On-Line Insight

[JerkyJerry]

Hello Gentlemen

The most intriguing aspect of 4 to me is on-line. I’m really tired of playing the AI, all the time. Every time.


Since I have never played a Grand Strategy game on-line with carbon based life forms before, can you inform me of the process and what to expect and not to expect?


Here are some of my questions/inquiries:


1. Will ALL the humans have to be on-line (and logged in) continuously throughout the length of a single night’s game/session for the game to begin/be played/completed? What if a ruler or two or more lose internet connection or power etc. does the game freeze? Do we play on? Do we just wait and pray?


2. If everyone shows but the ruler of Russia (for example) at the scheduled day and time can the game be played/begin at all?


3. Can a ruler of one country pull double duty during a live game and also play the ruler of a second country if a player does not show up/loses connectivity?


4. Typically about how long do you anticipate live game sessions to last?


5. Would it be possible for live games to be shown on twitch live? Or taped?

6. Could one (or more of the players) post sessions on the you tube?


7. Do you anticipate more of a North American or European (or somewhere else?) time zone for play times? What time zone will host the majority of games?


8. What are some of the pitfalls to an online Grand Strategy game compared to other game genres?


9. Is there a way for one country to produce tanks (for example) send them to a second country as a gift or just to say “welcome to the faction!”? Then a third country produce tanks (for example) and send them also to that same second country? Then could a fourth ………..?


10. Is there (or could there ever be) the possibility of military/political leaders being given/shared/traded within a faction? Outside of one?

 

[RadarOReiley]

I can not speak for the developers themselves, but I can shed some light on some of these questions if Paradox holds to form using CK2 and EU4 online play as an example. My answers are drawn from experience doing a weekly game night with two other gentlemen who join me for plotting, scheming, and plotting to take over the world.

1.) Previous Paradox games pause the game when someone drops/looses connection. The Host then has the option to (Save the Game)(Continue Game)(Quit Game). The game can be saved and then continued or saved and then restarted to allow the dropped person to rejoin. What policy you choose to enact will likely depend on your players.

2.) The Host (and players) can save the game at the end of each play session. Anyone with the saved game can host and continue the game as either a multiplayer or singleplayer game. You do not need all previous players to be present. If a player does not show up, the AI will take control of that nation. My buddies and I usually just don't play if we can't all make it, but that is for your group of players to decide.

3.) I have not seen any examples so far of a player being able to play as the ruler of two nations. I suspect this is not possible in the current engine. (You can however have two people playing as the same nation. Potentially useful for larger nations like Germany/Russia/USA fighting on multiple fronts)

4.) My buddies and I usually play for 3-4 hours on our given game nights. Up to you and your fellow players I would suspect.

5.) I suspect yes. There have been twitch broadcasts of live games before. You would simply need appropriate software/hardware to pull it off.

6.) Yes. See Nothernlion/Arumba/Quill18/Mathas multiplayer games in previous Paradox Titles

7.) Not sure. Ask someone who is better with statistics. My regular game is EST.

8.) Unsure how to answer this one. I leave it to someone else or ask that the question be rephrased/clarified/specified.

9.) Unknown. However from what I have heard/read on the Lend-Lease Mechanics and the Send Volunteers mechanics I suspect that something like this or similar will be possible.

10.) Unknown - However there are always mods. You never can tell with mods.

I hope this has been helpful to you! While I enjoy playing these games singleplayer, having a dedicated group to play with in multiplayer makes it all that much more exciting. My friends and I are already drawing our plans to win the war as the Axis Powers.

 

[potski]

7. Most players currently seem to be from North America and Europe. But I notice in the forums people from Japan and China far more than in the past. So there might be enough interest to play MP in Far East time zones.

8. Humans are far less predictable on how they will play. The major technical issue is that you all must have the same checksum. If you use mods that change the checksum then all must use the same mods.

9. Lend lease yes, unless the faction is democratic and WT is low. Volunteer units if one member of the faction is in a war and you are not. Expeditionary Force if you are both in a war.

