Introduction to the dedicated cooperative servers

 

(Updated: 2012-11-21. Yellow highlights recent changes.)

 

Short overview

 

Server type:              automatic, dedicated cooperative

Controller call-sign:  “Server” (in red color)

Server role:                only automated communication, not flying

Chat window size:    minimum 2 lines required

Mission types:          cooperative missions

Mission selection:    auto-rotated or manually selected by the players

Time to join:               when the mission status is BRIEFING

Briefing ends:           when enough pilots pressed “Fly” button

Launch:                     when all players pressed “Fly” button

Forced launch:         within 2 minutes after ending the brief

Forced method:        kicks players that haven’t pressed “Fly” yet

Mission lengths:       configurable, default maximum is 30 minutes

Mission ends:           when players landed, crashed or requested termination

Waiting is required:             when a mission is already IN PROGRESS and locked

Re-fly opportunity:               only when the ongoing mission ends (the status page alerts)

Friendly fire:             1st = warning, 2nd in 10 minutes = ban for 30 minutes

Admin role:                identified with a secret password to the Server

Admin rights:             total responsibility over mission start, lock, end, change

 

Chat line command overview:

DSC = Dedicated Server Controller

 

DSC HELP – summary of commands and web locations

DSC STATS – your current statistics

DSC STATUS – information about the mission status and remaining time

DSC GUNNER – you selected a rear gunner position and pressed “Fly” button

DSC LOCK – disable mission restart when a new player wants to fly

DSC UNLOCK – re-enable automatic mission restart when a new player wants to fly

DSC TERMINATE – abort an ongoing mission

DSC REPLAY – replay the current mission again after it ends

DSC MAPS – list the group folders on the server

DSC MISSIONS – list the missions in the current folder

DSC MAP name – select the first mission in the folder called ‘name’

DSC MISSION name – select  the mission with ‘name’  in current folder

DSC LAUNCH password – allow mission launch in special cases

DSC ADMIN password – identify yourself as player administrator

DSC ADMIN – either check who is the admin or release your own admin responsibilities

DSC KICK name – remove a player call-sign pattern

DSC BAN name – ban a player call-sign pattern

DSC UNBAN name– un-ban a player call-sign pattern

DSC CLOSE – completely prevent others from joining the server

DSC REOPEN – re-allow others to join the server

DSC MSG – post a short bulletin message for other players

DSC PERFORMANCE – server performance information

DSC BANDWIDTH – server bandwidth management

DSC SCHEDULE – list and modify scheduled events

DSC FAVORITE – specify a preferred map 

DSC RED – enter password for red side 

DSC BLUE – enter password for blue side

DSC PLAYERS – list player information

DSC EXTEND – extend mission time limit

DSC DIFFICULTY – check difficulty settings

DSC SKINDOWNLOAD – set skin download

DSC PASSWORD – enter password for call-sign

DSC RECON – mission reconnaissance

 

 

Point system:

Scores are taken at the end of the mission.

Individual points are shared evenly between team members.

In addition, the following rewards/penalties apply:

+25% reward for fulfilling the mission objective (winning the mission)

+50% reward for not having any player killed in a team with more than 2 humans

-25% penalty for failing the mission objective (losing the mission)

-50% penalty for getting any player killed in a team with more than 2 humans.

 

Take a flight leader position only if you are competent enough to lead the flight.

Otherwise, take a wingman position and follow your flight leader, even if it is an AI pilot.

Make sure you have a reference of AI commands at hand, especially for requesting help or the heading back to base. 

 

  

Available servers

 

102nd COOP dedicated

 

Operator:

102nd-HR-cmirko

Server name:

Hyperlobby: 102nd_COOP_ded
All Seeing Eye: 102nd COOP Dedicated

Version:

Stock and HSFX

Difficulty:

Full switch minus speedbar for HSFX

Full switch minus easier situational awareness for Stock

Missions:

Static historical mini-campaigns in rotation (20 maps,  ~200 mission) designed or adapted by 242Sqn_Chap. Special training missions outside of rotation (~5 missions)

The entire Filthy Few campaign by HH-Dubbo.

Several dynamic SEOW and DCG campaigns.

Schedule:

24/7, continuously running.

Access:

Public. Web page at http://102nd.org/ .

Voice:

Own  Teamspeak 3, address 161.53.204.25,  password: vertikala

Status:

http://161.53.204.25/Server/status.html

Statistics:

http://161.53.204.25/Server/stats-coop.html

Slots:

31 with Stock game,  71 with HSFX

 

                                                                                                                                                              

22GCT

 

Operator:

22GCT_Gross

Server name:

Hyperlobby: ITA-SEOW

All Seeing Eye: 22GCTCOOP

Version:

HSFX

Difficulty:

Full real minus speed-bar on.

Externals available for testing.

Missions:

See statistical page.

Schedule:

24/7

Access:

Intended for the Italian squadrons and friends only. Do not try to fly the missions without agreement with the campaign owners, they are all private and therefore passworded.

Voice:

TS, enquire address on the forums.  Before you fly, contact 22GCT on their forums, http://www.22gct.it/

Status:

http://89.163.173.82/rnzoli/status-gross.html

Statistics:

http://89.163.173.82/rnzoli/stats-coop-gross.html

Slots:

63

 

 

How to connect?

 

 

Hyperlobby (HL): www.hyperfighter.sk

 

 

Older servers: registered as public dogfight servers on the left side of the screen. Click the name to get the game info, click on “Join this game” and you connect to it like a normal dogfight server.

 

Newer servers: registered as co-op (private) games on the right side of the screen. Click the name, click “Join player game” and then click “Yes” in the next information window given by Hyperlobby.

 

If the server is already running an ordinary mission, you can still join it for checking out the status and chatting with the other players. Alternatively, you can also hang around in the co-op room in HL and chat there in meanwhile. When the ongoing mission ends, the server will come back to HL and places itself into a free co-op hosting slot. Click on a player slot and the server will bring you into the co-op game from HL after a short time.

