I. General Information
II. Modem-to-Modem Play
III. Internet Play Using TCP/IP
IV. Deathmatch Levels
V. Maps
The current incarnation of Abuse supports the IPX
protocol, which is normally used for Local Area
Network (LAN) play. However, there are ways to use
the IPX multiplayer feature of Abuse under other
conditions as well.
Basically, if you have a LAN, then the way you
begin a network game is by having one person start
a game and having the other people on the LAN join
that game. Firstly, make sure you install the IPX
protocol for Windows 95/98 on your computer. If,
upon loading, Abuse detects your IPX drivers, then
you can skip this step. A correctly-configured
situation should have the game loading up and at
the title screen, you should see a 'Networking'
button with two computers and a cord connecting them.
If you don't see the Networking button, then go to
the Windows Control Panel, and select the 'Network'
icon. It will give you a list of networking protocols
that are set up in Windows on your computer. If you
don't see the IPX protocol listed with those options,
then click the 'Add' button. Select the 'Protocol'
option from the menu and click the new 'Add' button.
There will be a list of 'vendors' that pop up, after
Windows builds a driver information database. Select
'Microsoft' and then click the IPX/SPX protocol option
and add it to your computer. Make sure you have your
Windows CD with you, as the driver installation will
require it. You may need to restart your computer
upon completion of the drivers' installation.
Alternatively, you may be able to find an archive with
the IPX/SPX drivers for Windows at Microsoft's web site,
or somewhere else on the Net. If you already have the
IPX protocol installed and Abuse isn't detecting it, the
first thing to do is to try reinstalling the drivers.
If that doesn't work then I don't know what to tell you.
Also, please note that Abuse multiplayer does not work
in Windows NT.
The 'Start a New Game' button at the 'Networking' screen
in Abuse will bring up an options menu for how many
players can join the game (up to a maximum of 8), and
a choice of small, medium, or large deathmatch levels.
These levels (S,M,L) are played in a rotation, whose data
is stored in small.lsp, medium.lsp, and large.lsp, in the
addon/deathmat directory. Both the Options and the LISP
files for the level rotations are pretty self-explanatory.
If you are joining a game, and someone has already started
a new game on the LAN, you should see a button on the first
'Networking' screen in Abuse that shares the 'name' of the
game that the Server started (by default in fRaBs, this
name is 'EvilWumpus').
A modem-to-modem game is not natively supported by the
current Abuse engine. There is a workaround, however.
Firstly, as with any of these other multiplayer options,
you will need the Windows IPX drivers installed on your
machine. Secondly, you will need your computer configured
as a Dial-Up Server (DUS). I believe Windows 98 has DUS
materials included with it, but if you're using Win95 or
if these instructions don't apply to Win98 as well, then
you will have to download the Win95 DUS addon. You can
find it on the Net in more than one place.
You and the person you are playing will need to decide
who wants to be the DUS and who wants to dial in to the
server. Whichever computer has more bandwidth should be
the DUS, but if you encounter any problems then you can
always switch roles. For this reason it is a good idea
to set up both computers as a DUS and also set up short-
cuts to dial up the other computer.
The DUS archive will warn Win98 that it will not work if
you try to install it in Win98, but you can ignore this
warning... in my experience it has worked anyways. Upon
installation there will be an option in your 'Dial-Up
Networking' folder, under the 'Connections' menu, called
'Dial-Up Server'. It will open a little window with an
option to allow caller access, among other things. By
'allowing caller access', you are allowing anyone that
knows the password to dial into your computer. Enabling
this option also puts a new icon in your taskbar that
will stay there forever until you revert to 'no caller
access'. Once you allow caller access, you can modify
the password with the 'password' button. The 'server
type' button will automatically put the server mode to
'default' which should work for you.
Now, have the person dialing into your DUS to go to the
'Dial-Up Networking' window on his computer and make a
new connection in which they dial up your home phone number
and put in your DUS password. When he/she connects to the
appointed DUS, you will hear your modem make some noise.
Remember that nobody can dial your server when you are
online or on the phone. Alternatively, unless you 'disable
caller access' after playing, the computer may 'intercept'
incoming phone calls and think they are attempts to log
into your DUS. Be careful.
Once the DUS is working and a player dials in to you,
things work as they normally would... one person runs
Abuse and sets up the game (the DUS) and the other person
joins this game. Generally the gameplay is decent if
the two modems are physically in the same city/area,
comparable to Abuse's single player speed on a 486/33.
