WorldGroup Doorgame Central

Setting up your Doorgame Server
If this document seems long, it's because it offers detailed step-by-step instructions.
The process is actually very simple if you just follow the steps.

Running Doorgames on Worldgroup
In order to run doorgames on Worldgroup, you must install a program to act as a doorgame server. This doorgame server is then connected to Worldgroup through an rlogin connection.

This document describes how to use Synchronet v3.00c as a doorgame server. Synchronet is actually a full-fledged Windows BBS software with a wide array of features. However, its built-in rlogin support also allows it to be used as a great doorgame server / sub-bbs under Worldgroup. The rlogin connection automatically passes the user's WorldGroup User-ID to Synchronet, so the connection is smooth and seemless from the user's standpoint. Synchronet is freeware; you do not need to pay anything to use it.

If desired, you can run both the Synchronet and Worldgroup server programs on the same computer. This will work fine if you are only using 32-bit doorgames (DoorMUD, Synchronet Blackjack, etc). However, if you are also running 16-bit DOS doorgames (LORD, Usurper, most other doors), this will slow down Worldgroup if run on the same computer. Also, some sysops have reported a bug in the WinNT version of WG 3.xx that prevents Synchronet from accepting connections on the same computer for whatever reason.

Therefore, if you want to run DOS doorgames, it would be best to run Synchronet on a separate computer that is networked to your main Worldgroup system. This method provides the best performance.

However, you could choose to run Synchronet on another system that isn't networked to the Worldgroup system instead. This would also work fine, but might be slightly slower, depending on the speed of your internet connection. The good side to this method is that the two computers don't need to be in the same room, or even in the same building.

Downloading & Installing Synchronet v3.00c
First, download Synchronet v3.00c -- sbbs300c.zip (4.7 megs). Unzip this file to any directory, and run setup.exe. It is recommended that you install Synchronet to the default directory, "c:\sbbs". If you use a different directory, you will have to manually edit two files (EXEC\TIMED.BAT and TEXT\BULLSEYE.CFG) so that they use the proper directory; this should only take a minute to do, so it's not really a problem. But please note that the rest of this document assumes that you have used "c:\sbbs" for Synchronet's directory.

After setup.exe has finished installation, a shortcut to the program should have been added to your desktop, as well as to your Windows start-up folder. The latter will cause Synchronet to automatically start-up every time you boot up your computer; if you don't want this to happen, then from the Windows Start Menu go to Programs >> Start-up and delete the shortcut to Synchronet there.

If you are using Synchronet primarily as a doorgame server, you will probably want to configure it so that the Games menu is effectively the main menu of the Synchronet BBS. You can do this by using a modified set of logon and command scripts -- download doorserv.zip (8k) and extract this to Synchronet's exec directory (ie, c:\sbbs\exec\), overwriting the older files there with the same name. This is highly recommended for doorgame servers.

Initial Synchronet Configuration
To run the Synchronet Control Panel, click the desktop shortcut, which should point to "c:\sbbs\exec\sbbsctrl.exe" -- the main Synchronet console. The first time you run this program, it might prompt you for the location of Synchronet's config file; if you used "c:\sbbs" as your install directory, the config file will be "c:\sbbs\ctrl\main.cnf".

The Synchronet Control Panel should have 4 open windows -- node display, telnet/rlogin server, mail server, and ftp server. If you are just using Synchronet as a doorgame server, you should disable the mail server and ftp server by unclicking their auto-startup options (see the Mail --> Configure and FTP --> Configure menus to find the auto-startup option). Don't disable the Telnet server, though, as the Telnet server also handles rlogin. Configuring the Telnet server will be explained later, don't try to configure it yet.

Running SCFG -- Synchronet Configuration program
Most of Synchronet's options are configured by a program called SCFG, accessible by selecting the BBS --> Configure menu in the Synchronet Control Panel. This program has an old-style DOS interface, but still should be extremely easy to use. If you are ever confused by an option, hit the F1 key to get help on whatever menu you are currently viewing.

The first thing you will have to do is configure the number of nodes (that is, the number of people who can access the doorgame server at once). By default this is set to 4; it is recommended that you raise it to at least 10. Do this by going to SCFG's "Nodes" menu and then hit the Insert key on your keyboard to add new nodes. You don't need to do anything else to configure the nodes.

