Copyright: © 1998 T E Network, Inc. (v1.3.3)
Citation: © 1998 T E Network, Inc.


Hey, new folks! Read this first

New to TEN? Welcome aboard! Julie, our cruise director will be with you shortly…

You're just moments away from a whole slew of kick-butt multiplayer games over the Internet. But, how do you get on and play?

That's where this Help file comes in.

We'd love it if you read this whole file from cover to cover, but you're gamers. ("Documentation? We don't need no steenkin' documentation!") So, here are the basics—just click on a link for details about that subject…

•	What is the Total Entertainment Network? Here's the hype. You probably know it if you got this far.

•	TEN's Terms of Service. Legal crap. It's the same stuff that you read in new user registration, here for your handy reference!

•	TEN's Community Guidelines. All the TENetiquette you ever needed to know.

•	Select a registration method and new user registration. If you haven't already signed on to TEN, here's what you should do.

•	Signing on to TEN. The nitty-gritty. Your first step into a larger world.

•	TEN's system requirements and game software & enabler files. You have to have the right equipment, and game software don't grow on trees!

•	The Game Selector, Arena Selector and Game Arena screens. These three areas are where you're gonna spend most of your time. Live 'em and learn.

•	Creating a game. Ah, the good stuff. It's all done from Game Arenas.

•	Cancelling your account . If you really want to do the unthinkable, check here.

Technical questions must be handled through our Web site at http://www.ten.net/support. You can access it by going to the Support menu from within TEN and choosing "Send Support Question Via Web"


What's new in version 1.3.3?

Wizards and sorcerers of all types will love this new TEN update! With v1.3.3 of TEN, we've introduced two new exclusives to our service.

Magic: The Gathering from MicroProse is the official computer version of the worldwide popular collectible card game from Wizards of the Coast. With Magic: The Gathering and MicroProse's ManaLink software, you can play Magic on TEN...FOR FREE! Here are the system requirements you need and a brief intro to the Arena screen on TEN.

We also have another TEN-only game materializing on the scene. Wiz-War, the computer version of Tom Jolly's popular mini-board game is also available to play. This 2–4 person game pits crafty wizards against each other to grab treasure and defeat each other within a dark labyrinth. The game software is free for downloading from our Web site, and only requires the following system requirements. The create game screen is pretty straightforward as well.

Enjoy, mystic adventurer...

Miscellaneous junk

As usual, click these links if you want information on general system requirements, software you need for certain games, and game creation screens for the various games on TEN.

Haven't been on in a while? What's wrong with you!?! Anyway, if you missed the previous version of our software (version 1.2), here's what was new. It's good to go over it just for safety's sake. Step to it.


What's new in version 1.2?

What's new in 1.2? Well, the whole look and feel, for one. If you're an experienced TEN person, you might just want to cruise through the following topics to get acquainted with the new schtuff. Of course, the best way to see what's new is to experiment while you're online!

•	The Menu Bar: Belly up for a shot or two. This contains a global navigation system to other parts of TEN and replaces all functions of the old Support area. It's also the way you access this Help file.

•	Page and Locate: With these nifty features you can have a private chat with another person on TEN and if you just need to find someone, use the Locate feature.

•	E-mail, newsgroups and Web browsing: In version 1.2, everyone on TEN has their own e-mail address. You can also access TEN-specific newsgroups and surf the Web.

•	New game creation abilities: Now, when you create a game, you're taken to a special "pre-launch panel" before the game actually starts. Here, you can dismiss players and have a private chat with folks who've joined your game.

•	Zone redesign: We still have same Zone structure, but instead of getting a specific Zone rating, we're categorizing them into Your Best Zone, Playable Zones and Chat-only Zones. Your Best Zone is the place where you'll get the best gameplay.

•	News area on the Web: News@TEN has moved to more lavish digs! You'll still get the headlines from the Game Selector screen, but now you can just click MORE NEWS or pull down "News@TEN Web Site" from the Go menu to get complete details about TEN news, tournaments and other upcoming events.

•	Pop-up help: Woo! (Well, it's a big deal to us.) Just hit the ? icon on any game screen or dialog box and then click on something to get instant pop-up help. Exciting, huh?


What is the Total Entertainment Network?

Well, if you really must know.

The Total Entertainment Network (a.k.a. TEN) is an Internet entertainment service providing quality content and high action to gamers everywhere.

What does it take to be part of TEN?

With your computer, a high-speed modem, this software and one or more of the games we support, you can sign on immediately. TEN allows you to use your own Internet service provider (ISP) to connect to our service, or use one of our local access numbers and let TEN do the work. Flexibility is our watchword.

Once on board, you'll see we support some of the hottest current games around: NASCAR Racing 2 (in the NASCAR Racing Online Series), Myth: The Fallen Lords, Shadow Warrior, EF2000 V2.0, and Quake to name a few. We'll also have the inside scoop on new releases, including Quake II, Dark Reign and Falcon 4.0. Not to mention all our online-only exclusives like Twilight Lands, AD&D Dark Sun Online, Magic: The Gathering and Wiz-War. And there's much, much more to come.

TEN is devoted to provide you with the ultimate experience in multiplayer online gaming. We believe that there is nothing quite like the thrill of human competition. Defeating a computer opponent doesn't have nearly the satisfaction of creaming your pal across town (or across the country!). With the TEN service, our goal is to reduce latency (the bane of the Internet) to give you the quickest, cleanest, most immersive gameplay possible.

TEN is an Internet gaming service, made by and for gamers.

Welcome to the community.


TEN mutterings and philosophies

The evolution will not be televised.

The evolution of entertainment will happen right here,
on your computer screen.

If you've spent any time at all online, you've probably sensed something big happening at the crossroads where technology and society meet. You can feel it in the passion for MUDs and MOOs, hear it in the chat rooms and IRC channels of the Internet, see it in the sudden fascination with multiplayer games and the Web. Something new is evolving in the realm of information and entertainment.

The Total Entertainment Network (TEN) is a group of people who are a part of that evolution. We are a company of gamers, programmers, net surfers, and chat room junkies who have a sense for just how cool the online world could be. For over 12 years, we have been creating bulletin board systems, playing games, and creating online gaming platforms—mucking about in the primordial ooze of a nascent medium. Now, we are developing the technology and ideas that will raise it to the next rung of the ladder.

Our initial goal is to become the best online gaming platform with the hottest multiplayer games around. Period. But supporting retail multiplayer games is only the starting point. We believe that everything we know about the online world today—games, chat spaces, e-mail, electronic publishing—will change quickly and drastically, in ways that no one can predict. Whichever way it evolves, we will be there.

We also believe that YOU will be an essential force in this evolution. We are not a broadcasting company that feeds its users what the Nielson ratings say. We are not a magazine or newspaper handing down our editorial opinions from on high. We are an interactive medium, and "interactive" means you play a big role.

The beauty of the online world is that in our electronic space there is so little distance between publisher and reader, producer and consumer—us and you. We will be online playing games and in the chat spaces with you; we will be talking, listening, and learning as we all explore the possibilities of online entertainment.

And we want to take your participation one step further. As we grow, we want to give you the tools to build it yourself. We will give you the power to create experimental chat experiences, to design add-ons to games, to publish your own ideas, and build your own worlds. The next best thing in online entertainment may not be handed to you, you may hand it to the world.

Something new is on the rise. A strange new beast is forming somewhere in the middle of games, people, tools, and technology. TEN will be there as it learns to crawl, walk, run, fly…


A brief history of TEN

The Total Entertainment Network was the result of a cataclysmic collision between two rising stars in the world of online entertainment: Planet Optigon and Outland, Inc.

Planet Optigon was formed by Daniel Goldman in 1990. A longtime bulletin board system (BBS) user and online fanatic, Goldman spent several years working with Maxis, porting Sim City and other popular titles to various platforms, before returning to his dreams of online world domination. Together with designer Janice Linden-Reed, Goldman founded Planet Optigon and began developing a sophisticated, DOS-based service that would come to be known as the Total Entertainment Network (TEN).

Outland, Inc. was founded in 1991 by Three Guys From Palo Alto—Bill Lipa, Dave King and Alex Beltramo. The company specialized in developing tools for gaming across the Internet. In 1993, Outland established the Internet's first commercial gaming service, featuring the popular strategy game, Spaceward Ho!

In June of 1995, Planet Optigon and Outland were united in corporate matrimony. Together, they hatched plans for the conquest of cyberspace and began developing a Windows 95-based version of the network, which is what you see before you.

Late in September, 1996, we blasted onto the scene and instantly became the online gaming service leader—imitated, but never duplicated. One year later, we remain the games, community and features leader in the online gaming space.

We have tens of thousands of active members in our virtual community, and we'll continue to bring you the highest quality games and communication features. Welcome to the future...


TEN's Community Guidelines

We at TEN have one goal in life—to create the ultimate gaming hangout. That means getting the best games, creating a fast network and doing the geewhiz techno stuff necessary to make games work on the Internet. It also means creating a gaming community where players can meet people with similar interests or skill levels, play hard, and have a good time. After all, who'd want to run a place where people ran into jerks, had a lousy time, and were miserable? Not us. And who'd pay to go there? Not you. That's what high school was for, and it was free. To make sure TEN is a place everybody wants to be a part of, we've put together some general community guidelines and a system to enforce them.

Since TEN is primarily a place for playing games, we've based our guidelines on the idea of sportsmanship, the traditional ideal of the good game player. We all know what makes good sports: they play fair, they're good losers (or at least restrained ones), and they don't pull a "high-n-mighty" bit when they win. In general, being a good sport on TEN is no different than anywhere else, but the virtual life does present some unique situations that can pose problems to the uninitiated or careless. Here are some tips on how to avoid online faux pas and unsportsmanlike situations.

Virtual Sportsmanosity

Let the Score Tell the Tale: The best players are those that can beat the snot out of you in a game and shake your hand afterward (after wiping their hand, of course). They don't gloat after they've given a whuppin', and they don't make excuses when they get whupped. Sure, good-natured taunts and competitive BS can be a fun part of the game, but taunting another player and bragging after a win makes the winner look not unlike a jerk. On the flip side, if you lose and move on, you've got a healthy attitude; if you lose and gripe about it, well, you're just a noisy loser.

Keep Your Perspective: It's only a game! If you find yourself losing control, taking your gaming too seriously, and taking it out on other people, it might be time to take a walk, recite a mantra, take your Ritalin, clear your head…

Finish What You Start: You're likely to seriously cheese off someone if you quit in the middle of a long game because you have to take Foofoo for walkies or watch your fave 60s sitcom. (Just have Foofoo tape it; it'll take his mind off things.) Of course, quitting a game just because you're losing makes you not just a loser, but a total LUZ3R. If you must quit, let your opponent know before you do, and officially resign or otherwise end the game so your opponent gets the win.

Play at Your Own Level: The best games are those played against players of equal skill. Wailing on new players might pump up an expert player's frail ego, but it doesn't make the expert any better, it's no fun for the rookie, and the expert comes off looking like a weasel. New players can help the fragile-of-ego avoid temptation by practicing with other new players before wandering into the veteran's areas.

Respect the Spirit of the Game: Some of the games on TEN have special codes of conduct and require special effort from their players. The point of role-playing games, for instance, is to don a persona and play a character in a fantasy setting—kinda like acting in a movie but without a script and a seven-digit salary. In these games it's considered bad form for someone to willfully behave "out-of-character" and destroy the fantasy vibe. This type of game often has its own guidelines, so be sure to read them before jumping in.

Be Careful Wit Dat Wit: Sarcasm and humor are the number one and two causes of "online violence." Sarcasm and humor rely heavily on linguistic subtleties like intonation, tone of voice, body language, and large red rubber noses, which don't come across in text. To avoid verbal spats and bruised feelings, make it clear when you're "just kidding." Little cues like the "smiley face" :-) or <g> for "grin" can be helpful here.

Apply the "Ripper" Rule: The anonymity of the online world can have a strange effect on people. Folks that are normally calm and civil in the "real world" often feel free to say things that would get their skull kicked in if said to someone at the local bar. To avoid problems, we suggest that you apply the "Ripper Rule" to your conversations. Before typing, ask yourself: "Would I say what I'm about to say to a burly 6'4" biker named 'Ripper' at the Bubbling Blood Saloon?" If the answer is, "Hell no! He'd use my teeth for cue chalk!" then you'll want to express your thought another way. Remember: just because someone can't reach across the table and smack you online doesn't mean your actions have no consequences.

Protect Yourself!: For you and your TEN account's safety, be very careful about giving out personal information online. If someone ever asks you for your account password, especially someone who claims to be a TEN employee, just say "no!" A real TEN employee will never ask for your password under any circumstance. And never give out personal information (real name, phone number or address) unless you know the person well and your conversation is private.

General Policies

Beyond the basic principles of good sportsmanship, we've also created some rules covering general conduct on TEN.

You Kiss Your Mother With That Mouth?: Curses, vulgarisms, obscenities and colorful exclamations are a part of many adults' vocabularies. We at TEN really don't have a problem with the occasional flurry of cussing (you can't live in the real world and feel otherwise). However, excessive, chronic vulgarity or obscenity offends some people and bores others. To ensure that players aren't put off by "dirty" language, we ask that players curb their tongue and avoid excessive obscenity in public chat spaces and game Arenas. We're a little more uptight about this when it comes to obscenity in "public" venues like game names and screen names, so please be extra careful there.

Hate Speech Just Ain't Cool: While we're moderately indulgent when it comes to colorful language, TEN has zero tolerance toward "hate speech." Hate speech is language that demeans, insults or otherwise attacks a person based upon his or her race, national origin, religion, sex or sexual orientation. Bigotry has no place on TEN (or anywhere else) and we'll have no patience for those who use racist, sexist, or otherwise hateful language, even if meant in a "joking" way.

Harassment: Harassment is another type of misconduct for which we don't have patience. Online harassment can include many actions, such as: unsolicited sexual come-ons or innuendoes; personal threats; "stalking" (continuously following a player around the service); and incessant, unprovoked insults or taunts in chat, paging, e-mail or newsgroups.

Cheaters Sometimes Win, But They're Always Losers: Cheaters suck, frankly. Cheating by hacking, misleading people, or exploiting loopholes in game or contest rules destroys the honest competitive atmosphere that we're trying to create on TEN, and cheapens the experience for the majority of people who play fair and square. Players who are found to be cheating may have their rankings wiped from the TEN rankings boards and will be disqualified from official TEN tournaments and contests. If players continue cheating after they've been warned, their account will be blocked and their screen names will be thrown into the stinky corner of Hell reserved for dishonest dillweeds.

Hacking: Although many people at TEN understand and appreciate the spirit of exploration in the "hacker ethic," we're not too keen on people monkeying with our computers and software. Hacking into our system, even if done without malicious intent, poses a serious threat to the community we're trying to build. Hackers will be booted from TEN as fast as you can type "#rm -rfi username".

Random Acts of Lameness: There are a bunch of other things we'd rather you not do. Things like "screen scrolling" (typing continuous streams of garbage text into chat rooms); intentionally disturbing a chat Arena or tournament with inappropriate chat; taunting other players; and making fun of, or intentionally misleading, new players. Common sense stuff. Don't be a weenie and you'll avoid the roast.

Abuse of Power is the Biggest Crime: This isn't a rule for you—it's a rule for us, the employees and Guides of TEN. We're very sensitive about power's tendency to be abused, and make it very clear to ourselves and our TENguides that we are all expected to deal with players fairly and communicate clearly, to the best of our ability. If you ever feel that you are being dealt with unfairly, arbitrarily, or abusively by a staff person, send e-mail to customersupport@ten.net and let us know.

Newsgroup and E-mail Policies

Aside from game arena chat, TEN's newsgroups and e-mail systems are the primary ways that TEN players exchange information and ideas. To ensure that our newsgroups and e-mail systems provide a quality experience, we ask that you follow these rules of the road.

Advertisements: There's enough advertising in the world—we don't need more in TEN's newsgroups or e-mail. The posting or e-mailing of any advertisement or any other type of commercial solicitation is a no-no. This includes "get-rich-quick" schemes, pyramid scams and other "marketing opportunities." TEN reserves the right to determine whether a post or e-mail constitutes an ad or solicitation.

Flames: Spirited debate between smart people can be one of the best things about newsgroups. Unfortunately, people sometimes cross the line between impassioned debate and petty, mean-spirited personal attacks—otherwise known as "flames." In order to maintain some semblance of civility on our newsgroups, TEN reserves the right to delete or move posts if a flame-war should erupt. The General Policies apply to both newsgroups and e-mail, and abusive e-mails or posts are subject to the same restrictions. If you are victim of an abusive, harassing or otherwise bothersome e-mail or newsgroup posting, please send the text of the e-mail or post to customersupport@ten.net.

Cross-Posting and Spamming: "Cross-posting" consists of posting a message across several newsgroups (i.e., posting your "Kewl new Quake Website" announcement across the role-playing, strategy game and sheepdog-training newsgroups). Cross-posting creates a lot of clutter, and will invoke the ire of your fellow newsgroupies. Spamming is the malicious flooding of a newsgroup or e-mail address with messages and is a no-no.

Copyrighted Material: Posting copyrighted text or software to any newsgroup, or exchanging such data via e-mail, without the explicit approval of the copyright holder is a violation of federal law and international treatise and is bad juju. Please don't feed the lawyers.

Impersonating Other Members: Impersonating another member or falsifying your screen name in a newsgroup post or in the address of an e-mail (or anywhere else for that matter) is also a no-no.

All of the other General Policies apply to our newsgroups and e-mail. These include our policies on harassment of other members, hate speech and use of excessive profanity.

Consequences of Naughtiness

If a player crosses the boundaries defined in these Guidelines, they can expect some combination of the following actions from TEN's Naughtiness Police:

1)	If a TENguide or employee is present, the player may be given a warning. If the player's behavior is reported by other players, that report will be logged and the offending player "tagged" as someone to keep an eye on.

2)	If the annoying player doesn't mellow out after being warned by a TENguide, or racks up a bunch of player complaints, the player will receive a letter from our Customer Service department via mail and/or e-mail. Note: We expect that the address on your account is valid and up-to-date. If a letter is returned to us because of an invalid or outdated address, we may be forced to block an account until the account holder calls Customer Service and provides a valid address.

3)	If the player continues to be a pest after receiving a warning, the player's account may be blocked. Note that a blocked account is not a canceled account. When an account is blocked, a player will not be able to sign on to TEN, but the account will still exist and will continue to be charged until the player cancels the account from our Web site at http://www.ten.net/support. Why do we block and not cancel? When an account is canceled, it and any associated rankings and profiles are completely nuked and gone for good. Blocking an account gives a player one last chance to talk to our Customer Service team and convince them of the player's intention to stop the abusive behavior before the screen name and rankings are sent into the great digital beyond.

If the offense is extremely serious, TEN reserves the right to skip some of these steps and immediately block or cancel an account.

If You Have a Problem With a Player…

If you are annoyed by someone or are the victim of abusive behavior, we ask that you do a few things to help us. First, if the behavior is simply annoying, do your best to avoid the annoyer. Use the "Muzzle" command to block the player's chat text (right-click on the player's screen name in the "Who's Here" list and select "Muzzle"). If you feel comfortable doing it, ask the player to stop what they're doing. If the player is cheating, refuse to play the player.

If the problem persists, find a Guide or TEN employee (they're usually in the Help Arenas—TEN employees have the word "TEN" in front of their name, and TENguides have the word "Guide" in front of their name) and ask them to help. If you can, try to copy offending chat text from the screen (select the text with the mouse and hit Control-C) and send the text to Customer Service at customersupport@ten.net. If you have trouble copying the text, or the behavior is not made apparent in chat, report the problem as clearly as you can via e-mail.

If you have questions or comments about these guidelines, please send us e-mail at customersupport@ten.net. Thanks and good gaming!


TEN's Terms of Service

Total Entertainment Network ("TEN") Terms of Service Agreement

You should carefully read the terms of this Agreement. If you selected the “Accept” button (when first creating a TEN account), you indicated your acceptance of the terms of this Agreement and you subscribe to, or become a “Member” (defined below) of, the Total Entertainment Network service (the “Service”) and may use the TEN software (the “Software”) under these terms. If you selected the “Do Not Accept” button (during TEN's new user registration), you may not become a Member of the Service or use the Software.

1.	Membership. By accepting the terms of this Agreement, you have become a Member of the Service with the privilege to use the Service and the obligations set forth in these terms. As a “Member,” you must be the person who authorizes his or her credit card account to be used to subscribe to the Service and you must be at least 18 years of age. As a parent or guardian of a minor (i.e., someone under 18 years of age), you may authorize the minor to use your account, but the minor must act responsibly while on the Service and abide by the TEN Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.

2.	License. As a Member, you may use the Software solely for purposes of accessing and using the Service. You may copy the Software in order to use the Software on more than one computer, to provide copies to another person (subject to acceptance of these terms by the other person) or to make backup copies, provided that you reproduce the copyright notice on any copy of the Software. You may not use, copy, modify or distribute the Software other than as set forth in this paragraph 2. You may not decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble the Software.

3.	Ownership. TEN is the owner of the Service and the Software and the copyrights, trade secrets, patents and other intellectual property rights in the Software.

4.	Membership Requirements. Your membership in the Service and use of the Software are subject to following membership requirements, and your membership and license are subject to termination by TEN in its discretion (at any time and without notice) for violation of these terms:

(a)	You must provide TEN with your full real name along with your current valid address and valid telephone numbers during the registration process.

(b)	The Service is intended to be an enjoyable place for as many members as possible. To achieve this goal, TEN has developed a set of Community Guidelines. You agree to cooperate with TEN in its efforts to create generally accepted standards for the Service and to comply with the Community Guidelines. TEN reserves the right to determine, in its sole discretion, the generally accepted standards for the Service and the Community Guidelines.

(c)	If you contribute any material (including level designs, mods and characters), you represent that all material you contribute to the Service does not violate anyone else’s rights (including copyright, trademark, privacy and publicity rights). Furthermore, you grant to TEN the nonexclusive right to use, copy, modify, distribute and otherwise make available the material in connection with the Service.

(d)	You will not disseminate material or engage in behavior on the Service that is obscene, abusive, deceptive, defamatory, hateful or otherwise inappropriate (as determined by TEN).

(e)	You will not engage in behavior which disrupts the performance of the Service or the experience of its members, including behavior such as hacking, cheating, impersonation, harassing, spamming, or spreading of computer viruses.

(f)	Your acknowledge that the Service is intended for an audience of 18 years of age or older. Certain games, editorial material provided by TEN, and materials created by TEN members (e.g., chat) may not be suitable for minors. If you permit minors to use your account, you will be responsible for the minor's behavior on TEN and for any charges incurred by such minors. Furthermore, you acknowledge that TEN is not responsible for, and has no liability arising out of or related to, such minors' exposure to any material made available on the Service. As in most things, parental guidance and responsibility is suggested and encouraged.

5.	Bills. You agree to pay TEN the charges for your subscription and use of the Service in accordance with the terms set out in the Billing Information area (available by clicking on the icon on the New Account screen or, after enrollment, in the online Account Information area). TEN reserves the right to modify the Billing Information at any time and the modifications will become effective immediately upon the posting by TEN of the modifications in the Billing Information area.

6.	Telephone Charges. You are responsible for all phone charges incurred while you access the Service, including but not limited to long distance charges (and the determination of whether the dial-in phone number you select is subject to local or long distance charges). Any disputes about phone charges are strictly between you and your telephone provider.

7.	Modification of this Agreement. You understand and agree that TEN may modify this Agreement at any time and in any manner. Any modification is effective immediately upon posting on the Service. By continuing to use of the Service following modification to this Agreement, you accept the modification. If any modification to this Agreement is not acceptable to you, you may immediately terminate your Membership as explained below.

8.	Termination. You may terminate your membership at any time by notifying TEN by phone, TEN's online cancellation page on the Web at http://www.ten.net/support or U.S. mail; your termination will be effective once TEN has actually received the notice. TEN may terminate or suspend your membership in its discretion (at any time and without notice) if you breach any of the terms of this Agreement (including failure to act in accordance with the generally accepted standards established by TEN) or fail to make any payments when due or if any of the representations you make in this Agreement turn out to be false. You acknowledge that you will continue to incur charges even after you account is suspended, and you agree that you are responsible for all charges incurred up until the time termination is effective.

9.	Limited Warranty; Limitation of Remedies.

THE SOFTWARE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. TEN DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE PROGRAM WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM OR OF THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.

IN NO EVENT WILL TEN BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR THE SERVICE, EVEN IF TEN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. IN NO EVENT WILL TEN BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF THE STANDARD MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP FEE FOR THE SERVICE.

Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above exclusions may not apply to you.

10.	General. This agreement is the complete and exclusive agreement between you and TEN and supersedes any proposal or prior agreement, oral or written, and any other communications between you an TEN relating to the subject matter hereof. This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of California.

BY USING THE SERVICE OR THE SOFTWARE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS.

You may contact TEN at 500 Howard Street, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA  94105.


Da basics of TEN

TEN is pretty easy to get the hang of, but it might seem a little daunting at first. (I mean, jeez, look at all those help topics!) Here's an overview of all the sections in bite-sized, manageable chunks:

•	Creating a TEN account: If you're reading this, you've probably already registered! If not, this'll give you all the info up front before you even get to the reg process. And as always, please feel free to pass this valuable info on to your friends, neighbors, pets, passing strangers…

•	Entering and exiting TEN: How to sign on to the service, how to sign off and how to <shudder> uninstall the TEN software.

•	Getting started on TEN: TEN's system requirements, what games we support and how to set them up.

•	Bellying up to the Menu Bar: The delicious, all-you-can-eat feast. Get unlimited refills at this Menu Bar.

•	Chatting, paging, surfing and more: Learn all about communications on TEN. Chatting, the Page and Locate features, profiles, rankings, e-mail and plenty more.

•	Choosing a game to play (Game Selector screen): TEN's main screen. Here's how to choose games using our nifty Game Selector.

•	Selecting a Zone and Arena (Arena Selector screen): Once you've picked a game, use the Arena Selector to pick a Zone and Arena.

•	Playing games on TEN (Game Arena screen): The good stuff. Chat with your buds and start up a new game in a Game Arena.

•	Meeting Mr. Bandwidth: Our perennial mascot, Mr. B is there to explain the wonders of the TEN world.


Select a registration method

There are two ways you can connect to TEN to start registration:

1.	Dial TEN's toll-free registration number. When you click on CONNECT, your modem will dial an 800 number so you can register without paying for the call. After selecting this option, you will be prompted to choose one of our local access numbers for future connections to TEN.

NOTE: After the registration process, using one of our local access numbers to connect to TEN will incur a surcharge, so read the Billing Policy carefully.

2.	Use my existing Internet connection. Use this method if you already have a connection to the Internet established, (i.e., via your own Internet service provider (ISP) or an Internet connection at work). If you are using your own ISP to register, make sure you establish your connection before hitting the CONNECT button.

After you've chosen one of the two registration methods, click the CONNECT button to begin the new user registration process. For more information on ways to connect to TEN, see the connection settings section of this file.

Important note: Once your account has been created, you can change your method of connection anytime by hitting the SETTINGS button on the Sign On screen.


New user registration

Registration for TEN takes place online to ensure that the latest pricing and product information is available. There are four steps involved in creating a new account:

1.	Read Terms of Service. You must read and ACCEPT TEN's Terms of Service to establish a membership account on TEN. Declining the Terms of Service will cancel the registration process.

2.	Enter Name and Address. Please enter all the information requested on this dialog box. Hit the Tab key to move between fields.

3.	Select a Rate Plan. You can pay for TEN with any of these credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. In addition to your credit card number and expiration date, we ask that you provide us with your name as it appears on your card, as well as your current billing address. We use an ultra-secure method for transmitting your account information, so never fear.

4.	Create a Screen Name. The last part of the registration process involves creating a screen name and password for your TEN account. Your screen name is the name by which you will be known to other TEN members online. (For example, joebob.) Follow these guidelines when creating a screen name:

•	Your screen name must be at least 3 characters in length and no more than 10.

•	Your screen name is not case sensitive (e.g., a screen name of JOEBOB is the same as joebob is the same as JOEbob, etc.).

•	You can't use any spaces in your screen name.

•	You can use any alpha-numeric characters, including the "_" symbol and the "-".

Exceptions:

•	You can't use any spaces in your screen name.

•	You also can't use "TEN", "Guide" or "Magna" as the beginning of your name.

•	The first character of your name must be a letter (not a space, dash or number).

•	Finally, you can't use a "-" character for the fourth character of your screen name.

Once you've got a name, you'll need to create a password for your account. Follow these guidelines when choosing a password:

•	Your password must be at least 6 characters in length and no more than 10.

•	Your password is CaSe sEnSiTiVe, so if part of it is in CAPITAL LETTERS, you've gotta type it in that way (e.g., a password of WONKEY is different than a password of wonkey).

•	You can use any printable keyboard characters.

•	We advise using a mix of numbers, letters, and funky symbols so you can't be hacked. Remember, your password is your responsibility. It's best not to give it out to anyone. We can't be accountable for bills incurred with a hacked password. Make sure it's a difficult one to hack!

•	Be sure your password won't be easy for others to guess. In other words, don't use your real name as a password, please.

When you're done, hit OK to cruise on over to the Sign On screen.


Signing on to TEN

Signing on to TEN is way easy.

Just type your screen name and password in the blanks, then hit CONNECT. (Make sure you don't have your Caps Lock key on when typing in your password—your password is case-sensitive.)

What? You haven't registered yet? What'cha waitin' for! Whack the NEW USER button.

If you've got other issues, click the pic below:


?-help

Once you click the ? button, clicking on anything else on this screen will pop up some instant help on that subject. For complete details, you'll probably want to review this Help file, though.


Screen Name

If your moniker is "joebob", type it in. Your screen name's not case-sensitive, so you can be joebob, JOEBOB, JoEbOb, whatever.

(TEN will remember your screen name for future sign-ons.)


Password

Type in your password here. Make sure your Caps Lock key isn't on, since the password is extremely case-sensitive.


HELP

Brings up this Help file. And probably sticks you right here.


SETTINGS

Here, you can change the way you connect to TEN. You'll have already set this up in the registration process, but if you need to make a change, this is the place. Check out the specifics on connection settings for complete information.

If you choose to use one of our local access numbers, pick a number from our list.

Remember, if you decide to connect through one of our local access numbers, you will incur an additional hourly charge for use of the number. The Billing Policy has all the info. Check your Billing Policy once you sign on by going to the Support menu and choosing "Display Billing Policy" to get all the details.


NEW USER

If you've already registered, you don't need to click this. But feel free to point your friends here if they want to start their own TEN membership. They'll get to go through the account creation process.


CONNECT

If your name and password are correct, then go, man, go!


Connection settings

There are two different ways you can connect to TEN: through your own Internet service provider (ISP) or through one of TEN's local access numbers.

When you first select a registration method, you—wittingly or unwittingly—chose your default connection setting. If you chose "Dial TEN's toll-free registration number," you elected to use one of TEN's local access numbers to connect. If you chose "Use my existing Internet connection," you chose to connect via your own ISP. Don't worry, you're not stuck with this decision for life. You can change your connection setting by clicking the SETTINGS button on the Sign On screen.

Enough background. Here's some info.

Select one of TEN's local access numbers—This option allows you to use TEN's preferred ISP (Concentric Network) to make the connection to TEN. In general, this should provide a clean, reliable connection. When you click this option, you'll be prompted to select one of our local access numbers from a list. Choose the one nearest you.

If you're using our local access numbers, you'll probably want to choose one of our "!enhanced performance" numbers if one of those numbers is local to you. You should experience better gameplay when connecting through one of these numbers.

Important note: if you choose one of TEN's local access numbers to connect, you will incur additional charges to your account. Check out the billing information online from the Support menu by choosing "Display Billing Report."

Use my direct Internet connection—Select this option if you plan to use your own ISP (or direct connection from school or work) to connect to TEN. Make sure you have a quality ISP that provides reliable service! Remember, you must establish your Internet connection before signing on to TEN.

Note: If you use Concentric Network as your Internet service provider, you should chose this option. Concentric customers use the same quality for their dial-in numbers as we use for our local access numbers, so there's no reason for Concentric customers to use our local access numbers.


Signing off from TEN

Hey, wait! Don't leave.

But, if you must, get out of whatever game you're playing, go to the File menu and choose "Sign Off...". (You can also click on that little X in the upper right-hand corner of the window, but that would be telling!) You'll get a sign off confirmation and then you're gone.

Remember: if you're involved in a game, be sure to properly quit out of it so you don't mess up your score or get your online buds pissed at you in the process. So, show some consideration and exit quietly. Close the door before you leave.

We know you'll be back.


Uninstalling the TEN software

Now, why would you want to do that?

But, seriously. If you have a problem with the TEN and need to reinstall it from scratch, follow these directions:

1.	Go to Start --> Programs --> TEN and select "Remove TEN."

2.	Answer "Yes" to the dialog box that appears.

3.	Once it finishes removing files <sniff, sniff>, open the Program Files folder on your hard drive and manually delete the folder "TEN". That'll remove all the rest of the necessary files.

It's really important to remove the TEN files in this way (rather than just tossing the TEN folder into the Recycle Bin), 'cause otherwise you'll upset stuff in the ever-fragile "program registry." That just might send the poor registry into a series of expensive counseling sessions!

And if you're really serious about terminating your membership to TEN, you'll need to visit our Web site at http://www.ten.net/support and hit the "How do I Cancel" link to avoid further charges to your account.


TEN's system requirements

Here are the system requirements you gotta have and the ones we highly recommend:

Minimum	Recommended

Computer	80486 66MHz DX2	Pentium 90 (or higher)

Operating system	Windows 95	Windows 95

RAM	8MB	16MB

Modem	14.4k bps	28.8k bps

Serial port	16550 UART	16550 UART

CD-ROM drive *	Double speed	Double speed (or faster)

Video card*	16-color	256-color

* 	A CD-ROM drive is only required if you are installing the TEN software from a CD-ROM, but may be necessary for any number of games supported by TEN. Check the system requirements in your game software package for more information. Same goes for the video card. If your game requires 256 colors, you gotta have it.

Additional system requirements

Each game on TEN also has its specific system requirements. These requirements are more stringent than when the game is played in single-player mode, because TEN and the game software must run at the same time. Check out the readme.txt file for the most up-to-date information (find it under Start --> Programs --> TEN --> TEN Read Me).


Game software and enabler files

To play a game on TEN, you must either buy or download the supported version of that game and install that game to your hard drive as per the game publisher's instructions. Some games are exclusive to TEN, others are commercial products or shareware. In the future, TEN will even have some games built right into its software, so you won't have to do any work to get up and running on those puppies.

Occasionally, games on TEN need special software called "game enablers" or simply "enablers." These files are generally placed directly into the root directory of the game they're designed for. You can grab enabler files from the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from any game's DataSphere.

If you should ever move the game's files or directories, or install a new version of the game, you'll have to update the path to the game's executable or enabler file. To do this, go to the File menu and choose "Preferences... ". Once there, click the Games tab. From there, you'll need to hit the Browse button and find the location of the game executable or game enabler.

Game system requirements and install instructions

While the following list was complete when we created the Help file, it's ever-changing as we add more and more games. For the latest game system requirements and installation information, check out the readme.txt file that came with your TEN software.

Many game files and patches are available from the File menu by choosing "Download Files…". If you can't find what you need here, maybe it doesn't exist. Files can also be found on our Web-based DataSpheres by clicking the DataSpheres button on any TEN screen or from the Go menu by choosing "DataSpheres Web Site" (and then picking a game).

Warning! It's a really, really bad idea to install games in the TEN directory on your hard drive (c:\Program Files\TEN). All files under the TEN directory are subject to eradication during a TEN upgrade.

AD&D Dark Sun: Crimson Sands

Blood retail

Blood shareware

Command & Conquer

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Deadlock

Diablo

Duke Nukem 3D retail

Duke Nukem 3D shareware

Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition/Plutonium Pak

EF2000 V2.0

Magic: The Gathering

Master of Orion II

Myth: The Fallen Lords

NASCAR Racing Online Series

Panzer General Online

Quake

Shadow Warrior retail

Shadow Warrior shareware

Total Annihilation

Twilight Lands

Warcraft

Wiz-War


AD&D Dark Sun: Crimson Sands

System requirements:

•	486 66MHz

•	8MB RAM

•	VLB or PCI SVGA video card

AD&D Dark Sun: Crimson Sands is a fantasy role-playing game set in TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons world of Dark Sun. This game is a TEN online-only exclusive. You can purchase the game at your local software store (you'll get some nifty stuff in the package) or you can download the latest version from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Dark Sun DataSphere. Watch out, it's HUGE!

The first time you play Dark Sun, you'll be asked to locate the mdark.exe file in your Dark Sun directory.

More info about AD&D Dark Sun: Crimson Sands…


Blood retail

System requirements:

•	Pentium 75MHz

•	16MB RAM

In order to play the retail version of Blood on TEN, you'll need the latest retail version installed on your hard drive. (You can purchase Blood retail at your favorite software store.) You can download a patch to the latest version from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files... " or from the Blood DataSphere.

The first time you play the retail version of Blood, you'll be asked to locate the blood.exe file in your retail Blood directory.

More info about creating and joining retail Blood games...


Blood shareware

System requirements:

•	Pentium 75MHz

•	16MB RAM

To play shareware Blood on TEN, you'll need the latest shareware version installed on your hard drive. You can download shareware Blood (or a patch to the latest version) from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files... " or from the Blood DataSphere.

The first time you play the shareware version of Blood, you'll be asked to locate the blood.exe file in your shareware Blood directory.

More info about creating and joining shareware Blood games...


Command & Conquer

System requirements:

•	486 66MHz

•	12MB RAM

•	VESA Local Bus (VLB) or PCI SVGA video card

First off, you must have the retail version of Command & Conquer already installed on your hard drive. You'll also need to download the Command & Conquer game enabler file ccrunme.exe (this is the compressed form to save space) from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Command & Conquer DataSphere. Once downloaded and extracted, place the ccten.exe enabler in your Command & Conquer directory. Remember, you'll need to have a Command & Conquer CD in your CD-ROM drive. After that, you can hit the ground running.

The first time you play Command & Conquer, you'll be asked to locate the ccten.exe game enabler in your Command & Conquer directory.

More info about creating and joining Command & Conquer games…


Command & Conquer: Red Alert

System requirements:

•	Pentium 75MHz

•	16MB RAM

•	1MB VLB or PCI SVGA video card

Special note: TEN only supports the Windows 95 version of Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

To begin with, you must have the retail version of Command & Conquer: Red Alert already installed on your hard drive. You'll also need to download the Command & Conquer: Red Alert enabler file ra95zip.exe (this is the compressed form to save space) from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Command & Conquer DataSphere. Once downloaded and extracted, place the raten95.exe enabler in your Red Alert directory. Additionally, you'll need to have a Command & Conquer: Red Alert CD in your CD-ROM drive. Once you have these things in order, you're ready to go.

The first time you play Command & Conquer: Red Alert, you'll be asked to locate the ra95ten.exe game enabler in your Command & Conquer: Red Alert directory.

More info about creating and joining Command & Conquer: Red Alert games…


Deadlock

System requirements:

•	486 66MHz

•	8MB RAM

•	VLB or PCI SVGA video card

You must first have either the demo version or the full retail version of Deadlock installed on your hard drive. Download the demo version from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Deadlock DataSphere. The full retail version of Deadlock is available at your local software store.

The first time you play Deadlock, you'll be asked to locate the deadlock.exe file in your Deadlock directory.


Diablo

System requirements:

•	Pentium 60MHz

•	16MB RAM

•	VLB or PCI SVGA video card (with DirectX 3 drivers)

First off, you need to have the retail version of Diablo installed on your hard drive and ready to go. Next, be sure you have the DirectX 3 drivers installed on your machine. Once these two are set, you'll need to download the Diablo enabler file diabtzip.exe (this is the compressed form to save space) from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Diablo DataSphere. Once downloaded, double-click this file to extract three files (Diablui10.dll, ten.snp and diablo10.exe) to your Diablo directory (if your Diablo directory isn't c:\diablo, you'll need to change the destination path).

The first time you play Diablo, you'll be asked to locate the diablo10.exe game enabler in your Diablo directory.

More info about creating and joining Diablo games…


Duke Nukem 3D retail

System requirements:

•	Pentium 60MHz

•	12MB RAM

•	VLB or PCI SVGA video card

You'll need the full retail version of Duke Nukem 3D installed on your hard drive if you want to play it on TEN. You can buy the retail version at your favorite software store.

The first time you play Duke Nukem 3D, you'll be asked to locate the duke3d.exe file in your Duke Nukem 3D directory.

More info about creating and joining Duke Nukem 3D games…


Duke Nukem 3D shareware

System requirements:

•	Pentium 60MHz

•	12MB RAM

•	VLB or PCI SVGA video card

To play the shareware version of Duke on TEN, you must have the latest shareware version installed on your hard drive. You can download shareware Duke from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Duke Nukem 3D DataSphere. After you download the self-extracting archive, double-click it to extract the game to your hard drive. You'll need to run the setup.exe program to configure the sound and control options. Make sure to turn music OFF.

The first time you play Duke Nukem 3D shareware, you'll be asked to locate the duke3d.exe file in your Duke Nukem 3D shareware directory.

More info about creating and joining Duke Nukem 3D games…


Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition/Plutonium Pak

System requirements:

•	Pentium 60MHz

•	12MB RAM

•	VLB or PCI SVGA video card

Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition is an enhanced version of original Duke with a new weapon, new levels, and some new baddies. (The Plutonium Pak is an upgrade to original Duke Nukem 3D that converts the original Duke Nukem 3D to the Atomic Edition.) To play in the Duke Plutonium/Atomic Arenas on TEN, you'll need to purchase either the Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition or the original Duke Nukem 3D plus the Duke Nukem 3D: Plutonium Pak. You'll then need to install either Atomic or original Duke + Plutonium to your hard drive.

Note: Duke Atomic and original Duke are incompatible with each other. You'll need two separate installations of Duke Atomic and original Duke if you want to play in both the Plutonium/Atomic Arenas and the Retail or Shareware Arenas.

Make sure you have the latest version of Duke Plutonium or Duke Atomic installed on your hard drive. A patch to the latest version is available from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Duke Nukem 3D DataSphere.

The first time you play Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition/Plutonium Pak, you'll be asked to locate the duke3d.exe file in your Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition/Plutonium Pak directory. You'll need to have the Atomic/Plutonium CD in your CD-ROM drive while you play.


Magic: The Gathering

System requirements:

•	486 100MHz

•	16MB RAM

•	DirectX 5 drivers

To play Magic: The Gathering on TEN, you'll first need a few things on your computer. You must have the retail version of Magic: The Gathering and the ManaLink software installed on your computer. You can buy Magic: The Gathering at your local software store. Once the game and the ManaLink software is ready to go, you'll also need to have the DirectX 5 (or later) drivers installed on your computer.

We highly recommend you read and print out the ManaLink readme.txt included with your ManaLink software for complete details on playing Magic: The Gathering on TEN.

The first time you play Magic: The Gathering, you'll be asked to locate the manalink.exe file in your Magic: The Gathering directory.

More info about creating and joining Magic: The Gathering games...


Master of Orion II

System requirements:

•	Pentium 60MHz

•	16MB RAM

•	1MB VLB or PCI SVGA video card (with DirectX 2 or DirectX 3 drivers)

In order to play Master of Orion II on TEN, you'll need to have the latest version of the game installed on your hard drive and the Master of Orion II CD in your CD-ROM drive. You can buy Master of Orion II at your local software retailer. Once the game is ready to go, you'll also need to have the DirectX 2 or DirectX 3 drivers installed on your computer.

The first time you play Master of Orion II, you'll be asked to locate the Orion95.exe file in your Master of Orion II directory.

More info about creating and joining Master of Orion II games…


Myth: The Fallen Lords

System requirements:

•	Pentium 100MHz

•	16MB RAM (32MB recommended)

•	4X speed CD-ROM drive

•	DirectX 5 drivers

To play Myth: The Fallen Lords on TEN, you'll first need the latest version of the game installed on your hard drive and the Myth CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive. You'll also have to have the DirectX 5 drivers installed on your computer. You can purchase Myth: The Fallen Lords at your favorite software store.

The first time you play Myth: The Fallen Lords, you'll be asked to locate the myth_tfl.exe file in your Myth directory.

More info about creating and joining Myth games...


NASCAR Racing Online Series

System requirements:

•	Pentium 100MHz

•	16MB RAM

The NASCAR Racing Online Series (NROS) is a combined effort between TEN and Papyrus to bring NASCAR Racing 2 on the TEN service. To play in the NROS, you first need to have NASCAR Racing 2 installed on your hard drive. In addition, you'll have to download the NROS game enabler file nroszip.exe (this is the compressed form to save space) from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files... " or from the NROS DataSphere. Once the enabler package is downloaded and extracted, make sure the nros.exe and nrosrend.exe enablers are in your NASCAR Racing 2 directory.

The first time you play in the NASCAR Racing Online Series, you'll be asked to locate the nros.exe game enabler in your NASCAR Racing 2 directory. If you plan to play the Rendition version of NASCAR Racing 2, you must type in nrosrend.exe when TEN asks you to locate the executable file for that game.


Panzer General Online

System requirements:

•	486 66MHz

•	8MB RAM

•	1MB VLB or PCI SVGA video card (with DirectX 2 or DirectX 3 drivers)

You can download a TEN-only version of Panzer General Online from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Panzer General DataSphere. If you don't have the DirectX 2 or DirectX 3 drivers, you'll need to download those as well. Don't forget to download the Panzer General Online manual if you don't have the Official one from the retail game. The manual is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, and comes with an Acrobat reader.

The first time you play Panzer General Online, you'll be asked to locate the panzer.exe file in your Panzer General Online directory.


Shadow Warrior retail

System requirements:

•	Pentium 75MHz

•	16MB RAM

To play Shadow Warrior retail on TEN, you'll need to have the full retail version installed on your hard drive. You can buy Shadow Warrior retail with all its full-on ninja action at your favorite software store.

The first time you play the retail version of Shadow Warrior, you'll be asked to locate the sw.exe file in your Shadow Warrior retail directory.

More info about creating and joining Shadow Warrior retail games...


Shadow Warrior shareware

System requirements:

•	Pentium 75MHz

•	16MB RAM

To play shareware Shadow Warrior on TEN, you'll first need the shareware version installed on your hard drive. Shadow Warrior shareware is available for download from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files... " or from the Shadow Warrior DataSphere. You can also purchase it at your local software store.

The first time you play the shareware version of Shadow Warrior, you'll be asked to locate the sw.exe file in your Shadow Warrior shareware directory.

More info about creating and joining Shadow Warrior shareware games...


Total Annihilation

System requirements:

•	Pentium 133MHz

•	24MB RAM (32MB or 48MB recommended)

•	28.8k bps modem (or direct Internet connection)

•	VLB or PCI SVGA video card (with DirectX 5 drivers)

Steep system requirements, but worth it! To play Total Annihilation on TEN, you'll first need the game installed on your hard drive. You'll also have to have the DirectX 5 drivers installed on your computer. Then, you'll have to download the Total Annihilation game enabler file tatzip.exe (this is the compressed form to save space) from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files... " or from the Total Annihilation DataSphere. Once the enabler package is downloaded and extracted, make sure the taten.exe enabler is in your Total Annihilation directory.

The first time you play Total Annihilation, you'll be asked to locate the taten.exe game enabler in your Total Annihilation directory.

More info about creating and joining Total Annihilation games...


EF2000 V2.0

System requirements:

•	Pentium 90MHz

•	16MB RAM

•	VLB or PCI SVGA video card (with DirectX 3 drivers)

Hoo boy, this game is Sierra Hotel! To play EF2000 V2.0 on TEN, you'll first need the game installed on your hard drive. You'll also have to have the DirectX 3.0 drivers installed on your computer. Then, you'll have to download the EF2000 V2.0 game enabler file eftzip.exe (this is the compressed form to save space) from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files... " or from the EF2000 V2.0 DataSphere. Once the enabler package (containing eften.exe, eften.dat and ten1st.dat) is downloaded and extracted, make sure the eften.exe enabler is in the "program" directory in your EF2000 V2.0 directory.

The first time you play EF2000 V2.0, you'll be asked to locate the eften.exe game enabler in the "program" directory of your EF2000 V2.0 directory.

More info about creating and joining EF2000 V2.0 games...


Quake

System requirements:

•	Pentium 90MHz

•	16MB RAM

To play Quake on TEN, you must first install either the shareware or retail version of the game to your hard drive. You can download the shareware version from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Quake DataSphere. The retail version of the game allows you to play all four episodes. If you don't have the retail version, you can purchase it at your favorite software store. (Shareware and full retail folks can play in the same game, as long as they play in Episode 1 levels.)

