2. Requirements

3. Interoperability

4. Demo

5. Installation

6. Updates

7. Manual

8. Display

9. Input

10. Sound

11. Networking

12. Server

13. Contact

1. Introduction

• 1.1 How to use this FAQ
  
  
  This FAQ allows you to navigate through the answers by category, or individually, or to view the entire FAQ at once. The full view is also suitable for printing.

  This FAQ is modelled on the Linux HOWTO documents for consistency and ease of navigation.

  
  
• 1.2 Authors
  
  
  The maintainers of the FAQ can be reached by e-mailing faqs@lokigames.com. Please send all correspondance directly related to the FAQlist tool to that address.
  
  

2. Requirements

• 2.1 What are the system requirements for the game?
  
  
  The system requirements for the client are:

  Minimum system requirements:
  Linux kernel version 2.2.X or 2.4.X Pentium class processor 300 MHz (500 MHz recommended) 64 MB RAM required (128 MB recommended) glibc 2.1		Supported 3D accelerator card XFree86 version 4.0.2 or newer OSS compatible sound card Hard disk drive with 600 MB of available space

  The system requirements for the server are:

  Minimum system requirements:
  Linux kernel version 2.2.X or 2.4.X Pentium 300 or faster glibc 2.1		32 MB RAM required (64 MB recommended) Hard disk drive with 500 MB of available space

  
  
• 2.2 Does Tribes 2 use 3D acceleration?
  
  
  Yes. In fact, the game is unplayable without hardware acceleration.
  
  
• 2.3 What 3D accelerators are supported?
  
  
  The short answer is "anything recent, that works well under Linux." For practical purposes, this most likely means one of the following:
  • 3Dfx Voodoo 3, Voodoo 5 (with DRI)
  • ATI Rage 128, Rage 128 Pro, Radeon (with DRI)
  • nVidia TNT 2 Ultra, GeForce (any) (with nVidia's drivers)

  Earlier cards are pushed to the limit (and beyond) and will likely not provide a sufficiently smooth playing experience.

  Note that, under Linux, drivers may advertise features which are implemented as software fallbacks (e.g. GL_BLEND on certain cards), which may cause performance to degrade.

  
  
• 2.4 Which hardware platforms are supported by Tribes 2?
  
  
  Tribes 2 is currently only available for X86 Linux.
  
  
• 2.5 Does the game run from CD?
  
  
  No. The data files need to be installed in order for the game to run.
  
  

3. Interoperability

• 3.1 Is Tribes 2 network-compatible with Windows?
  
  
  Yes. The network protocols are identical between Linux and Windows, so Windows clients can play on Linux servers, and Linux clients can play on Windows servers.
  
  
• 3.2 Can I convert my Windows client to a Linux client?
  
  
  We do not offer a method of converting from one platform to another. However, you can install the Linux dedicated server using the Windows CD.
  
  

4. Demo

• 4.1 Where can I get the Tribes 2 demo version?
  
  
  No demo is available at this time. When it is released, an announcement will be made to our webpage (http://www.lokigames.com/) and to our announcement newsgroup (news://news.lokigames.com/loki.announce).
  
  

5. Installation

• 5.1 How do I install the game?
  
  
  1. Mount the CD-ROM using the "mount" command. If you are unsure how this works, please check the documentation for your Linux distribution. Generally, the format for mounting a CD-ROM under Linux is similar to:

         mount -t iso9660 -r /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
     

  2. Under X11, enter the command "sh [Mounted CD-ROM Path]/setup.sh". Be sure to replace the [Mounted CD-ROM Path] portion of this command with the correct path for the mounted CD-ROM. In the example above, the command would be:

