Star Lords Manual - Multi-Player Game
Multi-Player Star Lords
Hosting
a Game
Making
a Player File
Creating
the Game
Setup
the Universe
Start
the Game
Sending the
Host File
Completing a Turn
Running
a Turn
Using the Auto Host
Star Lords was designed to play as a multi-player game. The game supports up to 32 players. You can have AIs in the game or not, the choice is yours. You can set up how big, how dense, and even how mineral rich each universe is.
The first step is to decide who will host the game. The host is responsible to run the game turn and to send out the new turn file for all the players. He is also responsible to gather all the players' turn files.
Each player who wishes to play in the game needs to make a player file. This is done by selecting the Join Game Option. You will be taken to a screen similar to the create game menu, except here you just need to decide on your race, ship style and empire name. You will also need to specify a login and a password. The login and password are used for you to access your game data. Be sure to remember your login and password or you will not be able to play.
The host will gather all the player files and then create a game. To create a new multi-player game, the host needs to select Create New Game, under the Host Game Menu. The create new game menu is also similar to the single player create new game. It has a list of players on the top that is auto-spanning. It only shows the players in the game. To add a player select one of the player slots and choose either an AI player or human player. Once you select human player, it will pop up a window for you to find the player file you want to add.
The last player box is always set to none. When you select it and add a player, AI or human, it will make another player box, set to none after it. This is how you can add more and more players. When you change the last player, the 32nd slot, it will not pop another player box. When you remove a player from any slot, it will contract the list to show only those players in the game.
The universe in a multi-player game can be set up like a single player game. There is a special feature for the multi-player game. In a multi-player game, the host can custom design the universe size and density. The host can control how many planets are in the game and how large the universe is.
Once all the settings are selected and all the players added, the host just needs to create the game. The host must select a game name, a host login name, and a host password. The host will need to remember the login and password to run a game turn. Once all that has been entered, select Create Game.
When the game is created, it will make a file name <game name>.hst. The host must send this file to all the players. The player will then load the game turn using that file. When the player loads a turn file, they will be prompted for a login and a password. Once they enter the correct password and login name, they will be taken to their empire to command.
The player now takes their turn just like in a single player game. Once they end the turn, they will be taken back to the Main Menu. The player then locates file name <game name>Turn<number>.trn. They need to send that file to the host.
You can at anytime change your commands. You just need to load the turn again and it will load up just as you left it. If you want to start your turn over from fresh and discard your previous commands, just delete your player turn file.
When the host has gotten all the players files, they will run a turn. When they select run turn, they will be prompted for a login and a password. The host will also be warned if some of the players' have not sent in a current turn file, and will be given a chance to either run the turn without the player's file or wait for the player.
Follow this process until the game ends and a winner has been declared.
If you are a more technical person, you can try our auto host. The auto host will check for turn files automatically, process the game turn, and then send the game files to all the players automatically.
The auto host can check for files in a shared network drive, or can check a POP3 account for email and send out email responses.
In order to use email, the auto host requires that you have access to a POP3 email account, that you know the name of your POP3 server, and that you know your POP3 account login name and password. You must get this information from your Internet Service Provider. Additionally, the current version of the auto host requires you to have pkzip command line (pkzipc.exe, not pkzip.exe) installed on your path.
You can download the auto host program from our official website. It is located in our download section.
Pkzip can be downloaded from http://www.pkware.com/downloads/pkzipc40d.html