Copyright: (c) Ubi Soft 1998


GameService help file

You can always open the help files by clicking on the question mark ‘?’ button on the top-right corner of every GS windows or by pressing the F1 key.  There is also a Help button in the Login window that can help new users understand Game Service functions.

The Ubi Soft logo (in the upper part of every window) is a direct link to our web site www.ubisoft.com.

You can quit the Game Service any time by clicking on the ‘X’ button on the top-right corner of every window.

-	Login

-	Create/modify account

-	Arena selection

-	Modify list of friends

-	Locate player

-	Send message

-	Game/chat arenas

-	List of game/chat sessions

-	Game/chat session info

-	List of players

-	Player profile

-	Web links

-	Chat window

-	Start private chat

-	Chat functions (/me, /whois and /nocolor)

-	Save chat

-	Modify color/font

-	Create session

-	Create game session

-	Create chat session

-	Create private session

-	Join session

-	Start game

-	Quit session


Login

This is the starting window,  where you can connect to the Game Service or create a new account if you don’t already have one.

If you already have an account :

•	enter your player name in the Nickname field;

•	enter your password in the Password field;

•	press the Login button to connect to the Game Service.

If you don’t have an account :

•	press the New User button to open up the Create New Account window.

To quit the Game Service, press Quit button or the ‘X’ button on the top-right corner.


Create/modify account

The first time you connect to the Game Service, you have to create a personnal account that you will use every time you log on.  Your personal profile will be visible to other players who want to know more about you.  All information in your account can be modified whenever you like, except your nickname that is unique and cannot be changed.  When you create a new account, you have to fill in every fields and then press the Save button.  If you ever modify your personal account, you simply need to make the change and press the Save button.  Here are the fields you must fill in :

Nickname : this nickname is your ID and cannot be modified (max. 15 characters).

Password : the password you wish to use (max. 10 characters).

Confirm Password : confirmation of your password (you have to write the same one).

First Name : your real first name (max. 32 characters).

Last Name : your real name (max. 32 characters).

E-Mail : your e-mail address (max. 128 characters).

Gender : your gender (M/F).

Country : where you’re from or where you live.

Your Description : your personal description.  It can be a comment, a quotation, an expression or some kind of description, etc. (max. 1024 characters).

Your personal profile also displays an image which represents you.  You can choose a picture in the Game Service list or you can also send one of your own personal pictures that will be exclusive to your account.

To select an image in the Game Service list, press the Choose Your Picture button.  This will open up a window with a list of pictures you can choose from.  Select the one you prefer by using the arrows at the bottom of the window and presse OK when your choice is made.

If you prefer not to choose one from the list and send your own personal picture, you can do it by pressing the Send Your Picture button.  It will open up a file browser which you will use to choose the picture file you want to send.  This file will be sent to a directory in the Game Service database and will be validated (censorship or copyright).  It will then be displayed as your personal image in your profile. Your image file must not be over 20KB and it should preferably be in a 128 x 128 format.  To be under 20KB, it should be a .JPG file.  For example, if you have a 128 x 128 .BMP file that is more than 20KB, try to save it in a .JPG format and see if it becomes less than 20KB.


Arena selection

This is a general information screen.  It contains your personal profile, a news window, the server list with all the arenas you can connect to and the number of players connected on each arena.  You can also modify your account, modify your list of friends, search another player in particular, page another player or read more news on the internet.

Your personal profile contains all the information you entered when you created your account (except your password) and a Scores section which displays all sort of data, depending on the games you played.  It can be your high scores, your best racing times, amounts of money or credits you have, etc.

The News section displays all sort of information concerning the Game Service, upcoming special events, tournaments, contests with prizes to win, interviews or live chat with different people from the video game industry, etc.  Most of the times, only the main headlines will be displayed.  If some news need to be more elaborated, you can go read them on a specially designed web site by clicking on the More News button.

The server list and their respective arenas gives you several connection points.  The servers are usually named after their location.  For example, there could be a server named Montreal, another one named San_Francisco and so on.  This way, you can choose the nearest server so you can have a better connection.  By selecting a server, a list of all its arenas and the number of players in each one of them will be displayed.  An arena is a virtual meeting place for gamers who want to chat and play different games.  You just have to select the arena you want and press the Connect button.  This will open up the arena’s chat screen where you can create chat session or game session.

You can also click on the web banner that will link you to the corresponding web site.