         sh /mnt/cdrom/setup.sh
     

  3. Under "Global Options":
     • Enter the directory into which the game should be installed in the Install path: box. In the box labeled "Binary directory", enter a directory in your $PATH where a symbolic link for the binary should be set up. Make sure you have write permissions in both of these directories.
  4. Under "Install Options":
     • You must install "Base Install" (the basic game files).
     • Below the Install Options, the installer will display how much space is left on your partition, and how much the game will use per the options selected (510 MB for everything).
     • Check in the box for KDE/Gnome menu items if you would like them installed.
  5. You may view the game README at this point if you wish, by clicking on "View Readme". Otherwise, click on "Begin Install" to begin the copying of files.
  6. When the game has finished installing, you may choose either to launch it directly (click on "Play!") or to simply exit and run the game from the console.
  7. To run the game generally, just type "tribes2" from the console (you shouldn't have to enter the complete path). If you chose to install desktop icons, and you are running one of the desktops, you will be able to launch the game from the installed icons.
  
  
• 5.2 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the game?
  
  
  No, but you do have to have write privileges to /usr/local/games (or wherever you choose to install the game).
  
  
• 5.3 I'm getting "unexpected dual textured mode encountered".
  
  
  You are likely using the Mesa + Glide 2 combination under XFree86 3.3.x with Tribes 2. This is an unsupported configuration, as this combination is known to be insufficient to run the game. You will need to install XFree86 4.0.x and a current version of DRI, e.g. XFree86 4.0.3 + current DRI CVS, or XFree86 4.1.0.
  
  

6. Updates

• 6.1 Where can I download the update patches?
  
  
  Updates can be automatically fetched and applied using loki_update (if it is installed), or 'tribes2 -u' (which also requires loki_update to be installed).

  You can get loki_update from http://updates.lokigames.com

  
  

7. Manual

• 7.1 It prints out all black! How can I fix this?
  
  
  If you print the manual (or excerpts from it) with the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you will need to disable "Use Printer's Halftone Screen".

  If this setting is not changed, you will get a nice, pretty page, which will be as black as your printer's toner can manage.

  
  
• 7.2 The manual on the CD-ROM doesn't display correctly under xpdf!
  
  
  Correct. It appears that some files with embedded images do not display correctly in xpdf, and that includes this manual. (Graphics are used to give a pleasant background to the text.)

  You may want to use the Adobe Acrobat Reader (http://www.adobe.com/) instead.

  
  
• 7.3 When viewing the manual, xpdf is giving me font errors!
  
  
  xpdf uses system-wide fonts when the fonts are not embedded in the document. In the case of this manual, that means xpdf may want fonts for Helvetica and Zapf Dingbats.

  There are a number of documents on aliasing fonts (one such resource can be found at: http://www.kegel.com/linux/tt.html). You will need to alias an appropriate X font for each font.

  You may want to use the Adobe Acrobat Reader (http://www.adobe.com/) instead, as it includes the basic PostScript fonts (including Helvetica and Zapf Dingbats) for its own use.

  
  

8. Display

• 8.1 How do I tell Tribes 2 which libGL to use?
  
  
  Launch Tribes 2 with the following command-line:

      tribes2 -g /path/to/your/preferred/libGL.so
  

  (specifying the correct path in place of the placeholder, of course)
  
  
• 8.2 Why is the game running very, very slowly, and the mouse is very choppy?
  
  
  You are probably running the game using software GL rendering. You must have your 3D card configured for hardware accelerated rendering. Updated information on supported 3D cards and drivers is available at: http://faqs.lokigames.com/faq.php3?view=index&product=GL0
  
  
• 8.3 Can I switch between windowed and full-screen mode?
  
  
  During play, you can press Alt-Enter to switch between windowed and full-screen mode. Note that not all 3D drivers handle this well, so it is possible that there will be lags during the switch, or that the 3D drivers will crash at this point.
  
  
• 8.4 Are there additional sites where I can find useful troubleshooting information?
  
  
  In addition to such Linux Tribes sites as, well, LinuxTribes (http://hosted.tribalwar.com/linuxtribes/), there are a number of 3D driver sites. You may want to start first with our own OpenGL FAQs:
  • http://faqs.lokigames.com/faq.php3?view=index&product=GL0 (General information)
  • http://faqs.lokigames.com/faq.php3?view=index&product=GL40 (XFree86 4.x-specific information)

9. Input

• 9.1 How can I unlock the mouse if I'm running in windowed mode?
  
