Before I get started I would just like to commend you guys for working on a project such as this as it takes time and effort to put into.
So, good job!
Now though, I do have a few questions.
1. Which version of MechWarrior 2 is supported?
This matters as there are 3 different online versions of mech2.
Mech2 DOS, Mech2 95, Mech2 Titanium.
2. Is there IPX emulation?
Mech2 DOS requires it, and Mech2 95 has an option for it.
3. After you click launch in the lobby do I just open the respective game or do I need to set a setting in the program?
If you guys could clear these questions up I would be very grateful as it will determine whether the mech2.org community can use this in the future or not.
Couple Questions
Re: Couple Questions
Your welcome.. and the simple answer is "I don't know"...
I've never played Mech so the best guess would be to pop into the Mech Commander lobby were most of the folks seem to hang, or head over to the Mech Warrior org site. What I CAN tell you is, the majority of the cdrom based lobbies operate on the combination of the GUID for the game, and the EXE of the game name. In otherwords, they use the dPlay functions (direct X) to do their work. Specifically for the Mech 2 game we run here at present, it uses the following:
Mech Commander 2
35DC7890-C5EF-4171-B0CF-4D5C7AE7C2D7
MC2Rel.exe
So if that is "the one" that you have installed, you just need to enter a table and click on the launch button and the game will run, nothing else is needed. (caveat as always, you need to have the required ports open and the lobbies here all use the same ports as the MSN Zone did, which were typically 29000-29100)
As for the IPX side, I seem to recall that is just for LAN playing. We do not emulate a LAN setting in the lobbies. What the direct play side does is... the host of the game launches, which passes information directly to the DPLAY functions that launch the game in host mode. The rest of the people at the table will then be instructed to launch/join as players, and will be passed the IP of the host computer so they can connect to you. Basically the same as manually running the game, giving your IP to your friends by MSN (or teamspeak or whatever) and having them join you that way.
SOME games, IF the game itself supports it, will also allow players to "join in progress", which means that someone can enter the table after you launch, and could still make it into the game. That is, as I said, game dependant and I honestly have no clue which ones support that.
Now, with that said... we do have other options available in making a lobby run. Some games will run via "command line options" (example: gamename.exe /host /ip123.456.789.0 /map qqzx) and if we know what those options are to 1) launch as a host and 2) join as a player... then we can configure another lobby so that game will be ran in that manner. So if you have a bunch of Mech2 players that are strictly running an older DOS configuration that launches in that manner, we quite likely could create a lobby for that particular version to run. No promises of course... I guess the bottom line is, how many of those older types still exist in this day and age. *shrug*
Hopefully that will answer your questions. If you are running 98/XP style, you can run DXDIAG and it will tell you the GUID's of the direct play games that the computer knows about. That information is in the "Network" tab... Apparently Vista users don't get that information (gotta love Microsoft to remove that data from being displayed... sheesh). If you are still stuck let us know and we will see where we can go next.
I've never played Mech so the best guess would be to pop into the Mech Commander lobby were most of the folks seem to hang, or head over to the Mech Warrior org site. What I CAN tell you is, the majority of the cdrom based lobbies operate on the combination of the GUID for the game, and the EXE of the game name. In otherwords, they use the dPlay functions (direct X) to do their work. Specifically for the Mech 2 game we run here at present, it uses the following:
Mech Commander 2
35DC7890-C5EF-4171-B0CF-4D5C7AE7C2D7
MC2Rel.exe
So if that is "the one" that you have installed, you just need to enter a table and click on the launch button and the game will run, nothing else is needed. (caveat as always, you need to have the required ports open and the lobbies here all use the same ports as the MSN Zone did, which were typically 29000-29100)
As for the IPX side, I seem to recall that is just for LAN playing. We do not emulate a LAN setting in the lobbies. What the direct play side does is... the host of the game launches, which passes information directly to the DPLAY functions that launch the game in host mode. The rest of the people at the table will then be instructed to launch/join as players, and will be passed the IP of the host computer so they can connect to you. Basically the same as manually running the game, giving your IP to your friends by MSN (or teamspeak or whatever) and having them join you that way.
SOME games, IF the game itself supports it, will also allow players to "join in progress", which means that someone can enter the table after you launch, and could still make it into the game. That is, as I said, game dependant and I honestly have no clue which ones support that.
Now, with that said... we do have other options available in making a lobby run. Some games will run via "command line options" (example: gamename.exe /host /ip123.456.789.0 /map qqzx) and if we know what those options are to 1) launch as a host and 2) join as a player... then we can configure another lobby so that game will be ran in that manner. So if you have a bunch of Mech2 players that are strictly running an older DOS configuration that launches in that manner, we quite likely could create a lobby for that particular version to run. No promises of course... I guess the bottom line is, how many of those older types still exist in this day and age. *shrug*
Hopefully that will answer your questions. If you are running 98/XP style, you can run DXDIAG and it will tell you the GUID's of the direct play games that the computer knows about. That information is in the "Network" tab... Apparently Vista users don't get that information (gotta love Microsoft to remove that data from being displayed... sheesh). If you are still stuck let us know and we will see where we can go next.
