Stars! AutoHost Host Utility Documentation


Stars! AutoHost
Host Utility Documentation

"Years to generate per turn"
This field controls how many turns are generated at once, and must be an integer. Normally you would set this to 1 if you want to generate 1 game year every turn. If you want to do a multiple gen of 5 game years every time it generates, then set it to 5. Set it to 0 (zero) to put the game on HOLD.

"Maximum hours until forced turn generation"
There are two ways AutoHost can force generate turns:  If this field is set to a number greater than 0 (zero), then that is the max number of hours since the last turn generation that AutoHost will wait for all active players to upload their turns before force generating the turn.  If all active players upload their turn BEFORE this number of hours is reached, then AutoHost will generate a turn and start counting hours from the new turn gen time.
Note: Example: If this field is set to 24 and the game last generated 28 hours ago and has been on HOLD since then, AutoHost will generate a turn as soon as you take it off of hold since its been over 24 hours since it last generated.

Schedule section
If "Maximum hours until forced turn generation" is set to 0 (zero), then the turn gen schedule you enter here will be used to determine when AutoHost generates turns.
If the option "Generate ONLY on scheduled times" is checked, then AutoHost will stick to the schedule you have selected EVEN IF all active players have uploaded their turns.
If that option is not selected, then AutoHost will generate if all active players turns are in. If they are not all in, then it will wait up to the time of the next scheduled time.
NOTE: If all turns are in, and "Generate ONLY on scheduled times" is checked, and you uncheck it and save changes, AutoHost will generate a turn.
Example:
Schedule is Monday 11:00, Wednesday 11:00, Friday 11:00, and the current time is Tuesday 13:00
   If "Gen ONLY..." option is not checked, AND all active players' turns are in, then turn will be generated and the next scheduled time will be Friday 11:00. Wednesday 11:00 schedule time will be skipped.
   If "Gen ONLY..." option IS checked, then AutoHost will generate automatically ONLY on the scheduled times that you have set.
   If you use the "Check here to force turn generation within 3 minutes" at the bottom of the page, then it will force generate a turn, and the next scheduled time will be Friday 11:00. Wednesday 11:00 schedule time will be skipped.

ANY change you make to the turn gen schedule and save the change, the next gen time will be reset to the new next gen time in the new schedule.  In the example above, this can be used to reset the next gen time to be Wednesday 11:00, instead of skipping it.

Host Name and Email fields
I prefer that all name fields use real first names (and last names if needed). If nicknames/handles are used for player names, then Host Name field should definetly contain your real first and last name.
Host Email field MUST contain a valid email address, as it is what I use when I send out important news to all game hosts.  If I see bounced email from invalid host email address, I will put the game on hold.

Restore Backup section
This is used when you need to restore one of the previous 5 turns from backup.  Select the year you want to restore from the "(game year)" field, type in the word 'confirm' in the next field, and click on the Restore Backup button.
NOTE: Clicking the Restore Backup button does NOT save any changes you may have made to the game settings.

"Hide player e-mail addresses on game status page"
Checking this option removes player email links and the 'Email all active players' link from the game's status web page.

"Message to be displayed on game page"
Any text entered here will be displayed as an announcement from the game host on the game's status web page.  Simple HTML code is allowed.  Please do not use large graphics here.

Player Name, Email, and Race
I prefer that you use real names for players, but it is not required.
All ACTIVE players must have a valid email address, since that is the address AutoHost uses when it send out turn generation notices or emails the player's turn to him/her.  If I see bounced email messages due to an invalid player email address, I will set that player to INACTIVE and notify you.
The Race field should contain the plural name of the player's race as it will be in the Stars! game.

"Player inactive (do not wait for turn)"
If this option is checked for a player, then AutoHost will not wait for this players turn when deciding if it should force generate

"Automatically e-mail turn file to player"
This option tells AutoHost to email the player his or her .m file after a turn is generated.

"Player banned or dead"
If this option is checked, then AutoHost will delete this player's .x file if he/she tries to upload a turn.  This player is also considered INACTIVE.
"Player using Client Daemon for turn file transfers"
When this option is checked, then AutoHost assumes the player is using the Client Daemon to up/download turns, and will not email out turn gen notices or .m files to this player.
A link for this player's initial .mig file (a Client Daemon config file) is created on the game's status web page.

"Check here to force turn generation within 3 minutes"
This option forces AutoHost to force generate a turn when it next cycles through all the games (usually within 3 to 5 minutes)
If you are using a turn gen schedule, then this will essentially skip the next scheduled turn gen.