Hotline is very similar to IRC (and in a way AOL, eww) in that you can chat, transfer files, /msg people, etc. Hotline is a warez haven. Another good thing is that there aren't nearly as many lamers on Hotline as IRC or AOL.
2. What you need to run hotline:
• PowerPC or 68k Macintosh/Compatible
• Must be running Open Transport 1.1 or later
• Must also be running MacOS 7.5 or later
• 1 MB of available RAM
• 600k available free disk space (not including space
required for Downloads)
If you don't have Hotline GET IT at:
http://www.hotlineSW.com
Open Transport can be found at Apple's site.
3. Basic stuff:
Hopefully by now you have installed Hotline. The download folder is where the files you download from Hotline go. (duh) The default toolbar appears when you start Hotline, you can change that later. Go up to the options menu and set your nickname and the icon you want to show up by your name. Now connect to a server by hitting cmd-K (macline.fwparker.org should be up). You can connect to other servers too, refer to part 6 and 14. The people whose names are in red are people with an admin account on the system. Admins can do a few things that normal users can't, but it really depends on how their account is set up. More on this later. For now just check it out.
4. Things to do on Hotline:
You can do a number of things on Hotline. You can chat (cmd-H). You can transfer files (cmd-F). You can also *IM* or /msg a user, double click on the users name in the "Online User" window, then type in the message to send to him/her. Hotline differs from IRC in that there is only one channel or chat room. Everytime you download something you should queue your downloads. Most admins will kick you off of their server if you do not. You can set this in your options menu. Hotline is very simple to figure out and if you have gotten this far you probably know the newbie stuff.
5. Things not to do on Hotline:
Don't be gay and make your name an option space or pull the null trick and then proceed to flood the chat, this is not AOL and the admin can do something...The admin can and will kick you off the server. Then if he/she has half a brain they will ping the crap out of you. Not so bad huh? WRONG. I have found the admin usually gives everyone your IP address and tells them to ping you also. So everyone online gangs up on you. I have heard that OT is sensitive to the ping of death, so this could be a problem for you. There is a nice little program that will tell you if you are being pinged or not though. It is included with HackAddict. Do not leech. If you download a file upload something in return. Do not download more than one file at a time. (you will usually get kicked off for that)
Admins:
This leads us into what admins can do that you can't. A FULL admin account has the following access on the server:
Can DL/UL files
Can UL/ anywhere
Can delete files/folders
Can rename files/folders
Can move files/folders
Can comment files/folders
Can create/delete users
Can read users/modify users
Can get user info (ip address etc)
Can disconnect users
Cannot be disconnected
Can read/send chat
Can read/post news
Can use any name/no agreement
Some admins are very nice and will set up an account for you with guest access except you have a few more priveliges, including:
Can disconnect users
Cannot be disconnected
Can get user info (ip address etc)
Though, most admins are not this nice and you have to UL/ a few files to even get an account. If an admin sets you up an account you can log on it by typing in your login and password at the connect window. (cmd-K)
6. What is a tracker?
A tracker is a program that people register their Hotline servers with. This way you can just hit cmd-R and see a nice list of servers that you can connect to. It is kinda like a search engine for Hotline servers. In order for this to work you will need to set a tracker in your options menu. The best tracker is:omnimac.ml.org
More trackers:
204.95.233.208
205.150.79.214 (warez tracker)
207.70.237.7
198.68.36.212
134.214.76.174
207.33.40.35
168.121.35.83
207.96.191.68
204.95.233.208
207.70.237.7
205.150.79.214
204.95.233.20
199.232.7.188
206.26.76.189
199.232.7.188
129.7.40.88
207.33.40.45
207.33.40.35
194.049.68.103
196.69.126.6
197.03.13.10
195.15.65.078
206.26.76.189
208.14.24.21
207.70.237.7
206.152.243.50
149.152.44.29
204.95.233.20
hotline.roadfeldt.com
hotline.dyn.ml.org
7. My icon is stupid!
The icons provided with Hotline are gay. You can change your icon by editing Hotline with ResEdit. Create your icon in the cicn resource and give it a unique ID number (say 1234). Open Hotline and hit control-f12, you are brought to a window named Secret. In the first box type"porkgrinder" No quotes. In the second box type your cicn ID number (in this case 1234). From now on hotline will select cicn ID# 1234 to be the icon by your nickname. The Control-F12 keystroke does more than just change your icon. It can also play tricks and other fun things. Here are a few more commands to type in the top box:
Hammeregg, Powertok, Slobberdog, Bonsaiburner
Mosquitogun-immediate logout
Access-turns your nick into bacon and your icon into a pig you can only say oink and pork in the chat.
Jugfish - Announces your "Leech Rating" (Upload/Download Ratio) in the chat.