 

 

 


Direct IP

 

The servers always publish their status on the web. If the server is up and running, copy the IP address from this web page, start IL2, click Multiplayer, Connect to server, paste the IP address into the Address field, and click connect.

 

 

 

If you want to join the server only at the right time (mission briefing) and fly without waiting, leave the status page open and minimize it. As soon as a new mission is ready for joining, the window will bring itself into the foreground with an alert message,  telling you to join the server now.

 

If you wish to receive a notification only when other players enter the server, click the toggle switch to the right side. In this case, you may start flying on a less preferred server, and join your preferred server later on, when players start to arrive there.

 

 

 

Possible connection problems

 

“Connection attempt to remote host rejected.”

 

“Connect disabled” is received normally  when the mission is just launching and for about 1-2 minutes no new connections are accepted. In some special situations however, the same message can be received for a longer time, when an administrator disabled the arrival of new players for the ongoing mission, typically for online wars.  Either try again after a short while, or open and keep the server status web page open in your browser, and join the next mission when notified.

 

 “Reason: limit connections = nnn”  is received when all server slots are already occupied on the server. Try again later at your convenience. If you really don’t have luck with this, check the server logs next day, you will be able to see when the server was fully loaded, and when  there were free slots.

 

 

What to do after connecting successfully?

 

Make sure your chat window is at least 2-3 lines long and watch the messages from “Server” in Red color. Upon your entry, the server will tell you the current mission status. 

 

If you can’t read some messages properly, activate the chat window by clicking on it, and then you will see the text with light blue background, and good contrast. If you missed the information about the server status, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC STATUS

The server controller will repeat the mission status to you.

 

Basically 2 static stages of the mission are interesting: BRIEFING and IN PROGRESS, the others are temporary anyway.

 

In BRIEFING status, the mission is waiting for players to select an aircraft, read the brief and press the “Fly” button. This is a good time to join, starting the mission almost as soon as you want.  Observe that the first airplane in the list of flyable ones is always reserved for the automated server. Do not take this position by yourself, it does not take part in any action. Usually this is an old aircraft (a P11.c for example), it is located on a far-away corner of the map on the ground.

 

While IN PROGRESS, the mission is already launched and still ongoing. It is not possible to fly immediately without interrupting the ongoing mission and the server inform you about the maximum time that may be remaining from the ongoing mission.  In the meantime, you can

 

If you insist on selecting an airplane and pressing the “Fly” button however, the sever controller will try to restart the ongoing mission, so you can join in as well. Just remember that aborting an ongoing mission may ruin the fun for the players already flying, therefore they can lock their ongoing missions for the best parts.  In this case, you have to wait until the mission ends or it is unlocked by a player already flying in the mission from the beginning.

 

You may also check the current difficulty settings of the ongoing mission by sending the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC DIFFICULTY

The server controller will respond with the short abbreviation of the difficulty profile, as well as the numeric value of the difficulty switchboard.

 

In order to obtain information from the other players, even during briefing status, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC PLAYERS LIST

This will return the most probable status of all players finished with a small summary about how many players haven’t selected a side yet, how many players selected a side, and out of those, how many are ready to fly.

The information query can be narrowed down to specific players or statuses by sending the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC PLAYERS filter

where ‘filter’ is a text filter for a special call-sign part (squadron ID) or status (loading, or briefing) or army side (Red or Blue).

 

 

Rules of mission launch

 

The democratic way

 

This section refers to the situation, when there is no active player administrator on the server.

 

Normally, the mission briefings end when any time when a configurable ratio of players pressed their “Fly” button.  The number of players required to start the mission is always announced by the server.  

 

When the briefing is ended, a  2-minute countdown starts, announced every 10 seconds. Within that, all remaining players should take an aircraft and press their “Fly” buttons as well.  As soon as all players are ready to fly, the server launches the mission immediately. Otherwise, players that are not ready yet will have to be forcibly removed (“kicked”)  by the server temporarily upon the expiry of the 2 minute timer, and the mission will launch after that.

 

The dictatorship way

 

This section refers to the situation, when there is one active player administrator on the server.

 

The mission briefings end only when the administrator pressed the “Fly” button. The next steps are the same as above.

 

The middle way

 

Server administrators may configure additional restrictions for important campaigns, such as a certain date and time (after which the mission can launch), a special campaign password (shared with the involved squadron commanders), or the minimum number of players to be present on the server.  These restrictions are in “AND” relation with each other, meaning that more than one restriction can apply to the same mission. The most important restriction is always announced by the server, so that players know what to expect and what to do.  When one restriction is removed (e.g., the planned mission time arrives), but another remains (e.g., minimum required players), the server will infom the players regarding this change immediately.

 

If you are a squadron commander and know the secret launch password to the mission,  send  the following chat line to the Server only:

DSC LAUNCH password TO Server

The correct password will remove the launch restriction from this specific mission and if all other conditions are met, the briefing will end and the mission will launch as usual. The launch password has to be issued before each mission which is configured for launch password protection.

 

Important note regarding players participating as gunners

 

Selecting a gunner position may sound fun, but be aware of the limitations. The IL2 game will not allow you switching to a pilot position, and you will not be able to bail at your own will either, only when the pilot bails, too. Therefore being a rear gunner is only meaningful when the pilot is your friend, not a stranger or an AI pilot. In other cases, you make a better deal by selecting the pilot position, which also allows you to select all of the gunner positions manned by AI, while the plane is piloted by the autopilot or level stabilizer.

 

If you really insist on flying as a rear gunner, select your gunner position, press the “Fly” button first,  after that send  the following chat text (to ALL):

DSC GUNNER

Although you will not be able to end the briefing of pilots by yourself, the mission will start faster when the pilots are ready to go, and your chances of being removed by mistake will reduce greatly.

