Hellbender: How to Play a Multiplayer Game (160039)

SUMMARY

The following article explains how to play Hellbender with other players.

SETTING UP INTERNET GAMES

Due to high Internet traffic, it is recommended that you limit multiplayer Hellbender Internet games to three players. Four-player Hellbender Internet games are possible, but it is highly recommended that all four players use the same Internet service provider and 28.8 Kbps modems.

You can play Hellbender Internet games with three players, regardless of the Internet service providers the players are using, if all players are using 28.8 Kbps modems. Players with 14.4 Kbps modems may experience latency problems in three-player games.

If you access the Internet via a proxy, you will not be able to participate in a multiplayer Internet game.

To host a multiplayer Internet game, you need to tell the players joining the game what your IP address is before they can join. To join a multiplayer Internet game, you need to obtain the IP address of the player hosting the game before you can join.

To confirm your IP address:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type winipcfg.
3. In the IP Configuration dialog box, click your server type in the drop-down list box. For example, click PPP Adapter. The number now listed in the IP Address box is your IP address. When you are hosting a Hellbender Internet game, you need to give this address to other players before they can join the game.

To start a multiplayer Internet game:

1. Start Microsoft Hellbender.
2. On the Quick Configuration screen, click Multiplayer.
3. In the Available Connections box in the Multiplayer Connection Setup dialog box, click Internet (TCP/IP) connection.
4. In the Game Sessions dialog box, type your callsign (10-character maximum).
5. To host a game, click Start A New Game.

   -or-

   If you want to join a game someone else is hosting, click Specify An IP Address in the Select Existing Game box, click Next, and then type the IP address of the host in the Specify Host Name or IP Address dialog box.

INTERNET TROUBLESHOOTING

If you are not running a double-byte character set (DBCS) supported version of Hellbender, but are playing a multiplayer game with someone who is running a DBCS supported version of the game, you will receive ASCII text from that player in the Game Sessions and Gathering Players dialog boxes.

To communicate with players who are using a DBCS supported version of the game, use a different method for chatting.

If you are the host of an Internet game and you click Back at the Gathering Players dialog box, and then click Next at any time in the Game Sessions dialog box, you will receive the message "Connection failed."

If this occurs:

1. Click OK, and then click Back in the Game Sessions dialog box. You will return to the Multiplayer Connection Setup dialog box.
2. Click Internet (TCP/IP) Connection again, and then click OK.
3. Continue creating a new game.