Note that any IPX games (such as Quake) will work with
this DUS 'workaround'.
Abuse was planned to have native TCP/IP support, and this
would have been impressive back in 1995 (before Quake
even!). It would have been as revolutionary as the
developer's name, Crack dot Com... now there is about a
hundred million companies with a dot Com in their names, but
Crack dot Com was one of the first. But as it stands, only
the Linux versions of Abuse and fRaBs have TCP/IP support.
Once again, there is a workaround to this. You may have
heard of various programs such as Kali which let you play
lots of old IPX games over the Internet using TCP/IP. Now
there is a free IPX -> TCP/IP program called Kahn, and it
even supports Abuse/fRaBs. The Kahn homepage
will help you
learn the ins and outs of this fine piece of software, as
well as provide you a copy of the latest version.
Kahn works with a IRC-type client and a little launchbar.
You basically add an icon for the fRaBs executable to the
launchbar and use the button to run the game. There are
some cool icons to use for the fRaBs launchbar in /icons,
although it is my experience that Kahn doesn't detect the
.ico files here automatically. Thus, in the input box,
once you try and go to the /icons directory to select an
icon, you need to use the file name of the icon itself.
I use frabs2.ico, but there is also a frabs1.ico... what-
ever one you like best.
Note that this launchbar icon is essential to gameplay
over Kahn. You cannot just run Abuse with the Kahn program
running; you must click the launchbar icon. If things work
out you should be able to set up a multiplayer game and
have the other person detect your game as described
previously. For me, gameplay has been very slow (about half
a frame/sec). I get better performance out of most other
Kahn-supported games, for some reason. However, if you know
someone close to you that cannot connect to your computer
with a local phone call, this option may be best for you.
I'm sure Kahn is not the only type of software that does
IPX support over TCP/IP, so be sure to try out others.
All of the deathmatch levels in fRaBs are all new,
created by Justin Cassidy (yours truly). Here is a
rundown of the order in which they appear in the
latest version of fRaBs. Each level has a gimmick
or two that make it unique.
Small Levels
1. A Little Hot!
A LSABER_100 ammo is in the center of the level, and
is surrounded by switch-activated firebomb turrets
which other players can use to kill you.
2. Get Cross!
An upside down cross with napalm ammo is in the center
of a small cave. It's surrounded by lava, and accessible
by an automatically-moving platform.
3. Spacy Tiny DM
This one is similar to Get Cross, only there's no lava
traps and more firepower. The Firebombs are at the
highest precipice.
4. Red-Green DM
Small level with red foreground and background, and green
flyers that respawn and wreak havoc.
5. Bugs (Small)
Small portion of the Bugs level, with rearranged ammunition.
Medium Levels
1. Spacy Medium DM
This is not a larger version of Spacy Tiny DM. Vertically-
oriented level with invisibility. The emphasis is on sneaking
around. This one took a while... lots of attention to the
little details and sound effects.
2. Teardrop
Circle-shaped level with a smaller circle inside the bigger
one. At the bottom of each circle is flowing water that can
cause damage. Like the level before it, the POWER_SNEAKY can
come in handy.
3. Bugs (Medium)
This is about half of the original Bugs level, with rearranged
ammunition. A bit smaller than the first two medium levels.
4. Mad Race
You'll want to try this level! It's centered around three
POWER_FAST items, and the only other objects are Hearts and
Napalm. :) Run fast, torch your opponents, and watch out for
the lightning. Way different from the other levels in fRaBs.
5. JDM3
My first shot at a deathmatch level. It centers around the
POWER_FLY object, but there is also a POWER_HEALTH and a
POWER_SNEAKY. It's so large I included it in the 'Large' level
rotation as well, but most of it is just blank 'space' for
flight. Hearts are all over the ceilings.
Large Levels
1. Bugs
This is THE deathmatch level. Every power item is included.
There's a few secrets, and lots of space (most of it vertical)
to cover. Features respawning ROB1s... make sure you kill them,
because you'll like what you find if you get to their source. :)
Also, there's some secrets on the highest ceiling... keep shooting
the ceiling, and wait at the very bottom of the level for that
slowly-respawning POWER_FLY.
2. Limestone
A maze of caves. The POWER_FAST will do you well to get the other
power items. Keep in mind that the further in the mine you go down,
the easier it will be to get back up to the top... it's a bit of
a paradox. :)
3. JDM3
I couldn't figure out whether to put this with the medium or the
large ones, so I put it with both. :)
Justin Cassidy
messiah15@dog.com