Steiner14 Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 As a former passionate CM-player who doesn't always have broadband, i'm wondering how big the PBEM-files will be? Factor 10 bigger? Or factor 5? Or 3? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 42. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMuhammed Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 He didn't ask for THE answer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 They are, generally, pretty darned big. Several MBs usually. I don't know if they will shrink any when the debug code is removed. Save games area also significantly larger than you're used to. This is due to the complexity of what must be stored vs. CMx1. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kineas Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 It's not a problem if they can be compressed well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Nope, no compression benefits. Same was pretty much true for CMx1 PBEM files too. The reason is the data is already compressed so it will take up as little RAM and I/O time as possible. So if you have a 3.5MB turn file, it's going to be a 3.5MB attachment. There's no way around this. Which is exactly why I warned people eons ago that PBEM might not be possible, but of course people said "the files could be 1000MB, I don't care!" Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kineas Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Indeed. For me (and I think for other players in general) file sizes under 10M won't be a problem. Now I play a CMBB game where animation turns are 2M+. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steiner14 Posted May 22, 2007 Author Share Posted May 22, 2007 Thanks for answering. No prob for me either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acrashb Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 http://www.yousendit.com/ - large files, no problem. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kineas Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 phone/gprs access is the problem 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonWebb Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Originally posted by Kineas: phone/gprs access is the problem Snailmail via floppy methinks? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonWebb Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 speaking of old ****, of old storage media, like games on cassettes for Texas Instruments, I just found these! I used to love these as a kid. Text Based Adventure! Don't know if anyone has played them but as you wait for CMSF.... some are not easy. Well at least they weren't then, we'll see.... [ May 22, 2007, 08:03 AM: Message edited by: VonWebb ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scipio Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Are the complete scenarios informations stored in the PBEM files as it was the case in the CM1 games (AFAIK)? If yes, how much of the PBEM file is just static scenario information, and wouldn't it make more sense to leave them out of the PBEM file in this case? That both players are using the same scenario file can be proofen by a checksum relativ easily (I think). I'm not so much worried about a problem with the bandwith, but with emailservers. Emailboxes could be overloaded with just two or three files. Emailprogs like Outlook (Express) as well as antispam or antivirus programs can cause many problems with large files, too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonWebb Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 there are quite a few file exchange programs, client based that will exchange files, upload them to a remote computer, directly. doesn't Aim do that? i know iChat does (but that doesn't help, i know). Also just register for a gmail account. it gives you what, 3 gigs of storage space and handles very large files? I think the options are numerous. [ May 22, 2007, 09:17 AM: Message edited by: VonWebb ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivodsi Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Gmail gives you a file size of 10 Megs, will CMX2 files be larger than that? If so, it could make PBEMs difficult. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Map data can't be left out. Same was true in CMx1 as it is now. Programming wise it just doesn't work, though conceptually it might make some sense. So yes, the map data is stored in the file. Good news is that it constitutes a tiny percentage of a file's size. As little as less than 1% in some cases, probably not more than 1% in most cases. The things that bloat file size are, just as they were in CMx1, orders, whose shooting at whom, units moving, damage to the map, damage to units, etc. All that stuff has to be tracked for 60 seconds and written down in one place. Think of all the stuff that goes on within 60 seconds even in a battle where not much is happening (like one force moving into attack positions). That's what pumps up the file size, and there isn't any way to reduce it. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 No problem, Steve! As many of us said before, we are willing to accept whatever PBEM file sizes are necessary in the games based on the CMII engine, just so long as we have PBEM available for us as a play option. I'm sure you've made the file sizes as small and efficient as possible, and that's good enough for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 "Snailmail via floppy methinks?" That'll have to be one BIG floppy! Now that I think of it those little portable plug-in transport drives are really really cheap (I carry a 1 gig drive on my keychain that cost me nine bucks). Get yourself one for swapping back & forth. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steiner14 Posted May 23, 2007 Author Share Posted May 23, 2007 Originally posted by Sivodsi: Gmail gives you a file size of 10 Megs, will CMX2 files be larger than that? If so, it could make PBEMs difficult. Solution: www.megaupload.com 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivodsi Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Actually, just noticed a link on gmail that says they have boosted the size of attachments to 20Megs. I'm feeling a lot more confident that PBEMs will be just as viable as they are now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonWebb Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Sivodsi, you beat me to it.... I think that pretty much solves it yeah? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivodsi Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I would hope so. Though some kind of confirmation from BFT that PBEM file sizes won't come within cooee of 20 Megs would be reassuring. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonWebb Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 lol yes. I assume they would be between 3.5-6MB. 6MB is a lot of data. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 It's a bit hard to tell at the moment, what with debug code still being stored in there and what not, but I don't expect a PBEM turn to exceed 10MB. I don't think they usually will come even close to that, but like I said... it is highly variable and dependent on the details of that one specific 60 second spot within that specific scenario. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameroon Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Good news, gmail just increased the max attachment size to 20 megs Although, it's "20 megs maximum, depending on the attachment" so who knows how much they'll actually give. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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