 

If you would like to assist someone else, who wishes to fly as a gunner but not familiar with the co-op server commands, you can assign that person to gunner  by sending  the following chat text (to ALL):

DSC GUNNER callsign

The server controller will attempt to find the other player identified by the call-sign and flag him/her as a gunner. In case the call-sign pattern doesn’t match any of the player names on the server, the controller will perform a reverse scan again, the try to find a partial match, where the player name includes the specified ‘callsign’ text. In case of several players meet that criteria, only the player, which joined most recently, will be assigned as a gunner. In order to avoid kicking the wrong person, always specify the call-signs in this command as accurately possible. The partial matching should be used only when dealing with players that have unknown whitespaces in their names.

 

 

Obtaining mission reconnaissance

 

In order to obtain information about the initial position of moving armor, vehicles and ships, send  the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC RECON

The server controller will provide the available reconnaissance to the pilot only. Other pilots will NOT see the output from the server controller.

 

Depending on the server settings, reconnaissance may be limited. Firstly, reconnaissance may be only available before mission launch, between launch and minimum required mission time or after the elapse of the minimum required mission time. In highly competitive campaigns, this command may be completely ineffective. Secondly, the reconnaissance my be limited to friendly ground forces only, or the enemy and aircraft positions may be inaccurate. The level of inaccuracy of enemy positions depends on campaign settings.

 

In some case, the server may output a very long list of targets and friendlies. In order to focus on certain unit types, you can limit the output by sending the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC RECON filter

The server controller will provide only those reconnaissance items, which match the given filter. Typical filters can be “enemy” or “friendly”, but ground attack pilots may find the filters “armor”, “vehicle” and “ship” also useful.

 

 

 

Rules of mission termination

 

The missions will end after a pre-configured time limit (e.g., 30 minutes), the server announces the remaining time at regular intervals.

 

The mission may also end earlier, if all human pilots either land at a base, crash their airplane or disconnect.

 

The mission may also end immediately when sufficient number of new players arrive to the server, press Fly successfully, and the mission was not locked manually before.

 

Active pilots still in control of their aircraft can also request mission termination. Send  the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC TERMINATE

Depending on the pre-set voting ratios, sufficient number of requests will stop the ongoing mission, unless the mission is configured to run until a specific time period (mostly used in campaigns).  

 

In rare cases, especially in campaigns, the pre-set time limit may be insufficient. Then an active player administrator can extend the mission time by sending the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC EXTEND minutes

where “minutes” is the integer number of additional minutes that needs to be added to the time limit of the currently running mission. This value must fall between 5 and 60 minutes, however, the time can be extended multiple times.

 

 

Mission types

 

The available mission types depend on the server operator. Some missions may be static, some other mission may be dynamically generated.

  

Mission selection

 

Autorotation and manual voting

 

The server controller automatically rotates the missions one after the other. However, ordinary players can also propose and active player administrator can also manually select the next mission to load, as desired.

 

Over a certain number of players, the mission proposal from one player needs to be agreed by other players before the selection can take effect. The agreement is indicated by submitting the same mission proposal by other players. The mission proposals (“votes”) will be cancelled by the server controller after loading the next mission.

 

The agreed mission proposals will be loaded immediately, if the current mission is in BRIEFING stage. An ongoing mission however, will not be interrupted, the mission will  continue. The server controller loads the agreed  mission only after the current one is finished (e.g., when every human pilot  landed, bailed out or got killed).

 

Commands for mission control

 

Send  the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC MAPS

The server controller will respond with a list of mission folder names available on the server. The folder names give hints about the common attributes of the mission grouped in this folder, e.g., the map and the year of the missions. 

 

Send  the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC MAP name

The server controller will select the first mission in that folder,  where your free text in place of “name” matches part of the mission file name.  

 

Send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC MISSIONS name

The server controller will respond with a list of mission file names in the current folder, where your free text in place of “name” matches part of the mission file name. 

 

If you want missions to be listed in another map, not the currently active one, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC MISSIONS mapname missionname

The server controller will respond with a list of mission file names in the first map, where “mapname” matches part of the map folder name, and “missionname’ matches part of the  mission file name. 

 

If you want to propose a specific mission file in the current map for playing next, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC MISSION name

The server controller will take the first mission where your free text in place of “name” matches part of the mission file name, as your proposal. 

 

If you want to propose a specific mission file in another map for playing next, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC MISSION mapname missionname

The server controller will take the mission where  “mapname” matches part of the map folder name, and “missionname” matches part of the mission file name, as your proposal. 

 

If you want to replay the currently loaded mission, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC REPLAY

The controller will omit rotating the mission after the ending of the current mission, and re-loads the same mission again. Be prepared however, that dynamic campaigns often disallow the manual replay of their missions. If the mission needs to be re-played due to accidents at starting (e.g., collisions in air starts), the mission may be terminated before the minimal required mission time. In this case, the mission result will not be taken into account, and the same mission will be replayed again automatically.

 

If you want to replay the currently loaded mission more than once, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC REPLAY n

The controller will omit rotating the mission after the ending of the current mission, and re-loads the same mission again as many times as specified by integer “n”.  This should be between the range 2-10 times maximum. Repeated replay order is cleared automatically in case the server becomes empty. Be prepared however, that dynamic campaigns often disallow the manual replay of their missions.

 

If you regularly play the same map (e.g., a dynamic campaign), you can specify your preference by sending the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC FAVORITE mapname

The controller will immediately switch to this map in case you are the first player on the server, therefore saving your time. However, if there are other players on the server, such change request will not take place, since you may decide to join the current missions with the other players.

 

In order to check your map preference setting, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC FAVORITE

 

In order to delete your map preference setting, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC FAVORITE CLEAR

 

 

 

Mission protection while playing

 

 

Soft lock

 

If you want to play undisturbed by new players arriving to the server, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL) after the mission started:

DSC LOCK

The server controller will protect the currently ongoing mission from newly arriving players. This means that  the server controller will allow the mission to continue and the new players have to wait until the mission is either completed, or unlocked again. The lock is removed automatically at every mission start.

 

If you want to re-enable the possibility of including new players with a mission restart, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC UNLOCK

The server controller immediately  re-start the ongoing mission, if a new player joins the game, selects and airplane and presses the “Fly!” button.

