Two of us (Player A and Player B) were trying to do some Flat Top module testing that was actually going to take three different users to test the functionality.
So Player B setup Vassal (3.6.5) on his wife’s computer but accidentally entered his name and password when he launched Vassal (just an auto-pilot error). Now that Vassal is treating him as Player B when the intention was to have that third computer be used for a Player C. He has even un-installed Vassal and re-installed but is never given the option to be “Player C”.
What is the procedure to get Vassal to create a new player identity?
The way module passwords work in VASSAL is like this: if you occupy a player side at the moment you save a game (or create a logfile), your password is embedded in the game file and locks that player side with your password. You move to a different computer, open the module for the first time, and when presented with the “choose a name and password” dialog you set the same password that’s in use on the first computer. When you then load your game file, VASSAL sees a match between the module password in use and the password embedded in the game file for a particular player side (remember, this occurred when you created the saved game on the first computer). As a result, it will auto-place you in the side you claimed on the first computer without asking.
If you would like to be a different player side on this 3rd computer, you have to set a different module password on it. Load the module, but do not load your saved game (e.g., just load a new scenario, or a blank setup). Go to File → Preferences → Personal tab. Change the password to something distinct from the first computer. It does not matter what you set as the username–side access is determined by password only, not the combination of username and password. Then close the module, and reopen it and load your saved game. There will no longer be a match between the computer’s module password and any passwords embedded in the saved game, so you’ll be asked to choose a player side.
The list of issues that can be fixed by reinstalling either VASSAL itself or modules is vanishingly small. Module passwords and your VASSAL preferences are not stored in the same place as the VASSAL program files, so they’ll never be removed or altered by an uninstallation and subsequent reinstall.
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