suggestion to all MP players

[thunderchero]

now on to business. We all want this community to succeed. Modding department is doing great, there still a few playing solo games, but multiplayer aspect is in a deep hole ... no matter how u cut it, shiny new fonts and new interface won't keep this game alive and to its' full potential without mp componenet . So how about getting an mp fest going with all of the admi/HRH_AFC included?

Sounds like it is time for the multi players to join together and start development of a new multi player mod.

hint.....ruthlessferengi........RSE_Dissy........carcher.........xdarktrooperx.....and whom ever I have missed.

with the latest release of ECM and all the fixes (non MP fixes can be rolled back) it might be a perfect time to join together. Even if you are unable to do the work yourself you should be able to enlist enough help to complete a combined effort exclusively for MP game play. And create an official AFC multi player mod. Also once BOTF lobby is able to support mods this can only make MP gaming more popular.

I will of course I volunteer assembly and creation of new installer and updates. maybe peter1981 and or Tethys could do some hex editing when needed. I do feel this could be a quick and well done project as long as no major changes are made. (new races/new interfaces or new ship models) The latest release of ECM has many retextured models that still use vanilla hobs so they will not slow down game play and look much better than vanilla textures.

thunderchero

[Tethys]

I will render what services/time I can to a project of such noble and selfless intentions

[xDx]

Hmmm an interesting proposal. I think it would be a great idea to have a mod exclusively for MP. As TC says though something simple that wont cause major instability in MP. So then the question is to all multiplayers what changes would you like to see? Phantom dilithium almost fully functional option (remove the warnings of dil shortage), ship scrapping exploit return 100% credits? or 50%? Ramming fix to use nominal hull value each combat turn, command abilities in combat (i.e. hold, cloak, withdraw/return fire) I'm not sure how stable they would be but so far in my mod they work with no crashes. Personally I would like to see gal map cloak more effective in the mod, in other words you are unable to see the ship/ task force strength 2 sectors away and cannot determine ship type etc (Tethys hint hint ). Any other suggestions from my MP peeps?

Edit by Tethys (wink wink )

[thunderchero]

It is good to see some interest in this project,

I did have a few thoughts/ideas that you might be able to use

1. map sizes you could start with small at 18x13 med 26x19 large 40x30

2. starting techs could be changed maybe tech 2, tech 4, tech 6, tech 8, tech 10

3. mentat did the ship stat matrix for UDM you might ask if he would be interested in helping on this project.

4. Adjust starting pop for extra systems (for less restarts)

5. up to 5 starting systems for higher tech starts.

The list could go on and on but this should get you started. Since I do not play MP games much these are just ideas so do with them as you see fit.

thunderchero

[carcher]

This is a very interesting topic.I like the suggestions so far,in addition
I'd like to see all upgraded ships,including TT's being able to move at speed 2.

Some ( but not too much) better intel defence for the feds,klings and fergs would be nice but I wouldn't want to take away the rom and cards advantage,but if we're going to have higher pops on starting systems i guess we could just have a few more intel structures.

I'm sure Ruthless would love some kind of training facility for the ferengie

Would it be possible to make some minors more advanced at tech 5 then ,when membered,they would be more usfull to your empire?

[RSE_Dissy]

this is an excellent idea. I disagree ENTIRELY with carchers suggestion on TTs moving speed 2, all non combatants are slow and bulky, they should be speed 1. This is the dynamic of BOTF, in fact ferg and kling TTs should be made speed 1.

If we're sticking to vanilla style, out of all the bug fixes I would use them all, make 50% scrap rule, or 35% scrap rule.. and I'd allow phantom dilithium(i.e. not fix it)..

I'd lower phaser power of kvorts and shield power of kvorts, a little. I'd make Strike Cruisers have the highest hull out of all ships to enable them to bomb OBs (please have a look at Sir FluidHats multiplayer mod- this was done very well---- maybe we should just "UPDATE" FluidHats mod, with bug fixes, system fixes so systems are always 300+ populations, change map sizes.. ayyy defo we shud do this..

[carcher]

I suppose I could go along with ALL tt's moving at the same speed,1or 2( I prefer 2 then your not hanging around waitng for them to catch up ,but np- I'm easy) lets see what ppl think.

I think Dissy is right about the strike crusiers,it's always bugged me that they cant survive OB'S,if they can it makes it worthwhile building and using them-more ship types = more interesting battles=more enjoyment=MP heaven

Be great to see Tethys planet animations in there ae well

[thunderchero]

I think Dissy is right about the strike crusiers,it's always bugged me that they cant survive OB'S,if they can it makes it worthwhile building and using them-more ship types = more interesting battles=more enjoyment=MP heaven

Establishing a defensive bonus for Strike Cruisers against OBs

The below modification reduces the firepower of the OBs against Strike Cruisers, but only for one OB per Strike Cruiser. So this specialised counter ability is limited if there are more active batteries than attacking ships (i.e. when approaching to the planet in order to bomb, whilst there are remaining OB shots).

