Auto Admin for PBE?

[Strider]

As Chris's description states, it is possible in DOM II...we are testing this aspect now. All nations have a human player...the server is set to process turns 3 days per week. There is a 'timer' showing how long you have to process your turn until the next occurs. It's very easy, and nice, from the "joining player's" standpoint. Also, a 'list' of the nations are displayed, showing who has/hasn't processed the current turn.
Illwinter has mentioned numerous times that they developed the game with MP play in mind, and it shows in the 'server'

[Tourmalyn]

The problem of hosting a TCP/IP server game is that many residential connections while broadband and always on, don't allow the outside world to "see" the actual machine.

[ November 01, 2003, 01:10: Message edited by: Tourmalyn ]

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by Strider:
As Chris's description states, it is possible in DOM II...we are testing this aspect now. All nations have a human player...the server is set to process turns 3 days per week. There is a 'timer' showing how long you have to process your turn until the next occurs. It's very easy, and nice, from the "joining player's" standpoint. Also, a 'list' of the nations are displayed, showing who has/hasn't processed the current turn.
Illwinter has mentioned numerous times that they developed the game with MP play in mind, and it shows in the 'server'

Id be very interested in this. I have a linux (debian) server and can put up a much larger (solaris) server if need be. Ive been trying to prod some webmaster into creating some sort of interface they would like to manage but so far no one has bitten.

[Strider]

[/qb][/quote]Id be very interested in this. I have a linux (debian) server and can put up a much larger (solaris) server if need be. Ive been trying to prod some webmaster into creating some sort of interface they would like to manage but so far no one has bitten. [/QB][/quote]

Not sure that I understand the 'need' for an interface...Doing a TCP/IP server for DOM II is (or similar) to the DOM II server being a Terminal Server. The player enters the IP address and port number to make the connection. They are then using the server to actually play the game (for the most part). Illwinter would have to supply the specifics on just how it's working. The player processes the turn, then hits the 'End Turn' button the same as if they were playing a single player game.
Hopefully this clarifies things a bit, instead of confusing

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by Gandalf:
Id be very interested in this. I have a linux (debian) server and can put up a much larger (solaris) server if need be. Ive been trying to prod some webmaster into creating some sort of interface they would like to manage but so far no one has bitten.

Originally posted by Strider:
Not sure that I understand the 'need' for an interface...Doing a TCP/IP server for DOM II is (or similar) to the DOM II server being a Terminal Server. The player enters the IP address and port number to make the connection. They are then using the server to actually play the game (for the most part).

Yes Ive played those games in Dom 1 and I love that Illwinter provided that option. Its a great option especially for new players so they dont really have to understand the old PBEM methods. Its how most of the games have been run so far. And you are correct that there is no 'need' for an interface if I were 'hosting' a game.

But if I were going to become a game server for Dom 2 then an interface would be a good idea. The way you mention would mean that I would need to run multiple copies of dominions all the time each watching a different port. Im not sure how many could be run that way since I dont know how much CPU and memory the dom host requires.

With a web interface then 100 games could be listed. Different maps, different settings, signup forms showing what races are taken in each game and which ones are open. The turns would be turned in by FTP or Email. Each game could have its own email box for this and its own webpage for game statistics/information.

Whenever a game gets all of the turns received then it would run Dom in host mode to process the turns and move them to an FTP directory or email them back. That would be quick and it would then quit the dom program. Thats why a hundred games could run on a PBEM server even if its a very small machine.

[ November 01, 2003, 18:23: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[Alneyan]

If you do want to see why an interface would be needed, you may want to have a look at Play By Web for Space Empires IV. When the server is back Online that is.

PBW ran *a lot* of games (somewhere above a hundred, likely two hundred and some) from two to twenty players, with different settings and even mods were featured, along with all the features Gandalph mentioned.

I do not know what were the specifications of the server though, so I cannot say how much is needed. And don't ask me either how PBW is working. But it works very well, while you would have a problem to handle a hundred of games without an interface.

[Strider]

Ahhh...now I have a much better understanding of what you're after, from reading this and your post in another thread. Thanks for explaining.