Server-only version?

#1 You don't need to buy an extra copy of the game to run a dedicated server. Note also that you have access to all 3 platforms when you buy the game, so you can play on your mac and host a server on linux if you like. If one wants to host a server but doesn't want to buy the game (a situation I don't see happening) send an email to support@bravetree.com.

#2 Thanks for pointing that out. Excellent.

#3 Indeed, I found it is possible to use my one "ignition key" on two copies of Think Tanks on two boxes - one to be a server and one to play on. Great!

Now some questions about administring a dedicated server.

1) From a command line, how do you set the game password?

2) Is there a way to make the server invisible to the rest of the world so access is restricted to by-invitation-only? For example, suppose my friends and I want to play at a LAN party and we don't want the inconvenience of everyone needing to know the password to keep the game private. If so, how would a player enter the IP address of the sever to connect to?

3) Can I get a description of what the options in prefs.cs do? Some of them are self-explanatory but others are not. For references, the file is:

BanTime = 1800;
Bot0 = "GoldHeavyTank";
Bot1 = "SilverMediumTank";
Bot2 = "BronzeLightTank";
Bot3 = "GoldLightTank";
Bot4 = "SilverMediumTank";
Bot5 = "BronzeHeavyTank";
BotName0 = "Hum [Bot]";
BotName1 = "Tom [Bot]";
BotName2 = "Mal [Bot]";
BotName3 = "Ri [Bot]";
BotName4 = "Gul [Bot]";
BotName5 = "Gum [Bot]";
BotTeam0 = "GreenTeam";
BotTeam1 = "GreenTeam";
BotTeam2 = "GreenTeam";
BotTeam3 = "BlueTeam";
BotTeam4 = "BlueTeam";
BotTeam5 = "BlueTeam";
ConnectionError = "You do not have the correct version ..."
FloodProtectionEnabled = 1;
gameTypeIndex = "0";
KickBanTime = 300;
MaxBots = 6;
MaxChatLen = 120;
MaxPlayers = 10;
missionIndex = 4;
missionWorld = 2;
Name = "ThinkTanks Serverh";
PasswordEnabled = 0;
Port = 28000;
RegionMask = 2;
ReplaceBots = 1;
TimeLimit = 20;

#4 Many of those variables are defined in the Torque engine but not explicitly used in ThinkTanks.

The ones of note are:

// This controls the number of bots in the mission. If you increase it, you also need to expand the bot variables above (Bot, BotName, BotTeam).
$pref::Server::MaxBots = 6;

// In released version of game this is number of players allowed in game. In version on servers at homelan this in number of players + bots allowed in the game.
$pref::Server::MaxPlayers = 10;

// Server name.
$pref::Server::Name = "ThinkTanks Serverh";

// Password protected server? This is only relevant to the gui. Password protection is determined by the following variable if you start a dedicated server (if you disable password in gui, following variable is blanked out and it's value copied to pref::Server::savePassword).
$pref::Server::PasswordEnabled = 0;

// Server password.
$pref::Server::Password = "";

// Port number for server. If not defined 28000 is assumed. If initialization of port fails, it will try several successive ports before failing altogether (so if you run several servers, open a range of ports and then set this to the lower part of the range; then the servers will fill up each successive port).
$pref::Server::Port = 28000;

// When set to "Always" the game will appear on the master server. When set to "Never" it will not. (Not really sure why a simple true/false doesn't do here; someone had been drinking when they named the fields I think :).
$Pref::Server::DisplayOnMaster = "Always";

#5 Now to more specifically answer you questions:

1) See $pref::Server::Password above. If you want to set it per game, you currently will need to set it in the server console after starting it up. However, if you are ok with one password for all games, simply set it in the game/server/prefs.cs file.

2) See $pref::Server::DisplayOnMaster above. If you and your friends are on a LAN, this will server your purposes. Otherwise, you may need to go with password protection. I say "may" because there is a command line parameter to join a server, but I've never tested it. It's inherited from the game engine, and we really didn't imagine people would play this game like they play Tribes (i.e., we envisioned casual gamers rather than some of the hard gamers we're seeing). Anyway, type ThinkTanks -help from the command line and look at the -connect option.

3)Ok, answered this one in previous post.

#6 Thanks very much for the extra info!

My friends and I occasionally organize LAN parties. The largest we've had involved about 12 people and used two floors of a house. The endless series of First Person Shooter games that keep coming out were great fun at first, but personally, I'm bored of them. Think Tanks could be just the thing to liven up our LANs again! Your tips on running a dedicated server will be very helpful. Thanks!