We Are the Crusader Kings, Too

[Gormongous]

Okay, so this is a bit of a Hail Mary, but wouldn't it be cool if everyone who's been learning Crusader Kings II because of the stream joined up in a big multiplayer game with a few old hands? We could all play together, so if anything nightmarish or confusing happened, we'd all be there to see and give each other advice.

 

Really, is there any interest in a multiplayer game of Crusader Kings II, friendly or not?

[juv3nal]

In theory I'd be interested, but in practice, I'd want to reset/restart as soon as something went badly for me which I don't think is something anybody else would want to put up with. But out of curiosity, how does the time scaling work in multi? It's just locked/never pausable?

[Gormongous]

But out of curiosity, how does the time scaling work in multi? It's just locked/never pausable?

 

Any player can speed up, slow down, or pause the game for everyone. It's generally agreed-upon etiquette to play at 2x or something and only pause when necessary.

 

Also, I don't really want to say this, because people should play games how they want, but maybe restarting the game the moment something goes bad misses the point of Crusader Kings II? There's so few points of absolute failure that quitting just makes you lose out on the "let's get out of this mess we got ourselves in" angle that is exactly what makes the Thumbs stream fun to watch. And even if you did get wiped out by a holy war or a non-dynastic heir, you could just jump into a different ruler and keep playing.

[juv3nal]

Any player can speed up, slow down, or pause the game for everyone. It's generally agreed-upon etiquette to play at 2x or something and only pause when necessary.

 

Also, I don't really want to say this, because people should play games how they want, but maybe restarting the game the moment something goes bad misses the point of Crusader Kings II? There's so few points of absolute failure that quitting just makes you lose out on the "let's get out of this mess we got ourselves in" angle that is exactly what makes the Thumbs stream fun to watch. And even if you did get wiped out by a holy war or a non-dynastic heir, you could just jump into a different ruler and keep playing.

 

Trust me, the guys on the stream have never done anything as bad as some of the spectacularly bad things I've done. For example: hiring mercenaries, running out of upkeep money (negative gold balance) and having them turn on me and decide to carve a piece of my holdings for their own. Now as someone with an understanding of the systems (leaving aside that I hopefully wouldn't have put myself in that position to begin with), I might be able to dig myself out of that. But as clueless/flailing as I am, the game is complicated enough without handicapping myself with a scenario like that as a starting point.

[Gormongous]

Trust me, the guys on the stream have never done anything as bad as some of the spectacularly bad things I've done. For example: hiring mercenaries, running out of upkeep money (negative gold balance) and having them turn on me and decide to carve a piece of my holdings for their own. Now as someone with an understanding of the systems (leaving aside that I hopefully wouldn't have put myself in that position to begin with), I might be able to dig myself out of that. But as clueless/flailing as I am, the game is complicated enough without handicapping myself with a scenario like that as a starting point.

 

That's fair. I still think playing with a support network would help a little, but maybe once you've figured out all the early-game pitfalls yourself.

[Squid Division]

I've tried playing CKII multiplayer several times, and the desynch issues were god awful, and that was with only 2 people, in relative proximity, on good connections. So, god speed.

 

Pro tip- make sure everyone's game seed is the same otherwise it won't work at all (the number on the main menu). If you go to start a game and back out to the main menu it'll change the seed, so basically everyone will have to start the game and immediately go to connect to the multiplayer game, lest anything else change the seed number.

[Murdoc]

Terrible at the game and technical issues aside, count me in on this, even if it's just an experiment.

[Gormongous]

Well, I looked up how to host through direct IP, since the metaserver's down again, and opened the relevant ports (1630 through 1640 TCP & UDP). The claim bandied around the forum is that desync happens mostly when the host's PC is slower than the other players', so hopefully my overclocked i7 from a couple years ago will stand the test of time.

 

Just let me know when and if anyone wants to play. I'm free this weekend, especially Sunday.

[James]

I'm vaguely curious, but I'm so absurdly inexperienced I'd most likely immediately crash and burn. Still, perhaps it'd be a learning experience. How long do multiplayer games usually take? Are they played over multiple sessions? Is this likely to be a pan-timezone thing? If someone has to drop out, can they come back in later?

[Gormongous]

I'm vaguely curious, but I'm so absurdly inexperienced I'd most likely immediately crash and burn. Still, perhaps it'd be a learning experience. How long do multiplayer games usually take? Are they played over multiple sessions? Is this likely to be a pan-timezone thing? If someone has to drop out, can they come back in later?

 

Multiplayer games take as long as singleplayer games, which is as long as interest holds. Multiple sessions are usually a given. Games are "hosted" from a single save file, so people are able to miss sessions or join late, picking up wherever the AI left off. I keep really terrible hours here in the USA so I'll at least be able to party with EU folks.

[Badfinger]

I'm incredibly intrigued by this, but I also know there's no way I could keep a regular schedule to crusade with everyone. I'd be interested in how it turned out.