Comfortable way of playing several multiplayer games?

[Rince]

Hi.

I was asking myself whether there is the possibility to quickly connect to a multiplayer game without copy-pasting the IP address every time.

Is there a command line argument for the IP when starting CIV4 or does a 3rd party program exist which has a list of your favourite servers.

Greetings,

Rince

 

[Gyathaar]

no command line param for IP address.. however.. the default IP is stored in the ini file.. and there is a command line agument for loading another ini file (ini= )

So you could make multiple copies of the ini file and have different IP addresses (and player name) in each.

(You can find all the command line options in http://www.firaxis.com/games/game_detail.php?gameid=6&tips=1 btw)

 

[Rince]

Hey, thanks a bunch. I was looking very hard for those options but never found them.

Greetings,

Rince

 

[CB Droege]

I'm trying to get this to work and I'm having an issue. It doesn't seem to be loading the specified ini file. Every attempt just loads the way it would if there were no ini (default settings).

Here's what I've tried in the shortcut box under the shortcut properties:

"D:\Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" ini= GGP2.ini
"D:\Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" ini= \GGP2.ini
"D:\Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" ini= C:\My Documents\My Games\Civilization 4\GGP2.ini
"D:\Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" ini= D:\Civilization 4\GGP2.ini

None of these seem to work... I've been able to succesfully load a mod from the command line, but I can't get an ini to load this way. Any suggestions?

 

[Gyathaar]

I'm trying to get this to work and I'm having an issue. It doesn't seem to be loading the specified ini file. Every attempt just loads the way it would if there were no ini (default settings).

Here's what I've tried in the shortcut box under the shortcut properties:

"D:\Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" ini= GGP2.ini
"D:\Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" ini= \GGP2.ini
"D:\Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" ini= C:\My Documents\My Games\Civilization 4\GGP2.ini
"D:\Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" ini= D:\Civilization 4\GGP2.ini

None of these seem to work... I've been able to succesfully load a mod from the command line, but I can't get an ini to load this way. Any suggestions?

Remove the space after ini=
(yes, I know you need the space there for the mod= aug, but for the ini= aug the space cause it to fail.. )

 

[CB Droege]

That was it. Thanks.

 

[IglooDame]

A second way to make an IP entry easier is to search for your "hosts.sam" or just plain "hosts" file on your computer (it'll be in C:\Windows (or Winnt)\system32\drivers\etc and open it up with notepad. In it, put in the correct IP address, a few spaces, and a name (I use two-letter names like "ot" for simplicity). Save the file, making sure it saves just as 'hosts' and doesn't have .sam or .txt after it.

Now, you can use that name ("ot", or whatever) in place of the IP address. Easy to remember, and easier to type. But, I like the .ini with the shortcut even better.

 

[Bernout1]

For the default IP, is it the SELECTIP value you change in the .ini file?

I tried that and just entered an IP address and it didn't seem to work. Any help here would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bernout

 

[CB Droege]

Find the one that says 'direct IP address', and change it to match what you need, then go through the rest of the file, and make sure that there are no other direct IP entries... for some reason, Civ 4 likes to make several entries, and if they are different it will bork the process. You can just remove the extra entries, you only need one.

 

[OverloadUT]

I just released a tool that pretty much does exactly what you're looking for:

Civ4 Pitboss Launcher - It's designed to assist in connecting to Pitboss servers, but really it should work with any Direct IP game.

 

[Bernout1]

Find the one that says 'direct IP address', and change it to match what you need, then go through the rest of the file, and make sure that there are no other direct IP entries... for some reason, Civ 4 likes to make several entries, and if they are different it will bork the process. You can just remove the extra entries, you only need one.

Hmm...can't find that entry. Is this a 1.61 only feature or am I looking at the wrong file? I assumed there was only 1 .ini file that is being used and that is the one in the My Documents/My Games/Civilization 4 directory.

Bernout

 

[Bernout1]

Just a follow up here. I finally got around to getting a 1.61 version running and the .ini Direct IP setting is present and works just fine for setting the IP address. So I guess you can't do any of this with 1.52. Ah well, just another reason to get that game done and over with and move on.

Bernout

 

[mickeyj]

A second way to make an IP entry easier is to search for your "hosts.sam" or just plain "hosts" file on your computer (it'll be in C:\Windows (or Winnt)\system32\drivers\etc and open it up with notepad. In it, put in the correct IP address, a few spaces, and a name (I use two-letter names like "ot" for simplicity). Save the file, making sure it saves just as 'hosts' and doesn't have .sam or .txt after it.

Now, you can use that name ("ot", or whatever) in place of the IP address. Easy to remember, and easier to type. But, I like the .ini with the shortcut even better.

Great suggestion, I'm not a fan of the ini shortcut as the game needs to be reloaded. I'll give this a go tonight. does it only work with IP adresses or will it work with IP names ie example.at.no-ip?

 

[OverloadUT]

Unfortunately it only works with IP addresses.

I will suggest again, however, to give my Pitboss Launcher a try. It does exactly what you're looking for. For each game you want to connect to, all you have to do is run the Pitboss Launcher, select the profile of the game you want to play (all of the IP information/player name/passwords will be stored in each profile) and click Go. It will launch Civ 4 for you, or if it's already running it will bring it to the foreground and connect to your game for you.

 

[mickeyj]

I'm using your launcher and its a terrific program. I just don't enjoy waiting for civ to start up every time. I use the launcher to load mod games and the first regular game then I cut and paste from the direct IP menu to save time.

 

[IglooDame]

Great suggestion, I'm not a fan of the ini shortcut as the game needs to be reloaded. I'll give this a go tonight. does it only work with IP adresses or will it work with IP names ie example.at.no-ip?

I haven't tried it with names, but I don't think it'll work with them, just IP addresses.

 

[Rince]

I tested the launcher and it works fine most of the time.

It would be great however if one could just double-click on a profile name in order to connect. Also i find the placement of the "Go!" Button in the lower left corner a bit counter-intuitive. Since the user is most of the time only using the profile list on the right, it would be more streamlined to have the "Go!" button in the vincinity of that list.

Otherwise, thanks a lot for sharing the program with us!

Greetings,

Rince