Gamebox Installation

The gamebox is a Java application. If you have not installed Java Web Start before, click the next link to download it. You will need it to run my software. You must do this only once. Then install the web start software.

Some folks have had difficulties getting this to work right, so here are some more detailed instructions. First, you must go to Sun's website to download the "java webstart" package, which is the engine that will run the game. Click on the first download link you see.

If you click on the icon above, you will get to the "java web start" download page. Look at steps 2 and 3 to get some idea of what lies ahead. Then click the "Full Package" button, unless you KNOW that you have the correct java stuff, which is unlikely. This may lead you to a license agreement, which you need to accept.

Now press "FTP download." If a "File Download" dialog appears, select "Save this program to disk." You'll be prompted for a filename; just accept the default one by clicking on "Save." Make a note of where the file is saved . This download may take a little time.

Next, outside of your browser, open the folder where you stored the file. Double click on the downloaded program, which should be something like javaws-1_0_1_01-win-us-rt.exe. This will run an installation procedure and follow the procedure. After the installation, you may delete the java exe file, which will free up about 5mb of your disk space.

Next return here and download the Gamebox Online software. This should download the Gamebox software..

From then on, you can go to gamebox homepage to get to the online homepage From there you can click on the icon to play the games. It will automatically download a new version if there is one. Eventually it will ask you if you would like it to put an icon on the desktop for you.

Click the Gamebox Online link to run it. It will automatically download the latest software for you if necessary. When you run this software, you will connect to a remote server. Your monitor should be at least 800x600; otherwise you will probably need to scroll the gameboard.

Run Gamebox Online now.

Technical Notes

The Gamebox server runs at the host. The client you download talks to it through a TCP/IP socket on port 16510. It uses only one port. I have used Sun's WebStart package because it automatically downloads updates and handles installation. You can run the client without webstart, but you will need the java runtime environment JRE 1.3 or later installed on your computer. You will also need my gameclient.jar file with a shell script to start it. Write to me if you want to do it this way.

If you are behind a firewall, you may not be able to run. The game client will say that the server is probably down if it has any trouble connecting to the server, which may mean your firewall is in the way. The server is rarely down. Your only solution is either to have your sys admin open up port 16510 (good luck), or give up. Write to me if you have difficulties or have suggestions. --Stan