E2150 - Host and Join Games

For some reasons you may be not able to use EarthNet to play online. In this case there are several other ways to host a multiplayer game. It's up to you and your target friend you want to play with. Every presented solution below creates a temporary virtual local network with other users: You don't need to set up every listed multiplayer gaming environment, just pick one the most suited for you (maybe your friend already uses one of them for different games). If you wish to play with IEO community I recommend installing Gameranger, but if you prepare other options now, you will be ready to play with anyone.
 * GameRanger (default for the IEO community)
 * Hamachi
 * Radmin

GameRanger
In order to acquire Gameranger you need to download it first, from its website. Just "google" it and you should find something like this: www.gameranger.com At the developer page you will see a big download button - Download GameRanger. Click on it and save the installation file on your computer.

Installation
Double click on downloaded GameRanger installer to launch the installation wizard. You may be asked for administrator privileges or confirmation of your intention to run this file.

Select where do you wish to see the GameRanger shortcuts and if it should run on startup of your windows (then you will never forget to launch this tool so you won't miss any online game).

The installer will download some components and then show to you a GameRanger Account Assistant window. You will be asked to agree to the Terms presented in the window in order to proceed with further installation.

If you are using this tutorial you propably don't have a GameRanger account yet. Then you should select Create a new account.

Ignore that invite code and just continue clicking Next.

GameRanger account requires passing the e-mail address that will be associated with your new account. It's a popular security measure to prevent spam of fake accounts, so please fill the form with your e-mail address, come up with some password (this one doesn't have any conditions except it must be at least one character long)

Write your nickname which will be shown for other users. The real name isn't really used.

If you are afraid of some vulgar words you can enable a Profanity filter. I deselect that because in some languages words may have a different meaning and there is a possibility I wouldn't be able to fully read the message.

Select you location. If you don't see the one you are looking for, please check the Show cities from other timezones and there should appear more options to choose.

Next you will see a message that GameRanger is going to send you an activation message to your e-mail you put in the form before. Click Next button to continue and check your internet inbox. You should find a message from GameRanger Accounts with the title Activate your new GameRanger account

Click on the link visible in the e-mail message or copy that into the address bar of your browser. You will see a message that your account has been activated and you can finish your GameRanger installation by clicking Next.

Usage
At your first use of GameRanger you may see a window containing GameRanger News. You can close that. The main windows is showing you all the online lobbies for every games. Switch the filter to see only games that you have installed - My Games. GameRanger usually finds games on your computer that are compatible with this software, but you may need to add your games manually. In this case open the Edit tab and click on Options....

By default you will have opened a Games section where are listed all the games that you might connect to GameRanger. Find in this list your game - this time Earth 2150: The Moon Project and click on it.

You may notice that the buttons on the right have been enabled so you can now click on the Browse... button and show the location of the game .exe file.

If the game is already added to the GameRanger it will be seen as bold. If you haven't found any troubles you can close that options window.

If there are any active lobbies for the games you have added, you should see them in the main window. You can see who is the host, how many players are in already and how is which game it is. Double click on the lobby to enter inside.

Be aware of upcoming messages from your system network security. If some firewall will be blocking the GameRanger you can say goodbye to your online games with that software.

If your network or router you are connected to is using a NAT restriction you will see a warning, that your future games may have problems with connecting to other players.

You finally got into the lobby. You are not the host this time, so you can only chat and wait for the hosting user to launch the game for all the users inside this lobby. You should see who is in the lobby by seeing the names in a top-right corner of the current window. You can right-click on the user nicknames and add them to your friend list, so you may know when they are available for playing.

If you want be a host you should click the Host button visible in the main window. Then you can set up a name for your lobby and optional restrictions like password.

When you are in your lobby other users can join. You may want to see if there is anyone online of your friends. In order to open friends window click on Window tab and select Friends.

If you have friends you can ask them to play with you. Right click on your target. Option of inviting with Invite to Game may work only if your friend have you in his friends. Otherwise you can only send him a message with Send Message... which will open a chat window.

In the chat window you can send text messages but writing words in the bottom textbox and pressing Enter (or Return) key on your keyboard to send your message. Your target will be notified with a sound about your incoming message.

Hopefully he will join to your lobby and you may be able to start the game with the Start button in the bottom-right corner of the lobby window.

The game should launch and after short or long loading you may find yourselves in a lobby. If not, there is something wrong with your or your not connected friends network connection so you should investigate or pick another option for playing online.