You'll also need to download the Quake enabler file qtenzip.exe (this is the compressed form to save space) from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Quake DataSphere.  Once downloaded and extracted, place the quaketen.exe enabler in your Quake directory.

The first time you play Quake, you'll be asked to locate the quaketen.exe game enabler in your Quake directory.

More info about creating and joining Quake games…


Warcraft

System requirements:

•	Pentium 60MHz

•	8MB RAM (16MB recommended)

While you don't need to buy a retail version of Warcraft, you must download a special TEN version to play the game on TEN. This TEN-only version of Warcraft can be downloaded from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Warcraft DataSphere.

After you've downloaded the self-extracting archive, double-click it to extract the game to your hard drive. You'll need to run the setup.exe program to configure the sound and control options.

The first time you play Warcraft, you'll be asked to locate the war.exe file in your Warcraft directory.


Wiz-War

System requirements:

•	486 66MHz

•	16MB RAM

Wiz-War is a TEN-only exclusive based on the immensely-popular beer 'n' pretzels board game by Tom Jolly. To play Wiz-War on TEN, you'll need to download the free game software from either the File menu of TEN by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Wiz-War Web site at http://www.ten.net/games/wizwar. Once downloaded, just double-click the wizwar10.exe self-extracting package to install Wiz-War to your computer.

The first time you play Wiz-War, you'll be asked to locate the wizwar.exe file in your Wiz-War directory.

More info about creating and joining Wiz-War games...


Twilight Lands

System requirements:

•	Pentium 75MHz (133MHz recommended)

•	16MB RAM

•	DirectX 3 drivers

Twilight Lands is an exclusive TEN-only fantasy role-playing game created by ICE Online. To play Twilight Lands on TEN, you'll first need to download the free client software from either the File menu by choosing "Download Files…" or from the Twilight Lands Web site at http://www.ten.net/games/twilightlands. Once downloaded and installed, you'll be ready to create a character and play!

The first time you play Twilight Lands on TEN, you'll be asked to locate the twilight.exe file in your Twilight Lands directory.

More info about Twilight Lands...


The Menu Bar

TEN's Menu Bar contains a ton of delicious features not found in any store! You can refill from the Menu Bar from anywhere in TEN and it doesn't have one of those annoying sneeze guards.

There are six categories on the Menu Bar to tickle your palate (click a menu name to pop up that menu's tasty options):

•	File menu. Download files (like game enablers and shareware games), system Preferences and the Sign Off option.

•	Edit menu. All the standard editing tools like Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All.

•	Go menu. Takes you to other places on TEN and to Web parts unknown.

•	People menu. Everything related to the people experience: page, locate, mail and more.

•	Support menu. Important personal data and billing information. Also links to support Web sites.

•	Help menu. What you probably used to get here! Primarily points to areas in the Help file.


File menu

Download Files...

-------------------------------

Preferences...

-------------------------------

Sign Off...


Edit menu

Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All


Go menu

Game Selector

Arena Selectors

Chat Arenas

-------------------------------

DataSpheres Web Site

File Factory Web Site

News@TEN Web Site

-------------------------------

Open Newsgroup Reader

-------------------------------

Open URL...


People menu

Page...

Locate...

View a Profile...

View Rankings...

-------------------------------

Open Mail Reader


Support menu

Display Billing Policy

Display Billing Report

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Change Rate Plan...

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Change Address...

Change Password...

Cancel My Account...

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Contact Information...

FAQ Web Site...

Support Web Site...

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Send Feedback Via Web

Send Support Question Via Web


Help menu

Help About Current Screen

Help Topics

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About TEN


Download Files... (File menu)

Here's the most convenient place to download TEN-related files, game enablers and shareware games from within TEN itself. When you click on a file to download, details and download time will be displayed in the lower window.

We've broken down the files into major categories: ENABLERS (enabler files for games on TEN), TENFILES (miscellaneous TEN-software and enhancements), GAMES (online-only and shareware games), PATCHES (upgrades to games supported on TEN) and OTHER (miscellaneous files). These categories may expand as necessary.

If you choose to download a game enabler file, TEN will automatically place the file on your hard drive and run the self-extractor on that file. It will apply any patch (if necessary) and place the game enablers in the proper directory.


Preferences... (File menu)

The Preferences option on the File menu is used to change and customize settings on TEN. Here, you can change what sounds are associated with certain actions, choose a specific mail or news reader, locate games or game enablers and turn on or off your Arena announcements among other things.

There's plenty here to digest, so take your time. And make sure not to go swimming for 30 minutes after your visit.

General tab: Changes your ability to page or be paged, turns on or off the text replacement filter and activates (or deactivates) Arena announcements.

Sounds tab: Lets you to turn certain TEN sounds on or off as well as associate other sounds to TEN events.

Games tab: Allows you to find TEN-supported games on your hard drive and re-locate game enabler files (if appropriate for the game).

Muzzle List tab: Gives you the option to remove other TEN members from your personal muzzle list.

Web Browser tab: Sets up your default World Wide Web browser.

Mail and News tab: Selects what program you want to use to read electronic mail and for reading TEN's newsgroups.


General tab

The General tab in the Preferences option allows you to turn on the Page and Locate features as well as set some Arena Chat options.

Page and Locate

When Enable Page and Locate is checked on, you are allowed to send a specific page message to a TEN member. It also allows others to page you, and provides others with the ability to locate you. (You can page people from the People menu by choosing "Page... " and you can locate people from that same People menu by choosing "Locate... ".)

Arena Chat

If you turn Activate text replacement filter on (by checking the box), any obvious obscenities (four-letter words and the like) you see in Pages or in the chat area of Arenas will be replaced by @#$%&. Just a note before some of you out there start ranting about censorship and freedom of speech. This option's default is OFF, so you have to make a conscious effort to turn it on. You can also edit this list to include additional words or remove words that you don't object to. It's up to you.

When Show Arena announcements is checked on, you will see entry and exit announcement for everyone who enters or exits a Game Arena or Chat Arena. Turning this off only affects your ability to see announcements.

Arena announcements are presented by TEN when you enter or exit an Arena. Easy! Edit your proclamations in the text fields at the bottom of this dialog box.

Back to the Preferences description...


Editing the text replacement filter list

It's really easy. Just open the directory where you installed TEN and then open the "TENData" directory. There's a file called default.spam. You can open up this file in Notepad or another applet. Look out! Some of you may be offended by the words contained therein. This is your first and only warning!

You'll see that the words we chose to replace are on the left side of the "=" sign and the replacement words are on the right. (For example, mealyworms=@#$%&) To add a word, just put the word you don't like first, then an "=" sign, then the word you want it replaced with. It's that simple! You can even create some humorous filters—like making an Medieval filter (by replacing "would" with "wouldst" and so forth). Just remember to name any new filter you create default.spam. (You might want to save your original default.spam just for reference.)

Back to the General Preferences tab...


Sounds tab

The Sounds tab in the Preferences option lets you turn sounds on or off and customize which sounds you hear while you're on TEN. With very little work, you can also assign your own sounds to TEN's actions!

Sounds

When Play sound effects on TEN is checked on, you will hear specific sounds when you perform actions on TEN (connecting to TEN, paging, testing your connection and so forth). A list of the Events tied to these sounds is in the box below. Click the check box to the left of each event to turn that event's sound on or off.

Click an event and hit the Preview button to hear the sound associated with it. Whack the Reset button to restore the sound defaults.

The Location field at the bottom shows the directory path of your selected Event sound. Clicking Browse will allow you to choose one of your own sounds to play for that selected event.

Back to the Preferences description...


Games tab

The Games tab in the Preferences option shows you what games you've played on TEN and where those games (and game enablers) are located. If you ever change the directory for one of these games or game enablers, you'll need to update this list.

Games

The Games you've played on TEN list shows exactly that. Any games that TEN supports that you haven't played yet won't be shown here. Click on one of these games to show info in the other two fields.

The File TEN needs to run the game field displays the file TEN needs to run when you CREATE or JOIN a game. Most of the time, the file TEN looks for is the .exe file of the game itself. Occasionally, it's looking for a game enabler file that you can download from the Download Files  area of the File menu.

Location displays the current path of the file TEN needs to run the game (game .exe or game enabler). Hit the Browse button to change the location of the .exe or game enabler if you've changed the path.

At the bottom, there's a checkbox to enable DOS-based joystick drivers. If you've got a DOS-based joystick you'd like to use, just click the checkbox. It'll look for your joystick driver and enable it. Go for it, joystick jockey!

Back to the Preferences description...


Muzzle List tab

The Muzzle List tab in the Preferences option displays everyone you have currently muzzled on TEN. (You can muzzle someone in an Arena by right-clicking on their name in the WHO'S HERE list and choosing "Muzzle.")

Muzzle List

It's important to mention that as long as a person remains on your Muzzle List, you will be unable to see any chat from them in an Arena. They also can't page you, nor can they use the Locate feature to find you on TEN.

Select a screen name from the list and hit the Remove button to remove a person from your muzzle list. Unmuzzling someone in a Game Arena will also remove someone from your muzzle list.

Back to the Preferences description...


Web Browser tab

The Web Browser tab in the Preferences option lets you choose which World Wide Web browser you'd like to set to view Web links from TEN. This browser will be launched when you hit any DataSphere button (or menu option), the News@TEN area, customer service areas and the menu link to the File Factory.

Web Browser

TEN supports both Netscape Navigator 3.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 for Web browsing. Earlier versions of these Web browsers are not guaranteed to work correctly with TEN.

Selecting Netscape Navigator 3.0 will make this your default Web browser. If, for some reason, you don't have Netscape Navigator on your hard drive, hit the Download button to retrieve the browser from our site. And if you ever change the location of Navigator, hit the Browse button to relocate it.

If you have Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 on your hard drive, TEN will automatically detect where it is. No muss, no fuss! Selecting this option will make Microsoft Internet Explorer your default browser.

Back to the Preferences description...


Mail and News tab

The Mail and News tab in the Preferences option provides the option to change how you receive your TEN electronic mail and read TEN-related newsgroups. All this stuff needs to be configured first before you can get to your e-mail account or peruse our spiffy newsgroups.

Mail

Choose Use Web browser to read mail if you plan to read your e-mail through your selected Web browser. (Hit the Details button for complete info on how to set up your Web browser to read your TEN e-mail.) We also have a few e-mail practices you gotta follow. They're fairly up front.

You can also choose Use a different mail reader if you prefer using Eudora or some third-party e-mail reader. If you intend to use a third-party e-mail reader, you'll have to let us know where you've installed it by clicking the Browse... button. And, if you don't have Eudora or Eudora Lite, we've got a copy of the latter available to Download...

The last check box lets you set up how often TEN will check for your e-mail.

News

Click Use Web browser to read news for quick and easy reading of TEN newsgroups through your selected Web browser. (Whack that Details button for the low-down on how to set up your Web browser to read TEN newsgroups.) Also important are tips on newsgroup etiquette. The proof's in the reading.

If you prefer to Use a different news reader other than your Web browser, click that button. As with the e-mail reader, you'll have to Browse... and let us know where that mail reader is on your hard drive.

Back to the Preferences description...


Sign Off... (File menu)

Hey, don't leave yet... I think hear a Quake game starting!

This menu option will sign you off TEN. You'll get one confirmation, then you is outta here. Come back soon!


Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All (Edit menu)

Standard Windows 95 Edit menu stuff. Cut cuts. Copy copies. Paste pastes. Select All...er...Selects All! Use these options in the chat areas of Game Arenas and Chat Arenas.


Game Selector (Go menu)

Takes you from wherever you are in TEN to the Game Selector screen. Here you can read the News@TEN headlines or choose a game from the SELECT A GAME list.


Arena Selectors (Go menu)

This zips you to the Arena Selector screen for the game you choose. Serves the same function as clicking a game name on the Game Selector and clicking the GO button.


Chat Arenas (Go menu)

If, at the moment, you don't feel very hungry for a game, try one of our delicious Chat Arenas. Go ahead, fill yourself up with some quality conversation time.

Here, you can find a player for a game, or simply type up a storm with a total stranger. We've got a few specialized Chat Arenas if you want to take a break from the game scene. The Chat Arenas differ from the chat in regular Game Arenas 'cause they've got a HUGE chat space to yak it up.

Choosing this option will bring you to a screen similar to the Arena Selector screen. Once you select an Arena from this list and hit GO, stick your cursor in the chat entry space and just start typing. Hit Enter when you have a complete thought.


DataSpheres Web Site (Go menu)

This option instantly launches your default Web browser and shoots you over to our handy-dandy DataSpheres for news and important information. If you don't have a Web browser configured, you'll be brought to the Preferences menu item for a dark interrogation.


File Factory Web Site (Go menu)

Need some cool shareware or the latest game hints, tips, user levels and walkthroughs? TEN's File Factory is the place for you! Selecting this option will launch your default Web browser and shoot you right over there for the ultimate in download action.


News at TEN Web Site (Go menu)

Want the latest news and information about TEN? Looking for some killer upcoming event or tournament TEN is about to run? The News@TEN Web Site menu option will launch your selected Web browser and shoot you over to TEN's news Web pages for all the details!

You can also get to this Web site by hitting the MORE NEWS button on the Game Selector screen.


Open Newsgroup Reader (Go menu)

Need to see what the players are saying about a TEN-supported game? This menu option launches your selected news reader for quick and easy access to TEN's game newsgroups. Read some messages. Post some. Ahhh, newsgroup bliss...


Open URL... (Go menu)

This opens up a dialog box for you to enter a specific URL (Universal Resource Locator) for a Web site you know about. Just type in the Web address (like www.ten.net)—you don't need to type in the "http://" part of it.

Once you hit OK on this dialog box, your selected Web browser will open and you'll be there!


Page... (People menu)

Choose this option to bring up the Page dialog box to initiate a private chat conversation. Now, just enter the screen name of the TEN member you want to page (don't worry about capitalization) and hit OK. If they're online, they'll get a page notification. If they're not, you'll know. And if they have you muzzled...well...


Locate... (People menu)

Select this to pop up the Locate dialog box to search for another TEN member online. Just type in the name of the person you want to locate (proper capitalization isn't necessary) and hit OK. If TEN can find them online, their location will be displayed. If they're not, they won't! And, if they've muzzled you for some reason, their location will be kept secret.


View a Profile... (People menu)

Once you choose this menu option, just type in another TEN member's screen name (whether they're online or not!) to bring up their user profile. SEE when they first signed on to TEN. READ their invigorating witticisms. KNOW their favorite URL. All this could be visible if they've filled out the info.

If you type in your own screen name, once the Profile appears, you can hit the EDIT button to change your own profile.


View Rankings... (People menu)

Ah yes, Rankings. TEN's equivalent of a BMW. The symbol of your gaming opulence. Choosing this menu item brings up a rankings area where you check out player's game ranking status. See for yourself who's the best of the best.


Open Mail Reader (People menu)

Selecting this option launches your selected electronic mail reader for sending and receiving e-mail. When you're finished, be sure to exit the reader so you have as much available memory as possible for playing games.


Display Billing Policy (Support menu)

This option pops open our current Billing Policy and provides current information on the various rate plans, billing procedures and how to cancel an account. Fun stuff, eh?


Display Billing Report (Support menu)

Choosing this option opens a window that displays how much time you've spent on TEN, what your previous month's usage was and a host of other clever billing information. Just our small attempt to keep you in the loop.


Change Rate Plan... (Support menu)

Here's where you can go to adjust your billing rate plan. Remember, any new rate plan selected won't take effect until the END of your current billing cycle, so don't be expecting it to change right away. You can find out your current billing cycle from the Display Billing Report option on the Support menu.


Change Payment Method... (Support menu)

If you want to change your credit card info (billing address and so forth), here's the place to do it. Not to worry, we don't display your credit card number anywhere. If you decide not to change your vitals here, just hit the Cancel button and no changes will be saved.


Change Address... (Support menu)

Moved recently? Got a new, spiffy phone number or e-mail address? Enter it here! If you decide partway through that you don't want to change this stuff, just hit Cancel and none of it will be saved.


Change Password... (Support menu)

Tired of that old, run-of-the-mill password? Make a change!

Just type in your old password, and your new one twice (for confirmation!) and you're set. It's good to change it every so often just for safety. Remember, you're responsible for keeping your password safe, so don't come a-blamin' us if you change your password to the name of your Dark Sun character and someone hacks their way in!

There are a couple of guidelines for changing your password. First off, your password must be at least 6 characters long and no more than 10. Don't use any crazy control characters or nothing like that. Just make sure that your password won't be something that other people can easily guess. A wacky combination of letters and numbers is a good start.

Lastly, your password is case-sensitive, so UPPER and lower case characters make a difference.


Cancel My Account... (Support menu)

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Contact Information (Support menu)

All those Customer Service numbers are there in full glory. Give us a ring or, better yet, e-mail us for ultra-fast response!


FAQ Web Site (Support menu)

Launches your selected Web browser and zips you off quickly to the latest, greatest list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on our Support Web site. Everything you never needed to know about the games we support, connection questions, general TEN questions and much, much more. We're constantly updating this site, so check back often!


Support Web Site (Support menu)

Need some specific help about TEN? Looking for a particular e-mail address or want some other service-related information? This menu selection fires up your selected Web browser and shoots you over to our Support Web site where all your burning questions will be dowsed.


Send Feedback Via Web (Support menu)

Think we're doing a good job? Or not. Tell us! Inquiring Bandwidth minds want to know!

Choosing this option will fire you off to a Web-based feedback form where you can rant and rave to your heart's content. Instant contact with the TEN Heads of State. Your voice WILL be heard!


Send Support Question Via Web (Support Menu)

Whoops! Did you find a bug we forgot to squash? Found some wacky anomaly in the TEN software? Have an important billing question you need answered? Whatever the reason, fire off a comment.

Hitting this selection will take you to a series of Web forms where you can report the sighting. We'll retrieve the info from our remote site in Roswell and send it to the proper authorities.

NOTE: This is the single most important place to submit technical and billing questions to TEN. We have staff ready and waiting for these questions to come in so they can lead fulfilling, productive lives. Won't you help by asking your questions here? Remember, technical questions won't be answered by the phone staff, so please don't fill their heads with confusion!


Help About Current Screen (Help menu)

This whips up TEN's Help file and plops you straight into a screen shot of the screen you're currently on. Clicking anywhere on the graphic will pop-up detailed info about that area. It's similar to the ?-help, but with a lot more detail. From here, you can also cruise through the rest of the entertaining Help file.


Help Topics (Help menu)

With this option, you are thrust violently into the Help file's table of contents. Double-click on the purple books to open up groups of topics. If you're new to TEN, check out the first topic "Hey, new folks! Read this first".

Overview of TEN provides some TEN philosophy, a history, our Community Guidelines and the TEN Terms of Service.

The Total Entertainment Network explains how to use the TEN software to chat, page, play games and all that stuff.

Latency, Bandwidth and Everything humorously expounds on the definition of latency and bandwidth.

Got questions? We've got answers is a troubleshooting section that contains connection questions and numerous common questions about TEN.

Contacting TEN's Customer Service displays how to contact us in case of a problem (whether it's by phone, e-mail or on the Web).


About TEN (Help menu)

Version information for the TEN software. Exciting stuff.


Communications 101 (an overview)

Break out those notebooks, sharpen those pencils and prepare for some serious learnin'. Well, maybe not quite so serious.

Throughout TEN, there are a lot of different ways to communicate with other TEN folks. Just click on a link from the list below:

•	Chat, whisper and muzzle: Learn all about our chat features and the importance of the Whisper and Muzzle commands.

•	Page and Locate: Want a private conversation? Need to find someone online quickly? Here's the skinny.

•	Profiles: View how others see themselves, or enter a profile of your own.

•	Rankings: Sierra Hotel. The best of the best. See who's who in your favorite game.

•	Electronic mail: Details on setting up an e-mail reader and how others can send you e-mail.

•	Web surfing: It's an ocean out there on the World Wide Web. Hang TEN, baby.

•	Newsgroups: TEN's game-specific newsgroups are the perfect forum for ongoing conversations.

•	Game DataSpheres: Web sites devoted to the games you play on TEN.

•	File Factory: Download the latest shareware, user maps and plenty more from our file repository.

•	TEN News & Events Web pages: THE place to find out what's going on at TEN. System news and upcoming events are staples here.

•	TEN folks and the TENguides: Here's what we "look like" on the system and how to contact us.

TEN is your oyster. Slurp it up.


Chat, whisper and muzzle

Everyone loves to talk. Some people more than others. And some people simply just won't shut up! That's why we have the Muzzle command. When you want to type a sentence to one person, use the Whisper command. Explanations below.

Chat

The basics. Chat is the primary form of communication on TEN. All Game Arenas and Chat Arenas have places for you to blab to your heart's content. Of course, we want you to use a little decorum when yappin'. That's why we invented TEN's Community Guidelines. Free speech is all well and good, just remember to keep your cool.

When you're in an Arena, all the chat takes place on the right side of the screen. The screen name of the person talking will appear on the left side of this big window followed by what they're saying. Simple, huh? If you want to add something to the conversation, just type stuff in the chat entry line below the big window and hit the SEND button (or hit the Enter key). That'll send your message to the world.

Whisper

If you want to send a quick, private message to one person in an Arena, use the Whisper command. Just right-click on their name from the WHO'S HERE list on the left side of the screen and choose "Whisper." This'll stick a /w and their name on the chat entry line. Type away. When you hit SEND, that message will appear on their screen and their screen only.

Muzzle

Sick of someone flapping their...er...typing hands? Just Muzzle Them. Right-click on their name in the WHO'S HERE list and choose "Muzzle." Once muzzled, you'll see a little "M" next to their name and you won't "hear" them chat. You also won't get any pages from them and they won't be able to locate you. You can "Unmuzzle" them by right-clicking their name and choosing that option or going to the File menu under "Preferences" and removing them from your Muzzle List.


Page and Locate

Two really powerful options in TEN are the Page and Locate features. With Page, you can conduct top-secret conversations with another pal on TEN. And with Locate, you can find your bud anywhere he or she may be on TEN. Both the Page and Locate features operate in the same manner, so here we go...

Page

Choosing "Page..." from the People menu (or by clicking the pager icon on any screen) brings up a small dialog box where you can enter the screen name of the TEN member you want to talk to. If you've paged them before, simply go to the drop down list and pull up their name. Hit OK and your page is sent.

If they don't want to be paged (have their pager turned off), or aren't on TEN at the time, you'll be informed. Otherwise, if they accept your page (lucky guy!), you'll see the paging window. This works just like regular chat in an Arena—type a line of text and hit Enter or the SEND button to fire it off.

On the left side of this dialog box, you'll see a list of your active pages. Each page is a one-on-one experience. You can have a ton of active pages, just click the person's screen name to switch between page windows. Hit NEW to start a new page, or DISMISS to terminate the selected page. The [image] icon means you're still connected to that person for paging (they haven't hit DISMISS to end the page).

If the page icon is blinking green, someone is trying to page you. If it's red, you have your pager turned off. Turn it back on by going to the File menu and choosing "Preferences... "

Locate

Need to find someone in a hurry so you can continue that important game? Use the handy-dandy Locate feature. Go to the People menu and choose "Locate..." This'll bring up a dialog box where you can enter their screen name. If you've tried to locate them before, just go to the drop down list and select their name. Once you hit Enter or the OK button, you'll be shown where they are on TEN.


Profiles

When you absolutely, positively have to find out the bio information on a person, here's the place. Just type in the screen name of the person by going to the People menu and choosing "View a Profile... " that you want to run a profile check on. This'll bring up a dialog box with a ton o' gunk.

BIO shows a ton of relevant (or irreverent) stuff about someone. It shows how long they've been a member of TEN, any alias they might go under, birth date, a gender, their relationship status, fav Web site and any miscellaneous junk. Remember that the user feeds all this data except the "Member since" line, so habius corpus and cogito ergo ludo.

RANKING displays the selected player's game ranking, so you can see just what you're getting into if you invite them to a game!

Click the check box next to MUZZLE to shut the selected person up for a time. You may not want to year their yap. It'll also make it so they can't page or locate you.

Speaking of which, you can enter your own Bio. Either right-click on your screen name from the WHO'S HERE window on any Game Arena and select "Profile" from the menu or go to the People menu and choose "View a Profile..." (then enter your name. When that Profile window opens, hit the EDIT button. Fill in as many fields as you deem necessary and hit SAVE when you're satisfied.

Shortcut! To open a Profile in a Game Arena, just double-click on a person's name from the WHO'S HERE menu.


Rankings

Think you're good. Think again.

There are some awesome game players across the country, and with our ultra-detailed ranking system, you can see if you deserve to wear their boots or be crushed beneath them.

