Appeal for FTJava scenario files

Online

To play FTJava online you need a decent internet connection a decent host computer. The game uses port 7117 and the client must not be blocked on your firewall. It can be played on a local network it can also be played over the internet so if you don't have a public IP address it still works. Internet play is by far the easier option to use.

How it works

Full Thrust can be played against other people over the internet or on your home network. One player hosts the game on their own computer and everyone else joins it. In the lobby everyone picks a side, and the host starts the game. After that everyone plots their orders at the same time, and each phase is resolved the moment the last player's orders arrive.

This guide only covers playing online. How to plot moves, fire and read the map is the same as in a game against the computer: see Play Guide.

There is no online server, the hosting player is the game server and if they leave or lose connection of their computer crashes that game is over. Turns are sent realtime over the web. There are more details in the following guide.

What you need

The same version of the game on every computer. Unzip the download and start it with its launcher, as usual. Everyone should use the same download: a host whose game can't talk to yours turns you away with a message saying so.
An internet connection, or everyone on the same home network. No router settings are needed for either.
A name. Pick one of 1-24 letters, digits, spaces, dots, dashes or underscores. Names starting with Bot, Robot or AI are kept for the computer players.

Starting

Click Play Online.. in the main window. Type Your name, then click Host Game to run a game yourself, or Join Game to join someone else's.

The Play Online window: your name, then Cancel, Join Game and Host Game

Hosting a game

1. Choose the settings

Host Game opens the game's settings, with the chosen scenario's briefing beside them.

Host Game: the settings on the left, the scenario's briefing on the right

Name: what the game is called in other players' Join Game lists.
Password: leave it empty for an open game, or set one to keep strangers out. Players are asked for it when they join.
Port: leave it at 7117. It only matters when joining by address (see "Joining by address" below).
Friends can join with a game code: tick this to play over the internet. The lobby then shows a short code such as MY3R-QMPY that friends type to join.
List it publicly in Join Game: also shows your game in everyone's Join Game list, so friends don't even need the code. It stays listed until every side is taken or the game starts. Use a password if you only want your friends to join.
Scenario: the battle to fight. Multiplayer Test is a good first game: three ships a side, beams and pulse torpedoes only, so turns are quick.
Turn: how long everyone has to plot each phase. When time runs out, whatever each player has plotted so far is sent for them.
Movement, Targeting, Fog of war, Sensor detail and Rules: the scenario's own rules, filled in when you pick it. Change them if you like. Scenario Defaults puts everything back to the scenario's own settings, briefing included.

Click Host. The game starts running on your computer and you arrive in its lobby.

2. The lobby

The host's lobby: sides and players on the left with the chat below, the game settings on the right, Leave and Start Game at the bottom

Players: one row per side, with its fleet, who is playing it and whether they are ready. You are marked Host.
Game Settings: opens the settings again, so you can change anything until the game starts. OK applies the changes and closes the window. Any change clears everyone's Ready, so they see what changed.
The summary below it shows the current settings. The Game code and LAN IP are the two things to tell your friends. Select one and copy it to paste into a message.
Chat: talk to everyone, or only your own side with My side.

3. Tell your friends how to join

Over the internet: send them the Game code. If you ticked "List it publicly", they can simply pick your game in their Join Game list.
On the same home network: nothing to send. Your game appears in their Join Game list by itself.

4. Fill the sides

Each side's Player list lets you decide who plays it:

A side nobody has taken, showing Open in its Player list

Play this side: move yourself to that side.
Computer: the computer plays that side.
Open: free a side you gave to the computer, so a person can take it.
Kick: move a player out of their side (they stay in the lobby and can pick another).

You don't have to fill every side: any side still open when you start is played by the computer. The line at the bottom of the lobby always says what the game is waiting for.

5. Start the game

When everyone has clicked Ready, the line at the bottom says "Everyone is ready - start the game when you like." Click Start Game.

Leave closes your game. As the host, leaving ends the game for everyone, because it runs on your computer, so the game asks you to confirm first.

Joining a game

1. Find the game

Join Game lists every game you can join: the games on your home network, and the games listed publicly on the internet. Each line shows the game's name, its scenario, how many sides are open, whether it has a password, and who is hosting it.

Join Game: a list of games, then the Address or code box, and Cancel, Refresh and Join

To join a listed game: click it, then Join.
To join with a game code: type the code in Address or code, then click Join. Capitals and the dash don't matter: my3rqmpy works as well as MY3R-QMPY.
Refresh looks for games again.

If the game has a password, you're asked for it.

2. Pick your side and get ready

You're put straight onto the first open side. The side you're playing is in bold.

A player's lobby: the same layout as the host's, with a Ready button instead of Start Game

To play a different side: choose Play this side in that side's Player list, or double-click the side.
The settings are on the right, with the briefing below them. Only the host can change them. If they do, your Ready is cleared so you see what changed.
Ready: click it when you're happy with your side and the settings. The host can start once everyone is ready.
Leave: takes you out of the game (you're asked to confirm).

Playing

When the game starts, the usual orders and map windows open, their titles showing your name and your side. Plot your orders and send them exactly as you would against the computer. The lobby stays open alongside, and it shows how the phase is going:

![The lobby during a game: Orders sent for one side, Plotting for the other, and the turn and time left at the bottom](images/online-play/lobby-in-game.png)

Status shows who is still Plotting and who has Orders sent. The next phase opens by itself as soon as the last orders arrive: nobody has to click anything.
The line at the bottom shows the turn, the phase, what it's waiting for and the time left.

The turn timer

When turns have a time limit, a timer window shows the time left in the phase:

The turn timer: turn 3, movement phase, 1:32 left, orders due

It stays in front of the other windows. Put it wherever you like: it remembers where. If you close it, it comes back at the start of the next phase.

When time runs out, your orders are sent for you as they stand: every move and target you've entered so far. Anything you haven't got to simply isn't done that phase.

Chat

Use the lobby's chat during the game too. Choose Everyone, or My side to talk only to players on your side.

If your connection drops

Your side is kept for you. Click Play Online, then Join Game, and join the same game again with the same name. You carry on from the phase you were in.

Resigning

Resign Game (in the main window, or the orders window's Game menu) surrenders your fleet: your ships strike their colours. If that leaves only one side still fighting, the game ends straight away. If you have teammates still playing, the game goes on without you.

When the game ends

Everyone is told who won, and the whole battle is revealed: every ship, including those you never detected. View Game Log in the main window replays the game phase by phase.

The lobby then opens again with the same sides, ready for a rematch. The host can change the settings, and the host clicks Start Game once everyone is ready again.

Joining by address

Game codes are the easiest way to play over the internet. Joining by address is a fallback for when codes aren't working.

On the same home network: the host's lobby shows its LAN IP (for example 192.168.1.31). Type that in Address or code and click Join.
Over the internet without a code: this only works if the host's internet connection has its own public address. The host has to forward the game's port (7117, over TCP) to their computer in their router's settings. Players then type the host's public address (from a site such as whatismyip.com). Many internet providers share one address between customers, and then this can't work at all. Use a game code instead.

If something goes wrong

Your friend's game isn't in the list: click Refresh. A game listed on the internet disappears once it starts or every side is taken, and one on your home network only shows if you are on the same network as the host. Otherwise ask the host for the game code.
"This game is hosted with a different version": you and the host have different downloads. Everyone needs the same one.
"You are not connected to the game any more": your connection dropped. Join the same game again with the same name.
The game stopped for everyone: the host left or their computer went offline. The game ran on their computer, so it can't carry on without them. It helps to have backup comms channel like Discord or Whatsapp messenger.

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