Hosting
an Internet game requires a lot of bandwidth. Each player that joins
your game will use roughly 50kbps of bandwidth. For example, a 4 player
game will require at least 200kbps, which is reasonable for broadband
connections such as DSL or Cable. If you have more bandwidth then you
can host more players. If you don't have at least 128 kbps of bandwidth
then you won't be able to host an Internet game.
If you have a firewall you may need to change its settings to let Internet
players access the game on your computer. We recommend you first try hosting
a game without changing any settings, and if it works then you can skip
this section!
There are so many different kinds of firewalls that we can't
give detailed instructions. Here's the general idea of what needs to
be done and then it's up to you to figure out how to do it with your
firewall. This assumes the default values for the game (ports 7777 and
7778 for gameplay and port 80 for Web Admin). If you changed the default
values then you'd have to change the numbers below, too.
1. Open ports 7777 and 7778 for UDP (in/out). If your firewall
is running on a separate device or computer then you may also need to forward those
ports to your computer.
2. If you set your game to be publicly listed but other players can't
see it in their lists, then you may need to open ports 27900 for UDP
(out only). This is usually not required, so skip this unless players
can't see your game.
3. If you want to allow Internet users to administer your game through
the Web Admin interface, then open port 80 for TCP (in/out). If
your firewall is running on a separate device or computer then you may
also need to forward this port to your computer.
Start the game on your computer. Click MULTIPLAYER on the main menu and
then click PLAYER SETUP. Enter a name and pick a character, then click
BACK.
Click HOST GAME. The tabs across the top of the window let you choose the
game type, maps, game settings, modifiers, teams, and server settings.
For now we'll only change the server settings by clicking on the SERVER
tab and consider changing the following settings (leave all the rest at
their default settings):
Dedicated Server - You normally do NOT want to check
this box for a game you're running at home.
Public Listing - Check this box so allow players to
see your game in their lists of game servers. This makes
it easy for players to find your server. If you want to restrict
who Clear this box if you want a private game, in which case
you'll have to give your IP address to players in order for
them to join your game (they'll need to use the DIRECT IP
option on their MULTILPLAYER menus). Another way to create
a "private" game is to leave this checked but to
add a password to your game (see below).
Maximum Players - Set this to the maximum number of
players that your bandwidth can handle. A 256 kbps connection
should be able to handle 4 players max. 512 kbps gives you
8 players, and so on.
Server Name - Change this to something unique so players
will be able to find your server..
Game Password - If you want to create a "private" game
you can fill in a password here, and then players will only
be allowed to join the game if they know the password. Leave
this blank to allow anyone to join.
Enable Web Admin - You normally do NOT want to check
this box for a game you're running at home. If you do enable
it, make sure to change the password. For added security,
change the port, too.
After changing the above settings, click START. It may take a minute or
two before Internet players will be able to see your server and join your
game.
Check into "Port Magic" which could possibly automate all of
this:
http://www.gamespyarcade.com/helpers/workshop/portmagic/
POSTAL 2 Port Usage Info
Sites
