The table below describes the menu items for the Freelancer server.
+| Menu | +Description | +
| File | Exit | +Saves the character data for every connected + player and forces them to log off. Then shuts down the server and exits. | +
| Edit | Copy, Edit | Select All, Edit | + Find..., Edit | Find Next | +Performs the normal editing commands when in
+ Console view. Disabled when in Status Summary view. |
+
| Edit | Accounts... | +Displays the Account Management dialog. | +
| Edit | Message of the Day... | +Displays the dialog for editing the server's + current news, also called the message of the day. | +
| View | Status Bar | +Toggles the visible state of the status bar + at the bottom of the server's window. | +
| View | Status Summary | +Switches the server display to the Status + Summary view. | +
| View | Console | +Switches the server display to the Console + view. | +
| Chat | Chat With Universe | +Displays the dialog for sending chat messages + to everyone on the server. | +
| Chat | Chat With Star System | +Displays the dialog for chatting with the + players in a given star system. | +
| Chat | Chat With Player | +Displays the dialog for sending a private + message to a given player. | +
Below is information about each of the dialogs the server +can display while running. For information about the main server configuration +dialog box, see the game manual.
+The Account Management dialog allows you to delete +characters, force characters to log off, and delete and/or ban accounts from +your server. It displays the list of accounts on your server and each of the +characters for those accounts. All of these operations can be performed while +the server is running.
+See the Managing Accounts +section below for more information about managing the accounts on your server.
+To close the dialog, click the OK button.
+To delete a character, select the character name and click +the Delete Character button.
+To delete an account, select the account name and click +the Delete Account button.
+To ban an account, select +the account name and click the Edit Account button. In the dialog that pops +up, set the check on the "banned" checkbox and click the OK button.
+To remove the ban on an account, select the account name +and click the Edit Account button. In the dialog that pops up, unset the check +on the "banned" checkbox and click the OK button.
+To +force a player to log off of your server, select the account name for the +character you want to kick off, click the Edit Account button, and then click the +Kick Account From Server button. Click the OK button to close the dialog.
+NOTE: If your server allows new accounts, it is better to +ban an account than to delete it. If the account is deleted, the same player's +account will be created when they connect to your server again (but without the +characters they had when the account was deleted). Banning the account without +deleting it prevents the player from logging into you server until you remove +the ban.
+This dialog allows you to examine and modify the news +about your server. This news is displayed to players on your server in their +character selection screen. The news you enter for your server is saved and used +each time the server is launched until you change it again.
+To change the news for your server, type the news you want +and click the OK button. Any players currently connected and on the Character +Selection screen will see the news.
+To close the dialog without changing the news, click the +Cancel button.
+This dialog allows you to send chat messages to all of the +players connected to your server.
+To send a message to the universe, type the message you +want to send in the single-line box at the bottom, and then press ENTER.
+To close the dialog, click the Close button.
+This dialog allows you to monitor the chat traffic in the +star systems on your server, and allows you to send chat messages to entire +systems.
+To monitor the chat messages in a system, select the Chat +| Chat With Star System menu item, then select the desired star system from +those listed and click the OK button. A System Chat dialog will then appear. +The system channel chat messages in that system will appear in the top box. You +can have more than one System Chat dialog open at a time, allowing you to +monitor more than one system. When selecting a star system, only those systems +that currently contain online players will be listed.
+To send chat messages to a system, in a system chat +dialog, type your message in the single-line box at the bottom, and then press +ENTER.
+To close a system chat dialog, click the Close button.
+This dialog allows you to send a private chat message to +an online player.
+To open a Player Chat dialog, select the Chat | Chat With +Player menu item, and then select the desired player from those listed and click +the OK button. A Player Chat dialog will appear. You can have more than one +Player Chat dialog open at a time.
+To send a private chat message to a player, open a Player +Chat dialog for the player you wish to send the message to, and then enter your +message in the single-line box at the bottom and press ENTER.
+To close a Private Chat dialog, click the Close button.
+The server displays information in one of two views: the Status Summary view and the +Console view.
+The Status Summary view is the default and is most likely +the only view you will ever use. It displays the current load on your server , +and some other statistics about your server.
+The server load is a measure of how long it takes your +computer to process a single simulation step. It is displayed numerically in +milliseconds and graphically as a colored bar. A lower value is better. If your +computer is processing each simulation frame faster than the ideal rate, the +load bar will be less than half its full height and will be colored green. In +this situation, your computer has more CPU cycles than it needs to run the +server and will provide the best game experience it can. If your +computer is processing each simulation frame slightly slower than the ideal +rate, the load bar will be over half its full height and colored yellow. In this +situation your computer can still provide a good game experience, but you may +start to experience some lag on connected clients. If your computer is +processing each simulation frame must slower than the ideal rate, the load bar +will be near the top and will be colored red. In this situation your server is +providing a poor game experience; you will definitely see lag on connected +clients.
+The server load varies with how many players are connected +and what those players are doing. In general, the more players you have on your +server and the wider apart they are spread across the universe, the higher the +load will be on your server. If you find that you are consistently running in +the yellow or red on your server, you can limit the number of players that can +be connected to your server at once. For information on how to limit the number +of players, see the game manual's section on running a +game server.
+The table below explains each one of the displayed +statistics. Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are since the server was last +started.
