OpenRPG User Guide: Apendix C - OpenRPG FAQ

Please add new questions (and possibly answers or other things) here if something is missing!

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Unresponsive commands: I seem to have problems with the Alias tool: a) Whisper doesn't function from here, I need to type it into the OpenRPG command line. b) I can click only once to edit a specific filter, after closing it becomes unresponsive to further edit commands.

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FAQ

General

Who maintains this FAQ?

This FAQ is a public document. Anyone can add to it. So essentialy the OpenRPG community is the maintainer of this FAQ. Tom Baleno a.k.a tdb30_ created this wiki form and incorporated information from the original FAQ created by Chris Blocher a.k.a. Heimdall.

How do I add to this FAQ?

Look for EditText at the bottom of this page. Click the link and use the existing questions as an example. You now have to register and log in to make changes. I had a problem with spammers editing pages so I had to make people register. Registration is free and I don't do anything with the information.

What Operating systems does OpenRPG run on?

OpenRPG will run on *nix, MAC with OSX see Guide to installing OpenRPG on Mac OSX, and all flavors of Windows(tm).

How do I play this game?

Please see the next question.

What exactly is OpenRPG?

OpenRPG is a virtual table top to play pen and paper role playing games and some minature board games. It is not a game itself but a tool to allow you to play these types of games with others online.

Why is OpenRPG free?

OpenRPG is free because the developers are all gamers and needed this kind of tool for their own games. And since they are the nice group they are decided to expand on it for the betterment of the whole online RPG community.

Where can I get OpenRPG?

You can find OpenRPG as well as instructions for installing it at http://www.openrpg.com

How do I use this? I downloaded OpenRPG but I can't figure it out. Is there a users guide?

Yes, there is a user guide. It's a bit outdated but you can get it by clicking the + next to OpenRPG node in the game tree (the upper left hand box) then double click on Load User Guide.
Then you should see the user guide in your tree. Double click on the user guide. Alternativly you can go to the OpenRPG User Guide.

How can I contribute to OpenRPG?

Support the developers in their endeavors.
- Buy stuff from www.rpgobjects.com (this guy started the project)
- Go to the OpenRPG DEV II server and click the paypal link to send me cash
- Mostly though we need developers. OpenRPG is written in Python and is very easy to pick up if you have even a smattering of programing knowledge.

How do I become a developer?

With open source projects, you usually don't have to submit a resume or anything. It's not like you're applying for a job. The way it typically works is:
- you use the program for a while,
- you participate in the developer mailing list discussions,
- you post patches to fix or improve things.
Eventually, if your patches are consistently good, people get tired of committing them to CVS for you. So they just grant you direct commit access. Voila, you're a developer.

I found a spelling mistake/typo in this FAQ. To whom do I report it?

You don't. You fix it yourself. Go to the bottom of the page and click EditText and edit the page yourself. It doesn't take long and you will be doing the community a favor by keeping this document readable. You now have to register and log in to make changes. I had a problem with spammers editing pages so I had to make people register. Registration is free and I don't do anything with the information.

Where can I get a hold of a developer?

If you want to get a hold of the developers either leave a message on the forums at the openrpg site or log into OpenRPG DEV II or OpenRPG DEV III or OpenRPG Dev IV and look for tdb30_ or Snowdog, or DjGilcrease.

I suspect that some Windows system files are replaced either during one of the python installations or the open RPG installation itself, am I right?

No. OpenRPG itself does not change any system files. However, Python and wxPython may and you should consult them directly if you have a concern.

I've been looking through the provided "Idiot's Guide to OpenRPG" and have been reading about an Initiative Tool. Where is it?

It was removed several versions ago because of coding conflicts and errors. There is, however, a slightly newer (albeit lacking in the spiffy graphical interface) initiative tool available as an OpenRPG plugin; to use it, go to the OpenRPG Plugin HQ at http://mduo13.no-ip.org/plugins.php.

I have an older version of OpenRPG installed. Do I have to uninstall it first?

