Quote: "unlike Winzip which you now have to pay for the nag-free version"
well, after 40 days, winrar isn't nag free either, but it does have a nicer looking nag at least...
but the basic comparison is:
winzip opens .zip files
winrar open .rar and .zip files -- .rar usually being smaller, so less time spent downloading...
Another point to make is, if DLLs are unavailable, native multiplayer commands are probably unavailable as well, since they also require DBC enhanced (V1.10 or newer, not sure which version DLLs sneaked in at, also 1.10 I think).
edit: Now, back to the native commands ... assuming you have them -- your initial code appears to not behave to your satisfaction, because you were telling DB to create a game without first telling how to talk to other computers (with
set net connection command)
if you don't have a set net connection before the create net game command, it puts a set net connection in for you... but uses the value of 1... serial
So how do you know what they are? Well, you can
perform checklist for net connections
you should now have three or four methods available to you... want to see what they are?
for x = 1 to checklist quantity()
print str$(x) + " - ";
print checklist string$(x)
next x
that would print out the methods available to you, in the form of:
(Connection Type number) - (Connection type description)
usually in this order:
1 - Serial Connection for DirectPlay
2 - Modem Connection for DirectPlay
3 - IPX Connection for DirectPlay
4 -
Internet TCP/IP Connection for DirectPlay
so in this instance,
set net connection 4 will tell DB to connect to the internet. At this point, a popup box will appear, saying something to the effect of "Which IP address should I scan for games?"
For a server you would give it 127.0.0.1 (which ALWAYS means yourself)
For a client you would give it 255.255.255.255 which searches ALL IP addresses for games. since you can't always know which computer will be running the server...
if you don't want the popup, you can put this address on the same line as set net connection, either as:
set net connection 4,"127.0.0.1"
or
set net connection 4,"255.255.255.255"
now you've set the net connection, go ahead and create / join a game, and it shouldn't try and use serial anymore... then... try Tempest,see which you prefer best, and then use your favourite...
