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	Everyone loves a bargain, whether it's a buy one get one free deal or a 3 for the price of 2 promotion we simply can't get enough of them. So how come so many people out there are missing out on the bargain of a lifetime? "What's this bargain I'm missing out on" I hear you all cry? Well what if I told you I could show you how to take a £30 product with a usual lifespan of less than 30 hours and make it last for at least 10 times as long? Would you be interested? Would you like to know what I'm talking about? More importantly would you like to know where on earth is the ever-so-dodgy link? I'll tell you where I'm going, online gaming is where. Take a decent PC game and you usually have less than 30 hours play nowadays but add to that game some decent multiplayer options playable over the Internet and you have a game that you can still be playing a year or two from now. In fact some games have free multiplayer add ons that can keep it going for longer still. Now can you honestly tell me you aren't interested in value for money of this magnitude? Online gaming is growing by the day. As you read this there are tens of thousands of players playing online all around the world. Forget all the stereotypes that are often associated with gamers, online gaming comprises of people from both sexes and of all ages, from all walks of life. Whether you're after hard and fast action or looking for something at a more slower pace, be it as a solo player or part of a team, you'll be able to find something to suit your taste online. Make no mistake online gaming is big already, and it's getting bigger all the time. The chances are you already own a few games that support Internet play but are not at all sure about taking the plunge into playing online. Perhaps you think it's too complicated or not worth the effort? Well, think again. Why should I bother? One of the biggest challenges facing games programmers today is AI (Artificial Intelligence). Just how can they get computer controlled characters to behave like real people in games? Very few games have succeeded and out of those that have not one has been an unqualified success. Well forget all about the problems with quirky AI. Why not look at playing some real life intelligence (how much depends on your opponent of course :P)? No matter how tricky a single player game might be the real test lies in going up against real people. Human opposition offers far more in the way of challenge and unpredictability than AI ever could and hell you might even make some new friends along the way! Beating the computer is all well and good but are you trying to tell me that it even comes close to the satisfation of beating another person? Just think . . . somewhere in the world there'll be an irate player who's cursing your name and swearing revenge for the last time you took him down, surely that makes it all worthwhile :).

	So how do you begin playing online? Well there are certain prerequisites that you'll need before you can start so please read on.  (Believe me it's nowhere near as complicated as it all looks so don't be put off before you've given it a go) 1. Install your chosen game. Buying the game is the easy part, but remember to shop about as prices can vary wildly between retailers and e-tailers.  When buying a game always check Recommended specification listed on the game box to ensure you can run the game.  All games will have a Minimum and a Recommended specification listed on the box however the Minimum specification is usually the absolute bare minimum to get the game running and is nearly always a little optimistic. Running the game on the Minimum specification usually means having to turn off some of the nicer graphics options so you may well be a little disappointed. Always go by the Recommended specification to avoid disappointment Before installing the game check you have enough hard disk space as detailed on the game box.  This is the single biggest reason for failed installations. If you are short on space try removing some of those old games that you haven't touched for 6 months or more.  Troubleshooting: Sound obvious, but if you are having problems either during or after installation always check the documentation that came with the game. 2. Check for the latest patches.  Online games are continuously being tweaked and improved on by the games programmers. These tweaks are released as patches to the original game that you will need to download in order to keep up with the latest additions/alterations. Often you will find that you can only play online if you have the latest patch installed so it's worth taking a look first before you go any further. You can find a detailed list of files and patch here. Troubleshooting: If you experience problems with any patch see if there was a readme file with the patch itself. Failing that you could try posting a message asking for help on our forums HERE. - If you ever receive a "protocol error" this means your version of the game is out of date. Download the latest patch to resolve the error.. 3. Setup your game. Before going any further it really is worthwhile taking the time to read the manual that came with the game. Once that's done it's time to go into the game and set it up with your player name, preferred keys, required graphics/sound options and so on until your happy the game is configured to suit you. Also take the time to have a look through the key configuration as you might find certain actions unique to each game that might need setting up to suit your preferences as well.  - How to use the mouse & keyboard combination. 4. Connect to the Internet Logon / connect to your ISP (Internet service provider).  With so many ISP's to choose from you should be looking for the one that gives you the most reliable and fastest connection, and cheapest doesn't often mean best unfortunately. The quality of your connection to your ISP will affect your online gaming so it's worth spending some time finding out which ISP is best for your needs. BarryDial offers the best gaming connection to BarrysWorld and other servers. You can find out more about the dialup here. Even though most parts of Europe have access to hi-speed digital connections such as ISDN, ADSL or Cable Modems, people using modems over regular telephone lines still account for the majority of online gamers. Aim for a 56k V90 modem and you should have enough to get you up and running.  5. Find a games server. Now there are a number of ways to do this: - In game browser: Some games (such as Unreal Tournament) have very good in game browsers so you can locate online games from within the game itself. Others (such as quake3) make finding a server very hard work indeed. Try the game's built in server browser first, but if it's confusing or slow then try the gamers favourite Gamespy ... - Gamespy browser utility: This handy little server browser program is easy to install and setup. It can be used to find a server fast and give you a list of servers to choose from. Each of the game sections on BarrysWorld has details on how to use Gamespy. 6. Joining a games server. Whether you're using Gamespy or the in game browser you simply find a server you want to join and double click on the name to connect to the server and start playing, it's that simple.

