*Hoping this might get stickied. If anyone has changes, suggestions or recommendations I can add them in.*
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I finally sat down and put together an explanation of what it would take to really get into the spirit of the Dynaverse. Some of you might not need all this, but for anyone who has been thinking about it but was unsure, here it is in all its glory. Some of these things are recommendations from me, but after some time involved my recommendation is to take all the steps to have the greatest chance of success in getting the Dynaverse to work when you try it. Here goes...
OK... as big a pain as I know this is... here is what I suggest.
1. Make sure you have DirectX v9.0C by downloading it here...
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=0A9B6820-BFBB-4799-9908-D418CDEAC197&displaylang=en 2. Uninstall OP completely. Use "Install/Uninstall" in your Control Panel (Be sure to manually remove any leftover files.)
3. Reinstall and patch to 2552 here...
http://www.fileplanet.com/files/80000/81925.shtml 4. Download and install...
OP Enhancement Pack v2.2 (Firesouls 3.4 list and assorted mission scripts, etc. that are used on the Dynaverse and that you can not get in without...) which you will find using the link below (follow all instructions carefully)
http://www.dynaverse.net/forum/index.php/topic,163350526.0.html5. Next you will need to download and install the latest version of the shiplist, Firesouls 4.0 list, which is now standard for Dyna play here...
http://klingon.stasis.ca/OP_plusrefit/You will likely need to uninsall the 3.4 version before the 4.0 installer will work.
6. Make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card. If you have an NVidia card you can check here...
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp Remember that you will need to uninstall your current drivers before installing the latest ones. The NVidia site explains what to look for, but you will use Install/Uninstall to remove the old one, then reboot and install what you downloaded. If you have another manufacturer's card I am sure their site will have updated driver information. (I finally broke down and did this EXACTLY as outlined on the NVidia site and WOW!!! what a difference it made.)
7. Go to...
http://www.khoromag.org/taldren/setup-ezini.exeand download and install the EZini file created by MagnumMan. This will provide some much needed changes to your settings. Or you can do it manually by going to your hard drive here...
C:\Program Files\Taldren Software Inc\Starfleet Command Orion Pirates and open the file called "sfc" and then make sure you do the following...
Make sure you have the following in there, just as you see it here...
[3D]
wireframe=0
windowed=0
zbuffer=1
lowres=0
driver=0
backdrop=1
shipstacking=1
ambientlighting=5.00
luminancetextures=1
luminancedamagetextures=1
spacedust=1
(Ambient lighting and spacedust are changed by me... you will be able to see the ships and also will be able to take some beautiful screen pics with the spacedust at "1" instead of the default 0.)
Then, at the very bottom of this file you will need to manually type in...
[Debug]
VollyInfo=1
Add this to the line directly under...
WONNickname="whatever your name is"
with no space between [Debug] and the line above it. This will insure that you get damage information on other ships in-game. If you have never used this you are going to really be in for a treat. (It is very nice to know how hard someone has been hit, whether enemy or ally.) And then SAVE it.
8. Then go to...
http://www.dynaverse.net/v2/downloads.php?id=56&game=SFC2%20OP#downloadwhere you will download and install a Dynaverse Directory Installer (created by FireSoul) "mini-patcher" which will set up your WON files to allow you to connect to the OP servers properly. (Which is required since the end of Taldren support.) Or, if for some reason that mini-patcher is not working, you can do it manually by going to...
C:\Program Files\Taldren Software Inc\Starfleet Command Orion Pirates\MetaAssets\ServerProfiles\Multiplayer
on your hard drive where you will find the file "WONServerSetup"
Before making these changes you will want to right click on the "WONServerSetup" file icon and select Properties, then uncheck the "Read Only" box if it is checked so that you can make changes to this file. Don't forget to reset to "Read Only" once you are done. Once you have done that open this file and then delete everything in it, replacing it with the following... (Copy and Paste but if that does not work you will need to type it in manually. Likely the only things that will be different will be the four lines right under "[WONDirectoryServer/Addresses]" so try copying and pasting just that section into place first. This will allow your game to find the Dyna DNS servers. If after doing all this you still get the message indicating that you are not online or are behind a firewall check to see if your Windows Firewall is turned on. If it is you may be able to fix this trouble by adding SFCOP as an exception in your Windows Firewall setup. Of course, you can always turn off your Windows Firewall while playing if that will solve the problem, but if you are not behind a router this can leave you open to attack. If all else fails contact someone who has things working and ask them if they would be kind enough to email a copy of this file to you.)