Pull up the rankings from the People menu by choosing "View Rankings... ".

When the dialog box opens, select which game you want to view from the pull-down box at the top and then choose one of the options below. You can see the ranks for everyone, yourself (plus/minus 10 other players), the top players (up to 100) sorted any way you choose or even rankings on individual players.

If you choose to view individual players, you can see how many times they've pasted you by selecting "display in a victory matrix." This'll show the players you selected (including yourself) and how many times they've killed each other. Separate all entries by commas (e.g., "MaxxFlite, Chumpus, Weasel").


Electronic mail

Yes, TEN gives you e-mail as well. Conserve those stamps. Write to those long, lost friends.

There's a number of e-mail programs you can use (including the e-mail portions of Navigator or Internet Explorer), and we've got Eudora Light that you can download for your convenience. It's available by selecting "Preferences..." from the File menu and choosing the "Mail and News" tab. Make sure you read, understand and memorize our e-mail practices. There'll be a quiz later.

In brief, your e-mail address on TEN is your screenname@ten.net (for example, if your screen name is "joebob", your e-mail address would be joebob@ten.net). For those familiar with e-mail settings and the like, here are some specifics:

•	Outgoing mail (SMTP) server: mail-out.ten.net

•	Incoming mail (POP3) server: pop.ten.net

•	POP3 Account: screenname@pop.ten.net

Don't get it? No prob. Here are the complete details on how to configure various programs so you can read your TEN e-mail:

Eudora Light

Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0

Netscape Navigator 3.0


Eudora Light

Eudora is the granddaddy of electronic mail programs. It's little nephew is Eudora Light, a freeware version with fewer features. The easiest way to set up Eudora Light is to download it right from our File menu under "Preferences..." Choose the "Mail and News" tab and hit the Download button under Mail.

When you first run Eudora Light, you'll probably get a dialog box staring you in the face when you first load the program, but if you don't, enter the following info by pulling down the Tools menu and selecting "Options…".

1.	Click the "Getting Started" icon and on the "POP Account" line, type your TEN screenname@pop.ten.net for your e-mail address. (Example: joebob@pop.ten.net)

2.	Check to ensure that Winsock (the default) is selected for your connection method and that you've entered your real name.

3.	Now, click the "Hosts" icon and under "SMTP", type mail-out.ten.net

When Eudora Light prompts for your password, just use your TEN password.

To send mail, go to the Message menu and choose "New Message". Enter the person's e-mail address on the first line and when you've finished your message, hit the Send button.

To check your mail, go to the File menu and choose "Check Mail". Double-click on a mail message to read it.


Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0

Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 is a full-service, all-in-one program. Web surfing. Newsgroup scanning. E-mail reading. And, it generally comes pre-installed on your computer! What more could one want?

Here's how to set up Internet Explorer to read your TEN e-mail and view newsgroups:

E-mail

After launching Internet Explorer, follow these procedures to set it up to read your TEN e-mail:

1.	Pull down the Go menu and choose "Read Mail".

2.	When the Internet Mail screen appears, go to the Mail menu and choose "Options".

3.	Click the Server tab and enter a name on the "Name" line (you might just want to enter your TEN screen name here). Under "Email Address", type screenname@ten.net (where screenname is your TEN screen name).

4.	In the "Server" section of this tab, type mail-out.ten.net under "Outgoing Mail (SMTP)". Next, type pop.ten.net in the "Incoming Mail (POP3)" line. Finally, where it says "POP3 Account", type your TEN screen name.

5.	Now, click the Connection tab and verify that the connection method is correct. You'll generally want to have "I connect manually" checked so that Internet Explorer will use your existing TEN connection to grab your mail.

To check your mail after launching Internet Explorer, cruise to the Go menu and choose "Read Mail". Once the mail window opens, go to the Mail menu and choose "Send and Receive". If you have mail, just click the message in the top part of the window and read the message in the bottom part.

To send mail, pull down the Go menu and choose "Read Mail". Once there, open the Mail menu and select "New Message". Type the destination e-mail address, the subject of the mail and your message. Hit the Send button to fire it off.

News

First, you've gotta launch Internet Explorer. Then, follow these steps:

1.	Pull down the Go menu and choose "Read News".

2.	Go to the News menu and choose "Options" to begin. Make sure you've entered your name (probably your TEN screen name) and e-mail address

3.	Click the Server tab and hit the Add button at the bottom. Under "News Server Name", type localnews.ten.net

To subscribe to one of TEN's newsgroups, simply click the Newsgroups icon and double-click the newsgroups that interest you. When you are subscribed to a newsgroup, a newspaper icon will appear next to it.

To view a newsgroup, just select a newsgroup from the Newsgroups drop down menu below the toolbar. To post a message to the newsgroup, highlight a post and click either "Reply to Group" or "Reply to Author". This allows you to either post a message for everyone to read, or send a private response to the author of the post.


Netscape Navigator 3.0

Netscape Navigator is the classic multipurpose, integrated Web browser, news viewer and mail reader. Nearly everyone who has used the Internet at one time or another has fired up Navigator. We even have a copy available for download. Just go to the File menu, choose "Preferences..." and click the Web Browser tab. From there, hit the Download... button. This'll grab a copy of Navigator from our site. Be sure to register!

Below are a few details on how to set up Netscape Navigator to read your TEN e-mail and newsgroups (it's pretty much the same for Netscape Communicator):

E-mail

Fire up Netscape Navigator and follow these simple steps:

1.	From the Options menu, choose "Mail and News Preferences..."

2.	Once that opens, click the Servers tab.

3.	You'll need to enter a few things in the Mail section: type mail-out.ten.net next to "Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server:", type pop.ten.net next to "Incoming Mail (POP3) Server:" and then type your TEN screen name next to "POP3 User Name:".

4.	Next, click the Identity tab and fill in the "Your Name:" field (you might just want to enter your TEN screen name here). The next two lines ("Your Email:" and "Reply-to Address:") are the same. Just enter your TEN screenname@ten.net

To check your mail, go to the Window menu and choose "Netscape Mail". This'll search out and locate any TEN mail you may have. If Navigator asks you for your password, it's the same as your TEN password. Once here, e-mail messages will appear on the top right of the screen. Simply click one to read it in the lower window. To respond to an e-mail, hit the "Re:Mail" button just below the menu bar.

To send off a new e-mail, just go to the File menu and choose "New Mail Message". This'll launch the mail portion of Navigator and prompt you to enter an e-mail address in the "Mail to:" field. Once that's done, type the body of your message in the big box below and send 'er off!

News

Once you've launched Navigator, crank out these simple steps:

1.	From the Options menu, choose "Mail and News Preferences..."

2.	Once that dialog box opens, click the Servers tab.

3.	In the News section, type localnews.ten.net next to "News (NNTP) Server:".

To subscribe to a TEN newsgroup, go to the Window menu and choose "Netscape News". When the list of newsgroups appears, click the square next to the newsgroup(s) you want to subscribe to. This'll put a little yellow check mark next to those groups and they'll appear each time your launch Netscape News. Otherwise, reading news is the same as reading mail.

To post a message to a newsgroup, click the newsgroup you want to send a post to and hit the "Re:News" button. This'll launch a window just like the one in news. Just type in your post and hit the Send button.


TEN's e-mail practices

Here they are, the quasi-legal mumbo-jumbo majorly-hyphenated e-mail practices. Don't say we didn't warn ya!

1.	Each TEN member gets 2MB of disk space for mail storage.

2.	Once the 2MB maximum mailbox capacity is reached, any new mail will be returned to its sender.

3.	If a mail account is unused for 90 days, the mail account will be emptied of all mail.

4.	If you cancel your TEN account, your mail account will be closed and any new mail will be returned to its sender.

5.	Misuse of your e-mail account could result in the termination of your TEN membership. See TEN's Community Guidelines for more details on TEN's e-mail policies.


Web surfing

With a TEN membership, the Internet and the World Wide Web are at your feet. Be sure to wipe before entering. Once connected to TEN, you can go Web surfing to your heart's content. You'll have to use a third-party program to browse the Web, such as Netscape Navigator 3.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, but that's no problem.

Need some explanation about the Web or the Internet in general? Click the link.


Newsgroups

TEN's newsgroups are general message clearinghouses about the games on TEN. Most games on TEN have their own newsgroup and any TEN member can feel free to post a general message on the "board".

You can use a dedicated newsgroup reader (such as Free Agent) to read newsgroups, or scan them through a Web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator.

Newsgroups are especially handy for long-term discussions about specific game-related topics. For example, if you really wanted some killer Panzer General strategy for a particular scenario, you could post a message asking for advice. Eventually, someone will read it and respond to the group. This way, the entire community of that game gets in on the action.

Before waxing poetic on a newsgroup, you oughta take a look at our newsgroup tips and guidelines. People familiar with newsgroups and posting etiquette should just skim this as a refresher course.


Tips for being a happy newsgroupie

If you're new to the world of Internet newsgroups, there are a few things you should know before diving in. Over the years, a code of Net etiquette (or "Netiquette") has evolved around newsgroups. Working within this code will help you avoid faux pas so you'll have a kinder, gentler newsgroup experience.

Be Relevant: Make sure that your posts are relevant to the newsgroup you're posting to. A message about Tiddlywinks in the Wargames newsgroup will, at best, be ignored. At worst, you may get a nasty note from a grumbling grognard.

Get a Feel for Things: Before posting a message to a newsgroup, read some of the other posts to get a feel for the group's language, style and current topic of discussion. Asking a question that is answered in a message posted the day before can annoy the more irritable of Net veterans.

Read Other Replies Before Answering: If you are going to post a reply to someone's message, be sure to read the replies of others to ensure that you aren't duplicating someone else's efforts.

Respond by Private E-Mail When Appropriate: You may come across a newsgroup message that calls for a personal reply (i.e., a message like "Wanna be in my Quake clan? Send a reply."). Be sure that you send a private e-mail to the sender, rather than a public posting to everyone.

Never Post Personal Info: It's a really bad idea to post personal information (real name, address, phone number, credit card numbers, TEN account passwords) to newsgroups. Note that a TEN staffer will NEVER ask you for your account information in chat, e-mail or newsgroups. If someone claims to be a TEN staff member and asks you for your account information, they are a fraud.

For more information on Netiquette, you can search the net with the "netiquette" keyword, or check out your local book store for one of the many new books on the subject.


Game DataSpheres

TEN's Web-based DataSpheres are the be-all, end-all of game information about the games we support on TEN. To access our game DataSpheres, just click the DataSphere button at the top of a Game Arena or pull down the Go menu and choose "DataSpheres Web Site". That shows the current list of the DataSpheres we have up and running.

Within each DataSphere, we keep up to date on the latest news about the game, especially how that news relates to TEN. In addition, you can access the game's newsgroup, check out some spiffy other Web sites on that game, pour through strategies and hints and check up on the latest rankings (and how the rankings are calculated for that game). The DataSpheres are an invaluable tool—and they're free to you, our loyal TEN subscriber!


File Factory

TEN's File Factory is the ultimate repository of game-related software on the Internet. Download demos of upcoming games, scads of shareware titles, hints and walkthroughs for adventure games, and plenty, plenty more. Zip over to the File Factory by pulling down the Go menu and choosing "File Factory Web Site".

Once there, you can read a little ditty on how to grind through the Factory and learn how to upload your own files for posting. If you don't see something you think should be up there, send an e-mail to our File Factory Foreman. He'll get on it straight away!


News at TEN

Need the latest information about the TEN service? Missed who won the most recent TEN tournament? Want some more data on upcoming TEN events and promotions? The News@TEN Web pages are the place to be. Cruise over there by hitting the MORE NEWS button on the Game Selector screen or by pulling down the Go menu and choosing "News@TEN Web Site".

We've got a number of features to entice you and keep you informed. There's an events calendar for upcoming tournaments and special gatherings.


TEN folks and the TENguides

More often than not, there will be a number of TEN employees wandering the brightly-lit halls of TEN. Not to worry. We're not there to crack down on anyone or nuthin. (A lot of times, we're there to play some games and blow off steam!) If we're in our "TEN uniform", feel free to flag us down if you have a question or concern. You can recognize us because we have the word "TEN-" in front of our names (e.g., "TEN-Chris" or "TEN-Spudly"). If you're having fun, we're having fun.

In addition to TEN employees, there may be a number of volunteers roaming around the system that can help you out. They're called TENguides and can be recognized by the word "Guide" or "Magna" in front of their name (e.g., "GuideFred" or "MagnaLuigi"). They can usually be found in Help Arenas, the Rookies' HQ or hanging around in the chat areas of Game Arenas. These kind, gentle people are our technical representatives, so don't hesitate to ask them a question if you've got one.


Game Selector screen

You'll be here if you came in directly by launching TEN. If you entered TEN through a retail game, you'll go directly to that game's Arena Selector.

This is the action zone. Choose a game on the list and hit PLAY to dive in the mix. Make sure you have that game already installed on your hard drive and the appropriate game enabler (if necessary)!

Move your mouse cursor over the screen below for more info on buttons.


SELECT A GAME

Here's the list of the current games on TEN. Double-click on a game title or select a game and click PLAY to enter that game's Arena Selector screen.

You must have that game installed on your hard drive and the appropriate game enablers (if necessary) for you to play.


GO button

Once you've chosen a game you want to play, don't delay. Hit this shiny, candy-like button.


News@TEN

Watch this space for the up-to-date, fast-breaking news about TEN. (New stories are indicated by a red bullet!) These teaser headlines are there to entice you cruise to News@TEN Web site for the complete news about TEN and special online event info.


MORE NEWS

Launches your selected Web browser and surfs you on over to the News@TEN Web Site. This has the same function as pulling down the Go menu and choosing "News@TEN Web Site."


Mail button

Click this button to open up your selected electronic mail reader to read or send some e-mail.

If the green light's flashing, you have mail!

If the light turns red, uh oh. You probably moved your e-mail reader and TEN can't find it any more. You'll need to let TEN know where you put that sucker.


Page button

Slap this button to open up your pager for private chat conversations.

If there's a green light flashing, you're being paged! Better see who it is.

If that light's red, you have your pager turned off. Go to the File menu and choose Preferences to turn it back on.


TEN's Menu Bar

The Menu Bar zips you off to a whole boatload of options including sound, Web and news configuration, the muzzle list and plenty more. Check it out for yourself.


Getting started with Dark Sun Online
Getting started with Dark Sun

Dark Sun: Crimson Sands is a TEN exclusive. It's an online role-playing game (RPG) world set in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dark Sun universe. You must have the Dark Sun software to play, which can be found at the Dark Sun DataSphere It's a pretty fat download, so grab a bite to eat while the sucker gets pumped through to your drive.

Important note: As long as you're mucking about on the Web, it's best if you download and read the Dark Sun manual from the DataSphere. (It's available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format and a reader should be provided with the manual.) That'll explain everything you need to know about creating a character, adventuring and combat in the harsh world of Athas.

The first screen that appears is the Dark Sun Arena Selector screen. Mr. Bandwidth will pop up here to check your connection, but he's pretty lenient. He'll only toss you if you're really messy. FYI, this screen's just a waypoint for the real stuff. Hit GO to travel to the Outer Sanctum.

The Outer Sanctum is a little like the astral plane. It's a chat area where you can pick up some tidbits from TENguides or shoot the stuff with other Dark Sun players. Many of the commands are the same as on regular Arenas, so check there for the particulars.

Each player in Dark Sun has a TEN screen name and a Dark Sun character name. The Outer Sanctum shows a list of the TEN screen names, so don't be surprised if you fail to see these names deep in the world of Athas.

When you're ready to dive in, hit ENTER. Keep that sword and shield handy.


Arena Selector screen

Here's where Mr. Bandwidth, the bouncer at the gates of TEN, checks your connection so you can choose which Zone and Game Arena you want to play in. Arenas are the launching point for games on TEN.

Swipe at the screen below if you're curious about something. Otherwise, once Mr. Bandwidth is finished, just click an Arena (the text in green) and hit GO.

As soon as you arrive, Mr. Bandwidth will start boppin' to a funky jive. Sit back. He's evaluating your position on the Internet relative to TEN. When he makes his exit, your Zones and Arenas are all set up.

Arenas under the "Your Best Zone" rating are ones that you're more likely to have good gameplay in. If you choose to play in Arenas under the category "Playable Zones", you might not have quite as good a game. "Chat-only Zones" contain Arenas where all you can do is chat.

Each Arena (except ones in AD&D Dark Sun: Crimson Sands) can hold around 40 people. An Arena is full if it's got a [image] symbol displayed in front of it. Try another. There'll always be at least one open. "Unranked Arenas" are ones that don't affect your overall game rankings. Think of them as a safety net. Help Arenas are staffed with TENguides and are there in case you need some online help setting up a game.


SELECT AN ARENA

These are the available Game Arenas. The number to the right of each Arena is how many people are currently in that Arena. A [image] symbol means the Arena is full and you have to choose another one.

Sometimes, the Arena names are designed to indicate what skill level of game the people therein are playing. For example, in this Duke Nukem 3D area, "Rookie" is an Arena for beginning-level players.


GO

Once you've picked a Game Arena, hit this button to dive on in.


Back button

Click this arrow to go back to Game Selector screen.


DataSpheres button

Selecting this button launches your selected Web browser and surfs you over to this game's DataSphere for news and important information.


Description box

Shows the low-down on whatever Zone, Arena or category you've highlighted above. Remember, you're only allowed to enter Arenas (the stuff above in the green text)


The game

It's the wild and wonderful game you're about to play!


What are Zones?

What the heck are Zones? Ethereally speaking, Zones are localized regions in cyberspace. They have nothing to do with physical geographic regions. You may be dialing from Seattle and get a better connection through our router in the Midwest than through our California router.

Why are there so many Arenas, Zones and categories? Since there can be hundreds, if not thousands, of people on TEN at once, we needed to break up the traffic a bit. Think of Arenas and Zones as the equivalent of Internet traffic lights. Here's a run-down of the Zones on TEN based on how you connected to TEN:

•	If you connected through a TEN local access number, Your Best Zone is more likely to be in Valhalla. If you're using your own Internet service provider, it's not worth even trying to use this Zone—you won't get the best results. But, you are welcome to go in and chat!

•	If you're on the East Coast and are connected through your own Internet service provider (ISP), Your Best Zone is probably going to be in The Abyss.

•	If you connected through your own ISP and are not on the East Coast, Your Best Zone should be in Pandemonium.

This isn't to say that all folks on the East Coast connecting with their own ISP will get a better connection through The Abyss (the reverse goes for Pandemonium), it depends on a number of factors: clean phone lines, a quality ISP, the stars aligning properly, etc.

Remember that players in one Zone won't be able to see (or play with!) players in another Zone. So, be sure to coordinate Zones with your pals before starting up.

Mr. Bandwidth's Zone Check

Once you enter an Arena Selector screen, your pal and mine, Mr. Bandwidth will pop up muttering something about "checking Zones." What he's doing is seeing how clean your connection is to the Internet as a whole.

When he's done, he'll arrange the Zones in a logical order. Click on a description for the definition.

Your Best Zone

Playable Zones

Chat-only Zones

Help Zones


Your Best Zone

Your Best Zone is where you should be playing the majority of your games.

How come? Based on how you connected to TEN, Based on your connection, we've determined that Arenas in this Zone will give you the best gameplay. You're more than welcome to play games in Arenas under the Playable Zones category, but you're not as likely to have a quality game there.

Some games that don't require lighting-quick gameplay (e.g., turn-based games like Panzer General and Deadlock) don't actually need separate Zones based on your connection. Therefore, we tossed all games of that nature into the Pandemonium Zone so that everyone playing that game could see everyone else.. So, don't worry if you're used to getting "Your Best Zone" in Valhalla, but suddenly get Pandemonium when you enter an Arena Selector.


Playable Zones

Based on our Zone check, we've determined that all Arenas in the Playable Zones category are playable with your connection—although you probably won't experience the same high-quality gameplay as you would in Arenas under Your Best Zone.

Even though you can only have one "Best Zone", Zones and Arenas in this category should still be more than good enough for you to play.


Chat-only Zones

Chat-only Zones contain Arenas where, due to your connection quality, all you can do is chat. You won't be able to play any games here. This is primarily due to your connection method. We've set up our Zones based on how you connected to TEN and in geographic regions. If you're in one geographic region that isn't "compatible" with one of our others, you won't be able to play in that Zone.

You're always welcome to come on into the Arenas in these Zones and type up a storm. Good conversationalists are hard to find!


Help Zones

While not technically a Zone, Help Zones contain Help Arenas where you can usually find a TENguide to answer your TEN- or game-specific question. Don't be shy. No question is too small.

In addition, we provide the Rookies' HQ —a place 'specially made for newcomers to the TEN service. Here, you can meet other new folks and get assistance from the "Guide"s that staff these Arenas. They're more than willing to meet you, help out and get you started with TEN!

You won't be able to play games in these Arenas, but you should always get a helping hand!


Game Arenas

Game Arenas are the place to create and join games as well as chat with other players that have the same gaming interest as yourself.

The Game Arena consists of a few things: a WHO'S HERE list in the upper left corner that shows the current group of people in the Arena, a large chat window that displays all chat text, a GAMES list of games in the creation process or already underway. Selecting a game from the GAMES list shows you WHO'S PLAYING in that game as well as the GAME DESCRIPTION.

Need more information? Find out more about the Game Arena screen.


Help Arenas

Help Arenas look similar to Game Arenas, but have a radically different function. Our friendly TENguides staff the Help Arenas just waiting for people to drop by and ask them a question. You wouldn't want to disappoint them now, would you?

The biggest changes from Game Arenas is that Help Arenas (and Chat Arenas) have an extra-large chat window for plenty of typing space and they don't have any game creation abilities. They're great for meeting places and gathering points from which you can head off to a Game Arena.


Rookies' HQ

The Rookies' HQ is the one-stop help shop for new folks to TEN. Here, we have a well-trained staff of TENguide volunteers called "Guide"s (as well as MagnaGuides) anxiously waiting for new people to drop by and ask questions. They'll be more than happy to engage you in witty conversation or perhaps engage you in a game!

Guides can normally be found in the Rookies' HQ from 5 PM to 9 PM Pacific Time.


Special Arenas

Occasionally, we'll create Special Arenas where we'll hold conferences or tournament events. Tournaments will be held in Game Arenas, while a conference would be held in a Chat Arena.

For tournaments and moderated conferences, a number of the normal chat rules may not apply. So, don't get confused if you enter one of these Arenas, start blabbing away and not seeing any of your chat text. We gots some speshial crowd-control tools to keep the noise level down.


Game Arena screen

At last! One small step away and the games begin. As usual, pass your pointer over an area to get the straight dope.

As soon as you enter an Arena, Mr. Bandwidth will begin testing your connection to this Arena. Be patient. He's going as fast as he can. Check out the gauge just below him to see how long he'll take. While you're waiting, chat a bit or see what games are being played.

After Mr. B's done, he'll present you with your connection rating du jour. If you're displeased and think you deserve better, give Mr. B a smack on his little buggy head. He'll respond by showing you a Connection Report.

The list of players in this Arena appear in the WHO'S HERE list in the upper left. Want an explanation about the icons next to their names?  Each player's screen name will appear in this list and in ranked Arenas, their score will be displayed to the right of their name.

When you're ready, just select a game from the GAMES list and hit JOIN. What are those icons in the GAMES list?  The first time you CREATE or JOIN a game, you'll be prompted to browse your hard drive for that game. And, if there aren't any other open games, CREATE one of your own!


GAMES list icons

Games with a [image] are full and you can't enter. Forbidden games [image] have too heavy a bandwidth requirement for you to join.

When you CREATE or JOIN a game and enter the game pre-launch panel, you'll see other players' connection ratings (as a cute Mr. B head) next to their name in the Who's Joined list.


WHO'S HERE list icons

There are only a few icons that might appear to the left of each player's screen name, but they're pretty important.

If a person's got a [image] icon, that player has been away from their computer for a while and won't be able to respond. When a [image] icon appears, you have muzzled that person. If the [image] icon is next to their name, they are in the process of creating a game. And, finally, the [image] icon means that player is involved in a game.


Location bar

Tells you where the heck you are. This reminds you which Zone you're playing in and what Arena you've selected. For example, you might be in the Pandemonium Zone in the Veteran Arena.


WHO'S HERE?

The list of TEN members currently in the Arena. Players with a [image] in front of their name are busy playing and might not be listening for their name. When they've got a [image] next to their name, they're in the pre-launch state of a game, so they may or may not be paying attention to the main window. Those that have a [image] before their name are muzzled so you won't hear their yap. If they've got a [image] icon in front of their name, they're probably off surfing the Web 'cause they haven't been at their computer in quite some time.

