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Setting up an automated race host bot..

Introduction

Multiplayer is no fun without racers. However, setting up a race in the lobby can be cumbersome since you need to wait to get people in and do everything manually. Racer can run an automated race hoster. If you've ever seen VROC for Grand Prix Legends, you'll quickly grasp the concept.

Automated race hosting is supported as an alpha feature from v0.8.7 onwards.

Setting things up

Racer has a separate file called 'server.ini'. This file contains the configuration for the automated host. Check below for an example server.ini file.

The main on/off toggle is global.enable. If set to 1, when running Racer you'll get into the automated race mode. Your regular lobby nickname won't be used, but the bot will connect to the lobbyserver under the name specified in global.name. Make sure to fill this in with an identifiable name.

Example server.ini file

Here's a short example server.ini. Notice that global.enable is set to 1, enabling server mode.

The races part will be cycled through, so you can have a number of different races hosted by your bot.

;
; Racer server
;
global
{
  ; If enabled, Racer will be a server and host races through the lobby
  enable=1
  ; Nickname used (instead of regular lobby nickname)
  name=BotRacerTest
  ; Min # of players (otherwise the race is aborted)
  min_clients=2
  ; Max # of connecting players (NYI)
  max_clients=10
  ; Time (in seconds) to wait before each race to start
  wait_start=30
}
races
{
  ; A list of races to run
  race0
  {
    track=carlswood_nt
    ; Accepted cars
    cars=lambomurcielago
	   ; Fill up grid with AI if there aren't enough players
    min_cars=3
    ; Number of laps
    laps=1
    ; Allow car.ini to be different on the client?
    allow_car_ini_edits=1
  }
  race1
  {
    track=carlswood_nt
    cars=evo
    laps=2
  }
}

The Settings in detail

For the 'global' section, here is an explanation of what does what:

• enable; if set to 1, server mode is enabled. Racer will go directly to the lobby, login and host games, looping through the races.
• name; set this to your server's name, i.e. 'Dutch Racer Association'. This is used to display in the lobby for other people.
• min_clients; the minimum number of clients for a race to really be started. Note that the server itself doesn't supply a car, so if this is set to 2 for example, there must be at least 2 people from the internet joining the game. If min_clients is not reached, the race will be aborted and the next race will be selected & hosted.
• max_clients; the maximum number of clients. If there are max_clients joining players, the race will automatically start.
• wait_start; the number of seconds to wait before attempting to start the race. This allows some wait time for players to join.

For each race, you have the following settings:

• track; the track to drive on.
• cars; the accepted cars. These are the directory names, separated by spaces. For example: 'cars=lambomurcielago corvettec6' will accept only those 2 cars.
• name; set this to your server's name, i.e. 'Dutch Racer Association'. This is used to display in the lobby for other people.
• laps; the number of laps to race. Must be greater than 0.
• min_cars; the minimum number of cars in a race. This is an AI setting really; when min_clients is set to 2 for example, and min_cars=4, then the grid will be filled with AI cars so you get 4 cars in total. If 4 clients connect, there will only be human players. Note that the server must have valid AI lines for the cars on the track. The AI cars are randomly selected from the accepted cars.
• allow_car_ini_edits; when set to 1, this will not check the client's car.ini file for the accepted cars. If set to 0, the car.ini on both machines is validated. The way this is done is by sending an MD5 checksum of the car.ini file to the server. Any mismatch is rejected. This feature is normally used to avoid cheating. It may be a bit too restrictive though, so that's why you can turn it off.
  

Verification

Games are verified on the connecting computers (clients), to make sure that the player can join them. Unjoinable games are hidden if the 'Hide unjoinable games' is ticked in the Lobby.

Troubleshooting

Several things can go wrong. Here's a list of expected problems:

• Racer doesn't go to the lobby.
  Solution: check server.ini's global.enable setting (must be 1).
• No game is hosted upon entering the lobby.
  Make sure you can host a game; that is, have a working portforward of UDP port 25000 (multiplayer.port).

(last updated November 13, 2012 )