03-06-2002 03:43									#1
	Multiplayer and Scenarios Get a bigger avatar today!

I've been fiddling around, experimenting with playing scenario games over a LAN and I thought it would be a good idea to share my findings in case anyone else is trying to do something similar (I presume internet games would work in the same way).

This refers to scenarios which change the rules in a major way, like adding new units, etc. Not just minor changes or maps, etc.

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: ensure all players have exactly the relevant data files identical, and in all the same directories. e.g. if one installs the MedMod in a directory MedMod, and the other in MedMod4 then it won't work. This will fail at the stage of transferring the data after both players have launched and loaded.

You can't use saved game formats (or wahtever they're called) to start the game - you have to choose load scenario and reenter the rules every time. This is tiresome, but seems to be necessary.

CTP will remeber the last scenario you ran (or the original game if none previously run) and the choices in the Exclusions are determined by this, not the scenario you are now about to start. Thus, if you wish to be able to use exclusions you should do a 'double start' - quickly start a game in the right scenario, then quit back to the lobby and start again. If two players have different 'prior scenarios' then they will not be able to join games made by each other - it will fail at the stage of going from the lobby into the game.

Occasionally I had one of the players unable to build certain of the units (I think they were the units which were near the end of units.txt - those in excess of what the game usually has). I fixed this (in this particular case I was working with my Mars Mod) by performing a slightly modified version of the 'double start' described above - I started a normal Mars game, then a Mars quick start game, then a normal Mars game. I have no idea why this helped, but it did. Perhaps it is simply necessary to restart 3 times. You might also try setting a different player as host.

Once I got a crash as one of the players tried to enter the queue. Don't know what caused this but restarting CTP fixed it.

	04-06-2002 05:42									#2
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

J B, The memory of CTP for last scenario.... would that in any way cause certain 'normal' save games to come up with a scenario not found error?? Several people have had this fault.

	04-06-2002 05:48									#3
	Put an end to popups!

I had tp reinstall due to that type of problem.

	04-06-2002 13:50									#4
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That would only make sense if they had just run a scenario... I never thought this was a really big problem - whenever it asked for such a scenario I created the scenario for it .

I don't think it's related because the 1.21 hack largely fixes these problems for SP save games, but it could be...

	04-06-2002 15:05									#5
	Increase Your PM Length

Darth Viper is the prime example... he is on a network... so I wonder if their is corruption when more than one game running at same time.... but he never runs scenarios, but finds it impossible to host- he can load game play it, save it, immediately reload and it comes up with scenario not found!

	04-06-2002 15:22									#6
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: Originally posted by Gavrushka he can load game play it, save it, immediately reload and it comes up with scenario not found!

Most peculiar... I would recommend he reinstalled CTP using the careful method (where, between each patch application you start and save a game and reboot your computer - this helps because if you apply patches before having played a game not all the files are set up correctly).