The intent of this part of the DeMONS website is to help you come to grips with the various timing styles and combinations thereof, and to help you understand how best to setup your copy of DeMONS. Keep in mind that DeMONS was created to help you to run DEDICATED servers, not open loops or that kind of stuff. It will NOT be changed to accomodate open loopers or "setup" servers.

DeMONS allows you to run an UNLIMITED number of simulatenous race servers for Nascar Racing 2003 Season. Of course the viability of running many servers is based on your hardware and internet connection, but I'll cover that later. Schedules can then be created with various timing considerations and with FULL control over all aspects of the race(s) that you would find in the sim itself. The scheduling possibilities are almost infinite in number.

Lastly, keep this idea in mind - a typical machine can realistically handle no more than TWO simultaneously running servers at a given time. Of course, the more powerful your system, the better your chances will be of running more, but it's not recommended. Besides, your internet connection will probably be a somewhat more immediate limiting factor.

The key to your connection viability is the UPSTREAM bandwidth. Each car takes approximately 21k of upstream bandwidth. This works out to requiring a FULL T-1 connection to support a 43-car field (uses a little over 900k). Don't kid yourself, and don't do a disservice to your drivers by overloading your server.

Finally, you need to already have created one or more Sierra ID's in order to have your server show up in the Sierra server list.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR WINDOWS 95/98/ME USERS - Due to quirks in Windows, you need to perform an extra step before running DeMONS the first time. A utility called D3SCRUB is provided which allows you to modify some of the sim's INI files (the track files specifically) that are written in a non-standard way that prevents DeMONS from reading them without going through a lot of stupid little dances.

For performance reasons, I wrote D3SCRUB. If you want details about what it does, refer to the Reference Guide. I can guarantee that it does not cause any problems with running the sim. This step is NOT required by Windows NT, Windows 2002, or Windows XP users.

Now you're ready to start using DeMONS. There are three basic steps to hosting a race with DeMONS:

• Configuring one or more hosts.

• The Add Button -- This button allows you to add a new host. When you click it, you will automatically be taken to the Host Configuration dialog box. This button is always available.

• The Edit Button -- This button allows you to configure the currently selected host. This button is only available if an existing host is selected in the list box.

• The Delete Button -- This button allows you to delete the currently selected host. This button is only available if an existing host is selected in the list box.

• The Show Sims Button -- This button allows you to see a list of the sims that are currently installed, and where they are installed on your system. This is an information-only dialog box.

• The Settings Button -- This button allows you to configure the D3 system itself.

• The Host Recap Button -- This button allows you to view a graphic representation of the time slots filled by each host during a 7-day week.

NOTE: If you get completely flabbergasted and confused, you can wipe all of the DeMONS configuration data by clicking the "Start Fresh" button in the lower left corner of this dialog box.

Visit all of the tabs to see what's on them. For explanations as to what all the fields and buttons are for, refer to the Reference Guide.

• Continuous Loop -- When used in conjunction with other timing settngs, this is probably the most flexible of all three available timing styles. When selected, each race in the schedule is run in order of appearance in the schedule until either a) you turn it off, or b) it reaches the end of the schedule list. Servers using this timing style cannot be selected as favored because every time they cycle to the next race, they'd shut down all other running hosts.

• Daily -- This timing style causes the host to run ONE race from the schedule every day, but only once at the time specified. Like the continuous loop style, it will run until a) you turn it off, or b) until it runs out of races to run.

• Specific Date/Time -- This timing style is for running a single race at a specific date and time. If this timing style is selected, you will need to specify both the start date and start time for EACH RACE in the schedule. If you get over-aggressive with the timing by scheduling two races (on the same host) too close together, DeMONS will ignore all races whose start date/time has already passed.

  Another item of note for this timing style is that a host using this timing style ignores the daily availability settings, and instead considers itself to run every day. (The favored host setting is NOT ignored, however.)