In ranked Arenas, each player's score will be listed to the right of their name. You can sort players by name or score by clicking on the gray buttons at the top of this window.

Right-clicking on someone in the WHO'S HERE list will allow you to check their Profile and Latency and will let you Page, Whisper or Muzzle them.


Back arrow

Takes you back to the Arena Selector screen to choose a new Arena.


Mr. Bandwidth

The lovable Mr. Bandwidth will test your connection and give you the high sign if your Internet connection is worthy. You can also scope out a couple of other tidbits. Visit Mr. Bandwidth if you are curious about our little friend.

Your connection rating  is displayed just below Mr. Bandwidth's head. It'll be rated either Excellent, Good, OK or Forget It. If one of these words doesn't look right to you, get the scoop about testing your connection. When the gauge below Mr. B's head says "Testing," the small bar shows how long the test will take. Don't worry, you can still look through games and chat while he performs his little duty.

If your connection quality changes, Mr. Bandwidth's expression will get happier or even more agitated.


Chat window

Everything you and the other peoples here type will appear in this window for the world to see. Scroll up and down through the text so as not to miss any stimulating conversation. Click here to find out more about chat.


Chat entry space

Enter your purple prose in this space and click SEND to launch your words a-flyin'. Hitting Enter will let them loose as well. You've got about 200 characters to use per message, so brevity is not a concern.


SEND

This fires off your latest words of wisdom. Once sent, you can't take them back.


GAMES

Here's a list of all the current games. Games with a [image] are closed and those with a [image] icon are forbidden. You can't get in these games no matter how hard you try. Closed games are full up, while forbidden games are off limits because your bandwidth is too low for you to join.


WHO'S PLAYING?

All the folks already involved in a game appear here. Click on a game in the GAMES window and you'll see all the names of players in that game. Just to the left of their name, you'll see a happy little Mr. Bandwidth icon which shows their current connection rating.


GAME DESCRIPTION

Here, you can see the charming text entered by the creator of a game. Click on a game in the GAMES window to highlight it and this description will appear. Since this was written by another player, the description may be useful, useless or a heap of barking obscenities.


CREATE

Fire up a new game. This is available only if you haven't created or joined another game. And if your connection is "Forget it," well…

After hitting CREATE, you'll see the Create Game dialog box. Enter the name of your game, the number of players you want to play with (if appropriate) and a brief description of your game. When you're finished, you'll be sent to the game pre-launch panel.


JOIN

Select a game from the window and hit JOIN to enter it. Remember that games with a [image] symbol have all their player slots filled and you can't join. If their bandwidth requirement is too high, you'll see the Forbidden symbol [image].


Chatting with folks

Do you like striking up conversations with total strangers? Even if you don't, this area is perfect for finding just the right blend of players to join in your mayhem.

It's très easy. Plop your cursor in the long black area to the left of the SEND button and start pounding away at the keyboard. When you exhale and finish a thought, click the SEND button or just hit Enter. Your message will whiz through cyberspace faster than another Microsoft stock split. And there it is. In living green. Your message to the world on screen.

If you just want to talk to one person, you can Whisper them a message. Right-click on their name in the WHO'S HERE window and choose "Whisper". This will put a "/w <name>" on the chat entry line (where <name> is the screen name of the person you will be whispering to). Type your message and click SEND. No one will see it but them. Meet that special friend. Poke fun at the guy typing in ALL CAPS. Party hardy.

And if you get tired of listening to someone ramble on and on about the mating habits of Peruvian llamas, just Muzzle them and you won't hear any of their chat conversation. Right-click on their name in the WHO'S HERE window and choose "Muzzle". This sticks a [image] to the left of their name. Now, you can't hear them, and they can't Page or Locate you.


Creating a game

No games out there you want to play? Start one up yourself! Hit CREATE to get started. This'll bring up a dialog box for you to enter some specifics.

At the top, type a witty name for your game. To the right of that, enter the total number of players (including yourself) you'd like to have in the game. Remember that you can't have more people in your game than Mr. Bandwidth says you can. How many can you have? Check your connection info for your bandwidth rating.

You'll also see a large window within the dialog box to describe your game. Write out as detailed a description as you want. You can also try to deter others with lousy connections or those you don't deem worthy of your efforts. Be as creative as you want.

Click OK when you've set up all your options. This'll open up the game pre-launch panel where you can hang out while waiting for others to join your game.

For information on creating specific games, check out the following list:

AD&D Dark Sun: Crimson Sands

Blood retail

Blood shareware

Command & Conquer

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Diablo

Duke Nukem 3D

EF2000 V2.0

Magic: The Gathering

Master of Orion II

Myth: The Fallen Lords

NASCAR Racing Online Series

Quake

Shadow Warrior retail

Shadow Warrior shareware

Total Annihilation

Twilight Lands

Wiz-War


Game pre-launch panel

Whenever you CREATE a new game or JOIN a game that hasn't started up yet, you'll enter the game's "pre-launch panel". The pre-launch panel takes up the bottom half of the Game Arena screen, but leaves you plenty of space to people watch in the WHO'S HERE list and gives you ample space to chat in the main Arena.

Here's what the pre-launch panel looks like when opened (click around for details):

LAUNCH starts up the game and DESTROY completely kills it. Careful, people might get pissed. Click the down arrow (next to the DESTROY button) to "minimize" the pre-launch panel and take a peek at the GAMES list and GAME DESCRIPTIONS.

The top status bar of the pre-launch panel displays the name of the game, the creator and how many players (out of the total number specified) have joined. There's a separate Who's joined list and Game description for this game and even a separate chat window that only the joined people can see.

If someone joins your game that you didn't want there, click their name in the Who's joined list and hit DISMISS. They'll get the boot and won't be able to come back.

Right next to the players in the Who's joined list you can see a mini-Mr. B icon that shows their current connection rating.


Game status bar

Shows the name of the game, the Creator and the number of players who have joined (e.g., the number 3/4 means that 3 players have joined the game and the game was created for 4 players).


LAUNCH button

Starts the game with the current players.


DESTROY button

Eradicates the game you have created. Only the creator of the game can hit this button.


Pre-launch up/down button

This arrow will "minimize" or "maximize" the pre-launch panel. When you minimize it, you'll only see the game status bar, and the LAUNCH and DESTROY buttons.


Who's joined

Lists the people who've joined this game so far. The Mr. B icon next to their name shows their current connection rating.


DISMISS button

Highlighting a name in the Who's joined list and clicking DISMISS will punt that person from your game, never to return. Only the creator of the game can DISMISS players.


Pre-launch game description

A brief description of the game you're about to play. Shows the number of players and any other pertinent info.


Pre-launch chat window

A pint-sized chat area for folks who've joined this game. Only the people who've joined your game can see this chat text.


Pre-launch chat entry space

Enter a thought and hit SEND. Only the folks who've joined your game will see this text.


SEND button

Sends off your chat text to everyone who's joined this game.


Playing Duke Nukem 3D

If you're playing Duke Nukem 3D and want to play using one of the many user-created levels out there, hit the ADVANCED button on the Create Game dialog box. You'll need to have some custom user-created levels already installed in your Duke directory. Where can you get user-created Duke levels? Why, the File Factory, of course!

When the ADVANCED box opens, click the check box next to USER MAP and then choose a custom level from the pull-down list on the right. Hit OK when you're satisfied with the results.

Remember, all people playing this user-created Duke level must have that level installed on their own local machine. In addition, all user-created Duke levels must be located in the same directory/folder as the Duke3d.exe file.

Once you've got your game all set up, you'll go to the pre-launch panel. Now, just hang around until enough people join your game, then hit the LAUNCH button.

After Duke loads, the person creating the game needs to choose "Start User Map" from Duke's main menu to fire up the user-created level they chose.


Playing Blood (retail version)

The Blood Create Game dialog box is fairly self-explanatory, but since this is a Help file, we lay everything out on the table for ya.

Enter a name in the Name field then put a Description of your game in the field below. To the left of these entries, choose the maximum number of players you want in the game by clicking the up and down arrows in the Max Players box. If you click the Ranked box just below that, this game of Blood will count toward your overall Blood ranking.

The seven pull-down menus in the middle of the box set up how your game is to be played:

On the left, the Game option allows you to play in either Bloodbath (free-for-all), Teams or Cooperative mode. Episode and Level allow you to choose any of the Blood levels available in the retail version of the game. Difficulty sets how hard (and how many) monsters will appear when the Monsters setting is enabled.

On the right, the Monsters setting puts creatures of various types into the game. Weapons sets how often the various tools of destruction appear. Finally, Items allows you to control how often non-weapon items respawn.

If you want to play a custom Blood level (like ones available on the File Factory), click the User Map box and pull down a level from the drop down menu. Important: all user maps must be in the same directory as your bldrten.exe enabler file!

Hit OK to launch the game!


Playing Blood (shareware version)

The Blood Create Game dialog box is fairly self-explanatory, but since this is a Help file, we lay everything out on the table for ya.

Enter a name in the Name field then put a Description of your game in the field below. To the left of these entries, choose the maximum number of players you want in the game by clicking the up and down arrows in the Max Players box. If you click the Ranked box just below that, this game of Blood will count toward your overall Blood ranking.

The seven pull-down menus in the middle of the box set up how your game is to be played:

On the left, the Game option allows you to play in either Bloodbath (free-for-all), Teams or Cooperative mode. Episode and Level allow you to choose any levels in the first episode of Blood. Difficulty sets how hard (and how many) monsters will appear when the Monsters setting is enabled.

On the right, the Monsters setting puts creatures of various types into the game. Weapons sets how often the various tools of destruction appear. Finally, Items allows you to control how often non-weapon items respawn.

Hit OK to launch the game!


Playing Command and Conquer
Playing Command & Conquer

Each time you crank up a game of Command & Conquer, you need to fill out an options dialog box. If you've played C&C before, this box should be fairly routine. If one of the terms doesn't look right to you, break open the game manual. They didn't write it for their health, you know.

First off, type in a name for your game in the top slot. Next to it, type in how many players you want in your game (from 2–4). Under SCENARIO, pick a mission, any mission. (You can even play missions from C&C scenario packs such as C&C: The Covert Operations.) Now, choose a SIDE from the pull-down menu.

The next three sliders set up starting parameters for your game. CREDITS, UNIT COUNT and TECH LEVEL should be self-explanatory. The boxes below set on/off variables. (AI PLAYERS can be clicked if you want computer opponents as well as humans.) Finally, write a description of your game in the big box on the right where Carol Merrill is standing.

Once you hit OK, you'll be shot into the pre-launch panel. When the number of players in your game is the same as the number of players you selected, just hit the LAUNCH button and you're off!


Playing Diablo

The Diablo Create Game dialog box is fairly straightforward, but there are a few things we can explain.

To begin, type a name for your game in the GAME NAME area (16 characters max). Just to the right, use the up and down arrows to set the MAX PLAYERS you want in the game (from 1–4). (Remember, only characters played in multiplayer games can be used on TEN. Single player characters won't work in multiplayer games.)

Next, type in a DESCRIPTION of your game in the middle box. Use this area to encourage or discourage types of players and characters and to generally set up the ambiance of your game.

Finally, click the PASSWORD check box if you only want to restrict your game to certain people. Once you click the password check box, type in a password (up to 16 characters long). Each person joining a game must type in this exact password in this box to play your game.

Password tip: To let certain people know your password without announcing it to the entire Arena, right-click their name in the Who's Here part of the Arena (in the upper left) and select "Whisper." This'll put a "/w" in front of their name in the chat entry space. Now, go ahead and type in a private message for them only.

When you hit OK to create the game, you'll open up the pre-launch panel. Once you get the number of players in your game that you want, hit the LAUNCH button and your game will begin.

After a game is created...

Once a Diablo game has been created, the GAME DESCRIPTION (in the lower right part of the Game Arena screen) will display each character's name, level and character class.


Playing Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Whenever you fire up a game of Command & Conquer: Red Alert, you have to fill out an options dialog box. If you've played C&C: Red Alert before, this box should be fairly obvious. If one of the terms doesn't look right to you, it's time to read the manual. You know what I'm talking about. It's that book that everyone opens for installation and then puts on the shelf next to the moldy bean dip.

First off, type in a name for your game in the top slot. Next to it, type in how many HUMAN PLAYERS you want in your game (from 2–8). Just below the number of players, click which VERSION you will be playing: WINDOWS 95 or DOS. (Make sure you have the raten95.exe file in your Red Alert directory if you're playing the Windows 95 version or the raten.exe file if you're playing the DOS version.)

Under SCENARIO, pick a mission, any mission. Now, choose a SIDE from the pull-down menu.

The next three sliders set up starting parameters for your game. CREDITS, UNIT COUNT and TECH LEVEL should be self-explanatory. The boxes below set on/off variables. (AI PLAYERS can be clicked if you want computer opponents as well as humans. Note that there can only be a combination of 8 humans and computer opponents in one game.) Finally, on the right, whip out a description of your game in that large, overstuffed box.

Once you hit OK, you'll be fired right into the pre-launch panel. When the number of players in your game is the same as the number of players you selected, just hit the LAUNCH button and your game will begin!


Playing Magic: The Gathering

Important note: First off, the most complete information on using the ManaLink software with TEN can be found in the ManaLink readme.txt file. We highly recommend you read and print out this document before diving into ManaLink. This doc should answer most, if not all, of your questions about playing Magic: The Gathering on TEN.

The following instructions assume you understand the basic workings of the Magic: The Gathering rules and the Magic: The Gathering software. Any rules questions or questions about the Magic: The Gathering interface can be answered in the Magic: The Gathering instruction manual.

The Duelists' Battleground

On the left side of the screen, you'll see all the Magic players currently in this Duelists' Battleground (if they're away from their computer, you'll see the familiar "zzz" next to their name). The large window to the right displays all the chat text goin' on. Just below that, you can enter your chat for the "world" to see.

If you want to chat just with one individual, you can "Whisper" to them. Simply right-click their name, and choose the "Whisper" option. Now, type in a message that only they'll be able to see.

Hit the ENTER button to dive into the world of Magic: The Gathering! From here, you'll be using the ManaLink software to play games. Check the ManaLink readme.txt file for complete details on using ManaLink.


Playing Master of Orion II

First off, you need the latest version (version 1.2) of Master of Orion II before you can play. Once you have that installed and the CD is in the CD-ROM drive, get ready to warp!

If you want to restart a saved game, click the box next to LOAD SAVED GAME. This is also useful in case someone gets accidentally disconnected from the game or if the game happens to crash. When one of these happens, the creator of the original game should CREATE a new game, click LOAD SAVED GAME, and then pull up the saved game file. Everyone who was previously in the game before should join and then choose exactly the same alien race they were playing when the game terminated. You might lose a turn or two, but the game should play along fine.

After you click OK, you'll open up the game's pre-launch panel. When the right number of players join your game, just whack the LAUNCH button and you'll be underway.


Playing Myth: The Fallen Lords

The Myth battle is about to begin...

Plunk out a name for your game in the Name field and type a detailed Description of your challenge in the box below. This will be the primary way for people in the Myth Arenas to see what kind of game you plan to set up.

Note: The Description box is the most important part of the Myth game creation. It lets others in the Arena know what map and scenario you plan to choose from the Game Options screen in Myth.

Just to the right oft he Name field, use the arrows next to the Max. Players box to select the maximum number of players you want in your game. Just under that, you can select the color scheme for your Coat of Arms. This should reflect your primary and secondary colors of your army (see below).

Click the Password check box if you only want to restrict your game to certain people. Once you click the password check box, type in a password (up to 16 characters long). Each person joining a game must type in this exact password in this box to play your game.

Password tip: To let certain people know your password without announcing it to the entire Arena, right-click their name in the Who's Here part of the Arena (in the upper left) and select "Whisper." This'll put a "/w" in front of their name in the chat entry space. Now, go ahead and type in a private message for them only.

Now, choose a Team Name for your Myth squad in the field at the bottom of this box. Just below that, you can choose the Primary Color and Secondary Color for your army.

Myth Game Options screen

When you've made all your settings on our Create Game dialog box, you'll see the Myth Game Options screen. This is where you'll make all the game-related selections for your game, including scenario, map and other factors. Your options here should reflect the ones you described in the Description box when creating a game.


Playing Quake

Before you and your pals can check in to Gib City, you gotta fill out the stuff here. Options on this screen should be familiar to you Quake-heads, but there are a few tricky parts. (Note: players who JOIN a game can only choose the SHIRT and PANTS options and some COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS on this screen.)

Unlike other fast action games, 14.4 modem people won't bog a Quake game down when they play with 28.8 or ISDN+ connections. Unfortunately, the 14.4 people will be dragging a little behind.

Tip to those of you with 14.4 modems: if you set your SERVER SPEED at a low rate, you'll bring down the speed rate of all players in the game to your level. Good for you, but then getting people to join your game is another story…

To begin with, type in a NAME for your game in the first slot. To the right, enter how many people (including yourself), you'd like to play in the game. Below the game name slot, choose one of the Quake EPISODES and on the next slot down, pick a LEVEL in that EPISODE to be your starting point. The next line is the FRAG LIMIT. Move the slider all the way to the left to turn the FRAG LIMIT OFF. Just below that is the TIME LIMIT. Pushing the slider all the way to the left turns the TIME LIMIT OFF. Clicking DISABLE JOYSTICK saves a wee bit of memory by shutting down your 'stick.

Now comes the biggie—SERVER SPEED. This determines how many packets per second you want to send to each player. The more bandwidth you have the more packets you can send across. And the more packets you can send, the smoother gameplay you will experience. Here are some rules of thumb. If your worst bandwidth offender is using a 14.4 modem, you won't want to set the SERVER SPEED any higher than 10. If the lowest player is using a 28.8 modem, don't set it above 12. Finally, on an ISDN, T1 or T3 line, you can set SERVER SPEED as high as 15. If you find yourself sliding around on some levels, try lowering the server speed. You'll be a little slower, but you'll gain more control.

The next two options are TEAMPLAY 1 and TEAMPLAY 2. These are mutually exclusive—you can play either one or the other, but not both. TEAMPLAY 1 is standard team play: when players that have the same color PANTS shoot each other, they won't do any damage (they'll just shred away the other guy's armor). TEAMPLAY 2 is a different story. With TEAMPLAY 2, you can do damage to all team members (folks with the same color PANTS), and if you happen to kill one of your pals, you'll lose 1 frag. Ouch! (TEAMPLAY 2 may not work with some Quake C mods, so be warned.)

If NO EXIT is checked, all the fragging action will take place only on the specified level. COOP PLAY, when checked, indicates that all players in the game are cooperating to finish the level, whereupon they will go to the next level of the episode. (This is the only mode where monsters will be in the game.) DEATH MATCH is the opposite of COOP PLAY. It's an all-out free-for-all where it's kill or be killed. (This is the default option.)

DIFFICULTY LEVEL indicates the toughness of the episode and level in COOP PLAY. SHIRT and PANTS are used to customize your Marine. If you're playing a TEAM PLAY game, players on your team must have exactly the same color pants as others on the team.

EXTRA COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS allows you to put in DOS command line stuff for special doohickies. Check out the Quake DataSphere for complete details.

Just below the description box on the right are a list of TEN-supported Quake C SERVER MODS. These are nifty additions to your standard Quake game allowing you to fire missiles that look like zombies, wear a "skin" that looks like Mr. Bandwidth, or much more. (You can only play with one SERVER MOD at a time.) If you want to play with a mod, pull it down from the list. The description will appear in the box below.


Playing Shadow Warrior shareware

You drive like a baboon in heat! The Shadow Warrior Create Game box is pretty easy, but here are all the steps laid out for you.

Bang out a name in the Name field then type a Description of your game in the field below. To the left of these entries, pick the maximum number of players you want in the game by clicking the up and down arrows in the Max Players box. Just below the Max Players box, you can choose the Player Color of your ninja. If you click the Ranked box just below that, your Shadow Warrior game will become a ranked game. Finally, at the bottom, choose one of the four shareware Levels available for play.

The four pull-down menus in the middle of the box set up how you can play your game:

On the left, the Game Type option allows you to play in either WangBang (Spawn or No Spawn) or Cooperative mode. The "Spawn" aspect sets whether items are regenerated or not. Monsters sets how hard and how many monsters (if any) will appear during your game. The default is "No Monsters".

On the right, Kill Limit sets how many frags you want to play for, while Time Limit sets a barrier for the amount of time you want to play any particular level (before it switches to another level). Both Kill Limit and Time Limit are defaulted off.

Finally, the check boxes at the bottom allow you to turn Team Play on or off. (When Team Play is on, you can use the Hurt Teammate check box to wax yer friends.) Markers checked on will display small icons to indicate where items will respawn. Finally, Play With Nuke gives you the option to "Drop the Big One" on your enemies.

Hit OK to launch the game!


Playing Shadow Warrior retail

I love the shuriken! The Shadow Warrior Create Game box is pretty easy, but here are all the steps laid out for you. For those of you familiar with Shadow Warrior shareware game creation, there's only a couple of differences.

Bang out a name in the Name field then type a Description of your game in the field below. To the left of these entries, pick the maximum number of players you want in the game by clicking the up and down arrows in the Max Players box. Just below the Max Players box, you can choose the Player Color of your ninja. If you click the Ranked box just below that, your Shadow Warrior game will become a ranked game. Finally, at the bottom, choose one of the four shareware Levels available for play.

The four pull-down menus in the middle of the box set up how you can play your game:

On the left, the Game Type option allows you to play in either WangBang (Spawn or No Spawn) or Cooperative mode. The "Spawn" aspect sets whether items are regenerated or not. Monsters sets how hard and how many monsters (if any) will appear during your game. The default is "No Monsters".

On the right, Kill Limit sets how many frags you want to play for, while Time Limit sets a barrier for the amount of time you want to play any particular level (before it switches to another level). Both Kill Limit and Time Limit are defaulted off.

Also, the check boxes at the bottom allow you to turn Team Play on or off. (When Team Play is on, you can use the Hurt Teammate check box to wax yer friends.) Markers checked on will display small icons to indicate where items will respawn. Finally, Play With Nuke gives you the option to "Drop the Big One" on your enemies.

Finally, clicking User Map will allow you to select a custom Shadow Warrior user map from the pull-down box on the right. You must have your user maps in the root level of your Shadow Warrior directory and all players playing your game must have the map on their local computer.

Hit OK to launch the game!


Playing Total Annihilation

Total Mayhem. Total Strategy. Total Annihilation!

You want real-time strategy? You got it, pal. Creating a Total Annihilation game is remarkably easy, but here's the lowdown just in case.

Type out a name for your game in the Name field and type a Description of your challenge in the box below. Just to the right, use the arrows next to the Max. Players box to select the maximum number of players you want in your game.

Note: The below settings are entered by the game's creator as a courtesy to anyone thinking of joining the game (the settings will be shown in the Game Description). When the creator enters the Total Annihilation Battleroom, however, these settings must be manually inputted before the game begins.

First off, you'll need to set the amount of starting Metal and Energy for your game. Next, choose a game Map to play on. The information following the map name displays the size (in screens) of the map as well as the amount of RAM you need on your computer to play that map.

Dead Commander has three settings: Ends (your game ends if your Commander dies), Continues (the game continues as normal if your Commander dies), and Deathmatch (you get a new Commander if your original Commander dies, but your forces start over).

Line of Sight provides three options: Circular (units see things within a certain radius—unobstructed by terrain), True (units see things within a certain radius, but terrain will block your vision), and Permanent (once an area of terrain is "seen", it will always be visible to check up on).

Locations allows you to determine your starting point, either in a Fixed position or Random. Finally, the Mapping option lets you view the map Mapped or Unmapped. Mapped shows you the entire playing area, terrain and all. Unmapped completely hides the terrain until scouted by your troops.

Finally, click the Password check box if you only want to restrict your game to certain people. Once you click the password check box, type in a password (up to 16 characters long). Each person joining a game must type in this exact password in this box to play your game.

Password tip: To let certain people know your password without announcing it to the entire Arena, right-click their name in the Who's Here part of the Arena (in the upper left) and select "Whisper." This'll put a "/w" in front of their name in the chat entry space. Now, go ahead and type in a private message for them only.


Playing Twilight Lands

Twilight Lands is an online fantasy role-playing game that is exclusive to TEN. You can't play it anywhere else! The game was created by those design wizards at ICE Online who put a ton of effort into making it fun and rewarding for role-players everywhere.

