Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

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C4nt3r
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Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by C4nt3r »

I know this is asked a lot, and not ready for it, but just wanted to know if there is a way to try it, mainly to play with friends.

Probably is not possible using official server, but would like to know if could be possible to host my own server, with matches configured with longtime turns, for players just connect when have time to play. I don't need mail notifications at all, or something like that, I know is not possible right now (and never?), and I can manage that with forum, telegram, or whathever.

Just would like to get some help to know if could be possible, with the tools we have right now, to host a server that keeps alive a mp game or series of games, configured with longtime turns, and players connect when they can to play their turns. Something like, as I understand, Freeciv has.

Thanks.
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lhybrideur
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by lhybrideur »

I think it is a really nice idea. It would also probably increase the number of mp players, smth that was complained about in other posts.
It is also probably hard to code. It would probably rely on a password system combined with the name of the save.
C4nt3r
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by C4nt3r »

lhybrideur wrote: September 6th, 2019, 12:18 pm I think it is a really nice idea. It would also probably increase the number of mp players, smth that was complained about in other posts.
It is also probably hard to code. It would probably rely on a password system combined with the name of the save.
I never played a MP game of Wesnoth, I have no idea how much time can take, but obviously, every day, we are older, and with responsabilities, and from differents timezones and so on. It's difficult to have game sessions. Have a way to play your turn on your peace, allows you to play all days, several times a day, and so on... If a 1v1 takes 10min makes no sense, but It's difficult a group of 6 friends from different countries, meet to play a match of 3v3 over 3 hours.

Asynchronous is something a lot of people wants, there is a big market for it out there, but not all of them asks for it.A game like Wesnoth, where a player has nothing to do in others players turns, is perfect for this kind of gaming.

But, I know this is a recursive feature asked since several years ago (because I follow it). If there is no way to get something near to an async match, then, put a bounty, and I will try to get the money.
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Pentarctagon
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by Pentarctagon »

The MP server software "wesnothd" is freely available, so you are able to host your own server if you want.
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C4nt3r
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by C4nt3r »

Pentarctagon wrote: September 6th, 2019, 1:55 pm The MP server software "wesnothd" is freely available, so you are able to host your own server if you want.
HI,

Yes, for this I asked about how to setup for this needs (and if possible)
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josteph
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by josteph »

What would you do if wesnothd rebooted in the middle of a match? (Not unlikely in PBEM)
C4nt3r
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by C4nt3r »

josteph wrote: September 7th, 2019, 8:02 am What would you do if wesnothd rebooted in the middle of a match? (Not unlikely in PBEM)
Based on the info I got from Discord, I'm "playing" with the idea to develop a bot to manage this. Bot will create matches under demand and so on. About your question didn't thought about, but a possible solution to this is to save replays each turn and keep the lastest. When Bot starts can check replays of games and if some exists retake that game from that point.
Probably I will start working on this later, when I got time to start digging into LUA bot development and see exactly what I can do with it
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lhybrideur
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by lhybrideur »

@C4nt3r: I would say not only the last one for coop scenarii/campaigns because you might want to roll back a few turns. For competitive, last one seems OK but I would keep one more in case of failure. But no idea how to manage that then (compared to only having the last one I mean)
C4nt3r
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by C4nt3r »

lhybrideur wrote: September 9th, 2019, 8:14 pm @C4nt3r: I would say not only the last one for coop scenarii/campaigns because you might want to roll back a few turns. For competitive, last one seems OK but I would keep one more in case of failure. But no idea how to manage that then (compared to only having the last one I mean)
First of all, I didn't dived yet on this, you know, life with kids is difficult, but... As far I understood reading documentation, problem is not to keep more than 1 save, problem is when match has to be resumed, wich save the bot should choose. This is the problem that comes to my mind, anyway, I will take a look to your suggestion, thanks.
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lhybrideur
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by lhybrideur »

C4nt3r wrote: September 9th, 2019, 8:43 pm First of all, I didn't dived yet on this, you know, life with kids is difficult, but... As far I understood reading documentation, problem is not to keep more than 1 save, problem is when match has to be resumed, wich save the bot should choose. This is the problem that comes to my mind, anyway, I will take a look to your suggestion, thanks.
Yes this is the problem I had in mind. I don't know how one can check if a save is corrupted so to load another one.
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josteph
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by josteph »

lhybrideur wrote: September 10th, 2019, 12:58 pm Yes this is the problem I had in mind. I don't know how one can check if a save is corrupted so to load another one.
Believe it or not, there's actually a `corrupted="yes"` field in the savefile metadata store (~/.config/wesnoth/save_index, it's a gzipped WML file).
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lhybrideur
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Re: Ask for help to create "asynchronous/PBEM" matches

Post by lhybrideur »

Problem solved then.
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