# The Ship Free Weekend - part 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874 "2006-12-20T03:11:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/1 "2006-12-20T03:11:41Z")
They did this a little over a month ago, and I had a [similar thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=394522). It turned out pretty well - we had some SDMB-only games of 5+ people that were really fun. Might not be the best time for everyone as it’s over the holiday, but it might be fun. I’ll try to host some games, unless anyone happens to have a dedicated box or something to serve from. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/2 "2006-12-20T13:13:24Z")
I just started pre-loading last night, but I have no idea what it is. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/3 "2006-12-20T20:14:00Z")
Read the little quick start guide and/or game manual [here.](http://www.theshiponline.com/about-the-game.php) ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/4 "2006-12-21T19:36:10Z")
Got about 24 hours before a 4 day trial. You can preload now, so you can start playing as soon as the trial starts. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/5 "2006-12-22T22:05:59Z")
Well, the trial has started. Huh, I thought there’d be more interest, as there was last time. We had a few games of 4+ SDMB players which were fun. On our biggest night, we had 8 or 9 SDMB players over a few hour span, although only 6-7 of them at once. Still, it was a lot more fun than playing with random public players. Anyway, I’m going to try to host a server at, say, 8pm eastern, 5pm pacific, till… whenever? I’ll post details closer to that time. If you need help with something, contact me at my board name on yahoo messenger. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/6 "2006-12-22T22:16:16Z")
Link to a download? I got time to kill this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/7 "2006-12-22T23:42:27Z")
You need steam, from [www.steampowered.com](http://www.steampowered.com). Then, when you open the program, on the front page, there will be something about the ship free trial weekend. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/8 "2006-12-23T00:25:43Z")
Well, the way we did it last time was that people from SDMB put the the tag [SDMB] in their name, like [SDMB]SenorBeef, and we let public players in until we had enough people to play an sdmb-only game. Reason being that the game isn’t viable until you have at least 4 people, so if there were only 2 or 3 of us in, we’d just be sitting around waiting. But once I see enough [sdmb] tags out there, I lock/password protect the server. The server will be SDMB Killfest, starting in about a half hour. When you have the server list, sort by name, and then go down to S, you’ll find it. If/when it’s locked, the password will be Cecil. I think the game will prompt you to enter the password, but if it doesn’t, you can set your client password by typing “password cecil” in the console. If you have friends that are good people, feel free to bring them along. The server will be up for a few hours, so even if you see this late, feel free to try to pop on. Try to read the guide/manual linked above before you enter the game, or it will be confusing. I don’t mind explaining it, but after explaining it 4 times as 4 new people join, it gets somewhat frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/9 "2006-12-23T01:02:37Z")
Note: I just realized the password is case sensitive. Use “cecil”, all lowercase. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/10 "2006-12-23T20:48:40Z")
Well, that worked moderately well. I think we had 6 SDMB players, 5 at one time. **Revenant Threshold** joined, but left after 20 minutes or so for some reason. Any interest in an afternoon game? I’ve been running a dedicated server on the same box as I run the lient - this way, I can give the server higher thread priority, so that if anything is going to slow down, it’ll be my client, not the server. Which also means I can just leave it open all day, and check for SDMB players sometimes. Remember to put the tag [SDMB] in your name. Anyway, any interest in a game at, say, 5 eastern, 2 pacific? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/11 "2006-12-23T20:49:40Z")
[QUOTE=SenorBeef] **Revenant Threshold** joined, but left after 20 minutes or so for some reason. [/QUOTE] I ran out of money. It kicks you out and then bans you for a while - i’m not sure how long for. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/12 "2006-12-23T21:01:04Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] I ran out of money. It kicks you out and then bans you for a while - i’m not sure how long for. [/QUOTE] Aha, sorry. I can adjust the server settings to not do that… and then we can just manually kick whoever is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/13 "2006-12-23T21:18:55Z")
[QUOTE=SenorBeef] You need steam, from [www.steampowered.com](http://www.steampowered.com). Then, when you open the program, on the front page, there will be something about the ship free trial weekend. [/QUOTE] Do you not remember me being in on the CS:S games? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/14 "2006-12-23T21:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=adam yax] Do you not remember me being in on the CS:S games? ☹ [/QUOTE] I do - I figured it wouldn’t hurt to post the full explanation for anyone else who wanted to get it. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/15 "2006-12-23T21:33:01Z")
[QUOTE=SenorBeef] I do - I figured it wouldn’t hurt to post the full explanation for anyone else who wanted to get it. [/QUOTE] Of course. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/16 "2006-12-23T21:53:25Z")
Alright, server is going up. As always, put SDMB in your name, and when we have 5 SDMB players, I’ll lock in down as a private game. Until then, feel free to shoot pubs in the face. If it’s locked, the password is “cecil” ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/17 "2006-12-23T23:59:05Z")
Sorry for the interruption of service. In all my grace, I managed trip over the speaker cable so hard that it yanked my sound card out of its socket, which my computer did not like. Server going back up. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/18 "2006-12-24T00:26:51Z")
Every time I try to join a game, my system freezes. When I try to load the game, it does tell me that my system doesn’t meet the system requirements, though, confusingly enough, it says it needs 1.8GHz, and my system only cranks out a measely 1.8GHz, so I can only assume it’s some other related thing on my system. So, whenever I upgrade my computer, is this game worth $20? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/19 "2006-12-24T02:38:42Z")
Woops. To add to the stupid things I’ve done today… some pub player wanted to let his friend in, but I didn’t want to give out the general password, so I changed the password for just for a minute to let his friend in. Only… I then went afk and forgot about it, so people have been locked out for a while. Sorry. If you’re around, and want to play, the password is now properly “cecil” ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874/20 "2006-12-24T04:41:07Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] Every time I try to join a game, my system freezes. When I try to load the game, it does tell me that my system doesn’t meet the system requirements, though, confusingly enough, it says it needs 1.8GHz, and my system only cranks out a measely 1.8GHz, so I can only assume it’s some other related thing on my system. So, whenever I upgrade my computer, is this game worth $20? [/QUOTE] I had the same problem at first. Maybe you’d find something helpful on the support page at: [http://support.steampowered.com/cgi-bin/steampowered.cfg/php/enduser/std\_adp.php?p\_faqid=397](http://support.steampowered.com/cgi-bin/steampowered.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=397) What worked for me was their instructions to change the startup options under msconfig. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ship-free-weekend-part-2/384874.md?page=2)