You shouldn't have to uninstall it. However, you could move the directory some place safe before you install it if you are nervous. This can be a good idea if for some reason the new version has bugs. In any case if you do move the directory just copy the files in the myfiles directory over to the new installations myfiles directory and you should be able to transfer your settings and tree to the new version.

And what about Python? Do I have to uninstall it before installing the new version?

I would advise it if you don't use python for any other programs. If you use Python for other programs you may be able to get away with multiple versions on the same machine in different directories. However, you may have issues executing the correct version of python since they will probably use the same executable name.

What does this setting do?

Try opening your settings window and clicking the name of the setting in the Settings column. It should provide a pop-up with information on that setting. If that isn't sufficient, try asking on the ORPG help boards; if you do, a more useful description may just find its way into a later OpenRPG release. (No promises, though.)

What are OpenRPG Plugins and where can I find them?

OpenRPG PlugIn's are optional add-ons maintained by mDuo13. You can find them at http://mduo13.no-ip.org/plugins.php. In Version 1.6.3 you can enable some of the default plugins by going to the "PlugIn's" option of the Tools menu.

Chat

What is an 'emote' and how do I do one?

An emote is a descriptive action. In OpenRPG you can use the emote commands /me, /he, and /she to create a descriptive text about an action you (or more likely your character in game) is performing. In the chat window these actions take the form ** [your name here] does some action ** The addition of your name, recolorization, and the leading and trailing asterisks are automatic.
So, as an example if you have set your OpenRPG player name to Bob (in the settings dialog) then if you should type '/me eats a cookie' in the chat window textbox when you hit enter the chat window would display ** Bob eats a cookie **

How do I make a link?

Links in OpenRPG are created with HTML, the same way they would be made on a webpage. The correct way to make a link would be like this:
<a href="www.openrpg.com">OpenRPG website</a>
that is, <a href="URL here">Link text</a>.

Does OpenRPG support Unicode?

Currently OpenRPG does not support Unicode. This means non-english characters will probably not show properly in OpenRPG. This is an issue we want to resolve with OpenRPG 2.0

How do I turn off auto-complete?

It's easy. Press CTRL+S, or go to the "Settings" option of the "OpenRPG" menu. Then go to the "Chat" tab. In there, set the value "SuppressAutoComplete" to "1" and hit the OK button. You should check out some of the other options while you're there. They can be quite useful.

Rooms

How do I create a room?

Following are steps to create a room:
1. Open the Game Server menu from the menu bar of the OpenRPG application and choose "Browse Servers" (or press ctrl-B )
2. Fill in the info in the create room area in the lower left corner of the dialog.
  - Name is what your room will be shown as in the room list on the game server dialog to other players.
  - Pass this is a password to restrict access to your room (if checkbox is marked). You can use a password to create a private room. Both the room name and the room password can be changed by the rooms owner (a GM) after the room is created.
  - Admin Pass should always be filled in. It is the master control password for the room and controls who has access to the game map, who can speak in a room, as well as room name, room password, and boot/kick ability.
  - Min. Ver. allows you to set a minimum OpenRPG version allowed to enter the room. This is a legacy option and seldom used. If used incorrectly it will prevent anyone from joining your room. Best to simply ignore this option and leave it blank.
3. Click the create room button
Once your room is created on the server you will automatically be moved into that room and assigned the GM role. Be sure to remember your room admin password as it will be requested by the program when you change admin only features.

Where did my room go?

"I created a room then left it to go to another room and my room vanished!" Rooms are automatically removed from the OpenRPG servers when they are no longer being used, that is to say when they are empty. The exception to this rule is a special kind of room called a persistent room. If you're in a user created room and want to keep it around you have to make sure at least one person stays in the room at all times.

What is a persistent room?

