[bigchunk1]

This is a community project to build a War in Heaven multiplayer, using a public SVN as a way to rapidly distribute balance tweaks and new missions. SVN is incredibly easy to use and really powerful. Follow the simple steps below to get set up!

To install BP multi on your computer:

• Make sure you have Blue Planet 2 correctly installed, including Blue Planet 1, the 3.6.12 MVPs, and all patches*
• Install TortoiseSVN - guaranteed malware free
• Create a folder in your FreeSpace 2 directory called blueplanet2_multi
• Right click on it and hit 'SVN Checkout'
• Enter the following address in the 'URL of repository' field: http://bpmulti.fsmods.net/svn/
• DO NOT DOWNLOAD FILES FROM THE SITE MANUALLY
• Press okay!
• Select blueplanet2_multi as your mod in the launcher, and assuming you have an FS2NetD account and everything is set up right, enjoy!

*Make sure you install the latest patch for 3.6.12 mediavps. We have experienced crashes as a direct result of using the older version.

If you still need help getting setup, you can try going onto IRC in the multiplayer setup channel.
If no one else is there, try the Blue Planet IRC channel

If you're interested in a game, try the IRC MULTI Channel

IMPORTANT

Before you start playing, make sure you're up to date by right clicking on the folder and hitting 'SVN Update'. Do this every time you want to play!

Here is a brief summay of both recent and planned work on the project. If you want to get involved in this, ask for an SVN account and you can make your own commits.




Modified install directions, someone managed to get it wrong, so it wasn't obvious enough ~KyadCK

[Mars]

Mars' UEF Gauntlet mission has been converted to multiplayer.

YAY! I hope I can make it this time.

[SypheDMar]

Has the Grimler been nerfed/removed in dogfights and TvT?

[bigchunk1]

Edit: *moved over from old thread... Looking to have another test sometime in the next few weeks (mid to late march). I would like to know when people have their spring break so we can fit the test sometime in that week. If anyone has a particular time they would like to have the test, now's the time to speak up.

Has the Grimler been nerfed/removed in dogfights and TvT?

Not yet. Once it has, it will be moved into the 'Recent Fixes' category.

[SypheDMar]

Anytime after the 17th is fine. Once I finish my last final, the beginning of next quarter wouldn't even matter.

[bigchunk1]

Progress has slumped as I have recently been unable to acquire testers on IRC that can host multiplayer games. There are 2 coop conversions and several TvT/dogfight missions which have been sitting in the SVN untouched. (Missions which require multiple players to test)

I need testers to help provide direction for this project, otherwise I'm afraid that there will not be many changes between now and late march.

Lester also has a mission involving the in-mission jump mechanic which has never before been tested in multiplayer with multiple players. We have as of yet been unable to find someone to help us test it.

If you can host multiplayer games (able to forward ports) and would like to help us out, please send me or Lester a PM. It is essential to get feedback on our latest updates, and to go bughunting.

[Belisarius]

Was a funny sortie, but the last fight showed some wierd bugs or at least one major bug.

I started with the Gattler gun on my ship, but when I tried to fire the ammonition count jumped to something a few hundred thousand negative bullets, so I couldn't fire and whoever was in front of me had a good shot at me.

However, the best sortie was the first one. I loved to fight these Feds.

[FSW]

I just played a couple of rounds on FSHero's server. Unfortunately, I didn't play enough to really judge balance. Here are some thoughts.

General
I didn't fly the Lao-Tze, but I saw it in motion. The AI (in the UEF gauntlet mission) is very difficult to destroy; using the Lao-Tze's extremely powerful afterburners to dodge and outrun missiles. Lester pulled off some impressive maneuvers in a Lao-Tze, and I imagine that he was difficult to hit for the opposing team.

UEF Gauntlet
 - There is a Solaris in the distance. It's pretty, but some of us experienced a low frame rate.
 - There aren't enough weapons on the loadout screen for every player.

Pre-emptive Strike (Lester already knows about these issues, but I've listed them for posterity)
 - No portal appears during the first jump. Also, the screen fades to black twice before the player appears at the second convoy.
 - The second jump didn't work at all, in our test.
 - After the first jump, the directives box and escort list do not update for the second convoy.
 - The mission needs a new key combination to allow the host to end the game early (since alt-J is used to jump).
 - The jump gates are destructible.

UEF vs UEF TVT battle
 - There's no music!

[Mars]

I don't know about anything else, but Lao Tze's are very vulnerable to primaries. They're almost twice as wide as an Uhlan.

[bigchunk1]

Had an impromptu test earlier today. Here's some screenshots.