Name="ServerSetup"
[Settings]
SingleThreaded = 1
CreateCentralSwitch = 0
SinglePlayer = 0
BlockSize = 10000 // How many micro-seconds to spend on server side stuff before doing page flip
DelayMultiple = 1.0 // What multiple of time to wait before going back to server side stuff
PacketQueLimit = 75 // What
[CentralSwitchSetup]
Listen = 0
[WONDirectoryServer]
//ServerPath = "/StarFleetCommand2/Game/Release"
ServerPath = "/StarFleetCommand2/Game/Release"
//ServerPath = "/StarFleetCommand2/Game/Release_Test"
[WONDirectoryServer/Addresses]
0="client.sfc.dynaverse.net:15101"
//0="client.dynaverse.net:15101"
//1="sfc2.central.won.net:15101"
//2="sfc2.east.won.net:15101"
[Clients]
ChatClient = 1
SecurityClient = 1
[Launch]
then SAVE it. This will give you the correct [WONDirectoryServer/Addresses] to be able to play on the Dynaverse since Taldren shut down and the old addresses no longer work.
9. Download and Install the Current Dyna Installer here... (currently the GW5.)
http://mkroll.asta.chicago.il.us/index1.htmlOnce you have done these things you should be ready to roll for Dyna play. It takes a while, but you can't go wrong with the Dynaverse. The community is solid, the people are, for the most part, mature working adults or young people of character, and is a great time overall.
Now, should you happen to have a router, I have the settings I have used forever and a "how to" that may or may not help you depending upon your actual hardware. These settings allow me to play SFC2, SFCOP and SFC3 on GSA and on the Dynaverse. The following is for a LinkSys BFSR41 router, but the information here may actually help you get your own router set up properly. Each router should have a way to do "Port Forwarding" and you will need to get to that area, usually by typing 192.168.0.1 in your browser and clicking "go" which will take you to an admin password area. I believe the default LinkSys Name and Password are both "admin" (in case you are not sure) but may be mistaken.
Once you open your router controls you will click on ADVANCED and then on FORWORDING. This is where you will open the ports needed to play online on GSA and on a Dyna. In your Forwarding section...
Extension Port Protocol IP Address ENABLE
47624 to 47624 TCP 192.168.1.??? X
2300 to 2400 TCP 192.168.1.??? X
6500 to 6500 TCP and UDP 192.168.1.??? X
6667 to 6667 TCP 192.168.1.??? X
3783 to 3783 TCP 192.168.1.??? X
27900 to 27900 UDP 192.168.1.??? X
6073 to 6073 UDP 192.168.1.??? X
28900 to 29901 TCP 192.168.1.??? X
13139 to 13139 UDP 192.168.1.??? X
6515 to 6515 UDP 192.168.1.??? X
Make sure that you ENABLE each of those (off to the right on each line.) Also, make sure that you have the
correct IP address (where .??? is the location of the machine you are using. Mine is 100, yours may be
different) for the machine you are using in each line.
If you are not sure what the last three digits are go to START, then RUN and type in the word "command"
(without the quotes) and hit enter. This will open a DOS box. In there type "ipconfig/all" without the
quotes and then hit enter. You will get a bunch of data. One line will read "IP ADDRESS and have the
192.168.1.??? but the ??? will be the location the router has assigned your machine. That is the number
to put in the Forwarding area where I have ??? above.
One thing to remember is that if this works, and then tomorrow does not work, that I think XP can change
those last three numbers between the machines in your network. So if it stops working after working a while
use "command" and "ipconfig/all" again and see of the last three digits of your IP have changed. Happened to
me twice before I figured out what was going on.