Any Interest in a Beta 8.1 Weekend or Two?

Hi all,

Is there any interest among the old gang and new in arranging to play some Beta 8.1 SamWars games in the near future? I'm assuming Beta 5 is still the most stable version for MP, and since we'd probably only be getting together temporarily, I'm thinking stability is important. Beta 5 is definitely well-balanced, which is a must in my book. I still have it installed, so that makes it very easy for me to jump right in.

Drisos and another new person who found our forum have been talking Hamachi and STW WE/MI on a fakeserver, but I know that doesn't interest a lot of the SamWars gang, and I really enjoy playing with y'all.

So, if arranging some games on an upcoming weekend sounds like something you'd enjoy, post up and let's see if we have enough to have a good go at it. I've been missing the excitement of good games with nice, good players lately so I figured I'd try to get the ball rolling.

EDIT: Responses of interest in meeting for Samurai Warlords Beta 8.1 games so far:

- Masamune
- Puzz3D
- TosaInu
- R'as al Ghul
- ||GoTW||Warman8||Sldr||-III-||
- Toriniku
- King George

I'll play, but I think we lost most of the players who used to play Sam Wars.

That's great, Puzz, thanks. I figure if we can get six to eight people to commit to a day and time that should be just enough. Eight would be super; we could 4v4. We'll see how this goes.

Edit: if anyone who's initerested is not sure if they can run Beta 8.1, I'd be happy to arrange to meet and test with you beforehand. I cannot host, but I know people who can, and I'm guessing they'd be willing to help out if the need arises. It would be good to iron out any wrinkles before game day, so we can spend the day playing and not fixing problems etc..

Edit: Changed Beta 5 to Beta 8.1

We actually do have a stable version of beta 8 now, and that one uses the STW textures on the maps.

If that's what the group wants to play then I'll happily install it and give it a go. I loved the beauty of Beta 8 when I tried it, back when we were having those peculiar drop issues. Maybe other Takeda lovers will allow me one game to enjoy the look of that awesome black armor on my army!

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Originally Posted by Masamune

Maybe other Takeda lovers will allow me one game to enjoy the look of that awesome black armor on my army!

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Since you ask so nicely. :beam:
I'm sure CBR will happily take the guys in pink and I'll pick sth equally disturbing :clown:

Yes, I'm interested in playing 8.1

R'as

Cool beans :yes:.

I found this link to a Beta 8.1 patch and downloaded a 222K file. This is the correct file, to be installed over a clean installation of 8.0?

http://www.mizus.com/Ras/Samurai%20W...atch%208.1.exe

Do we have an all-in-one map pack installer available, or are the maps included? Putting links to everything needed to play with us might help to inspire some sitting undecided on the fence to go for it.

Still hoping to hear from the other SamWars MP enthusiasts soon ... it's almost Spring! Let's have some fun before everyone disappears into the fine weather.

Hello Masamune,

I can play.

Yes, Masamune, the file size is right.
Here's the complete list of downloads. Minimum is the first two, beta_8 and the 8.1 patch.
The others are optional. Install beta_8, then the 8.1 patch. Maps are included, Medieval maps deleted. Maps are sorted. When hosting MP maps are listed first.

Beta_8
8.1 Patch
Tosa's new maps
Sound add-on for beta_8

BTW, Tosa, what's wrong with the mizu server?
The links don't work for me.

R'as

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TosaInu

Hello Masamune,

I can play.

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:beam:

Hmm, haven't heard from CBR yet. He's prolly scared :tongue3:

Edit: ah ... ETW demo just came out, so that's what he's up to.

I can play.

Maybe we can bring the the proviences again :clown:.

Great Warman :yes:, glad you're interested.

K, it looks like I got the upgrade to 8.1 installed; the splash screen shows the update at least. Gonna try the sounds now.

Edit: K, installed Tosa's map pack and the sounds files. Now I need to meet up with someone who can host and test. I'll hop on MSN and see if I can catch Puzz or CBR sometime soon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by R'as al Ghul

Beta_8
8.1 Patch
Tosa's new maps
Sound add-on for beta_8

BTW, Tosa, what's wrong with the mizu server?
The links don't work for me.

R'as

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Hello R'as al Ghul,

It works for me, maybe it was down for a (dutch) second or two?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Masamune

I'm thinking stability is important. Beta 5 is definitely well-balanced,

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There is a stable version of beta 8 (8.1 patch) now thanks to the work and tests by TechnoMage of Shadows.