• Run Schedule From/To -- This allows you to specify a time-frame within which the host will run races. This value only applies to the continuous loop timing style.

• Start Time -- This setting allows you to specify what time of the day to run each race in the schedule. This setting only applies to the specific daily timing style.

• Stop At End Of Schedule -- This allows you to have the host terminate itself when it reaches the end of the race list in the schedule. If you do not check this box, the schedule will continue to repeat the schedule. This setting does NOT apply to the specific date/time timing style.

Make sure you check out the Scheduling Flexibility section near the end of this page. I've outlined how to configure one or more DeMONS hosts to perform a wide range of host scheduling.

You might not have noticed, but timing styles are indicated by a specific colored line: continuous loop is blue, daily is green, and specific date/time is red.

• All available tracks -- This option forces D3Config to add one event for each track that is available to the sim. Another item of note is that it adds them in alphabetical order. If you want to model the current Winston Cup schdule, you will have to move them up/down in the list yourself.

• Specific track types -- This option allows the user to select one or more of the descrete track types available in the sim (speedway, road course, etc). All tracks available to the sim that are of the selected type(s) are automatically added to the schedule. Once again, the tracks will be added in alphbetical order, so you will have to move them arounds in the list until they're in the desired order.

I have also successfully hosted races on a laptop connected via a 802.11g wireless connection. I have not tried anything slower, but the 802.11g is sufficiently fast enough to support the needs of a NR2K3 server.

The long and the short of it is don't let your alligator ego overload your hummingbird connection/hardware. You'll just look like a putz to the people that use your server, I won't be sympathetic, and your users will hate and revile you.

• I just want to run an endless loop of races 24/7 (nothing fancy).

  You'll need one host with the following settings.

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "Continuous loop".
  • Uncheck Limit schedule to specified time-frame.
  • Uncheck Repeat same schedule even until.
  • Set Continuous loop starts next race to immediately.
  • Click the All Days On button.

  What will happen - When you start the host (from the launcher), the host will start cycling through all of the races in the schedule. When a race ends, the next race in the schedule will start at the next even minute (see Reference Guide for further details). The schedule will continue cycling through the scheduled races until you tell it to stop.

• I just want to run one race every day at a specific time.

  You'll need one host with the following settings.

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "Daily time".
  • Set the "Time to start event" to the desired time.
  • Click the "All Days On" button.

  What will happen - When you start the host (from the launcher), the host will start cycling through all of the races in the schedule, running each event once every day at the specified time, and will continue cycling through the scheduled races until you tell it to stop.

• I want to run practice races all day every day, but I want to run a single league race once a week at a specific time on a specific day while not having any practice races running.

  You'll need two hosts (a practice host and a league race host) to do this.

  For the practice race host...

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "continuous loop".
  • Uncheck Limit schedule to specified time-frame.
  • Check Repeat same schedule even until.
  • Select the day and time that the host is to stop running a race in the schedule.
  • Set Continuous loop starts next race to immediately.
  • Click the All Days On button.
  • Check Stop at end of schedule.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Un-check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  For the league race host...

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "Daily time".
  • Set the "Time to start event" to the desired time.
  • Click "All Days Off" button.
  • Check the desired day on which to run the races for this host.
  • Check Stop at end of schedule.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  What will happen - When you start both hosts (from the launcher), the practice server will immediately start cycling through all of the races. Each race will be run repeatedly until the day/time specified, at which point it will move to the next race in the schedule. The league host will terminate the practice host's sim session (if running), and will start it's race. After that race is finished, the practice host will be allowed to resume it's schedule.

  The time to stop for the practice host should probably be set to about 10 minutes AFTER the league host's specified start time. This will guarantee that when the practice host is automatically started back up, it will progress to the next race in the schedule.

• I want to run the same setup as above, but I'm using a machine that's only available for serving races during a specific time frame.

  Setup the practice and league hosts as described above, and use the following additional settings and considerations.

