icebags
Technomancer
its basically you make a turn, then send the file by mail to you co-player, and wait till they finish their turn and mail you back.
civilization has been officially the slowest game ever.
from Steam Community :: Guide :: "Play By Email" Using Google Driv
Play by Email - Overview
The "Play by Email" Option allows a host to create a game with friends he intends to play with online without being actively connected to each other during the course of play.
You will need to select the terrain, conditions of victory, and other game options. Prior to launching the game you will need to determine who will be playing and what civilization they will use during the course of the game. This initial player setup will also determine order of play.
After all the details are collected the game is launched with the host setting an Administrator Password as well as their player password.
Each player on their first turn will set a password or leave it blank for no password. The password helps protect from players accidentally going out of turn. If you are running a game with more than two players I recommend everyone setting passwords.
Once the host makes their first turn, CIV 3 will prompt the host to save and quit along as inform him who is next to take their turn.
At the end of each player turn the process continues as players make their move save the game and pass along the .SAV file of their Play by Email game.
This guide will show you how to set up a single file using the sharing features of Google Drive and the local mount point for those that have Google Drive installed on their PC.
Multiplayer Set Up
Just as with creating any game you will need to set up the map options and conditions for victory. The only tasks different here is setting up the participants that will be playing. You will need to sort out how people pick their civilizations, but once sorts you will need to collect the following information from participants:
Name
Formal Name
Noun
Adjective
Title
Civilization
Keep in mind the turn order will be determined by how the order the players are entered. So be sure to sort out a way to order the players. I prefer to place this in order of those that get their information back to me the quickest. The Host will always go first.
Hosting the .SAV file on Google Drive
After the host plays their first turn they will be prompted to create the first save file of the game.
The easiest method to upload the .SAV file to Google Drive is for those that use Google Drive installed on their PC. they will be able to save the .SAV file directly to their synced Google Drive directory usually located at the following example directory:
c:/users/user_name/GoogleDrive
Tip: You can change the default location of the Drive folder. Do you want to know more?[gappstips.com]
Its recommended that you create a new folder within Google Drive to save the .SAV file.
Alternatively, the host can save the filer to their desktop (which is recommended considering the default save location is deep within the Steam application directory tree) which can then be uploaded to Google Drive using a browser. Be sure to create the new folder as well.[i.imgur.com]
Once uploaded to Google Drive you can then share the .SAV file with the participating players. The best method to do this is to share the folder you just created for the .SAV file.
Sharing via Browser:
Select Folder to Share[i.imgur.com]
Click on Share Button[i.imgur.com]
Invite Participating Players
Set Permission to "Can Edit"
Click "Done"
Once shared, by default, the participants will be notified that a file has been shared with them. Without further effort through the browser files can be downloaded and uploaded to this directory.
The next step will explain how these participants can set the main game file to appear in their local Google Drive directory on their PC.
Syncing .SAV file from Google Drive to Local PC
Once a Google Drive folder is shared with you, you can set the .SAV file in that directory to appear in the Locally Synced Good Drive folder on your PC.
Google was nice enough to lay out these instructions.
These instructions are as simple as taking an item from the "Shared with you" folder and dragging it over "My Drive"[i.imgur.com]
After this is done, you will see "My Drive" in gray text[i.imgur.com] next to the folder shared with you.
If you have a locally synced Google Drive Folder this directory will now appear there.
Saves you make to the Google Drive folder will now appear for everyone the folder is shared for.
Recommendations and Tips
1. Pick a method to communicate who has the next turn. In casual settings with friends a small email chain is effective, have participants Reply All when they have completed their turn.
2. Host should save a backup copy of the .SAV file after every round completes. This will prevent the inevitable user error that results in the game file being destroyed in the synced folder.
3. Sync entire folder not individual file. This will allow you to have multiple saves of the game within the same directory.
4. Mark save files with the Year in the game. This will help keep track which file is the newest if multiple files exist. My friends have the habit of naming the current save file after the player that just completed their turn.
5. Set rules among participants of any time requirements for turns to be completed. If a player does not make their turn in that time, the host can log into their turn using the administrator password and make their turn for them.
