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Multiplayer

Page history last edited by wanne 9 years, 4 months ago

Introduction

Jagged Alliance 2 v1.13 supports Multiplayer with up to 4 players. Simple select "Multiplayer" from the Main Menu Screen and you are ready to go.

There are three different game types: Deathmatch, Team-Deathmatch and Co-Operative.

 

 

Host a new multiplayer game, or join an existing one

 

 

The Host can select different options for setting up a new multiplayer game.

 

 

 

This shows the strategy screen after 2 players connected. It is also possible to chat with your friends by pressing 'Y'.

 

 

 

The left screen shows client #1 (RoWa) and the right one client #2 (ChrisL) fighting against each other.

 

Communication

  • Meet other players here for a nice multiplayer experience:
  • Futher Multiplayer discussions on the Bear's Pit

 

 

Getting started with a Multiplayer Game 

 

1. Hosting the game

a. Click "Multiplayer Game" on the main menu.

b. Click "Host" on the Join screen.

c. Configure Game Type and game options, click "Start".

d. The game will switch to the map screen.

e. Before the game is "Started" (laptop unlocked) :

- you can change the starting sector by moving the dropzone in the airspace view

- new players can connect to the game

- players can change their starting edge ( click the Button with the Compass ICON )

- players can change their team in the same manner ( click the Team Button )

f. Host (you, the server) clicks "Start Game" to Unlock the laptop. At this point:

 - the game settings are locked

 - players can hire mercs (unless random mercs is selected in which case they are automatically hired for the players)

 - players can click "Ready"

g. When all players are ready, the game will commence.

 

2. Joining the Game

a. Click "Multiplayer Game" on the main menu.

b. Type in your player name.

c. Type in (or copy/paste) the server ip address (external ip of the server) and port.

d. Click "Join".

e. The Game will switch to the map screen or to a connect screen where you receive special GameDir files from the server.

f. While the game has not yet "Started" (laptop unlocked) :

- players can change their starting edge ( drop down by clicking IN the column next to thier name )

- players can change their team in the same manner ( IF TDM or CO-OP )

g. Host (the server) clicks "Start Game" to Unlock the laptop. At this point:

 - players can hire mercs (unless random mercs is selected in which case they are automatically hired for the players)

 - players can click "Ready"

h. When all players are ready, the game will commence.

 

3. Ending the Game

When the battle is over in a sector, after a few seconds the Scoreboard will be displayed.

If you wish to play another game, press "Continue" to re-join (or re-host) the server. Otherwise

you can press "Cancel" to return to the main menu.

 

4. In-game chat

Press the 'y' key to open ingame chat.

 

 

File Transfer (Synchronize Game Directory)

 

This document explains how to set up and use the new File Transfer feature in JA2MP.

 

First off let it be clear that downloading files from a server will NOT overwrite any of your game files

or data. Files downloaded from any server are stored in a VFS profile (a folder) that is unique for that server.

This means that you can play on many different servers that have different settings and never have to worry

about your game data getting messed up.

 

1. Security

File transfer has two levels of built in security:

 1) As a client connects to a server that wants to send files, they will be asked if they want

    to proceed or disconnect without downloading anything.

 2) Both the client and the server use the new VFS system by Birdflu. Clients can configure this

    to filter out files / folders / filetypes they do not wish to recieve (transfer_rules.txt). If the server sends any of

these files they are ignored.

 

2. Setting up Files to send as a Server

 

To send files to a client, you need to set up a mod folder in your GAME DIRECTORY (in short: GAMEDIR) ( this is where your ja2.exe's

are stored ). You can call this mod folder whatever you like, "My Server" for example.

Per default, this folder is in your "GAMEDIR\MULTIPLAYER\Servers\My Server", but can also be in another location inside your GAMEDIR folder.

 

Once you have created a folder (the folder "GAMEDIR\MULTIPLAYER\Servers\My Server" should already be created), you can add the modified game files to it in the

relative places they would be stored under GAMEDIR\Data\ or GAMEDIR\Data-1.13\. For example put modified TABLEDATA xml files

into "GAMEDIR\MULTIPLAYER\Servers\My Server\TABLEDATA\" and the "ja2_Options.ini" inside the "GAMEDIR\MULTIPLAYER\Servers\My Server\" folder.