A persistent room is one that does not got get removed from the server when there are no players in it. These rooms are primarily used by continuing RPG campaigns, not only as a stable meeting place for their gaming groups but also as a way to advertise the campaign to other prospective players. Many persistent rooms have information that is automatically displayed when you join the room that typically details gaming times, campaign website links, and perhaps a brief description of the campaign. This type of room requires that the server administrator configure his/her server to create the room when it starts up. The default OpenRPG server comes with two default persistent rooms pre-configured in the server.ini file as an example of how to set up a persistent room.

Can I rename my room?

Yes. To rename your room you can use the room control feature (version 1.5.1 and later) to change your rooms name. While in your room simply right click on any player in the player list. In the contextual menu choose Room Control --> Room Name. You will be asked to enter the room admin password and then to enter the new room name. Assuming you entered the correct admin password the room name will be changed.

Can I add/change/remove my room password?

Yes. To add, remove or change your room password you can use the room control feature (version 1.5.1 and later). While in your room simply right click on any player in the player list. In the contextual menu choose Room Control --> Password. You will be asked to enter the room admin password and then to enter the new room password. Assuming you entered the correct admin password the room password will be changed. If you wish to remove a password simply leave the new password blank.

Map

How do I load a map onto OpenRPG?

There's two ways of looking at maps - as images, or as a location with a collection of objects and people, and maybe notes. When you say that you have maps on your PC, I think you mean the former - just the images. This is one of the things that seems to confuse everyone about OpenRPG, because there's a common idea that you can "convert" an image into the XML map file - the map file is meant to point to the contents of the location, not to be those contents.

For OpenRPG to use the image files, they need to be located somewhere online, on a website. There are free or cheap hosting companies out there, and there are also some plug-ins that can help with this assuming you're not behind too steep a firewall. They need to not have any spaces or weird punctuation in the names, or any international characters (no umlauts or accent marks).

One you've got them there, you can make an OpenRPG map out of them - that's a file that's on your computer, that specifies both the image and the contents of the place. You do that by opening OpenRPG, selecting the background tab on the map view, selecting Image from the drop-down, typing in the URL, and hitting Apply. Then you can hit the save icon to save an XML file, which saves to your local machine. That XML file will specify the contents, but it doesn't replace the image - OpenRPG doesn't encode the image into the XML, it just points to it. You can also add miniatures to the map before saving it, or otherwise manipulate it.

Your players will need to be able to get to the image that has the map - they don't need to know the URL, but you can't, for example, put the images on your local machine if people can't get to it from outside. To make sure this will work, you may want to test it out - give them the URL to one of your maps, and make sure they can get to it in Firefox or their browser of choice.

You'll encounter this same thing with miniatures, by the way - they also need to be images on the web.

I entered the game (joined a server). Why can't anyone see my minatures or map changes?

OpenRPG has many servers and each server has its own set of rooms. The first room you enter in any server is the Lobby. The lobby allows all features of OpenRPG (chat, sending sheets back and forth, dice rolling) the exception is that the map is not shared. To share a map you need to create your own room. See the answer to how do I create a room in the Chat section.

I can't move the miniatures but someone else can. Why is this?

First, make sure that the role you are assigned gives you the permissions to move the miniatures around. Second, check your version of wxPython. If you are using a version not recommended by www.openrpg.com, then you need to change versions. The most common problem for GUI type problems is using the wrong version of wxPython.

Game Tree

Where can I get character sheets?

Character sheets can be found at http://openrpg.wrathof.com. You can also make them yourself.

It seems I can not cut & paste information into a Grid (cell). Is this correct, or am I doing something wrong?

Click on the cell and press the ctrl-v combination.

How can I change the size of grid boxes or text boxes?

As far as form and node sizes (etc) you can not change the openrpg width characteristics. This is set by the OS and Python relations.

My tree / character sheet got corrupted! How can I get it back?

There isn't really a great way to get back corrupted character sheets. However, OpenRPG character sheets are just regular XML files, so if you open them in a text editor like Notepad, you can get most of their data, if not their actual form.

How can I stop my nodes / tree from getting corrupted?

