Anyone up for an IP game these days (17-20.09)?

[JarlWolf]

In my experience, Hamachi is a piece of poop. Utter rubbish, don't even bother to use it. If you can do direct IP and your internet is good, do that.

There is also Gameranger, which supports Alpha Centauri and expansion. Its still glitchy and quite the headache, but I've had a few successful games on there.

[Kataphraktoi]

Good to know, would be amazing to play without hamachi and have the issues be resolved

Gameranger has gotten more annoying these days with the advertisement campaigns, dont recall if they have proxy support( i only use gameranger for AoE2 in comparison to voobly) so people that cant do directIP probably cant play together on gameranger anyway. Maybe worth looking at though

[Kirov]

JarWolf, thanks on the info on Hamachi. I'm quite sure I can do direct, though I have yet to test it, along with some other issues I want to look into.

The game was fun but indeed not thanks to the way it run. Especially horrible was any contact with AI, and I mean any, even brushing my shoulder with an AI former lead to a lag of 5-10 secs. I'm going to start another thread solely to collect people's experiences with IP, although to be honest I don't expect this manner of playing to be thoroughly tested.

As for the maps, I think one idea would be for us just to prepare several maps, like 5 or 10, just destroy AI, then put them aside. After a week or two we shouldn't remember a single thing. But I hope we'll find a CMN who will help us.

We can play again somewhere next week if you're interested, although I probably should end at somewhat earlier hour. For a warmup, we can even finish this match we started. I think it's quickly either you or me, as I'm definitely going to prepare for your invasion which I expect any turn now. So we can click around to see who draws his gun faster. Good as a warmup, I noticed that when you take a longer break from SMAC, the first thing you tend to forget is the minor technicalities of combat, the relocation of units, etc. Then we can do a more serious game, possibly without AI, which tends to skew the balance.

[Kirov]

This is the thread with the bug reported:

http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=4443.0

And this is the thread for general discussion on IP games:

http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=4444.0

[Kataphraktoi]

Especially horrible was any contact with AI, and I mean any, even brushing my shoulder with an AI former lead to a lag of 5-10 secs

I suspect this was triggering the ''synchronizing leaders'' header i sometimes got, which took some time to resolve. My interaction with AI generally didnt create lag except after tech deals or first contact

We can play again somewhere next week if you're interested, although I probably should end at somewhat earlier hour.

I offered several times to save and quit earlier but i guess you wanted to kill my artillery boat too badly to end there  Yeah im interested and also been considering PBEM options. Besides the 1v1 possibility between us, i was noticing earthmicheal is looking for a partner...im a bit hesitant about that game as the factions and map setup(the vets map) seem a little bland when i simulate likely courses of gameplay in my head. Im thinking about it.

I think it's quickly either you or me, as I'm definitely going to prepare for your invasion which I expect any turn now. So we can click around to see who draws his gun faster. Good as a warmup,

Well...you seem pretty convinced i have a naval invasion underway, which i can neither confirm nor deny if we are continuing that game....... But i would say without giving too much away i think that i had a decent game going and would be in a decent strategic situation to continue competing whatever the outcome of the next turns to come. However one thing i was concerned about is your votes(14 IIRC) a bit higher than mine and quite frankly i dont have 14 bases myself so maybe falling behind in that regard. My early game pod development has been pretty bad and could be improved alot, also using police+rec commons i went over B-drone limit without seeing drones pop up, that means i could be expanding more without penalty drones so im definitely not playing very optimally in that game. I would need to really sit down and analyze the drone situation to understand how many bases to be expanding to and so on.

I did have a ton of luck in that game though, for example having the pirates nearby allowed me to get doc:flex within 5-10 turns, then a launched that sneak attack on em and took their HQ for 100+EC, and another base and also peaced out for other techs too. Then when you had IA and a huge tech lead things looked hopeless until i found zak and morgan and actually traded social psych for IA(morgan offered this deal without me asking!). So from an economic standpoint i was still in the game somehow   


One other way to do a game without CMN is for one us to make the map with two starting positions, then whoever didnt make the map chooses first. But this takes out all the fun of exploring which is one problem with a sterile map like Vets.

[JarlWolf]

Good to know, would be amazing to play without hamachi and have the issues be resolved

Gameranger has gotten more annoying these days with the advertisement campaigns, dont recall if they have proxy support( i only use gameranger for AoE2 in comparison to voobly) so people that cant do directIP probably cant play together on gameranger anyway. Maybe worth looking at though

Not only do you have name of historical cavalry, play AC, but you do AGE OF EMPIRES 2 as well?!

I think you just earned some of my attention..... what is your Gameranger username? I too have Age of Empires 2 (Among other games).