 

Hard closure

 

This possibility is only available for an active player administrator.

 

If you want to completely prohibit new players from joining the server during an ongoing mission, or already at the start of mission briefing, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL) after the mission started:

DSC CLOSE

The server controller will not allow any new players joining the server at all. Attempts to join the server will result in “connect disabled” error message to the new players. The closure is removed automatically at every new mission start.

 

If you want to re-enable the possibility of joining the server for new players during the ongoing mission,  send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

DSC REOPEN

The server controller will again allow new players to join the server. However, any new player may have to wait for the ending of the current mission, depending on the current lock status (see in section above). 

 

Certain important campaigns may also be configured for automatic closure, so even without an active player administrator, the server will disable new player arrivals for the duration while the mission is running. In this case a special notice is posted on the server status page, and new players are allowed to join only after the mission ends and the next mission briefing starts. An active player administrator can also manually re-open an automatically closed missions.  

 

 

Point system

 

The sever controllers takes input from the points as awarded by the IL2 game at the end of finished missions.  If someone makes successful kills, but disconnects before the mission is finished, the IL2 game registers no points for that pilot, therefore sometimes it may make sense to remain in the mission after bailing out or crash-landing on the field. 

 

The points displayed by IL2 are further processed by the server controller and then added to the individual statistics of the pilots. The processing will be as follows:

 

-                          all positive points gained by human pilots on the same side are shared evenly between them – this makes “kill stealing” by humans no longer an issue

-                          the scores are increased by 25% for the side that won the mission, and reduced by 25% for the side that lost the mission – this raises the importance of fulfilling mission objectives

-                          the scores are increased by 50% when at least 2 humans were starting the mission on the same side and all survived – this motivates a historic attitude towards appreciating my comrades’ lives more than mission objectives or victory counts

-                          the scores are decreased by 50% when at least 2 humans were starting the mission on the same side and at least one of them died - this also motivates a historic attitude towards appreciating my comrades’ lives more than mission objectives or victory counts.

 

At the end of the calculation, the server announces the points awarded finally in the statistical records. In case of no points earned, nothing is announced.

 

The overall statistics are tracked on the hard disk of the server, and can be queried online with the following chat line to the “Server” or “ALL”:

            DSC STATS

 

The statistics for everyone is uploaded to the web at server at periodic intervals (e.g., every 2 hours), but only in idle periods.  The call-signs are sorted in alphabetical order and team/squadron associations are determined from the patterns at the beginning of the call-signs. Direct hyperlinks to players, squad, mission and campaigns are available for bookmarking by clicking on the “On duty” lamps on the right side.

 

NB. The dynamic campaigns use their own  built-in award and point system in parallel with the above system. Information regarding the scores and awards from the dynamic campaigns can be obtained from the campaign organizers.

 

 

 

 

Negative scores (TK)

 

Innocent friendly fire and friendly collision incidents are unavoidable and checked at the end of each mission. If a pilot has negative score, it will not influence the score of other pilots. However, the pilot will not gain from the team score sharing either, and receives a chat warning from the Server when this happens for the first time.  When obtaining a negative score again within 30 minutes of a previous negative score, the pilot’s individual score is reduced, and the server controller announces that the pilot is prohibited to fly  for 10 minutes. If this pilot tries to fly again a mission within the penalty period, the server controller will kick him immediately after the mission is launched.  

 

 

Player administrators

 

The player administrator role is similar to a powerful dictator.

 

Administrators can identify themselves to the server by a secret password, set by the server operator earlier.  Only one administrator can be active at any given time. The active administrator is fully in control, and therefore fully responsible for game-play experience on the server during his/her rule.

 

The administrator rights are withdrawn when the currently active admin leaves the server. The exclusive rights and responsibilities can also be manually given up by the active administrator as well, returning him to a normal player status.

 

All administrator activities are announced to all players to ensure transparency of administrative actions.

 

 

If you want to become the mighty dictator on the server, send the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

            DSC ADMIN password TO Server

If your password matches that manually set by the server owner at start, you will receive the exclusive administrator privileges to launch, lock, unlock, terminate, change missions, or even kick players and close the servers from new entrants.

 

If you want to kick someone from the server, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC KICK callsign

The server controller will attempt to kick the player identified by the call-sign. In case the call-sign pattern doesn’t match any of the player names on the server, the controller will perform a reverse scan again, the try to find a partial match, where the player name includes the specified ‘callsign’ text. In case of several players meet that criteria, only the player, which joined most recently, will be kicked. In order to avoid kicking the wrong person, always specify the call-signs in this command as accurately possible. The partial matching should be used only when dealing with players that have unknown whitespaces in their names.

 

If you want to prevent someone coming back to he server, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC BAN callsign

The server controller will request from IL-2 the banning on all call-signs with the given pattern.

 

If you want to prevent someone coming back to he server, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC UNBAN callsign

The server controller will request from IL-2 the remove of the ban for the call-signs with the given pattern.

 

 

The active player administrator also carries the exclusive right to control mission launch, termination and change as well. During his or her rule, no other player can launch, terminate or change missions. The mission briefings also end only when the active player administrator wants to end the mission, regardless of any other players or pre-configured launch restrictions.

 

If you want to return to being an ordinary player with no extra responsibilities and tasks, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC ADMIN

Sending the command without password will remove your exclusive administrator privileges and responsibilities. 

 

 

Organizing events

 

In order to  promote team-play and squadron matches, the server controller provides a simple in-game bulletin board system.

 

Posting a message is available to everyone with more than 1 hour of flight time. The message has to be short and straight to the point, only 1 line and maximum  60-70 characters. The player who posts the message should specify the number of hours, for which his or her message should remain on the board.

 

The active messages are announced

The messages always indicated the call-sign of the poster in brackets, at the beginning of the message.

 

If you want to check the active messages on the bulletin board, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC MSG

The server controller will respond with the list of active messages (if any).

