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Setting start times to games
http://www.classictw.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=32462
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Author:  Runaway Proton [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Setting start times to games

After banging a game, if I want to delay the start I click the checkbox "Schedule Game Start" and another box comes up "This game is restarting" which if I don't check moves me right to setting the start time of the game and has worked for me. Checking the box enables an option to age the game, but I'm confused as to the function of the "this game is restarting" box.

Author:  John Pritchett [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

It is often the case that you need to deactivate and reactivate a game without wanting to start the game over. So that gives you a choice to either just activate the game, or activate it and reset the game age to whatever age you specify. It's just convenient to age the game right there as you start the game, but you won't always want to do that.

Author:  Micro [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

Also, if you bang a game on Tuesday you might want to set it to open on Friday, but you don't want it to be three days old when it opens. If you set the game age to zero, it will reset it to zero when the game opens on Friday.

Author:  John Pritchett [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

Good point.

So the question is, how can I make this feature less confusing?

Author:  Micro [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

I bigger dialog box with some help text :)

Here is another thought, let's say that I have a game that is winding down and I want to re-bang it, but I want to go ahead and let players continue to play until Friday. It would be nice if there was a way I could schedule the game to close around noon on friday, when there aren't very many players online. Then automatically run BigBang, and schedule the game to open at 8pm that night.

Author:  John Pritchett [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

Yeah, I don't see a problem with scheduling bigbang if it's going to just use defaults. I could even do a randomize on the seed, but everything else would be current settings.

Author:  Cruncher [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

John Pritchett wrote:
Yeah, I don't see a problem with scheduling bigbang if it's going to just use defaults. I could even do a randomize on the seed, but everything else would be current settings.


Sounds great! Don't forget to randomize the seed! :)

Author:  Runaway Proton [ Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

I guess my confusion came in thinkign that if I didn't "activate" the game even for days in advance, that the game is inactive and therefore not aging. So I can see if I set it to activate in 3 days, the game will be 3 days "aged" unless I set the age to 0.

I love the idea of being able to set the game to rebang at a cetain time, with a random seed, and reopen at an appointed time.
Only one other option I can see handy, would be a warning in game, so that if there are active players, who want to continue with that game, maybe they have a menu option with the message, like "ok to bang" so that they can cancel it if they so choose. (Perhaps the game just got interesting).

Of course to further complicate maters that player option should be left to the sysop so maybe a toggle "allow players to override" should be there also.

Author:  Micro [ Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

Runaway Proton wrote:
I guess my confusion came in thinkign that if I didn't "activate" the game even for days in advance, that the game is inactive and therefore not aging. So I can see if I set it to activate in 3 days, the game will be 3 days "aged" unless I set the age to 0.
That is correct, the game would open 3 days old.

Runaway Proton wrote:
Only one other option I can see handy, would be a warning in game, so that if there are active players, who want to continue with that game, maybe they have a menu option with the message, like "ok to bang" so that they can cancel it if they so choose. (Perhaps the game just got interesting).
Sometimes it's hard to get player feedback, so it might be nice if there was even an option in-game that would allow a player to request a rebang, and some kind of voting system for the olter players to agree.

Author:  Runaway Proton [ Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

Micro wrote:
Runaway Proton wrote:
Only one other option I can see handy, would be a warning in game, so that if there are active players, who want to continue with that game, maybe they have a menu option with the message, like "ok to bang" so that they can cancel it if they so choose. (Perhaps the game just got interesting).
Sometimes it's hard to get player feedback, so it might be nice if there was even an option in-game that would allow a player to request a rebang, and some kind of voting system for the olter players to agree.


Sorry if we're takeing this to an extreme JP, but how about this.
Change the Command Center Menu (Sysop Side) so that active games are Green, and Inactive games are Red.
Player or corp can request a bang (declare the game finished) this would change the game name on the command menu to Yellow to alert the sysop that the game is nearing completion. If that is the only player or corp in game then instead of Yellow, it turns to Blue signifying that all players/corps are in agreement that the game is over and it's ready to rebang.
Of course the sysop can always bang a game regardless of player input.
The hardest part of running TWGS is player feedback when a game is over, so I don't bang it to early, but keep fresh games in front of the players for their benifit. This might be a huge step in that direction.

Author:  John Pritchett [ Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Setting start times to games

Ok, I'm considering it.

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