this is already part of ECM

thunderchero

[RSE_Dissy]

so in ECM Strikes can bomb ? fair enough... I'd also like to see UDM ship models in there as well - they are stable, don't cause more crashes so if that can be implemted with FluidHats balanced shiplist (balanced mainly for t4 and t5)... t3 in-balances like ferg r2 and fed r2 on tech 3 and such are not dealt with, but in longer stretch games turn into irrevelance anyway.. Maybe the shiplist should be changed abit ? I'm not good at balancing stats really just offer suggestions, but I also like to see these changes to vanilla shiplist if we using that one or fluidmod one:

Fed Command CR (galaxy) replaced by Ambassador class
Fed Heavy CR (galaxy-x) replaced by Galaxy class
Fed Light Cruiser (Ambassador) replaced by Excelsior class

(just for my satisfaction of seeing excelsior in the game heh)

[ruthlessferengi]

i think fluids is one of the best mp mods around... i agree with Dissy we shud just upadate this mod... i am not sure extra large maps are ok for mp -i found xl maps from udm3 unstable in mp...

get rid of dil fix, scrap - lower to 60% but preserve excess production credit output...

more fundamental question would be is not whether we have a reliable mp mod... it took less than one line to list more or less acitve mp players on this site... and that's a pity, cause i am not sure a new mod would attract new players...

botf has a heart and unpredictability that, imho, can only be pulled out by a clever mp play... if we don't revive mp games, this game has very little prospect of surviving another year... i don't know how to make it happen, other then by increasing exposure to mp content.... this won't happen unless admin staff has a contribution and that's want i meant in my original post.... modding is essential but we have PLENTY of fun mods - UDM3, Fluids, heck - vanilla still Rocks, no fixes and all.... they are all reasonable stable (as far as botf goes) .. what we need is to take this game out of the single player lab and give it some life... we have busy lives, develop new interest, botf is an "ineresing" hobby and if it's time for this to fade away and move on with out lives, so be it, but i suspect we shud give it another go and possible extend its' life expectancy... sorry to sound to grim, correct me if i am wrong...

[RSE_Dissy]

yeh we need to push multiplayer gaming - make our own guide for getting setup - a good one effective - push members to hang around on ewarzone and use as botf chat room - all of us posting, all those tons and tons who post in the general chat forums there's loads and loads of us on here - this game isn't dieing, it's thriving for how old it is - well MP gaming is not thriving no but this game isn't dead and shows no signs whatsoever of dieing anytime soon - interest in MP gaming needs to be hightened - the downside to MP gaming is that it is VERY HARD TO GET UP AND RUNNING and extremely hard for a technophobe which alot of people are - this is why a QUALITY well written easy to follow guide to getting going needs to be written and also US ALL OF US need to show more support and be there when the newer MP gamers are playing - this is why it's imperitively important we all hang around in BOTH warzone rooms whenever you are online you should also be in ewarzone login to both at the same time, get more and more of us in real time conversation and we will grow in population in MP action, the website is growing as it is for regular botf lovers -

[RSE_Dissy]

oh and to RF: I almost exclusively play large maps with my regular partener darktrooper on udml , and we're very very stable - obviously one or two crashings but very playable. Fluids mod was stable too

[xDx]

A good discussion thus far...

Ruthless Ferengi wrote:

i think fluids is one of the best mp mods around... i agree with Dissy we shud just upadate this mod

The thing as TC points out with UDM is making changes to an already existing mod could imbalance the game and cause crashes. So using vanilla (or even ECMv2) as template it would not be hard to correct certain fixes to make them MP friendly (i.e. phantom dilithium, scrapping exploit, etc)

i don't know how to make it happen, other then by increasing exposure to mp content.... this won't happen unless admin staff has a contribution and that's want i meant in my original post

The problem I see is we are all spread out all over the world (RF and me in US, Dissy in UK) in different time zones so setting up lan-style parties is kind of hard to do. However I think THE best start is to make a complete how to guide to get BotF running in WZ and also include step by step for novice computer users how to install this game and its mods from this site. Most people that do come here try to connect on WZ and due to gremlins or whatever cannot get it to work and leave. The guide should have a FAQ section to try and address most common problems with getting the game to work for different OS systems, etc. Since the admins here are in talks with getting the popular mods added to eWarzone then maybe they would be willing to link the guide to their website right in the header of each room. So then as far as the mod goes we can start to work on ECM MP ediiton when SCT and TC are ready to release final version and we have a list compiled of what should be a MP feature. This is of course if we can use ECM as a template.

more fundamental question would be is not whether we have a reliable mp mod... it took less than one line to list more or less acitve mp players on this site... and that's a pity

True but with on average 4000 hits a day on this site you would think at least a dozen people might be interested in MP? Maybe...? These are just my thoughts and opinions so we'll see where it goes from here.

[ruthlessferengi]

i tried that...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1851

i thought that was enough...

[xDx]

Well now that you dusted it off for all to see I will direct people to this link and see if that can help matters. Actually I read it over and IIRC this link helped me get sorted for our first game (ah... memories).