Rudankort wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 7:13 pm
Gwaylare wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:07 pm
2) To address problems with cheating do not send a whole turn to the server but every single move or action.
2) not exactly. Players connected directly will exchange commands only, but PBEM server is not designed to handle separate actions, as far as I know. This might change, because handling commands can have many advantages, but for the time being it is what it is. I wonder though - why do you think this creates any fundamental problems with cheating?
The PBEM mechanism does allow cheating, that is not an assumption but a fact. Slitherine reacts to this by monitoring the protocols of PBEM server, which is a reactiv way to control a problem. A better approach is to be proactive and change the mechanism to be less vulnerable. Just think about this like we use a source control like SVN, we do not send a whole release to the server but every single completed change.
The biggest problem I think is not cheating itself, but the unsureness and rumors about it. This does create a lot of destructive dynamic and like doping do harm sports, cheating do harm multiplayer games. So just address these problems during development. The main problem is in fact, that PBEM is an interface to transform a singleplayer game to multiplayer game. A better approach is to develop a multiplayer game
Panzer Corps has quite a large base of people playing multiplayer games, where should we start to get PBEM 2.0?
Please do not get me wrong, Slitherine has the best PBEM mechanism I know about, but you can do better.
Rudankort wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 7:13 pm
Gwaylare wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:07 pm
5) Give the possiblity to put notes within the game to remind you later.
Never thought of this one, but it sounds like a useful idea. Can you elaborate a bit more - how do you imagine it to work?
Just add a comment attribute to any visible object, like units or hex fields and allow to put just text into it in addition to a small icon near by
.
When a replay is running you see units disapearing into the fog of war. It would be perfect to mark possible locations with a note into the hex.
Often I do have plans for a single unit what to do next turn. Then there is a break of some days those plans are gone. Most time I do remember short after moving this unit. It would be perfect to have an icon near unit with a note attached to remember.
Sometimes it would be great to mark an enemy unit to identify it later on, for example to realize it is the unit which was guarding the primary target two turns ago.
There should be permanent notes and notes with a lifetime of just one turn, vanishing at the end your next turn.
Panzer Corps is not just a game about tanks, it is a game about information.
Rudankort wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 7:13 pm
Gwaylare wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:07 pm
6) The balance of units could be improved a lot. In the later campaigns there are lots of units, but you will never use them. Why should I buy a PIVF when I could get a PIVG? So most of the time just the top units are relevant, just for infantry and sometimes artillery there are real choices. So notice which units are bought within MP games on the server and balance them. A simple way could be to make frequently used units more expensive und less used units cheaper.
Well, unit balance is never perfect, so all I can say here is that we will try our best.
It would help us a lot if PzC MP community would be involved in the beta starting from early versions.
Sure I would be glad to join a beta test and my focus will be multiplayer, because I do not believe anymore in a clever AI. For an AI together with a complex game it is really hard enough to do a single move, but to move a group of units working together as combined arms is impossible at the moment. To be honest I am quite curious if a new AI would recognize a simple pattern like surrounding a unit, fire artillery and let them surrender.
So I guess as long as developing new 3D graphics is more important than improving an AI the answer will be no.
Rudankort wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 7:13 pm
Gwaylare wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:07 pm
6a) Just if balance is improved: Within balanced or autogenerated maps please give the opportunity to start without any units and buy them all and deploy them within a deployment zone. Just learn from Field of Glory II.
7) Give us more information about combats. You have all the stats and dice rolls available of your turn, but no information about opponents turn. So just log the combat results to the server and make them accessible.
Both points are in the works. Regarding combats, I expect that the game will maintain a full list of all combats which ever happened in the current scenario, so you can always scroll through the list and view the log for any of them, not just the last one. Pause in Replay mode will also help with this of course.
Great to hear this, Rudankort thanks for all your comments. You are doing a great job.
Best regards
Gwaylare