+| Statistic | +Description | +
| Player Count | +The number of players currently connected to + your server. | +
| Total Logins | +The total number of players that have logged + onto your server. | +
| Total Logouts | +The total number of players that have logged + off of your server. | +
| Failed Logins | +The total number of players that have failed + to log onto your server. | +
| Aborted Missions | +The total number of missions that have been + aborted by players on your server. | +
| Player Deaths | +The total number of times a player has died + on your server. | +
The Console view displays information useful only when +debugging server issues. As the server runs it generates messages about what is +doing, including errors it may find and notification of exceptional conditions. +These are displayed in the Console view.
+When in Console view, the Edit menu is active, and you can +select and copy sections from the console to the clipboard.
+As people play on your server, you will accumulate account +and character information. If you intend your server to be a persistent place +for Freelancer players to come play, you will need to spend a little time +maintaining it. This section covers typical maintenance tasks for the Freelancer +server.
+Each time a player who has never connected to your server +connects to it, a new account will be created for that player. You can prevent +new accounts from being created on your server by un-checking the Allow New +Players checkbox in the server configuration dialog.
+If you wish to prevent a player from logging onto your +server, you can ban that player. You can ban a +player that is currently online, at which point the player will be immediately +logged off.
+If you don't want to ban the player, you can just +kick the player off of +your server. Of course, the player can just turn around and log back in +unless you ban their account.
+Player accounts can be manipulated in the Account +Management dialog. See the section on the Account +Management dialog for more information.
+If a character or account is currently online when +it is deleted, the player is automatically logged off.
+NOTE: Accounts are tied to the build number of the server +on which they run. Therefore, your character files will not work on a server +with a different build number.
+The accounts for your server are stored in the My Games\Freelancer\Accts\Multiplayer folder of your documents folder. If you are +running Windows 2000/XP, this means that different users on the same computer +can run their own servers with different sets of accounts.
+You can back up the accounts for your server by backing up +the entire My Games\Freelancer\Accts\Multiplayer folder in your documents folder. You must back up the +entire directory.
+You can move the entire set of accounts from one server to another by +replacing the My Games\Freelancer\Accts\Multiplayer folder on the destination server +with the contents of the same folder from the source server. Copying of +individual accounts to another server is not supported.
+To move your accounts from server A to server B:
+Freelancer uses the DirectPlay protocol for client/server +communications. Therefore, the game client should work through most Network Address Translation (NAT) +routers and works with the Windows 2000/XP Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) +feature without requiring a configuration change. Special steps (described +below) are required when using ICS on Windows 98/Me.
+DirectPlay can coordinate with a Universal Plug and Play +(UPnP) NAT/ICS to open the proper ports for running a Freelancer server. +However, if you have a hardware NAT or router that is not , you will most likely need to +configure it in order to run a Freelancer server behind it. See the section +below on the ports +used by Freelancer for more information.
+If you are running a firewall, you may need to configure +it in order to play Freelancer on the Internet. If you are able to +play other games that use the DirectPlay protocol through your firewall, you +should be able to play Freelancer as well. For more detailed information, see +the section below on the +ports used by +Freelancer.
+Freelancer uses the standard DirectPlay8 UDP ports 2300–2400. +Ports are allocated starting at 2300, working toward 2400. Port 2300 is only +used when connecting to the global server.
+This port range is used by both the game client and game +server. The game server uses it to connect to the list server and to accept +incoming connections from game clients. The game client uses it to connect to +both the list server and the game servers.
++ Windows98 ICS is not Universal Plug & +Play (UPnP) compliant. This prevents Freelancer servers from negotiating +with ICS to open the proper ports. If you want to host Freelancer games +behind a Windows98 ICS system, you +have to configure your ICS to allow the Freelancer server to be accessed from +the Internet.
+ ++ We have provided an INF file +that contains special configuration instructions for Freelancer’s server with +Windows98 ICS. This file is located in the Extras folder where you installed +Freelancer and is called Win98ICS.inf. This file must be installed on the +machine that serves as the ICS host (i.e. the machine with the real Internet +connection).
++ If you are simply running a Freelancer server on your ICS host machine, you can use this file as-is. If +you are running a Freelancer server on another machine on your network, or you’ve +chosen a specific port with the /P option, you will need to edit this file +before installing it. When you’re happy with the contents of this file, +right-click on it and choose Install. You must reboot the ICS machine for the changes to take +effect. This should properly configure your ICS to work with Freelancer.
+ ++ Many NAT, ICS, and firewall +issues can be resolved by simply opening up ports 2300–2400 on your NAT/ICS +server or firewall. If you just want to run a single server on your NAT/ICS +network, this should work well for you.
++ The Freelancer server normally +picks its own port (in the range of 2302–2400) when hosting a game. This works +well in most cases. However, there are situations where you may want to control the port choice for the server. These situations are +usually caused by running more than one DirectPlay game on your network at a +time.
++ You can control the port +selection with the /P command line option to the FLServer.exe program. For +example, if you wanted to have the server host on port 1234, you would use the +following command line FLServer.exe /P1234. You can easily modify the provided +shortcut to FLServer.exe to include this option. Simply edit the Target +line and add your own /Pxxx after the FLServer.exe text.
+ ++
+ ++© 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. +Microsoft, Digital Anvil, DirectX, Freelancer, the Microsoft logo, the +Microsoft Games Studio logo, the .Net logo, Windows, and Windows NT are either +registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United +States and/or other countries.
+ + + + \ No newline at end of file