Bigkahuna -Announces "*** yourname will brb - going to check out
RandomPerson's post to alt.pictures.erotica.hamsters." in the chat.
Fogmaker - Announces "*** yourname will brb - posting to
alt.pictures.erotica.hamsters" in the chat. Then it Quits Hotline...
8. News & Chat:
On Hotline it is possible to post/read to a news board. (WoW)
Usually your chat appears as:
User: I am cool
But say you wanted to do actions...If you type "is cool" and then hit OPTION return it will appear as:
*** User is cool
9. Changing the toolbar:
Personally I hate the toolbar, I find it takes up a bunch of space and it is easier to type key commands to do things anyway. But it is possible to customize the toolbar. There are many custom toolbars at: http://www.hotlinesw.com/toolbar/images.html
Put the toolbar inside the same folder that the Hotline app is in. (Make sure the toolbar is named "toolbar") If you are really interested in wasting your time customizing your own toolbar the following will help you...
Taken from: http://www.hotlinesw.com/toolbar/make.html
A custom toolbar is a "Toolbar" file that you put in the same folder as the Hotline client, and when you start it up, the standard toolbar is gone and replaced with your too cool 3D toolbar or whatever. To make your own toolbar, you'll need ResEdit, Resorcerer, or similiar and something to make the pictures in.
Toolbar files must be named "Toolbar", and must have the creator code set to "HTLC" and the type code set to "HTtb". You might find it easier to make your own toolbar by modifying an existing one. The Hotline client will use a toolbar when the file is in the same folder as the application.
The Toolbar file consists of "PICT" resources and one "HPTB" 128 resource. First you need to make a picture ("PICT") of the entire toolbar - how it looks normally. This picture should be the entire content of the Toolbar window. It can be any rectangular shape.
Next, make individual PICTs of the areas of the toolbar that change when you click on them. For example, if you have a button on your toolbar, the main picture of the entire toolbar shows the button unhilited - as it looks normally.
You then make a PICT that shows the button (and nothing else)
hilited/depressed.
Once you've finished making your PICTs, copy them into the Toolbar file and assign them ID numbers. PICT resources must have IDs in the range 1000 to 2000. Use "Get Resource Info" under the "Resource" menu to change the IDs. Mark all of the PICT resources as "purgeable", EXCEPT for the main background one. Mark the main background PICT as "preload" and "locked".
Next, you need to make a "HPTB" resource. This describes how the toolbar looks and works. There is only one HPTB resource, and it is ID 128. Do NOT make it purgeable. In order to edit the HPTB resource, you need to have the TMPL (template) resource that describes the format of the HPTB resource. To activate the template, either open Hotline and the Toolbar both in ResEdit at the same time, or copy the TMPL resource from Hotline to the Toolbar file.
The HPTB Resource Field-By-Field
"HPTB"
Set this field to "HPTB".
Version1
Set this field to 1.
sideTitleBar
If this is set to 1, the titlebar on the toolbar window will appear vertically on the left side of the window. If it is set to 0, it will appear at the top as normal. A side titlebar is good for a window that is wider than it is high.
toggleWinVis
If this is set to 1, the behavior for "showing" a window gets changed. If the window is hidden, it is shown in front of all others. If the window is visible, it is brought to the front. If it was already at the front, it gets hidden (normally it stays visible).
(reserved)
It is important that you leave these set to 0.
connectPict
The ID of the PICT to draw when Hotline is connected (or 0 for none).
connectPictR
The rectangle (top,left,bottom,right) in pixels to draw the "connectPict" at.
height
The height of the window in pixels.
width
The width of the window in pixels.
bkgndPict
The ID of the PICT to draw as the background into the window. This is the main picture - how the toolbar looks normally.
item bounds
The rectangle (top,left,bottom,right) in pixels that encloses this item. This rectangle is used to determine if the mouse is within the item, and is used to draw the "mDownPict" in the correct location.
item mDownPict
The ID of the PICT to draw while mouse is down in this item (while the button on the mouse is pressed and located within the bounds of this item).
item mWithinPict
The ID of the PICT to draw while mouse is in/over this item (while the mouse is located within the bounds of this item).
item mDownAction
The action to perform when the mouse goes down in this item (when the button on the mouse is pressed and located within the bounds of this item). See "Action Numbers" following for valid values.
item mUpAction
The action to perform when the mouse is released in this item (when the button on the mouse was pressed and has just been released within the bounds of this item). See "Action Numbers" following for valid values.
item mDownSound
When the button on the mouse is pressed over this item, play the sound ("snd ") of this ID. Note that if you add your own "snd " resources, the IDs must be in the range 1000 to 2000.
item mUpSound
When the button on the mouse is released over this item, play the sound ("snd ") of this ID. Note that if you add your own "snd " resources, the IDs must be in the range 1000 to 2000.
item showPicInWin
The ID of the PICT to show in a window with an OK button when this item is clicked. Good for credits etc.
mDownPictRct
Normally, the "mDownPict" gets drawn in the item bounds. You can optionally specify a different rectangle here.
mWithinPictR
Normally, the "mWithinPict" gets drawn in the item bounds. You can optionally specify a different rectangle here.
