 <!-- ============= Network Games Documentation ============================= 
   This documentation is written so that is can be reused for all the 
   gnome-games which have network multiplayer support. Therefore no direct
   references to a specific game should be made. Further, this file is currently
   included in the various games as a SVN symlink. The figures can also
   be included as SVN symlinks to avoid duplication of the same images.
  -->

 <sect1 id="network-games">
  <title>Network Games</title>
  <para>
    &appname; support networked multiplayer games which is provided by <ulink type="http"
    url="http://www.ggzgamingzone.org">GGZ Gaming Zone</ulink>. By connecting to a &appname; server
    on the Internet, you can challenge other players in multiplayer games.
    For news, updates and a list of servers to connect to, see the <ulink type="http"
    url="http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnome-games/">gnome-games website</ulink>.
  </para>
  <para>
    To start the multiplayer game of &appname;, select <menuchoice><guimenu>Game</guimenu> 
    <guimenuitem>Network Game</guimenuitem></menuchoice> on the &appname; menu.
  </para> 

<sect2 id="connecting">
<title>Connecting to a &appname; network server</title>
<para>
The &appname; connection dialog is shown initially when starting a new
network game. This dialog allows you to select a server to connect to,
and the username that you will have while connected to that server.  
</para>

<para>
It is possible to connect to a server with either a guest account or a normal
registered account. Guest accounts allows you to anonymously login, while
a normal login account allows you to reserve your own username which
is protected by the password that you choose.
</para>

<para> The <guimenuitem>Guest Login</guimenuitem> option should be selected
if you want an anonymous guest account. If you want to create a new 
login account, then select the <guimenuitem>First-time Login</guimenuitem> 
option, with the username, password and email of your choice.
If you have already created your account, you can connect by selecting
the <guimenuitem>Normal Login</guimenuitem> option, and enter the
username and password that you have chosen.
</para>
<para>
To connect to a server, click on the <guimenuitem>Connect</guimenuitem> button.
</para>
<figure id="connect">
<title>The &appname; network connection dialog.</title>
<screenshot>
  <mediaobject> 
    <imageobject>
  <imagedata fileref="figures/connect.png" format="PNG" srccredit="Andreas Røsdal"/>
    </imageobject>
    <textobject> 
      <phrase>The &appname; network connection dialog.</phrase> 
    </textobject> 
  </mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="joining">
<title>Joining a game room</title>
<para>
Once you have successfully connected to a server, you can choose which game room to join. To play a multiplayer game of &appname;, select the &appname; room. If you want to host your own game, then click on the Launch button. This creates a new table where other players can participate in a game against you. 
If there are any other games already started, then you can double-click on an existing game table to join it.
The list of game tables on the right shows you the number of available seats, which means the
number of players that can join the game table.
</para>
<figure id="tables">
<title>This &appname; network dialog allows you to join a game room to find other players.</title>
<screenshot>
  <mediaobject> 
    <imageobject>
  <imagedata fileref="figures/tables.png" format="PNG" srccredit="Andreas Røsdal"/>
    </imageobject>
    <textobject> 
      <phrase>This &appname; network dialog allows you to join a game room to find other players.</phrase> 
    </textobject> 
  </mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
<para>
When creating a new table for &appname; games, a preference dialog is displayed which allows you to
customize the game, such as set the minimum number of players for the game. Once the total
number of seats have been taken, then no more players are allowed to join that game table.
</para>
<para>
It is possible to chat with other players in network games. Ask for advice or help playing the games,
but please be polite against other players.
</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="pregame">
<title>Waiting for other players to join the game</title>
<para>
Once you have successfully joined a game table, then you have to wait until enough
players have joined the table. The <guimenuitem>Players List</guimenuitem> menu item
allows you to see a list of the players who have joined the game.
The game will begin immediately when the total number of players in the the game have been reached.
</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="playing-multiplayer">
<title>Playing multiplayer &appname; games</title>
<para>
Multiplayer &appname; games have pretty much the same rules as normal &appname; games,
except that you are now playing against human players. This means that other
strategies might possibly be better than when playing against AI players.
</para>
<para>
Once a player has won, the game ends and you can return to the initial network game screen.
Then you can play yet another game of addictive &appname; multiplayer!
</para>
</sect2>

</sect1>