Before you begin, you'll need to download the Twilight Lands software. It's available au gratis (FREE!) from within TEN by going to the File menu and choosing "Download Files... " or from the Twilight Lands Web site at http://www.ten.net/twilight. That Web site is the key source of information about Twilight Lands on TEN—it includes how to play, where you can sign up for an e-mail mailing list on the game and links on various game-related subjects.

When you enter the Twilight Lands Arena, you'll see a list of players on the right. This Arena is the staging area for the game and a good place to talk to people just arriving or departing from the Twilight Lands world.

Once you click the ENTER button, you'll launch the Twilight Lands game. (The first time you hit this button, you'll be instructed to locate the twilight.exe game file on your computer.) This will take you to the Twilight Lands main menu, where you'll have three options: "create new character", "enter world" and "exit".

If you don't have an existing Twilight Lands character, hit the "create new character" option. This easy jaunt will guide you through the character creation process.

When you choose the "enter world" option, you'll be mystically transported into another realm. Keep your eyes open, your hand at your sword and enjoy!


Playing Wiz-War

Grab a tasty refreshment and a few salted munchies, fire up your computer and get ready to pay the funnest lil boardgame this side of the Pecos. Wiz-War is here and, yes, it's based on the popular mini-boardgame you see at every gaming convention known to man. So, download the software, fire up TEN and launch those fireballs!

First, whack out a Name for your game in the top field and enter a Description in the box right below that. Next, choose the Max Players you want to play with (from 2–4, including yourself). The Ranked Game checkbox, when checked, makes this game count toward your Wiz-War ranking.

Right below that, you can set a number of game-related options. Time Per Turn lets you choose how much time each player has to make their move before they forfeit their turn. Allow Watchers is a checkbox that lets other people not playing to view your game. If the Allow Joining After Launch box is checked, players who didn't join the game when it was initially created can jump in and play. Finally, Join as Watcher is a checkbox that lets you just jump in and observe without taking place in the action.

Hitting OK will launch the battle!


Playing EF2000 V2.0

Get your EF2000 V2.0 manual out, sim-heads, you're gonna need it! Remember that EF2000 V2.0 is a high-end flight simulation and requires a lot more thought and knowledge of flight simulation, air combat and the EF2000 V2.0 interface than can be discussed here. With this section, we're just gonna discuss the options on how to get it up and running. For more details on EF2000 V2.0 and its user-interface, please consult the EF2000 V2.0 manual.

To begin, type a name for your game in the Game name area Just to the right, use the up and down arrows to set the Max players you want in the game (from 2–8).

Next, type in a Description of your game in the middle box. Here's where you might want to let people know what flight scenario you plan to create once you get in the game.

Finally, click the Password check box if you only want to restrict your game to certain people. Once you click the password check box, type in a password (up to 16 characters long). Each person joining a game must type in this exact password in this box to play your game.

Password tip: To let certain people know your password without announcing it to the entire Arena, right-click their name in the Who's Here part of the Arena (in the upper left) and select "Whisper." This'll put a "/w" in front of their name in the chat entry space. Now, go ahead and type in a private message for them only.

When you hit OK to create the game, you'll open up the pre-launch panel. Once you get the number of players in your game that you want, hit the LAUNCH button and your game will begin.

Once you get within EF2000 V2.0...

...is another story. After the game creator hits LAUNCH from the pre-launch panel, EF2000 V2.0 will load up and all players will see a screen of "currently linked players." When everyone hooks up to the game, this screen will disappear and the EF2000 V2.0 main menu will appear.

On the main menu, the game creator gets to choose a number of game options. In the upper left, choose either Quick Combat or Simulator. Quick Combat is a free-for-all deathfest, where aircraft zip about. Team Play allows you to choose a color for your aircraft and play with your friends against a common enemy. Base Defense is exactly what it says.

In Simulator mode, you have a little more flexibility with the creation of your EF2000 game, but with the sacrifice that it's a little more complex to set up. First, choose the type of game you want to play (Basic Training and Weapons Training are disabled), and then choose a mission. You'll get a ton of options when selecting certain game types—please refer to the EF2000 V2.0 manual for any user-interface questions.

After you have your mission set up (in either Quick Combat or Simulator), you'll be able to configure your weapons loadout. Once that's done, you're ready to take to the skies!

Important note: When you're setting up a mission, you'll have the option to put in a ton of friendly and enemy aircraft. Don't go wild. The more aircraft you add, the more bandwidth they take up and the worse performance you'll get. Try to keep it to a reasonable number for gameplay sake.


Joining a game

Find a game you want from the GAMES window and hit JOIN. As always, you can't enter any games with the [image] symbol, since they're all full. Games with the [image] have too stringent a bandwidth requirement for you to play. When you're joining a Duke game, check the GAME DESCRIPTION window to see if the creator is playing with a user-created level. If so, make sure you've got that level on your machine!

When you hit JOIN, you'll either go right into the game (if it's already started) or to the game pre-launch panel where you go into a short holding pattern before the game starts.

If you think you have reached your connection rating in error, click Mr. Bandwidth for more info or call AAA for a jump start.


Welcome to the NASCAR Racing Online Series

Are you ready for some racing? You've come to the right place, bub. We'll give you all the drive-time excitement you can handle and plenty more.

The NASCAR Racing Online Series is the brainchild of Papyrus (the developers of NASCAR Racing 2—the simulation you need to play NROS) and TEN. With a copy of NASCAR Racing 2 and the TEN software, you'll be able to race your stock car against other drivers from across North America.

Although NROS is fully integrated into the TEN software, players entering the NROS Arena Selector and NROS Game Arenas will see some differences in the way these screens are set up. The Arena Selector is fairly straightforward, but the Game Arena has a number of additional features.

We highly recommend you use the >> button at the top of this Help file to cruise your way through all the NROS screens just to get a feel for what's new and what's changed. If you're fairly familiar with the TEN interface, you might want to just check out the NROS Game Arena screen and the section on creating an NROS race.

One important thing to remember. Once you finish an NROS race, you'll need to click Leave Race to return to the main chat area. Got it? Now, floor it!


NROS Zones and Arenas

What the heck are Zones? Ethereally speaking, Zones are localized regions in cyberspace. They have nothing to do with physical geographic regions. You may be dialing from Seattle and get a better connection through our router in the Midwest than through our California router.

Why are there so many Arenas, Zones and categories? Since there can be hundreds, if not thousands, of people on TEN at once, we needed to break up the traffic a bit. Think of Arenas and Zones as the equivalent of Internet traffic lights. Here's a run-down of the Zones on TEN based on how you connected to TEN:

•	If you connected through a TEN local access number, Your Best Zone is more likely to be in Valhalla. If you're using your own Internet service provider, it's not worth even trying to use this Zone—you won't get the best results. But, you are welcome to go in and chat!

•	If you're on the East Coast and are connected through your own Internet service provider (ISP), Your Best Zone is probably going to be in The Abyss.

•	If you connected through your own ISP and are not on the East Coast, Your Best Zone should be in Pandemonium.

This isn't to say that all folks on the East Coast connecting with their own ISP will get a better connection through The Abyss (the reverse goes for Pandemonium), it depends on a number of factors: clean phone lines, a quality ISP, the stars aligning properly, etc.

Remember that players in one Zone won't be able to see (or play with!) players in another Zone. So, be sure to coordinate Zones with your pals before starting up.

TEN's Zone check

Once you enter the NROS Arena Selector screen, TEN will begin its flag-waving procedure as it sees how clean your connection is to the Internet as a whole.

The Zones

When the test finishes, all the Zones will appear from top to bottom from best to worst. Click on the stuff below for a description:

Your Best Zone

Playable Zones

Chat-only Zones

Help Zones

The Arenas

Now that you've got a handle on what the Zones are, here's a brief overview of the different kinds of Arenas:

Game Arenas

Help Arenas

Rookies' HQ

Special Arenas


NROS Arena Selector screen

Here's where TEN checks your connection quality so you can choose which Zone and Game Arena you want to play in. Arenas are the launching point for games on TEN.

Swipe at the screen below if you're curious about something. Otherwise, once our connection test is finished, just click an Arena (the text in green) and hit Go to Arena.

Arenas under the "Your Best Zone" rating are ones that you're more likely to have good gameplay in. If you choose to play in Arenas under the category "Playable Zones", you might not have quite as good a game. "Chat-only Zones" contain Arenas where all you can do is chat.

An Arena is full if it's got a [image] symbol displayed in front of it. Try another. There'll always be at least one open. "Simulation Arenas" are Arenas that use the NASCAR Racing 2 Simulation mode, while "Arcade Arenas" are ones that use a less-realistic arcade-style mode. Help Arenas are staffed with TENguides and are there in case you need some online help setting up a game.


Go to Arena

Once you've selected an Arena from the above list, click here to go, go, go!


NROS Game Arena screen

Finally! You've made it to the NASCAR Racing Online Series Arenas. Now the fun begins! Click on the graphic below for quick-and-dirty pop-up help on a particular area of the screen:

Once you enter a NROS Arena, TEN will fire up a test to see how good your connection is to this Arena. After the test is complete, you'll see your connection rating in the form of a racing flag (either green, blue, yellow or red). If you want more details, just click on the flag. This'll pull up your connection report.

There are two buttons in the upper left: News and Race. News shows a quick overview of the news or news headlines on the NROS Web Site. Race is where you can see all the races in progress. The default when you enter the Arena is News.

The list of players in this NROS Arena appear in the Who's Here list in the lower right. Want an explanation about the icons next to their names?  Each player's screen name will appear in this list.

When you're ready to play, just select a game from the list at the top and hit Join Race. The first time you hit Create Race or Join Race, you'll be prompted to browse your hard drive for the nros.exe game enabler (or nrosrend.exe for the Rendition version). And, if there aren't any races to your liking, create one of your own!


News

This brings up the news or news headlines from the NROS Web Site. This is the default whenever you enter a NROS Arena.


Race

Clicking this button allows you to see a window with all the races currently in progress or being formed.


Connection Rating flag

This flag shows your current connection rating. It'll be rated either EXCELLENT (green), GOOD (yellow), OK (blue) or FORGET IT (red).


NROS button bar

This list of buttons provides category information on the races listed below. Clicking one of the gray buttons will sort the races by that category. If you right-click on the button bar, you can customize which buttons you see here. The little black square in one of the buttons indicates that it is the currently sorted category.


Race list

The Race list displays which races are currently being formed or are already in progress. The races are sorted by the gray button bar directly above the list. If you right-click on a particular race, you can see who's currently in that race.


Create Race

If you don't see any races to your liking, hit this button to take you to the NROS Create Race screen.


Join Race

Hit this button to jump into an already-created race. It'll open up the Race Chat window for that race or simply launch you directly into the race.


Race Chat tab

Clicking this tab will allow you to chat with other people who have joined the race you're in.


Arena Chat tab

This tab will bring you to the general Arena chat area where you can chat with the masses. As the Arena gets fuller, additional "chat tabs" will open up, keeping the noise level down.


Chatting with other drivers

Looking for that stick shift maniac you talked to the other night? Need to crow about your latest glorious victory? The chat area's the place to do it.

It's as easy as pie. Just put your mouse cursor in the long black area to the left of the Send button and start pounding away at the keyboard. When you exhale and finish a thought, click the SEND button or just hit Enter. Your message will whiz through cyberspace faster than another Microsoft stock split. And there it is. In living green. Your message to the world on screen.

You'll notice that there may be more than one "chat tab" in the chat window. That's because once an NROS Arena gets too many folks rubbing shoulders with one another, it automagically creates a new chat window. People in one chat window won't be able to see chat in the other windows, FYI.

If you just want to talk to one person, you can Whisper them a message. Right-click on their name in the Who's Here window and choose "Whisper". This will put a "/w <name>" on the chat entry line (where <name> is the screen name of the person you will be whispering to). Type your message and click Send. No one will see it but them. Meet that special friend. Taunt the guy typing in ALL CAPS. Party hardy.

And if you get tired of listening to someone ramble on and on about the mating habits of Peruvian llamas, just Muzzle them and you won't hear any of their chat conversation. Right-click on their name in the WHO'S HERE window and choose "Muzzle". This sticks a [image] to the left of their name. Now, you can't hear them, and they can't Page or Locate you.


Creating an NROS race

Now comes the meaty stuff. Creating your first NASCAR Racing Online Series race is a piece of cake if you're familiar with the NASCAR Racing 2 options. This screen basically replaces the first couple of screens you would see en route to creating a race in single player NASCAR Racing 2 mode.

At the top of the dialog box, the Style field displays what type of NROS Arena you're currently in (either a Simulation Arena or Arcade Arena). The Password check box and field allows you to enter a secret password so that only people with that password can join your race.

Password tip: To let certain people know your password without announcing it to the entire Arena, right-click their name in the Who's Here part of the Arena (in the lower right) and select "Whisper." This'll put a "/w" in front of their name in the chat entry space. Now, go ahead and type in a private message for them only.

Track & Length

The Track pull down menu lets you choose which track you want to race on. Your Skill Level at this track displays how proficient you are on this particular track (the range goes up to 15, where 15 is the highest Skill Level you can attain for a track).

Race Length is a percentage of the total laps normally associated with the event for this track. For example, if you chose the Daytona track at 10%, you would have a 50 lap race (since Daytona is a 500-lap event). Practice Length is the amount of time everyone has to practice before the race. Garage Time is the amount of tuning time between the practice and the actual race. Both Practice Length and Garage Time are measured in minutes.

Racers

Minimum Racers determines the smallest number of drivers that will allow the race to begin. Maximum Racers is the highest number of drivers allowed in this race. Minimum Skill Levels indicates the minimum skill level a driver must have to join this race. Maximum Skill Levels sets the highest skill level that can join this race.

Rules

Yellow Flags sets whether yellow flag laps are enabled or not. Pace Lap controls whether an initial pace lap will be run before the race starts. Night Race (only available on some tracks) determines if the race will be run in a darkened atmosphere. Player Breakdowns, when set, throws a random element into the mix allowing for potential random mechanical failures during a race.

The Damage setting is a realism setting. It'll either be Arcade (damage to a car will do very little to its performance), On (damage highly affects driving ability) or Off (no damage will occur to any car in the race).

Weather

Weather can be either Constant (set by the variables below) or Random (decided randomly by the simulation). For Constant weather, the following options apply:

Temperature determines how hot or cold the weather is (in degrees Fahrenheit).Wind Speed allows you to set the ferocity of wind at the track. Finally, Wind Direction lets you control the direction of any incoming breezes.

Ending a race

Once a race is over, you'll return to the NROS Game Arena. Remember, you have to click the Leave Race button in order to join or create a new race.


Checking race status

The Race window at the top of the screen shows all the races currently in progress or about to begin. There's a couple semi-hidden functions here when you use your mouse to right-click certain things.

There's a small black square in the upper right-hand corner of one of the buttons in the gray button bar. This indicates which race option the list of races is being sorted by. When you click a different button, that black square will switch to the new button you clicked.

Button bar

If you right-click the gray button bar at the top of this window, you'll be presented with three options: Sort Ascending, Sort Descending and Customize List.

Sort Ascending will sort races and race options in ascending alphabetical order. Sort Descending will do the reverse—sort races and race options in descending alphabetical order.

Customize List allows you to choose which race options are displayed in the Race window. You have the choice of any combination of the following options: Track/Status, Race Creator, Style, Race Length, Session, Number of Racers, Skill Level, Player's Skill Level, Damage, Practice Length, Garage Time, Weather, Temperature, Wind Speed, Wind Direction, Yellow Flags, Pace Lap, Night Race and Player Breakdowns. All these options are explained in the NROS race creation dialog box.

Race list

When you right-click on the Race list, you'll be shown a list of all the TEN members currently playing (or waiting) in that race.


Joining an NROS race

Ready to burn rubber? Just find a race you want from the Race window at the top and hit Join Race. As always, you can't enter any games with the [image] symbol, since they've reached their max capacity.

When you hit Join Race, you'll either go right into the race (if it's already started) the Race Chat window where you go into a short holding pattern before the race starts. The creator of the race will launch it when he's good 'n' ready. Got your seatbelt fastened?


Leaving an NROS race

When you finally finish your NROS race, you'll be dropped back into the NROS Game Arena. However, instead of seeing the normal Create Race and Join Race options, you'll see a Leave Race button.

You must hit the Leave Race button to officially exit your last race before you can join a different NROS race.


NROS connection ratings

Each time you enter a new NROS Arena, TEN will run a little test to check the quality of your connection to this Arena and Zone. It changes from time to time due to a number of factors: storms on the Internet, router glitches, or if your ISP is having a bad hair day.

When the rating's finished, you'll get one of the following:

EXCELLENT	Wow! Premium motor oil. The best.
Normal for high-speed Internet connections (ISDNs, T1s and such).

GOOD	Playable. Average. A little rubbing on the left rear.
Basic rating for modems with a good Internet service provider.

OK	Not too bad. Could be better. Your tires low on pressure.
Weird. We've got suggestions to improve your connection.

FORGET IT	Stinky. Blows chow. Major collision!
Ugh. Must be something wrong. Checked your cables lately?

If you need a more detailed information or want to check your latency history, click on that racing flag in the middle of the left side of the screen.


NROS connection report

Your NROS connection report shows a whole pit crew worth of useful data. Our words of advice appear at the top, telling you how many people can be involved in a game you CREATE or JOIN based on your connection to the Internet and the parameters of the game in question (this number includes you, by the way).

Just below that, we've has already kicked the tires and provided an NROS connection rating free of charge.

The two buttons at the bottom (Latency History and Diagnostics ) will pop up more detailed info if you really want to go that far.


NROS latency history

In this screen, you'll see a wonderful color-coded graph. The squiggle running along the bottom of the graph is your latency over the past few minutes. In general, the lower it is on the graph, the better.

Along the left side of the graph is a colored bar which relates to your connection quality. If your average latency falls (without spikes) within the green area, you've got an Excellent connection. The higher your average latency is on the graph, the worse connection rating you've got. Zoom in and out of the graph with the + and - buttons in the lower left.

We've got more details on latency . You can also check out your NROS diagnostics or get more info on your NROS connection rating .


NROS diagnostics

Your diagnostic information is basically a breakdown of your connection rating.

Connection speed is how quick you can send and receive data—your latency. If you have a low reading here, you'll probably be experiencing more "lag" than usual.

Stability is how clean your connection is to the Internet. The higher the percentage is on this scale, the more scrubbed down your connection is and the less spikes you will receive that break up your game.

Maximum players is the largest number of players that can be in a game with you (including yourself). This maximum number will change from game to game and is directly related to your bandwidth.

Hope that helped! If not, you may want to try the latency or bandwidth help areas. Mr. Bandwidth might also be able to provide assistance with his little Internet tutorial.


Connection ratings

Each time you enter a new Arena, Mr. Bandwidth will run a little test to check the quality of your connection to this Arena and Zone. It changes from time to time due to a number of factors: storms on the Internet, router glitches, or if Mr. B ate some bad fish and is feeling a little queasy.

When he's done, he'll pop up with one of four ratings:

EXCELLENT	Wow! USDA Prime. The best.
Normal for high-speed Internet connections (ISDNs, T1s and such).

GOOD	Playable. Average. Not too chunky.
Basic rating for modems with a good Internet service provider.

OK	Not too bad. Could be better. Grade B-.
Weird. We've got suggestions to improve your connection.

FORGET IT	Stinky. Blows chow. Get out of town!
Ugh. Must be something wrong. Checked your cables lately?

If you need a more detailed explanation or want to check your latency history, click on his luminescent head. He won't mind.


Mr. B's Connection Report

Your Connection Report shows a whole truckful of useful data. Mr. B's words of advice appear at the top, telling you how many people can be involved in a game you CREATE or JOIN based on your connection to the Internet and the parameters of the game in question (this number includes you, by the way).

Just below that, Mr. Bandwidth has already kicked the tires and provided a connection rating free of charge.

The two buttons at the bottom (LATENCY HISTORY and DIAGNOSTICS) will pop up more detailed info if you really want to go that far.


Latency History

Here you see a wonderful color-coded graph. The squiggle running along the bottom of the graph is your latency over the past few minutes. In general, the lower it is on the graph, the better.

Along the left side of the graph is a colored bar which relates to your connection quality. If your average latency falls (without spikes) within the green area, you've got an Excellent connection. The higher your average latency is on the graph, the worse connection rating you've got. Zoom in and out of the graph with the + and - buttons in the lower left.

There's more on latency. You can also check your Diagnostics or find out more about your Connection Rating.


Diagnostics

Your Diagnostic Information is basically a breakdown of your Connection Rating.

Connection speed is how quick you can send and receive data—your latency. If you have a low reading here, you'll probably be experiencing more "lag" than usual.

Stability is how clean your connection is to the Internet. The higher the percentage is on this scale, the more scrubbed down your connection is and the less spikes you will receive that break up your game.

Maximum players is the largest number of players that can be in a game with you (including yourself). This maximum number will change from game to game or may be gone altogether if not relevant to the game you're playing. This number is directly related to your bandwidth.

Hope that helped! If not, you may want to try the latency or bandwidth help areas. Mr. Bandwidth might also be able to provide assistance with his little Internet tutorial.


About Mr. B

Ah, yes. Mr. Bandwidth. The Master of Modems. The Lord of Latency. The Concierge of Connection. He comes from a land that latency forgot. Packets roaming free in the wild. The secret formula for Vernors whizzing by the secret formula for Bubble Up. We took Mr. Bandwidth away from all that fun and put him to work.

Now for the nitty gritty. Mr. Bandwidth is a strange little guy we hired to make sure everyone could connect to TEN. He can't actually fix your connection problems, you understand. But, he can give the boot to folks with lousy connections who would otherwise screw up everybody's fun.

So, Mr. B is your friend. Unless you're the one feeling his pointy foot on your butt.

We've tried to teach Mr. Bandwidth to moderate his usual savagery. Now, instead of just killing anyone with a crummy connection, he helps them make it better.

There are two important factors to playing fast-action games (like Duke Nukem 3D) across the Internet. The first is your Connection Rating which is determined by the latency of your connection. The second is the number of players you can join or create a game with, which is determined by your bandwidth.

You don't have to give a damn about this stuff if you don't want to. All you really have to know is what Mr. Bandwidth tells you when he checks your connection. Play games in Arenas within Your Best Zone and don't try to join games that are forbidden [image] due to your bandwidth.

Mr. B's got his own little Internet primer if you're interested.


Mr. Bandwidth explains the Internet

First, the bad news: the so-called information superhighway isn't really much like a highway. It's more like the road system in Outer Kazakhswana, complete with dead ends, switchbacks, washouts, cul-de-sacs, corrupt officials in toll booths, and backwater hellholes where they still eat human flesh. Yikes.

Now, the worse news: playing fast-action games across the Internet is a lot like staging the Indy 500 in Kazakhswana. It's difficult, dangerous and frankly, kinda stupid. Or to put it in the words of the first and last Kazakhswanan pit chief: "Ho, ho, ho! Many dead!"

But it can be done.

First, let's see what you already know about the Internet. Choose the metaphor below that, in your opinion, best represents the Net:

Model	"I believe the Internet is"

The "Al Gore" 	A busy commuter highway, with lots of vista points and Stuckeys.

Wired "Infobahn" 	Trés chic. Cyber-sexy. Vinyl. Chrome. Coooooooool.

The Hose	A really big hose, only for data instead of water and with a billion nozzles.

NetWarrior	A brutal, desolate place where the strong rule and wimps die screaming.

An example (kinda)

One of the more curious aspects of the Internet is that long-range communication has a whole lot less impact than in real life. It's all about the cleanliness of your connection, the time it takes for a small bit of info to go back and forth (latency) and the amount of data you can pass back and forth (bandwidth).

Picture it like this. Say you're on a playground where one loud, obnoxious, fast-speaking kid is across the park and a pudgy, laryngitis-ridden stutterer is staring you in the face only a few feet away. Following me so far?

If they both burst into "I Am the Walrus" at once, what's likely to happen (other than you running for the nearest exit)? The bellowing, quick speaker will probably communicate "koo koo ka joob" faster and cleaner than the wheezing, fat boy. Even if the portly kid is so close, that he's probably slobbering on your new Reeboks. The talking speed of the fast speaker could be considered bandwidth, while his speech clarity (compared to the hoarse-throated stutterer) could be considered latency.

Didn't that clear things up? No? Ok, then check out the definitive answers under latency and bandwidth. Metaphors are tough work.

If you're having latency, bandwidth, or connection problems (ones that aren't a fault of the network), we can provide some pointers and helpful tips. Check out how to get even with Mr. Bandwidth.


The "Al Gore"

What?!? Get outta here!


Wired "Infobahn"

Not bloody likely.


The Hose

Nice try. You're getting warmer.


