The Grand Multiplayer ramble thread

[MacGowan]

EDITED 2020​

Hey guys! I'm editing this one to say that we've made a Darkest Hour Multiplayer Group on Discord.

https://discord.gg/kxP4XQx

A place where people can casually drop in, shoot the shit, and meet other like-minded.
I know people can often be eager to start a game, but not join one, but hopefully we can keep the DH flame alive and get to know each other.

 

[y10r]

Hi, im italian player of DH, i prefer to play with italy start at '33 Scenario for personalize my country. Im not expert player but i prefer this game because is very complete and every match is always different.
I can play Multiplayer with gameranger or hamachi, and maybe hamachi is better than gameranger.

 

[MacGowan]

I've always been a sucker for the '39 and '14 scenarios and to keep the historical units and fleets.
Never tried out Hamachi, gameranger seems a little unstable. :/

 

[MacGowan]

i would like to join a multiplayer game

This thread is not a game finder

 

[Conquerer1234]

I've always been a sucker for the '39 and '14 scenarios and to keep the historical units and fleets.
Never tried out Hamachi, gameranger seems a little unstable. :/

of course it was a little unstable you remember the last time we played MP?

 

[MacGowan]

@Conquerer1234 Well I'm not sure if that was an inherit issue with Gameranger, or a hosting connection between the other players.
Have you tried Hamachi, and would you recommend it over Gameranger?

 

[Conquerer1234]

@Conquerer1234 Well I'm not sure if that was a inherit issue with Gameranger, or a hosting connection between the other players.
Have you tried Hamachi, and would you recommend it over Gameranger?

Well no? I haven't used it before.

 

[Boris Gordonovi]

I don't have much coordinated multiplayer experience, but I have played thousands of hours of DH time. I usually prefer '33 for the same reason as above, because I tend to like asking myself questions like: "What if South Africa militarized after the Acts of Dominion and staged an invasion into Brazil?" As such it's not so easy to shoehorn those into the '39 scenario .

I usually try to play non-gamey tactics, so no destroyer zergswarm, no subswarm, and no naval bomber swarm, and I usually try to give fair part and parcel to all parts of the military. I also have a weak spot for shunning carriers fleets. It's been my experience that a destroyer+AA screen-heavy SAG can usually compete with a CVBG if they aren't just dominant tech-wise.

As for the technical side of things, the last time I used Hamachi was like almost a decade ago, and I've never used gameranger. However, they're both just simplified VPN solutions. It should be possible, in, theory, to just set up a VPN e.g. to someone's house network. But I don't know if Hamachi/Gameranger have some sort of secret sauce to make their programs better than plain VPN.

 

[MacGowan]

I usually prefer '33 for the same reason as above, because I tend to like asking myself questions like: "What if South Africa militarized after the Acts of Dominion and staged an invasion into Brazil?" As such it's not so easy to shoehorn those into the '39 scenario

I think a lot of people like that scenario because they can start with a clean slate too. build what you need so when '39 comes around you have your fleet, your army, and your production line. It's a bit daunting to look through a 100 Russian named divisions when you start '42 trying to figure out what the hell's going on.

I usually try to play non-gamey tactics, so no destroyer zergswarm, no subswarm, and no naval bomber swarm, and I usually try to give fair part and parcel to all parts of the military.

Ay, the bloody subswarm. In the MP games I've played we also had cultural rules. So Japan could not send 20 divisions to go fight for the Entente in North Africa in 1916.

I also have a weak spot for shunning carriers fleets. It's been my experience that a destroyer+AA screen-heavy SAG can usually compete with a CVBG if they aren't just dominant tech-wise.

The '14 scenario can be fun to make those things less complicated. small air force, and the fleets are just battleship action, the bigger the guns and ships, the better.

As for the technical side of things, the last time I used Hamachi was like almost a decade ago, and I've never used gameranger. However, they're both just simplified VPN solutions. It should be possible, in, theory, to just set up a VPN e.g. to someone's house network. But I don't know if Hamachi/Gameranger have some sort of secret sauce to make their programs better than plain VPN.

I think people use Hamachi/Gameranger because it's easy. Not sure how you could set up a DH game through Steam. I mean you could set up a Steam DH game through Gameranger. But it's easier to have the lobby chat there and do last minute rule changes. For me it's whatever, as long as the connection is stabile, and no one has a hard time figuring out how to connect to the game.


