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Joining a multiplayer game

Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to set up port forwarding on your router, or to open up ports on your firewall, if all you are interested in is joining as a client on a multiplayer game.

Before joining a multiplayer game, if the simulations in use are payware simulations, you must have a licence for the appropriate simulation. By having a licence for a sim you will have the ability to take control of a workstation, signal trains within that workstation and making full use of the features available to you such as the Train List and Simplifier. Joining a multiplayer session without a licence will enable you to spectate only.

To join a simulation, follow the 'Join a Multiplayer simulation' instructions on this page . When prompted, enter the IP address and the port number given by the host in the forum post. The IP address will either be of the form of four numbers separated by full stops (e.g. 82.147.22.17) or a name (e.g. www.simsig.co.uk). Don't try those examples: they won't work. The port number will usually be 50505, 50507, or 4321, but may be any number between 1 and 65535. You will also have to enter a 4-character name, which will identify you in the simulation.

Once completing the information, a request will be sent to the host. The host will be informed of your IP address and your initials or identity. The host has the option of accepting or rejecting your request.

• If the host accepts your connection, you will then be sent the simulation states (what aspects the signals are showing, which tracks are occupied, etc) which may take a minute or two depending on the speed of the Internet connection. Do not try to do anything until the message "update from server complete" has been received.
• If the host rejects your connection, you will then be informed of this and returned to the starting screen.

When you join, you will probably be invited to take control of a workstation. Different hosts have different policies for workstation allocation- some will give clients a choice on a 'First come-first served' basis, others will give everyone a number and allocate panels at random. There may or may not be panel swaps during the course of the game, again this depends on the host.

When you are invited to take control of a workstation, open the 'Workstation Control' window (accessed via the 'Multiplayer' menu in the clock window), highlight a workstation and click 'Take Control'. This ensures that all phone calls for the selected panel will be routed to you.

As a client, you will not have access to the following:

• F2 Train list: you will only be able to view trains on your workstation (to reduce the amount of data transferred by the host), and you will not have access to all of the functions available in single player NB Not available in older, non-loader sims;
• F4 Timetable editor, and train controls therein;
• F5 Scoring;
• F7 Incident log;
• F8 is restricted to showing 2 hours after the specified time (again to reduce the amount of data requested from the host).
• Control of the simulation speed/pausing

All users now have the option of sharing their library of sims with other people. By default this will remain as private, ie only admins know what licenses you have. If you wish to allow others to see what sims you own, go to My account and select Edit Profile. From the drop-down for "Your license visibility" choose the option you wish. Public means anybody signed in can go to your public profile page and see your sims. The Game Hosts option means that if you register to attend a game, that game's host will be able to see what sims you have. This helps them plan sessions, knowing who owns what, rather than having to ask each attendee what they have. This feature is not a "must do" to be able to participate in any planned game, we kindly ask hosts to be mindful of this.

For more general advice on playing a multiplayer simulation, please see the Etiquette page.

Have fun!

Last edited by Hap on 14/10/2023 at 18:05