Modify list of friends

Your list of friends lets you send a message to a group of people with the pager.  When you view a player’s profile and you want to add this player to your list of friends, just press the Add To List Of Friends button.  You can also do this by right-clicking on the player’s name in the Players list of the chat screen and select “ Add PlayerName to list of friends ”.  If you want to modify this list, you can do it by pressing the Modify List of Friends button in the arena selection screen where your personal profile is.  This will display your list.  You can remove a player from this list by selecting his/her name and pressing the Remove button.  When you’re finished, just press the Close button.


Locate player

When you want to know where a player in particular is, the Game Service has a searching system that you can use by pressing the Locate User button in the arena selection screen.  Just enter the player’s nickname in the Locate User window and press the Locate button.  If the player is connected to the Game Service, the server and the arena where he is will be displayed in their respective field.  Then, press the Go There button if you want to connect to this arena.  If the player is not found, the message “ Player not found ” will be displayed in the Server field.


Send/receive message

At any time you can send a message to one or several players with the Game Service’s pager.  You just have to press the Page User button which is in both arena selection and chat screens, or choose “ Page UserName ” in the right-click menu of a player in the list of players.  You can also use the /page function in the chat to page someone.  In the Page User window, you can decide to send your message to one or several players at once.  You can write the nickname of the player to whom you want to send your message (if you opened this window with the player’s right-click menu, his name will already be written).  You have to separate nicknames with a ‘+’ if you send it to more than one player or you can simply check the Send to Friends checkbox if all the players you want to reach are in your list of friends.  Afterwards, you just have to write your message and press the Send button.

When someone else is paging you, an Incoming Page window will pop-up on top of every other windows (except if you are playing a game).  Therefore, you can work with other softwares while your Game Service client is minimized (or just behind other windows) and when somebody tries to get in touch with you using the pager, his message will pop-up.  That way, you can’t miss it.  You can reply to those messages get by pressing the Reply button in the Incoming Page window.  This will open up the Page User window with the initial sender’s name as the receiver.  Then, you just have to write the message and send it.


Game/chat arenas

The chat screen of the arena you selected is divided in several parts.  There is a list of all players connected to this arena, a list of (game/chat) sessions represented by different icons, a chat window and some web links (that is the Game Info button as well as the banner ads).  You can quit the arena anytime by pressing the Back to Main button.  This will bring you back to the arena selection screen.


List of game/chat sessions

In each arena, players can create game or chat sessions.  Each session is a distinct one and has its own chat.  When a session is created, its icon is displayed in the session window with its name and the number of players that entered it in comparison with the maximum number of players admitted.  Each game (as well as the chat) has its own distinct icon.  Therefore, if you don’t create a session, you can just join one already displayed.  If you right-click a session’s icon, an information menu will appear.  This menu will show you the name of the session, its type (game name or chat) and all the players that are currently in it (with the term “ Master ” written next to the name of the session’s creator).  From this menu, you can also open the Session Info window or join this session.


Game/chat session info

You can obtain some information on a session before joining it.  For example, it can be useful when you want to know the topic of a chat session.  To do so, you just have to right-click the session’s icon and select “ Get this session's info ” in the menu.  The Session Info or Chat Session Info window will open up, depending on the case.  These windows are the same as the game/chat session creation ones except that you can’t write or modify anything.  They contain all parameters and other information that were entered at the session creation.  To quit this window, just press the Close button.


List of players

The list of players contains the nicknames of all players that are currently in the arena.  Next to each player is his ping and the name of the session in which he is (if that’s the case, of course).  The ping is in fact the quality of the player’s connection with the server.  It is graphically illustrated by a graduated rectangle that goes from red to green depending on the quality of the connection.  The greener it is, the better the connection is.  A player with a poor ping can affect a game in process by slowing it down.  By right-clicking on a player’s nickname, you can also open a menu from which you can see the player’s profile, add this player to your list of friends, start a private chat with this player, send him a message with the pager or join the session in which he is (if that’s the case).


Player's profile
Player’s profile

You can consult a player’s personal profile to get more information on him.  You just have to right-click the player’s nickname (in the list of players) and select “ Get PlayerName's info ” in the menu.  The Player's Profile window will open up and display all the information of the player’s account except, of course, his password.  You can then add his name in your list of friends by pressing the Add to List of Friends button.  To close this window, simply press the OK button.

You can also make the Player's Profile window appear by writing “ /whois PlayerName ” in the edit field of the chat, PlayerName being the nickname of the player you want to get iinformation on.


Web links

The Ubi Soft logo is displayed in every window.  When you click on it, your default internet browser will open up and connect to www.ubisoft.com, which is the main Ubi Soft web site.

