= INTRO TO REELISM 2 MULTIPLAYER =

Reelism 2 Turbo allows you to take the action online with your friends!* Thanks to some big changes in UZDoom v5.0, we were able to graft multiplayer support onto this mod, and it actually works really, really well!

As of writing this text file, UZDoom doesn't have dedicated server support. In order to play online, one player needs to be the host, which means we have to delve back into the cursed world of port forwarding and command line in order to set up multiplayer. Sorry!

* Maps in Reelism 2 support 4-8 players. See the in-game map select menu for recommended party sizes. UZDoom allows up 64 players at once, but uhhh we advise against that!

== WHAT'S DIFFERENT? ==

Reelism 2 plays mostly the same in multiplayer as it does in single player. Your progress will carry over between modes, including map unlocks and your bank balance!

There are a few changes and new features for multiplayer:

=== GAMEPLAY ===
- If you die in multiplayer, your teammates can respawn you! They can revive you by standing next to your corpse, but they'll only have 30 seconds to reach you (45 seconds in a 2-player game). If you're out of the game, you can continue to watch other players in spectator mode.
- Enemy counts will scale up depending on how many players are in your party. For every 4 players, an additional monster will spawn. That means if you have 8 players in your game, you'll have *three times* as many monsters to deal with!
- Boss health will also increase 0.5x for each additional player in your party.
- A few multiplayer-only reels may also appear during the game!

=== IN TOWN ===
- At the end of each game, win or lose, everyone's points will be combined for a Party High Score. When you head back into Town, the loot will be divided evenly among all players.
- If you want to share the wealth with your teammates, you can deposit your winnings at the ATM in the Town bank. If you quit the game while in Town, your remaining cash will automatically be deposited into the ATM for other players to use. The ATM balance clears when you open the door for the next game. 
- The host is in charge of choosing the map, game mode, assists, and other gameplay settings. Players can still select their own accessibility options and cosmetics (like spawner skins) from the Reelism Options menu.
- Each map has a recommended player count, displayed in the map menu.
- For practical reasons, some Town content has been blocked off in multiplayer.


== STARTING A MULTIPLAYER GAME ==

Hello, multiplayer host! You'll need to configure some things on your end before you can start a game.

Since you're the host, you will need to forward a port on your router for other players to connect to. By default, UZDoom uses port 5029. See this page on the ZDoom Wiki for more information: https://zdoom.org/w/index.php?title=Port_forwarding

UZDoom v5.0 comes with a built-in multiplayer launcher, which should make the rest of the process easier. Launch uzdoom.exe with Reelism 2 using the argument -showlauncher to open the launcher on startup. Your launch shortcut might look something like:

	uzdoom -file reelism2_[versionnumber].pk3 -showlauncher

Open the Multiplayer tab, then the Host tab. From here, set the following options:

	Base game: DOOM 2: Hell on Earth (DOOM2)
	Game Mode: None
	Send Backup Packets: On
	Additional Parameters: +map TRAVEL

* You MUST start on the map TRAVEL, or some load-bearing scripts will break! *

You can also open the UZDoom launcher directly by holding Shift while opening uzdoom.exe. Reelism 2 won't be loaded at first, but you load it by adding an Additional Parameter in the Multiplayer tab:

	-file reelism2_[versionnumber].pk3

Click Host Game to start your multiplayer lobby. Once the other players have joined, click Start Game to get things underway. You don't need a full server to start playing. UZDoom currently does not support mid-game joining, so all players will need to be present before starting.

UZDoom v5.0 uses "packet server" netcode, which means the quality of your netplay experience will depend on the connection strength of all players. If your party is getting connection issues, it may not be your fault as host!

=== OTHER PARAMETERS ==

+sv_noplayerclip 1
During testing, the 300 Pounds team sometimes used this parameter, which makes it so that players can walk through each other. This is not necessary or even recommended for the full Reelism 2 experience, but it might help if you're cramming 16 players onto a map made for 2 players.



== JOINING A MULTIPLAYER GAME ==

If you're joining a game, all you need is the host player's IP. Have your host visit whatismyip.com, search for "what is my ip," or one of the many other ways to determine their IP address.

Launch UZDoom using the same -showlauncher argument:

	uzdoom -file reelism2_[versionnumber].pk3 -showlauncher

Open the Multiplayer tab, then the Join tab. Enter the host's IP, and select "DOOM 2: Hell on Earth (DOOM2)" as your base game. Click Join, and you're set.

Again: You can also open the UZDoom launcher directly by holding Shift while opening uzdoom.exe. Reelism 2 won't be loaded at first, but you load it by adding an Additional Parameter in the Multiplayer tab:

	-file reelism2_[versionnumber].pk3



== LAUNCHING VIA COMMAND LINE ==

If you want to host or join a game using command line rather than the launcher, here are sample commands:

Hosting:
	uzdoom -file reelism2_[versionnumber].pk3 +net_extratic 1 +map TRAVEL -host [# of players] -port 5029

Joining:
	uzdoom -file reelism2_[versionnumber].pk3 -join [host IP address] -port 5029



= THAT'S IT! =

We hope you laugh so hard playing Reelism 2 with your friends that you suffer a mild injury. We came close!

Huge thanks to the UZDoom team, particularly Nash Muhandes and Boondorl, for their help making Reelism 2 compatible with UZDoom... and vice-versa! This crazy mod pushed the dev builds of UZDoom to their limits and exposed some long-dormant engine issues that needed to be fixed before v5.0 could be released.