Play By Web

PBW is a website dedicated to supporting the multiplayer aspect of Space Empires IV and Space Empires V, allowing users to play each other via the web.

• http://pbw.spaceempires.net/
• http://sepbw.nightscapecreations.com/

The Old PBW

The site at http://www.pbw.cc supported multiplayer games of SE4 and SE5 for years, but was unfortunately destroyed by hardware failures. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=42026

The New PBWs

New PBW servers have sprung up to fill the void since the start of 2009, including the two main ones as linked at the top.

Playing games using PBW

• 1) The host first creates a game on the web site, and specifies all of the rules and game settings which will be used.
• 2) As players apply to join the game on the web site, the host must accept or kick them.
• 3) Players who have been accepted may then upload an empire (.EMP) file containing their race configuration.
• 4) Once all players have uploaded an EMP, the host can create the first turn using those empires.
• 5) Each player then downloads the turn files from PBW and loads them in SE. After hitting End Turn, SE will create a PLR file containing all the orders for that turn.
• 6) Each player uploads their PLR files, and when all players have uploaded, the game may be processed (either by the host, or by the web server itself).
• 7) When the turn finishes processing, the host uploads the new turn files and the whole process repeats from step 5.