 

If you want to leave a message, e.g., a match request for the other visitors of a server,  send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC MSG hours your message

The ‘hours’ parameter specified the expiry date of your message, minimum value is 1 hour, maximum value is 168 hours (1 week).

 

If you want to clear your previous message before its automatic expiry time,  send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC MSG CLEAR

This will remove your earlier posted, and still active message from the in-game bulletin board. 

 

In order to avoid message flooding, the server accepts only 1 message from 1 player. Maximum 5 messages may be posted on the bulletin board at any time, in this case, new messages can be posted only when previous messages are deleted.  The messages are purged by their expiry time regularly when the server is online.

 

Password protected slots in competitive missions

 

A few competitive missions may be intended for only a special group of players. In order to prevent unauthorized access to their briefings and their aircraft, it may be necessary to enter a secret password before selecting any slot. In this case will be a warning in the chat line about this prerequisite. Failure to enter the correct password before taking a slot will result in the immediate kicking of the player.

  

In order to identify to the server controller that you are eligible to take a slot on the Allied (red) side, send the following chat line to the Server only:

DSC RED redpassword

where ‘redpassword’ is an agreed secret password known by the invited players for the Allied side. The password is case sensitive.

 

In order to identify to the server controller that you are eligible to take a slot on the Axis  (blue) side, send the following chat line to the Server only:

DSC BLUE bluepassword

where ‘bluepassword’ is an agreed secret password known by the invited players for the Allied side. The password is case sensitive.

 

If the current mission is not protected, the passwords will be stored by the controller and used for authentication later, when the protected mission will be loaded up.

 

If the current mission is protected, the result of password verification will be announced. Only after successful authentication should the player take a slot. In case of unsuccessful authentication, the player should ask for the correct password from his commander in charge or the server administrator.

 

An active administrator may override the password protection and take any side. However, as soon as his administrator rights are removed, the password verification will take place and may be kicked as well, in case of incorrect or missing password.

 

The above commands do not survive disconnection from the server, and have to be entered every time after joining the server, before selecting a protected slot.

 

Password-protected individual call-signs

 

In a competitive environment, some players require protecting their call-sign from unauthorized use, i.e., replication by others.

 

If you would like to prevent other players joining and flying missions with your current call-sign (nick), define your call-sign by sending the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

 

DSC PASSWORD yourpassword TO Server

The server controller will confirm the setting of your new call-sign protection.

 

If you leave the server and re-join later, you will only be able to fly a mission after entering the same protection password which you defined before. Confirm your identity and enter your secret call-sign by sending the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

DSC PASSWORD yourpassword TO Server

The server controller will confirm that your password matches. If the comparisons fails (e.g., difference in capitalization)  you receive a negative confirmation and you have to repeat the command with the correct password. 

 

If you no longer wish to protect your call-sign, remove the protection by sending the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

             DSC PASSWORD CLEAR

The server controller will confirm the removal of the protection.

 

In case you forget your call-sign password, you must contact the server operator or a player, who can activate himself or herself as player administrator. After that the active player administrator can set  or clear the call-sign password by sending one of the below text in the chat line to the Server only:

DSC PASSWORD callsign hispassword TO Server

Or

DSC PASSWORD callsign CLEAR TO Server

The server controller will confirm the success or failure of setting the call-sign password. The changes take effect immediately, regardless whether the requesting player is in or not in game.

 

 

 

Campaign type specific commands

 

If you want to kick someone from the server from your own campaign,  send the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

            DSC KICK callsign campaignpassword TO Server

The server controller will attempt to kick the player identified by the call-sign, even if you are not an active player admin. However, the campaignpassword should match the campaign administrator password for the currently loaded map. 

 

 

Scorched Earth Online War (SEOW)

 

 

The server controller is integrated with SEDCS application, so that missions can be built and analyzed automatically, without the need to access SEDCS manually.

 

In order to  generate the next mission, send the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

             DSC SEOW BUILD campaingpassword TO Server

The ‘campaingpasswrd’ is a parameter normally available to campaign administrators only, so as to ensure that mission generation takes place only after the commanders finished their activities in the Mission Planner (MP). The building can only start, if the campaign is in Planning phase (01_Planning). The mission building in SEDCS starts immediately, however, it may take between 5-25 minutes to finish. During this time, the server may  be used to play other missions. When the mission building is finished, players will be notified with a text message in chat line and the mission will become immediately playable in the corresponding map folder.

 

 

In order to  launch a mission without any flyable aircraft (e.g., only ground war was planned due to bad weather), send the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

             DSC SEOW FORCELAUNCH campaingpassword TO Server

The ‘campaingpassword’ is a parameter normally available to campaign administrators only, because the controller will start the usual launch countdown and due to the inability to pick a plane and press “Fly” button, it will remove all players from the server in order to launch the mission. 

 

If the same command is used in a schedule, it will start the launch count-down at the scheduled time, regardless of the number of players.

 

In order to backup a local SEOW database manually (e.g., after a successful analysis as well), send the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

             DSC SEOW BACKUP campaingpassword TO Server

The ‘campaingpassword’ is a parameter normally available to campaign administrators only. The campaign should have been pre-configured for automatic backup also, which takes place after every mission building.   

 

In order to restore a local SEOW database manually (e.g., before building the next mission), send the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

             DSC SEOW RESTORE campaingpassword TO Server

The ‘campaingpassword’ is a parameter normally available to campaign administrators only. The campaign should have been pre-configured for automatic restoration also. Bear in mind that restoration may take time significant time, if it takes place from a remote machine via the Internet, therefore do not initiate other activities (e.g., building the next mission) within the maximum time the restoration can take.    

 

 

With active player administrator rights, it is possible to automate the mission building and launching command sequences with the help of “builder” and “launcher” scripts.

