Portal:Multiplayer
| The Freespace Multiplayer Portal |
|---|
| Technical |
|---|
| Getting Started Guide |
| List of Supported Mods |
| Troubleshooting |
| Multiplayer FAQ |
| Community |
| Multiplayer Squadrons |
| Code of Conduct |
Welcome to the Freespace Multiplayer portal. This section is dedicated to providing guides on how to set up, play, host and and enjoy multiplayer games, as well as useful information about the multiplayer community such as squadrons, codes of conduct and the like.
Freespace Multiplayer
Currently, the Freespace Open engine supports multiplayer games with up to 12 human participants as well as any number of AI players. Play can be both cooperative and head-to-head, and can consist of anything from single mission slugfests up to full-length cooperative campaigns.
All games are currently hosted by one of their participants. The host chooses the mission (see image to the left), and has the power to kick players, set priviledges, and the like.
The retail release of Freespace 2 in 1999 included a standalone server option, but due to changes in the multiplayer code since the time of release, it is currently not functioning. Work is ongoing on bringing it back, however, and once it returns information on using it will be available here.
An upgrade of the current multiplayer code is also in progress, and is tentatively slated for release with Freespace Open version 3.6.10.
Connection Types
There are two ways of playing online games using FSO:
- Connecting through FS2NetD.
FS2NetD is a replacement for the Parralax Online service that has now been terminated. It acts as a lobby for multiplayer games, tracking servers and facilitating connections without users needing to worry about each other's IP addresses, and also tracks stats for games that are played using validated data and missions. It does not actually host the games that are played, acting merely as a middle man.
- Direct IP connection.
It is also possible to play IP games, but doing this requires all participants to manually enter the IP of the server that hosts the game. This is also the option to use when playing LAN games.
Details of setting up FSO to use either of these two options are explained in the getting started guide.
MODs and custom missions
It is possible to use MODs and play custom missions using FSO. Mods will need to be distributed to all participating players in advance, but missions will be automatically distributed if any participants are missing them.
When playing on FS2NetD, note that while MODs and custom missions are allowed, stats will not be saved for games that use them. Only games using validated missions and data are counted. For IP games where stats are not saved anyway, there are no such considerations.
