Post by F1Fan07 on Sept 6, 2012 21:26:53 GMT -8
OK, here's the quick-and-dirty tutorial how I do it. YMMV. I'm not saying it's the best way but it's what works for me.
1) Install
I use a single folder for all tracks and mods. Other than that F1 2012 mod that borked my rFactor I've not had a single problem. Since you will never launch a mod to play it on the server you don't have to worry about conflicts.
Since you don't run the game executable you don't have to worry about having a valid rfactor.exe. I've been hosting for almost a year on the trial version. It's up to you.
Install LiveRacers (PM me or Hawks for the how-to until I type this out). PM Hawks with IP address of your server so he can add it to our account or else your servers won't show on LR. This is your Public IP (not your internal LAN IP)... we only need that one address and all your servers will show up no matter how many you have.
2a) Ports
rF uses sequential ports for each server you launch. So where you now have a single port forwarded in your router you now want to remove those rules and forward a range for each. Here's mine (I'm set for up to 9 servers):
**Kelly I think I told you via PM not to use a range for LiveRacers. It seems I do use a range... I don't know if it matters but it can't hurt!**
2b) Control the ports in use
If you don't do this then you risk having port numbers change if you start servers in different orders. This makes bookmarks useless for users that use them. I think there's another way to do this but this is how I do it and it works. See the next step.
3) You want a separate user profile for each server
(this is the step I think can be done more elegantly but I haven't tested that)
See that there's already a Dedicated Server profile? Copy that folder to protect it then make 2-3 more copies and name them something that makes sense (Server2, ServerNAGT, whatever) then give that *exact* same name to the PLR file within.
Each profile folder has a multiplayer.ini. Go into each and locate these lines:
Query Port Start="34297" // range is 1025 - 65535
Port Start="34397" // range is 1025 - 65535
increment them by 1 for each profile. This ensures that your port numbers are consistent each time you launch a server with the same profile.
4) Desktop Shortcuts
Create shortcuts on your desktop for each server with names that make sense (V8SC, NAGT, etc.). Edit the shortcut properties to point to the profile you want to use. Here's one of mine:
"C:\Program Files\rFactor\rFactor Dedicated.exe" +profile "DedicatedServer3"
You should see the correct profile name listed on the first server screen. If not, pick it manually (you probably have an error in naming or the shortcut).
5) Make it so
Launching the server(s) should now be as simple as double-clicking the shortcut and setting the options. One benefit of using separate profiles is that your settings will be retained for each series each time you launch it.
6) Troubleshooting
If you suspect you've got the port increments not working but your server shows on LR then the "More" tab at LR will show your IP and port for each server.
1) Install
I use a single folder for all tracks and mods. Other than that F1 2012 mod that borked my rFactor I've not had a single problem. Since you will never launch a mod to play it on the server you don't have to worry about conflicts.
Since you don't run the game executable you don't have to worry about having a valid rfactor.exe. I've been hosting for almost a year on the trial version. It's up to you.
Install LiveRacers (PM me or Hawks for the how-to until I type this out). PM Hawks with IP address of your server so he can add it to our account or else your servers won't show on LR. This is your Public IP (not your internal LAN IP)... we only need that one address and all your servers will show up no matter how many you have.
2a) Ports
rF uses sequential ports for each server you launch. So where you now have a single port forwarded in your router you now want to remove those rules and forward a range for each. Here's mine (I'm set for up to 9 servers):
**Kelly I think I told you via PM not to use a range for LiveRacers. It seems I do use a range... I don't know if it matters but it can't hurt!**
2b) Control the ports in use
If you don't do this then you risk having port numbers change if you start servers in different orders. This makes bookmarks useless for users that use them. I think there's another way to do this but this is how I do it and it works. See the next step.
3) You want a separate user profile for each server
(this is the step I think can be done more elegantly but I haven't tested that)
See that there's already a Dedicated Server profile? Copy that folder to protect it then make 2-3 more copies and name them something that makes sense (Server2, ServerNAGT, whatever) then give that *exact* same name to the PLR file within.
Each profile folder has a multiplayer.ini. Go into each and locate these lines:
Query Port Start="34297" // range is 1025 - 65535
Port Start="34397" // range is 1025 - 65535
increment them by 1 for each profile. This ensures that your port numbers are consistent each time you launch a server with the same profile.
4) Desktop Shortcuts
Create shortcuts on your desktop for each server with names that make sense (V8SC, NAGT, etc.). Edit the shortcut properties to point to the profile you want to use. Here's one of mine:
"C:\Program Files\rFactor\rFactor Dedicated.exe" +profile "DedicatedServer3"
You should see the correct profile name listed on the first server screen. If not, pick it manually (you probably have an error in naming or the shortcut).
5) Make it so
Launching the server(s) should now be as simple as double-clicking the shortcut and setting the options. One benefit of using separate profiles is that your settings will be retained for each series each time you launch it.
6) Troubleshooting
If you suspect you've got the port increments not working but your server shows on LR then the "More" tab at LR will show your IP and port for each server.
