PBEM questions

[thebull0425]

Ok, so I have an opponent. They are the Confederates, and I am the Union. If I understand correctly, the CSA player creates the game, gets the .hst file. He sends the .hst file to me, then I place my orders, and send the .ord file to him. The confederate player inputs their orders, then executes the moves. A new .hst file gets created, he sends it back to me, and then I repeat the process.

I watched the video that was posted on youtube, and I read through the thread. Am I missing something here?

[Durk]

This is absolutely correct and will work for you.

An alternative is shared hosting, this is how I play this game. Player one, say Confederates, creates the game and makes his moves. He saves. He sends all files to you. You make your move and execute the turn, then make your new move and save. You send him all files where he makes his move and executes the game and makes his new move.
The advantage is you both watch every other turn's execution so you learn more about the game. Also, your game is a little faster.

[thebull0425]

Thanks Durk, we are just having some problems with the .hst files and trying to figure it out.

[Durk]

The shared hosting actually makes this hst issue go away.
If you send all files, your partner/opponent has all that they need.

By the way, if you both turn on the replay, you can review the turn if you wish. Some players love this, others, like me, just use the ledger.

[thebull0425]

Ok, silly question, do we turn the AI off? I'm gonna say yes, but I don't know for sure. Only reason I ask is that i sent my .ord files to my opponent. He then placed his moves, ended the turn and sent me the .hst file. When I loaded the game, there were moves made that I did not make in my .ord file. Any help on this question?

Will the .hst every turn be a new .hst or will it overwrite?

[Captain_Orso]

One Player Hosting the Game

It makes no difference whether the hosing player is playing USA or CSA.

Hosing player:
- Starts the game program.
- Clicks on "New".
- Clicks on the scenario.
- Clicks on the president of his faction (Lincoln or Jefferson).
- Clicks on "Play"

This generates the .hst file. If you want to have the scenario you are playing to have a descriptive name:
- Return to the Main Menu.
- Click on "Load".
- Click on the scenario you just created.
- Click on the computer chip icon in the upper right corner with the "Saved Game manipulations" tool-tip.
- Click on the icon that looks like a magazine.
- Use <BackSpace> to erase the old scenario name, and type in a new name; eg Bill_vs_Fred (spaces are currently not supported).
- Click the Check-Mark to complete changing the name.

This changes both the '..\Users\{user_name\My Documents\My Games\CivilWarII\CW2\Saves\{scenario_name}' folder name and the .hst file name to what ever you selected. BTW, this also works with scenarios which have already been started for any number of turns.

- Using the file manager of your choice (eg Windows Explorer), navigate to '..\Users\{user_name\My Documents\My Games\CivilWarII\CW2\Saves\{scenario_name}'.
- Find the {scenario_name}.hst file; unless you've already saved orders, it should be the only file present in the folder.
- Make a compressed archive copy of the .hst file into a temporary folder, not into the same folder and do not move the file while compressing it into an archive. WinZip will work, but 7Zip will work better, plus it's free and compresses better than WinZip.
[INDENT]It is important to use a reliable compression tool to insure that the file is not damaged during transfer and that its name is not changed.[/INDENT]
- Present this compressed archive to your opponent. You can send it per email or use a file sharing site such as DropBox.com, WeTransfer.com, or the file sharing site of your choice.

Opponent:
- Your opponent receives the compressed archive and creates a folder in '..\Users\{user_name\My Documents\My Games\CivilWarII\CW2\Saves' with the exact name of the contained .hst file name without the '.hst' file extension.
[INDENT]eg the files is named '{scenario_name}.hst', the folder will be named '{scenario_name}'.[/INDENT]
- Your opponent unpacks the compressed archive into the newly created folder.
- Now your opponent can start the game program.
- Click "Load".
- Click on the scenario.
- Click on his faction's president.
- Click on "Play".
- Plot his moves and decisions, and saves them by clicking on the blue floppy disk icon in the upper right corner of the map.

When your opponent has completed plotting his turn, he does the same as you did in selecting, compressing and sending the .hst file, but with the .ord file of his faction; eg 'Bill_vs_Fred~USA.ord' if he is playing the Union.

- You receive your opponent's orders and copy the uncompressed .ord file into the '..\Users\{user_name\My Documents\My Games\CivilWarII\CW2\Saves\{scenario_name}' folder.
- Once you have completed plotting your turn you may now execute the turn normally by clicking on the blue arrow icon in the upper right corner.
- Once the turn's execution has completed a new .hst file is generated which you send to your opponent as described above.

Repeat until you have completed playing the scenario.

Both Players Hosting the Game in Alternation

- Basically the same as above, except that before you send the .hst file, you plot and save your orders and pack them together with the .hst file. When your opponent gets the .hst and your .ord file, he puts them into the '..\Saves\{scenario_name}' folder as described above, plots his orders and executes the turn.
- After the turn has executed, he plots his orders for the next turn and packs the .hst and his .ord files and sends them to you.

Repeat until you have completed playing the scenario.

[Captain_Orso]

Ok, silly question, do we turn the AI off? I'm gonna say yes, but I don't know for sure. Only reason I ask is that i sent my .ord files to my opponent. He then placed his moves, ended the turn and sent me the .hst file. When I loaded the game, there were moves made that I did not make in my .ord file. Any help on this question?

Will the .hst every turn be a new .hst or will it overwrite?

I would leave it turned on. If AI is turned on and you forget to put your opponent's orders into the '..\Saves\{scenario_name}' folder you will get a warning asking if the AI should take over your opponent.

If AI is turned off and you have forgotten to put your opponent's orders into the '..\Saves\{scenario_name}' folder, the turn will execute without any orders from your opponent--not good.

[Straight Arrow]

Thanks Captain_Orso,

Between you and Cardinal Ape, I now have hope that, with this guidance, my PBEM games will run much smoother.

[thebull0425]

It seems after many tries that the key was using zip files. We have now had a number of moves that have gone through doing it this way. I'm cautiously very happy, this is my first foray into PBEM.

[thebull0425]

Are there any optimum settings for PBEM?

My opponent and I have been playing with 15% replacements, and I do not like that setting at all. They don't seem to replenish units at all. Drives me nuts.

What are some other settings that should be adopted for PBEM?

[Captain_Orso]

About half of the options are for the AI, which have no meaning in PBEM.

Basically, you have to agree on the settings with your opponent. Only FOW is practically mandatory.

Personally, I would suggest, turning all assistance option off. I want to decide what I do, and not allow the engine to blindly decide for me. Those affect how you play more than any others.

[Cardinal Ape]

About half of the options are for the AI, which have no meaning in PBEM.

Sorry, a bit of an old thread to drag back up...

If you don't have the AI active in a PBEM then Indian sub-factions won't do anything. I have never seen foreign intervention, but those forces might sit idle if you don't have the AI on, not sure.


I've really grown to like the veteran activation option. It is way too easy on the Union if they known exactly when their commanders are active, especially in the first year.