Thanks Jochi. R'as has provided the links, so now the plan is to play Beta 8.1 if we can inspire enough players and coordinate a day and time. Of course, you are always welcome to join us.

Edit: I've edited the first post and will edit it's title as well to indicate we're shooting for 8.1. I've sent a PM to King George, and when I tested access to the foyer I mentioned our intent to the dozen or so players there last night.

We can do a test game one day Masamune! I don't know if I can play now though since we doing Beta 8. I never could play good on Beta 5/8 due to connection and lag problems. I don't know what causes it. I can only play Beta 9 100% fine. I'll try again, but I got my doubts it will work for me :hanged:.

Hai everyone :dizzy2:
I already posted on Chushingura but I may as well post here too :yes: I'll play, it seems like fun.
As a warning though, I'm not very good :sweatdrop:.

Toriniku

Heya Toriniku. Glad to see you here. I've added you up top. No worries, this is a nice group and we'll help you get your knowledge and skills up.

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Originally Posted by TosaInu

Hello R'as al Ghul,

It works for me, maybe it was down for a (dutch) second or two?

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A glitch in firefox. The profile doesn't let me see pictures hosted on mizus or donload from mizus. If I switch profiles or engines it works.

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Originally Posted by ||GoTW||Warman8|cpl||-II-||

We can do a test game one day Masamune! I don't know if I can play now though since we doing Beta 8. I never could play good on Beta 5/8 due to connection and lag problems. I don't know what causes it. I can only play Beta 9 100% fine. I'll try again, but I got my doubts it will work for me :hanged:.

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Well, hopefully the patch that was applied in 8.1 has dealt with whatever was causing the problems. I think Beta 9 was built up from 8.1, but I don't know that for sure.

I remember some games with you using Beta 5 ... you seemed to be fine on those days. But we'll have to test 8.1 and see. Do you have 8.1? Can you host? If the answer is yes to both, we can arrange to meet and test. I need to test my 8.1 also as I've never used it online for MP before.

I hadn't realized that ETW was so close to release. This probably isn't a good time.

Hiya Masa, I'm scared...but you know I'll play a few if needed. And I'm sure a few of us diehard VI players would join as we did in the past. We only stopped playin because everyone else did...hmm maybe you guys are the ones afraid. :clown:

btw Hiya Tori and welcome. :beam:

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Originally Posted by Hunter KIng George

Hiya Masa, I'm scared...but you know I'll play a few if needed. And I'm sure a few of us diehard VI players would join as we did in the past. We only stopped playin because everyone else did...hmm maybe you guys are the ones afraid. :clown:

btw Hiya Tori and welcome. :beam:

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Heya King George, good good. Truthfully, I'm the one who's scared--haven't played in so long I don't even remember the basic controls, let alone how to group my units right or time anything prudently. Did Hik ever try this? I saw him in the foyer when I logged in last night but he was in game.

Anyway, not so sure this is gonna fly as it's so close to ETW time, but we'll see. Worth a try anyway. I hope you'll play cuz you wanna, not just cuz you're needed m8. I'll add you up top.

Hallo everyone :beam:
I tried logging onto multiplayer (gamespy or whatever it is :dizzy2:) and it worked. However there wasn't anyone on. Would it just be my timing? Or could it have something to do with my internet or the way I installed the mod? (10 to 1 I messed up :sweatdrop:)

Toriniku

Hi Toriniku,

Given your location/time zone it's distinctly possible no one was on at the time. I was shocked when I logged in on Friday night and found about a dozen players in there--I was expecting an empty foyer.

I'll look for you here and in the village to see if you're around, and if I see you, I'll PM you and we can try meeting there to confirm. I'd also like to figure out what I need to do to be able to host. If either of us can host we can practice up some.

***

Colorful profile you have :beam:. It inspired me to spruce mine up with a background/color scheme similar to the one I used at the village.

Hallo Togakure :beam:
Yeh sounds good however i've got soccer in about 10 minutes so not at the moment. Tommorow I should be able to try at about 8:30 my time which is UTC/GTC +13 at the moment (dalight savings). Not sure what it is for you :sweatdrop:.

About the profile thing, I was bored :2thumbsup:

Toriniku

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Originally Posted by Toriniku

Tommorow I should be able to try at about 8:30 my time which is UTC/GTC +13 at the moment (dalight savings). Not sure what it is for you :sweatdrop:

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8:30 PM your time is 2:30 AM my time (EST - east coast USA).