  You'll need two hosts (a practice host and a league race host) to do this.

  For the practice race host...

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "continuous loop".
  • Check Limit schedule to specified time-frame.
  • Specify the desired from and to times (the "from" time will typically be LATER in the day than the "to" time, since the reason a machine is not available is because it is occupied with work-related operations).
  • Check Repeat same schedule even until.
  • Select the day and time that the host is to stop running a race in the schedule.
  • Set Continuous loop starts next race to immediately.
  • Click the All Days On button.
  • Check Stop at end of schedule.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Un-check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  For the league race host...

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "Daily time".
  • Set the "Time to start event" to the desired time.
  • Click "All Days Off" button.
  • Check the desired day on which to run the races for this host.
  • Check Stop at end of schedule.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  What will happen - When you start both hosts (from the launcher), the practice server will immediately start cycling through all of the races. Each race will be run repeatedly until the day/time specified, at which point it will move to the next race in the schedule. The league host will terminate the practice host's sim session (if running), and will start it's race. After that race is finished, the practice host will be allowed to resume it's schedule.

  The time to stop for the practice host should probably be set to about 10 minutes AFTER the league host's specified start time. This will guarantee that when the practice host is automatically started back up, it will progress to the next race in the schedule.

• I want to run a couple of races on Saturdays for some casual racing with friends. I want both races to start at a specific time so everyone can schedule their otherwise meaningless lives around my scheduled race events.

  You'll need two hosts (a Race #1 host, and a Race #2 host) to do this.

  For the Race #1 host...

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "daily".
  • Set the start time to the time you want the race to start.
  • Select "Saturday" under day of the week.
  • Check the "Stop at end of schedule" checkbox.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Un-check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  For the Race #2 host...

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "daily".
  • Set the start time to the time you want the race to start (accounting for the expected duration of the first race).
  • Select "Saturday" under day of the week.
  • Check the "Stop at end of schedule" checkbox.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Un-check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  What will happen - When you start both hosts (from the launcher), both the Race #1 host and the Race #2 host will start a sim server session at the specified time every Saturday. You can schedule several Saturdays in advance for each host, requiring no human intervention from the point at which you initially started the schedules running in the Launcher.

• I want to run a couple of races on Saturdays for some casual racing with friends. I want both races to start at a specific time so everyone can schedule their otherwise meaningless lives around my scheduled race events. In addition, I would like to run practice races during the rest of the week just to keep everybody entertained. I also want the practice races to only run between 5pm and 5am.

  You'll need three hosts - a Race #1 host, a Race #2 host, and a practice host) with different ID's to do this.

  For the Race #1 host...

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "daily".
  • Set the start time to the time you want the race to start.
  • Select "Saturday" under day of the week.
  • Check the "Stop at end of schedule" checkbox.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  For the Race #2 host...

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "daily".
  • Set the start time to the time you want the race to start (accounting for the expected duration of the first race).
  • Select "Saturday" under day of the week.
  • Check the "Stop at end of schedule" checkbox.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  For the Practice host, do this:

  On the Timing tab:

  • Set the timing style to "Continuous loop".
  • Check Limit schedule to specified time-frame.
  • Specify the desired from and to times (the "from" time will typically be LATER in the day than the "to" time, since the reason a machine is not available is because it is occupied with work-related operations).
  • Uncheck Repeat same schedule even until.
  • Set Continuous loop starts next race to immediately.
  • Click the All Days On button.
  On the Admin tab:
  • Un-check the "Favored Host" checkbox.

  What will happen - When you start the hosts (from the launcher), the practice host will start cycling through the scheduled races at (or after) 5pm. When Saturday rolls around, both the Race #1 host and the Race #2 host will start a sim server session at the specified time, and will pause the practice host (as well as terminating it's server session) in favor of their own events. It's CRITICAL that you configure both "race" hosts so that the second one doesn't cause the first one to stop.

