Step by step TCP/IP MP instructions |
I posted this in another Forum, but as I went through this effort, I thought I would post it here too. Hopefully this will help everyone out as I am playing MP with NO issues.
1) Start the game.
2) Select 'New Game'
3) Set up map, player points, galaxy size, etc.
4) Once everything is set select 'Mulitplayer'
5) Select 'Simultaneous Movement', Different Machines', Connection Type 'Host'
6) Select Provider Type "Internet TCP/IP connection for Direct Play'
7) Type in save game name to use at top of screen
Select 'Begin'
9) Select 'Wait for Players'
10) At this point the game will sit and wait for playes to connect.
11) On a SEPERATE PC start the game
12) Select 'New Game' on the seperate PC.
13) On the seperate PC, just imediately go to "multiplayer' tab and set the selections as detailed in 5-6 above. You do NOT need to type in a save game name at this point as you will NOT be the host.
14) Select the IP address, port, user name, etc. and select 'Connect to Host'. If you did not connect, make SURE the host PC has 'Wait for players' button pressed and try again.
15) Once a player has connected their name will show up in the list
16) Once all players have connected to the Host, select 'Begin Game' on the Host.
17) The Host will now indicate that it is waiting for player empire files
18) The players can now create their empire by selecting 'the Create Empire' as it is now selectable.
19) The players create or load their empire files. If you create a new empire make sure you save it to a file before exiting the create empire screen
20) After creating/loading empire, select 'Begin' on the non-Host PC's
21) The Host will now indicate that the empire files have been recieved
22) After all the empire files have been recieved by the Host, select 'Process Turn'. This will setup the 1st turn game files.
23) Click 'Ok' on the next screen asking if you are sure that you want to process the turn.
24) The Host will create the game files and a list of player and computer empires will show up on the host screen.
25) Go to the saved game directory on the Host and copy ALL the files to each players save game directory.
26) Each player will go back to the Main SEV game screen and select 'Load Game'
27) The game will ask you if you want to load the file as a TCPIP Host. Say 'NO'
28) The game will load and each player can take their turn.
29) Once a player has finished their turn, hit end turn and exit back to the main SEV screen.
30) Copy the completed player turn file (all player files will end in '000X' where X is the player number, Player 1 is 0001, Player 2 is 0002, etc.) to the save game directory on the HOST PC.
31) Once all player files hace been copied to the Host save game directory, Exit the Host game back to the SEV main screen and select "load Game'
32) When the TCPIP question about Host or Player comes up, select 'YES' as you want to run the turn as a Host now.
33) Select 'Process turn on the Host' and click 'Yes' on the next screen.
34) The turn will process.
35) Repeat steps 25-34.
This works EVERY time for me. If someone has a solution to transfering the files back and forth, I would love to hear about it.
Numdydar
Thank God for this
Thank God for this 
HAH! you have got to be
HAH! you have got to be kidding me?
that's how you play multiplayer? Dang man, why pay 50 $ for this? it sounds like a 15$ share ware thing the way you described all the user interaction that you have to do...
Drat, and I was so pumped when I read about this game... the more I'm reading about all the Glitches and bugs, and that they released it with out even waiting for a patch...
Well Dag nab it, I'm sick of spending my consumer dollars on stuff that gets rushed to publish...
Every one wants to be like Blizzard and make tons of monney... but they don't follow the main policy of 'we will release it when it's done'
Crap, man I wanted to play a good space sim!
Tell me I'm wrong, tell me that it's OK to plunk down 50$ again and let the publishers continue to win... that it's worth it in the long run... I want to belive that so badly... somebody lie to me, PLEASE!
zWolf -out.
MM is differen't
MM is different. He may not have the money to push back release dates like blizzard does, but he DOES keep up with patches. The last SEIV patch was barely a year ago, and that was while Aaron was working on SEV. So rest assured, its as buggy as hell now but won't be in a year. And it'll be better yet in two years, and three, and so on.
There are 10 types of people in the world:
Those that understand binary, and those that don't.
That's a good
That's a good argument...
Maybe that's enough for me to rationalize buying it... oh I hate to do it.. and if there was evne the slightest bit of competition somewhere else, that released a more polished version I'd never even look twice here...
