sanman Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 I have built two HUGE scenarios that I would like to try out with someone who likes playing multi battalion operations with each player having 16000+ points in assets. The games are action packed but each move takes a while to setup. They have to be played by email. Both are fictional, semi historical mission type operations set along the German Western Wall. One (HELLS LAKE) is an attempt to capture the command and control HQ of the 5th Panzer Army. The second (HELLS HOLE is an attempt to capture a underground V-2 rocket storage complex. You can check them out at the Scenario Depot under HELLS LAKE and HELLS HOLE. If anyone is interested drop me a email at sanman@maui.net 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klapton Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 Uh, with that size my computer will crash. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanman Posted March 15, 2003 Author Share Posted March 15, 2003 I have played both scenerios on my P4 with 256m of ram and it goes real fast. I'm sure they will work fine on P3's. Not all elements are fighting at the same time. Come on, someone must have a itch to try a real Big Time scenario. I'll take either side, will free up all on map elements for placement,and of course allow complete scenerio viewing to be fair. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klapton Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 I have a Pentium 200 Mhz. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanman Posted March 17, 2003 Author Share Posted March 17, 2003 I think the operations would work fine on a 200mh P3. It might take a little while depending on how many elements are in the turn. These huge operations are much more time consuming as you really need to keep track and coordinate ALL your force. There are also more surprises from your enemy. Down load it and try it against the AI and see how it works. I would be interested in the results if you do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redrobin Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 Sanman, How big are these PBEM files likely to be? :confused: Or more to the point are we talking broadband to make this a viable game. If its practical on a 56k link i might be interested. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanman Posted March 18, 2003 Author Share Posted March 18, 2003 I think the best way is zip files through email. It can take a while (20 mins. per person)to set up each move, There are a lot of elements to check and move and I found small mistakes can be costly. I only have dial up anyway. If you know of a better way I'm all ears. I'm new at playing over the web . Da Sanman 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klapton Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 I don't have neither a P3, nor a P2. Just a plain pentium, running at 200 mhz, an dated back to 1997. When playing a large scenario (say, 5000 points), the Los tool becomes almost unusable, and moving through the map is a pain. With a 16000 points scenario, it will crash for sure. The size of pbem files is going to be large, for sure. In a 5000 points with lots of vehicles moving, they will be around 1 mb. Zipping them is not an option; I guess they are already somewhat compressed, and you don't get a significant compression rate. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redrobin Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 I thought that would be the case. I will try one against the AI. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanman Posted March 18, 2003 Author Share Posted March 18, 2003 Could you please explain why saving a game as a zip file and emailing it is not an option. These operations are only 51kb as a zip file. Like I said, I'm new to this :confused: . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redrobin Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 Sanman I think what you are saying is that your scenario to download is 51kb. I have dl one of them from the Scenario Depot, and I would agree that this zipped file is quite small. The problem arises when playing PBEM. Some turns are plot only and are therefore quite small (i.e. issuing orders move, hunt etc), and pose no problem. However when it comes to the calculation phase when you click GO, all the possible permutations are taken into account. The amount of units that 16000 points per side will produce, are probably quite large, and the subsequent calculations for each one (process time) awesome. I normally play with approx 1500 points PBEM. Klapton says that 5000 points produces a calculation turn size of 1 meg which will not compress much more. So does 16000 points produce a 3 meg file? (my original question). On my link as an attachment I reckon you’re looking at 15-20 mins one way for a 3 meg file (broadband a couple of mins). To be quite honest this will put an awful lot of people off. Also take into account you are talking about an operation (how many turns/battles, and will it be finished by Easter?). It might sound daft but you can test this by playing PBEM by yourself. Obviously you do not e-mail the files just store them in your PBEM folder playing both sides, and select the last saved file (a bit like playing hotseat but with files). When you get to a calculation turn exit the game and see what size it is in explorer (assuming you are on windows). When you have done that let us know what the file size is. I hope this clears this up, if not we will need another UN resoultion. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanman Posted March 19, 2003 Author Share Posted March 19, 2003 NFR Thank you for explaining the problem playing with PBEM. I had a feeling it would be difficult. That's why I was trying to find another way to do it using ZIP files. There must be some way to play large games without having broadband . To me the huge games are way more exciting and challenging that the small ones...there are just so many more variables. Da Sanman 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanman Posted March 19, 2003 Author Share Posted March 19, 2003 NFR Last night I took your advice and played one of my scenarios with PBEM. I did 10 turns including some big ones (lots of smoke, infantry, tanks, artillery etc.). Most of the PBEM files were about 250kb with the largest being 923kb. I could reduce it to 624kb using ZIP file. My guess is the largest PBEM file in the game would be 1.5megs (I could be wrong). These games were designed so that elements come in over time to replace casualties and a good game should have lots of them. Also most assaults get bogged down due to fortification or artillery so not all element on map are moving at the same time. I will continue this battle tonight but so fat this seems workable to me, what do you think. Da Sanman 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanman Posted March 19, 2003 Author Share Posted March 19, 2003 NFR Last night I took your advice and played one of my scenarios with PBEM. I did 10 turns including some big ones (lots of smoke, infantry, tanks, artillery etc.). Most of the PBEM files were about 250kb with the largest being 923kb. I could reduce it to 624kb using ZIP file. My guess is the largest PBEM file in the game would be 1.5megs (I could be wrong). These games were designed so that elements come in over time to replace casualties and a good game should have lots of them. Also most assaults get bogged down due to fortification or artillery so not all element on map are moving at the same time. I will continue this battle tonight but so fat this seems workable to me, what do you think. Da Sanman 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redrobin Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 Sanman Complete the first battle. If the file sizes are similar to what you have mentioned already i am prepared to have a go at PBEM. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanman Posted March 20, 2003 Author Share Posted March 20, 2003 NFR I finished the battle. The PBEM files got smaller as the battle went on. I never got a 900kb or even a 800kb file. Mostly around 500kb to 700kb. So if you would like to play one of these scenarios PBEM I would really enjoy playing against a opponent that thinks . You can email me at sanman@maui.net and we can work out the details. Da Sanman 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redrobin Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Sanman e-mail on its way. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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