- Installation
- Go download it DCPlusPlus-0.750.exe
- Run the installer. It's pretty easy (tick "I accept"; next; next; install; *wait 10s*; close)
- Find the DCPlusPlus.exe and run it (by default it's C:\Program Files\DC++\DCPlusPlus.exe)
- First time it loads up you'll need to enter a Nick (something in line with the other nicks you use please!) email address (optional) and description (I think it would be nice for the description to be a description of where you're sat/what you look like, but no idea if that idea will take off :p)
- Windows firewall (on XP at least) pops up - allow DC++ through or things don't work at all.
- Connecting
- Shout out loudly "Is there a DC hub up yet?!"
- Press Ctrl+Q to bring up the quick connect and type in the IP (192.168.<something>.<something>) or hostname (my pcs are earth/wind/heart/fire and my NAS is water, so you would type in just the word earth all alone with no punctuation if that's where the hub was hosted.)
- If you want to enable autorejoin etc, add the server to your favourites and then view favourites -> click the little box for auto reconnect
- To add stuff to share you need to go to file-> settings ->downloads. Change the "Default download directory" to be somewhere you can find (on a hard drive with at least a few gbs free!). Set the "Unfinished downloads directory" to be somewhere NOT in the first folder - you'll need less space for this folder but putting it in the same place as the other one is a sensible idea.
- Go to the sharing section of the settings. This is pretty self explanatory; share any directories which you think will be useful. The two common ones will be the steam directory and finished download directory (not the unfinished one for obvious reasons!). Sharing your completed downloads mean that popular files (eg the 800mb empires installer!) can be shared around quickly at high speed instead of everyone clogging up a single person's copy of it and having to get slow speeds because of it.
- HASHING!It takes a LONG time to get files ready for sharing, especially lots of small files like a steam install. While you are hashing, please change your nick to be nick[HASHING] (ie Wyrm[HASHING]), as nobody wants half a directory (with files it's a little less important as you'll only have hashed files in your share). Peridoically update your nick with an ETA for when the hashing will finish, such as Wyrm[HASHING1200], so that at 1200 people can start demanding an update on the hashing progress (which can be seen by view->indexing progress).
- Set the number of upload slots to 3ish - if you set it higher you might think you're being generous but consider what happens if 100 people all download at 1kb/s; nobody gets what they want, whereas if you let 3 people download at "silly speed" they'll finish up and the other 98 people can then download of both them AND you at silly speeds, so everyone is happy (note, this will require reading and doing what it says in the "Tweaking section"). Having more than 1 is nice though as once someone has a slot they don't give it up until its finished, so multiple slots stops a big download stopping someone getting the tiny patch file they need.
- Tweaking and words of warning
- Go to the Downloads->queue part of settings, there are several options not enabled by default which are very useful (such as automatically searching the entire hub for duplicates of files, which really spreads the load!) Enable the following options:
- Automatically search for alternative download locations
- Automatically match queue for search hits (enabled by default)
- Don't download files already in share
- Don't download files already in the queue
- If you try and download a game which someone is *at that moment* playing, you will likely get an error since playing a game tends to alter tiny files in little ways, which are detected by them no longer matching the hash they had beforehand, and as such DC cries out. The solution if this does happen - try again and try off someone who isn't running it, or ask the personw ith said game to copy and paste their install so they have one for playing and one for sharing.
- Using DC++
- Double click someone's name and browse their share
- Use the search to search everyone who's connected at that time for specific files
- Extra stuff I added later (which is still important!!)
- File->Settings->Advanced->"Add finished files to share instantly (if shared)" should be enabled
- File->Settings->Advanced->Experts only-> "Auto refresh time" This is how many minutes DC++ will wait before updating your share, so if you are hashing and adding new stuff it would be nice to have this set to lower value (the default is 60) so that your file list is continually updated rather than updated once in a blue moon. Ctrl+E will force a manual refresh, which might be useful if you've just added a small patch and only need a single refresh.
Any issues ask someone in orange, or shout "Wyrm!?" (I'll be wearing one of the more flourescent vests as usual, so if you can't see me, DC++ issues are the least of your worries!)
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And also - list of *new* games to try at the LAN. Personally I've just bought L4D2 and the THQ pack so my list is:
- CoH
- DoW
- DoW2
- Red Faction?
- Empires mod
- SWAT 4
The first 3 are steam downloaded "real games" and I'll have my steam install shared over DC so people can save on the DAYS of downloading I'm currently undergoing if they also took advantage of the sale
Empires is free for anyone who has the SDK (ie same as PVK2) and I'll have the installer+patches (and server files if the committee wants to run a dedi) also in my share.
SWAT 4 is a game which is... great fun. I feel this year that the "house rules" should be published in advance: once we fail the mission (and we will. a lot.) it's every man for himself - former allies who seconds ago were closer than brothers, helping you delicately pick locks and look under doors are now your enemy. Draw out something lethal and let rip. And if you're the last man standing don't prolong the end; gloat for <10s and then commit suicide (ie get seen by an enemy).
I'm also up for some:
- PVK2 (again, installer will be shared on DC)
- SupCom
- TA
- COD4/5
- TRON (DC shared, but simple to download)
Post you're games and let me know if I've missed out any key DC++ tips!