It just crossed my mind that, when using the 8.1 version you must NOT install any Multiplayer mappack.
Since 8.1 uses the new textures for maps all those old maps can't be used.
(Some of them have been retextured and included in the mod.)
Just in case, anyone is thinking about doing it............

Hi R'as,

I had 8.0 installed from back when we were experiencing the odd drops. I installed Beta 5 seperately, and all VI map packs were installed on it. I don't think I installed any of the other map packs on Beta 8.

Last week I installed the 8.1 patch over the 8.0 install I already had. I still can't play the campaign (I never could)--I get an error message that says something about not being able to place a piece where one already exists, and the game crashes before making it to the campaign map (which it always did before, but not with a message that I can recall).

I was able to access the foyer and host a game. The STW and Mizuland maps were available to choose. There were also some MTW maps listed, but I'm pretty sure they were just the standard maps. The map list was much shorter than the fully expanded Beta 5 map collection with all the VI maps. The terrain was listed as Japanese, and it didn't look like you could change it.

I can't actually host (no one can see the games etc.) so I wasn't able to test all the way to the battlefield. I haven't installed anything else except the Tosa map pack and the sound mod.

I'll try a custom SP battle and see if that works. If I remember correctly, I was able to play SP battles, just not the campaign. Thanks for letting us know.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Masamune

Last week I installed the 8.1 patch over the 8.0 install I already had. I still can't play the campaign (I never could)--I get an error message that says something about not being able to place a piece where one already exists, and the game crashes before making it to the campaign map (which it always did before, but not with a message that I can recall).

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I don't know what could be causing this. Did you you already try a full install from scratch: MTW + VI + v1.02 patch + SW beta 8.0 + 8.1 patch?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Masamune

I was able to access the foyer and host a game. The STW and Mizuland maps were available to choose. There were also some MTW maps listed, but I'm pretty sure they were just the standard maps. The map list was much shorter than the fully expanded Beta 5 map collection with all the VI maps. The terrain was listed as Japanese, and it didn't look like you could change it.

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MTW map names are used for the SP campaign, but they are all actually STW maps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Masamune

I can't actually host (no one can see the games etc.) so I wasn't able to test all the way to the battlefield. I haven't installed anything else except the Tosa map pack and the sound mod.

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If you want to suggest a time, I'll test the MP game with you. I'm home by 18:00 EST weekdays. Any time should be ok on weekends.

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Originally Posted by Puzz3D

I don't know what could be causing this. Did you you already try a full install from scratch: MTW + VI + v1.02 patch + SW beta 8.0 + 8.1 patch?

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I can't play MTW/VI campaigns on this PC either; same issue, it crashes as soon as the campaign map tries to load. The only difference with Beta 8.1 was that Windows or the .Net Framework displayed a Windows-style dialog box with the message about placing a piece. Hadn't seen that before. I'm running the 2.0 version of the Framework with the latest SPx, as 3.0 caused a lot problems when I tried to upgrade. I don't think it's the mod; I think it's an issue with my current platform.

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... If you want to suggest a time, I'll test the MP game with you. I'm home by 18:00 EST weekdays. Any time should be ok on weekends.

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KK, thanks Puzz. I've popped on to MSN a few times but haven't seen you on; CBR is on sometimes but is either marked Away or Busy, so I haven't intruded. I figured when the time was right I'd reach one of you.

I'll check MSN around 8:00 PM EST over the next couple of days, and this weekend. If you're available, pop on and I'll message you when I see you. Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Masamune

I'll check MSN around 8:00 PM EST over the next couple of days, and this weekend. If you're available, pop on and I'll message you when I see you. Thanks again.

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That's a good time for me.

Puzz and I tested tonight. All went well (except that no matter what I try, I can't host, gah). The maps look great, the sounds are STW and so is the music :yes:.

We had someone pop in via Gamespy. Got to talkin' and guess what--not only has he played SamWars mod, he and some buddies play it on a LAN. Learned some interesting things about LAN vs. MP server game play using SamWars, which I'll let Puzz elaborate on as it's technical. Anyway, the guy downloaded and installed 8.1 complete, and we played a test game. It worked great (he creamed me 1v1, heh). He said he'd been playing TW games for nine years so I guess I'll try to feel better about being so decisively stomped.

