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| Bridge Baron 14 Online FAQ . . . |
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GameSpy is a company that provides online gaming solutions for hundreds of computer game companies. They are one of the online gaming communities leaders and run the computer servers that keep track of who is logged in and playing a given game at any given time. They provide lobbies and chat rooms that allow multiple users who are logged in with the same game to communicate with one another and to start a multi-player game together. For more information on GameSpy Industries please visit: Bridge Baron 14 allows bridge players to connect to the GameSpy servers and set up online bridge games with other Bridge Baron 14 users. This is a new feature of Bridge Baron 14 that has not existed in any of the previous Bridge Baron games. In previous Bridge Barons you needed to know the people you were going to play with ahead of time and then connect directly to their computer. Now, you can log in through GameSpy, find other bridge players who are logged in, and then have GameSpy take care of the technical details behind establishing a game with one another. Running the games through GameSpy also had the added benefit that even once your game is in progress, another user can still contact you and join your table.
If you are a Bridge Baron 14 owner and you want to play bridge online, we recommend that you use GameSpy when creating your game. For more information on starting an online game through GameSpy, please click here:
What is the GameSpy Arcade? Back to Top The GameSpy Arcade is a computer program designed by GameSpy Industries that allows you to search through all of their chat rooms and lobbies and see the hundreds of different computer games that they support. If you own any of the computer games that they support (such as Bridge Baron 14), you can go to lobbies specifically dedicated to these games and then use the Arcade to launch a multi-player game. The GameSpy Arcade essentially offers a different way to chat with other online gamers and to view who is online and playing a game through GameSpy. If you are only interested in locating other Bridge Baron 14 users, you are probably better off connecting through the Bridge Baron interface rather than the GameSpy Arcade interface. However, both will show you the same information about who is logged on and where, just in different views. If you are not familiar with online chat rooms or are not very good with the Internet we strongly encourage you to just connect to the GameSpy servers through your Bridge Baron 14 and not use the GameSpy Arcade. How is play through the GameSpy Arcade different than from within Bridge Baron 14? Back to Top As was explained in the What is the GameSpy Arcade section above, the GameSpy Arcade is just an alternate way to navigate the GameSpy chat rooms and online lobbies to create your own multi-player game or join a multi-player game already in progress. The GameSpy Arcade interface is much more complicated than the Bridge Baron interface and it also includes advertisements. So you should only use it if you are an experienced computer user or you need some of the features that it provides and the Bridge Baron interface does not. The main differences between using the GameSpy Arcade and connecting to GameSpy from within Bridge Baron are that the Arcade allows you to create buddy lists and also allows you to send private messages to other GameSpy users. Plus, as the GameSpy Arcade is run separately from Bridge Baron, even after you start or join a bridge table in Bridge Baron 14, you can remain in the GameSpy Arcade chat lobbies. This is useful if you want to chat with other online players, that are not at your table, while you are playing bridge, or if you are having technical problems and are not sure whether your game is being listed on the GameSpy servers.
