Sniper's Paradise!
Starting a Unreal Server Using a Batch Script
By Tentacle-HunteR
*Note: This basic tutorial assumes that:
1) You already know how to start a server using the Unreal Game Console.
2) That you know how to setup your server's settings in the advanced options of the server console.
<<Section 1 - General Info>>
QUESTION: What exactly is a Script ?
ANSWER A script is a text file that contains instructions for a program to carry out. The instructions can be "scripted" or written using a basic word processor.
Some examples include:
- Batch files (*.bat files)
- Web pages (*.htm files)
- JavaScript (used within web pages)
and...
- UnrealScript (the programming language for Unreal)
QUESTION: Why should I make a Batch File ( .bat file)?
ANSWER: In a nutshell, It's a much faster and easier way to start your Unreal Server. Some mutators, can only be started from within a script. Also, you can setup several batch scripts for starting different kinds of games or maps.
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<< Section 2 - The Command Line>>
A basic understanding of what it does
The command line is the script that contains the instructions for starting the game and will look something like this:
Start C:\<Path_to_Unreal>\Unreal.exe <MapName> ?game= <GameType> ?difficulty= <0-4> -server
Note: the bracketed items are what you'll have to fill in and are explained below.
Here's a breakdown of the sections and what they do:
"Start" tells the PC to Start the specified program (in this case: Unreal.exe)
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"C:\<Path_to_Unreal>\Unreal.exe"
The path to Unreal is: C:\Unreal\System\Unreal.exe
The path to UnrealGold is: C:\UnrealGold\System\Unreal.exe
Note: You must Include a blank space after "Unreal.exe"
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<MapName> This will be the filename for the map you want to use.
examples: to start "Nyleve Falls" the mapname is: Nyleve
to start "DMdeck16" the mapname is: DMdeck16
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?game=<GameType>
The two most popular GameTypes are:
?game=Unreali.DeathMatchGame
?game=Unreali.CoopGame
Note: If you have Jcoop4 & want to start a Joss' coop game type
?game=jcoop4.jcoopgame
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?difficulty=<0-4>
This is NOT necessary for DeathMatch unless you intend to add bots to the server game.
The basic difficulty levels supported in the console are: 0 - 3
?difficulty=0 Easy /Novice
?difficulty=1 Medium / Average
?difficulty=2 Hard / Skilled
?difficulty=3 Unreal / Masterful (Most Difficult)
?difficulty=4 This "difficulty=4" setting isn't documented very well, and is NOT available in the game settings console.
BUT... IT WORKS !!!
Try this and see for yourself:
1. Open unreal and in the command console type: open thesunspire? difficulty=3
2. Play a little bit of the game. Pretty normal, right?
3. Now, try it again but this time use: ?difficulty=4.
4. Play the game. This time there is an extra SkaarjTrooper that shows up just beyond that wooden plank near the beginning of "The Sunspire" map.
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" -server" is a switch that tells the PC to run the game as a dedicated server. Place this last in the command line.
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<<Section 3 - Examples of command lines>>
Examples for regular Unreal:
Start C:\Unreal\System\Unreal.exe DMdeck16?game=Unreali.DeathMatchGame? -server
Start C:\Unreal\System\Unreal.exe vortex2?game=Unreali.CoopGame?Dificulty=4 -server
Start C:\Unreal\System\Unreal.exe vortex2?game=Jcoop4.JcoopGame?Dificulty=4 -server
Examples for regular UnrealGold:
Start C:\UnrealGold\System\Unreal.exe DMdeck16?game=Unreali.DeathMatchGame? -server
Start C:\UnrealGold\System\Unreal.exe vortex2?game=Unreali.CoopGame?Difficulty=4 -server
Start C:\UnrealGold\System\Unreal.exe vortex2?game=Jcoop4.JcoopGame?Difficulty=4 -server
Notes:
- In case your wondering, YES you must put a space after "Start", after "Unreal.exe" and before "-server"
- Of course, you will start the Game with whichever ap, GameType and difficulty setting you choose.
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Running a Mutator
Some mutators must be started from within the script.
Read the Documentation that came with the mutator to find out how to install & use it.
For example: Joss's popular Jtool3 documentation tells you, "Add "?mutator=jTool3.psiMut" to the command line ..."
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<<Section 4 - Writing the Batch Script>>
Use one of the two following methods. They are both very easy!
METHOD 1 - Write a Batch (.bat) file
- Start NotePad. If you don't have NotePad, then any word processor will work.
- In NotePad, Type your command line: (see examples above)
- Save the file as a plain text file (*.txt). Name it something like: "Serverstart.txt".
- Close NotePad & Move or Copy this file to your desktop.
- Right Click on the file & click "Rename". Then, change the file extension to .bat Example: "Serverstart.bat"
- When you double click on this icon it will start the unreal server for you with the options that you specified.
METHOD 2 - Create a shortcut on the Desktop
Since we are only using a one-line command, you can create a shortcut instead of a *.bat file.
- Right Click on the Windows Desktop. A menu will pop up.
- Click "New", then "Shortcut". A "Create Shortcut" window will pop up.
- You will see a white box in which you can type. This is where you will type the command line (see examples above).
- Type the command line, but leave out the "Start" command; the shortcut itself replaces the Start command. In other words, the command line for a shortcut will look like this:
C:\Unreal\System\Unreal.exe vortex2?game=Jcoop4.JcoopGame?Dificulty=4 -server
- Click "Next"
- Type a name for this shortcut in the white box. Example: "Unreal Server"
- Click "Finish". You'll see a shortcut on the desktop that, when double clicked, will start the unreal server for you!
<< Additional Info>>
Console Commands
Explaination of command line parameters:
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