There are several reasons why nodes can get corrupted, so there are several ways to reduce the chances of your nodes getting corrupted. First, nodes with special characters like the AE symbol, the copyright symbol, accented vowels, or any other nonstandard characters, tend to get corrupted very often, so don't ever use those characters in a node. Second, if your OpenRPG crashes, it might screw up your nodes. The only way to avoid this is to avoid crashing your OpenRPG. Third, very large nodes are more likely to get corrupted, so split really big ones into several smaller ones. Finally, the best way to save your nodes is to make backups of them, individually, especially, instead of or in addition to saving them as a whole tree.

I want a special sheet with auto-calculating and stuff like the D&D 3rd Edition one. How can I make one, or who will make one for me?

The D&D 3E node is pretty much unique; very, very few people have the skills or knowledge of how to make an autocalc sheet, even among the developers. This is a really popular request, so somebody who does know how (or can figure it out) should post a document on how to make these, but for the most part you're SOL if you want one. There *are* other ways to calculate parts of a character sheet when making rolls, however. It does have some limitations, but see Complex Dice Rolling for details.

Server Issues

I'm having trouble connecting to a server / hosting a server / etc.

Try looking at the OpenRPG Network Troubleshooting Guide.

When I try to connect to my server using localhost it works fine. But my friends can't connect.

First confirm that the address that openrpg has for your machine in the game browser is the correct one. If you are behind any kind of router or firewall or internet sharing application some times It gets the incorrect address. If it is correct make sure TCP port 6774 is allowed through your firewall in both directions. If your address is incorrect look at the server_ini.xml file in the openrpg myfiles directory. Put your address in there.

Whenever I try to connect to any server, including the one I created, I get a 'connection refused' message. I know I am behind a local firewall. Can anyone help me?

You need to configure the firewall to let OpenRPG use port 6774 for regular game play as well as server hosting. If you are trying to connect to a server located on the same box you are playing on, type in localhost:6774 or 127.0.0.1:6774 in the address box and pressing connect.

I noticed that a server I joined had something akin to an intro message containing an e-mail link to the person who ran the server. How do I do this?

It's quite simple if you have some HTML knowledge. Locate the server.ini file in your OpenRPG directory. Open it in your favorite HTML editor and go to town. Make sure that you save the original in case you mess up!

Common Problems/Troubleshooting

I try to upgrade OpenRPG but I'm told I'm at the current version even though a new version has been released

For those of you having a problem with /update get go to the general settings tab and change the setting PackagesBaseUrl to http://openrpg.sourceforge.net/orpg_packages.xml That will fix it.

I get a message Can't load imagefrom file '//images/splash13.jpg': file does not exist when trying to run OpenRPG on a Mac

When running ORPG on a Mac, use the terminal to start the applicaiton. Open the Terminal program and then change to your openrpg directory (depending on where you put your openrpg folder, I put mine in my personal Applications folder).. G5: cd ~/Applications/openrpg1 then start python... G5: pythonw start.py Oh... and two other notes about running openRPG on the Mac. You'll want to edit your gui.xml ... under STANDARD LAYOUT ( unless your using a different layout) ... to move the top of the window down below the apple menubar like this....
 <orpg_gui width="1" height="1" posx="1" posy="45">
.. The posy="45" will move the window down enough to move the window around your screen, otherwise the top bar of the orpg window will be under the apple menubar. Second thing is once you get ORPG running you'll want to set your /lines command in the orpg chat window very low... there is a rendering issue with the chat where it 'flickers' because of the way its being rendered.

When I execute start.py on OSX, nothing happens. What can I do to get the program working?

Search the forums at www.operating system documentation on how to set environment variables if you don't know how. Also refer to the proxy section of your web browser to find out what proxy server and port are used in
Search the forums at www.openrpg.com for OSX. There are several posts that have a walk through on setting up OSX for running OpenRPG. Failing that, post on the help forum with any error messages and other information that may help people help you. Also read the Guide to installing OpenRPG on Mac OSX

OpenRPG used to work but no longer starts?

