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  General info
  Hosting your own games
 
Hosting your own games
 
Hosting your own games is quite amazing to do, sometimes it is as exciting as taking part at a game. However, making a game is quite complicated, and hosting a game is quite complicated too , and you will discover a lot of problems and imperfections when hosting your first game.
You will notice that people can cheat, but they don't do it on purpose, usually it is because you forgot to modify the world settings.
Hosting a game in a public world can be done too, although you must take into account that you can only make a game with the current world settings , we mean with that : a game that accepts that the gamers can use object selection, third person view , pass-through objects , etc.
Hosting a game in a private world has more possibilities, as you can change the world settings for the game, for instance: disable flying, which you cannot do in a public world.
Some people can even make advanced games with the help of a bot. Some people use one of the standard bots (preston, xelagot, magsbot,...) , and some people do the bot scripting for the game themselves.
Playing a hunt game with object selection activated is not really the best way but it can be done like that. By clicking on the ctrl-key you can see all the objects on the selected cells, also the hidden ones. Here you see that there is also a pumpkin hidden inside the wall.
World settings
 
As a world owner, you change the world settings for your game :
Go in the menu to : Options - World - Features
 
Entry point
Sometimes it is important to choose a good world entry point. Don't put the entry point in a place where players can disrupt the game
 
Minimum visibility : e.g. increase to 150 meters
Sometimes it is necessary that all the players see all the objects on a gameboard and also around the gameboard (e.g. the scoreboard). If an object with a certain action command gets out of view for a player, then the action command for this object will be reset, and the player could miss an important information of the game. That's why you should increase the minimum visibility for instance to 150 meters so that all players have certainly all objects in their view.
Allow pass-trhu (Shift) : check off
If you make a scavenger hunt, and you hide an object behind a door, that can only be opened with a key, then you disable the pass-through , otherwise the players will use the shift key to go through the door instead of searching for the key.
Allow flying (+/-) : depends on the game
You can disable flying in the world , all depend on which game you play. If you want to make a skill game, in which the avatars need to walk over small tubes and jump over obstacles, then flying should be disabled. For a board game, flying is ok.
Allow local teleports/invites : check off
Also this option should be disabled : players should not be able to teleport to the place behind the door, even not in any other place as well . And they also should not be allowed to be invited by other players which managed to get through.
Allow object selection : check off (in most cases)
In a lot of cases, the object selection should be disabled : if a players can right-click upon objects, they will see the object scripting and will know what will happen if they click upon a certain object. The players will also be able to use the ctrl-key , then they will see all the objects that are located on the cell , also those hidden behind walls.
Allow citizen whispers
You could uncheck this, but it don't know if this makes any sense, because the players can also telegram to eachother. For a trivia game , maybe yes , because it takes more time to send a telegram then to type it in whisper mode.
Enable camera collision : check off
If you are doing a scavenger hunt with hidden objects, then the players should not be able to see that other side of the wall by going into third person. Also if a player has his personal game box with buttons, then competing players should not be able to get inside your game box by going into third person view and click your game buttons.
 
World Rights
 
Also the world Rights should be checked for your game :
Go in the menu to : Options - World - Rights
 
Enter
It is always better to reveal the game only when the game starts, then omit the asterisk and keep the world closed until the game starts. Unless you world has a game tutorial area, then keep the world open for that reason.
Build + Terrain + Eminent Domain
If you have citizens which are allowed to build in your world, then delete them temporarily from the world rights list. You never know if one of those builders wants to troll with you during the game
Public Speaker
Make yourself or the game host as public speaker during the game, all other public speakers should be removed temporarily (during the game).
Eject + Bots
Also these should be temporarily disabled for citizens which have these permissions.
Testing with 2 computers or with another player
 
Sometimes the game works very well on your computer, but when checking this with your second computer and by using a second AW account for testing, you will notice that the game doesn't work like it should.
Global command
Maybe you have forgotten to add in the action command that a certain object has to move globally. In a scavenger hunt, the proglem is usually the opposite : if a player has found a key to open a door , then the door should not open globally, but only for that player.
Video url-links
Video url-links, specifically from Youtube may work well on your computer, but not on another computer, better test this out first
Gravity commands
Gravity commands react differently on every computer,making a soccer game is impossible, because the ball moves differently on every computer. But the gravity command work well if the result is the same for all computer. But make a test to see if it is ok.
 
Building
 
After finishing your build, check if there are no gaps between the walls, where the players can get through. Check if you have deleted all the test buttons. Check if the players can view all the objects they need to see. Check if all the game buttons work correctly for each player , maybe the name command is not correctly , or the script is missing a komma. Also check all the game host buttons the game. Check also if all the teleports work correctly.
 
Movers
Movers are often already visible from a larger distance, you can also click upon them from a larger distance , sometimes you think that a gamer needs to pass some obstacles first, before reaching a mover, but that's not true : as soon as a player can click upon a mover , he has passed all the obstacles in between without any challenge.
Game tutorial
 
When you game is working like it should, it is time to make a game tutorial, explaining how the game should be played. You can do this by typing this on a webpage, or by putting sign objects in the gaming world.
Try to explain the game as clear as possible. If a game is a bit complicated, then you need more signs or more text to explain, that is obvious ,but don't make the game too complicated. People need to know how to start the game and how to play it.
If it doesn't work like you want , then you can modify the game rules and make the game easier for all players.
Announcing your game
Here things are similar to hosting a party or other event
 
* Make a poster about the event : show clearly about "when" and "where" and choose a good name of your party, just saying "what" there will be done.
* Choose color and a nice font style, and if possible, add a picture or a sketch image, this says more than a thousand words.
* Post the event (with poster) on AWPortals and on Facebook with extra information. For AWPortals the poster should be square (256x256 / 512x512 pixels).
* Try to get the poster in the AW Landing zone , and try to announce the event during the community meeting.
* Try to announce the event at least 1 week before it starts, so that everyone knows that there is an event.
3d scene of your game
 
* Make an exclusive 3d scene, with objects and colours that attract the visitors. Try to make the event different from what you expect to see
 
Running the game
* Try to add a party to your game,or use background music , the game only is often not enough
* Try to get help of another citizen to host the party , or to help with the scores or to help to explain the game to the players

* Try to make your game as smooth as possible, so that you can focus your time at welcoming and chatting with the players