Networkgame with real long time between turns

[Weeksy]

I do think it would be nice for the server to support "persistent" games.

mameluke, Dave is head of the wesnoth project, he's the one who started it all. I think this answers your question as to whether it's a good idea or not. However, like Dave has said, it might be hard to implement. It seems a nice touch, and while it probably won't be put into 1.4, I'm sure someone will consider figuring out how to do it for 1.5.

[turin]

Personally, I'd prefer if such a PBEM-like feature wasn't done through the server, since the main reason I would use it is when I'm at my dorm where the port Wesnoth's server uses is blocked.

[Remuz]

I am bumping this one, since I was directed to here from http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=20764 by Xer. I, for one, would love either the "autosave on the server" or "play-by-email" feature to be implemented. I also understand that this is not easy to implement at all.

So, no value added in this post, this is just a bump and my vote.

[cool evil]

What a great idea!

How 'bout we do some calculations?

If most people check their email every 2 days, and someone plays a 1 vs 1 match via email. We can estimate how long the match would last. If the average turn for a match is 30, there would be 60 emails going back and forth, because its 30 moves for one player, and 30 moves for the other player. Multiple that by two days per mail and you get a total playing time of 120 days.

And if you're going to say that the average match doesn't last that long because you check your email very frequently. Then have i got some advice for you: just spare a damn hours time from your schedule and play a quick match with someone, mailing saves back and forth is like two people texting each other frequently, but they could use an instant messager instead.

Also, if you're going to say: "what if the two people isn't on at the same time?", well couldn't you just find someone else on the server? Or even better, arrange a specific time to play with someone

[Remuz]

It seems you are kind of sarcastic, if I am not mistaken.

The idea is not to play with anyone a year-long game. The idea is to play with my very good friends, who live in a different place as I do, and who have a completely different schedule as I do. Having a game last in the long run can be totally different, socially-speaking. You take time to think, you can discuss the current game with your friend. Heck, it even gives a good reason to communication often with said friend, and to keep contact.

Anyway. This is not a justification of why it should be done, merely a justification of why it is not a terrible idea, in my opinion at least.

[thespaceinvader]

cool evil: the same could be said of chess, yet people regularly play chess by mail/email long distance.

Just because you wouldn't use a feature doesn't make it a bad idea.

[ADmiral-N]

I think it's a good idea, provided that it gets a nice interface.
I picture it to work like this:
- You connect to the server
- You click on a button labeled "my running games" or similar
- The server gives you a list of those games, tells you who you are playing against, which turn, map, side and other details.
- You choose one of the games with the remark "it's your turn!" next to it.
- The game then starts and you are presented with the replay of the last enemy turn (from where you left off last time) and it stops at the current game situation, where you can move your units etc.
- The normal rules for "undo" apply, i.e. you can undo a move if you didn't attack or discover anything.
- You can leave the game at any point, but you are forced to leave after your turn ends.
- When you leave, the server updates it's saved game (you can't do the same moves over and over until you do maximum damage) and, if you actually finished your turn, the next player can resume the game when they have time.

[cool evil]

I think it's a good idea, provided that it gets a nice interface.
I picture it to work like this:
- You connect to the server
- You click on a button labeled "my running games" or similar
- The server gives you a list of those games, tells you who you are playing against, which turn, map, side and other details.
- You choose one of the games with the remark "it's your turn!" next to it.
- The game then starts and you are presented with the replay of the last enemy turn (from where you left off last time) and it stops at the current game situation, where you can move your units etc.
- The normal rules for "undo" apply, i.e. you can undo a move if you didn't attack or discover anything.
- You can leave the game at any point, but you are forced to leave after your turn ends.
- When you leave, the server updates it's saved game (you can't do the same moves over and over until you do maximum damage) and, if you actually finished your turn, the next player can resume the game when they have time.

That i'd think would be suitable for the people who support this idea. So far this is the best concept for this feature, but the server load is still a very huge problem.

And i have a question: "how do people play chess online/by-mail?" Do they email their moves, likes B-7 black bishop, and you play the moves out on your board?

[teg]

I played chess on such a website. You login to the webserver, then a page shows you your games (~10) and there is a link to go to the board to play your moves (there is a "It's your turn" indication). No need to give your email to your opponents, the game is completely hosted by the webserver, there is a chess board on which you make your moves.
Play by email was used before playing on such websites (and is still used).
It's true that the load and the memory resources of the server need to be huge.

The advantages of playing this way is you have time to think your moves so you have time to improve. I really improved my chess this way. Moreover, for people who don't play to much (Wesnoth or chess) because an entire game is too long for them (I generally don't want to spend more than 15 min, which is too short for Wesnoth), it allows them to play each day, it is a great feature ! I'm playing more against the AI because I can pause the game, but the AI is not a human opponent..

ADmiral-N solution is good and don't force you to use it: it can be an option when you start the game, to play it BPEM-like or not.

I am playing a PBEM Civilization IV game with my brother (I live in another city), and we really enjoy it ! It allows you to keep a daily contact. But I would prefere a chess-website-like solution for Wesnoth which allows to play against many opponents and make very interresting games.

I hope I explained well my reasons of playing long-term games !