Today we tried out Lester's Tev convoy raid mission, Mars' UEF Gauntlet converted to multiplayer, and SDM's UEF vs UEF mission. A fun test which will yield progress in the future. Special thanks to FSHero for hosting, otherwise the test would not have been possible.

[FSW]

I've just played a few rounds with Kyad, BlueChunk, Lester, and Planeurdelamort.

General
 - During Escalation, the first time I spawned as an Atlanta, I could not fire my secondaries. The lone secondary bank displayed 'Tornado', but there was no arrow next to it. Attempting to switch secondaries gave me the message: 'this ship has only one secondary weapon'. However, I was able to switch to dual-fire mode. The second time I spawned as an Atlanta, my secondaries worked fine.
 - The first-person viewpoint for the Deimos is a little too far forward. When attempting to ram a Karuna, my viewpoint passed right through my target before the ships collided.

UEF vs GTVA capship battle
 - It's difficult to assess balance until beams are working; I believe BlueChunk is fixing that.
 - I'd like to have more control over my capital ship's systems, like in The Blade Itself (single). I imagine it'd be a nightmare to FRED, but it'd add layers of strategy to team capship combat.

Escalation
 - This is a very fun, hectic dogfight!

[FSW]

I've just played a bit more on FSHero's server, with Lester and Matth.

General
 - GTB Rhea is unable to carry the Balor

UEF gauntlet
 - Frame rate is much smoother, now that the Solaris is gone.
 - Our host crashed during this mission, but we don't know why!

Forced Entry
 - After re-balancing, the mission is quite hectic and fun.
 - There is still a bug regarding the cutscene. Every player gets a fade-to-black. Clients go back to gameplay after the fade; only the host sees the cutscene.

Pre-emptive strike
 - The short quickjump period is a good idea, but it's not enough. There really needs to be a dedicated key, that works any time, to end the mission.
 - There was no music.
 - After jumping to the second gate, players would still respawn at the first gate.

UEF dogfight
 - I often found myself spawning in the battle. It was still very fun, though.

[Snail]

I gotta show up next time man, this looks like a blast!

[CommanderDJ]

I just played a few missions with Kyad, bigchunk1 and others. Soooooooooo much fun. Will definitely be looking to make it to the next one!

[ssmit132]

It was great fun! Hopefully I can join you guys the next time.

[[DW]-Hunter]

This download solutions sucks, can you please make a solid file rar zip 7z nobody cares which, nobody likes to download 20+ ****ing files... THANK YOU.

[SypheDMar]

No because it's constantly being updated. Think of us as Google Chrome. If we make a vp today, you'll need to redownload everything tomorrow. Best bet is to just get the SVN. Once that happens, everything will be updated without you needing to download anything.

P.S. We'd appreciate it if you try to sound less rude and more understanding. thankyouhaveanicedayenjoy;

[KyadCK]

you want to re-download 80MB+ every time you play? we update daily, so it is better to use the SVN and only download what you need then for everyone to wait 30 mins while you download a new version.

[General Battuta]

This download solutions sucks, can you please make a solid file rar zip 7z nobody cares which, nobody likes to download 20+ ****ing files... THANK YOU.

Do you really want to download that same archive over and over and over every time you play?

Instead of just clicking 'update'?

The package is still constantly being rebalanced and updated with new missions. It's more or less the same size either way (SVN includes some compression), but this way you save a lot of bandwidth because you don't have to download the whole thing all over again for every update.

[bigchunk1]

This download solutions sucks, can you please make a solid file rar zip 7z nobody cares which, nobody likes to download 20+ ****ing files... THANK YOU.

I sympathize with your anger. Why should we have you download a program, tortiseSVN, just so you can play BPmulti? Furthermore, why should we take you through this silly SVN thing when we could just zip and send like normal single player projects? Is it that we don't like easy, and marvel in our own technical nerdiness?

Most single player projects under development have an SVN or FTP they use to collaborate, but Blue Planet multi is not a typical HLP project. It is a public multiplayer project, where the bleeding edge of our work is available to anyone as we create it.  So say, a guy creates a mission and needs it tested, tables need to be edited to add new weapon variants, builds need to be updated.  we need an effective way to distribute numerous fixes to one another in a quick and painless way, and with the SVN updating is as simple as a single click. You don't even have to login to a webpage.

I cannot expect everyone to like this way for distributing the project, but if you go to This tutorial and learn about how an SVN works, you might find that it is a pretty effective solution for what we are trying to do. In any situation, we want to make distribution of our project as simple as possible.

Thank you for voicing your concern on the forums, and for your interest in BP multi.