Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

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VTFL
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Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by VTFL »

Three players in diverse physical locations desire to play a WITPA PBEM game with two players co-commanding the Allies and one player commanding the Japanese. The two Allied players are named Georgia and Nevada, the Japanese player is Florida. Georgia and Nevada have the capability of communicating by phone or chat at no cost. Is it possible for Florida to send his game turn file to both Georgia and Nevada, then both of them view an identical play area, forces, etc.? If so, Georgia and Nevada would then jointly decide what orders they wish to issue for the Allies' game turn. Obviously only one of them would physically enter those orders. He would then send the new game file to Florida. Can this be done as described? Thanks in advance for your response!
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Bullwinkle58
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by Bullwinkle58 »

It's possible. It's also possible for the two to enter their own orders. Just don't close out the turn with the red arrow. Do a save in a hold slot as a normal save, mail the pws file to player #2, he opens it wihth the same shared password, enters the second half of the side's turn, then closes it out with the red arrow and mails it to the other side's player.

There are a number of AARs with multiple players on a side. Be warned though that these games only move at the speed of the slowest component and often don't get finished because of speed or one player needing to leave for life reasons.
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LoBaron
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by LoBaron »

We a currently playing a 2(Allies)vs1(Japan) PBEM (initially began as 2vs2).

The split is:
Mike: The Dark Side
Rob Brennan: British forces, Indian CW, ABDA, Australia, China
LoBaron: US, NZ, Canada, SU

The units under control of either Rob and me are varying. I was taking advantage of Australian troops in the move to the
northern tip of NG, Rob is using US warplanes in Burma and now China, and gets an influx of USN ships to compesate for
RN losses.

It is - IMHO - even more fun than playing alone, as there is a significant diplomatic factor involved. Also coordination between
our forces is always a topic.

With the addition of playing two day turns (promise, you don´t want one day turns with more than 2 players involved, that takes ages), the
game has a vey realistic feel.
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KenchiSulla
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by KenchiSulla »

You could consider using dropbox. That makes life easier.
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VTFL
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by VTFL »

We're attempting a 2 humans (Allies) against 1 human (Japanese), also. But we cannot get the second Allied player in the game. Does he have to join in the first game turn, or can he enter on a later game turn so long as he has the Allied password?

To date the Japanese player has been sending game turn files to Allied players #1 and #2. Allied player #1 (me) has had no difficulty saving, loading, playing, and returning the new file. But Allied player #2 is unable to load the saved game file sent to him directly by the Japanese player. When he tries to load it, he is not prompted for the password and gets a message of "unable to load the saved game."

I'm thinking that he should abandon the idea of loading the saved game received directly from the Japanese player. Instead, in my capacity as Allied player #1, I could partially complete the Allied game turn, save the file without ending the turn, and send my co-commander, Allied player #2, the partially completed saved game file.

Is that a better way to resolve the issue? Thanks in advance for your help.
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witpqs
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by witpqs »

Lots of us do multiple players on a side. Unfortunately, the game does not support that directly. So, all the Japanese players have to go one after the other, each saving the game and giving the save to the next one. Only when all the Japanese players are done can the last one then 'end' the turn, and send it to the Allied player(s). For the Allied players it is the same: each takes a turn giving orders and saving the game, passing it on to the next Allied player. Only when the last Allied player is done can he 'end' the turn and send it to the Japanese player(s).
VTFL
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by VTFL »

Thanks for the prompt response. That certainly makes sense.

The three of us are newbies. We're 5 days/gameturns into the war and are trying to determine if the problem is some sort of technical mistake by Allied player #2, or not. At this early stage in the game he and I really don't care about having any hands on involvement in the execution of the Allied orders. He'd simply like to view the same game screen as me and we'd then hold discussions. Then, in general terms we would jointly decide on the basics of a strategy or operation, and I would take the responsibility for executing the orders to make it all happen. But up until now he has been unable to even view the game screen from the file that the Japanese player has been sending both of us. It won't open or even prompt him for the password.
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witpqs
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by witpqs »

There is something wrong, then. The game running on your machine does not know about the game running on his machine. That could obviously lead to trouble if you both gave orders and sent to the Japanese player as he would have to pick one turn to use, there being no way to merge them.

Having said that, it does mean that you should both be able to open the turn at the same time and talk/email/chat about it while looking at the same thing. If he can't open it but you can, then it sounds like something is wrong with his setup.
VTFL
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by VTFL »

Thanks, witpqs. That's what the Japanese player and I suspect. We would have thought so long as Allied #2 had the password that he could at least have opened and viewed the same game file that I could view in my capacity as Allied #1. After mutually agreeing upon decisions, only I would execute all of them, end the game turn and send the file to the Japanese player. Allied #1 would then delete his file forever, I would think. Then, just like me, he would wait for the next game turn to arrive from the Japanese.
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Quixote
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by Quixote »

You'll get the "unable to load saved game" message when you're trying to load a turn created by another player using a different version of the game. For example you'll get that error if you try to load a turn created using the beta while playing in stock. Make sure your Allied player 2 is running the same version, beta, and mod that you guys are.
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Barb
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by Barb »

I am too involved in a 2v2 pbem game. SOP (Standard Operational Procedure) for our side (Jap) is to run the replay each, with the first to send it to opponents is also the one that usually start processing turn. Upon finishing he just saves the game file and send to the other one with comments. The second player issue his orders and finishing the turn with "End turn" he sends it to the other side.

Sometimes more "diplomatic notes and comments" are required on operations.

All playing using the same game and beta version is important!
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RogerJNeilson
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RE: Co-commander possibility in a PBEM game?

Post by RogerJNeilson »

I often don't finish all my orders at one stting, so I just save the unended game and reopen it. The same can be done with the use of a shared cloud storage like Dropbox, it just requires everyone to be talking to each other and a way of making sure only one person is working on the orders at a time.

If you are having problems its either you are not all on the same game version, or soemone has saved as a closed turn not an open turn.

Roger
An unplanned dynasty: Roger Neilson, Roger Neilson 11, Roger Neilson 3 previous posts 898+1515 + 1126 = 3539.....Finally completed my game which started the day WITP:AE was released
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