The Game Info button starts your default internet browser and opens up a game information web page which contains links to all GS games’ web sites.

When a player write an internet address (beginning with “ http:// ” or “ www ”) in the chat, the Game Service will detect it and automatically create a link to that address.  These addresses become underlined when displayed in the chat window and the cursor becomes a hand (standard cursor for web links) when it is placed on it.

When you click on a web banner (advertisement) on top of the screen, it will start your default internet browser and open up the corresponding web page.


Chat window

The chat window displays all conversations between players.  Considering that there is a public chat for the arena, a chat for the session in which you are (if that is the case) and private chats as well, this window works with tabs.  There’s always a default tab named “ Arena ” that contains the public chat which every player in the arena has access to.  When you create or join a session, a tab with the same name as this new session will appear next to the “ Arena ” tab.  Same thing if you start a private chat with another player, a new tab with this player’s nickname will appear next to other tabs.  Private chat tabs differ from other tabs by having their caption between '<>' (ex. : <Chico>).  This tab system lets you go from one chat to another by clicking on the right tab.  That way, you don’t have to go back to tha arena chat room when you’re in a session and want to draw other players to chat/play with you.  The chat window can have up to ten (10) tabs.

All sentences you write in the edit field of the chat will be displayed in the chat window with a <PlayerName> prefix.  However, you can use a few chat functions that will do something different.  These functions are /me, /whois, /nocolor, /page, /join, /leave and /chat.

Whenever you want to, you can save the chat to a .TXT file.  This can be very useful when someone gives you an address, a phone number or other information you have to keep.

The chat also has something special : when a player writes an internet address beginning with “ http:// ” or “ www ”, the Game Service will detect it and create a web link to this address.  You can see when the GS recognizes an address because it underlines it and the cursor becomes a hand (standard cursor for the web) when it’s placed on it.

Each player can customize their writing by modifying the color and the font.  You can do so by right-clicking in the edit field of the chat and selecting “ Choose a new font ” or “ Choose a new color ”.


Start private chat

If you want to talk one-on-one with another player and you don’t want anybody else to see what you are talking about, you can start a private chat with him by double-clicking on his name or by right-clicking it and selecting “ Start private chat with PlayerName ” in the menu.  You can also use the /chat function in the chat to start a private chat with someone.  Each private chat has his own tab with the name of the player (written between ‘<>’) you’re chatting with (ex. : <Gsmaster>).  The chat window can have a total of ten (10) tabs, so you can have up to 8 or 9 private chats depending on whether you are in a session or not.

To close a private chat, you just have to right-click the tab and select “ Close chat with PlayerName ”.


Chat functions

/me : When you begin a sentence with “ /me ”, your nickname will be written at the beginning of the line (in the chat window) preceded by an arrow.  That way, you can display a line as if you’re doing something rather than saying something.  For example, if your nickname is “ GameFreak ” and you write “ /me wants to play Speed Busters. ”, it will display “ ~~~~> GameFreak wants to play Speed Busters. ” with a small white Arial font (standard characters for the Game Service).

/nocolor : Another function that can be useful when a player writes something in black or in a really dark color.  The “ /nocolor ” function lets you display all writing in the chat window in a small white Arial font (standard character for the GS).  That way, every line in the window will be displayed with that font.  You just have to write “ /nocolor ” in the edit field of the chat.  When you want all text lines to get their initial color back, just write “ /nocolor ” again and everything will return as it was before.

The following functions are in fact keyboard shortcuts to execute some standard GS functions without using the mouse.

/whois : If you want to get some information on a player that is chatting with you, you can write “ /whois PlayerName ”, PlayerName being the nickname of the player you want information on.  The Player's Profile window will open up and you will see every information of his personal account (except his password).  You just have to close the window when you’re finished.

/page : By writing “ /page PlayerName ”, the Page User window will appear and you will be able to send a message to the player.

/join : You can join a session by writing “ /join SessionName ” in the chat.  If you already are in another session, you will quit it to join the new one.

/leave : You can leave the session you’re in by writing “ /leave ” in the chat.

/chat : You can also start a private chat with a player when you write “ /chat PlayerName ”.  A new tab will appear with the name of the player.


Save chat

If you had a really interesting conversation with someone or that he gave you some rather important information you want to keep, you can save the conversation in a text file.  Just right-click the edit field of the chat and select “ Save chat to .TXT file ” in the menu.  The content of the chat window will be saved in the ChatName.TXT file, ChatName being the name of the tab (ex. : Arena.txt).  By default, this file will be in the same directory as the executable file of the Game Service client (clientGS.exe).