 

In order to start the mission building command sequence, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

             DSC SEOW BUILDER campaingfolder

The ‘campaingfolder’ parameter must be an exact match of an existing campaign folder. The server will

 

In order to start the mission launching command sequence, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

             DSC SEOW LAUNCHER campaingfolder [minbrief] [maxbrief]

The ‘campaingfolder’ parameter must be an exact match of an existing campaign folder. The optional ‘minbrief’ parameter can be an integer, which specifies in minutes, how long is the guaranteed briefing time, while ordinary players cannot launch the mission nor change the map. The optional ‘maxbrief’ parameter can be another integer, which specifies in minutes, how long the server will wait after the end of the minimum briefing time, before force-launching the mission.  If the minimum briefing time is 0, it means that the mission can be launched immediately, if the other, normal launch conditions are fulfilled. If the maximum briefing time is 0, it means that as soon as the minimum briefing time elapsed, the forced launch of the mission will be requested immediately.  During the launch sequence, the server will

 

 

Although the scripts performs its activities with administrator rights, an active human administrator can and will override both of them. To avoid unwanted interference between the human administrator and the script, it is recommended to release administrator rights after starting the building/launching sequences.

 

If there is a need to override the scripts for a longer period of time, they can be manually de-activated and put out of operation completely. In order to do this, send the following text in the chat lines (to ALL):

            DSC SEOW BUILDER DEACTIVATE

            DSC SEOW LAUNCHER DEACTIVATE

In this case, they need to be manually re-activated again before using them.  In order to do this, send the following text in the chat lines (to ALL):

            DSC SEOW BUILDER ACTIVATE

            DSC SEOW LAUNCHER ACTIVATE

 

In rare cases, the mission generation may fail for some reason, which can be quickly corrected by the campaign administrators. However,  the protection for the SEDCS GUI must be removed manually before the building command can be repeated again.. In order to clear the interference protection on the SEDCS GUI, send the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

             DSC SEOW CLEAR campaingpassword TO Server

The ‘campaingpasswrd’ is a parameter normally available to campaign administrators only. After the confirmation the building command can be repeated once more.

 

 

Dynamic Campaign Generator (DCG)

 

In order to  launch a mission without any players (e.g., to move the clock advance), activate yourself as a player administrator and send the following text in the chat line to the Server only:

             DSC FORCELAUNCH TO Server

The ‘campaingpassword’ is a parameter normally available to campaign administrators only, because the controller will start the usual launch countdown and due to the inability to pick a plane and press “Fly” button, it will remove all players from the server in order to launch the mission. 

 

In order obtain information about territory control and ground troop strength, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC DCG TERRITORY [filter]

The server will respond with the list of named locations, their control situation and own troop strengths. If permitted, the server will also give the enemy strength as well, however this information may be inaccurate. The optional ‘filter’ parameter can be used to restrict the list, for example,  to the ‘Contested’ (frontline) areas only.

 

In order obtain information about squadron strength, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC DCG SQUADRONS [filter]

The server will respond with the list of squadron codes, their affiliation and own squadron details, such as number of planes, their type, activity status and home airfield. If permitted, the server will also give the enemy squadron details as well, however that information may be inaccurate. The optional ‘filter’ parameter can be used to restrict the list, for example,  to certain plane types or home bases. 

 

In order to see the possibility to override the internal air and ground commander of the campaign generator, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC DCG COMMANDS [filter]

The server will respond with the list of DCG command options enabled for use by the players on your side for that specific campaign, in the format required by the DCG timetable.  Additional information on the options can be provided by the server operator or the campaign maintainer.  Options ending with a “*” indicate the possibility to append arbitrary parameters, such as news briefs. The optional ‘filter’ parameter can be used to restrict the list, for example,  to certain option type or squadron identity. 

 

In order to override the internal air and ground commander of the campaign generator, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC DCG COMMAND pattern [additional parameters]

The server will select the option using the mandatory, case insensitive  ‘pattern’ and insert it into the time-table of DCG. If the option ends with a “*” , the additional text parameters will be appended to the timetable entry as well. The server controller will confirm the date, when the command will become effective. However, be aware that  the command will not be effective on the already generated and mission at all. In case the server confirmed today’s campaign date, but the next mission will be generated for tomorrow, the command will not be executed, so the player will have to repeat the command a the beginning of the next campaign day.

 

 

Voice communications

 

Pilots are recommended to use the server-specific voice communication channels, whenever provided. This will ensure that all pilots will be able to communicate with each other while playing on the server.

 

It is the responsibility of pilots taking flight-lead positions to ensure that voice communication to all pilots on their side is working. Balanced missions can only be won by the team with better cooperation, and cooperation via chat line is far too slow in case of ongoing combat.

 

 

Useful tips for players

 

Changes in “conf.ini” file

 

Change the line from DrawIfNotFocused=0 to DrawIfNotFocused=1. This will allow players to switch (Alt+Tab) to any other application, but keep the IL2 screen visible in the background always updated. This is quite handy while you wait for the next mission start, because you can keep an eye on the mission progress and simultaneously do others things on your PC instead of just waiting (e.g., reading P-51 Mustang encounter reports by real pilots.).

 

Change the line from MaxLen=3000.0 to MaxLen=500000. This will allow players to move the view far away from the location where they bailed or crashed, and follow the action elsewhere, even if the external view is not available on the server.

 

Finding a disappeared mouse pointer

 

In case the yellow triangle of the mouse pointer disappears from IL2, it may be caused by a well-known bug in IL2 itself.  The simple solution is to press the key for activating the chat window (default ~), this will also make the mouse pointer to re-appear again. Click on any part of the screen to close the chat window, and the mouse pointer will remain available.

 

Reading of long mission and map lists in the chat window

 

In large servers, map or mission listings can be very lengthy, much larger than the chat window. In order to see the beginning of those lists, activate the chat window and click on the upper part of the messages frame. This is equivalent to a “page up” operation, allowing the players to see the beginning part of the long lists as well.  At the end of viewing, click the lower part of the messages frame in the active chat window  several times (“page down”), so as to go down to the bottom of the messages and view the latest ones again. Deactivating the chat window and re-activating it again will not do this. If you forget to go down to the bottom of the message window manually, the messages may seem “delayed”.

