Awareness of the other multiplayer modification?

Anything else to do with MoM IME
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Deathsangel
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Awareness of the other multiplayer modification?

Post by Deathsangel »

Let me introduce myself as a new member.
I first played MoM in 1990's and although I now even create mods for BG2, MoM remained my old time favourite (and also signed the MoM II request-list before I met this site).
Since a few months I am into the abandonware scene - and I have joined abandonia. I have played MoM with great happiness, now being able to defeat impossible level, with 4 opponents, and powerful magic.
Due to some people questions about multi-player modes I answered the question in the forum there, showing the modification which one can download, and than I found this site. I was wondering if you are aware that there is already a multiplayer mode, and perhaps if you do it would be nice to mention what the difference is between the two before people get caught up in the: ' Why can't we play together we have multiplayer modifications', cause poeple will do this even if you so carefully name yours Implode's Multiplayer Edition.
That was all, with the exception of a thanks for indeed keeping the spirit of a great game.

Greetings from the Netherlands
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Implode
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Re: Awareness of the other multiplayer modification?

Post by Implode »

Hi there. Firstly I edited your post to remove the link... I've no problem if you want to put a link up to somewhere people can download the Multiplayer Shell, but the site you linked to also lets you download the original game. Although there's sites where you can download the original game I'm unsure of its status as "abandonware", especially given there was an attempt at making a commercial MoM 2. I'm assuming anyone interested in MoM probably is so because they played it back in the day and so actually own a copy of it. If you downloaded a copy somewhere, I can't stop you (nor is it my job to!) but its not something I want to actively encourage by people posting links on my forum to places where you can download the original game.

Right, I'll try and do a comparison between the two.

The Multiplayer Shell is a wrapper around the original MoM game, so it uses the original MoM program. MoM IME has been totally written from scratch.

As such to player the Multiplayer Shell you probably have to play it in DosBox since its DOS code with DOS graphics and sound and can't be run natively (at least, not easily) in newer versions of Windows. MoM IME on the other hand is a native Windows program which uses DirectX for graphics. (Actually the 0.9.4 server is in Java, so you can run it on anything you like, Windows, Linux, your company's mainframe... but the client is still Win32 for now).

The original MoM (and hence the Multiplayer Shell) is locked at resolution 320x200. MoM IME can be played in a window that you can resize, anything from 640x480 to I play it full screen at 2560x1600, with variable map zoom levels.

The Multiplayer Shell makes MoM a hotseat game. That is, one person sits down at the PC, takes their turn, saves the game. The shell then modifies the save game file to fake a multiplayer game, then the next person sits down and takes their turn, and so on. MoM IME is a client/server architecture. That is, someone runs a copy of the server, either on their own PC or they connect to the "official MoM IME server" (i.e. my PC :) which I'll try to keep running more constantly after 0.9.5 is out and there start to be some serious games going on). Every player runs their own copy of the client on their own PC, so there's no swapping seats and no peeking while someone else takes their turn. It also means you can be doing mundane stuff like changing what cities are constructing, and queuing up spells to cast overland, while its someone else's turn, which speeds the game up. And there's also a Simultaneous turns mode (which needs some work, but the idea is...), where everyone allocates overland movement at the same time (no separate turns) and then the computer resolves all the movement in one go once everyone has hit Next Turn.

The Multiplayer Shell is subject to all the bugs in the original MoM, like Raise/Animate Dead corrupting the game data. That's not to say MoM IME is bug free, but I'm actively maintaining it, so if I find a bug I'll fix it.

The Multiplayer Shell doesn't make it a true multiplayer game, when its not you sat at the PC, the AI is controlling your units. For example, if another human player attacks you, the AI controls your units in combat! Since everyone is running separate copies of the MoM IME client, combats work properly so you both choose where you want your units to move (well, unless you put them on Auto).

Also that means the Multiplayer Shell can't offer proper diplomacy (e.g. trading spells) between human players. MoM IME will, I've just not written that bit yet.

The Multiplayer Shell only allows 4 player games (I think). MoM IME allows 14.

I won't go into the countless actual tweaks and fixes between the two (like that I changed how Towers of Wizardry work when you cast Planar Seal, and that MoM IME has proper fog of war) because I think you're more asking about differences specifically in the multiplayer behaviour. So there you go :)

The one drawback of MoM IME is of course that its not finished. Most of the spells and special abilities don't work yet. There's no diplomacy. There's no overland AI. Those things are all taking far longer than I ever thought they would, but I am plugging away at it. It might take a few more years to get something which you can truly call "finished", but I *will* get there.

