Guild of Writers

This is a tutorial page.

 

In this tutorial, we’ll set up a local testing shard for Myst Online: Uru Live fan Ages using the H’uru client and DIRTSAND server software. This local shard allows you to test your Ages swiftly and independently, without needing to submit files to a shard operator and wait for feedback. Since the server is running on your computer, you’ll have immediate access to the results of your work.

Minimum Requirements

A computer with Windows 10 version 2004 or newer. To check your version:

1. Press the Win+R keys on your keyboard to open the Run dialog.
2. Type winver and press Enter.
3. A window will appear displaying your current Windows version. Ensure that it is version 2004 or newer. If not, please update your operating system before proceeding.

Prerequisites

Before starting the actual setup, ensure that your system meets the minimum requirements and that the necessary tools and software are installed.

Git Installation

1. Download Git from its official download page.
2. Run the downloaded file and follow the installation wizard.

Windows Terminal Installation

1. Open Microsoft Store on your computer.
2. Search for “Windows Terminal”.
3. Select it from the list and click “Install”.

Docker Desktop and WSL2 Installation

1. Download Docker Desktop from Docker’s official page.
2. Install Docker Desktop, enabling WSL 2 features during installation.

Setup Working Directory

A dedicated workspace on your desktop will help organize the files and applications needed for the server setup and testing process efficiently.

1. On your desktop, right-click on an empty space.
2. In the context menu, hover over “New”, then select “Folder” from the sub-menu that appears.
3. A new folder will be created.
4. Right click on the new folder and rename it to dockersand.

Download H’uru Client

1. Go to H’uru’s GitHub releases page.
2. For 32-bit Windows, download plasma-windows-x86-internal-release.zip. For 64-bit Windows, download plasma-windows-x64-internal-release.zip.
3. Locate the downloaded zip file, usually in the Downloads folder.
4. Right-click on the zip file and select “Extract All…”.
5. In the pop-up window, click “Browse”, navigate to the Desktop and select the dockersand folder. Click “Select Folder”, then “Extract”.

Download Game Data

This section guides you through acquiring the necessary H’uru data files for the game. These files are essential for the game to run properly. Using the correct version ensures compatibility with the H’uru client.

• On your desktop, open the dockersand folder.
• Inside the dockersand folder, right-click on an empty space and select “Open in Windows Terminal”.
• In the terminal, type and enter the following commands, pressing Enter after each:

git clone --sparse https://github.com/H-uru/moul-assets.git
cd moul-assets
git sparse-checkout set compiled

• In the terminal, type and enter the following commands, pressing Enter after each:

cd ..
cd client
mklink /J avi ..\moul-assets\compiled\avi
mklink /J dat ..\moul-assets\compiled\dat
mklink /J sfx ..\moul-assets\compiled\sfx

Build Dirtsand Test Server

In this section, we will set up the Dirtsand server. This server is necessary to test your Ages on your computer. Follow the steps below to get the server ready.

1. On your desktop, find and open the dockersand folder.
2. Within the dockersand folder, you will find a folder named dirtsand. Open it.
3. Once inside the dirtsand folder, right-click on an empty space and from the context menu, select “Open in Terminal”. This will open a terminal window focused on the dirtsand folder.
4. Now, in the terminal, you need to type a command to build the server. Simply type ./dockersand build and then press the Enter key on your keyboard. This action will initiate the building process of the server. Wait for it to complete.

Linking Age and SDL Files

To ensure both the server and client use the same versions of the .age and .SDL files, we’ll link them from the game client to the server. This step makes sure that as you create and edit Ages, the changes are reflected in both the server and client.

1. On your desktop, open the dockersand folder.
2. Inside, open the dirtsand folder.
3. Now right-click anywhere inside the dirtsand folder and select “Open in Terminal” from the context menu.
4. In the Terminal that appears, type mklink /J SDL ..\..\client\SDL and then press Enter.
5. Next, type mklink /J dat ..\..\client\dat and press Enter.

Starting the Server

You must start the DirtSand server before you can test your Ages. This section will show you how to start DirtSand.

1. Open the dockersand folder on your desktop.
2. Inside the dockersand folder, find and open the dirtsand folder.
3. Within dirtsand, right-click in an empty space and select “Open in Terminal”.
4. In the Terminal window, type ./dockersand start and press Enter. This command will start the server.
5. Remember, if you make changes to any .age or .SDL files, you’ll need to restart the server to apply those changes.
   • To restart the server, type ./dockersand restart in the Terminal and press Enter.

Configure Game Client

The game needs to know how to connect to your local testing server. This section will guide you through that process.

1. Open the dockersand folder on your desktop, then open the dirtsand folder, followed by the build folder.
2. Inside, open the etc folder.
3. Find the server.ini file, right-click on it, and choose “Copy”.
4. Navigate back to the client folder within the dockersand folder on your desktop and paste the server.ini file there.

Create Account

This section will walk you through creating an account your local DirtSand server so that you can log in with the game client.

1. Open the dockersand folder on your desktop and open the dirtsand folder inside it. Right-click within this folder and select “Open in Terminal”.
2. Type ./dockersand attach and press Enter.
3. In the Dirtsand console, type addacct <username> <password> (replace <username> and <password> with your chosen username and password) and press Enter to create your account.

Preparing the Game Shortcut

To run the game using local data files, we need to create a shortcut with special commands.

1. Open the dockersand folder on your desktop and find the plClient.exe file.
2. Right-click plClient.exe and select ‘Create shortcut’.
3. Right-click on the created shortcut and select ‘Properties’.
4. In the ‘Target’ field, append /LocalData at the end of the existing text.
5. Click ‘OK’ to save changes. Now you have a shortcut that will run the game using local data files.

Running the Game

This section guides you through starting the game and connecting to your local testing shard. Ensure that Dockersand is running when you try to play the game.

1. Find and double-click the “Start Uru” shortcut to launch the game.
2. Once the game launches, enter the <username> and <password> you created earlier.
3. Press the “Login” button. The game client should now log in to your local DirtSand server, and you should now be able to play Uru.

Shutting Down the Server

When you are finished testing, you might want to shut down Dockersand to conserve system resources.

1. Open the dockersand folder on your desktop.
2. Inside, open the dirtsand folder.
3. Right-click within the folder and select “Open in Terminal”.
4. In the terminal, type ./dockersand stop and press Enter to stop Dockersand.