10. No.

 

[panzerzombie]

Thank you for your answers Radar and potski, most helpful. I may think about joining a MP too, now with HOI4 ( internet was too crappy at my home when HOI3 came out )

 

[Daddl]

1. As far as I know, HoI4 will, like Stellaris, have Hotjoin. That means if a player looses connection, he can rejoin the ongoing game if the host allows so. If it works (unlike EU4 where this never really worked in the past, don't know how the situation is currently) this is a really great feature as you don't have to stop, potentially restart the game and rehost, but just continue playing or pause until the player is back in.

8. It takes long. If you have 3 hours sessions once a week and don't speed the game up, you can expect a single game to potenitally take months and have to fiddle around with updates and reload old versions via Steam to keep your savegame compatible.

 

[potski]

As far as I know, HoI4 will, like Stellaris, have Hotjoin.

That was confirmed by the devs.

 

[Mannstien]

1. Could you post more new threads?
A. Yes I do that quite often sometimes they are right on spot and sometimes they are just a new post

Thanks

 

[JerkyJerry]

Thanks guys!

Are there other Grand Strategy games that are played online? I would think so. Then again I don't know.
Do players come back week after week, month after month regularly, not very often, rarely etc?

Like I said I have never played a GS game online before I'm just trying to figure out how viable it would be. Would it even be worth my time and effort to even bother to join a game if after just a few sessions most guys just quit or don't show?

Don't get me wrong I LOVE the idea of the potential of 32 generals showing up once, (twice, three times a week) for multiple consecutive weeks/months and after watching from out my window as many seasons change finally anointing a winner. I'm just curious as to how realistic my hopes are?

Does Paradox aid in the growth of online gaming or is that usually left up to the community to regulate/monitor/grow?

I love playing HoI3. I am just finding it extremely difficult to play me against the machine any longer. Not that the AI is bad it is just that it pales in comparison to playing carbon based life forms (I would imagine).

Does anyone have any experience in running an online (league, battle zone, Super Friends Zone) or whatever it would be called that could be like a one stop shop?
First page: Find games looking for players
Second page: Pick up your check sums here
Third page: Link to game

As you can tell I have no idea what I am talking about. I'm trying to get a vision of what it will be like in my mind's eye. Is it going to be a repetitive 4 step process?
Step one: Join Game
Step two: Get excited about making war/game objectives and planning with mates to win
Step three: Play in three or fewer sessions before guys stop showing up, can't make it, quit, forget etc.
Step four: Go to step one, again (and again and again)

How do you HOPE HoI4 will go for online?
How do you THINK HoI4 will really turn out to be online?

 

[JerkyJerry]

1. Could you post more new threads?

I know, right?

 

[RadarOReiley]

The only other games that I can think of that remotely compare to the Paradox GS games are the Civ titles and those are poor comparisons indeed. However the online experience is similar in that you're not going to be able to complete a game in one (likely not even 5) sessions. You will need some dedicated players or be willing to accept the idea of different people playing a nation in different sessions.

I think it is totally worth your time if you can find some dedicated people to play with. I have not yet tried my luck at anything like a pick-up game. There is a game/host list for you to look for pick-up games but I still think your best bet is to find some other people who like to play and set up a regular time with them. There is at least one Steam Group dedicated to this task that does a regular Saturday Paradox game. I think they are running CK2 right now but I expect they will do a Stellaris or HOI4 game once those are out.

While the game supports up to 32 people, the more you add to your game the more likely you are to see connection or other problems. I would keep your hopes set on a group of 2-8 and try to work that out first. I wouldn't bet on the larger numbers unless you are setting up a LAN environment.

I have not seen anything on Paradox's end as far as setting up community games, however that does not mean it isn't out there somewhere. This forum, Steam community page, and Steam groups are all good place to look for other players looking to form a regular group. I've already seen a few threads to that effect looking for people to start up a HOI4 game with when it is released.

My recommendation would be to just find some like-minded individuals, and set up a regular game. Be consistent about it. Make it a "poker" night as it were. Bring drinks/food, set up a Skype call, play for a few hours and then do it again next week Daddl made a good point above that these games by their very nature take a long time to complete. So be prepared to play the same game for a month if you actually want to see it through to completion. However, it can be done with the right sort of people and when it works it is much more satisfying then just playing against or with the AI.

 

[JerkyJerry]

I'm more excited about the online aspect of 4 rather than the solo game. I'm hoping to find a couple of games with dedicated committed players like I am.