Slitherine

Hi Everyone,

I have been impressed with the Spartan Demo (single player) and so would like to get the full game, as would our our son in Arizona, so the two of us could play via Gamespy, "live," using the turn-based system in Spartan.

My two questions for you, please:

1. If we play online together via Gamespy, can we save and quit the game in the middle, then resume on another day? I don't wish to stay online for hours trying to finish a game.

2. Are there particular port settings that we'd need to set our DSL modems to, in order to play?

Thanks for any help here!

Glad you liked the demo.

- Spartan used Gamespy servers to try and avoid the need to open specific ports on firewalls etc. So the chances are good that you wouldn't need to mess around with things like that.

- I can't remember whether Spartan allowed multiplayer load/save, so I had a quick look at the code to remind me, and it does seem to have functions in there for loading and saving multiplayer games, and transmitting the lists back and forth. So I would tenatively answer yes to that!

Hope that helps

Pip

Hi Pip,

Thank you for your (clearly well-informed) reply. I was encouraged by it. Unfortunately, the demo is single-player only (or so it says), so I can't test it to try. Perhaps someone else here can add something more before I invest in the game.

Bob R in New Mexico, USA

Hi Pip,

Sorry, I forgot to ask this clarification. Does your expression above mean, "transmitting the game file back and forth," as is common in play by email games?

Bob

Spartan works basically by sending save games back and forth, they are small enough that it works fine. I don't remember how exactly I implemented it, but I would guess that you can choose a savegame on your HD and it will just send it to the other player and you can both start playing.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but it's been many years since I wrote it

Cheers

Pip

Hi Pip - I was quite surprised when you wrote:

Spartan works basically by sending save games back and forth, they are small enough that it works fine. I don't remember how exactly I implemented it, but I would guess that you can choose a savegame on your HD and it will just send it to the other player and you can both start playing.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but it's been many years since I wrote it

I was amazed to hear that you are THE or AN author of the game! Congratulations! I must admit that I laughed to myself when you said "...it's been many years since I wrote it." To me, "many years would be 40 years ago, when I was a young lieutenant in the tragic Vietnam War! A war that even bothered me at the time (the whole feel of the war), and bothered me worse some years later when I read the history of our relationship with Ho Chi Minh, who was our ally during WW II. In hindsight, he needn't have been our enemy, I believe.

That is all quite interesting. In the game description, it says,

Innovative 'Always Active' 2 player multiplayer over LAN & Internet via Gamespy.

I understood that (perhaps incorrectly?) to mean that by using the "always active" connection via Gamespy, playing a 2-player game would "feel" the same as it would be to play the AI. I.e., each player would use the "end turn" key, and then the other player would make his moves, then end his turn, etc. Somehow, the Gamespy connection would allow the game file to shuttle back and forth between the players after each of their respective turns. So if the players agreed (by instant messager, for example), to end after the Spartan player's turn, then they could each save the game at that point and then when they got online at Gamespy the next day, they'd each open their respective files and then the person playing the Spartan opponent would be able to start making the moves for his turn. Do you think my explanation seems plausible?
Thank you for your help in all of this!

BobR[/code]

The always active mode means that if you fight a battle against the AI the other play controls their troops. It means no long waits while one player fights lots of battles vs the AI. While it is sending saved games via gamespy, you don;t really notice - it feels like a normal LAN connection. The hard thing is to find someone to play against!

Hi Mr. McNeil,

Thanks for your reply. I could like to clarify my understanding of what you wrote, which was "The always active mode means that if you fight a battle against the AI the other play [player?] controls their troops. It means no long waits while one player fights lots of battles vs the AI. While it is sending saved games via gamespy, you don;t really notice - it feels like a normal LAN connection. "

My impression from doing the demo game is that there is troop movement, and then periodic battles. The battles can be resolved virtually instantly by the AI, or one can choose to move his/her forces "manually" to set up for the battle. Do you mean, then, that if one chooses to fight the battle by controlled movement on the battlefield, the opposing human player also has a screen where he/she can control the detailed movement of his/her forces AS IF he/she was the AI? Or do I miss your meaning here?

I am sorry if I appear obtuse, but I am trying to clarify how all of this works before deciding to "take the plunge" and to buy Spartan (and ask our son to get it as well, so we can play 2-player online mode). Thanks for your continuing help here, Slitherine Team!

BobR

Yes if you are say Sparta and the other human player is Athens, and you invade the Corinthians and fight a battle. You see the deployment for your side, while the other human players deploys the Corinthians against you. It means no battles vs AI - all are against a human opponent.