Using GameSrv and NetFoss With A BBS

Introduction

Your BBS must support fossil communication. There is no modem or virtual modem involved here.If you plan on using door games, they also must work using a fossil driver. The latest versionof NetFoss supports binary file transfers (such as ZModem and XModem). NetFoss is a great program and has worked flawlessly with my BBS and all of it's doors. It runs much faster than COM/IP does, and I found COM/IP crashed frequently enough to turn me off it.

Step 1 : Downloading the software

Step 2 : Installing the software

Installing NetFoss
The NetFoss archive comes with lots of files. You only need 3 of them. (Netfoss.dll, Netfoss.com and Netcom.exe)

• Extract Netfoss.dll to your WINNT\SYSTEM32\ folder for NT4/2000/XP or your WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ folder for Win 9x/ME.
• Extract Netfoss.com and Netcom.exe to the same folder you put GameSrv

Step 3 : Configuring GameSrv

Telnet	The TCP port GameSrv should listen to for incoming telnet connections
RLogin	The TCP port GameSrv should listen to for incoming rlogin connections. RLogin only allows connections from a "secure" host. By default this host is 127.0.0.1, if you want to change it there is currently no way through the GameSrv GUI. You will have to manually edit SETUP.INI and add an entry to the [config] section that looks like rloginhost=127.0.0.1 where 127.0.0.1 is the address to accept connections from
Nodes	The maximum number of nodes GameSrv will handle concurrently
Mode	Internal uses the internal game server External uses a 3rd party BBS
Visibility	Hidden does not show the external programs at all Minimized shows the external programs in the taskbar Normal shows the external programs on top of others
LBY	Acronym for Loops Before Yield (* Only used by mSyncFos) A higher value gives better game performance at the cost of higher CPU usage A lower value uses less CPU but slows game output

Settings

• Telnet - 23
• RLogin - 0 (to disable, unless you want to use it)
• Nodes - Set to maximum number of nodes you want to run.
• Mode - External. Selecting this option will make extra options visible.
• Visibility - Minized. This will cause your BBS to load minimized. You'll be able to watch your BBS users while online. The window will dissapear after the user logs off.
• LBY - 50. Just leave it at the default setting, I don't think it's used because we're using NetFoss.
• Command line - "D:\GAMESRV\NF.BAT *N *H" Change D:\GAMESRV\ to the correct path to your GameSrv installation. Also, do not put quotation marks around it. We'll make the NF.BAT in a later step. *N passes in the node number to the batch file as a parameter. The *H passes in the socket handle in as a parameter.
• Fossil - None. Why not select the NetFoss option? For some odd reason it just does not work when the NetFoss option is selected. Instead we deal with the fossil on our own from NF.BAT

Step 4 - Creating NF.BAT and EXEBBS.BAT

Create a file called NF.BAT and put it in the same folder GameSrv is installed. NF.BAT will load the NetFoss fossil driverfor the correct node, load your BBS, and when the BBS returns it will unload the fossil driver. Change D:\GAMESRV\ to the correct path to your GameSrv installation.

D:\gamesrv\NETFOSS.COM /n%1 IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END D:\gamesrv\NETCOM.EXE /n%1 /h%2 D:\GAMESRV\EXEBBS.BAT %1 D:\gamesrv\NETFOSS.COM /U :END

EXEBBS.BAT

Create a file called EXEBBS.BAT and put it in the same folder GameSrv is installed. EXEBBS.BAT will load your BBS and run any programs after the user disconnected. The following batch file is written for Maximus BBS. Yourswill most likely look different. The %1 parameter contains the node number.

d: cd\max max -n%1 -b38400 -ld:\max\node%1\max.log rem if errorlevel 12 goto EchoMail rem if errorlevel 11 goto NetMail goto Aftercall : EchoMail cd\squish squish out squash GOTO Aftercall : NetMail cd\squish squish squash :Aftercall cd\max\node%1 call maxall.bat

Step 4 - You're done!