NetWarrior

Ah! The right answer. Now that we've removed any comforting illusions you may have held, let's continue.


Don't get mad at him, get even

Really, Mr. B isn't there to screw you or kick you out of games. Think of him as a camp counselor, making sure everyone has fun and plays fair.

There are ways you can get a more reliable connection without having to park your rear at your local phone company to get a high-priced, clean ISDN line.

Latency concerns

One way latency increases is due to the number of jumps you have to make before you connect to TEN. Minimizing latency means getting the most direct link to your target as humanly possible. TEN's preferred Internet providers are set up so that you should never have more than a couple of hops before you arrive here. Less robust providers may end up plowing through a dozen or more routers. With that kind of latency, you'll be lucky to play Parcheesi.

Latency can also be affected by other factors. General congestion on the Internet (primarily during peak surfing hours) or through your Internet provider can add significantly to your latency.

Bandwidth issues

Bandwidth is directly related to the overall speed of your connection. The faster the modem you have, the better. Don't try to connect to TEN with your 300 baud acoustic coupler—it ain't gonna work.

Don't get overly pre-occupied with the speed of your modem, though. Even though you may have the be-all, end-all of 28.8 modems, you still may get a flaky connection if you use an Internet provider who runs his business out of some flooded Chicago basement on rat-eaten wires. To have the best gameplay, all players should have reliable, high-speed modems with squeaky-clean Internet providers.

General stuff

In the long run, if you have an Internet service provider that consistently gives you crappy results, you may need to make a change to use TEN effectively. Dialing in through one of our local access numbers should improve your connection to TEN.

You might also have line difficulties or modem problems. Older modems tend to be less efficient, and can add significantly to your latency. Line problems are a little trickier to deal with. You could always try negotiating with Guido and Nunzio at the phone company, or make sure your cat's not chomping on the phone line.


What is latency?

To put it simply, latency is the time it takes for you to send a packet of info to a site and for the site's response to get back to you. Contacting really distant regions (like, on another continent) may take more time and sometimes even local sites can be hard to reach, because the road the data takes to get there is full of twists and turns.

Let's take an everyday, common Web task. Suppose you're connecting to the Net through Big Bob's Discount Web Hut in Los Angeles and heading for a German site with detailed instructions for building a fusion bomb. Bob's Web Hut tries to find a route. First, it sends your signal through Chuck's big regional server. Chuck shunts you to a big hub in Detroit. Detroit plugs into a site in Germany ("where there are no laws"), which then zips over to Gregor's regional server and finally waltzes up to Nuke-it-Yourself (www.nukeemsilly.com).

Your signal has bounced between five different routers before reaching its destination. The amount of time it takes for the nuke site to bounce an information packet back to you is referred to as "latency," and is usually measured in milliseconds.

Suppose you have a relatively high latency—a second. Since you can wait an extra second for the first atomic-core blueprint to start rezzing, this is no big deal.

However, if you were instead trying to play a rousing round of Duke Nukem 3D, a one-second delay would send you straight to Chop City. A delay of one second between you hitting your fire button and that rocket whooshing off to roast your pal, is ugly. Way ugly.

In other words, latency is a fact of life on the Internet. Minimizing it is the hardest issue, but there are things you can do to help. Mr. Bandwidth has some entertaining notions of the topic of minimizing latency. Check him out.


What is bandwidth?

Now, latency has nothing to do with how fast your modem is. Bandwidth, on the other hand, has a whole lot to do with it. The Golden Rule of Bandwidth is this: the more people participating in something, the slower that something gets. Say you're playing Quake. When you fire off a missile, that data has to be shot over to all other players. If there's just one other player, the info travels really quick. But, if you're in a six-player game, that same missile packet has to zip to all five other people so they can tell if they're suddenly paste or simply hit by the splatter. That takes more time.

Many greasy old cyber-relics will yap your ear off about how fast things used to be, back in hippie days when there were only 14 people who knew what the Internet was—but that was then, and this is now.

Anyway, when it comes to games, the problem is this: every game has a "bandwidth budget." Each and every player who joins that game consumes part of the budget. The amount they use up varies for several reasons, but modem speed is the primary factor. A game that could support eight 28.8k modem users might only be able to support four 14.4k modemers—even if the 14.4 guys have the Lamborghini of all Net providers.

Think of it this way. There's only so much room in each game. The slower your modem, the fatter you get. A game that could fit eight slim 28.8k modem users might only be able to fit four pudgy 14.4k guys.

When you're on TEN, Mr. Bandwidth will analyze your connection to tell you how good your gameplay quality will be (latency) and how many players you can be in a game with (bandwidth). But, sometimes the Net gets wacky. If your Excellent connection one day tells you to Forget It, don't panic. Try retesting it first. You may have been caught in a brief spike.

If you're really having problems, there are some things you can do to increase your bandwidth. Mr. B will be happy to explain!


What the heck are you talking about?

Internet? Latency? ISP? Help! I ain't got a clue!

No prob.

The Internet and modems

Let's begin assuming you know absolutely nothing about the Internet. Start with a clean slate. Basically, the core of the Internet is a whole ton of computer networks around the globe that folks like us can connect to. They are all linked up so that people on one computer network can access data on another network in the system. We can connect (or "sign on") to one of these networks either at the network computer's location or through our home computer.

To connect to these computers from our house, we have to have a computer, a phone line and a connection device called a modem. Now, modem stands for MOdulator/DEModulator and is a device to convert digital signals into tones so they can be sent over regular phone lines.

How does all this relate to the Internet and this World Wide Web?

The Web

The Internet is the massive linking of computer networks with a techie overtone. The World Wide Web is simply a cosmetic makeover of all that raw data so that the average person can easily get the information—sometimes relevant, but generally completely irrelevant—about anything you do or don't want to know. On the Web, it's sometimes hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Especially if you're allergic to chaff.

You access the Web by using a computer program called a "browser." The most popular ones are made by Netscape and Microsoft. To connect to a location on the Web, you need to find its Universal Resource Locator or URL (pronounced "you-are-ell"). An example URL address would be www.ten.net. When typing this into your browser, it is preceded by the letters "http," a colon ":" and two forward slashes "//". So, when you're typing our address into your browser, it would appear as: http://www.ten.net. Now, you can finally see for yourself what all those TV ads are blaring when they dropkick their URL at you.

Mail without stamps

One of the more handy features of the Internet is the ability to instantaneously shoot off an electronic mail message to a friend across town or across the country. Electronic mail (or e-mail, for short) can be sent to anyone that has an Internet account through school, work or home. You read an e-mail message either through your Web browser or via an e-mail program like Eudora Light.

You'll need to know their specialized e-mail address which looks something like gilmour@surfcity.com. gilmour is the person's name, surfcity is the computer service's name and com is the type of service the computer is. This last part can be one of the following: .org (organization), .com (commercial), .net (network), .edu (education) or .gov (government).

In conclusion (for now)

This is really only the tip of the snowcone. There's a lot more stuff out there about FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites, Java and the overall lay of the Internet landscape. If you're really curious, pick up one of those "Dummies" books by IDG or just peruse your local bookstore. They've got racks and racks of Internet tomes, one of which will be just your speed. We've also got some information on Mr. Bandwidth and the Internet, latency and bandwidth if you need it. There's also some hints on how to choose your own Internet service provider.

Good luck!


Where do I get the latest news and info about the TEN service?

Good thing you asked! Super-duper up-to-the-second information can be found in the TEN News Web pages. These pages are updated on a regular basis and is the best place to find out about news and other kick butt events.

While we try to keep the Help file as up to date as possible, circumstances beyond our control prevent us from having a new Help file on a semi-regular basis. The best place to find out about any these frequently asked questions (FAQs), troubleshooting solutions and the like is by going to the Support menu and choosing "FAQ Web Site".

You can also check out TEN's home page at www.ten.net for general and corporate information, the File Factory  for shareware, patches, uploads, user-created Duke Nukem 3D levels and other chaos and the various DataSpheres for complete info on most of the games we support.


What times will TEN be down for maintenance?

We have regular network down time for maintenance and upgrades on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 6–8 AM Pacific Time. So, don't be surprised if you can't sign on during those times.

There may be other times where TEN is unavailable due to major overhauls and so forth, but we'll try to keep those to a minimum. We'll also try to warn you in advance of those times.


How do I cancel my TEN account?

This is a test

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How do I connect to TEN?

With TEN's client software, you can connect to TEN though your own Internet connection or from one of TEN's local access numbers across the United States. (These local access numbers provide a PPP Internet connection). You can reach TEN through any Internet service provider (ISP) which provides a PPP or SLIP account.

Online services such as America Online, Prodigy and CompuServe all offer PPP connections to the Internet, but be warned. Your latencies will likely be quite high and may not be appropriate for fast-action games like NASCAR Racing 2, Quake and the like. You should still be able to play turn-based games like Wiz-War and our role-playing games like Dark Sun Online.


How can I tell if my service provider is compatible with TEN?

In general, you can access TEN through any Internet service provider that gives you SLIP or PPP access. TIA and other SLIP emulators simply won't work properly.

You will need to determine if you TCP/IP protocol is properly configured, however.

To determine if your TCP/IP protocol is configured properly for TEN, try "pinging" a TEN site via its IP address. PING (Packet INternet Groper) is a diagnostic utility which sends packets of information to a known IP address and waits for a reply. To ping our site, follow these steps:

1.	Verify that you have the dialup adapter installed by going to Start --> Find --> Find Files or Folders. Once there, type ping.exe and press Enter. If you see ping.exe, things are cool and you can bop on over to Step 2.

If you don't see ping.exe here, then the dialup adapter is not installed or you are using an OEM version of Windows 95 which is missing these standard files. You'll need to have the Windows 96 dialup adapter installed on your computer to properly use TEN.

2.	Establish your Internet connection through your Internet service provider.

3.	From the Start menu, select Programs --> MS-DOS Prompt. This will open a DOS prompt.

4.	At the DOS prompt, type ping darkride.ten.net and press Enter. After you hit Enter, you'll get one of three possible responses to this ping:

a) Reply from 204.162.251.33: bytes=23 time=264ms TTL=251
You should get four rows of stuff that look similar to this. This is a goooood response and shows that you can communicate with TEN. If you get this, you should be A-OK.

b) Bad IP address darkride.ten.net
You should first verify that the ping line was entered correctly and try again. If you still get this response, you'll want to try the numeric address. Go back to the MS-DOS prompt and type ping 204.162.251.33 and press Enter. If you now receive a good response (as shown in response "a" above), you may have a DNS problem. Check out your DNS settings by following the instructions under the "DNS settings" header.

c) Destination host unreachable.
This typically means that Windows 95 doesn't realize you are connected to the Internet. Make sure the you are using the Windows 95 dialup adapter and not a different dialer or winsock. You may want to contact your Internet service provider for more information.

DNS settings

Follow these steps to check your DNS settings:

1. 	From the Start menu, select Settings --> Control Panel.

2. 	When this window opens, double-click the Network icon.

3. 	From the list of installed components, select "TCP/IP" and click the Properties button.

4. 	Select the DNS Configuration tab.

5. 	Be sure the Enable DNS radio button is selected.

6. 	If you are using a your own ISP, the DNS Server Search Order should reflect the address(es) given to you from your provider or system administrator in addition to this number. If you are using a TEN local access number for your Internet access, the DNS Server Search Order should be 204.162.251.2.

If no DNS addresses are present, contact your system administrator, call your ISP directly or refer to the documentation provided by your ISP.

7.	Keep clicking OK until you return to the Control Panel window.

If both pings are successful, you should be able to connect to TEN.

Remember, a successful connection to TEN does not guarantee a high-speed connection or low latency by any stretch of your vivid imagination.

tracert command

You can also try the same procedure above use the tracert (Trace Route) command to see how many hops you're going through to connect to TEN. (Example: from the DOS prompt, type tracert darkride.ten.net.)

More than 10 hops is getting dicey; more than 20 means you're probably dialing in from Mars. The number of hops does not necessarily create problems, but more hops increase the odds that a problem may occur.

If neither ping is successful, you are not configured properly to connect to TEN, or you do not have an acceptable account type (you need a PPP, SLIP or direct connection).

Note: ping and tracert are utilities installed when Windows TCP/IP Network Protocol is installed.


Is TEN accessible from all existing online services?

No way! TEN is not accessible from independent online services such as America Online, Prodigy and CompuServe. If you have any questions regarding your Internet service provider account, we recommend that you contact your individual ISP.


I forgot my password. Hellllp!

Whoa! Don't panic. Call our Customer Service at 1-800-8040-TEN during regular business hours.


How do I disable call waiting?

Oh yes. It is 100% necessary to disable call waiting if you want to connect to TEN without interruption.

First, check with your local phone company to verify the call waiting disable code. *70 is very common with touch tone phones and 1170 is most often used with rotary phones. Within Windows 95, you can disable call waiting under Dialing Properties.

The following steps will disable call waiting in Windows 95 (where *70 is the call waiting disable code):

1. 	From the Start menu, select Settings --> Control Panel.

2. 	When this window opens, double-click on the Modems icon.

3. 	Click the General tab.

4. 	On the General tab, click the Dialing Properties button.

5. 	Click the box in front of the "This location has call waiting. To disable it, dial" prompt. Then use the pull-down box to the right to select *70.

6. 	Keep clicking OK until you return to the Control Panel window.

Some communications software has additional locations where this option can be configured. In those cases, the software may override the Windows 95 settings. If this happens, consult your communications software reference manual or call the manufacturer to find out how to change the call waiting code.


How do I use TEN's local access numbers to connect to TEN?

After you finish installing TEN, launch TEN from the Start menu by selecting Programs -->
T E N and choosing Total Entertainment Network.

Once TEN has been launched and the Sign On screen appears, follow these directions:

1. 	Click the SETTINGS button. The Connection Settings window will open.

2. 	Choose the option "Select one of TEN's local access numbers" and click OK. The Select Local Access Number will open.

3. 	In this window, type the area code where you are dialing from to jump to that area or scroll through the list of numbers until you reach the nearest area code and phone number.

4. 	Once you pick a number, click the OK button to return to the Sign On screen.

Type in your screen name and password and you're connected.

Remember, if you use one of TEN's local access numbers to connect, you may incur additional charges to your account. Check out your billing report from the Support menu by choosing "Display Billing Report" for more details.


How do I use my own Internet service provider to connect to TEN?

Before signing on to TEN, you'll need to connect to the Internet through your Internet service provider using either a SLIP or PPP account. (If you've got a direct connection through school or work, go through your standard Internet connection procedure.) Remember, America Online, Prodigy and CompuServe don't have SLIP/PPP accounts, so you can't use them to connect. Also TIA and shell accounts are not compatible with TEN.

Once you've got an Internet connection established, launch TEN from the Start menu by selecting Programs --> TEN and choosing Total Entertainment Network. When the Sign On screen appears, follow these instructions:

1. 	Click the SETTINGS button. The Connection Settings window will open.

2. 	Make sure that the "Use my direct Internet connection" option is checked, then click OK.

When you type your screen name and password, you're connected.


How do I choose an Internet service provider?

Not all Internet service providers (ISPs) are created equal. It's not as simple as selecting a telephone long-distance carrier. For the most part, all long-distance phone companies have roughly the same quality connection and service. They have to, wouldn't they? Otherwise they'd be out of business!

Choosing an ISP is more akin to selecting an airline to travel on. Some may be cheaper overall, but will skimp on the peanuts and constantly overbook. The more expensive ones may cost a ton more, but provide warm hand towels after meals. ISPs are the same way. Not all cheap ISPs are the best buy, nor are all expensive ISPs the bee's knees.

The best way to find a service provider is to ask your friends which ones they're using. They have the most experience with their particular ISP and can tell you if it bites or rules. Barring the advice of your buds, here are some questions you can ask the ISP sales reps themselves:

Q:	What types of connections are available? SLIP, TIA, PPP?

Remember, only SLIP and PPP accounts will be able to connect to TEN.

Q:	Will I be able to connect within my local calling area?

If there isn't a local number within your calling area, you'll be paying toll charges. And, boy, can they add up quickly!

Q:	How much will the service cost?

This is the biggie. ISP costs can vary wildly. Generally, ISPs charge a base monthly rate, some will add on a per hour charge after a specified number of hours. Some ISPs offer both types. Depending on how much time you plan to be logged on, you can choose which type of account you want. For instance, if you plan to spend a great deal of time logged on, you might want to consider a flat monthly rate account which gives you unlimited hours of time per month. If you don't plan on spending a great deal of time logged on, you may be able to find an account with a lower monthly rate that includes a limited amount of hours per month (any time over your specified number of hours will be billed at a per hour rate). It's a matter of shopping around.

Q:	How many subscribers does the ISP have, and how fast have they been growing?

Not only is the Internet expanding, but the number of people jumping on is growing like kudzu. Good ISPs gain subscribers quickly, but sometimes growth can overwhelm their systems. Ask about peak periods of use and the frequency of busy signals when dialing in.

Q:	What is the ratio of subscribers to modems?

When you dial into your ISP, your modem connects to theirs. Busy signals mean the ISP's modems are all in use. A ratio of 15 to 1 or 20 to 1 could mean a lot of busy signals.

Q:	What support options are provided?

When will someone be able to answer technical questions? If you are planning this account for your home, will there be someone available to help you when you need it, or just during business hours? Are there e-mail representatives online? How often do they respond to their e-mail? Questions on these lines could save you headaches in the future.

Q:	What services does the ISP offer?

Some ISPs only offer the basic services, like e-mail, 1 megabyte storage space on their server, and a limited number of newsgroups to name a few. Others will let you design and post your own Web site and provide you with some software. Make sure that the ISP offers the services you are interested in and doesn't go overboard on services you couldn't care less about.

Q:	Does the ISP offer a fast Internet connection?

Online time costs money. Why run the risk of extra charges or suffer the wait of slow downloads? In the end, faster connections enhance all your Internet activities. Also, faster Internet connections will enhance your experience on TEN!

These may seem like tough questions to ask, but you'll definitely find it worth it in the long run. If an ISP sales rep balks at answering some of these questions, well…

There are other Web sites you may want to investigate for more information on Internet service providers:

http://www.thelist.com	Fairly comprehensive list of ISPs in the USA and International

http://www.hugelist.com	Another large list of ISPs and Internet services

http://www.yahoo.com	Check out Computer / Internet / Internet Access Providers


What is a UART and what kind do I need?

A chip known as a Universal Asynchronous Transmitter and Receiver (UART) is fundamental to serial data communications. In short, this device converts parallel data (e.g., 8-bit bytes) into a serial data stream which can be transmitted over a telephone line.

So, what does that mean to you?

Internal modems are equipped with their own UARTs. External modems, however, utilize the UART incorporated into your computer's COM port. If you are using an external modem, it is essential that you understand what type of UART your COM port is using. If you use an internal modem, there's a good chance that the device will be equipped with a suitable UART. Nevertheless, you should check it to confirm.

Older UARTs (8250 and 16450 UART) were typically designed before high-speed modems and simply do a poor job at high data rates. This means that the older UART will not give you a good performance from your external modem. Though your modem might connect at 28.8k bps, your computer and modem will talk at a slower speed. Since many of TEN's services are dependent on a high-speed connection, we require that you own a modem with a high-speed UART (16550 UART).


How do I tell what kind of UART I have?

Windows 95 will test your UART for you and let you know what kind you have. Follow these steps:

1. 	From the Start menu, select Settings --> Control Panel.

2. 	When the window opens, double-click on the Modems icon.

3. 	Choose the Diagnostics tab.

4. 	Click the line that shows your modem in the "installed" column.

5. 	Click the "More Info" button.

There'll be a line with the word UART on it. That will display your modem's UART.


Why can't I resize the Game Arena screen?

The Game Arena screen is set at a fixed size. If your resolution is set too low (640 x 480), the Game Arena will fill the entire screen and obscure the Windows task bar. Changing your resolution to 800 x 600 or higher will make the Game Arena window smaller, allowing you access to the desktop and task bar.

Here's how to change your resolution:

1.	From the Start menu, select Settings --> Control Panel.

2.	When the window opens up, double-click the Display icon.

3.	Click the Settings tab.

4.	In the Desktop Area section, drag the indicator (the down-pointing arrow) to the 800 x 600 selection.

5.	Click OK. A dialog box will then appear that your computer must be restarted for the resolution change to take effect.

6.	Click Yes. Your computer will then restart with the new screen resolution.

You can also switch between TEN and other open applications by hitting Alt–Tab. If you try this during a hot and heavy game of Duke (or some other fast-action game), you'll be sorry. Not only will you get wasted on the battlefield, but you may crash the game.

Note: not all video cards support the 800 x 600 screen resolution. Check out the manual of your video card before attempting this switch.


Does TEN support international accounts?

That's a toughie. The answer is both "yes" and "no". A select handful of our free games (like Magic: The Gathering) that don't have tough latency requirements are more easily played outside the continental U.S. and Canada, but many of our fast-action games (like Quake) probably won't be playable from overseas.

If you're in Australia, we have a partnership with Multiplay (http://www.multiplay.com.au). Check there for the best Net games in Australia!

Finally, technical and customer support are only available within the continental U.S. and Canada.


I tried to create or join a game and I got a message that I need to close all other applications. What gives?

First rule of TEN: games are memory-chomping pigs. They suck up RAM and spit it out like rusty nails. Better if you exit all open applications before running TEN. If not, you may get a nasty-looking Mr. Bandwidth spouting some unmentionables in a dialog box.

CLOSE removes this dialog box and doesn't allow you to join or create. Selecting an application and hitting KILL makes that application beat a hasty retreat. Hope you weren't still working on that spreadsheet!


Send us a support question

If you've got a specific technical or billing question, you'll need to submit that question to us via our Web site. It's really easy and we'll get back to you in a jiffy once you submit the form. Here's how it works:

From within TEN, go to the Support menu and choose "Send Support Question Via Web" This will launch your Web browser and take you to our Web site where you can submit your question to us. We'll get right on it and return your request pronto. That's it!


Talk to us LIVE (Humans!)

Yes, there are humans on the other end of the phone if you need that personal touch. We are pretty good about responding to e-mail and faxes, so try those options first if you don't have a really, really urgent problem. Otherwise, move those fingers and punch us up:

Customer Support

Perfect for your billing queries, account questions, or any other TEN ponderings. If you're having problems creating a TEN account, we'll help you set it up!

Remember, technical questions must be directed to our Technical Support people through our Web site. You can submit a technical or billing question by going to the Support menu and choosing "Send Support Question Via Web"

•	1-800-8040-TEN

•	9 AM to 7 PM Pacific time

•	7 days a week


Talk to our machine (TENFONE)

If you've got a pretty basic question and don't feel the need to talk to us, try the TENFONE Automated Voice Response System:

TENFONE (General and Technical information)

•	1-800-8040-TEN

•	24 hours a day

•	7 days a week


Zap us a fax

If you feel the urge, you can fire on over a fax. That's perfect if you have some funky problem you don't think you can explain properly. Just screen capture it, print it out and send it by:

•	(415) 778-3514

•	24 hours a day

•	7 days a week


Surf our Web sites

Oh, baby. Do we got Web site support, or what!

General info and company stuff

If you want to find out more about TEN, its philosophies, employees and employment info, check out this site:

•	www.ten.net

TEN's News

Want the latest scoop on what's going on at TEN or what wacky stuff is coming up? Check out the TEN News pages on our Web site. It's updated constantly and can be found from the Go menu by choosing "News@TEN Web Site". You can also click on the MORE NEWS button from the Game Selector screen.

TEN's DataSpheres

Our DataSpheres have superb info on the games we support: news and updates, upgrade information, rankings, custom levels and even some software. Yowsa! Go to 'em from the Go menu by choosing "DataSpheres Web Site".

TEN's File Factory

The File Factory  has truckloads of shareware games, upgrades and patches to popular software titles, user-created levels for Duke Nukem 3D and other games, as well as the tippy-top downloads on the Web. Keep yer shirt on! It's all there from the Go menu by choosing "File Factory Web Site".

TEN Customer Service

There's even a spot on the Web for referencing the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list or to find out other cool support info. It's only a hop, skip and surf away! To get to the FAQ, pull down the Support menu and choose "FAQ Web Site." If you want the general support site, go to the Support menu and choose "Support Web Site".


Chat with TENguides

What are TENguides? Actually, the question should be who are TENguides. TENguides are friendly members of the TEN community that out of the goodness of their heart will try to assist you while you're connected to TEN. They're online greeters, jacks-of-all-trades. Identifiable by the word "Guide" in front of their name (e.g., GuideJoe, GuideBob, GuideGuido and so on).