You'll also want to make it as easy as possible for new users to log into your doorgame server. To do this, go to SCFG's "System" menu, then from there go into "New User Values..." and then "Question Toggles...". It is recommended that you leave "Force Unique Real Name" and "Sex (Gender)" set to YES, but set all of the other ones to NO.

To remove some annoying logon prompts, while still under "New User values...", go to "Default Toggles...". From this menu, set "Ask for New Scan" and "Automatic New File Scan" to NO.

Don't exit SCFG yet -- there are still other options in SCFG that must be set.

Configuring the appearance of the Games / External Programs menu (optional, but highly recommended)
By default, when users select the games/external programs option on your board's menu, the BBS gives the user a choice of three sub-menus: "Main", "Games", and "Other Synchronet Systems". Most users will only use the "Games" sub-menu, so you should probably delete the other two sub-menus. To do this, from SCFG's main menu select "External Programs" and then from there select "Online Programs". Use the arrow keys to highlight "Main" (but don't actually click/select it), and then hit the delete key on your keyboard. Do the same with "Other Synchronet Systems". This will permanently delete these two sub-menus. After doing this, whenever users select games/external programs from your BBS's main menu, they will be sent directly to the Games menu instead of being prompted for things like "main" or "other synchronet systems".

If this didn't make any sense, it'll be clearer after you actually test the system, so you may want to just do this later.

Exiting SCFG
Since SCFG is a DOS program, don't exit it by clicking the "X" Windows icon. Instead, the hit escape from the main menu, in order to save changes.

After exiting SCFG, you must force the BBS to reload its configuration data, since it doesn't automatically load the changes you just made. In the Telnet Server window of Synchronet's control panel, hit the stop button and then the play button. (Make sure you do this in the Telnet Server window, not the node display window). This will refresh the board's configuration data. You should always do this after every time you exit SCFG.

Enabling Synchronet to accept Rlogin Connections
You must now configure the BBS to accept rlogin connections. In the Synchronet Control Panel (that is, the Windows-based program), select the Telnet >> Configure menu.

In the General tab, enable "Minimize Externals". Also, set the "Last Node" option to exactly however many Nodes you configured in SCFG. (If you set the Last Node option higher than the actual number of nodes, you will get error messages, so double check in SCFG if you forget how many nodes you set up).

In the Telnet tab, set the "listening port" to something other than 23. This prevents Synchronet's telnet server from interfering with Worldgroup's telnet server.

In the Rlogin tab, check the "Enabled" option to allow rlogin connections. Then click "Allowed IPs" to configure what IP addresses to allow for rlogin -- Type the telnet address of your Worldgroup board, and then hit enter, and then the OK button. Please note that you MUST type this address in NUMERICAL IP form (ie "12.34.56.78", NOT "myboard.com") in order for it to work. Only type the address of your BBS -- do not type any other addresses into the Allowed IPs list.

Synchronet is now fully configured as a Doorgame Server. The only thing left to do is configure Worldgroup to connect to it.

Configuring WorldGroup to connect to the Doorgame Server
Add an option to the Games menu of your Worldgroup board called "Doorgame menu" or something similar. Have this option execute your rlogin module, and simply have Worldgroup launch an rlogin connection to the address of the computer Synchronet is installed on. Worldgroup v3 has a built-in rlogin module; you simply set it to connect to the IP address of the computer Synchronet is on.

If you are using an older version of Worldgroup with Vircom's TCP/IP, have the rlogin module use the syntax "l xx.xx.xx.xx %U %U ansi", where xx.xx.xx.xx is the IP address of the computer Synchronet is installed on. (Please note that the first character is the letter l, not the number 1.)

Also, in Worldgroup, you should either change the port number for incoming rlogin, or disable Worldgroup's incoming rlogin altogether. This will prevent Worldgroup's inbound rlogin server from conflicting with Synchronet's inbound rlogin.

Testing & Troubleshooting
If you followed these instructions properly, you should now be able to connect to the doorgame server from your Worldgroup board. Give it a try. If it does not work properly, see if you can figure out which area isn't working (IE, whether the problem is on the Worldgroup system, or whether it's on the Synchronet system). Synchronet creates an error log which may be useful. In any case, you can e-mail rhythmnp@aol.com to ask for help if you encounter problems.

So now you have your doorgame server working (hopefully)... what next? Time to install some doorgames!