VASSAL User's Guide

Introduction | Installation | Preferences | Environment | Getting Started | Setting Up a Game | Playing Tools | Playing by Email

Playing by Email

Playing games by email using VASSAL is also convenient, even for complex games with highly interactive sequences of play.  VASSAL can record your moves into a logfile that can be sent as an attachment in an email message.  Your opponent can open the file and step through your moves one at a time, interrupting the action with his responses whenever appropriate.

Preparing your E-Mail program

VASSAL should be sent as attachments to an email message and not pasted directly into the message. If VASSAL reports "Invalid savefile" when trying to load a logfile, the most likely reason is that one of the player's email program has corrupted the logfile. If this is a frequent problem, a safe option is to put the logfile into a Zip archive and mail that.

File naming conventions

Agree on a file-naming convention with your opponent.  It's convenient if the filename includes a number that is incremented each time a logfile is sent back and forth.  Example: Barbarossa_1.log, Barbarossa_2.log, etc. The number makes it easy to find the most recent logfile in your game and makes it easy to examine past moves if necessary.  By convention, a .sav extension indicates a savefile (a saved game with no recorded moves) and a .log extension indicates a logfile with recorded moves.

The Logfile

Email VASSAL is achieved through the mailing back and forth of a Log File. The Logging feature must be turned on to capture the moves.. Create a logfile by selecting File - Begin Logfile from the VASSAL Control window. The current game position will be saved, and VASSAL will record all your moves, actions, and comments. Hitting the Undo button will back you up to the last move (but your text comments will not be erased). When finished with your moves, select File - End Log.  If you do not select File - End Log,  your moves will not be saved to disk.

Sending the Log File

After closing the logfile, exit VASSAL and start your mail program. Create a message to your opponent and send the logfile as an attachment.

Stepping through a Logfile

Upon receiving a VASSAL logfile in an email message, save the attachment to your hard disk. Open VASSAL and load it by selecting File - Load Game. A logfile is technically just a savefile with moves tacked onto the end, so if the file contains moves the Step button will appear automatically. If the button does not appear, there are no moves recorded in that file.

Each time you hit the Step button, a single move or comment will be executed until the end of the file is reached. The Undo button takes you back to the last move. Step through your opponent's logfile.  Whenl you encounter something to which you wish to respond (a comment, an error, or a responding move), begin writing your own logfile. Make your responding move or comments and continue stepping through your opponent's logfile until you reach the end or until his moves have been invalidated by your response.  End your logfile and send it to your opponent for his response.

You may simultaneously write a logfile while reading from a logfile.  In this case, each move stepped through in the logfile being read is also recorded in the logfile being written.  

If playing or observing a live game on the server, a logfile may be opened to record the game as it progresses.

Plotted Moves

VASSAL can also support simultaneous plotted movement by the players rather than the sequential method described above.  To do so, begin from the most recent savefile and record your plotted moves into a logfile.  Your opponent does the same, and you and your opponent then exchange logfiles.  To read the plotted moves,  load the last saved game by selecting File - Load Game.  After a game is loaded, the "Load Game" menu item changes to "Load Continuation".  Select File - Load Continuation and step through your opponent's plotted moves, then select File - Load Continuation again to step through your own moves.  Save the game and continue.

Assembling a Game Record

A VASSAL logfile that encompasses an entire game can be useful as a teaching tool, example of play, or tournament archive.  First, gather the complete set of logfiles exchanged during the game.  Load the first one by selecting File - Load Game, then select File - Begin Logfile to begin writing the assembled logfile.  Step through the logfile, and when you reach the end, select File - Load Continuation and step through the next logfile.  Continue until all the logfiles have been read, then select File - End Logfile to save your assembled logfile.  You can type commentary and move pieces normally to make corrections as you read through the logfiles.

Honor System

Cheating is difficult when playing in real time on the server, but is much easier during email games.  The most obvious technique is to scrap your logfile and start another one, repeating until the random number generator gives the desired result.  This technique can be prevented by using an Internet Dice Button instead of the normal one.  Nevertheless, and needless to say, cheating on games like this is for losers.  It's a game!  Be cool and have fun.




Introduction | Installation | Preferences | Environment | Getting Started | Setting Up a Game | Playing Tools | Playing by Email