Re: Crossfire in server mode

[Magnus B{ckstr|m <magnuz@cd.chalmers.se>]

Hi!

Eric:
> I'm working on getting crossfire running in server mode.
> If you want to see if this will work for you, you can get the files on
> madhatter.ws.cc.cmu.edu:pub/crossfire/*.pl   You should then be able
> to run crossrem.pl and connect to my server.  This will require you to
> have perl compiled on your machine.  If you're a long way away from
> cmu, this will be pretty slow.

I just tried it out.  It worked fine -- I downloaded the scripts, had some
problems with sys-socket.ph, solved them, and whee!

The server mode feels like a good thing.  Most crossfire sessions played
here at chalmers are played by some four or five people sitting in the
same room. I like the idea of connecting dynamically :-)

You're right about the speed. Running crossfire with windows at far
remote sites probably isn't a good idea. Crossfire normally synchronizes
on each display and thus the slowest link will pull down the speed for
everyone playing.

It felt slightly weird to play with a response time somewhere around a
quarter of a second :-)  First, the usually quick cycling when rolling up
stats... Hit 'y' and wait half a second for the new set.  Once having
become Metaquazi the Viking, I trotted around town a bit.  I entered the
old mansion, went south by holding down 'j', and whee, ended up by the
garden gate when intending to stop somewhere in the middle of the
house. :-)
I don't think lag would be the big problem if we were to play crossfire
over long distances, occasional Netrek playing has showed me that I can
get used to lag, but international crossfiring would probably need a true
client/server implementation; the X protocol isn't very economical.

> --
> If people send mail to me or this list saying that it's working for
> them, then I'll send the changes back so that everyone can have this
> in their server.

Sure!

[...]
>           -Eric 
> *********************************************************
> "Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."
>            -The Nine Billion Names of God
> "Yes, you're very smart.  Shut up."
>            -In "The Princess Bride"
> *********************************************************
> 

             /Magnus