 

Messages are seriously delayed in the chat window

 

Activate the chat window and click the lower part of the messages frame. This acts as a “page down” operation in the messages frame and ensures that your chat window is showing always the latest (most fresh) messages from the server.

 

Low frame-rates, stutters and warping

 

Make sure that your network settings a correctly adjusted in IL-2 and also in your Hyperlobby client (if you connect via HL). Too low settings will result in jerky movement of other aircraft and ground targets, too high setting will risk stutters and warping, so it is very important to configure your PC to use the maximum bandwidth that is safely available to you and your CPU can safely handle – not more, not less. Test your bandwidth by starting up http://www.speedtest.net and selecting a test-server in the same country where your co-op server is located. After the test, take a note of the downlink bandwidth in kbit/s. Then multiply this value by a factor of 0.8 (-20%) to allow a safety margin, multiply it by 1000 (to get bit/s) and divide by 8 (to get bytes/s). Put the result into your

a)     IL-2 conf.ini file, section [NET], speed=xxxxx

b)     Hyperlobby hlpro.ini file, section [Forgotten Battles], clientRate=xxxxx.

 

 

Useful tips for squadrons

 

The suggested procedure for scheduling squad competitions through the in-game bulletin board is as follows:

 

Step 1. The squadron commander places the request on the bulletin board a few days in advance.

 

DSC MSG 72 SquadA Axis 04.23 20:00 UTC+2 MAP 6

 

The message is a short form for saying that squadron “A”  would like to play the campaign (map) #6 on the Axis side at 23rd April at 8 PM local time, in time zone UTC + 2. For the correct understanding of the time zone abbreviations, use http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/.

 

 

 

Step 2. Members of other squadrons joining the server will see the message

 

Server: (commanderA)SquadA Axis 04.23 20:00 UTC+2, MAP 6

 

They can inform their own commander and if they want to compete, they can leave the following message in reply:

 

DSC MSG 72 SquadB Allied 04.23 20:00 UTC+2, MAP 6

 

The message is also short form for saying that squadron “B”  would also like to play the campaign (map) #6 on the Allied side at 23rd April at 8 PM local time, in time zone UTC + 2. As a result, the following 2 messages will appear to all players and on the status web page:

 

Server: (commanderA)SquadA Axis 04.23 20:00 UTC+2, MAP 6

Server: (commanderB)SquadB Allied 04.23 20:00 UTC+2, MAP 6

 

The complementary messages mean that the match is agreed and scheduled from both sides. 

 

Step 3.  When the match time comes, everyone gathers on the server from both squadrons.

 

The players vote for the agreed map and missions

 

DSC MAP 06_

 

The missions are launched and played as usual.  After the squadron match is over, the messages can be deleted manually by the squadron commanders, or they will be deleted automatically by the expiry times.

 

 

Server performance tracking

 

In order to help mission makers and server administrators to optimize the missions and server settings, the server tracks and reports the following parameters:

 

The server controller will insert the final results at the end of each mission into the general mission log, which is then uploaded to the web at regular pre-defined intervals (e.g., once every 24 hours).

 

In order to obtain interim results for an ongoing mission, you can send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

             DSC PERFORMANCE

The server controller will respond with the values recorded from the mission start until the time the command was entered. Please be aware that certain measurements become available only after 1-2 minutes into the mission, not immediately from the start of the mission. The data is collected and tracked during ongoing missions, so in case you enter this command during a mission briefing, the reported data reflects the final results of the latest mission.

 

Active bandwidth management

 

Due to the larger number of moving objects, the co-operative missions are more demanding for a stable and speedy internet access to/from the clients.

 

Active bandwidth management allows the optimization of the bandwidth usage of each player by 2 ways.

a)     Warning them repeatedly, when their connection does not meet the pre-defined minimum bandwidth requirement for the mission.

b)     Capping their maximum bandwidth, when their connection is too fast and would overwhelm the server.

 

As the actual bandwidth demand is proportional with the number of moving objects (aircraft, ground vehicles and tanks), typically higher minimum-maximum range can be specified for with dense population of moving AI objects, and lower minimum-maximum settings  can be configured for missions with fewer AI objects.

 

In order to check the current minimum and maximum bandwidth requirements, you can send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

             DSC BANDWIDTH

The server controller will respond with the values currently in effect.

 

In order to change the minimum bandwidth requirement for the current mission, an active player administrator can send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC BANDWIDTH MIN minimumkilobitpersec

where ‘minimumkbitpersec’ is an integer value, specifying the minimum required bandwidth for the player’s individual connections, in kilobit/second (kbit/s). Note: tt can take up to 1 minute to issue all warnings to players not meeting the new minimum bandwidth requirement.

 

In order to change the minimum bandwidth requirement for the current mission, an active player administrator can send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC BANDWIDTH MAX maximumkilobitpersec

where ‘mqximumkilobitpersec’ is an integer value, specifying the maximum permitted bandwidth for the player’s individual connections, in kilobit/second (kbit/s). The controller will issue a warning, in case the maximum permitted player limit could potentially lead to a server link overload (player bandwidth cap * maximum number of players > total server bandwidth specified in its conf.ini file), but the setting takes place anyway. Note: It can take up to 1 minute to throttle up or down the bandwidth of all players to the new maximum cap. 

 

NB. The manually adjusted values are valid from briefing until mission termination and the pre-configured values will take effect again after terminating, replaying or changing the current mission.

 

Skin download settings

 

The server controller allows changing the skin download status during an ongoing mission. In order to do so, an active player administrator can send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC SKINDOWNLOAD setting

where ‘setting’ is either OFF or ON, depending whether skin download should be disabled or enabled on the server side.

 

 

Scheduling

 

The server controller is capable to run DSC commands on a pre-defined schedule. This can be useful to trigger map changes or initiate specific activities.

 

In order to list the currently scheduled events on the server, send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC SCHEDULE

The server controller will list the scheduled DSC commands – not necessarily in ascending order, and also displays the current time, allowing to determine the remaining time for the events to take place.