6. If someone needs to be dropped from the game, the administrator password can be used to access their turn and disband all their cities and units.
Play by Email - Overview
The "Play by Email" Option allows a host to create a game with friends he intends to play with online without being actively connected to each other during the course of play.
You will need to select the terrain, conditions of victory, and other game options. Prior to launching the game you will need to determine who will be playing and what civilization they will use during the course of the game. This initial player setup will also determine order of play.
After all the details are collected the game is launched with the host setting an Administrator Password as well as their player password.
Each player on their first turn will set a password or leave it blank for no password. The password helps protect from players accidentally going out of turn. If you are running a game with more than two players I recommend everyone setting passwords.
Once the host makes their first turn, CIV 3 will prompt the host to save and quit along as inform him who is next to take their turn.
At the end of each player turn the process continues as players make their move save the game and pass along the .SAV file of their Play by Email game.
This guide will show you how to set up a single file using the sharing features of Google Drive and the local mount point for those that have Google Drive installed on their PC.
Multiplayer Set Up
Just as with creating any game you will need to set up the map options and conditions for victory. The only tasks different here is setting up the participants that will be playing. You will need to sort out how people pick their civilizations, but once sorts you will need to collect the following information from participants:
Name
Formal Name
Noun
Adjective
Title
Civilization
Keep in mind the turn order will be determined by how the order the players are entered. So be sure to sort out a way to order the players. I prefer to place this in order of those that get their information back to me the quickest. The Host will always go first.
Hosting the .SAV file on Google Drive
After the host plays their first turn they will be prompted to create the first save file of the game.
The easiest method to upload the .SAV file to Google Drive is for those that use Google Drive installed on their PC. they will be able to save the .SAV file directly to their synced Google Drive directory usually located at the following example directory:
c:/users/user_name/GoogleDrive
Tip: You can change the default location of the Drive folder. Do you want to know more?[gappstips.com]
Its recommended that you create a new folder within Google Drive to save the .SAV file.
Alternatively, the host can save the filer to their desktop (which is recommended considering the default save location is deep within the Steam application directory tree) which can then be uploaded to Google Drive using a browser. Be sure to create the new folder as well.[i.imgur.com]
Once uploaded to Google Drive you can then share the .SAV file with the participating players. The best method to do this is to share the folder you just created for the .SAV file.
Sharing via Browser:
Select Folder to Share[i.imgur.com]
Click on Share Button[i.imgur.com]
Invite Participating Players
Set Permission to "Can Edit"
Click "Done"
Once shared, by default, the participants will be notified that a file has been shared with them. Without further effort through the browser files can be downloaded and uploaded to this directory.
The next step will explain how these participants can set the main game file to appear in their local Google Drive directory on their PC.
Syncing .SAV file from Google Drive to Local PC
Once a Google Drive folder is shared with you, you can set the .SAV file in that directory to appear in the Locally Synced Good Drive folder on your PC.
Google was nice enough to lay out these instructions.
These instructions are as simple as taking an item from the "Shared with you" folder and dragging it over "My Drive"[i.imgur.com]
After this is done, you will see "My Drive" in gray text[i.imgur.com] next to the folder shared with you.
If you have a locally synced Google Drive Folder this directory will now appear there.
Saves you make to the Google Drive folder will now appear for everyone the folder is shared for.
Recommendations and Tips
1. Pick a method to communicate who has the next turn. In casual settings with friends a small email chain is effective, have participants Reply All when they have completed their turn.
2. Host should save a backup copy of the .SAV file after every round completes. This will prevent the inevitable user error that results in the game file being destroyed in the synced folder.
3. Sync entire folder not individual file. This will allow you to have multiple saves of the game within the same directory.
4. Mark save files with the Year in the game. This will help keep track which file is the newest if multiple files exist. My friends have the habit of naming the current save file after the player that just completed their turn.
5. Set rules among participants of any time requirements for turns to be completed. If a player does not make their turn in that time, the host can log into their turn using the administrator password and make their turn for them.
6. If someone needs to be dropped from the game, the administrator password can be used to access their turn and disband all their cities and units.
civilization has been officially the slowest game ever.
