Installation Guide for TrueCombat:Elite - Public Beta Test

This is a short description of the files you need, where to get them, and how to install them.
Installation of Wolfenstein:Enemy Territory is briefly covered. ET must be installed on your machine before you can run TC:Elite.

Comments and Feedback on this guide can be posted to this forum thread. This document is not complete and may require update.

> [note] Windows and Linux install issues are separated into sections, you only need to follow through the section that applies to your OS and then review the Post Install section
> [note] the term directory has the same meaning as folder
> [note] the ET directory means the actual installation directory for the game, in other words this is where you find the executable game (et.exe, et.x86)

Windows 9x, Windows 2000, Windows XP

Wolfenstein:Enemy Territory
1) Download the game installer, version 1.0, and the patch for version 1.02. (see Downloads)
2) Run the version 1.0 installer by double-clicking the exe file. You will be asked to choose an installation directory for the game -- we recommend you choose the default location suggested. Click OK and continue the installation. If you choose another location for installing the game you will need to know where you installed it later, keep this in mind. Add a shortcut to your desktop when prompted, you will use this later.
-- the default ET directory should be: C:\Program Files\Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory
3) Run the version 1.02 installer exe. The install directory you chose for ET should be shown, if not locate it then continue the installation.
4) Start the game from the shortcut on your desktop and verify that you can select a server from the list and join the game before installing TC:Elite.

TrueCombat:Elite Test
1) Download the TC:Elite installer (see Downloads)
2) Run the installer exe. Select next after reading the Beta release notification. You will be asked to locate the ET directory - the default location will be shown, if you installed elsewhere choose browse and find the correct et directory. Once the ET directory is found select next and the installation will continue. When it is finished the README will be displayed.
3) TC:Elite should now be installed in the 'tcetest' directory inside the ET directory. If the default ET directory was used this should be: C:\Program Files\Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory\tcetest
4) TC:Elite can now be started by joining a server using an external server browser such as The All-Seeing Eye. Continue with step 5 to create a shortcut to start TC:Elite.
5) Select your Enemy Territory shortcut on your desktop. Copy the shortcut (ctrl-c or right click and select copy), then paste (ctrl-v) on your desktop to create a copy.
6) Right click the copy shortcut and select "Properties" from the menu. A window will be shown for modifying the shortcut.
7) To start TC:Elite you need to add a command line argument to the shortcut target: +set fs_game tcetest. If you are using the default ET directory for installation your shortcut 'target' should appear as:

> "C:\Program Files\Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory\ET.exe" +set fs_game tcetest

8) Make the change by adding the argument outside the quotation marks, then click OK to save the changes. The shortcut should now start TC:Elite when double-clicked.
-- All profile settings, config files, screenshots, demos, and other et output files will be written to the tcetest directory in the ET directory.

Linux

Wolfenstein:Enemy Territory
1) Download the ET installer version 2.55 (see Downloads)
2) Set execute permission on the file for your user (see chmod) then run the installer: ./et-linux-2.55.x86.run
3) If you are not the root user you will be asked for root password, you may decline (push enter) and install as your user, the installation will be done into your user's home directory.
4) You should leave PunkBuster selected for install, and do not change the 'Link Path' unless you know what this means.
5) Download the ET update version 2.56 and repeat as with the 2.55 installer (if you did root before do it again): ./etlinux2256update.x86.run
6) Verify you can start the game with the command et in a terminal, or select the menu entry for 'enemy-territory'.