Action Numbers
0 = do nothing
1 = show options window
2 = show connect window
3 = disconnect
4 = show news window
5 = show post window
6 = show chat window
7 = show files window
8 = show user list window
9 = show tasks window
10 = quit
11 = show about window
12 = show new user window
13 = show open user window
15 = show tracker window
Making Faster Smaller PICTs
First you'll need GraphicConvertor. You can get it from info-mac. Drag the ResEdit file containing the PICTs onto GraphicConvertor and it will let you choose which one you want to edit.
When you've got the picture open, choose "Minimise Color Table" from the "Picture" and then "Colors" menu. This will not lessen the quality of your picture, but can make it smaller. You may also want to lower the bit depth (eg, "Change to 256 Colors (8-bit)"). This might lessen the quality of your picture.
When you're done, choose "Save As" from the "File" menu. Select "PICT in resource" as the format. Click on "Options" and select "Standard (RLE)" as the compression (this is much faster to draw than QuickTime compression). Save the PICT and open the file in ResEdit. The PICT 128 resource is the one to use (if there's another, it's the preview).
A couple of people have asked me about this so I spent fifteen minutes one Saturday and did something about it. Nuff ’ced. What I’m hacking here is those four stats you see in About Hotline: Bytes Uploaded, Downloaded, etc. Why? Well, I know that after a while if the ration between bytes downloaded and bytes uploaded is huge then Hotline will change your name to “[yourname] needs to upload” or something like that.
It’s in your Preferences folder. Gee, no kidding? Well, get a data fork editor that supports hex editing and also lets you see the offset/position of bytes.
If you’re a real wuss and wanna just make sure that you never get your name changed to “[name] needs to upload” then just set the four bytes starting at address C4 in the prefs to “FFFF FFFF”. When I say the address I mean the address/offset of the byte in the Hotline Pref's data fork.
Bytes Uploaded: This is located in four bytes at the address C4. It’s in decimal.
Bytes Downloaded: Same as Bytes Uploaded but located at address C8.
Chat: Same as Bytes Uploaded but the address is D0.
Time Online: If you really wanna edit this you’ll need a time-->hexedecimal converter. Hotline takes the long integer in Date format and calulates the amount of time since 1/1/4 in the long integer.
I have not spent more than an hour screwing around with the data fork. I have noticed that AOL tools are very similar to Hotlines data fork, in the sense that there is a persistance of the same code in a lot of the procedures. Making it a little easier to understand.
12. Bookmarks:
Remembering a HL server's IP address is a pain in the butt. You can easily bookmark a site that you found with a tracker by selecting the site and then clicking the button with the red H on it. If you open the bookmark it will take you to that HL server. You can also find out a site's IP address by opening the bookmark with HexEdit. The IP address clearly appears in the data fork. It is also possible to delete that IP address and put in another one. (so you will have a different bookmark) Just make sure the data fork's size is exactly 460. If the data forks size is over or under 460 it will screw up. You can either add or delete null spaces in the bookmark ( the 00 's).
13. Hotline File Analyzer:
Say you just downloaded 300 HL bookmarks. You will be lucky if 50 of them work. The Hotline file analyzer is useful for checking to see which servers still exist. This way you don't have to manually go through all of them.
14. How do I set up my own HL server?
Thats easy, just get the hotline server software. It can be obtained at: http://www.hotlineSW.com
Look at the README that is provided with the HL server software, it will tell you how to set it up. You can also set up your own tracker, but unless you are rich and have a dedicated line or a static IP it's kinda pointless. You don't need to set up your own tracker to have a HL server.
A few popular servers are:
macline.ml.org - Macline (NO warez)
macline.fwparker.org - Macline again
169.204.126.109 - Prolific Design Server (warez)
134.214.76.174 - M&M (warez)
134.39.231.15 - E D C C (general stuph/warez)
192.147.249.224 - Cunegonde (warez)
130.241.61.231 - Fast Line (warez)
15. Scripts Included
Included with this are a few scripts I made. The scripts are for KeyQuencer 2.0
You will find:
Brodcast Message: Send a message to everyone signed online.
Chat Spam: hmmmm....
DL/ BuST: Keep trying to download a file until the server lets you.