Implode.
Deathsangel
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Re: Awareness of the other multiplayer modification?

Post by Deathsangel »

Thanks for the timely reply.
Of course it is your forum and up to your descrection to modify posts or not. As to your doubts; one can search for the licences to see if a game is abandonware - it is, hence many sites have a copy for download as the title is considered abandoned. True that a MoM II was considered, but the company in question would only do so after a succesful Masters of Orion 3... unfortunately in comparison to MoO I & II this was a major flop and the game has been abandoned. They officially still hold the license for an MoM II, but not the original.
As to your comparison, I am rather fond of the fact that now both players can control their units when being counter-attacked. Another major thing that attracts many I reckon is the fact of higher resolution possibilities but still even having it low... after all pixelated animations gives such a good old time feel.
I would say that a hot-seat mode is still neat, as that is how you can get friends into the game.
I would advice to put up tweaks and fixes of your own in a read-me (probably you did), as within the BG community they appreciate this as some people actually dislike these tweaks (generally as tweaks are modifications to subjective point of views, which can simply be to the dislike of another person even if they may be found solid by many).

I hope you find this topic interresting and not too... nosy or critical

Greetings,
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Implode
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Re: Awareness of the other multiplayer modification?

Post by Implode »

Deathsangel wrote:I hope you find this topic interresting and not too... nosy or critical
Not at all, to be honest I'd downloaded the Multiplayer Shell years ago but never actually tried it out, the idea of hotseat games just so doesn't appeal to me, and all the saving and loading games, bah it just seemed too much bother to be worthwhile. Also I want to be able to play over the internet with people I've never met... there's probably not another person within 50 miles of where I live who has ever heard of MoM :) So the fact that there's someone who actually considers the Multiplayer Shell a serious option I find really interesting.
Deathsangel wrote:Of course it is your forum and up to your descrection to modify posts or not.
Not something I like to make a habit of, in fact (other than deleting spam) I think yours has the honour of being the first & only post I've ever edited :)
Deathsangel wrote:Another major thing that attracts many I reckon is the fact of higher resolution possibilities but still even having it low... after all pixelated animations gives such a good old time feel.
Yes, I think if I significantly changed the graphics it just wouldn't feel like MoM anymore. Where I've had to change things (e.g. screen layouts), I been *very* careful to try to keep the graphics so MoM-like that you can't tell the difference. The only thing I can think of that I've redrawn is the resource icons, e.g. on the city screen where it shows you the little hammers/anvils showing you how much production you make. They looked too small at the original size, and too big at double size, so I redrew them at 1.5x size... and if I did a good job on it, you didn't even notice they weren't the original graphics anymore :)
Deathsangel wrote:I would advice to put up tweaks and fixes of your own in a read-me (probably you did)
When you install MoM IME, it puts a shortcut to a "differences from original MoM" in the start menu folder. I do try to keep this updated but I can't promise it has absolutely everything in it.
Deathsangel wrote:some people actually dislike these tweaks (generally as tweaks are modifications to subjective point of views, which can simply be to the dislike of another person even if they may be found solid by many).
Agreed, the only things I'm directly changing are things that I can either prove are bugs (like the way Towers of Wizardry & Planar Seal work, the fact that Longbowmen's stats don't say +1 to hit until you build them), things that I truly consider to be bugs (Oracle getting a scouting range of 6 in disagreeance with the Strategy Guide, or the fact that it will never force you to sell buildings if you can't afford the gold to maintain them), or things that are tweaks to the way screens work to make them more appropriate to higher resolution/multiplayer (e.g. change in what the spell book & F3 key do). Everything else (like the improved Fog of War) you can choose between original MoM behaviour & my suggested improvements, or pick Custom and set it up however you like.

As far as actual unit and spell stats go, there's also some minor things I think need tweaking there too (e.g. Wall of Fire is so weak that its useless, Draconian Shaman not getting a breath attack). I'll put these in a separate XML file, so where currently it says "Original Master of Magic 1.31 rules" you'll be able to change that to "Recommended MoM IME rules". So again, I'm trying to not force changes on anyone!

Implode.
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