[Freeciv] how can we save a network Freeciv game?

[Reinier Post <rp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Aug 08, 2002 at 12:54:27PM -0500, keith wrote:
> I'm scouring the website for the answer to this very basic question - i also
> read the help file, with no luck.  My friend and i invested several hours in
> a game, and i've still got it running, but he disconnected, hoping he'd get
> a chance to save that way, but there was none.
> 
> Please advise, or forward to someone who can, if at all possible.  We'd like
> to get back to the game we started and finish it.
> 
> Thanks!
> -keith hale-
> paradox@xxxxxxxxxx

I have 4 answers for you.  Please let me know if any of them answer
your question.

1) Technically, every game of Freeciv is a network game.
If you run the server yourself, you need to type

  /save mygame.sav

on the server prompt.

2) If someone else runs the server, e.g. if you use
a public server on civserver.freeciv.org, no method is provided: giving
you access to the /save command from the Freeciv client would compromise
security.  So in that case you have to contact the operator by e-mail
and ask to restart a server on a specific savegame manually.


3) After a game ends on civserver.freeciv.org, a report is generated,
and it includes a link to the last savegame.  You can find the report
on http://civerver.freeciv.org/, download the savegame, and start
your own civserver on it.


4) As one of the maintainers of civserver.freeciv.org I would like to give
players the option to say: restart a server on a given savegame from
a given game.  This is not a problem for security.  The only problem
I have with it is the interface.  It can only be available when the
original savegame is no longer running (to disallow cheating) and
other savegames than the final one are only available for a limited
time due to lack of disk space.

I suppose what we could do is the following:

 a) add a page to the webserver with the list of available savegames
    for any given recent, but finished, game

 b) for every available savegame, add an additional link
    "restart this game" - clicking it would create a new server,
    and report on the port number it uses

Would this be easy enough for you to use?
Can you think of a better design?

[
  I have directed this reply to the Freeciv users mailing list;
  comments from other users are very welcome
]

-- 
Reinier