DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.9 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Changes and notices are listed below.

• New! (D2Config) - Added a new NR2K2-specific field to the Server Settings tab - admin password. There's a brief explanation in the documentation, but please don't inquire any further than that. All will become clear when NR2K2 is released.

• Fix! (D2Config) - I had assumed (obviously incorrectly) that any track added to the original game would also show up in the ALL.INI file (like it always had in past versions of the game). I had to completely change the way I was scanning for tracks (grrr).

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - The launcher was not adding the boss password to the NR4 commandline. Did you know that if you typed password=f.lastname for the boss password, that the player whos name matches "f.lastname" will automatically be the boss even if he doesn't physically type in the boss password?

• Change! (D2Launcher) - The Launcher will now delete the invite/muzzle text files that it creates in the player folder. These files are copied fresh every time a host runs anyway, so you won't be losing any list info.

Miscellaneous DeMONS-related Info:

• Well, I'm expecting a few changes to the dedicated server code in NR2K2, so it might be a few days longer than I expected AFTER the sim has been released before I can get a new version out to cover the changes. Rest assured that I will personally forego racing (or painting) until I've released a new version of D2 (the sacrifices I make for you guys - sheesh!).

DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.8 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Changes and notices are listed below.

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - The launcher wasn't setting the player.ini option that told the sim to save chat log files (the code was commented out - duh).

DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.7 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Changes and notices are listed below.

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - There was still a problem with editing of a host while the launcher is running. The race list for the edited host wasn't being updated in the launcher after you were done editing the host.

DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.6 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Changes and notices are listed below.

• New! (D2Config/D2Launcher) - Finally implemented the host-specific Invite/Muzzle lists. These will get copied to the associated player folder each time a race is run, but ONLY if you have elected to run your server on Sierra.

• Fix! (D2Config) - On the race schedule main dialog, a host using daily timing always displayed "0000" for the time the race would be run.

• Fix! (D2Config) - The program may crash if you accept all defaults in the default race and then in a subsequently scheduled race. the problem involved the lack of a file name to be used for fixed setup races (even though fixed setup wasn't selected). Nobody reported this, I just happened to stumble on it this morning.

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - The daily availability time interval calculations were ALL hosed up. I think I got them all fxed.

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - I think I fixed my special tester's problem with the editing of a host while the launcher is running.

Development Update: I gave version 0.0.1.5 to one person for additional testing. As soon as I here back from him, I'll release it to the rest of you (assuming everything works). Until then, here's what was changed in that version:

• New! (D2Launcher) - Added the ability to shut down a host and re-configure it WHILE the launcher is running. The only thing you'll be able to change is the host that you selected in the launcher, and you'll only be able to edit one host at a time. Further, if the host is currently running a schedule/race, that schedule/race will be terminated while you're editing the host. My advice is to avoid editing hosts if the green flag is displayed for that host in the launcher.

• New! (D2Config/D2Launcher) - Added support for using BOTH N4 and NR2k2 from a single instance of D2. Each host can be configured to use either one of the sims, but a given host cannot use both. This means that if you want to run one server in N4, and another in NR2k2, you have to configure two hosts.

  NOTE: If this version is released BEFORE NR2k2 hits store shelves, D2 may require a few changes to become completely compatible, but I don't anticipate that any of the sim's INI files will change much (if at all).

• Change! (D2Config) - The unique file naming code that required a download from Microsoft has been changed so that the download from Microsoft is no longer required. This will make program use easier for everyone, especially Win9x and NT users.

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - Selecting daily timing on specific days would sometimes cause the launcher to schedule a race to happen a day later than intended. For instance, if the race was scheduled for a Monday, it might show up in the launcher as starting on Tuesday.

DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.4 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Changes and notices are listed below.

• New! (D2Config/D2Launcher) - I added the "favored host" setting to the program. Any host specified as "favored" will automatically kill all running N4 sessions and D2 host schedules until the favored host is finished with it's event. This allows you to pretty much put everything else on hold while you run a league race. After the favored host is finished, all hosts that were running schedules before the favored host kicked in will automatically restart.

