A Must Read For Newbies: PBEM FILE NAMING

[Panzer Leader]

Let's rename this "A must-NOT read for newbies"

[John Hough]

My preferred naming scheme includes the side which gets to go, what turn it is, and whether or not the person who goes gets to watch a movie. Thus:

allied setup

axis orders 01

allied orders 01

axis movie 01

allied movie 01

axis orders 02

allied movie 02

axis movie 02

allied orders 03

and so on. The numbering of the orders only turns isn't important, but I keep all my old PBEM files around, each game in a separate folder, and ask my opponent for his password after the battle, so I can look at it again from both sides to better learn from my mistakes. So it's important to me to get all the movies properly labeled. But I'm cool with whatever naming scheme my opponent prefers, I can rename the files myself.

------------------

so you can stay cool behind your window

and choose the view you want to see

but as long as there's others held captive

do not consider yourself free

-EMBRACE, "DO NOT CONSIDER YOURSELF FREE"

[Panzer Leader]

Perhaps I will start my own coding file naming. Mayhaps it will be something like this as an example: Sscenario, Turn 00, Polish, Infantry, Defense, or:

ST00PID

------------------

And King Xerxes looked to King Leonidas and spoke. "Our Archers will rain arrows down upon you to blot out the sun."

And King Leonidas replied: "Then we will fight in the shade."

[Mark IV]

Originally posted by Arien:

... how hard is it to grasp the concept of a,b,m then a number change every 3 files... you only have to change one character. what else gets changed.. help me understand the difference..

It is easily grasped, and thus much simpler to eschew, loathe, and denounce as an abomination. It is redundant and unnecessary. It is easy for people to screw up. There are people having difficulty with mere sequential numbering, especially those who send the file back under the same name AND number.

Because Elvis is "special" we have a completely different naming convention, where each filename consists of a lengthy pejorative remark followed by a random 1-5 digit number (this is for real). It is actually more practical than this a,b,m sin against nature.

I often don't know what turn # I just completed when prompted for the filename (BTS: hint), halfway through the battle. Who bloody cares? It's the next one you're gonna see, if you're the opponent, and the last one I did, if you're me. That's all the keep-trackin' I need.

I feel that you should retract your endorsement of the abm system, edit your post, and apologize to the wargaming community on national television. I am being reasonable. Why can't you meet me half way on this?

[Brian Smith]

Speaking as a newbie in my first 2 PBEMs, the sequential numbering method works best for me.

Most of the time I have no idea what file I am sending (movie, orders, whatever) or looking at - in fact in one PBEM, I hit go without giving any orders for turn 1!

[jd]

First, of all systems, the sequential numbering IS simplist. Esp if you have 12+ games going at once.

I receive a turn and save it to desktop. I open the turn, CM saves to PBEM folder n'est-ce pas? Sequentially numbered viola.

I esp. came to use this when I remebered that I did not have to save any files received (my browser does that) and all I had to keep was the last turn I sent out. Thus I can grab any of my opponents turns or send out my last if there is an error. No need to waste a ton of hard drive space.

[SybotCB]

I actually like to give them names of Hanna Barbara Cartoon Characters in the order of their probable date of birth. For instance I start off with characters from the Flintstones, head to Scooby Doo, and end the game with the Jetsons.

This seems to work best for me. So far my opponents haven't seemed to mind.

Seriously, I haven't played PBEM yet (I'm scared; any other PBEM virgins wanna play?)but I would guess I would just use sequential.

[Mannheim Tanker]

Originally posted by Panzer Leader:

Perhaps I will start my own coding file naming. Mayhaps it will be something like this as an example: Sscenario, Turn 00, Polish, Infantry, Defense, or:

ST00PID

Great! You had me rolling on the floor with that one. I think that this silly debate clearly illustrates why ANY elaborate naming scheme is doomed to failure: There are too many varying opinions out there on how to do it "right". None of them are wrong per se, but with so many opinions, it's no wonder that opponents "screw up" the naming convention. That's why I broke down way back during Beta PBEM's and decided to KISS.

[Guest aaronb]

turn_name01

turn_name02

Which, if you use OneClick (and if not - why not?), you have to do anyway.

