own pace throughout the week. If all the players agree to meet up again, normal play can be resumed by simply having all players connect again.

Second, I don't have time to play Civ4 multiplayer!!!
Sure you do, if you can complete a turn a day then you have time to play Civ4 multiplayer. While normally a PitBoss game is started with a normal play session of an hour or two just to get everyone started and out of the stone age, you can join at a later date if you're willing to take over an AI controlled Civ. Once you take over an AI Civ, it becomes yours and the AI will no longer meddle with your Civ. The game will add you to the player list and the PitBoss will wait for you to complete your turns just like the other players.

Finally, I love Tactical Gamer and I'll play anything branded with the Tactical Gamer logo.
Uh, ok, put down the koolaid and come play some Civ4.

So, lets all sign up and post a time when we can start. Post your desired Civ/Leader and a time that you can be online for at least an hour. Sign ups will be required for those wishing to participate in the accelerated starting session. The starting session will be held this weekend if we can get enough interest and everyone interested can make the agreed upon time. If we can't get enough players for a starting session for this weekend, we can try again next weekend if enough players express that next weekend would be better. If you can't make a minimum one hour Civ4 session, then you'll be able to take over an AI civ after the starting session. Players who have participated in the starting session can advise which AI civs are ripe for takeover by humans then late joiners wishing to play at the one turn per day rate may take over one of the recommended AI Civs by posting their interest in this thread.

Note that this is our first run with the Civ4 server so there might be some technical hiccups. Please no yelling at the Apophis while he works to resolve any technical difficulties we may encounter.

FriedFish

I'll kick things off by saying I can play almost anytime this weekend for at least an hour.

I'll signup for Russia/Catherine.

CingularDuality

Sweet! I can make time just about anytime this weekend for at least an hour as well!

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Trooper

Im going to get Civ 4 again and try this out...sounds like fun



edit installed and ready to go..need to relook the game over so i can remember everything.

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that sounds like a good idea trooper.
-Vulcan

asch

I'm interested but can't make it this weekend. Also, as for which civ I don't really remember them. I'd almost rather have mine be random and then try to figure out it's strengths/weaknesses.

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FriedFish

We can push back the start date to next weekend if that's what you guys want.

CingularDuality

Works for me... I do think that this game would be MUCH more fun if we get a solid hour or more to start off with, so let's plan it for a day when we can get maximum participation...

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asch

I'm going to reinstall civ4.... what all do I need to be in sync to play in this?

I've also never played civ4 multiplayer, so this will all be new.

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"Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine, regardless of the level of advantage, if any, it gives over the opposing team." -- Tactical Gamer Primer

FriedFish

Since this will be our first PitBoss game, we're going to go with just a plain stock game. PitBoss can handle mods but that can come later. As far as what you need, just install the game then run the built in update and you'll be good to go. There's nothing special about playing a PitBoss game, you just connect to the IP address and enter the password.

During the first hour, we'll all be connected to the server and we'll all be able to play our turns simultaneously. Once people need to leave, you'll be free to connect to the server at any time and play your turn. This is our first PitBoss game, so we'll have to feel our way around a bit when it comes to how many turns will actually be played per day and whether we want to try to get together for another session where were all connected.

experiment626

I don't know if any have noticed, but the 33rd has been running CIV 4 games for about a month now, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week. Most of our games are on the weekends, but we have had some LATE night World wars for awhile now. I don't know anything about pitboss, but it seems one of the problems is the long delay between turns. Our games go for several hours at the shortest to all day affairs (admitedly, because we restart when new guys come along But wouldn't a pitboss game take the better part of a year (real tme) just to get to the modern age?

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Backlash-7

Just make sure you have the most recent patch. On the first menu when you start up CIV IV there will be a button to "check for updates" or something like that. Update it and install the patch and you're good to go. For the past few weeks I've been hosting a game on Saturday and we've had a pretty good sized turnout. I forget all the names but there's always 3 of us on there and some times up to 6. Look under the Civ IV channel in team speak and jump in. We usually play for a few hours and there are always open civ's if someone gets in late. I think the last one we all played was several hours long and it really beats the heck out of doing an hour and getting into the game only to stop, that and if the game is really good then I'll save it and we can play again on Sunday or the following weekend. Just a thought.

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FriedFish

Actually, I did notice that you guys were running Civ4 games. However, I and many others who'd like to play some Civ4 don't have the large blocks of time to play Civ4. The 2 times I've tried to play Civ4, we ended up play like 5-6 hours straight and still not even half way done. Getting the same people together for another 5-6 hours next weekend was pretty much out of the question so neither game I played in were ever finished. PitBoss will give people who don't have the large blocks of time available a chance to play in game that they can continue to play in even if they don't have the large blocks of time that are needed to play a regular session of Civ4.

experiment626

So is it a turn a day? I can't imagine a game that slow. It's bad enough waiting for the others to end their turn LOL. Just thought I'd throw it out there for you guys. Happy conquering

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Apophis

I'm interested. Any available country is fine.

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FriedFish

Ok, lets start organizing a time to meet up this weekend and get everyone going. So far we have CingularDuality, asch, Apophis and FriedFish. So I'd like everyone who's planning on participating to please post the day/time this weekend that you'll be avaiable for at least an hour. You might even want to figure on an hour and a half if we have technical difficulties or people can't tell time. If everyone agrees to play longer, that'll be fine too, but if you play for the first hour and you have to go, we'll switch over to the 24 hour turn timer and your Civ won't be turned over to an AI. As far as the number of turns per day, we'll have a minimum of 1 turn per day, but if everyone wants to play more turns per day, we can do that too without changing the server settings, just connect and play your turn when it's ready.

I'm available almost anytime on Saturday, and anytime before 5pm EDT on Sunday.