Are there any basic rules/ tips for using Valk Net?

[Thelamon]

Hi sofar I have only played MP in LAN sessions. As it is quite seldom I get enough friends to play HoI at my place I thought about checking the Valk Net for pickup games.

My experiences so far:
1. I can get to the HoI chanel
2. I could see an ongoing game
3. I met one other guy (who was there for a first - and tried to host a EU2 game on the HoI channel )
4. I couldn't talk to the guys in the ongoing game - and was unsure if they had the same version as mee (it said 1.05...) I have 1.05b no mods
5. Before I tried to join that game it dissapeared ("Hero" was the Host)
After that HoI crashed....

Questions:
1. I would really thank the MP Vets to give a short guideline on the use of Valkyrie Net / and ongoing games
2. Do I have to install ICQ ? - The MP forum seems to suggest, that everyone is using ICQ.... .....I had settled into using the Messenger for other MP games as I need it for Game Voice anyway....

Edit:
Got the first MP going with Slaghead - LAG was a big problem - other than that everything seemed to work fine.

And still:
Any "behavioral rules" ? - I wouldn't want to blunder into someones game etc.

 

[jgbaxter]

IF you head into a game, ask if it's a new game or a save and if they'd mind you getting involved.

 

[unmerged(14035)]

Some multiplayer HoI basics (in a rather randomized order):

1) Join games on your side of the Atlantic (if you are in the USA, join games hosted by US players, vice versa if you are in Europe). If you join a trans-Atlantic game, you will suffer horrible lag.

2) Avoid having people in the game with slow connections (aka "modems").

3) It is actually possible to get a random game going by just hanging around in a chanel (like HoI) on V-net. Usually it can take a while to get a full 6-player game going. It is usually easier on Friday and Saturday nights, from around 6pm and onward. However, if you do manage to get a game running, there is a high risk that one or some of the players will leave within a few hours to do some other unspecified stuff (walk the dog, go to Pizza Hut, watch reruns of Seinfeld or whatever). These random players will often just give up if you need to rehost due to lag, CTD etc. Also, it will be most unlikely that the same players will be able to continue the game some other day (conflicting schedules etc). Though "one night stands" may be nice in other situations, they are not very fun in HoI .

4) The by far best way to get a game running is to post on this forum, or contact one of the groups that regularly post on this forum. This will generally mean that the players are interested in continuing the game later.

5) If you join a game on V-net, and the people in it ask you to leave, it is most likely because they are playing a saved game, and not that they dislike you. Be polite and simply leave.

6) When playing, it is recommended that you left-click the enemy nations when chatting (so they are greyed-out), so you don't send your secret messages to the enemy. I have seen this so many times ("So you want me to invade Sicily in early June?").

7) Generally, there will be an alliance leader for each side (usually UK and Germany) who will try to coordinate the effort of the various players of that faction. Try to listen to what that person says. For example, if you are playing Italy talk to the German player before you go off and invade Turkey or Persia or whatever it is you have planned. Playing the game as if it were a single-player game will make it much less enjoyable for the other players.

8) If the game crashes/CTDs/equivalent, go to the same V-net chanel as you were in when you started the game. You may sometimes have to wait a few minutes for the others to arrive.

9) Get ICQ so you can chat with the other players between games.

10) Be polite to the other players. Dont go saying "Noob!!" after you win your first battle, what may seem like a mistake by the enemy can at times be a clever move, the kind of stuff you never see in single player games.

11) Follow the house rules (whatever they may be).

12) Some general game tips for actually playing a MP game:

A) Dont disband your navy or airforce (oh yeah, I've seen this more times then I can think of)
B) Try to make a balanced military (some inf, some tanks, some fighters, some whatever)
C) Dont do too much research (the by far most common - and deadly - mistake of MP), you need to balance research and unit builiding

Eh, thats about all I can think of now. Hope any of this stuff helps.

 

[Thelamon]

@Mad Viking an jgbaxter - thanks for the info!

"disbanding the navy and or air" - sounds quite suicidal?!
Why did these guys do it?

Some questions remain:
1. At what point can people in the game tell me if I'm welcome?
(do I have to join first and pick a nation - or is it enough to click "join" to be able to use the chat with the respective players and the host?)

2. Do you use ICQ during games? I remember Paradox strongly advising against doing so as it increased crashes and LAG?! (that was in the 1.03-1.03b MP trouble days)

PS
I'm a HoI addict since Feb - and have been lurking reading the boards ever since so I'm generally up date on MP strategie....
Not mention several LAN games with two friends.... (both sadly lacking time to play more often - and sadly they wont clone!) - I'm still dreaming of a solid 8 player MP LAN game... no LAG, a few beers in between and "real" communication among allies etc.....

Why can't HoI be a more popular game, where you can find players left and right?....

 

[unmerged(14035)]

I honestly dont know why some people disband their navy or airforce, but I suspect it may be because they want to save on supplies (planes on the ground draw no supplies though). The manpower you recieve from disbanding airplanes/ships is very very low, so I suspect that this is not the reason.

1) After you join a game, you can chat with the players in it during the set-up phase. You do not need to select a country to do this, being in the game is enough. Simply ask if you can be in the game, and if yes, ask if any nations are reserved for players who have not arrived.

2) I strongly recommend players to close all other applications (including ICQ, music programs etc) before the game starts. There is realy no need to ICQ other players during the game, if you want a one-on-one chat this is easy to do with the chat mode that is built into HoI.

 

[Thelamon]

setup phase is no problem...

I was wondering about ongoing games though
(or can you only see games that havent started yet on ValkNet?)

PS
@MadViking - I might be a regular applicant for a serious European based game in the coming fall and winter (starting around October 15. - before that I can't join for a full weekend due to sports duties with my team)