04-05-2000 04:08									#1
	Multiplayer mechanics in civ2.exe Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

I sent this post also on civ2/multiplayer forum. Sorry, but I would like to reach as many people as I can, and I assumed that people who write scenarios understand game mechanics pretty good.

This is the post:

The project to make open source civ3 has been started recently. The plan is to make this a modern game and that, ofcourse, means we want to include multiplayer support. In order to design multiplayer architecture of this new game, we need some info on how it is done in civ2 and other games in the genre.
I think I understand civ2 model pretty good (based on my modest multiplayer expirience) but I would also like your opinions on some issues.

Assumption:

Although there is "host", civ2 is basicly peer-to-peer game. Every player has _complete_ info on the game (complete map, units, cities, other civ info, etc). The proof of this is the ability to continue the game if host is lost ("game is being transferred to new host message"). This implies that every peer comunicates with every other, updating him on _all_ he does.

Questions:

1. Where is combat calculated?
Is it on both machines (who have same random seed) or on an arbitrary machine? (I used to think that combat is calculated on defender side whenever I lost . Seriously, I had "combat lags" even when I was host, so I assume there calculation is not done on server.

2. By which rules is it played?
If two players play, do they have to have same rules.txt? what if they dont? If there are more players what then?

3. Scenario multiplaying
I played only one scenario in multiplay, long ago. It was napoleon wars from civ cd. I cannot remember, so I ask: Do both players have to have scenarios? I assume yes, in order to have the unit graphics.

4. Cheats I read in Cheat List by Ming show some interesting details about game design. Is it true that you can rush a unit when it is not your turn, so it can wait attackers turn built in your city? If this is true, then civ2 does updating of cities, units... in more than once at the beggining of the turn...hmm.

Anyway, thanks for any reply
If someone has any interesting link about the matter, please share it with me
Also feel free to mail me or simply join the civ3 club.
http://civ3.sourceforge.org

	04-05-2000 05:59									#2
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

You might also want to look at the FreeCiv multiplayer system (www.freeciv.org). FreeCiv is a client/server game, with all combat, updating, and other game mechanics calculated on the server. The client is simply an interface for the user.

	05-05-2000 05:09									#3
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

I downloaded it some time ago, but it lacks documentation. I will look better at the site, but the documentation I got with code is scarce, and the code is big and complex to read. I was hoping I can learn more about high-level multiplayer issues, what parts of code are "hooked", ie. how are they sending data, recieving it and similar.