TrueCombat:Elite Test
For a linux install, you can place TC:Elite files in the tcetest directory in the ET directory (the install path), or you can install TC:Elite into your home directory, as ~/.etwolf/tcetest. The typical install path for ET is /usr/local/games/enemy-territory. Rather than being available in two locations, the files should be installed to one or the other, so either choose to place all TC:Elite files in your home directory, or in the ET install directory.
1) Download the TC:Elite zip file (generic for Linux or Windows) (see Downloads)
2) Unzip the file "tcetest.zip" into the install location you have chosen to use (see above paragraph). The zip file contains a local path (the files inside the zip are actually inside a folder) which you must maintain. After unzipping the file you should find the directory 'tcetest' at ~/.etwolf/ or your ET install directory if you chose to install there. You should not find the directory ~/tcetest, or ~/.etwolf/tcetest/tcetest (these both indicate the unzipping was done incorrectly).
3) Verify you can start TC:Elite by passing the command line argument "+set fs_game tcetest" to the program et. You can use the examples below:
To start TC:Elite you can use a variety of methods. You could create a 'launcher' in your window manager that executes the command line below, or use the following alias which will allow you to start the game directly from a terminal with the command ELITE.

> et +set fs_game tcetest

> alias "ELITE"="et +set fs_game tcetest"

You must have read permission to all the files in the "tcetest" directory, and have read, execute, and write permission on the directory itself. You do not need write permission to the ET install directory -- all file writes go to the ~/.etwolf/tcetest directory.

> chmod u+rwx ~/.etwolf/tcetest ; chmod u+r ~/.etwolf/tcetest/*

All config files, screenshots, demos, and other et output files will be written to ~/.etwolf/tcetest.
The recommended external game browser for Linux is XQF. Extra command line arguments can be added into XQF to launch TC:Elite using your preferred profile, memory settings, or other ET settings (see below for a few more issues).

Post-Install Setup Issues

Profiles: Enemy Territory supports a method of saving configurations for more than one player on the same computer. This is called a "Profile". TC:Elite Profiles will be kept separate from any created for the regular version of ET, so you must change your configuration separately for Elite. One of the Profiles present will be marked as the Default and should load when you start a game, however ET can become confused about what settings to use for graphics when it first starts if you change profiles regularly. It is a good idea therefore, to tell ET which Profile to use as the game starts.
Profiles can be manually selected when you join a server (or when starting the game with a shortcut) if a command line argument is passed to ET when it starts. Add +set cl_profile "profilename" to your shortcut or startup script, here "profilename" is exactly what you see in the Profile menu in-game (don't include the bold Default in the name). ASE and other external game browsers can pass extra arguments to ET as well.

> +set cl_profile "profilename"

Punkbuster: This is an anti-cheating program that must run on your computer while you play the game. Many servers require punkbuster to be running when you join. You can set turn punkbuster on by selecting button "Enable Punkbuster" when creating a new Profile, or with this console command: pb_cl_enable.
PB should update itself when you connect to a server, however sometimes this does not work like it should and you will need to update PB manually. Visit the punkbuster download site for Enemy Territory and get their download utility called pbweb. If you find yourself frequently kicked immediately after joining a server (and you're not cheating...) then updating PB manually might get you back in the game.

Routers - Connecting two computers to a server: If you use a router with your internet connection and you are connecting more than one computer to a TC:Elite server you must manually set one of the computers to use an alternate "port" for the network communication to the server. If you do not, you may find that only the first computer can connect to the server, and the second stays "Awaiting Connection" forever.
To set an alternate port for the game to use, change the cvar "net_port". You can use any value not already in use.. just make it one higher than the default for each computer connecting. The default port for ET is 27960, so using the port 27961 should fix the problem. Technically, this is usually caused by faulty Network Address Translation (NAT) in your router which is sending your "challenge request response" packets to the already connected computer rather than the one now connecting.

> +set net_port "27961"

Welcome to TC:Elite Test -- now go play!

Remember this is a Public Beta Test, and your feedback is welcome. Beta issues can be posted to the forum (use the Beta Gameplay forum for general discussion, report bugs to the Beta Bugs forum). Please review already posted bugs and discussions before starting new threads! You can also visit on IRC in channels #tc:elite or #tc.support on GameSurge.net for live chat about the test or just to talk to other players.

Comments or Feedback on this guide can be posted to this forum thread.