• Change! (D2Launcher) - As most admins probably know, an N4 server automatically runs in high-priority mode. This means that the N4 application has top priority for CPU time. Papyrus has provided us with a method for changing the priority mode, and DeMONS/2 even has an associated checkbox which allows you to manipulate this behavior. Prior to this version of DeMONS/2, I left it up to the server admin to remember to turn high-priority mode off when configuring more than one host. However, this setting is often overlooked.

  I added code that detects whether or not multiple hosts are configured, and if so, automatically forces each N4 server into normal priority mode (it changes this setting on the fly, but does not physically change what the server admin elected to do) when a race is started. I hope this is agreeable to everyone.

• Emergency Fix! (D2Scrub) - Ouch! D2Scrub went nuts of me by just sitting there! I've fixed it, and hopefully didn't break anything that depended on the errant source code. There's a special download with just D2Scrub in the ZIP file. Go to the Downloads page to get it.

  Another thing D2Scrub used to do was to convert all text in the scrubbed INI files to lower-case. This has also been fixed.

DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.3 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Changes and notices are listed below.

Just in case you didn't download the last version... :)

As a precaution, you should archive your existing D2 files (including all d2schedule.ini files in your player folders) BEFORE installing and running this version of DeMONS. Several radical changes were made that affect these files, and this means that things could get real weird as far as DeMONS is concerned.

If things get out of hand, move immediately back to your previous version of DeMONS and send an email to the mailing list describing EXACTLY what you did and EXACTLY what happened as a result. One last time - it is up to YOU to take due and reasonable precautions to protect your important N4 files! This warning will remain in effect until it appears that we get the Host Availability related changes working well. I'll be sure to let you know when that time arrives. Until then, hold on to your butts.

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - Well, this was inevitable. In my haste to release some new code, I neglected to actually implement the "practice only" mode.

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - The launcher wasn't launching at all because I left some debugging code in it. I don't know what disturbs me more - the fact that I left some debugging code in the program, or the fact that it caused a bug. :)

Known / reported issues:

• Bug - Problem with max connections settings. At this time, make sure you always select TCP/IP and specify the desired number of connections (within the limits imposed by the program). I'm still trying to figure out the criteria for this myself.

DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.2 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Changes and notices are listed below.

As a precaution, you should archive your existing D2 files (including all d2schedule.ini files in your player folders) BEFORE installing and running this version of DeMONS. Several radical changes were made that affect these files, and this means that things could get real weird as far as DeMONS is concerned.

If things get out of hand, move immediately back to your previous version of DeMONS and send an email to the mailing list describing EXACTLY what you did and EXACTLY what happened as a result. One last time - it is up to YOU to take due and reasonable precautions to protect your important N4 files! This warning will remain in effect until it appears that we get the Host Availability related changes working well. I'll be sure to let you know when that time arrives. Until then, hold on to your butts.

• New! (D2Config) - The new Host Availability tab has been implemented in the host configuration dialog. This feature allows you to specify day-to-day availability of each host (allows for "time slot" allocation for groups/leagues with which you might be sharing your server). Even single-server admins can make use of this feature.

• New! (D2Config) - There's a new button on the main D2Config dialog box Weekly Host Schedules. This button allows you to see a graphical representation of all curently configured hosts and their associated schedule timing so that you can viusually identify any possible timing conflicts assoiated with the new Host Availability feature.

• New! (D2Config) - There's a new setting on the default race and race configuration tabs. This setting is a checkbox labelled "Run practice session only". Toggling this setting ON causes the launcher to shut the sim down at (or near) the end of the practice session. A word of warning - more times than not, the sim will shutdown a little before the practice session is over.

• Change! (D2Config) - Removed the restriction that D2 imposed where you were not allowed to configure more than ten hosts, but keep in mind that each host thread in the launcher consumes a little memory and resources while it's in it's clock-watching mode. This change was made in order to implement the Host Availability feature.

• Change! (D2Config) - Removed the restriction that D2 imposed where you were not allowed to use the same player folder for more than one host. This change was made in order to implement the Host Availability feature.

• Change! (D2Config) - I worked on improving the way the program reacts when you install a new version of D2 that supports new (additional) data. It should now automatically set missing settings to a default value. There may no longer be a need to delete existing D2 INI files.

