BI MP problem

[leonardo davinci]

hi everyone, i have a problem playing BI online. when i log on, and see the battle list, all games are described as incompatible, and it says v1.5 or someting like that. i guess it means that i don't have the proper patch, but that's the thing: i do. i checked it, and i don't understand what i have to do. i can play normal rome online, so why not this one? sometimes, i see a game that i can join, but not very often. if anyone can explain me why this is happening, or even better: tell me how i can fix this, i would apreciate that.

thanks in advance.

[Ludens]

I guess those games are for R:TW without the expansion. The developers created separate .exe files (with different version nummers) for the expansion and the base game. v1.5 is the patched version of the base game. v1.6 is the patched version of the expansion.

I am afraid I never played MP with BI, though, so this is just a guess.

[vartan]

Hi there. To put it short, all those people are playing with the original Rome game and not the expansion, BI. You can only play BI in multiplayer against another BI user, and since these are few and far in between, you will unfortunately have a hard time finding a game. As Ludens briefly hinted at, the unfortunate truth here is that CA, in developing the Rome series, did not integrate the expansions within the original, hence segregating the individual expansions from the original with regard both to single and multiplayer modes.

[leonardo davinci]

ok, thanks. that explains a lot. well, that means i won't be playing many BI MP battles then. a shame people don't play it more often.

[vartan]

ok, thanks. that explains a lot. well, that means i won't be playing many BI MP battles then. a shame people don't play it more often.

I don't profess to be perfectly and completely aware of every moment of online, multiplayer activity in the community of the Rome series since its inception. That said, I believe what may have happened is when these expansions came out, they may have had an initial surge in multiplayer activity. But remember: by definition (for lack of a better term), more people owned the original game than those who owned either expansion. So eventually, at some point (which I believe did not take long to reach), the community trended back toward hosting and, more importantly, expecting to see Rome (i.e., the original) games on the server, and not games hosted on the expansions.

If I were to have been part of the development of the MP side of the games, here's what I would do. The three games (Rome, Barbarian Invasion, and Alexander) would all launch using the same executable (i.e., that of Rome). When you went to the MP master server lobby, you would see all hosted games and they would be clearly sorted by their origin (which of the three games they hosted). If you indeed owned the relevant expansion, you would be able to join that game (or host, for that matter). If not, then you simply could not do so. This integrative approach would, I believe, rid of the unfortunate and rapid downward trend in activity among expansion-wielding players back to source (i.e., Rome), as it were.

Don't think too low of this situation, though. I recommend simply posting in this sub-forum and dare I say the TWC sub-forum for Rome, asking if and when people might be willing to play a MP match of Barbarian Invasion with you. I'd be surprised if you did not at least get a handful of responses.

[leonardo davinci]

ok. yeah, it would be easier the way you would do it. but i don't have much spare time now, i am in a test week (don't know if they have that in england or americe though), so i am studying every day.

thanks for all your help.