Is AutoTroll going to be compatible with version 4 of planets?
Some months ago Tim released some specs for file structures of the version 4 files. I incorporated those into AutoTroll already. There are still some bits of information AutoTroll needs to know that haven't been released or decided on by Tim. Once these are, AutoTroll will be made compatible with version 4 games.
I get errors running/installing AutoTroll on windows 2000 or NT. What gives?
If you are running AutoTroll under NT or windows 2000, AutoTroll must be run from an account that has administrator privledges.
I get lots of error dialogs saying I can't connect to the server, or operation timed out. Can I make it so these dialogs don't appear and I just get a message in the log?
Yes, see the -auto command line argument
How do I add additional attachments to player's RST files in a game, like race.nm?
In the game config dialog, goto the host files tab. There you'll see a dropdown list of files, one being atAttach.lst. Choose this file and edit it. Here you can place files you want included.
How do I make AutoTroll work with exploremap and/or phost games?
AutoTroll automatically recognizes xyplan?.dat and util?.dat files and will automatically add them to the archive sent to the player. You do not need to do anything.
How do I run addons with their own config program?
You can use The Q as an example - it has its own config program and should be setup correctly. The most common error is you don't have the .exe file in your host directory for the game you're trying to run it on. When you execute the file, an entry is made into the log file. You should look at the log (with debug messages showing). The line "Executing ... " will show you the commandline AutoTroll tried to execute.
I have set up the remote directory as public_html\planets\upload, however, AT seems to want to create its own directory .. public_html\planets\upload\autotroll. Why is this?
AutoTroll uploads all files and directories under the ftp\ directory where you installed AT on your local machine to your remote directory on your ISP's server. So, in the above case, if you installed AT in c:\at, then you have a directory c:\at\ftp\autotroll (which is created by default for you when you installed AutoTroll). If you had a dir c:\at\ftp\autotroll\foobar then on your webserver you'd see public_html\planets\upload\autotroll\foobar
How do you get the host to run automatically? I have scheduled times for the host to run and AT is active.
Ensure your game's stage is "Running" and not "Joining" or something else. Also, you can check the log file to see if you can figure out what AutoTroll is doing for some clues. Also, note that AutoTroll will only host after it does a "last mail check". So if you set up a host time for 3:00am, but your connection events say to connect from 12:00am to 2:00am and 4:00am to 6:00am, then the last mail check at 3:00am won't happen and AutoTroll will sit until 4:00am when it connects and checks mail - and then will run host.
How reliable is AutoTroll? How many games has it been tested with?
AutoTroll on ShareNet is currently running 41 games with over 200 players. In a typical weekend when I am gone and AutoTroll is running completely on its own, AutoTroll processes around 400 TRN files, 800 e-mail messages, 1100 web pages and hosted 40 games. Players from all different countries, all different mailers and all different configurations play in games hosted by AutoTroll either on ShareNet or on one of the other sites that use AutoTroll.
How do you get the FTP to update?
AutoTroll updates your web/ftp site whenever a file in your local FTP tree is newer than the last time AutoTroll sent files to your web/ftp server. These new files in your local ftp tree can be from one of AutoTroll's actions (e.g., a game is hosted and you have FTP Zips enabled) or from a batch file of yours where you maybe copy files to the ftp\ tree.
Can I upgrade from AutoTroll Jr. v0.96?
Unfortunately no. I lost several source files from a hard drive crash and lost the database structures for 0.96. So, you will have to re-enter all your data into AutoTroll Senior. But, a better way then entering in all that stuff yourself is to use one of the web CGI forms and have your players simply sign up on your new system.
Is there any way you can make Auto Troll more universally compatible with email?
AutoTroll is compliant with RFC standards. The only ambiguity in RFC standards is with UUEncoded attachments which I've explained several times previously. HTML mail is not yet an RFC standard and thus is not yet supported. Netscape, MS and other mail programs may support HTML mail and various forms of UUEncoded attachments, but my intention is to not get in the guessing game with all this stuff and to simply follow the standards to the letter. As you might imagine mail clients are a big and time consuming enterprise and if I spent all my time there AutoTroll would never exist.
When are Web Templates executed? (Ie, e-mail ones are when they are called in the player's email, or by specific events)
Web templates are executed only if you have "Web Templates" checked on the general tab in setup. If this is checked, then all *.atf files in the web templates\ directory are scanned and re-created. As each new file is created, a checksum value is calculated for it and the existing file in your ftp\ tree. If the checksum value (i.e., there are ANY differences) then the new just-created-file is saved into the FTP tree. Exactly *when* these web templates are scanned depends on a few things. For the most part, they are scanned whenever new mail is received, a game is hosted or when you press the Upload FTP button on the main page. You can examine the log file to determine if templates are being updated/checked.
Note: web templates being scanned are completely independent of FTP uploads. For example, if you have web templates enabled and ftp uploads disabled, then AutoTroll will create your web templates locally, but will just never upload them to the website.
When is the FTP/Web site updated? I've hosted games and no new files appear on my web server, why?
AutoTroll will only upload files if you have "Upload to FTP" checked on the general tab in setup. You also, of course, must have filled out the information on the ftp tab in setup properly. Assuming all this is correct, then when AutoTroll scans your local FTP tree (under ftp\ where you installed AutoTroll) it checks the file dates of all files and all directories. If any file is newer than the last time AutoTroll uploaded to your FTP site, it is flagged to upload. These files in the ftp\ tree can be put there by AutoTroll and web templates, or by you with batch files. Exactly *when* these FTP files are scanned depends on a few things. For the most part, they are scanned whenever new mail is received, when a game is hosted, or when you press the Upload FTP button on the main page. You can examine the log file to determine when and what files are flagged to be uploaded.
Note: You must be online for AutoTroll to upload to the FTP site. AutoTroll does not connect just to upload.
My web templates are always being uploaded to my web site, even when no changes in the database occur. Why?
If you put a variable like [Time24] in a web template, then obviously when AutoTroll re scans the web templates\ directory and recreates the page(s), the new page will be different because it will have a new time. This will cause that template to always be uploaded each time AutoTroll re scans this directory - which could be even a hundred times a day for larger host sites. AutoTroll is fine with connecting and uploading this many times a day, just be sure your ISP doesn't complain!
What exactly does Automated Hosting mean? Especially in conjunction with the game's normal/no automated? If the game is on normal, but the setup has automated hosting unchecked, will the game be auto hosted?
This is a global setting. This supersedes all the individual game settings. This option in the setup tab simply allows you to quickly take all games off line. With this option unchecked, no games will be hosted automatically by AutoTroll.
Under Setup->Defaults, what do these settings do? Are they used in conjunction with later settings?
These settings are merely the default settings when you create a new player or a new game. These can be changed by you when you create a new player or a new game, but if you have particular preferences or defaults you want for "most" games you will create in the future you can set those here. A good example is the host directory. If you will use the same host directory for most of your games, you can specify that directory here. Then, when you create a game, it's host directory will initially be to this directory. If you want to change it when you create the game (for example if you will use a different version of host for this particular game) then you can change it. Really, this is just a way to make creating games and players easier.
Why is AutoTroll Free?
There are plenty of almost religious issues with the concept of "shareware", but I don't care to get into those reasons here. I want to make a host's job easier; both experienced hosts and the new first-timer hosts. I think the more hosts that are out there, then the more people there are who are trying to attract new players. These new players add to the VGAP community and I think this cycle is healthy for the game. I hope you'll find that even though it is free, it is a top notch program.