He's going to be on tomorrow night ... well, actually tonight (Friday night) around 7 PM EST (midnight GMT I believe), for some more games. Puzz said he'd join in, so if anyone out there wants to play, do come. Since it's Friday night, there'll prolly be others in the foyer playing VI too. I realize this is late notice and a late time to play for those in Europe, but I thought I'd put the word out anyway, just in case.

You've discovered hidden players? That's great news. :beam:

Tell me more about the LAN differences.
Did they play beta_8 on LAN without desyncs?

They were playing on Beta 5, I believe. Not sure, but I think it was a while ago.

I'm the wrong person to try and describe this, but I'll try. He said that when playing on the LAN, units upgraded in battle as they do in single-player campaign battles. Puzz "raised his eyebrow" at this ("I wasn't aware of that"), and questioned further. The guy spoke intelligently, and Puzz was intrigued about certain code/data being referenced from the SP campaign part of the game and not the MP part when playing a LAN game.

Puzz mentioned something about the prod file formerly containing data for both SP and MP, and that it was later split in subsequent revs. They mentioned stuff about the Gnome editor not handling things correctly and having to use tedious Notepad to get it right. I was a bit lost trying to follow them, so I'm probably making a mess here. I'm sure Puzz will elaborate on this later.

The guy had played with you all sometime in the past and went by the nick "FitzHenry," or something like that.

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Originally Posted by R'as al Ghul

Tell me more about the LAN differences.

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They were using beta 5 on a LAN, and they noticed that the game was not using the online unit stats. It must have been picking up the sp unit stats. He also said that battlefield upgrades are present in LAN battles. I know they are present in custom battle. They traced the problem with the stats to gnome editor which messes up the end of each line somehow which affects the custom battle stats, and those are the stats that LAN games use. He said they had to use notepad to fix it. I did use notepad to make beta 8.1 stats, but I can't remember if I used beta 5 as the base file to edit or if I went all the way back to the original VI unit prod. I'll try to retrace the steps I used to make the 8.1 unit stat later tonight.

I have an old 1.4 ghz cpu computer that I can fix up to test LAN battles. I think I'll work on setting that up so that I can have my own LAN testing platform again.

I'm going to be a bit delayed; should arrive in the foyer around 7:30 PM EST tonight. Just wanted to let anyone know that who was planning to pop in. See you in a few.

Well, we have a small response, so large games don't look like a possibility at this time. We seem to have enough for 2v2s. It might be a nice change; we didn't play many of 2v2s in the last go 'round. The few I did play were good games--a different dynamic than 3v3 or 4v4. One in particular demonstrated that better team work out-shines individual performance, even in a 2v2; despite 1200+ kills by an individual, that team lost after a long, involved battle.

If there's interest in playing sometime tomorrow, or the following weekend, express. I'm available.

What about today? Sunday 20:00 GMT+1
I realise that's afternoon on the East Coast but your evenings are Europe's late nights....

I can play whenever on weekends usually. The weather is inclement so I tend to stay in. A good time for online activities. I can play today if others would like to meet.

Maybe on Sunday at 20 GMT time in a few weeks we can make it the "offical" day playing time again, once everyone gets a chance to play their hearts out on ETW (like me) :crown:?

I'll be checking the VI lobby periodically between 14:00 and 15:30 EST tomorrow and probably Sunday too, to see if there's anyone there interested in 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4 SW b8.1 games. If anyone has b8.1 installed and ready to go, is interested and free, please consider stopping in too.

If you pop in and don't see me or other SW players, hang out for a few. I'll be logging back in to check every few minutes (if you alt-tab out to surf while waiting, the server automatically logs you out after a couple of minutes).

The server won't be around forever; those of us who really enjoy this mod should, while we still can ....

Masa, you should consider maybe using MSN. It works great for us VI players when we need players, sure beats hanging around an empty lobby...

On a good session, didn't we used to have 8-10 people on SW?


Anyone here would like to use Beta 9 though, since I think it works jsut as well with the previous desync problems and such?

Umm ... let's not go there Warman ... I don't want this thread to erupt. This one's for anyone interested in Beta 5 or 8.1 games. If you want, create a "Anyone Interested in Beta 9 Games thread and see if you get any bites. Thanks, m8.

Okide. Was just curious. I personally prefer Beta 9 due to better comp performenace on it for me.


Thanks anyhow.

:yes:

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Originally Posted by ||GoTW||Warman8|cpl||-II-||

I personally prefer Beta 9 due to better comp performenace on it for me.

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Beta 8.1 and Beta 9 should both provide the same computer performance.

Yeah, I'll try Beta 8.1 out again and see.