-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Intro

PLEASE NOTE: This core is only useful for programming and educational
purposes.  It is -NOT- a working game server.

This core can handle only primitive networking, but it's a good start
for anyone interested in writing their own core, or just playing around
with things.

The only way to modify things is to edit the textdump (named
"netstart"), then restart the game.  After a little bit of coding,
you'll be able to modify things in-game.  It -is- possible to build a
core from the ground up, if you're persistent.

If you're interested in starting with a little more framework, look at
http://cold.xidus.net for info on BaseCore.  BaseCore provides more of
the essential early code, such as a parser, and the ability to edit
methods and manipulate objects in-game.  It also has the effect of
restricting your design decisions, though, because you're stuck with
the way I set things up.  (unless you want to rewrite BaseCore, which
is also fine)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Installation

In a nutshell:

 -) Obtain and compile Genesis
 -) Create symlinks from the NetStart/bins directory to coldcc and
    genesis
 -) Run ./restart from the NetStart directory.

In a somewhat larger nutshell:

You need to obtain and compile Genesis from http://cold.org in order
to use this core.  If you have problems with the compilation, feel
free to contact Jeremy Weatherford <xidus@xidus.net> for ad-hoc tech
support.  As of June 1st, 2000, the link to the latest Genesis source
tree is ftp://ftp.cold.org/src/stable/Genesis.tar.gz

While that's compiling, check out your directory tree.  Wherever you
extracted the NetStart archive, it created a NetStart subdirectory,
and the following files and directories:

NetStart/
NetStart/README				this file
NetStart/netstart			the actual code, or the textdump
NetStart/restart			shell script to restart server
NetStart/logs/				directory for Genesis to place logs in
NetStart/logs/logs.go.here	placeholder
NetStart/bin/				directory to link Genesis binaries into
NetStart/bin/bins.go.here	placeholder

Once the compile is finished, you need to link the binaries from the
Genesis source tree into your NetStart/bin directory.  If you have
Genesis set up in, for example, /home/xidus/Genesis-1.1.8-STABLE, then
the commands would look like this:

[xidus@bork xidus] cd NetStart/bin
[xidus@bork bin] ln -s /home/xidus/Genesis-1.1.8-STABLE/src/genesis genesis
[xidus@bork bin] ln -s /home/xidus/Genesis-1.1.8-STABLE/src/coldcc coldcc

All this does is create symbolic links from your NetStart/bin
directory to the actual binaries for the compiler and the server, for
convenience.

Now change to the NetStart directory, and type ./restart to start the
server.  You should see a few messages from the compiler, then a
'Successfully started, default port is 4249.' message from the restart
script.  Fire up a telnet window and connect to port 4249 on the
machine you're working on.  (localhost if it's your computer, or the
host name if it's a shell server)

You should see a welcome banner letting you know what's going on.  :)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Other Notes

The default port can be changed in the code itself quite easily.  On
line 30, the 4th line of 'public method .startup()' on $listener, the
statement:

           bind_port(4249);

can easily be changed to reflect any port you wish to use.  :)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Contact

If you have any questions, comments, etc., please contact Jeremy
Weatherford <xidus@xidus.net>, or see the Cold page at
http://cold.xidus.net.

Please do remember that this core is intended mainly for educational
purposes, and is -NOT- meant to be a working game server.  :)