Patch question - will 3.06 turn work with 3.08?

[llamabeast]

I just want to double check - if a player has sent me a 2h file produced using version 3.06, and I host the turn using 3.08, will their orders work okay or will something bad happen?

[Cor]

I think bad things will happen. All the files have to be updated at the same time. I think...

[solo]

The procedure, as stated in the manual and as used in previous MP games is:

1) The host must update to 3.08 first.

2) Then a set of turns where all players used 3.06 is hosted by the 3.08 host.

3) Then all players update to 3.08 to continue the game using the new version.

If players update too early, MP games will not host properly.

[llamabeast]

Okay, good. So 3.06 2h files are processed correctly by a 3.08 host.

Now, about (2) there - what if half the players used 3.06 and half used 3.08? I'm imagining it would still be fine, does anyone have any reason to think it wouldn't?

[solo]

I've heard that such a mix will not work. Players using 3.08 before the first moved hosted by a 3.08 host can cause problems and crashes.

Before updating to 3.08, MP players should make a copy of their 3.06 dom3.exe and paste this into another folder.

Then rename this copy to dom306.exe, for example.

Then make a copy of dom306.exe and paste this into the dominions3 folder.

Next, update dominions3 to 3.08

Then players can use dom306.exe for their MP games until their host(s) are ready to accept 3.08 moves, which will use the updated dom3.exe

[Edi]

Regarding backups, you need to copy everything from the Dom3 folder, because the patch updates not only the executable but also the army files.

[thejeff]

That's what I was worried about.
Other patches may have only changed the executable, so saving just the exe worked.

[llamabeast]

Okay, so I've done some tests. What I've found is that a host running v3.08 can happily process 2h files produced by either v3.06 or v3.08, or indeed a mixture of the two, and the correct moves appear to be carried out.

Does anyone know if this is just luck?