Modify color/font

To differentiate your writing from the others’ in the chat window, you can modify the color and the font.  Just right-click in the edit field of the chat and select “ Choose a new color ” or “ Choose a new font ” in the menu.  In the first case, a window with three sliders opens up : one for the red, one for the green and one for the blue (RGB).  You can modify your color by controlling how much red, green or blue you want.  A sample of the resulting color is displayed next to the sliders.  When you’re satisfied, press the OK button.  In the second case, a window with all the different fonts opens up.  Choose the font you want (or press Cancel) and the window will close.


Create session

Each arena can contain several different sessions.  A session is a virtual meeting place where players come to chat or to play games.  A game can only be started from a session created specially for it.  To create a session, press the Create Session button in the chat screen.  This will open up the Session Type window which displays the list of all the games you can play on the Game Service as well as a “ chat ” selection if you want to create a chat session.  The GS client can detect games on your hard drive and insert them in that list.  You just have to select the game you want and press the OK button.  It will open up the Create Session window or the Create Chat Session window, depending on the choice you’ve made.

Instead of creating a new session, you might want to join a session already created that appears in the session window.

You can’t create a session when you’re alredy in another one.

You can quit a session anytime.


Create game session

If you select a game in the Session Type window, the Create Session window will open up.  First, you must always give a name to your session (max. 12 characters) and specify how many players will be admitted in it.  You must then enter all parameters needed to start the selected game.  It can be a selection in a list (ex. : select a race track), a checkbox (ex. : the difficulty level), a field to fill in, a number to increase or decrease (spin button), etc.  These parameters are the information that the Game Service sends to the game itself so this one can start a game properly.  When everything is set, just press the Create button.

Returning to the chat screen, you will see a new icon in the session window.  This icon corresponds to the game you chose.  Each game has its own icon.  In addition to that, another tab will appear in the chat window.  This tab has the same name that you gave to your session.  You can then chat with other players that joined your session and start the game whenever you want to or you can quit the session (when you’re the master and you quit your session, the first player that joined it will become the master).


Create chat session

If you select “ chat ” in the Session Type window, the Create Chat Session window will open up.  First, you must always give a name to your session (max. 12 characters) and specify how many players will be admitted in it.  Then, you must enter the topic, so players can see what this chat is all about before entering it.  When everything is set, just press the Create button.

Returning to the chat screen, you will see a new “ chat ” icon in the session window. In addition to that, another tab will appear in the chat window.  This tab has the same name that you gave to your session.  You can quit the session whenever you want to.


Create private session

If you wish to create a session that only the players you selected can join, you can make your session private.  To do so, press the Private button in the Create (chat) Session window.  The Private Session window will open up and ask you to enter a password that will be needed to join the session.  When the password is entered, press the OK button.  You will get back to the Create (chat) Session window.  Then, you can give this password to anybody you like using the pager or any other way to send it.


Join session

If you want to join a session listed in the session window, there is five (5) ways to do it.  The usual way is to select the session icon and press the Join Session button.  You can also double-click on the icon or right-click it and select “ Join this session ” in the menu.  You can right-click a player’s name and select “ Join PlayerName's session ”.  This will make you join the session in which this player is, that is the one written next to his name in the players list.   Finally, you can use the /join function in the chat to join the session you want.

If you try to join a session while being in another one, a confirmation message will appear and ask you if you really want to quit this session to join the new one.  You just have to press the OK button if you really want to make the switch.

When you join a session, a new tab will appear in the chat window with the name of the session on it.  You can leave the session anytime you want to.


Start game

Only the session master can start the game.  The master is usually the player who created the session.  However, if the creator of the session leaves, the first player that join the session becomes the master.  When you’re the master and want to start the game, you just have to press the Start Game button.  It will launch the game and minimize the GS client while players compete.  When the game is over, the GS client maximizes and becomes the active window again.  The session terminates, leaving you and the other players back in the arena.  To play another game, you have to create another session.


Leave session

There are four (4) ways to leave a session.  The usual way is simply to press the Leave Session button.  You can also right-click the session’s tab in the chat window and select “ Leave session SessionName ” in the menu.  You can right-click the session’s icon in the session window and select “ Leave session ” in the menu.  Finally, you can use the /leave function in the chat to leave the session you’re in.  Note that you will also quit the session you’re in if you join another one.