• I don't see any tracks for NR4, NR2K2, or NR2K3 when I try to setup a schedule. Why not?

  You're probably running on a Win9x/ME machine, so you need to run D3Scrub.

• I just installed the latest Nascar Racing (for NR4, NR2K2, or NR2K3) patch, and some/all of the tracks don't show up again. What happened?

  You're probably running on a Win9x/ME machine. You need to run D3Scrub again because the patch included new version of one or more track files.

• Do I have to do anything special to use new 3rd-party tracks in DeMONS?

  No. DeMONS can find new tracks all by itself. If it shows up in the game, you can schedule a race there with DeMONS.

• Can I access DeMONS remotely from another machine on a network or on the internet?

  Yes, but you have to use a third-party program until I get around to giving you a native application. A couple of programs that can perform this are pc-Anywhere, and VNC. VNC is free, but pc-Anywhere is a little more secure.

• The timing stuff is kind of confusing. Can you provide some examples of how to configure various combinations of hosts?

  Check out the section of this document entitled Scheduling Flexibility.

• I specified that a race run five times in the player INI file, but the sim only runs the race once and terminates. Why?

  Because DeMONS only allows the sim to run a single race per sim session, and then the sim terminates. If the sim were to be allowed to run one race after another, what possible use could DeMONS be to you? If you want to run the same track five times in a row, DeMONS won't actually let you do that, but you can configure your host to change tracks once every day.

• Does DeMONS support a computer that has more than one processor?

  Yes. Each host can be configured to use a specific CPU. If you don't have but one processor, that's okay too, but you'll be limited to maybe two simultaneously running server sessions (not a DeMONS limit, but a hardware limit, instead).

• How do I determine how many players I can host?

  The simple answer is to determine your upstream bandwidth, and divide that number by 21. Round the answer down to the nearest whole number, and then subtract 1. That's how many drivers you can realistically expect to host on a REALLY GOOD DAY. Most broadband connections are shared with other subscribers, so peak time traffic could affect your ability to host.

• If I host a race that uses AI cars, can I still host the same number of human drivers?

  No. Once you've calculated the maximum number of possible connections (see previous FAQ question), you need to subtract the number of AI cars from that value, and that's how many humans can connect to your server.

• I have a hardware router. Do I need to do anything special to host races?

  Yes. You need to foward a range of ports to the computer that is the server machine. Each router is different and may have wildly varying requirements and restrictions where forwarding ports are involved. Check your router's documentation for details on how to forward ports.

  Beyond that, you need to know which ports to forward. On your server machine, the default port range would be 32766 to 32767 + number of cars you will be hosting. For example, if you'll be hosting 20 cars, your port range should be from 32766 to 32787. You should also ensure that your core.ini file contains the correct "net_server_port" value. Set it to 32766.

• I have a hardware router. I want to run two server machines, and I still want to race, too. How do I do that?

  First, go read the previous question. Once you understand the answer, come back and start reading at the next paragraph.

  Each server needs to have it's own range of ports. Assuming you setup the first server machine as described above (forwarding the port range of 32766-32787), you may want to use the port range 32800-32821 for the second server. Don't forget to set the "net_server_port" value in CORE.INI on the second server machine.

  On the machine where you'll acytually be driving, all you have to do is specify a net_server_port value in the CORE.INI file on that machine. You don't have to forward ports to that machine, though. Remember to select a port value that does not fall within the range of the other two machines. A port value of 32850 might be a good choice.

• Do I have do all that port forwarding stuff even if I'm not using Sierra to display my server?

  Yes, I'm afraid you do.

• I want to save replays, but the really eat up a lot of disk space. Is there anything I can do about it?

  Yes. Go to each of your player INI files and look for the line that contains this - [MISC]. Under this line, you'll see a line that says clear_replay_each_session=0. Change the "0" to a "1", and the only part of the replay that will be saved is the race session. (Many thanks to Paul E. from WSRL for this tip.)