I am getting an error message every time that I create my own online table through GameSpy, what should I do? Back to Top There is most likely a problem with your network configuration that is preventing you from communicating properly with the GameSpy servers. Please go to http://www.bridgebaron.com/onlineplay/hosting_error.html for more information and for possible work arounds and solutions to this problem. I have Bridge Baron 14 on the Macintosh, am I am able to play Bridge Baron 14 online? Back to Top No, unfortunately, online play is not supported in the Macintosh version of Bridge Baron 14. When I am connecting to GameSpy it says a specific version number is required for online play. What does this mean? Back to Top There are several versions of Bridge Baron 14 that have been released. They are not all entirely compatible with one another. The version numbers are represented by numbers such as 14.00.01, 14.00.02, etc. The new versions of Bridge Baro have included some major improvements to online play. Because of these online improvements, you must make sure that your version is up to date and fully compatible with the Bridge Barons of other online users. Your version of Bridge Baron must be greater than or equal to the number that is “required for online play.” If your version is not high enough, you will not be able to connect to GameSpy, because your version will be incompatible with the Bridge Barons of other online users and may cause crashes and instability. To download the latest update and get the most up to date version of Bridge Baron 14, please go to http://www.greatgameproducts.com/download_files.html. The downloads are very small, usually under 3 megabytes in size, so they should be quick to download. We are sorry for the inconvenience of having to download the new version, but we as we are making constant improvements to Bridge Baron, we expect that you will appreciate the new version and enjoy the features that we have added. When I log on, I don't see other people, am I doing something wrong? Back to Top We cannot guarantee that when you log on to GameSpy, you will always find other bridge players looking for a game. We are doing our best to try to promote online play in Bridge Baron 14 and we have a large enough user base that we expect that most times you log on, there will be other people who are interested in playing. However, as GameSpy is slowly becoming more and more popular, it may take you a little while to find other online players. Please be patient, if you immediately log off, than nobody will ever be able to find you online for a game either. What we recommend doing is going into one of the room’s and starting your own game up against 3 computers. This will allow you to play bridge as you wait for other people to log in to GameSpy and to join your table. We have also provided an online game scheduler. You can go to http://www.bridgebaron.com/onlineplay/online_scheduler.html and fill out a form indicating when you would like to try to play online and you can also see when other Bridge Baron users have indicated that they would like to play online. Why should I play Bridge Baron 14 online and what features are available in Bridge Baron 14’s online play? Back to Top For information on Bridge Baron 14’s online features and for an explanation of why you should use Bridge Baron 14 as your online bridge playing program please go to: http://www.bridgebaron.com/onlineplay/online_features.html. If you would like more information or would like a comparison of what Bridge Baron 14 online offers in comparison to other online bridge services, please go to: http://www.bridgebaron.com/onlineplay/online_comparison.html. Am I able to start up a bridge game with fewer than four human players? Back to Top Yes, you are able to start up a bridge game with fewer than four human players. You can have anywhere from one to four human players and you can even have people watching you if you like. Bridge Baron robots will automatically take over any seats that are not occupied by a human player. So if you would like to play bridge while you wait for other players to log on, you can start a single person game. If you would like to practice with your partner against two computer players you can do that as well. All computer players are controlled by Bridge Baron’s highly skilled artificial intelligence and play to the same capabilities as they would when you are not playing online. How do I change the conventions the Bridge Baron robots are playing when I am playing online? Back to Top If you are playing online and there are non-human players at the table, it is important that you set up your convention card properly. If you are partnering with a computer player, you can modify your convention card by going to the Options menu and selecting either NS Pair Profile or EW Pair Profile , depending on the direction that you are sitting and then modify your convention card as you normally would when not playing online. If you are playing with a human partner and computer opponents, you can modify your own convention card and it is important that you do so, or else the computer opponents will not properly understand your bidding and play. Once you modify your convention card, it will be sent to your partner as well and updated on his computer. If, however, you would like to modify the computer opponent’s convention card, you must do this before the game has started. This is to ensure that when you have human opponents you are not able to modify their convention cards. So, to modify your opponent’s convention card, while in the Staging Room (the room with the Ready, Not Ready, and Start Game Buttons), before the game has started simply change your seat position to that of your opponent’s, modify their convention card and then move back to your original seat. Are joining a game in progress and kibitzing a game allowed? Back to Top Yes and yes. The release of Bridge Baron 14.00.03 enabled both of these very important features, so even if you tried to join a game in progress and were not allowed to earlier, you should now be able to. If I have the demo version of Bridge Baron 14, how are my online play capabilities limited? Back to Top The demo version of Bridge Baron 14 only allows you to log into GameSpy 20 times. After 20 log-ins, you will be prohibited from logging in with the demo version. Once you have logged in to GameSpy, with the demo version, you will be able to join a bridge game that is in progress, but you will not be able to host your own. This will allow you to get a feel for what Bridge Baron 14 has to offer and how to go about playing Bridge Baron 14 online. To download a copy of the Bridge Baron 14 demo, please go to:http://www.greatgameproducts.com/download_files.html. Why am I unable to resize my screen when I am playing online? Back to Top When you are playing online it is very important that the program know exactly what is showing on your screen at any given time. For this reason it was necessary to make the screen a fixed size. I have a question about online play in Bridge Baron 14 that is not answered by this FAQ, what should I do? Back to Top
With technical support questions, please e-mail: support@bridgebaron.com |