The other methods mostly just satisfy the same kind of people who arrange their foods on a plate in a circle, then eat clockwise starting at noon And yes, I knew a guy like that at one point.

------------------

my armoured assets have about the half-life of a gnat in DDT

- Germanboy

[BFCElvis]

wilhammer and croda have got it down. Unless you are planning to write an AAR I can think of no good reason to number files. It only clutters things up.

When you begin a game call it something (like "elvisiskickingmark4sbutt" or something). When the person sends you back the file with the same name you download it by overwriting the intial file. If some loses track of who owes who a turn go open the file. If you are Allied and it is asking you for the Axis password then you can send it and say "this is the last file I have for you". If it asks for the Allied password then enter it and send the file. It could not be easier than that. Many of the hammerheads I'm playing like to number...I usually just send them back the number they sent me.

I completely miss the point of numbering turns and especially noting whether it is a movie or plot email...hell you can tell that from the file size if you don't remember what you did before you sent the file.

I spent a half hour today cleaning my PBEM file of all the old numbered turns. It's more of a pain than it is worth.

And I can't speak for MACs but with PCs before you download something you can change the name of the file to anything you want.

------------------

"When they finally put you in the ground..I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down" Elvis Costello

[Leeo]

aaronb converted me to the sequential system (as well as kicking my PBEM newbie A$$). Seems the simplest method of all.

[This message has been edited by Leeo (edited 03-07-2001).]

[Mark IV]

Let me clarify:

Elvis is a dangerous, heavily-armed child.

Elvis opposes the sequential numbering system.

Now I could extrapolate about some of you by extending this analogy, but the most important thing to understand is that the elvisisapansy0167.txt naming system ONLY WORKS if you are playing only one such maroon.

That is because his files stand out on their own "merits" like a digital sore thumb from all the other games you might have going, with educated people. It is easy to sort the MeYou01 and YouMe01 files from the singular dolt unable to master the lastfile+1 concept.

Therefore, the success of the Elvine Method is in its uniqueness to one individual. Others hoping to adopt this system will be required to play Elvis. He might as well invent his own operating system while he's at it, then only users of ElvOs could read his posts.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify things.

[Moriarty]

Or, you and your opponent could agree on the system before starting the game.

------------------

"Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change." -- Oddball

"Crap." -- Moriarty

[rwcanuck]

I think the a, b, m system is great especially when you have to zip up the bigger files to send..you know the "a" file will be small and does not need to be zipped up.

I'm over 50 and even I can understand this system

Arien, I'll get to our game tomorrow..the Wife has given me a project to do.

RW

[BFCElvis]

MarkIV is right I do oppose the numbering system.

The example I gave for file name was kind of a joke. What really happens is you might name it "elvismarkiv" or "pengelvis" something like that. This way you know who it is you are playing.

Aside from writing an AAR I have still not heard any reason to do anthing other than use the system the way it was designed. It defaults to save the file with the same name that it was opened with...why change it? If the file turns out to be a movie you want to save to watch again then just download the email again and rename it. But the number of times I've gone back and watched a movie file is almost zero.

I'm not trying to get in a pissing contest here because I will continue to do whatever I want but...if someone can tell me a good reason for numbering your turns besides cluttering up you PBEM folder I am willing to listen.

------------------

"When they finally put you in the ground..I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down" Elvis Costello

[Treeburst155]

Mark IV,

Your posts are utterly hilarious. When I need a good laugh all I have to do is search for your stuff. Thanks!

[jd]

I think a crucial question is being missed. The real issue is do you use mkiv_elven #nn or is it mkiv-elven #nn?

Inquiring minds want to know.

------------------

If frogs had uzi's, snakes woudn't mess with them so much. - Hiram

[Henri]

This is a good example of theory vs reality; I admit that in principle the a,b,m method is better, but in pracice sequencial numbering is the only way to go.

When playing multiple games, it's easy to make a mistake and to mislabel a, b, m. But the sequential numbering method simply entails adding one to the number that is already displayed , which makes it practically impossible to make a mistake. And if one is looking for a specific move, it is not that difficult to find it by openijng a few files.

