Multiplayer Connections in F4 v. 1.07 by Glenn "Sleepdoc" Kletzky, MD
	6. Now for a very important concept. Its called "the preload data". When you finally click on the M-hosts game in the "online" tab of TE (or Dogfight or campaign), you must wait for some "preload data" to be fed from the hosts machine to your before you can enter the game. This data can be seen as graphics and words appearing on the right side of your screen after you select his game. You select a game by clicking on it, which makes the game name green. When the game name turns green, you will (within a couple of seconds depending on how busy the host machine is) receive the preload data. Once you get this data, you will be able to "commit to join" the game by pressing the animated airplane "join" icon in the bottom right hand corner. 7. Once you commit to "join" the game after having requested and received the games "preload" data, the first thing you will see is this window called the ROE, or rules of engagement window. This article is not the place to explain every nuance of this window, but suffice it to say that you can see what levels of game play the host is allowing players to use, and you can also pick, within those host chosen limits, the options you wish to fly with. If you have asked for more than the host will allow in his game, then your selection will turn red. Ultimately, you will have to comply within the host-selected limits for the game, and press "ok" (or comply, if you have settings not allowed). 8. Once you press "ok" in the ROE screen, the host begins to download to you all the data you need to enter his game. This phase is crucial, and it helps if you know what you are seeing and what to expect. In campaign, expect the entry time to take as long as 1-3 minutes. Depending on the size of a TE mission, you can expect entry to last anywhere from 15-90 seconds. Dogfight entry only takes a few seconds. Clearly, the difference is the amount of data that must be transferred to get you into each of these games. 9. The entry sequence is very predictable and reproducible, and so it may help for you to know what to expect. Once you press "ok" or "comply" in the ROE screen the download window appears. If you watch the window closely during the download, you will see 3 different statements pass by. The first will say "waiting for data". That message usually only lasts about 15 seconds. The second statement will read "receiving objects". In campaign, this is the longest lasting part, so don't get discouraged too easily. In campaign especially, this "receiving objects" window can last 1-2 minutes or more depending on how busy the host is doing other things at the time. Be patient. Finally, the words will change to receiving units. This part will last as long as one minute in campaign and only a few seconds in TE. As a rule, if the "receiving units" lasts any longer than a minute or 2, it may be prudent to cancel out and try to rejoin. This happens rarely, but will happen if the host has a poor connection, or simply is overwhelmed by his activity in the game. If you should have to re-request the preload data after canceling out of this window, players must remember to not simply "re-commit". They must first "deselect" the game, and then "reselect" the game in the online tab (deselection makes the game name white, and reselection makes it green again). This ensures that you get fresh "preload" data. You can then re-commit (icon bottom right) and go through the ROE window again (by pressing "ok" or "comply"), and then receive the download gain. Failing the download the first time is uncommon, but should it happen, it is actually quite simple to restart the process of joining as outlined here. 10. When you successfully pass through the data download, you will go from the window saying "receiving units" to suddenly bouncing into the game. You can open the chat window by simply pressing "comms" on arrival and chat to other players already in the game. You cannot chat back to players still n the lobby though. This is why a voice program like Roger Wilco is a huge help in coordinating games among players. Click to continue		11. Once in the game, and through the use of Falcon 4.0s chat and third party voice software like Roger Wilco, you must choose a flight to enter and aircraft. You and your buddies can move waypoints now and all the other players will get the updates. Loadout changes also work in multiplayer properly. You can change your loadouts and the loadouts of others if you so choose. Also, no longer does F4 limit what point in a flight that you can join. You can even choose to enter a plane that is in the middle of a fight, or on the last 300 feet of its landing. The original game restricted entry into flights at potentially sensitive points in their mission. This no longer exists. So if your friend is already flying in a flight, and you wish to join, you may wish to use chat to communicate to him and ask him if it is a good time to enter the flight. Dynamic reentry into games and flights is a premier feature of multiplayer Falcon 4.0, but with this ability comes responsibility on players parts and the need for courtesy and coordination with other players. 12. When you finally fly and eventually die (the new AI can be very tough indeed, you will return to the game interface and view your debrief. Once debrief is reviewed, you can simply click on another plane, and fly another mission. You can reenter the plane that was previously your wingman, or you can go to an entirely other flight. The choice is yours. You will find the fact that you can die and renter, finish missions and renter, etc, to be a very enjoyable feature of Falcon 4.0 that gives multiplayer gaming a nice flow (so long as your M-host wants to leave his game up that long!) General rules: 1. Choose a host with the fastest connection to the Internet (for advanced users… it is optimal to choose a host with the highest OUTBOUND bandwidth.) 2. No matter what standard phone modem you have (56k, 33.6k or 28.8k) we have found that selecting 33.6 in the comms window for your speed setting works the best. 3. Entering IP's in the phone book requires the tab key to move along. "."'s won't work. Dumb. We know. But we thought you would be better served if we fixed more pressing issues first. Never got to this little one. 4. We find 33.6 (settings in the comms windows) for all players in a 4 player game (of any type) to be the best, no matter what modem they have. If a single player in the game has a regular modem, then cable guys would thrash his inbound bandwidth if they chose something higher, so everyone must keep their settings to accommodate the slowest guy. If all 4 players have 2-way fast cable, then it might make sense to set 128k isdn for all players. Otherwise, it does not. There is room, however, for advanced users to experiment. Sometimes the host can set for 56k single isdn while the players select 33.6, and that may give better performance. Players who consider themselves adventurous and experimental by nature should try certain combinations in which the host (especially if he has isdn or Cable) chooses a setting higher than 56k baud, and the guests each choose 33.6 or 56k. Here is a hint for advanced users too. 33.6 actually puts out more data than 56k or 28.8 because 33.6 modems typically have higher outbound data rates than 56k modems. This is why 33.6 is often the more usable selection for players despite which modem they have. We are squeezing a ton of stuff through those modems, and people who like to experiment may find better settings for themselves and their friends if they experiment a little, but 33.6 for all players in a 4 player internet game is a good first approach. Go to Page Three
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