Hotseat campaigns.

[Propaganda]

Hello mates, explain me how these works?
How they can play four persons at once and so?

[Fireright]

Here's a guide thread for Med2: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=135739

Goes right over my head though..I'm too thick

[grouchy13]

Hotseats work in the following way, an admin sets up the Hotseat using the format found in the link above. The admin will then post the Hotseat in TWC Hotseat Campaigns forum where Human Players then pick the factions they would like to play.
Once a player has has decided on the faction they would like to play they must set up their RTW or M2TW preference.cfg file found within their the game folder and modify it to enable Hotseat play.
Most M2TW Hotseats also require you to have a patched version of Kingdoms, the latest patch is 1.5. If you join a M2TW Hotseat it would be wise to check you have the latest patch as not having it will mean the uploaded saves will not work.
Once you have set up your TW game you will need a file unpacker program, winzip.com provide a free version on their website that is the most popular amongst the Hotseat Community.
The Admin will post the first save for the player who comes first in the faction list the player then downloads the .rar save game file extracts it using winzip and puts it into his TW saves file, he then plays his turn.
Each faction had a password screen to prevent othe players viewing their Empires. When he has played his turn he and hits the end turn button he will be greeted with the next players password screen. He then saves the game here.
Exiting the game he extracts the save and converts it into a .rar file and posts it on TWC for the next player and the process is repeated on and on.
The actual rules of a Hotseat require any battles fought between human players to be auto-resolved and screen shots posted to prove that the battle was not fought on the battle map against the AI, battles against AI controlled factions can be fought on the campaign map.
The real beauty of Hotseats is the intricate nature of Diplomacy that competing against other players provides alliances, treachery and double dealing are the order of the day, this is something a single player campaign cannot mirror and is inherently unique to a MP Campaign.
If your looking for a true MP Campaign experience I would recommend NTW there is no need for the downloading and uploading of saves as it is real time, the only drawback is that it these campaigns are only 2 player however I am playing in a few of them at this time and the good AI of NTW is more than enough of challenge to prevent it being a human controlled steamrolling.
If your interested in any aspects of the TW MP Campaign world please visit our community here on TWC within the Hotseat Campaigns sub forum of the MP battlefield section.
We currently have over 25+ active Hotseats with RTW and Mods, M2TW and Mods running with seats free for all skill levels, we have recently started a NTW MP Campaign thread where NTW fans can meet arrange and discuss NTW MP Campaigns.
If you have any other questions or problems concerning anything MP Campaign related don't hesitate to contact me and I'll clear them up or point you in the direction of someone who can.

[shikaka]

The actual rules of a Hotseat require any battles fought between human players to be auto-resolved and screen shots posted to prove that the battle was not fought on the battle map against the AI, battles against AI controlled factions can be fought on the campaign map.

Why is this?

I think to plan that it will be you to fight the battle is very interesting!

Like this: you siege with an army, but don't attack. The sieged player can sally in his turn, and since your army is led by the AI, he can win. How can you command the siege? Ballista, Catapult, spies.

When we played, this actually proved to be a good thrill, to organize that you will play the battle.



One thing:
The crusade/jihad is seriously unbalancing the game. A Rus/Byzzie player cannot counter the movement point bonus. We have yet to find a sollution, what we did is that crusades/jihads called on human orthodox players cannot be joined by human players for 30 turns. (during this time, the Rus/Byz player can set up a spy network to see incoming jihad/crusade armies) Still, Rus and Byzzie empires usually fall.

[grouchy13]

Why is this?

I think to plan that it will be you to fight the battle is very interesting!

Like this: you siege with an army, but don't attack. The sieged player can sally in his turn, and since your army is led by the AI, he can win. How can you command the siege? Ballista, Catapult, spies.

When we played, this actually proved to be a good thrill, to organize that you will play the battle.



One thing:
The crusade/jihad is seriously unbalancing the game. A Rus/Byzzie player cannot counter the movement point bonus. We have yet to find a sollution, what we did is that crusades/jihads called on human orthodox players cannot be joined by human players for 30 turns. (during this time, the Rus/Byz player can set up a spy network to see incoming jihad/crusade armies) Still, Rus and Byzzie empires usually fall.