 

Once this is done you can host a game. Run the game and do the following on the HOST options screen:

 1) Check the Sync MP Clients Directory option.

 2) Enter 'MULTIPLAYER/Servers/My Server' or the name of your mod folder (do not start with the GAMEDIR folder), without the quotes (''). If your path is nested,

    seperate the folder names with a forwardslash /. Eg 'MULTIPLAYER/Servers/My Server'

 3) Host the game!

 4) NOTE: Even if you do not want to send files to the client ("Sync. MP Clients Directory" option is unchecked)

    the folder entered in "MP Sync directory" has to exist on the server, because this folder will be used in the first place for initializing files.

    If the specificed files are not found in this folder it will look in the "Data-1.13" folder and then in the "Data" folder.

 

You will host the game as normal, now when clients connect you will see a blue progress bar behind their

name in the player list (in the Strategy Screen) so you can see how long they have left on thier downloads.

 

NOTE: you cannot START GAME until all players have finished downloading

 

3. Using File Transfer as a client

 

Before you connect to the server you can set up the file "transfer_rules.txt" inside your GAMEDIR. There you can set any files to the "ignore list" which you would not receive from the server. Normally you do not need to change this file for the client. (The server is responsible for sending only valid files to the clients). 

 

When you connect to a server that wishes to send you files, you will be asked  if you wish to continue:

 1) If you click YES, you will start downloading files from the server.

 2) If you click NO, you will leave the game and go back to the Join screen.

 

When you are downloading files from the server you will see a progress bar so you can estimate remaining

time, you will also see the names of the files you are downloading. During this time you can also chat

with other players using the "Y" key.

 

Once all files are downloaded you will progress to the Strategy Screen where you can see if other players are

still downloading and how long they have left.

 

NOTE: The downloaded files are automatically stored on the client in the "GAMEDIR\MULTIPLAYER\Servers\Unique_Server_Id" folder.

Unique_Server_id will be a unique string (e.g: 4MWZX-5WUKF-BXJSQ-MWFCW-FDM5E) which identifies each different server.

The folder "GAMEDIR\MULTIPLAYER\Servers\Unique_Server_Id" will always be created (if not exists) even if the server does not send any files.

This folder "GAMEDIR\MULTIPLAYER\Servers\Unique_Server_Id" will be used in the first place for initializing GameDir files.

If the specificed files are not found in this folder it will look in the "Data-1.13" folder and then in the "Data" folder.

 

 

FAQs

 

Q: I started the server, but others can't connect.

A: Check the following things:

a.) The JA2 MP Executable file should not be blocked by your firewall

b.) The other players have my external IP and use them for joining. 

   You can get your external IP from here: http://www.whatismyip.com

c.) The Port (default: 60005) is forwarded on your router

 

Q: How do I forward my port on the router?

A: Take a look at the following website: http://portforward.com/

 

Q: How can I find out my external IP?

A: http://www.whatismyip.com

 

Q: How can I find out my internal IP?

A: Click "START" -> "RUN" -> cmd

   Type "ipconfig /all" (Search for IP Address)

 

Q: Please give me a step by step example how you forwarded the port on your router.

A: I have a (wireless) Belkin router. The steps I did are the following:

a.) First I check my internal ip address (-> 192.168.2.2)

b.) I open the routers configuration page in the web browser. This is often your IP ending with a "1".

            In my case this is "192.168.2.1". So I entered "http://192.168.2.1" in the browser and the configuration site opens

c.) I click on "Firewall" -> "Virtual Servers" and "Submit" the login page with a blank password. 

d.) Now I see a table on the website where I can enter the IP addresses and ports for forwarding

e.) I enter the internal IP address (192.168.2.2) and the port (60005) and select the port forwaring for "UDP" and "TCP"

f.) Save the changes on the configuration site

g.) Start the JA2 1.13 MP Executable and host a game

 

 

How it all began ...

  • The very first threads seem to have vanished. I'm sorry for that.
  • Part 1
  • Part 2

 

 

Future / Goals

  • Solid player base, with regular games
  • Implementation of additional features and maybe even game modes
  • New maps optimized for MP gameplay

 

 

 

Comments (2)

posfan12 said

at 6:32 am on Aug 28, 2010

Is coop possible?

wanne said

at 3:57 pm on Feb 16, 2011

Yes it is, I have updated the page

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