There are several reasons why OpenRPG may not load. The most common one comes from a corrupt tree. OpenRPG expects certain attributes of the tree it loads. If they aren't there it will abort the loading of OpenRPG. To Fix this, rename the tree.xml file in your OpenRPG directory to something else (I'd suggest backup_tree.xml) and then run OpenRPG again. OpenRPG will recreate the tree.xml file and load properly. If this does not solve your problem, contact the developers through the forums at www.openrpg.com

What port does OpenRPG use? How can I change it?

OpenRPG, by default, uses port 6774. If you want to change it, you need to edit your Python source files -- don't worry, it's painless. Go to your OpenRPG directory, then go to /orpg/networking and open mplay_client.py in your favorite text editor. Windows users also have the option of using "IDLE," the made-in-Python-for-Python development environment, which is highly recommended. (Right-click: Edit with IDLE if you installed Python with default options.) Anyway, you just need to edit line 50:
- OPENRPG_PORT = 6774
to read whatever port you need. Save it and restart OpenRPG.
To change the port your OpenRPG uses, open mplay_server.py and edit line 67 in the same way. (Line numbers may vary slightly in both files, depending on the version; look around a bit for the right one.)

OpenRPG crashes after splash screen with the last line of socket.gaierror:(-2,'Name or service not known')

Most likely a hostname was assigned to your system yet you failed to actually provide a mapping for said name. Try typing, "hostname". It should tell you the name of your computer. Make sure this name is present in your /etc/hosts file. You want to make sure you have both the FQD and the alias.
- Example: $ hostname computer.domain.com
So, edit your /etc/hosts file, making sure you have something like: 127.0.0.1 computer.domain.com computer "computer.domain.com" is the FQD, while, "computer" is the alias. This sometimes happens if your IP address is dynamically provided yet you named your computer something other than localhost. For additional reading, I recommend you learn more about the dummy net driver. It's sole purpose is to help with these types of situations. Okay, long story short, here's what I *think* is going on under the covers. You computer name is "zonk" (made up for example). In your hosts file, there is no such record. Furthermore, your ISP has no idea who or what "zonk" is, so it doesn't know what to do with it. The code, socket.gethostname() executes and returns "zonk" which is then passed to socket.gethostbyname(). This call attempts to actually convert the hostname ("zonk") into an IP address. Since your host file or your ISP doesn't know who "zonk" is, an error is returned. The above solution should be a longer term solution and generally make your computer happier too.

Why can't I see any servers in the game browser list?

You may be connecting to the internet through a proxy server. You may need to set the environment variable http_proxy to your proxy server and port. For example:
- http_proxy="http://www.someproxy.com:3128
The example above is taken from the python documentation. www.someproxy.com is the server address of your proxy and 3128 is the port used by the proxy. Please refer to your operating system documentation on how to set environment variables if you don't know how. Also refer to the proxy section of your web browser to find out what proxy server and port are used in your particular instance.

Installing OpenRPG 1.6.1 on SUSE Linux 9.0+

I'm not sure how appropriate this is to place here, but there didn't seem to be anyplace else to put it.
I grabbed python from SUSE's ftp site using YaST2, but found that there was another dependency for OpenRPG before the python start.py script would execute. SUSE claims that python-xml is included in python v2+, but on my SUSE 9.0 system I needed to install that separate package anyway. There may be other requirements, but my testbed system has a fair number of development environments already installed, so many of the libraries are probably already loaded. As I come across more, I'll add them here.

Installing OpenRPG 1.6.1 on Red Hat WS 3.0

The base wxPython RPM installs in /usr/lib/python2.3. In that directory, as root:
- cp -Rp site-packages/* ../python2.2/site-packages
You will still get C API version differences because the python versions are different. But it does seem to work.

OpenRPG crashes on me when I resize character sheets

Unchecking the 'Auto Size' check box on your grid nodes in your character sheet seems to fix this problem.

Previous: Apendix B - Settings

Next: Apendix D - In development

Table of Contents: OpenRPG User Guide