I think you have misundrrstood how the RTW/M2TW Hotseats work here on TWC, we are not all together sat round a computer in the same room waiting for each others turns or to fight each other.
While it is called a Hotseat it in reality is more of Multi-Player Campaign where we upload/dowmload saves as I have mentioned above. There is no capability to fight the battles against each other so the only option is to rely on the AI in RTW and M2TW Hotseats,
If your talking about players organising a battle seperate to the campaign conducted in a MP Battle, this presents more problem than it solves yes while it will allow the greater general to win it slows the Hotseat down considerably for example if a player A in the Hotseat is in Australia and needs to fight Player B in the UK, Player A loads his turn see's he under siege by Player B, but Player B is not online there online habits are seperated by time difference, therefore Player A must wait, as you can see this will have a detrimental effect on the flow of the Hotseat.
Trust me when I say what you may lose in the Human Vs Human Battle element you will see paid back with interest in the amazing Diplomacy field only an all human Hotseat can provide.
The other amazing element of the Multi-Player Camapign Community here on TWC is the unparalleled diversity of the players from the UK to Brazil, Austria to the US, Serbia, Greece, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Russia and Australia we even have a player from Thailand so I'll willingly forgoe the Human Battle element to have the oppurtunity to compete with such a broad spectrum of players from across the world.

[shikaka]

While it is called a Hotseat it in reality is more of Multi-Player Campaign where we upload/dowmload saves as I have mentioned above. There is no capability to fight the battles against each other so the only option is to rely on the AI in RTW and M2TW Hotseats,

I understood that.

But that way the player army vs. player army to be autoresolved.

I mean that when I played in a hotseat what worked relatively well is to play player army vs. player army fights. Of course, the 'attacked' army was guided by the AI.

If you don't want to lose your army, you have to organise it that it will be you to fight the battle (against AI) not the opposing player. (like you take spies and siege stuff for a siege, so you can attack instantly)

Also, the fact that it is possible that the opposing player will beat your army (because if will be guided by the AI) suddenly makes everyone using diplomacy more.

So true...join my Ban The Crusades in Hotseats Movement!!

In a hungarian forums all the maps/diplomacy is available in a hotseat forum.
What I can say is that in Med2, Russians and Byzantines have a _very hard_ time against crusades and jihads. Most of the time they are destroyed early, in other cases, they have to fund a very expensive spy/guard tower network, which will allow them to see incoming crusades/jihads early.

What I would like to try out is a game with a human pope (the game moderator) who will not allow at least crusades on orthodox players.

[grouchy13]

I understood that.

But that way the player army vs. player army to be autoresolved.

I mean that when I played in a hotseat what worked relatively well is to play player army vs. player army fights. Of course, the 'attacked' army was guided by the AI.

If you don't want to lose your army, you have to organise it that it will be you to fight the battle (against AI) not the opposing player. (like you take spies and siege stuff for a siege, so you can attack instantly)

Also, the fact that it is possible that the opposing player will beat your army (because if will be guided by the AI) suddenly makes everyone using diplomacy more.

I don't really understand what your on about here, so you play battles against other human players factions, but they are controlled by AI in the battle map?

[[Celtíbero]Mencey]

Why is this?

I think to plan that it will be you to fight the battle is very interesting!

It would take AGES... actually it take ages with autoresolve...

One thing:
The crusade/jihad is seriously unbalancing the game.

So true...join my Ban The Crusades in Hotseats Movement!!

[goro]

as far as strategy is concerned you will see more careful and smart moves in a hotseat than you would see in a mp campaign with 2 people.and the reason is that diplomacy is almost 50% of the game.If you dont get along with neighbours you will die quickly

[Propaganda]

Ohoh, its quite interesting. I think I will try soon. But how they play it with some program like hamachi, or its just save based ?

[Visorslash]

Save based usually. Check out the forums.

[grouchy13]

okay, we see that as unfair as most human players are far too potent for the AI, auto resolve is seen by the Community here on TWC as the only way to provide a modicum of Balance.