Still no Civ 5 Pitboss
By Joe | November 26, 2010
This is just a quick update to let everyone know that this site and I are still alive and well. New users register every day, and we’re up to 432 users as of today!
There is still no word regarding the state of Pitboss for Civilization 5, but I’m keeping my eye on it. The Firaxis development team is still working hard on resolving a bunch of issues in the game, enhancing the AI, and addressing severe multiplayer exploits. With Steam, your game should be kept up to date automatically, so you’re probably all enjoying the fruits of their labor by now.
The second Pitboss development starts, I will begin working on a new client for PlayYourTurn. For cross-platform functionality, I am intending to directly modify the Pitboss python file this time, instead of having a standalone “scraper” tool. This will resolve the issues that Linux users are having running the tool, and all-in-all will be a much cleaner approach. All this depends on exactly how the Firaxis team develops Pitboss for Civ 5, but if it’s anything like the Civ 4 tool it should work out.
I also have the beginnings of a complete redesign for the site, but I’ve put it on the backburner until we get closer to seeing a Pitboss release for Civ 5. It’s all in the works though.
Hang in there, and enjoy your Civ 4 Pitboss games! We’re not going anywhere!
Topics: News | No Comments »
Civ V Released – No Pitboss (yet)!
By Joe | September 23, 2010
Civilization V came out last Tuesday! The latest instantiation of the series has some sweeping changes in it, including hex tiles, nationalized happiness, the removal of religion, and tons more. As I said before, when Civ V was first announced, I won’t even try to do it justice. Hop over to CivFanatics for news, reviews, and what have you.
If you’ve loaded it up and looked around, you probably noticed something… No Pitboss! This was pretty much expected by anyone who is familiar with the launch of Civilization 4; Pitboss came out months after the release of the game. Civ 5 is no different.
What seems a little odd, however, is that there currently isn’t any turn-based multiplayer at all. No PBEM, no TCP/IP. The only option is to play online through Steam and the game lobby, and even then, the turns are forced-simultaneous.
I know a lot of players love to play quicker simultaneous-turn games, but this really rubs me (an old schooler!) the wrong way. I like to play larger, longer games. One of the reasons I made and use a site like this is because I don’t mind a game taking months to play out. I greatly enjoy having the ability to log in, look at my map and units, and think about my next move, even if that means I only get to play 2-3 turns a day.
Different strokes.
In any event, Civ 5 multiplayer is still under development. Pitboss, TCP/IP, and PBEM are all features that have been alluded to come “after the release”, so hold tight!
Since you can see my name in the credits list now, I guess it’s okay to tell you that I was involved in the Civilization V beta, and am still in communication with the development team. I am hoping to work with them as they develop the Pitboss server, so that I can make PlayYourTurn even better. I’ve already started an entire site redesign to support Civ V (and to get rid of the horrible color scheme), and I will continue to work at it until the Pitboss server for Civ V is released.
I can tell you that Civilization V is very different from previous Civ games, but it is definitely worth playing. I walked in to the beta very suspicious about major changes such as one unit per tile, and nationalized happiness, but as I played I found myself enjoying it immensely. It definitely has its issues, but the patches will come with time. The development team is, and has been, completely devoted to making the game as fun and stable as possible.
If you haven’t already, pick it up and give it a play!
Topics: News | No Comments »
PlayYourTurn – Easy on the Eyes
By Joe | July 2, 2010
As mentioned several times, I’m a programmer and not a designer. This site is basically what I hacked together from a free Wordpress theme, and fumbling through CSS files.
Rob Isakson, however, is a designer. He’s got a much better eye than me for things like this. He’s created a UserScript which removes all of the images, widens the tables, and generally makes things easier to read. You can download it here.
For those in the know, UserScripts are small bits of JavaScript code that run in your web browser for pages you specify. After the page is downloaded, and before it’s presented to you, the script runs, and can modify the page however you want. I’ve used this in the past to do things like add links to pages for BugIDs that appear on JIRA pages at work, but I’ve never used them to change around the design of a site.
If you’re one of the few people that do not like the look of the site, or want something more “work safe”, that doesn’t involve Gandhi shaking his finger at you, give the script a shot.
If you’re running Chrome, you can just install the script, and it will become an extension. If you’re on Firefox, you’ll need to install the GreaseMonkey addon, which manages UserScripts.
I am currently working on a rewrite and redesign of the site for this fall, in hopes that there will still be a use for it when Civilization V is released, and I’m taking all feedback that anyone has on the design or functionality of the site. Let me know what works, what doesn’t, and how horrible of a designer I really am. As with everything so far, I’ll try my best to accommodate anyone.
Topics: News | 1 Comment »
Uploader Tool Version 1.05 Released
By Joe | June 16, 2010
Yeah, I jumped from 1.03 to 1.05. Sue me.
1.04m was a test build for multiple Pitboss support. Since it worked, I’m collapsing it back into the main build, and jumping up to 1.05.
Multiple Pitboss servers are now fully supported. Please see my previous post regarding how to set this up.
There are also some fixes for issues found by users, and a request from Astrologix added in.
Remember, sending me emails with requests will eventually get the tool changed 
Changes in 1.05
- Multiple Pitboss Server Support! Select any of the running games from the drop-down list.
- The “Refresh” button will gray out when the Uploader Tool is enabled, ot prevent the game name from getting switched.
- The Tray Icon for the Uploader Tool will now show the name of the game being run. Hover over it to see.
Topics: Development | 14 Comments »
MOD PlayerName Explained
By Joe | May 24, 2010
I’ve gotten a few emails / comments about people seeing “MOD PlayerName” in the player lists on my page, and asking what it means.
This comes directly from Pitboss itself. PlayYourTurn doesn’t add or remove anything from the player name in any way.
Basically, this means that the player is logging in with different game files from the Pitboss server. For example, they may have edited some of their LUA code to change the interface, or they might have edited some Python scripts somewhere, or they might be using an unsupported language translation they hacked together themselves.
This can be completely innocent, or intentionally malicious / exploitive. It’s up to the players to know who they’re playing with, and trust them.
I will not be hiding or otherwise doing anything with this information. It’s on the Pitboss screen, so it’s on the website. Players have a right to know.
Topics: News | 2 Comments »