And if one absolutely wants to have the files identified more clearly, there is nothing to prevent him from renaming the files that they receive after sending their move.

If anyone wants to play a pbem game using sequential numbering, I have a few openings.

Henri

[Henri]

Originally posted by John Hough:

and so on. The numbering of the orders only turns isn't important, but I keep all my old PBEM files around, each game in a separate folder, and ask my opponent for his password after the battle, so I can look at it again from both sides to better learn from my mistakes.

Giving your password to your opponent means that you have to change your password after every game, which is a good way to get confused and lock oneself out of one's games (try to open a game you played a month ago with password number 64...).I always use the same password, and I never give my password away except once when there was an apparent bug in the game.

Henri

[Fuerte]

Calm down. There is no reason to use any numbering for PBEM files. My PBEM helper takes care of sending the correct file, and when you receive a game file, it will check that it is newer than your file, and show that you should now play the turn. You have to never use WinZip again. And if you use MAPI for sending, then the turn files are saved into your Sent Items folder.

http://www.sci.fi/~fuerte/pbem.htm

http://www.sci.fi/~fuerte/pbem.zip

http://www.nic.fi/~fuerte/pbem.htm

http://www.nic.fi/~fuerte/pbem.zip

[Croda]

You know, I hate to be the voice of reason here, but this is the dumbest debate ever.

"I like frozen corn"

"Well I like fresh corn"

"You wanna fight?"

"Let's throw. bitch!"

My personal preference is to not take as much time naming my files as I do playing the game. That works great for me. I've done the abm thing, I've done the sequential numbering thing, I've done the overwrite the same file every time thing, and you know what? I still lose all the fricking time! So maybe one of you can create a new post telling Croda how to stop sucking at this game instead of how best to manage the files that contain his suckiness.

And given the precedent set by 2 other posts today:

Hi Mom! See you at Easter!

------------------

Woot! - Maximus2k

The New CessPool

[Mannheim Tanker]

Originally posted by Croda:

You know, I hate to be the voice of reason here, but this is the dumbest debate ever.

"I like frozen corn"

"Well I like fresh corn"

"You wanna fight?"

"Let's throw. bitch!"

My personal preference is to not take as much time naming my files as I do playing the game. That works great for me. I've done the abm thing, I've done the sequential numbering thing, I've done the overwrite the same file every time thing, and you know what? I still lose all the fricking time! So maybe one of you can create a new post telling Croda how to stop sucking at this game instead of how best to manage the files that contain his suckiness.

And given the precedent set by 2 other posts today:

Hi Mom! See you at Easter!

Hehe...good one! Hey, if you find out how to stop sucking at CM, let me know. I could use a few lessons

Hello motherly figure.

[Guest Blackthorne]

Originally posted by Randl:

I follow the tenets of the xxx01, xxx02, xxx03 crowd. EXCEPT..I have of late taken to adding my initial after the numeral; 01r, 03r, etc. I am becoming old and feeble of mind and with a glance I can make out whether that last file in the list was sent by me or my illustrious opponent.

I agree completely. This gives you the biggest bang for the smallest effort. Add one and tack your first initial. Easy and informative.

------------------

Blackthorne

[tss]

Elvis wrote:

Aside from writing an AAR I have still not heard any reason to do anthing other than use the system the way it was designed.

I give one reason: errors in saving the file. A couple of weeks ago I run out of space on the drive where CM was installed. Unfortunately, CM doesn't seem to test whether it succeds in saving a PBEM file or not. If your drive is full, you silently lose the turn file. If you tried to save it over the old file, you lose it too, and have to download the email again.

jd wrote:

Sequentially numbered viola.

But what if I want a random-access cello?

- Tommi

[John Hough]

Originally posted by Henri:

Giving your password to your opponent means that you have to change your password after every game, which is a good way to get confused and lock oneself out of one's games (try to open a game you played a month ago with password number 64...).I always use the same password, and I never give my password away except once when there was an apparent bug in the game.

A small price to pay for being able to analyze the game from your opponent's POV as well. And it's not like you need maximum password security for games of CM. I just write down my password in the folder I keep the saved turns in. No big deal. But I can see how you might not wanna do that.