• Change! (D2Config) - Schedules are no longer saved in D2Schedule.ini files in the player folders. The filenames are now "universally unique" and are quite long, but they are still saved in the player folder. For a more detailed explaination see the Other Important Host Info section in the rtf document. This change was made in order to implement the Host Availability feature.

• Change! (D2Config) - The main D2Config dialog has been enlarged and re-arranged. This change was made in order to implement the Host Availability feature.

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - While working on the Host Availability tab, I noticed that a time-restricted continuous loop timing style would choke and puke. I don't know what would happen, but my guess is that the interval between races would be random at best.

Known / reported issues:

• Bug - Problem with max connections settings. At this time, make sure you always select TCP/IP and specify the desired number of connections (within the limits imposed by the program). I'm still trying to figure out the criteria for this myself.

Wow. I bet everyone thought I had just abandoned the project - it's been five months since I did any work on the code. I started coding again today by activating the code that responds to the Host Availability tab. For some reason, I was only going to make this available to remote super admins, but I honestly don't remember why I made that decision. So, in the spirit of the season, I've decided to lift that arbitrary restriction.

DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.1 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Changes and notices are listed below:

• Fix! () - No fixes were made in this release.

• New! (D2Config) - Added a new "Run post-race batch file" check box to the Server Settings tab in the Host Configuration dialog box. If you check this new box, and have a batch file called D2POSTRACE.BAT in your player folder, the launcher will run the batch file immediately after running the race. It is entirely up to you do write a valid batch file. This was added so that admins could start sending race results to RaceReaper and/or StatsReaper.

• New! (D2Config) - Added a new "Host Availability" tab to the Host configuration dialog box. This tab allows the SuperAdmin to allot a given host to a specific admin on a daily basis. For example, let's say we have three leagues that want to run on a given server, and the server owner wants to reserve four days for his own use. The server owner can allot Monday to league #1, Tuesday to league #2, and Wednesday to league #3. All remaining days of the week are dedicated to the server owner. At this point, this new item allows you to specify the information described above, but the launcher doesn't react to them yet.

Known / reported issues:

• Bug ??? - Problem with max connections settings. At this time, make sure you always select TCP/IP and specify the desired number of connections (within the limits imposed by the program). I'm still trying to figure out the criteria for this myself.

Miscellaneous DeMONS-related Info:

• The in-laws have left for home, so it's back to almost daily updates again. :-)

DeMONS/2 version 0.0.1.0 (TEST TEST) is now available for download. Phase 2 has now begun (notice the version number change). Phase two is centered around remote admin of individual hosts and public setup of races on a host. Please keep a copy of version 0.0.0.19 until you're happy with code produced in this phase, just in case you have to fall back to a working version while I iron out any problems that may come up. Changes and notices are listed below:

• Fix! (D2Launcher) - Fixed the save replay problem. Replays weren't being saved because I was not setting the correct player.INI file item.

• Fix! (D2Config) - Fixed the fixed setup file selection so that it actually uses the file you selected.

• Fix! (D2Config) - Improved validation on Race configuration "General" tab. It was letting folks enter a race date without requiring them to also enter a race time (specific timing mode).

• New! (D2Config) - Added a pair of buttons that will allow you to move races around in the schedule. These buttons don't do anything right now (they're disabled), but I just wanted to let you know I was planning on doing this.

Known / reported issues:

• Bug - Problem with max connections settings. At this time, make sure you always select TCP/IP and specify the desired number of connections (within the limits imposed by the program). I'm still trying to figure out the criteria for this myself.

Miscellaneous DeMONS-related Info:

• Jan Kohl over at The Pits did an On The Spot interview with me last week. Make sure you go over there and check it out if you haven't already.

• The in-laws are leaving this evening, and I'm up early to get a new release out.

• The riches I've accumulated through DeMONS has enabled me to purchase a 1998 Buick Park Avenue Ultra. Okay, so it wasn't DeMONS that made this purchase possible, but the news in this section is supposed to be DeMONS-related, so I lied a little. Anyway, besides being an expensive luxury 4-door sedan, the "Ultra" model comes with a supercharger, and any racer worth his salt is going to want the car with the supercharger.