My one is Hurting Unit, if you are curious.

Edit:
Also, gameranger is annoying with the advertisements, but voobly has major connection issues. Can't play Age of Mythology on either of them, connection problems on Voobly and people use pirated, outdated versions on Gameranger.... 

[Kataphraktoi]

I typically use this name on GR. But AoE2 needs a good ping really so i dont play it online anymore, just sometimes campaigns or scenarios.

[JarlWolf]

I barely touch the game competitively, I just work on my map in it in a blue moon and play the odd game. I use the mod/expansion Forgotten Empires: I am waiting for AoE heaven to actually support Forgotten before I put any real effort in map creation there. Plus, AC is my top priority in terms of games.

[Kirov]

I offered several times to save and quit earlier but i guess you wanted to kill my artillery boat too badly to end there 

It wasn't really for a "take that!" moment (OK, maybe a little, you ruthless forest-killer), so much as I wanted to check the price for your unit and see if it is a viable strategy. I hope we both learnt something from it.

It also tells me that, if you have a reasonable amount of EC i.e. 0-150, your HQ is at the distance of 12-15 turns away from the probing place. Now, where could that be?

Yeah im interested and also been considering PBEM options. Besides the 1v1 possibility between us, i was noticing earthmicheal is looking for a partner...im a bit hesitant about that game as the factions and map setup(the vets map) seem a little bland when i simulate likely courses of gameplay in my head. Im thinking about it.

EM indeed seems to prefer the Vets, but I hope I'd convince him to play any pre-planned balanced map. A couple of months ago there were no CMNs around except for t_ras whom I exploited more than I should already, but now maybe I could send a smile to ete for a game. I want to play with EM myself in 1v1 and I'm sure that a 3-player game between EM, you and me would give us a ton of fun. 

I did have a ton of luck in that game though, for example having the pirates nearby allowed me to get doc:flex within 5-10 turns, then a launched that sneak attack on em and took their HQ for 100+EC, and another base and also peaced out for other techs too. Then when you had IA and a huge tech lead things looked hopeless until i found zak and morgan and actually traded social psych for IA(morgan offered this deal without me asking!). So from an economic standpoint i was still in the game somehow   

Another note for IP: the more we play map-dependent, warrior factions, the more randomized it gets. You seem to have squeezed quite a lot from AI and I did my share with Morgan. But usually, between similar players on a balanced map, SocPsych for IA can give the victory, so we have to be thinking about it. Of course, as I said this game is just a warm-up so let's play on next week just for the hell of it. It's surprising how even we are after all this mess with the AI.

One other way to do a game without CMN is for one us to make the map with two starting positions, then whoever didnt make the map chooses first. But this takes out all the fun of exploring which is one problem with a sterile map like Vets.

We'll do just that if the CMNs are too busy.

[Kirov]

Kata, I'm afraid I can't play directIP. At least I cannot set up such a game between my two computers, as both return the same IP address. It means we need some network tool, am I right?

[Kataphraktoi]

It wasn't really for a "take that!" moment (OK, maybe a little, you ruthless forest-killer), so much as I wanted to check the price for your unit and see if it is a viable strategy. I hope we both learnt something from it.

It also tells me that, if you have a reasonable amount of EC i.e. 0-150, your HQ is at the distance of 12-15 turns away from the probing place. Now, where could that be?

I learned you dont have impact foils, that or you craftily concealed them and built a probe instead

[Kataphraktoi]

We are both signed up for that waterworld pbem, did you want to\have time to still do a quick 1v1 pbem starting sooner? Since your also in some ongoing games, not sure what workload is like.

[Kataphraktoi]

I got a quite interesting map on only the third reload, its a max land coverage, low erosion world. Rainfall and fungus settings can be reseeded at any time inside the map editor, currently they are max rain and minimal fungus. Its a pangea which wraps around an inland sea;i added the landmark freshwater sea to this but didnt edit anything else. We can eliminate or move the landmarks and the start positions are just rough ideas.

[Kirov]

We are both signed up for that waterworld pbem, did you want to\have time to still do a quick 1v1 pbem starting sooner? Since your also in some ongoing games, not sure what workload is like.

I feel I can safely fit in 4-5 games more in my schedule, either HtH or 4p. People are busy and games are bound to slow down occasionally, so there is a margin here. No problem, I'm up for more games.

[Kirov]

The map is fine by me, but it is unlikely that I'll manage to play an IP game this week. I have a few people to meet and I never know with my work, as we speak I'm jobless but await a bigger job which may or may not fall through. It's not too often I can give you a few days' notice, I'm afraid. Do you have any preferences as to weekdays?