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Special:Badtitle/NS100:Matchmaker

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Revision as of 23:23, 28 May 2020 by Divinity (talk | contribs)

This is a guide on how to use the Populous Reincarnated matchmaker.


Matchmaker

The Populous: Reincarnated Matchmaker is a fan made software combining IRC with the multiplayer features and protocols of Populous: The Beginning. To keep this simple, the Matchmaker is a multiplayer client allowing you to connect with others to talk and play Populous games. In order for this to work properly, you must have a download of The Multiplayer Essentials or the full game (buy at GoG.com or Origin.com), a download of The Matchmaker, and have registered an account with [www.popre.net PopRe.net]. You may need the 1.03 collective patch if you downloaded the game from another source. When your downloads are fully installed and you have registered an account with PopRe.net open the MatchMaker to continue with this guide.


Getting Started

  • 1: Your current username (clan tag included, if in a clan)
  • 2: Your password
  • 3: Check box to remember the account details
  • 4: Log In button. You must first enter your username and password
  • 5: Sign Up! Takes you into the Populous Reincarnated Sign up page, in case you don't have an account yet
  • 6: Forgot your password? Get help here
  • 7: Takes you into the Populous Reincarnated Website
  • 8: Your current matchmaker version number is displayed here


Matchmaker Overview

  • 1: The chat room. This stores public conversations, welcome messages, news, and player logins/logoffs
  • 2: Welcome message (custom color). This stores important messages everytime you log in, including tools/patches to download, matchmaker updates, news (tournament news and other), etc...
  • 3: The chat logs. Different matchmaker skins will use different colors for public messages, user messages, private messages, admin messages and system messages (log ins, welcome messages and error messages)
  • 4: The text-entry bar. You can use it to type public or private messages, commands (special messages starting with !)
  • 5: The playerlist. You can see who is currently online. This section is divided in 4 categories: Waiting (currently in a hut, waiting for a game); Idle (online, but neither waiting for a game nor playing); Game Setup (Just launched into a game, but still in the pre-game lobby); and Playing (currently playing a game)
  • 6: Status Legend. This box shows you the different symbols for the statuses we see in the lists, right after each username
  • 7: The game room. At the top of this area is the "Join Autohut" button. It'll semi-randomly place you in a hut to help get you into a game. You can also join a spefific hut by clicking on it. Below the autohut button is a series of "Empty huts". Populous supports up to 4 players (or 8, using beta). Each set of huts (notice the red square highlight) will participate in the same game. Players who are capable of hosting will control all this game's settings. The host is the first player (on each group of huts, the first one is the host (hut closer to the left side)
  • 8: Map of the Day box is dedicated to a randomly selected map and Populous mods. The mods button will take you to another screen where you can view all of the game's mappacks and install the mappack you want to host. Playing the map of the day will grant extra points (not extra skill league points, though)
  • 9: Profile box gives a brief overview of your rank, points, wins this month, and how many more points you need to reach the next grade.
  • 10: Links box displays links for resources you may need, such as name change page, forums, league table, etc...
  • 11: Hosting box informs you if your port check is capable of hosting, successful, unlikely to host, or unsuccessful. The port check button allows you to test your port. If you don't have the universal hosting functionality on your router, don't have your computer set to DMZ enabled through your router, haven't manually opened your ports on your router, or your firewall is blocking your ports, you will be unsuccessful when port checking
  • 12: Matchmaker settings - this includes multiplayer Populous settings, and even streaming settings
  • 13: Mappacks and Mods - here you can find 1000s of unique levels to play
  • 14: Log out button - disconnects you from the server, not closing the matchmaker in the process


Mappacks and Mods

  • 1: Search/Browse Mappacks allows you to switch between mappack views. This image is showing the "Search" page. You can find maps with specific features
  • 2: Allows you to set your search criteria when seeking maps to play. Types, style, # of players, amount of land, amount of trees, map rating, ranked/unranked, played/unplayed, or even rating are all different criteria you may change to find something fitting your taste.
  • 3: This is your mappack and map list. In order to play a map you will need to install the mappack with that map. There are more than 1000 available levels to discover
  • 4: Selected map preview.
  • 5: Install Level. This button allows you to install the mappack with the map you have selected. Important button for players who will host a hut (only the host needs to install the level to play, as the others will automatically install it upon getting launched)
  • 6: Refresh levels. If a change is made to the mappacks/maps while you're viewing you may press this to refresh the list. Useful if you're trying to test a newly submitted map

Anyone can create new maps with ALACN's World Editor and submit them for testing

  • On the bottom right corner of each map preview, there is a 3D button, which will open the 3d view of the selected level
  • Each player can have a set of favourite maps, by clicking the heart button when finding maps. The favourites can be useful for finding maps you really liked, or for easy access of common maps
  • Here, you can find some of the fan made single player campaigns, and launch them. It will launch a 3rd party software, the Multiverse Launcher, which allows you to install and play custom levels and campaigns. This program also has plenty of other settings to use!


