Version 5.0 preliminary documentation

Creating and running multiplayer scenarios

Key point:

When running a multiplayer scenario, each user should start Bridge Command, select multiplayer mode, and click OK, so Bridge Command is ready (at the ‘Loading scenario… screen). AFTER all users have done this, you should then start the Multiplayer Hub, and the simulation will start.

If the users’ Bridge Command sessions are not ready before you select a scenario in the Multiplayer Hub, the scenario won’t start on the users’ computers.

To create a new multiplayer scenario:

At present, all of the ships loaded in multiplayer mode are controlled by a user. Therefore you should add as many ships as you have users. If you add more ships than users, the additional ships will not appear in the simulation.

The scenario is controlled from the multiplayer hub, so create the scenario on the computer where this will run. The scenario does not need to be copied to all users.

To create a new multiplayer scenario, start the Bridge Command launcher, and start the scenario editor. On the right hand side of the screen, select the world area you want to use, and ensure the 'Multiplayer' option is selected. To start editing the scenario, click on ‘New Scenario’ (not ‘Edit Scenario’, which opens an existing scenario for modification).

You will see a dialog box, with these instructions:

Editing a multiplayer scenario:

The 'own ship' entry will be ignored.

Each 'other ship' is used in order by the multiplayer clients as their ship. Add one leg for each ship to set the initial speed and direction.

As suggested, the own ship model and location you specify will be ignored, so the steps are to:

  1. Decide how many users you want.

  2. For each user:

    1. Drag the map so the centre is where you want the user’s ship to go.

    2. Click ‘Add ship’.

    3. Select the ship you’ve just added (It will be at the bottom of the ‘Select ship’ list)

    4. Change the ship type as required.

    5. Set the initial speed and direction by filling in the Course and Speed boxes, 1 (or any positive number) in the Distance box, and click Add Leg.

  3. When complete, set the basic scenario parameters (start day, time, weather etc)

  4. Choose a name for the scenario. Please note that the name must end in ‘_mp’, to indicate that it is a multiplayer scenario.

  5. Click ‘Save’, and close the scenario editor.

Running a multiplayer scenario

To start a multiplayer scenario, you need a computer for each user, and one for the ‘multiplayer hub’, although this can run on one of the user computers if required.

All computers must be connected to a network, and you will need to know the hostname or ip address of each user's computer.

Steps:

  1. All users should start Bridge Command, select ‘Multiplayer Mode’, and click OK. The scenario loading screen will load.

  2. Once all users have done this, start the Multiplayer Hub (either on one of the users computers, or on a separate computer), and choose the scenario to run. Then type in all of the users’ computer hostname/ip addresses, separated by commas. The order in the list should match the order of ships in the scenario (i.e. the first computer in the list will control the first ship).

  3. When you have entered the hostnames/addresses for all users, click OK, and the scenario will start.