MP Tutorial
If you want to play Multiplayer Games and are unsure of how to do so, this is the place for you. Welcome to the MP tutorial.
The following applies for version 1.4 of Battle for Wesnoth.
The first thing you need to do if you want to play a multiplayer game is to choose which kind of game you want to play.
- Click the multiplayer button in the general menu of wesnoth.
A new window will pop-up, asking you what kind of multiplayer game you want to play :
- Put your username on the top.
Your username is how you will appear on the servers and during games. The next time you will click on the multiplayer button on the main screen, this username will be automatically set, but you will be able to change it anytime you come back to this pop-up window. It is advised that you keep the same username (in 1.5, you are reserved your forum name), as players are often recognized by their names, and so you will build a reputation if you use the same name each time you play.
- Choose the kind of game you want to play.
Under your username, you now have three choices:
- Join official server : Allows you to join the official Battle for Wesnoth server, where most of the multiplayer games are played.
- Connect to host/server : Allows you to connect to a different server, useful when the official server is down for example...
- Local game : Allows you to play a multiplayer game on a sole computer, this is Battle for Wesnoth "Hot-Seat" mode.
Double click on the selected option or press the OK button to start playing. A click on the cancel button will bring you back to the main menu.
Playing on the official server
Welcome to the lobby
.
The official server looks like the image on the right. (without the green lines of course)
It can be divided into four areas:
- 1: Menu.
- 2: Games.
- 3: Players.
- 4: Chat.
The menu allows you to join, observe or create a game.
- To join a game, click on a game and then click on the "Join Game" button. We will see which games you can join and which you can not join in the Game legend section.
- To observe a game, click on the game you want to observe, then click the "Observe Game" button. If you want to go straight to the current turn of the game, check the "Quick Replays" box, if this box is unchecked, you will be able to see all the moves of each player during all the turns of the game.
- To create a game, click the "Create Game" button. We will go back to this in the "Create a game" section.
- "Preferences" allows you to change Battle for Wesnoth configuration, sound, video... this button brings you to the same menu that the "Preferences" button on the title page of Battle for Wesnoth.
- The "Quit" button brings you back to the title menu.
Game legend
Games appear in the lobby in different colors :
- White are games that already have started. You can only observe those games.
- Red are games that have started and that you can't observe.
- Green are games you can join or observe and which haven't started yet.
Here is an example of a "green" game, it's to say a game you are able to play :
- On the left appears a thumbnail of the map.
- On the top, in green, appears the name of the game : in this example "remfarkas jateka" (remfarkas's game)
- On the top right corner appears the number of players needed for the game to start, or "vacant slot". In our example you can learn that the game is designed for four players and that three players are already waiting for the game to start.
Next comes a white line where you can see a description of what is needed to play :
- First comes the "era" (Default in this example). "Default" means that everyone can join the game to play. In some other cases, you will need a specific era to play.
- Just right to the era appears the size of the map, in remfarkas's game, 20x20 tiles (which means this is a small map).
- Then comes the number of players the map is designed for (4p in the same example).
- And last is the name of the map : "Isar's Cross".
The last line shows some icons :
- The eye :
means that you can observe this game. When you can't observe a game, this eye is scratched in red. - The gold pile :
tells you the number of gold you get each turn per village (in this example two gold per village per turn). - The experience needed to level up a unit is described near this icon :
(70% is the required experience using map settings most of the time). - This icon:
shows if there will be fog of war or no fog during the game. - At last can in some cases be seen "Use Map Settings" this tells you that the game is set with the original configuration developers gave to their map.
Here are some other examples, with different configurations:
"jeu de Prince" (prince's game) needed that you had the "era_magic" to play, anyway it's a "white game" so you can't join.
Eras can be downloaded on the main screen of Battle for Wesnoth, in the "Add-ons" menu.
Also, please be sure to have the appropriate era before joining a game, if you have not and that the game starts, you will crash while other players won't be in the best possible mood...
On the top-right corner you can see that the game has already started and is currently at turn 1. The game can be observed (once more, you need the appropriate era). Players get 5 gold per village per turn, units need 30% of experience to level up and there is no fog of war.
Some other games are reserved, most of the times the word "reserved" appears in the name of the game. Ladder games are reserved for ladder players only for example.
This game also uses a timer. Players will have 270 seconds per turn, a 200 seconds reserve and a 20 seconds action bonus (they will get 20 seconds more each time they do an action).
In any case, please read the name of the game before joining, a lot of informations is written here by the game hosts.