  
  The Linux version includes a built-in binding to Ctrl-G (the Loki common keybinding), which will grab and un-grab the mouse.
  
  
• 9.2 How can I switch from full screen to windowed mode?
  
  
  You can use Alt-Enter (the Loki common keybinding) to switch modes. Note that not all drivers support this well, so you may experience difficulties with certain video card and driver combinations.
  
  
• 9.3 How can I bind a key to take a screenshot?
  
  
  PrintScreen should already be bound to take screenshots, but if it is not (or if you have rebound the key), you can add the following to your ~/.loki/tribes2/base/prefs/MyConfig.cs:

      GlobalActionMap.bind(keyboard, "f11", doScreenShot);
  

  which will bind F11 to take screenshots.

  The resulting files will be in ~/.loki/tribes2

  Note that some configurations re-map the PrintScreen key to return a different code, and this key is not presently recognized. You can check the values with xev. (Tribes 2 expects 0xff61)

  This can be mapped with the following:

      xmodmap -e "keycode 111 = 0xff61"
  

  
  

10. Sound

• 10.1 The in-game microphone recording test isn't producing any audio.
  
  
  Please check your audio levels (using an audio mixer application, e.g. xmixer, aumix, gmix, kmix, or others), and also test the recording of the microphone in a separate application.

  You should also check to make sure the microphone isn't muted, and that (if applicable) the record setting is set.

  
  
• 10.2 The sound stutters a lot on my Aureal sound card. Is there a fix?
  
  
  If you are running one of the Aureal cards, you will likely want to look at the Aureal Linux Hacking page (http://aureal.sourceforge.net/), which is an effort to extend the beta Aureal drivers for the various cards. These new changes improve the driver situation for those cards, and have been successful in curing sound problems for some users.

  Note: the 1.1.2 drivers have exhibited noticable problems. If you are experiencing problems with the new drivers, try 1.1.1 instead.

  
  
• 10.3 All sound went away after an update. How do I get it back?
  
  
  Edit the file ~/.loki/tribes2/base/prefs/ClientPrefs.cs and delete any lines with the tag Audio, then restart Tribes 2. The audio system will be reinitialized to the new default.
  
  

11. Networking

• 11.1 Sometimes, when I start Tribes 2, it takes forever before there is any output or it starts displaying graphics. Is there anything I can do?
  
  
  Tribes 2 is dependant on the WON authentication servers in order to allow play. If you are experiencing difficulty resolving the servers, or if their servers are off-line (or any of the Internet routers between you and them are unable to establish the connection), you may see this.

  You can safely killall -9 tribes2, which will terminate any Tribes 2 processes currently running, and you can then check the game by running it in LAN/Training mode. If the latter starts up fine, then it is simply a function of the Internet Domain Name Service (DNS), and there's not a lot we can do to correct it.

  You should be able to try again in a little while, and the problem will likely have already been resolved.

  
  
• 11.2 Can you play from behind a firewall/IP masquerading/NAT?
  
  
  There should be no difficulties with this. In-house, we have successfully connected multiple people from behind a masquerading firewall at the same time, and then entered the same on-line game. However, you may need the following ports configured: TCP/UDP: 28000 (Some users have reported that 2790 - 28010 need to be opened.)

  Of course, if you're masquerading a modem connection, you may experience severe lag due to bandwidth restrictions.

  
  
• 11.3 Can the Linux version access the Forums, News, e-mail, Chat, and other community features?
  
  
  Yes. All of these features work in the Linux client.
  
  
• 11.4 I'm getting an error about maximum IPs in my LAN class. Can this be fixed?
  
  
  The workaround is to edit the /etc/hosts on the system in question. (Normally, this occurs when DNS is not configured on the local LAN.)