Hosting

  • 1: The player "[D]ystopia" joined the top of a group of huts, being the host. As you can see, he is hosting a 8 player game, and waiting for 7 other players. Games with more than 4 players require beta to be enabled
  • 2: The player "[D]ystopia" (and all the others inside huts) are now in the Waiting category
  • 3: This box has changed to the "Players" box. You may request host, set the number of players, set spectators, manually change player tribe/color, and/or randomize colors
  • 4: This box has changed to "Hut Settings". You may change your mappack, set a password, and limit which player grade is allowed to enter your hut
  • 5: This box has changed to show the level being hosted in your hut. You may change the map (if you are the host), but you're limited to the maps in your currently installed mappack. Change your mappack in the "Hut Settings" box
  • 6: This box has changed to "Map Additions". These settings will give players 1 of any building you choose to have added. There's an added option to give players 50 starting braves and extra starting mana
  • 7: This box has changed to "Game". In this box you can determine if your game is ranked/unranked, a timed game, and if there's a victory condition to win the game. If you are the host, there is also a button to launch the game
  • 8: Exit hut button


Matchmaker Settings

By clicking on the gear (top right corner of the matchmaker), you can open the settings.


These functions are Matchmaker specific. You can have the MM open automatically when you turn your computer on, auto connect, save password, save chat log, minimize system to tray, and check for updates. The game settings option allows you to move the game settings to the bottom of the matchmaker, and open the matchmaker logs.

You may enter a player's name in the white bar toward the bottom and block/unblock that player. Their name will appear on the right where they will be blocked. The only option you can change is allow/disallow them from joining your games. Blocked players can read your chat, but you can't read theirs.

You can show private messages in chat or in a popup window. Auto-away on mouse idle means you'll appear !away in the MM when you leave the mouse for awhile. Ignore clan tags means sorting players based on their name in alphabetical order, rather than based on tag. Group players by game will show players in game grouped together, if not they may be spread out in the playing list. Group chat allows multiple players to privately message each other at the same time, ignoring group chat invites disallows players from inviting you to these conversations. Time stamps will stamp each message in the lobby with a time. You can also set to view streams on PopRe website or Twitch website (when you click "view stream" on a player who is streaming their game)

Too young or dislike profanity? Use language filter to hide bad words. Dislike people who talk in nothing but caps? Force lowercase.

Notify on private messages allows to make a gong sound and flash orange at the bottom of your screen, every time you get a private message. Notify on full hut allows you to do something else until your game is full of people, as sound and flash orange will notify you once the hut is full. Play alert sound allows the matchmaker alert sound (custom sound is a bell/gong). Nick alerts allows the MM to notify you if someone mentions any words you add into the Nick Alerts.

This page is where you can install a custom designed skin for theMatchmaker. Icons, but tons, colors, and text will change from skin to skin. Choose a design you like and install. You may also create your own skin, here's how.

This last page allows you to start a bot for other players to command and use in order to host their matches. You may start bot when idle, start bot on MM startup, and run Populous in headless mode (no graphics).


Populous Settings

By clicking on the gear (top right corner of the matchmaker), and selecting Populous, you can open the settings for the game.


  • 1: This is your Populous directory. It's important to know where your Populous game is installed because the Matchmaker needs your Populous folder in order to connect you into a game with other players. Altered files, changes to the game, changing game mechanics, and more is all done through the MM into your Populous directory
  • 2: Populous version 1.01 is the original version of the Populous game. It does not reflect the collective 1.03 and modified 1.04 patches to improve the game. Beta is a specialty option if you enter the !beta command into the chat bar. It'll grant you the option to change your Populous game to the modified Beta version the PopRe team is working on, in order to improve the game and allow more tribes and features
  • 3: Software and Hardware modes change the quality of the game. It's rare but some people can run hardware, so if you can't there's probably nothing you can do to make it work (ask for help in forums/discord). Software mode is what most players use to run Populous. If you can run the Direct3D version of the game, Hardware mode should work for you on the MM, otherwise the game will crash every time
  • 4: These are some game options. You may turn on/off enemies in the minimap, disable matchmaker conversations while playing online Populous, send screenshots to PopRe.net every minute (for collecting game information. Not recommendable for players with very slow connections), and the number of allowed spectators

This page allows you to adjust your in-game Populous resolution, game quality, and enable DxWnd. DxWnd is a very important part of this page. Anyone who has difficulty running, playing, and/or issues with textures may need to use DxWnd for resolve. This works for some but not all.

Fix mouse should be enabled by default, which if it isn't it may cause the mouse to be inaccurate and/or jumpy. Autocast happens when you tell your Shaman to cast outside her max range for any spell and she'll move close enough to the target to cast her spell. Flip rotation changes your left/right keys when rotating the world. Stay selected allows you to select any units, issue a command, and stay selected. With it off, you'll issue a command and deselect the commanded units automatically. Rotation with CTRL requires you to hold CTRL to rotate the world, otherwise with it on your left/right keys will move the world left/right.

This page allows you to enable/disable sound and music or adjust the volumes of each. You may choose to enable High Quality, but there's a really tiny difference that's unnoticeable unless you're trying to notice it.

Useful for hosting if you know what you're doing. The port check, which is available in the lobby under the "Hosting" box, does the same thing. Dial-up mode is probably most useful for anyone with a very limited dial-up connection. Unless you know what you're doing, don't touch Custom External IP or Custom Binding IP. You may have a number like xx.xxx.xx.xxx and if you do, don't change it.

Would you like to stream your Populous matches? You can enable twitch streaming and once you have a twitch account, you can connect your Populous streaming to your Twitch account. Connected accounts will show the live stream on PopRe.net and a recording symbol on your username in the matchmaker when playing.


For further assistance, ask for help in Discord or Forums.