Simultaneous Games

Description

| Simultaneous Games work a little different than Turn-Based games. Every player takes their turn at the same time as the other players (if on different machines). Players can only give orders to their ships, they will not move. Movement for all players is executed at the same time after all of the players have taken their turns. Combat which occurs is resolved automatically by the computer and no Tactical Combat is allowed.

If a Simultenaeous game is played on the same machine, then each player will take turns playing their turn, but movement will still occur after they have all finished.

Elements

| Players | A simultaneous games still has players like a normal game. Each player will take their turn and then send their player file in to the host. When a player wants to play their turn, they will load the game file and then login as the empire that they play.
| Host | A new concept in a simultaneous game is that of a Host. The host is the person that sets up the game and who executes the movement of ships. A host can be a player, or can be an automated process. The Host is merely whatever executes the end of turn processing.
| Game Setup | When the game is first setup, the game needs to be selected as a simultaneous game in the Mechanics section. The Host (or whomever sets up the game) should come up with the settings for the game and then let all of the players know what they are. This would be things such as galaxy size, racial points available, number of starting planets, etc.

Each player would then create their empire (.emp) using these settings (or use an existing empire) and send them to the host (this can be done through email, ftp, whatever). The host will create the game and add each of these empire to it. When he starts the game, it will immediately be saved (using the filename entered in the multiplayer game name). The host will then send this game file (.gam) to each of the players.

| Transferring Files | A player who receives a game file should place it in the savegame directory. They can then start Space Empires IV and load the savegame. The game will prompt them to login as a given player. If the empire was created with a password (highly recommended) then the player must enter that password to login. Now the player can play out the current turn of the game. They can do everything as in a normal game, except that the ships will not execute the orders. Players can only give the ships orders at this point.

When the player completes their turn, the players changes (orders) will be saved as a file (.plr). The player should then send this file in to the Host. The Host will collect all of the player's files and put them in the savegame directory with the existing savegame file for the game. The Host runs Space Empires IV, loads the savegame, and then logs in as the Host (this will require the game password). When the Host presses the End Turn button, the game will add the player's orders into the game, and then execute simultaneous movement for all ships. When this process completes, the game will be saved once again (and all of the player files will have been deleted). Now the Host sends this savegame (Gam) file back out to all of the players and the process repeats.

If the game is being played on the same machine (all players on the same machine), no files need to be transferred. Also, the execution of the host is automatic as well.

| Sequence of Events | 1. Game Host comes up with the settings for a new game. The most important facts about this game are the number of racial points that the players have to spend. 2. Host tells all of the players about the game settings. 3. Each player creates an empire based on these settings. They save the empire file and send it in to the Host. If players are using a custom race style (picture set), then they need to send this to the host as well.

4. The Host gathers all of the player files together into the savegame directory. The Host then creates the game, adds the empires into it, and the game is saved to a file. The Host sends this file (and any custom race styles for the players) to every player in the game.

5. Each player receives the game file (Gam) from the host and puts it into their savegame directory. They run the program, and load the savegame. They login as their empire, and play their turn.

6. When they have finished their turn, the game will create a player changes file (.plr). This file is then sent in to the Host.

7. The Host receives the player changes files from each of the players. If a player does not send in their file, this is not a problem. The game will automatically have the AI control any player that did not supply a player changes file. The Host runs the game, loads the savegame, and the presses End Turn. When he does, the game will load all of the player changes files, and then process the movement for all of the players.

8. When the processing completes, the Host will send the new game file (Gam) to each of the players. This process then begins again at item number 5.

| Orders | On a player's turn, they can only give orders to their planet and ships. For some things, this is instantaneous such as transferring cargo or renaming something. The player can also freely change any research projects, intelligence projects, send messages, or change construction queues. However, none of the ships they give orders to will actually move. Anything that uses movement points will not move until the host executes the movement.

Keep in mind that all movement is Simultaneous. This means that your ships will move at the same time as enemy ships. This is fundamentally different than a Turn-Based game. In a Turn-Based game, the enemy could not run away while you were moving your ships. You need to plan your strategy around the fact that they may move somewhere else when you are moving towards them.

To help with this, the Attack Order changes slightly in a Simultaneous game. When you give the attack order, your ship will seek after its target during movement. It will change course as needed to that the target does not get away. This is much better than a Move To in that this takes into account a moving target, while Move To will just send you to a location.

| Movement | Simultaneous movement is played out of 30 days during a single month (turn). Each ship movement is converted into different days that they will get to move. So if your ship has 5 movement points, then it will get to move once every 6 days during the month.

When the savegame is returned to you as a player, you can replay the movement of all of the ships that has taken place. See the Command panel for more details.

| Combat | Combat occurs in simultaneous movement when enemy ships are at the same location. However, unlike Turn-Based movement, combat will only occur every 5 days at a given location. So even though your ship may move into the same location as an enemy, unless its a 5th day of the month, combat will not occur.

For example, your ship moves into a location with an enemy on the 3rd day of the month. If both of your ships are still in the same place on the 5th day of the month, then combat will occur. Combat can possible occur 6 times for a given location in one month (turn). The result of the combat will be reported to you in a Log report.

| Command Line | As the Host, you can execute the game by running it, and then loading the savegame, and then pressing End Turn. You can also automate the process by using command line options for the game. If you run the program se4.exe you can supply 2 command line parameters. The first is the exact path to the savegame file, the second is the password for the game. If the parameters are valid, the game will execute silently, and when finished will generate a new game file.

File Types

| .emp | An empire file. This contains a detailed description of an empire for use in a game.
| .Gam | The game file. This is the file that runs the entire game.
| .plr | The player changes file. This file contains all of the changes that a player makes on their turn. This needs to be sent in to the host.
| .trn | A turn log file. This file is return to the players by the host and allows them to view the movement replay for the turn.
| .cmb | A combat log file. This file is returned to the players by the host and allows them to view the combat replay for the turn.
| _events.txt | An events file. When a player goes into the History Window, they are viewing the contents of this file. The host should send this file to the specific player it is for with the game file each turn.
| _stats.txt | A statistics file. When a player goes into the Comparisons Window, they are viewing the contents of this file. The host should send this file to the specific player it is for with the game file each turn.

Special Notes

| None |

Related Areas