 

In order to enter a new DSC command to be executed at a pre-defined time in the future, an active player administrator must send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC SCHEDULE yyyy-mm-dd hh.mm command parameters

where ‘yyyy-mm-dd’ is the date, ‘hh.mm’ is the hour and minute separated by a period ‘.’, not a colon, ‘command’ is the DSC command (without the DSC prefix), and ‘parameters’ are the arbitrary parameters for the command.

 

The server controller makes no syntax check on the scheduled command, therefore the spelling must be very accurate, otherwise a misspelled command will fail to execute at the scheduled time. The scheduled commands are saved on the hard disk, therefore they will be automatically restored after server restart or shutdown as well.

 

In order to change an already scheduled DSC command, an active player administrator must send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC SCHEDULE yyyy-mm-dd hh.mm newcommand parameters

where ‘yyyy-mm-dd’ is the already pre-set date, ‘hh.mm’ is the already pre-set hour and minute separated by a period, not a colon, ‘newcommand’ is the new DSC command (without the DSC prefix), and ‘parameters’ are the arbitrary parameters for the command.

 

In order to delete an already scheduled DSC command, an active player administrator must send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC SCHEDULE yyyy-mm-dd hh.mm

where ‘yyyy-mm-dd’ is the date, ‘hh.mm’ is the hour and minute separated by a period, not a colon, for the already scheduled command.

 

In order to deactivate the scheduling function to prevent the scheduled events interfering with manual activities, an active player administrator must send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC SCHEDULE DEACTIVATE

The deactivation is valid until the next server restart, or until manual re-activation. During this time, the schedule table can be modified freely, but no events will be executed.

In order to re-eactivate the scheduling function again, an active player administrator must send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC SCHEDULE ACTIVATE

The activation will also execute all scheduled commands, which were supposed to be executed during the deactivated period. If this is undesirable, these outdated commands should be deleted from the schedule manually first, leaving only future events in the calendar.

 

Schedule example

 

The following example shows how to pre-schedule a SEOW event on Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008, where players are expected to gather on the server at 21:00 (according to the server’s time zone), and the mission should be launched at 21:15 latest. It is assumed that the mission will be generated in maximum 10-15 minutes, and the corresponding map folder is named 43_SEOW_Murmansk.

 

Step 1. The mission generation sequence needs to be scheduled with sufficient time ahead of the players gathering on the server. 

 

DSC SCHEDULE 2008-01-23 20.35 SEOW BUILDER 43_SEOW_Murmansk

 

Starting the generation 25 minutes before the players arrive ensures that the mission will be generated by the time the players start gathering on the server.

 

Step 2. The mission launch sequence is started just prior to the gathering time, so as to ensure that the server is switched to the correct map again before the players arrive.

 

DSC SCHEDULE 2008-01-23 20.55 SEOW LAUNCHER 43_SEOW_Murmansk 15 5

 

The minimum briefing time will last 15 minutes, from 20:55 till 21:15. During this time, no ordinary player can launch the mission.

After 21:10, the mission can be launched by fulfilling the normal launch conditions, e.g., enough people pressed “Fly” and the campaign password is entered by one of the commanders. However, the briefing can remain ongoing for a maximum of  5 additional minutes.

After 21:15, the mission will be force-launched and if not all players are ready, the usual 2 minutes count-down will starts. Players not ready at the end of the countdown will be removed from the server as usual, in order to allow the mission launch. If commanders need more time to brief their pilots, they can do so while the mission is already running, by staying on the runways for the remainder of the briefing. Pilots, who miss the event because of not joining on the agreed time will have to learn that “the war doesn’t wait for anyone”.   

 

Player titles

 

The server controller can highlight special players in the statistics, both when displayed in game or on the web page.  This can be useful for bringing other player’s attention to those, who bear special relation to the server operator, e.g., donors, contributors, commanding officers. Setting, altering and erasing such titles can be done by active player administrators only. 

 

In order to assign a special title to a player, an active administrator must send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC TITLE callsign title

The test ‘title’ will appear in brackets after the call-sign of the player in brackets, both in the in-game statistics (DSC STATS) and on the  statistical web page. Useful titles can be “admin”, “supporter”, “contributor”, “CO”, “XO” etc.

 

In order to check the special title of a player, an active player administrator must send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC TITLE callsign

 

In order to delete the special title of a player, an active player administrator must send the following text in the chat line (to ALL):

            DSC TITLE callsign CLEAR

 

Legal notes

 

The server controller is a custom-made non-profit 3rd party application for the IL2 software. All rights reserved.

 

The dedicated co-op server controller is designed for a completely standard, untouched version of IL-2 game. There has been a lot of time invested into understanding the exact behavior of the IL-2 GUI and the console in various situations, but there was neither need nor intent nor capability to access the internal details of IL-2 for this project. The server controller is a completely separate external add-on utility to the commercially available, unmodified IL-2 software.  In case of any further questions in this matter, please contact the relevant server operator or the maintainer of the controller application. Do not, under any circumstances, associate the co-op servers with cracking, cheating, hacking or manipulating the flight and damage models in any way, because it is not the case. 

 

Personal notes

 

Thanks to Daniel and Emma, my children, who allowed me to make this happen.

Thanks to Sun Microsystems for Java, Oleg and 1C for IL2 Sturmovik and Pacific Fighters.

Thanks to the server operators, mission makers, campaign designers and of course, the dedicated co-op players for suggestions and ceaseless motivation.

 

 

 

Appendix

 

 

Why a dedicated co-op server can be better than the normal manual co-op hosting?

 

 

Why coop missions can be better than scripted dogfight missions?

 

 

 

Why a dedicated online war server can be better than the normal mission downloading, manual hosting and report uploading?

 

 

 

What should be considered by interested server operators?

 

General features for server operators:

 

Configurable options available for server operators and mission makers:

 

 

Server machine requirements

 

 

 

 

 

Hosted mission requirements

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous requirements