  For example:

      127.0.0.1    localhost
      192.168.1.1  boxA
      192.168.1.2  boxB
  

  and now boxA and boxB can play together in a LAN game. You will need to add a line on the serving machine for each box that will be connected to it.
  
  

12. Server

• 12.1 Where can I get the Linux server?
  
  
  If you have the Linux version of the game, it was installed as part of the installation process. The file is tribes2d, and it can be found in your Tribes 2 installation directory.

  If you have the Windows version of the game, you will need to download the Tribes 2 Dedicated Server installer, from ftp://ftp.lokigames.com/pub/extras/tribes2/ The file you want is tribes2d-wincd.run and it will install using the data files from the Windows CD.

  This server-only installation does not include the Linux client. If you would like to run the client under Linux, you will need to purchase Tribes 2 for Linux.

  
  
• 12.2 Do I need to buy one copy per server?
  
  
  We won't object! However, you can run multiple servers from the same copy. So, you should only need one copy of Tribes 2 in order to run as many servers as you would like. (Note that you do need at least one CD, for the data files.)
  
  
• 12.3 The server install isn't recognizing my Windows CD!
  
  
  The Windows CD uses Joliet extensions, and the kernel default is to not support these. In addition, a number of distributions are known to ship with kernels which do not support the Joliet extensions. The first thing to check is to make certain that the CD is showing directories like AT&T and EmpireEarth and not at_t and empire~1. If the latter is the case, you will need to re-build your kernel with Joliet extensions enabled.

  If the CD is mounted correctly, and it is not a filename issue, then the most likely problem is an automounter or SuperMount-like configuration. In this case, try unmounting and remounting the CD, and hopefully it will then detect the CD. If this still does not work, use the SETUP_CDROM variable to point to the files, e.g.:

      export SETUP_CDROM /mnt/cdrom
      sh tribes2d-wincd.run
  

  
  
• 12.4 How do I set a multihomed server to run with a specific IP address?
  
  
  You can bind to a specific IP with:

      $Host::BindAddress = "";
  

  in ~/.loki/tribes2/base/prefs/ServerPrefs.cs
  
  
• 12.5 Do I need to have the CD in the drive when running a server?
  
  
  No, the CD is only necessary during the installation, for copying the data files. Once the server is installed, the CD is no longer necessary for operation.
  
  
• 12.6 Can I launch the dedicated server, using a different preferences file?
  
  
  Yes. Use the -serverprefs option, e.g.:

      tribes2d -dedicated -bots 0 -serverprefs prefs/customPrefs.cs Katabatic CTF
  

  Note that the preferences file needs to be in ~/.loki/tribes2/base, with the remainder of the path being specified.
  
  
• 12.7 After updating the server, it seems that some of the changes haven't taken.
  
  
  Since the scripts are compiled into an intermediary format at run-time, you may need to remove the cached copies of these pre-compiled scripts. This can be done by running the following as the userid running the server:

      cd ~/.loki/tribes2
      rm `find . -name *.cs.dso`
  

  
  
• 12.8 The server starts, but just exits!
  
  
  If you run the server, and see only the following:

  $ ./tribes2d -dedicated -bots 0 Katabatic CTF
  Dedicated server by:
  	Loki Software, Inc.
  	http://www.lokigames.com
  $
  

  then the server is unable to resolve the Tribes 2 authentication servers when registering the server with the master lists. You will need to check your network configuration, and make sure the server ports (28000 UDP and TCP) are not blocked.
  
  

13. Contact

• 13.1 How do I report a bug?
  
  
  Please visit our publicly accessible bug database (http://fenris.lokigames.com/) and post a bug report. Be sure to first check the list of known bugs and fixes/patches.
  
  
• 13.2 How can I receive technical support?
  
  
  We support our products by e-mail (preferred) and phone. Phone support is available by calling (714) 508-2140 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) Monday through Friday, except holidays.
  
  

Support inquries should be addressed to support@lokigames.com.
FAQ's maintained by faqs@lokigames.com.