Hotseat Mode

[Didz]

My son is coming again this weekend.

Has anyone tried the Hotseat mode since the 1.2 patch, and if so is it any better than it was. I don't want to suggest another MTW2 campaign only to disappoint him again.

[Lusted]

Well it's certainly different now. Each player must set a password for their faction in the first turn, and then enter it each turn. Probably to stop people playing other peoples turns. Also FOW completely covers all other parts of the map between turns, probably to stop people from cheating again.

Here is the code i used to activate hotseat in 1.2:

[multiplayer]
playable = true
hotseat_turns = true
hotseat_scroll = false
hotseat_autoresolve_battles = 0
hotseat_disable_console = 0
hotseat_disable_papal_elections = 0
hotseat_save_prefs = 0
hotseat_update_ai_camera = 0
hotseat_validate_diplomacy = 1

[Didz]

Well it's certainly different now. Each player must set a password for their faction in the first turn, and then enter it each turn. Probably to stop people playing other peoples turns. Also FOW completely covers all other parts of the map between turns, probably to stop people from cheating again.

Yes, I noticed those changes when I was setting up the seige tests. A bit pointless in my opinion. If you are playing Hotseat then if someone tries to cheat, you're all in the same room, so you just clip them round the ear. You hardly need a password system to protect your turn even if you have popped into the kitchen to make a pot of tea, its not like chess where you might not notice.

Likewise, Fog-Of-War is a bit pointless as if you're all in the same room everyone is going to see everyone elses moves anyway. So, this feature would only be of value if you are also willing to enforce a strict 'get out' policy on all the players not actually completing their turn. I've done that in the past but its not particularly practical if the TV is in the same room as the computer.

Have they sorted out the defensive battles.thats the main thing?

[Lusted]

I think it's aimed more at people who would be playing it via email, and possibly them looking towards doing it over LAN.

Have they sorted out the defensive battles.thats the main thing?

Don't know, i only use it to test mod changes.

[Skott]

The Fog of War I can see having some use but the password idea is just plain dumb IMO.

[Ulstan]

I assume battles between players are auto resolved...what about battles between players and AI?

[Didz]

I think it's aimed more at people who would be playing it via email, and possibly them looking towards doing it over LAN.

In that case it wouldn't be Hotseat, but PBEM.

Hotseat means exactly what it suggests that each player takes it in turns to sit in the 'Hot Seat' and take their turn.

As soon as you involved another computer it either becomes, a LAN, Online or PBEM game and by implication requires some sort of data capture and transfer potential.

[econ21]

As soon as you involved another computer it either becomes, a LAN, Online or PBEM game and by implication requires some sort of data capture and transfer potential.

I'm not getting you there, Didz. The hotseat mode surely can be used for PBEMs? Just e-mail the savegame. Or are you just talking semantics?

I'd expect PBEM to be the major potential use of the hotseat mode. I can't imagine many people having the time to sit around an actual hotseat and play a campaign together. A password system seems a sensible feature for PBEM, given the likely competitive nature of such a campaign.

I agree it would be equally sensible if it could be disabled for literal hotseat games.

[Didz]

[multiplayer]
playable = true
hotseat_turns = true
hotseat_scroll = false
hotseat_autoresolve_battles = 0
hotseat_disable_console = 0
hotseat_disable_papal_elections = 0
hotseat_save_prefs = 0
hotseat_update_ai_camera = 0
hotseat_validate_diplomacy = 1

This looks remarkably like the proposal put forward before the 1.2 patch launch in answer to Question # 32 - How do I enable multiplayer hotseat campaign mode?

It proposed editing a copy of the medieval2.preference.cfg file to read

[multiplayer]
playable = 1
hotseat_turns = 0
hotseat_scroll = 0
hotseat_update_ai_camera = 1
hotseat_disable_papal_elections = 0
hotseat_autoresolve_battles = 0
hotseat_save_prefs = 1
hotseat_disable_console = 0
hotseat_validate_diplomacy = 1

In fact assuming that 1 = True and 0=False the only difference is hotseat_turns = true rather than false.

Does this make any significant difference?

PS++++
Ok! I've done some checking and it appears the medieval2.preference.cfg file has changed with the launch of 1.2.

The two files are identical except for the following sections:

The original preference file had the following section:

[multiplayer]
playable = 1
hotseat_turns = 0
hotseat_scroll = 0
hotseat_update_ai_camera = 1
hotseat_disable_papal_elections = 0
hotseat_autoresolve_battles = 0
hotseat_save_prefs = 1
hotseat_disable_console = 0
hotseat_validate_diplomacy = 1

Whilst the new preference file has the following instead:

[hotseat]
autoresolve_battles = 0
disable_console = 0
disable_papal_elections = 0
save_prefs = 1
update_ai_camera = 1
validate_diplomacy = 1

There are also some added lines in the [video] section of the 1.2 file as follows:
ground_buffers_per_node = 4
ground_cover_buffers_per_node = 4
model_buffers_per_node = 4
sprite_buffers_per_node = 4
water_buffers_per_node = 4

No idea what they do but thought I list them anyway.

So, anyway just wondering if this makes any difference.

PPS ++++
I've tried editing the 1.2 preference file to read:

[hotseat]
playable = true
turns = true
scroll = false
autoresolve_battles = 0
disable_console = 0
disable_papal_elections = 0
save_prefs = 0
update_ai_camera = 1
validate_diplomacy = 1

But on entering the game you only get the option to play one faction as per a normal game.

Changing 1 for 'True' & 2 for 'False' makes no difference, so I must assume that this new section is non-functional. My old preference file still works but this is using the old multiplayer preferences to produce a hotseat game.

Finally, tried copying the [Multiplayer] section back into the 1.2 preference file with all the settings suggested by Lusted but it still doesn't produce a multiplayer game. Only one faction is selectable and thats the only function you can play in the game.

So, its seems you need to stick with the pre 1.2 preference file format to invoke Hotseat.

[Lusted]

Well all i did was add the thing i quoted earlier to the bottom of the 1.2 .cfg without editing the existing hotseat section.

[Didz]

Well all i did was add the thing i quoted earlier to the bottom of the 1.2 .cfg without editing the existing hotseat section.

Hmm! I tried that and it didn't work for me. Perhaps it has to be at the end of the file to work, I think I inserted it just above the [HOTSEAT] section.

[Lusted]

Yeah i put it at the end, try it there and it should work.