? NASCAR ON A NETWORK ?

Has anybody out there had a chance to get NASCAR to work over a network ?? I have two machines that I use to network multiuser games like ID's Doom, Heretic and Descent. I have had no success with NASCAR. Yes I have used the -n:username switch but it just ignores it wether I have the network drivers loaded or not. Any Ideas ??????? :/ Robb

Nascar at present, doesn't support network capabilities. It will only work with Serial & Modem games.

So if NASCAR dosen't network, what is the -n:userid switch there for and why when I use it how come under multiuser it comes up with IPX network instead of serial or modem connection.Maybe Papyrus couldn't get it working and left an artifact.

Despite the confidence with which AoS makes his claim, he's completely wrong; you CAN network Nascar! Unlike Doom & others, however, you must be logged into an actual Novell server in order for it to work. You then specify your opponents actual user ID using the -n parameter, though you can edit this ID once you're actually in the game. It works fine and gives you a perfect connection, but then, so does a null modem cable... The big bummer is that it still doesn't support more than two players. I suspect the reason Papyrus is pretty quiet about this feature (I've actually heard their own reps claim it had NO network support!) is that it's not significantly better than a serial/modem connection and they don't want to get in the business of providing tech support for Novell networks! Sean

Sorry, my mistake, as far as I recall none of the network options were discussed in the documentation, and until now I've never heard of it being applied before. Most of the time, I'm playing modem races, or direct connects, so it was with extreme confidence that I made my previous statements. Where did you find about the networking option?

Sorry if I came across as rude...you can put me in the wall when the real Nascar network goes online! :) You're right...it's completely undocumented, and as I mentioned, I've seen Papyrus reps here and on AOL completely deny its existence! I heard about the "-n" parameter in this group shortly after the release of 1.2. It requires a "user ID", and you really only establish an ID when you execute a login to a server or peer-to-peer network. We never got peer-to-peer to work, but logging into a dedicated Novell server worked fine! Sean

Nah, I was just a little jostled by your comment is all. Have you tried to get more than 2 people going at one time? Is there anyway to do so? I'm gonna' try the -n option tonight, but can you tell me if I specify my userid on the command line, or in the shell? Maybe the reps are keeping this hush hush, because there might be another undocumented feature to get more than 2 racers on the track at once? BTW, any idea when Papyrus will be able to finish there online services, and we can start running 30+ driver races?

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>Subject: Re: ? NASCAR ON A NETWORK ? >Date: 2 Aug 1995 00:36:51 -0400 >>Despite the confidence with which AoS makes his claim, he's completely >>wrong; you CAN network Nascar! Unlike Doom & others, however, you must >>be logged into an actual Novell server in order for it to work. You >>then specify your opponents actual user ID using the -n parameter, >>though you can edit this ID once you're actually in the game. It works >>fine and gives you a perfect connection, but then, so does a null modem >>cable... The big bummer is that it still doesn't support more than two >>players. I suspect the reason Papyrus is pretty quiet about this >>feature (I've actually heard their own reps claim it had NO network >>support!) is that it's not significantly better than a serial/modem >>connection and they don't want to get in the business of providing tech >>support for Novell networks! >Sorry, my mistake, as far as I recall none of the network options were >discussed in the documentation, and until now I've never heard of it >being applied before. Most of the time, I'm playing modem races, or >direct connects, so it was with extreme confidence that I made my >previous statements. Where did you find about the networking option?

I stumbled onto it when I typed NASACAR -?. Since my ID Software fanticizim, every piece of *** software I buy, I check for network, multi-user capability. The only reason I want to use the network connection via direct connect is both my serial ports are used and I am tired of climbing behind my machine and swapping cables. Since I have my two machines networked (Win95 peer-to-peer), why not use that feature. If I need a Novell file server to NASCAR on the net then the only reason I can think of is that the game must get the userid from the server. Or do you install NASCAR onto the file server and then everybody runs from it ??? I was hoping I could do this without a server. Thanx for all the input. Robb

I seriously doubt it...there's simply no interface for selecting more than one opponent. It doesn't really matter... The ID you specify on the command line will become the default opponent ID when you're setting up the multiplayer options within the game. While setting up those options, you can accept the default ID or change it. Man, I wish this were true! My guess is that they'll leave true multiplayer network support out of all their games to avoid competing with their online service. I actually got a letter from them indicating I was on the beta team and that I should wait until they were ready to put me online... I'm still waiting (and running to the mailbox every day looking for their next letter)! :) Call their BBS for more info on beta-testing... I know of at least one guy who was on the alpha team, and it's probable they've already started letting end-users beta-test it, but other than that, I have no idea when it'll be ready. Sean

This would seem to be the case... We kept Nascar local. Sean