How to get Starter.FPS game working over the internet?

#1 It's real easy to setup a masterserver for your game. You have everything you need already.

Open notepad

Paste:

torqueDemo.exe -game starter.fps -dedicated -mission starter.fps/data/missions/stronghold.mis

in it and save as masterServer.bat. Place this in the same folder as your torqueDemo.exe and click it. It will give you the dos window and you can watch all the files load. Then, when it's done, minimize it, open your game, and join. Have your friend join as well. It works. When you are done playing, just click the X to shut it down.
Now, this will work if you haven't changed the server names and types in the starter.fps demo.
If you have, make sure they all match.
Oh, and have fun.

#2 Hi Mike,

I tried what you said (in Torque 1.4.2). This is what happened:

a cmd.exe window popped up with the line:

C:\Torque\SDK\example>torqueDemo.exe -game starter.fps -dedicated -mission starter.fps/data/missions/stronghold.mis

nothing is displayed in the cmd window below that line. After the cmd window opened, a second window opened called Torque Tutorial Base with a gray-background set of icons at the top, a white screen, and "Torque Game Engine" in large black letters with a red logo above it. I didn't see a list of what is loading.

I tried running Starter.FPS.Bat after that the CMD window was running (on the same PC), but it gave me an error saying:

"Copy of Torque is already running; exiting."

This is on Torque 1.4.2. What am I doing wrong?

#3 Did the first window remain open?
If so, try joining it.
Aside from that, just make sure the spelling and caps are right.

#4 Yes, the first window remained open. I click on "console" in the second window (an option in the menu at the top) and I saw what stuff loaded apparently. It starts out with:

Processor Init:
Intel Pentium 4
...

Math Init:
Installing standard C extensions
...

Input Init:
keyboard() input device created
...

where the ... represent more text under each section.


So it seems to be what you are referring to. However, how do I get around the "Copy of Torque is already running; exiting." error? Can you run the master server AND then click on Starter.FPS.bat on the same PC?

#5 Also, where does my friend put the IP address of my computer in?

#6 Once the masterserver is running, you can minimise it and then click the torqueDemo.exe, (make sure the main.cs points to starter.fps) and then join mission, then querie master. It will put you in the game.
Your friend should find starter.fps in his quiery master window. He doesn't need the IP addy of your computer.

#7 Huh? i tried that and i see my server in LAN query and when i try connect it hangs on mission loading.

#8 I believe you may be having problems with your router. If you DMZ yourself that may fix the problem.

*a side note the ports you really need to forward are;
28000-28002 UDP
1031 UDP
1048 UDP

There is a product that is open source as well as indie licensed called Torque Network Library(TNL) that has the ability to force communication through routers without needing to have all of your customers/users forward ports in their routers, but until GG makes a resource for this integration I'm afraid most of us we will be stuck with praying that our users are advanced enough to know how to forward ports. Which I'm guessing if you are lucky will be about ~10% of the end users.

#9 OK I got it working. There's a batch file called "Starter.FPS.bat" that I assumed would launch Starter.FPS. However, when I looked in main.cs, it pointed to

$defaultGame = "tutorial.base";

I changed it to

$defaultGame = "starter.fps";

and then double-clicked torqueDemo.exe and it worked fine. Someone @ GG should really put a readme.txt file in the example directory explaining that you need to do this despite the batch files.

Thanks Mike!!

Now I have a question about why my friend would not need my ip address to connect to the game. If the master server is running on my computer, how would his computer know how to connect to it ***over the internet***?? I mean when I open defaults.cs in the starter.fps\client directory, I see the lines:

// The master server is declared with the server defaults, which is
// loaded on both clients & dedicated servers. If the server mod
// is not loaded on a client, then the master must be defined.
// $pref::Master[0] = "2:master.garagegames.com:28002";

it seems to me therefore that the client on his computer will look for a master server at that address. Doesn't he need to change that to my ip address? Remember we're trying to do this over the Internet, not a LAN...

#10 Umm... I think you are actually setting up the 'dedicated' server on your machine and using the 'master' server at '2:master.garagegames.com:28002'. If you aren't then I suggest you do just for testing purposes because everything is already setup for you.

I think there might be some confusion of terms, I think Mike Rowley meant to say that you were setting up a 'Dedicated' Server when he told you how to create that batch file, however the master server that the demo has the initial heartbeat with is at GG.

Hope I was of some help

#11 Yay i got it working but now i get it to show up on LAN , i can join the game, but would my friend be able to too?

#12 Like if me and my friend had the same copy of the game.

#13 When your friend presses "querie master" he will see your starter.fps in the list. He clicks it and joins your game.
Affectworks is correct in his assumptions. I have a bad time with terms. :blush:

#14 So i see it on LAN and then i join, then my friend sees it on INTERNET ahh ok. I get it now

#15 Hey wait a minute i just tried with a friend and he cant see it in his list but i can in myn :@ im angry.

or am i missing something

#16 Saska,
For some unexplained reason many people cannot get their servers to show up on the GG master server. Whenever somebody posts complaining about this it ends up dismissed as user error, but it is a real problem.

#17 It's usually a firewall problem.

#18 Well i found out one way you can play with your friends, one guy makes a dedicated server, then the other guy ingame goes to the console and does this command: -connect then it will join the dedicated server he made

I hope this works, i haven't tried it yet though.

#19 Guys, i found out how every other torque game got the servers working, they kept there folders name at starter.fps , so i changed everything i remember i changed etc. the prefs that pointed to what my game type is.

But i think i got 1 gametype missing that i forgot to change back ive searched for hours cant find it, anyplace it might be hidden? ive checked:

server scripts game.cs

server init.cs,prefs.cs,defaults.cs

client prefs.cs,init.cs,defaults.cs

any hidden place you guys would know where it is?

#20 Search your common folder.