I figure the best way to run a game is to do once a week sessions for a game that would last IRL about 6 months (maybe a year if the game got intense and the players were great). That would mean a couple of months in-game every session, the sessions would last IRL a few hours, maybe like 3, 4. Then you would have a forum that's open 24/7 where people could post in a general thread for world diplomacy, rules, banter, session dates, etc. Then 1 locked for the Axis, and 1 locked for the Allies, where maps could be uploaded, and strategy could be devised between the nations.

If you started at '33 the speed would of course be pretty high until war looms.

 

[MacGowan]

Late night game night!

 

[parnis]

DH is an excellent game, but I had old hardware and could never connect to a game via Gameranger. I still don't know how now, and I am not sure my copy of DH survived the transfer to the new computer.

 

[MacGowan]

DH is an excellent game, but I had old hardware and could never connect to a game via Gameranger. I still don't know how now, and I am not sure my copy of DH survived the transfer to the new computer.

Oh? Well I do believe DH is dirt cheap on steam? If you want to get it on a new computer. If you get virtualbox (with an old OS) on your new computer you might be able to transfer your old copy and mods to that?

 

[macgregor2150]

I'm curious. I've received a warning that gameranger may not be very stable with 7 or more players in a game. Is there any other way to play multiplayer that would work better with a large group?

 

[MacGowan]

I guess you could do a direct LAN, not sure how you would set that up though.

 

[macgregor2150]

It works fine. I'm still learning a lot about this game.

 

[macgregor2150]

What seems clear to me is that there simply needs to be a better way to meet better players. Especially with a game like this. Chess pales in comparison to the complexity of Darkest Hour and yet even then, not many computers can play it well. AI is way overmatched for this game. So what does that mean? A game that could be one of the most enjoyable multiplayer experiences in all of gaming is now relegated to being a frustrating experience against an AI who's motto is; 'cheat to compete'.

This is the kind of game that requires it's own 'players match', and it's probably not the only game I can think of that needs one. Most are probably Paradox games. I've pitched my proposal to them. Hell, I'll PAY to have it setup.

One can install GameRanger, and if you can find a quality game in less than a week, you're more sociable than I. It's full of people on entirely different schedules, maturity levels, languages, and intentions. Easy enough to find someone 14 years old looking to play 2 people against mostly AI and try to destroy the world in a half an hour. Is that what this game is for? It's either unfair, or at least inadequate, for paradox customers to have to use this method to find a multiplayer game.

Instead of better AI, they need to help us find better HUMANS. The crazy thing is; the real beneficiary of this would be paradox itself. As a multiplayer experience, this game is GOLD! Unfortunately, almost no one is able to have that.

 

[MacGowan]

Ah, well you've walked into the same wall I have. Which is why this thread exists. To help foster the social aspects of DH multiplayer, and not find a game within 20 minutes.
You can say whatever you want on Gameranger and everyone nods "sure, sure boss". not reading any of the rules, or actually reading what you write.
2 minutes into a game that becomes clearly evident.

I've done Gameranger, Discord, several game forums (including this one), with scheduling calendars. I've played with everyone from potato internet boy using google translate, to logistical experts with a love for military history, and role-playing.
and yeah, I too would pay for the new patch to have a multiplayer interface that actually works.

I'll however cut DH some slack though, the real problem lies within the nature of the game itself. You can set up a great online interface for Dungeons and Dragons. the problem is that DnD needs people who are willing to show up every week, handle logistics, roleplaying, social aspects, etc, these things are hard when you meet in person, and in my experience, near impossible online.

 

[macgregor2150]

Not that you suggested I wasn't, but I'll cut all the slack necessary. I'm not trying to work against paradox, but with them. They'll either help me or they won't; but i won't take it personally whatever they do. I do feel that the website will do a great deal to help multiplayer games like DH out.

Simply put, a game of DH with major powers being human controlled can be an infinitely more enjoyable experience than playing the AI. I'm a little sad not only at my own inability to organize such a game, but for the game itself as it would be so much more popular.

 

[MacGowan]

These are a few maps and stuff I've made over the years for various Multiplayer games. Thought maybe you guys would a kick out of seeing some of them.

More stuff on the AAR board here. https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...om-a-few-abandoned-multiplayer-games.1096668/

 

[MacGowan]

​

https://discord.gg/kxP4XQx

Just dropping by to tell you guys we now have 24 players! on the channel. Come on by if you're looking for a game, or just for the community.