Hosting a Multiplayer Game
Hosting a multiplayer game can be broken down into two parts:
If you are hosting a game over the Internet (or on a Local Area Network that doesn't support browsing) the first thing you must do is communicate your network address to all the other players. This must be done verbally, by phone, via email or some other similar method.
The method for determining your computer's address is different for TCP/IP and IPX. If you don't already know this information, you'll probably have to exit the game to figure it out.
IPX
For a simple network try 00000000 as the network number; otherwise, ask
your network administrator.
Your node address is the physical hardware address of your network card:
Windows 95/98: Click the Windows Start button, click Run, type winipcfg and click OK. Make note of your physical address.
Windows NT/2000: Open a command prompt and type ipconfig /all and press Enter. Make note of your physical address.
As noted earlier, once you determine your address, you must communicate it to all the other players so that they can use it to "join" your game.
You can host a game by selecting START and then MULTIPLAYER and then HOST GAME.
A menu will appear with an edit field where a description of the game can be entered. This description will be shown to players who attempt to join this game. Enter a description and press Enter.
The main hosting dialog will appear.
At the top is the Net Console. This displays status messages as well as chat messages from other players. You can send your own chat messages by typing them into the box below the console and clicking on SEND.
Below that you'll see Connected Players: 1. The actual number will change as players connect to your game. Up to 16 are supported, but for performance reasons we recommend 8 or less. All the players' names and colors are listed below that, and as the host you can drop any player by selecting him and clicking DROP PLAYER.
Below that you'll see Hood To Play and a list of hoods (levels) you can select. Just click on the one you want to play. You can click on Co-Op Levels to choose levels containing hostile, game-controlled (AI) enemy characters. (The normal levels only contain the players' characters.)
To the right are the Options. Select Time Limit and enter a number of minutes if you want a time-based game. Select Kill Limit and a number of kills if you want the game to end as soon as one player scores that number of kills. Or select both if you want the game to end whichever comes first. Finally, select Cooperative if you checked Co-Op Levels and you want to prevent players from shooting one another. The Cooperative setting is ignored for non-coop levels.
Note: The fact there are two "Co-Op" check marks has led to some confusion. The first one has to do with choosing levels that contain enemy characers. The second one has to do with preventing players from shooting each another. So, for true "let's all co-operate in killing the enemy guys" gameplay, you should check both boxes.
Whenever you've decided that enough players have connected to your game, click START and the game will begin. If, for some reason, you decide you don't want to proceed with the game, click ABORT.
Once a multiplayer game has started, no additional players can join.