But... to love this genre is to eat whats avaialbe... and I have no doubt that this dish will taste wonderfull to my palet.
let me go break my piggy bank.
so, I'm guessing that all the 'hassle' to make a tcp game work, is why Valve lists this as a single player only game?
zWolf -out.
Steam
Valve is stupid. Really stupid. Same for Steam.
If you have to go for digital distribution, for the love of god DON'T go with Steam. (Yes, I'm biased... but please don't!)
There are 10 types of people in the world:
Those that understand binary, and those that don't.
why not steam?
Hehe, I didn't read this till 'after' I'd made my decision to go with a retail box, BUT, you did have an influence on any possible future purchases I might make from Steam.
but, pray tell? what is it that makes you feel that way about steam?
I knida look forward to the day that I just DL Software instead of drive to the store... So, let me know some reasons behind why not to use Steam's service.
zWolf -out.
So you have no problems
So you have no problems what-so-ever on reloads of save games?
ok Will do thanks. I have
ok Will do thanks. I have not tried to reload our LAN game from Saturday night.....
Hope it works.
I wonder will saved 1.08 games work with 1.13?
Shareware Game at a Comercial Price
I agree that having to manually copy files from one computer to another for each turn in a multiplayer game is unacceptable.
I laud the game author for the efforts expended in attempting to provide a multiplayer environment, and I hope he is one day successful in his endeavor. But until the game reaches a level of multiplayer processing simplicity demonstrated by mainstream publishers, it should not advertise itself as multiplayer.
What else then ?
What else then ?
Semi-multiplayer ?
Awkwardly-multiplayer ? 
Multiplayer means : playable by multiple players. Which is effectively the case of SE-V.
MPlyaer
I laud the game author for the efforts expended in attempting to provide a multiplayer environment, and I hope he is one day successful in his endeavor. But until the game reaches a level of multiplayer processing simplicity demonstrated by mainstream publishers, it should not advertise itself as multiplayer.
Thing is, it IS MP. And manual file sharing has been done in the past. Simply because its mildly inconvienient doesn't change the fact that the game can be played MP, if not as easily as you desire.
There are 10 types of people in the world:
Those that understand binary, and those that don't.
Excellent
Excellent jib!
Awkwardly-multiplayer is less of a misnomer for the game than what it is advertised as now.
I suppose that you could construe the game as multiplayer in the same semblance as a model-T car has an automatic starter. If you get out and hand crank it, it starts automatically. Unfortunately, the simile breaks down from there, for the automobile will continue to run till shut off, whereas the game has to be recranked each turn. Pity.
So until the developer provides a level of multiplayer convenience equal to an electric starter for an automobile, it remains for all practical purposes, a single player game.
tcp/ip
with the release of 1.17 multiplayer goes more smoothly. If you follow step by step instructions from pgs 56 and 202 of the pdf manual you will have no problems. File transfers are automatic. That being said it does have some bugs that I have noticed. Ships that disappear. AI changes my build que and research settings. Maybe one more patch is called for.
Mikan
Hi Mikan
See you found the spot. I was on the other end of Mikan's game (or perhaps I should say he was on mine, since I was acting as "Host."). I did not experience the lost ships etc. that he did ... not sure if that is a difference between host/player or not. We will be trying again next week.
Hi Rik
Re: Step by step TCP/IP MP instructions
I love this game! However, my son and I have been very frustrated with the multi-player issues. Great thanks to Numdydar for posting his manual steps for MP games! That may help us get around the restart issue. We have also noticed the problem with the AI resetting the research allocations.
We're wondering when the next patch is coming out, and hoping it addresses some of these MP issues. Can someone shed some light on that? Thanks!!!
...but not the oldest.
Step by end of MP
Well, for some people, like those with certain kinds of connections to the internet, you cannot connect to them via an IP address, so this does not work for everyone.
For those like that, you will need to find someone who can host it right and join thm instead.
Re: Step by step TCP/IP MP instructions
Does 1.25 help fix the the unplayable MP games?
Look here as well
http://www.spaceempires5.com/en-US/node/588#comment-2933