Type98

Hmmm, PC is a generic hardware platform. I presume you meant elicense only works under the MS windows operating system and not under Linux or the MAC OS. As there hasn't been any reply from the developers, I will take the presumption that the elicense is still part of DropTeam. Thanks for the reply.

DropTeam is on sale for $20 at Battlefront. Does it still has the elicense copy protection scheme ?

Look up the reviews in regards to gameplay (there were one or two listed in the forums). There is also a manual that goes over the gameplay somewhat (if it has not been updated, it is probably out of date by now). Note: I don't own the game. The following is based on the earlier demos, YMMV. Basically, the player plays FPS via individual vehicles or squads, i.e. the player has direct control over his/her vehicle/infantry squad. There is no resource gathering or building. Both sides start out with combat assets determined by the scenario/map. If your preference is in the 4X, dropteam does not have the explore, expand, and exploit phase. Respawn is limited to the assets you start with. No more respawn once the assets are depleted. The AI will fill out the roster if there are insufficient players. Any player can issue orders to the AI units on their side. One player on each side can take a commander role. This will restrict re-supply and orbital strikes. LAN play still require Internet Access based on the authentication system deployed. AI is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and does not appear to employ any strategy (drop, charge, shoot/die/get stuck/ignore commands) so coop against AI gets boring fast. The gametypes were described in the manual (objective or CTF). The gameplay has changed since its release last year so use the latest demo. IMHO Dropteam is closer to the Myth series (with respawn) from bungie then other FPS/RTS series like Savage/Battlezone I and II. [ January 24, 2007, 08:20 AM: Message edited by: Type98 ]

Totally off topic. Sounds like Starsiege Tribes. Goes back to lurking.

Anything new compared to the old public test besides being limited to playing the Raid map since version 0.9.93 was suppose to be similar to version 1.0 ? It sounds like the demo authentication server has been taken down. Thanks.

What is new in version 0.9.93 ?

Modify the directory tree as stated above. Check the manual in regards to setting up dedicated server starting at page 55 of the pdf file.

Ummm, it may have to do with how it failed. Account authentication appear to be programmed to use TCP. The network trace of the last failure shows the server ignore/drop the client side package and both sides ended up in TCP resend/timeout mode,i.e. looks the problem was more with the server OS in general rather then the Account program itself. If the account server outright crashed then the client would probably have just returned an invalid account message rather then "hanging".

Thanks for the reply. So LAN games (including the server option under the standalone tab) would also require an Internet connection to verify user accounts prior to play ?

Two questions: What kind of copy protection will DropTeam have ? Will DropTeam require Internet online activation ? Thanks.

Got killed by 20mm AP in ice field and Linux 0.9.90 client promply crashed so it is not limited to ATGM deaths. Nothing in log except death message followed by STATUS MSG: View unlocked.

Suggestion: If you are really desperate, start your own stand alone server and advertise the server IP address in the forum/IRC/Messenger service. People who want to play can access the server using direct play. Otherwise see if the client can connect directly to the Aphrium (?) server. It is tbgsoftware.com IP=82.165.243.126 last time I checked. There was only one server active yesterday and Aphrium wasn't it so YMMV.

From the Inventory.xml file, the following vehicles do not have the AICanDrive field set to true: Hurricane, Paladin MC-L, Thor MC-H, Apollo MC-M, Tempest IC, and Viper DS. If you drop the bot with them, they just sit there.

How about allowing commands to be queued to the bots ? Or be able to set bot behaivior/reaction such as when they meet up with the enemy, target priority, travel speed, loose formation, and so forth ? By the way, why are some vehicles not controlable by the AI?

Previous threads already stated that the lethality of the weapons were toned down for game play reasons. Anyway... The Copperhead concept has pretty much been taken over by fire and forget munitions. For examples, search for SMART155, Excaliber, PGMM on the Internet. Putting point defense/jammers ( for example, smoke, look up superlense and cloaking on every vehicle can negate the advantages of guided munitions or HEAT. A heavy projectile (rock) from space would give you a tactical nuke without the radiation.

Just another data point: Every time the DT client joins a server, the client network usage will spike over 200Kbps ( last connection was around 278Kbps peak). After that it settles down to around 20-30kbps.

The steering setting under the options menu is not retained between gaming sessions, i.e. if you terminate the client and restart. There is an entry in DropTeamSettings.dat for steering bias which is always 20.

If you want to run standalone server on a LAN you can try using the direct play option. 1) Block UDP port 9967 (your server port) access from the Internet. 2) Start server using default port 9967. 3) Start client and select -> network tab -> direct play 4) Enter server IP address 5) Select Join Game. Step one blocks other clients from joining your server (or you unplug the Internet side of your PAT router).

If you upgraded after creating an account under a previous version, the local path for the account information changed. If this is the case, you probably have to re-create your account. That happend under the linux version.

Beware the Ogre

Suggestions: Post the update information to the public beta URL in addition to the forum to prevent more people from emailing. Right now the beta demo home page has no information at all about the beta being updated. An entry right above the download section would make sense. Add a update button to the account/network tab so the user can elect to update.

What is the peak rate down ?

Thanks for the answer, it make sense to have that flexibility. Just a suggestion: Can the game code do a quick scan of the scenarios to see if what was typed on the command line is actually available or least put something in the log such as gametype=objective requested; gametype=CTF started ? It took a while to find the typo.

Ran the Linux server today and accidently entered "objective" rather than "Objective" and the server ran without complaining about bad syntax. The default game type was CTF though and not Objective with "-gametype objective".

Been there, done that too. As to strategy, to each his own .