	So you've just connected to a game server and are ready to hand out some serious smackdown but at the end of the game things didn't go at all as planned and you finished dead last (well dead first, last and middle you died so often :P). What sort of questions are you likely to be asking?  Q - Why am I so crap? A - Don't panic, the jump from single player gaming to playing online is usually huge and like everything else it will take time and practise. Don't go into the game expecting to do well, just have some fun. Over time you'll pick up the necessary skills to at least look as if you know one end of a weapon from another, and perhaps how to use it :). Q - Why did my score keep going down by one every time I killed someone? A - The chances are that you joined a Team game and proceeded to wipe out everyone on your side. Did you not wonder why they weren't trying to fight back? Again don't panic though. Although you've made yourself look a right plumb just make sure you don't do it twice. Take some time to read the manual and any accompanying readme files to learn all about the different game types available and make sure you play accordingly depending on the type of server you join. Q - From time to time I get frozen to the spot and cannot move, is this normal? Unfortunately this is a sure fire indicator of a slow/poor Internet connection causing something know as "Lag". Your machine will be constantly communicating with the server but should you experience any sort of connection problems this communication might stop briefly, effectively freezing you in the game. This is extremely annoying but can be largely eradicated by using a decent ISP to dial up to the Internet. The advent of widely available digital connections such as ISDN or ADSL have further reduced the chances of Lag. For more information about Lag and Latency click HERE. Q - Every now and then a player seemed to disappear and reappear, are they cheating? As with the previous question this is due to Lag but this time not on your connection. If someone else is experiencing connection problems they may well look to everyone else as if they are frozen however when their connection settles down again they can often appear to shoot off to another destination, often quick enough to make it seem as if they are disappearing and reappearing again. This is simply the server catching up on the dropped movement data that was lost in the connection problems. For more information about Lag and Latency click HERE. Q - How come I always miss when I'm aiming directly at other people? Along with Lag the other main issue you will undoubtedly come across is Latency. Put simply this is the time that it takes to send a data packet from your PC to the server and back again, commonly called your Ping. If you are playing on a slow connection you may well find that your ping will be sufficiently high enough that there is a slight delay between where the server thinks people are and where your PC thinks people are. The only real solution to this is to makes sure you are on the best possible connection (digital connections offer an almost unnoticeable latency) or you can learn to work with the connection you are on and pre-empt peoples positions slightly. To be honest this is far less of a consideration than it used to be some years ago. Hell, when I were a lad, you used to have to fire your rockets two yards in front of someone to hit them :) ) but then bread was 2 pence a loaf back then :P. For more information about Lag and Latency click HERE. Q - How is it that some players seem to kill me before I've even seen them? This could be down to latency as detailed in the previous question but is more likely to do with speed of reactions and knowledge of the maps. As you get more and more practise you will notice your reactions will speed up and also the way you attack on certain maps will change to the point where you might be the one who has just jumped in, taken out another player, then moved on without being seen. Q - Why is it that other players can always see me no matter how dark the shadows are around me? Every game comes with it's own set of options when it comes to brightness levels in game and it's down to personal preference how dark or light people chose to run the game. I personally prefer the more natural look whilst other players will turn every available option up to their fullest just to get the game as bright as possible. Also bare in mind that some games have night visions goggles, something worth remembering next time you think you're undetectable. For more information on graphical tweaks click HERE. Q - My PC seems to be struggling with running the game and it all seems a little jerky, is there any easy solution to this? Well, taking for granted that your PC meets the Recommended specification on the box as advised earlier on (and if it doesn't shame on you) then there are probably a number of options you can play about with to increase your fps (Frames Per Second). Most basic of all are usually the graphical tweaks, things such as simply running at a lower resolution for example. For more information on graphical tweaks click HERE. Q - Why do I seem to be a lot slower at moving, turning and firing than the other players? This usually comes down to how you have set up your controls. Yes it could be simply down to the fact that you're slow reaction-wise but the difference is never usually enough to make you stop and question it. To get the quickest and most flexible set of controls you MUST use the mouse and keyboard, click HERE for details. Q - Why do people keep ignoring any questions I ask in game? You aren't repeating the same question over and over and over and over again in the space of 5 seconds are you? This is known as spamming and is one sure fire way to annoy people. Providing you aren't spamming never forget that players are there to play the game and won't necessarily stop long enough to talk. That said you will usually find someone who will answer your questions so long as you ask them politely and no more than a few times over a reasonable time period. If no one answers your questions then why not look into IRC as a method of chatting to people with similar interests who might be able to help. Click HERE for more information.  Q - What if it's all too overwhelming? Don't get stressed out about it. Disconnect from the server and go and get a drink. We have a series of guides to help you through some of the more popular online games accessible by clicking HERE, and you'll also find a number of resources on the web to help you out. Remember though, if it's simply information about the basics of playing a game the manual or readme files usually have all you need to get going.  We hope this has will help you get involved in the fun that online gaming represents. For more specific game related information try taking a look at the indivdual games pages from our main page.

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