Re: Couple Questions
hey gary, he isnt asking about mech commander but mechwarrior 2. it was not supported by the client the last time but is on the list now.
peri
peri
Re: Couple Questions
Perigren wrote:hey gary, he isnt asking about mech commander but mechwarrior 2. it was not supported by the client the last time but is on the list now.
DOH! Thanks for pointing that out Peri. My bad! Okies um... well umm.. I updated the lobby list to say the right thing and well um... well... If someone has the right info for Mech WARRIOR 2 (so many differnt titles, who wudda known eh?) I'll be happy to make a proper lobby for it... I guess its kinda clear that I never played the game!
Re: Couple Questions
Thanks for the reply... yah that is kinda what I figured as far as IPX.
The system we are using currently requires an IPX emulation server, and on the client side DOSBOX setup with mech2.
So, I think we will have to stick with the server we have currently.
Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it!
The system we are using currently requires an IPX emulation server, and on the client side DOSBOX setup with mech2.
So, I think we will have to stick with the server we have currently.
Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it!
Re: Couple Questions
Sorry about that. Peri pointed me in the right direction, went over and saw your forums at mech2.org. He said you folks have been around for quite a while, which is great to see.
We can't really support the IPX side, as it gets pretty complicated in how we launch games, but if you have any of the direct X versions you want lobbies created for, just let us know and we will be happy to setup some tests for you folks.
I'm not sure on how you do your game arrangements or communications, but one of the things we can do here is to setup a "chat only" concept lobby if you wish to use that as a meeting place for things. Either way, thanks for giving it a shot and perhaps we can work on other things that might assist you folks...
We can't really support the IPX side, as it gets pretty complicated in how we launch games, but if you have any of the direct X versions you want lobbies created for, just let us know and we will be happy to setup some tests for you folks.
I'm not sure on how you do your game arrangements or communications, but one of the things we can do here is to setup a "chat only" concept lobby if you wish to use that as a meeting place for things. Either way, thanks for giving it a shot and perhaps we can work on other things that might assist you folks...
Re: Couple Questions
It's ok. I appreciate the quick and helpful response. 
Thanks again for the thought!
-Sir MMPD Radick
I thought of that too, and I believe it would work, but at this point I think IRC is doing ok for a meeting spot since it is integrated into our netmech installer now.I'm not sure on how you do your game arrangements or communications, but one of the things we can do here is to setup a "chat only" concept lobby if you wish to use that as a meeting place for things.
Thanks again for the thought!
-Sir MMPD Radick
Re: Couple Questions
Hi I also think this is Great and it works Perfect for CFS 2 but im Curious as to how long its been available and how long do you expect to offer the service because it would stink to build this up so people come here to play then someday its just gone. and will it always be free. any thoughts?
Re: Couple Questions
At some point or another, everything will be gone. As for how long it's been available, SlideGamers started back in the summer of 2006, was an excellent success but unfortunatlely got sucked into believing that WGC would be better prepared to deal with the growth we wanted. Two years was wasted, our program got stagnated, and WGC went into a communistic rule. Long story short, their license was cancelled and we have resumed development and expansion.MPIOwl wrote:Hi I also think this is Great and it works Perfect for CFS 2 but im Curious as to how long its been available and how long do you expect to offer the service because it would stink to build this up so people come here to play then someday its just gone. and will it always be free. any thoughts?
Getting back to the "gone" part, all I can say is we love what we do, we do it for fun. Expansion plans are going ahead, new development is going ahead, new types of games and concepts are being looked into and planned for. But CDROM is our roots, where we started from, and there is no intention to drop the support for it.
Yes, its free. At some point in the near future we will have a better web-site presence (rather than just forums) and there will be the ability to donate. Future development will also be free, but we will obviously be planning to add in some cool custom features that IF the user chooses to want, there will probably be a small fee. We might get into private lobbies which could be fee based, and perhaps other things that might be of value where there might be very small costs.
The bottom line of course, is that the basic system, the basic operations, the basic games, the basic services... all of the things that people need to be able to play, will be free. For those that read this please don't jump up and down and scream and shout and say you are being sucked into paying in the future... cause you are not, and won't be. But there are real costs with providing the service and there will be future *options* available that if you CHOOSE to want, well...
First step is to get our new system done... get the website setup... get a lot of things setup. Once we get there and see what its like, we can let you know more at that point. Just know that the good old basic cdrom games will still be there, and will still be free.
If you want to carry over the *costs* portion of this comment, then I would suggest that you post your thoughts in the new development section of the forum.