Promiscuidad

Halo 2 for Windows Vista

Running a Dedicated Server

and Creating Playlists

March 2007

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Halo, Windows, Windows Vista, and Xbox are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Running a Dedicated Server

You can run a game of Halo® 2 for Windows Vista™ for you and your friends in two ways. One way is peer hosting, where you also play in the game too. In this case, you create a game spontaneously in the game user interface (UI) and invite your friends to join you.

The second way is to set up a computer with the Halo 2 Dedicated Server application. In this case, you don’t play on this computer, and the computer runs certain games off of a “playlist.” Dedicated servers can run either as a log-on state or as a Windows service. As a Windows service, a dedicated server can keep running even if you log off of the computer. If you keep your computer connected to the Internet and logged into Games for Windows – LIVE , a dedicated server can run on your computer 24-7.

You can host a server game that supports up to 16 players at once, on LIVE or on the local network. Players running Halo 2 for Xbox® cannot connect to or play in Halo 2 for Windows Vista server games.

Note: Halo 2 Dedicated Server is not supported by Microsoft support services. For information about and help with Halo 2 Dedicated Server, see www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo2/.

Server as Host

With Halo 2 Dedicated Server, the server acts as the host of the game. No one plays on the same computer as the server, so there is no “host advantage” and everyone gets the same performance from the host computer. Some players may still have better connectivity than others, so a perfectly level playing field is not guaranteed.

You can run server software on computers in racks in “colo” (collocation centers) or server farms. Doing this can help with better network access and performance speeds.

Playlist Functionality

In a peer-hosted game run by a player, one of the players acts as the leader and chooses settings, maps, and game types before each game. In a game run by Halo 2 Dedicated Server, these choices are preloaded in a playlist, then run in a loop over and over (or shuffled). The playlist can be small or large, with a maximum of 100 matches.

For more on customizing your own playlist, see "Making a Playlist."

System Requirements

Your server can run as a local area network (LAN) server or a LIVE server.

If you want to run a LAN server, you need:

• 1.7 gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor. For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/capable.mspx.

• 1 gigabyte (GB) of system memory.

• 40 GB of hard drive capacity, with 15 GB free space.

• Network card.

• Either Windows Vista or Windows® 2003 Server.

If you want to run a LIVE server, you also need:

• A broadband Internet connection. If you are using a home router, make sure it is compatible with the LIVE service. For more information, see http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/connecttolive/xbox360/homenetworking/equipment.htm.

• A Silver or Gold Games for Windows – LIVE account.

• A Halo 2 for Windows Vista product key. You can use the same product key that you use to play the game.

Getting a Silver Games for Windows – LIVE Account

To run the Halo 2 Dedicated Server, you must have, at the minimum, a Silver Games for Windows – LIVE account. You can also use a Gold Games for Windows – LIVE account. To sign up for Games for Windows – LIVE, go to www.xboxlive.com. The gamertag you choose appears as the server’s displayed name in the Game Browser screen for LIVE games. If you run a dedicated server over a network, your server name initially is your computer name (until you change it).

Installing Halo 2 Dedicated Server

To install Halo 2 Dedicated Server, place the game disc in your computer and click Install Dedicated Server on the initial install menu. Doing this installs the dedicated server and all the default maps. If you have custom maps, copy those over.

To log on to the server, you can either log on remotely using Remote Desktop or work directly at the server console.

Running a Dedicated Server Manually

If you want to manually start a server:

1. Open a Command Prompt window.

2. In the Command Prompt window, change your working directory to the location where you installed the server program files, for example:

cd “\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo 2 for Windows Vista Server”

3. Start the server by running one of the following commands:

h2server –live

or

h2server -lan

To run a LIVE server, a couple of additional instructions apply. The first time you start a LIVE server, you also need to set your product key, as shown:

h2server$ live key 12345-12345-12345-12345-12345

To sign in to LIVE, use the following command:

h2server$ live autosignin user@domain

where user@domain is your Windows Live account.

Your server continues running until you run the exit command or log off. For more on the exit command, see "H2Server Commands," following.

For more on customizing your server’s playlist, see "Making a Playlist."

Setting Up Your Server to Run Automatically

To run the server automatically, you set up the server

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