Can anyone explain to me how MP saved games are generally loaded and started in other games? I really almost never play MP, and I've never tried to play a saved MP game. I'm implementing loading and saving right now, so I need a response asap.
Please don't tell me all about how there's some better way to do it; I just need to know what's normal before I can do improvements.
Thanks in advance.
MP saved games
Moderator: Oberlus
In most multiplayer games iirc it's done when hosting a game. You make a new multiplayer game, and instead of choosing a map or other settings, you hit load game. At that point the game is aware of what players it needs and what player position they were in. It then waits (optionally) for all the right people to join, and then you can hit start game. At this point it transfers all the relevant data over to each player and the game starts.
MP loading is not normally done in the middle of the game. Unless the game is a co-operative one, such as Neverwinter Nights, in which case loading works much the same as in single player.
MP loading is not normally done in the middle of the game. Unless the game is a co-operative one, such as Neverwinter Nights, in which case loading works much the same as in single player.
Some games let the player choose who takes which slot. In fact, that's my preference - allowing the host to force a player into a certain slot, even taking over an AI player. Gives the player's versatility if that's what they want to do (with the host having control).
Would also be good for testing and development.
Edit: with optional passwords that would work the same as what I suggest, but with better security
Would also be good for testing and development.
Edit: with optional passwords that would work the same as what I suggest, but with better security
If your MP network is peer-to-peer then youve got a lot more work to do - such as making sure everyone's locally saved games sync up. You also cant easily join and leave at will, you all have to be there all of the time in order to play.
However (afaik) in freeorion youre using a server-client model. So the server is the only place that a savegame gets written to and read from. The only issue then is getting all of that data down to all of the players before they get bored .
You should definitely have passwords, but with the ability of the host to override and assign different human or AI players to a slot so that if someone doesnt turn up the game isnt stalled.
However (afaik) in freeorion youre using a server-client model. So the server is the only place that a savegame gets written to and read from. The only issue then is getting all of that data down to all of the players before they get bored .
You should definitely have passwords, but with the ability of the host to override and assign different human or AI players to a slot so that if someone doesnt turn up the game isnt stalled.