If you're online and having difficulties with part of the system or the game you're playing, feel free to ask any TENguide in the vicinity for some help. They can generally be found skulking about Help Arenas or in the general chat areas of individual games.


I've got a general question

If you just have a basic question about the service or want some non-technical information about TEN, send off a mail to:

•	customersupport@ten.net

Don't forget to include your TEN screen name with your question!


I've got a technical question

When you feel that urge to get techie and have the burning desire to know more about technical aspects of TEN, mail our gurus at:

•	technicalsupport@ten.net

Your TEN screen name is important, so please include it along with your question.

You can also submit a detailed question through our Web form by pulling down the Support menu and choosing "Send Support Question Via Web "This is the best way to contact us, but you can use the e-mail address if you must.


What's the deal with my bill?

Think you're overcharged? Undercharged? Confused about the billing scheme of life? You might want to check your billing report from the Support menu under "Display Billing Report...." But, if that don't work, send your questions to the professionals:

•	billing@ten.net

If your social life is going to hell 'cause of TEN and you have to quit, check out the information on terminating your membership. And don't forget your TEN screen name!


I found a bug!

Well, you probably just ruined some TEN programmer's day, but we gotta know. Defects in the system must be eradicated! Send that offending insect (and how you found it) along with your computer and software information to:

•	bugs@ten.net

We'll get straight on it! Fire us your TEN screen name with your report and we might make you famous!


I've got this great idea

Think you can design better than the designers? Feel that TEN is lacking in some features, or have a better way to implement some aspect of the service. All suggestions are highly encouraged. Type 'em up and let us know at:

•	suggestions@ten.net

Our design team gives you its heartfelt thanks. No cash, just thanks. Send us your TEN screen name for the credit you deserve.


You guys rule!

Omigod! If you think we're the best thing since the advent of the "X-Files," scented toilet paper or the solar-powered water weenie, give us a shout. Our egos can't be stroked enough.

•	kudos@ten.net

Your TEN screen name is important, so don't forget to include it.


You guys suck!

This dusty, old mailbox sees little use, but we do check it once in a blue moon. If we really offended you in some way, keep it to yourself. No, seriously. Here's where to tell us:

•	complaints@ten.net

We like to know who's got us on their hit list, so include your TEN screen name and we'll keep an eye out for you!


How do I find out about my billing info?

You can check your billing info online (including changing billing rate plans) by going to the Support menu and choosing either "Display Billing Report..." (for your current bill status), "Change Payment Method..." (to change your credit card info) or "Change Address... " (to adjust your snail mail and e-mail addresses).


Put a fork in me, I gotta cancel my TEN account

Think you've had enough, eh? Won't you reconsider? Oh well.

If you absolutely, positively have to cancel your TEN membership, just visit our Web site at http://www.ten.net/support and click the "How do I Cancel" link and we'll put a stop to all that nonsense. Your account will remain in dormancy for six months, after which your screen name will be released to the pool for anyone to fish out and use.

You can also cancel your account by mail. Just write our Customer Service people at:

Total Entertainment Network

P.O. Box 194447

San Francisco, CA  94119

We won't yell at you. Really.


Lists the games you've played on TEN.


Displays the game's .exe or the game enabler TEN needs to run the game.


Displays the location of the game's .exe or game enabler.


Click this to search for the game's .exe or game enabler in other drives or in other folders.


Allows other TEN members to page and locate you.


Filters obscenities (on your computer only) that are typed in Arenas or in paging.


Clicking this displays Arena announcements whenever a TEN members enters or exits your current Arena.


Type your Arena entry announcement here. All TEN members (in the same Arena as you) will see this message when you enter that Arena.


Type your Arena exit announcement here. All TEN members (in the same Arena as you) will see message when you exit that Arena.


Enables sound effects on TEN. When this box is selected, you will hear TEN-specific sounds for each particular event.


Lists all events on TEN that have a sound associated with them.


Plays the selected sound from the Events list.


Resets the sounds in the Events list to TEN's default sounds.


Displays the location of the sound for the selected Event.


Click this to search for the TEN sound or an alternate sound on other drives or in other folders.


Uses your selected Web browser to read your TEN e-mail.


Uses a mail reader other than your Web browser to read your TEN e-mail.


Lists the location of the mail reader you will be using to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Describes how to set up your mail reader to access your TEN mail account.


Downloads Eudora Light, a mail program, that you can use to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Click this to search on other drives or in other folders for the mail reader you want to use.


Enables your specified mail reader to access your TEN e-mail account.


Determines the frequency in which your mail reader checks your TEN e-mail account for new mail.


Uses your selected Web browser to read TEN-specific newsgroups.


Uses a news reader other than your selected Web browser to read TEN-specific newsgroups.


Displays the location of the news reader you will be using to access TEN-specific newsgroups from within TEN.


Describes how to set up your news reader to read TEN-specific newsgroups from within TEN.


Click this to search on other drives or in other folders for the news reader you want to use.


Selects Netscape Navigator as your default Web browser through which you will view Web links from within TEN.


Displays the location of Netscape Navigator on your hard drive.


Downloads Netscape Navigator.


Click this to search on other drives or in other folders for Netscape Navigator.


Selects Internet Explorer as your default Web browser through which you will view Web links from within TEN.


Lists all the TEN members you currently have muzzled. Anyone who appears in the Muzzle List cannot page you or join any games you create. You will also not see any chat text from them in an Arena.


Removes someone from your Muzzle List, restoring their ability to page you and join games you create. You will also be able to see any chat text from them in an Arena.


Displays your current billing report.


Click this to close this dialog box.


Provides a space for you to type your screen name. This is your alias on TEN.


Provides a space for you to type your password. For security, asterisks will appear as you type.


Closes the Sign On screen and connects you to TEN.


Get more detailed help about the Sign On screen.


Determines how you will connect to TEN.

You can either choose one of TEN's local access numbers or use your direct Internet connection.


Begins the new user registration process. Click here if you are new to TEN and want to set up an account.


Takes you back to the Chat Arena Selector screen.


Launches your specified mail reader. Click this to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Opens the TEN pager, allowing you to chat privately with another TEN member.


Launches your specified Web browser and displays a list of TEN's DataSpheres. From there, you can get files, strategies, rankings, news and more for TEN-supported games.


Lists all the TEN members currently in this Arena. The icon to the left of each name indicates their current status. Double-click on a name to get that member's profile. Right-click on a name to page, muzzle or whisper.


Displays the chat text in this Arena.


Type your chat text here.


Click this to send your chat text. You can also select the Enter key on your keyboard to send the text.


Launches your specified mail reader. Click this to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Opens the TEN pager, allowing you to chat privately with another TEN member.


Lists all the TEN members currently in this Arena. The icon to the left of each name indicates their current status. Double-click on a name to get that member's profile. Right-click on a name to page, muzzle or whisper.


Displays the chat text in this Arena.


Type your chat text here.


Click this to send your chat text. You can also select the Enter key on your keyboard to send the text.


Takes you back to the Dark Sun Arena Selector screen.


Click this to enter and play Dark Sun: Crimson Sands.


Signs you off and exits TEN.


Closes this dialog box without making any changes to your connection to TEN.


Displays information about this game.


Click this to launch the game you created. This button will blink when the set maximum number of players have joined your game.


Click this to destroy the game you created.


Click this to minimize or maximize the Pre-launch Panel.


Select a player's name in the Who's Joined list and click this button to dismiss this player from your game.


Lists all the players who have joined your game. The icon to the left of each name indicates their current latency. Double-click on a name to get that member's profile. Right-click on  a name to page, muzzle or whisper.


Displays the settings and description for this game.


Displays chat text. The creator of this game and the players who joined are the only ones who can see this text.


Type your chat text here.


Click this to send your chat text. You can also select the Enter key on your keyboard to send the text.


Takes you back to the Arena Selector for this game.


Launches your specified mail program. Click this to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Opens the TEN pager, allowing you to chat privately with another TEN member.


Launches your specified Web browser and displays this game's DataSphere. From there, you can get files, strategies, rankings, news and more for this TEN-supported game.


Lists all the players currently in this Arena. The icon to the left of each name indicates their current status. Double-click on a name to get that member's profile. Right-click on a name to page, muzzle or whisper.


Displays chat text in this Arena.


Type your chat text here.


Click this to send your chat text. You can also hit the Enter key on your keyboard to send the text.


Click this to get Mr. Bandwidth's report on your connection to TEN.


Displays a list of games being created or already in action in this Game Arena.


Click this to create a game.


Select a game that appears in the Games list above and click this button to join it.


Lists all the players waiting or playing in the game that is highlighted in the Games list.


Displays the settings and description for the game that is highlighted in the Games list.


The game you can play in this Arena.


Closes this dialog box.


Selects Visa as the type of credit card you will be using.


Selects MasterCard as the type of credit card you will be using.


Selects Discover as the type of credit card you will be using.


Selects American Express as the type of credit card you will be using.


Provides a space for you to type in your credit card number.


Provides a space for you to type in your credit card's expiration date.


Provides a space for you to type in your full name.

You must type in your name AS IT APPEARS ON YOUR CREDIT CARD.


Provides a space for you to type in the first line of your billing address.


Provides a space for you to type in the second line of your billing address.


Provides a space for you to type in your city.


Provides a space for you to type in your state or province.


Provides a space for you to type in your zip code.


Provides a space for you to type or select your country.


Click this to save the information above and close this dialog box.


Click this to delete and cancel all the information above and close this dialog box.


Displays information about TEN's current billing policy.


Click this to close this dialog box.


Displays TEN's current billing terms.


Click this to close this dialog box.


Click this to delete all information and cancel TEN's new user registration.


Click this to go back to TEN's new user registration.


Provides a space for you to enter your current password.


Provides a space for you to enter your new password.


Provides a space for you to confirm the new password you have just typed above.


Click this to save your password change and close this dialog box.


Click this to cancel your password change and close this dialog box.


Type or select a modem to use when you connect to TEN.


Click this to save your modem selection and close this dialog box.


Select this to connect to TEN via modem. You will be prompted to select a TEN local access number close to your location.


Select this to connect to TEN via an existing Internet connection.


Select this to connect to TEN via modem. You will be prompted to select a TEN local access number close to your location.


Click this to save your connection settings and close this dialog box.


Click this to cancel any change and close this dialog box.


Get more detailed help on what is the best way to connect to TEN.


Type in your area code. The list box below will automatically scroll to the local access numbers that use the same area code.


Select the closest local access number to your location. Your modem will dial the selected number to connect you to TEN.


Get more detailed help on selecting a local access number.


Click this to save your selection and close this dialog box.


Click this to cancel any selection you made and close this dialog box.


Provides space for you to type in your comments to TEN.


Check this if you would like TEN to send you an e-mail reply concerning your comments.


Provides space for you to type in your e-mail address.


Check this if you would like to send your system profile along with your comments to TEN.


Click this to send your comments or feedback to TEN.


Click this to delete your comments and close this dialog box.


Select your computer's operating system.


Click this to download the game enabler appropriate for your operating system.


You already have this game enabler. Click to help TEN locate it on your computer.


Click this to abort this process and close this dialog box.


Launches your specified mail reader. Click this to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Opens the TEN pager, allowing you to chat privately with another TEN member.


Launches your specified Web browser and displays a list of the TEN DataSpheres. From here, you can get files, strategies, rankings, news and more for TEN-supported games.


List of games available to play on TEN.


Click this to go the Arena Selector for the game highlighted above.


Enter a name for your game.


Select or type the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Click this to select advanced options for the game you are creating.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Check this box to select a custom user map for this game. Uncheck this box to turn off the user maps option.


Select a custom user map from this drop down list.


Get detailed help on using custom user maps on TEN.


Click this to accept the above options.


Click this to cancel the above options.


Enter a name for your Command & Conquer game.


Select a scenario (or map) from this drop down list.


Select your forces (either NOD or GDI).


Select or type the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Sets the starting cash for all players.


The starting cash for all players.


Select the number of units each player starts with.


The number of units each player starts with.


Selects the tech level of the game. More advanced units can only be built at higher tech levels.


The tech level of the game. More advanced units can only be built at higher tech levels.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Check to turn bases on, uncheck to turn them off. Without bases, no new units can be built. The default is on.


Check to turn random prize crates on, uncheck to turn them off. The default is off.


Check to turn on the "Capture the Flag" variant, uncheck to turn it off. The default is off.


Controls whether tiberium regrows over time. Check to turn it on, uncheck to turn it off. The default is on.


Controls whether computer players are in the game. Check to turn them on, uncheck to turn them off. The default is off.


Get more detailed help about the Command & Conquer create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Enter a name for your Quake game.


Select or type the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select an episode from this drop down list.


Select a level from this drop down list.


Check to turn on "No Joystick." Slightly enhances gameplay.


Select the number of frags the game can have (before the level ends).


The number of frags the game can have (before the level ends).


Select a time limit for the game in minutes (before the level ends).


The time limit for the game (before the level ends).


Controls the number of data packets sent per second. Slower connections may get more consistent gameplay at lower "server speeds." This does not control the CPU speed or bandwidth.


Displays the server speed.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Players with the same color pants cannot hurt each other.


Players can kill others with the same color pants and lose one frag.


Selecting this option turns off the exit from the level.


Check to allow monsters in the game. Players will respawn at the entrance of the level.


Check to play without monsters. Players will respawn at random respawn locations.


Set the quantity and nastiness of the monsters.


Select your shirt color from this drop down list.


Select your pants color from this drop down list.


Select a server mod (modification) for your game. You may be required to have the files for some of the mods on your hard drive.


Description of the server mod selected above.


Type in valid command line parameter(s) to alter various gameplay settings.


Get more detailed help about the Quake create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Enter a name for your game.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Select or type the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Check this box to make your game password protected.


Enter the password for your game here. Only players who type in the same password can join your game.


Get more detailed help about the Diablo create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Enter a name for your Diablo game.


Enter a name for your Red Alert game.


Select a scenario (or map) from this drop down list.


Select your forces (either Soviet or Allied).


Select or type the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Check if you are playing Red Alert for Windows.


Check if you are playing Red Alert for DOS.


Sets the starting cash for all players.


The starting cash for all players.


Select the number of units each player starts with.


The number of units each player starts with.


Selects the tech level of the game. More advanced units can only be built at higher tech levels.


The tech level of the game. More advanced units can only be built at higher tech levels.


Controls whether computer players are in the game. The default is off.


Shows whether computer players are in the game.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Check to turn bases on, uncheck to turn them off. Without bases, no new units can be built. The default is on.


Controls whether tiberium regrows over time. Check to turn it on, uncheck to turn it off. The default is on.


Check to turn random prize crates on, uncheck to turn them off. The default is off.


The mysterious Shroud!


Check to turn on the "Capture the Flag" variant, uncheck to turn it off. The default is off.


Get more detailed help about the Red Alert create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Information about hardware requirements needed to play this game.


Closes this dialog box.


This indicates how quick you can send and receive data (your latency). If you have a low reading here, you'll probably be experiencing more "lag" than usual.


Stability is how clean your connection is to the Internet. The higher the percentage is on this scale, the more scrubbed down your connection is and the less spikes you will receive that break up your game.


Maximum players is the largest number of players that can be in a game with you (including yourself).


Get more detailed help about Diagnostics.


Closes this dialog box.


Launches your specified mail reader. Click this to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Opens the TEN pager, allowing you to chat privately with another TEN member.


Launches your specified Web browser and displays this game's DataSphere. From here, you can get files, strategies, rankings, news and more from this TEN-supported game.


List of all the Game Arenas and the different Zones and categories that they fall under.


Shows information about the selected Zone or Game Arena highlighted above.


Takes you to the selected Game Arena highlighted above.


Takes you back to the Games List.


Indicates your status for playing games on TEN.


This colored bar relates to your connection quality. If your average latency falls (without spikes) within the green area, you’ve got an Excellent connection.


This graph shows your latency over the past few minutes. In general, the lower it is on the graph, the better.


Zoom into the latency graph.


Zoom out of the latency graph.


Get more detailed help about Latency History.


Closes this dialog box.


Mr. B’s words of advice, telling you how many people can be involved in a game you create or join (this number includes you, by the way).


Your rating for each of the Zones on TEN.


Click to take a look at your Latency History.


Click to take a look at your Diagnostic Information.


Get more detailed help about the Latency Report.


Closes this dialog box.


Shows the location of the TEN member you tried to find.


Closes this dialog box.


Closes this dialog box and cancels TEN's new user registration, returning you to the Sign On screen.


Closes this dialog box without affecting TEN's new user registration.


Displays TEN's Terms of Service which must be accepted to create an account on TEN.


Accepts TEN's Terms of Service and allows you to continue through TEN's new user registration.


Declines TEN's Terms of Service and cancels TEN's new user registration.


Shows the name assigned to your race.


Shows whether this Arena is in Arcade or Simulation driving mode.


Shows your rank at the track you have selected.


Select to go through Practice, Qualify and Warmup rounds.


Select to skip preliminary rounds and jump straight to a race.


Selects the Track where you want to race.


Selects the amount, from 1% to 100%, of the actual event distance.


Sets the length of time between the Qualify and Race sessions.


Allows you to set the weather for the race.


Makes the weather be randomly selected for this race.


Sets the air temperature at the track.


Sets the wind speed at the track.


Sets the wind direction at the track.


Select to turn the yellow flags on.


Select to choose a night race on certain tracks.


Select to turn on the opening pace lap.


Select to turn on random player breakdowns.


Turns car damage off.


Turns car damage on.


Sets damage to Arcade mode.


Sets the minimum number of racers required to start a race.


Sets the maximum number of drivers allowed in a race.


Sets the minimum skill level allowed to join this race.


Sets the maximum skill level allowed to join this race.


Closes this dialog box, saving any changes you have made, and creates a race.


Closes this dialog box without saving any changes you have made, and does not create a race.


Sets the length of the race practice session.


Displays a list of all races being created or in progress.


Closes this dialog box and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog box without saving any changes you have made.


Displays the screen names of the TEN members that have joined this race.


Displays instructions for setting up a new TEN account.


Click this to read and accept TEN's Terms of Service


Click this to Enter your Name and Address.


Click this to Select a Billing Rate Plan and payment method.


Click this to Create a Screen Name and password.


After completing all four steps, click this to complete the registration process and proceed to TEN's Sign On screen.


Closes this dialog box and cancels TEN's new user registration.


Displays the screen name of the TEN member you want to locate. To select another TEN member to locate, choose one from this drop down list or type in a new screen name.


Closes this dialog box and returns the location of the requested TEN member.


Closes this dialog box without attempting to locate anyone.


Displays the screen name of the TEN member you want to page, locate or view the profile of. To select another TEN member, choose someone from this drop down list or type in a new screen name.


Closes this dialog box and executes your page, locate or profile request.


Closes this dialog box without doing anything.


Provides a space for you to type in your first name.


Provides a space for you to type in your middle initial.


Provides a space for you to type in your last name.


Provides a space for you to type in your street address.


Provides additional space for you to type in your address.


Provides a space for you to type the state you live in.


Provides a space for you to type in your zip code.


Lists countries for you to choose from to complete your address.


Provides a space for you to type in your daytime area code.


Provides a space for you to type in your daytime phone number.


Provides a space for you to type in your evening area code.


Provides a space for you to type in your evening phone number.


Provides a space for you to type in your electronic mail address.


Closes this dialog box, saving any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog box without saving any changes you have made.


Displays TEN's new user registration instructions.


Specifies that you want to use TEN's toll-free registration number to set up your account online.


Specifies that you want to use your existing Internet connection to set up your account online.


Get more detailed help about TEN's new user registration process.


Closes this dialog box without saving any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog box and saves any changes you have made, taking you to the next step in new user registration.


Provides a space for you to type in the URL you want to view.


Launches your specified Web browser and opens up your chosen URL.


Closes this dialog box without launching a Web browser.


Displays any pages you currently have active.


Click this to initiate a new page.


Click this to dismiss a TEN member from your active pages, and end that specific page.


Displays the chat text for the current page.


Provides a space for you to type your chat text.


Sends your chat text to the chat area for both TEN members in this page to see.


Closes the dialog box and ends all active pages.


Provides a space for you to type your screen name.

It must be between 3 and 10 characters and can only contain letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores.


Provides a space for you to type your password.

It must be between 6 and 10 characters. And, remember that it is case-sensitive. For security, asterisks will appear as you type your password.


Closes this dialog box and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog box without saving any changes you have made.


Displays instructions from Mr. Bandwidth on how to close applications in the list below before you can play a game.


Displays a list of applications currently running that must be closed before you can play a game.


Get more detailed help about this dialog box.


Closes this dialog box without closing any of the applications listed.


Closes the above applications, enabling you to play a game.


Displays the screen name of this TEN member.


Click this to display this member's profile information below.


Click this to display this member's ranking information below.


Displays this member's profile or ranking information.


Click this to edit your profile information.


Closes this dialog box, saving any changes you have made.


Specifies whether you have this person muzzled. Click this box to turn muzzling on or off.


Provides a space for you to type in an Alias for other members to see when they view your profile.


Provides a space for you to type in the geographic Location where you're playing on TEN.


Provides a space for you to type in your Birthday.


Provides a space for you to type in your Gender.


Provides a space for you to type in your Relationship Status.


Provides a space for you to type in your Favorite URL.


Provides a space for you to type in any Miscellaneous information about yourself.


Closes this dialog box, saving any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog box without saving any changes you have made.


Provides a space for you to type in the screen name of the TEN member whose profile you want to view.


Closes this dialog box and opens the profile for this TEN member.


Closes this dialog box without opening a member profile.


Specifies the game for which you'd like to view rankings.


Displays the rankings for the specified game for everyone in the current Game Arena or Chat Arena.


Displays your rankings (plus or minus) 10 players.


Displays the rankings for the specified number of players, sorted by game-specific options.


Displays the rankings for the specified number of players, sorted by game-specific options.


Displays the rankings for the specified number of players, sorted by game-specific options.


Displays the rankings for the players specified in the space below.


Displays the rankings for the specified players in a victory matrix.

The victory matrix is a table showing the selected players and how many times they've killed each other. If you only select one person for a victory matrix, it will show you all the other players they've killed.


Provides a space for you to type in the screen names of the players whose rankings you want to view (separate screen names with commas).


Closes this dialog box, and inputs your ranking requests to TEN.


Closes this dialog box without checking any ranking information.


Displays the rankings you requested in the ranking selector.


Closes this dialog box.


Displays your rate plan for the current billing cycle.


Displays your rate plan for the next billing cycle.

If you change your rate plan, and return to this dialog box, the change will be reflected here.


Displays the currently available rate plans.


Displays the details of the available rate plans. Please read these carefully.


Closes this dialog box, saving any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog box without saving any changes you have made.


Describes the selected rate plan.


Click this to display TEN's Billing Policy to get more information before selecting a rate plan.


Displays the currently selected rate plan.


Provides a space for you to type in your new screen name.

Screen names must be between 3 and 10 characters.


Provides a space for you to type in your password.

Passwords must be between 6 and 10 characters. And remember that your password is case-sensitive. For security, asterisks will appear as you type your password.


Provides a space for you to retype your password for confirmation.


Get more detailed help about this dialog box.


Creates your new screen name and password, closing this dialog box.


Displays all files available to download, categorized by file type.


Displays information about the selected file, including where you should save it and how long the download will take.


Click this to download the selected file.


Closes this dialog box without downloading any other files.


Takes you to the Game Selector screen.


Launches your specified Web browser and shoots you to the News@TEN Web site. Here you can read the latest news about TEN and view a calendar of upcoming events.


Displays the most recent headlines for stories on the News@TEN Web site.


Allows you to get instant pop-up help on the next screen item you click.


Allows you to get instant pop-up help on the next screen item you click.


Allows you to get instant pop-up help on the next screen item you click.


Allows you to get instant pop-up help on the next screen item you click.


Launches your specified Web browser and displays the Dark Sun: Crimson Sands DataSphere. From here, you can get files, news and more about Dark Sun: Crimson Sands.


Allows you to get instant pop-up help on the next screen item you click.


It's the name of the game. Fantabulous!


It's the lovable Mr. Bandwidth! Click his head to pull up your Connection Report.

Below is your Connection Rating: Excellent, Good, OK or Forget It. When you first enter an Arena, Mr. B will throw up a progress indicator while he does his little check.


It's the lovable Mr. Bandwidth! Click his head to pull up your Connection Report.

Below is your Connection Rating: Excellent, Good, OK or Forget It. When you first enter an Arena, Mr. B will throw up a progress indicator while he does his little check.


It's the lovable Mr. Bandwidth! Click his head to pull up your Connection Report.

Below is your Connection Rating: Excellent, Good, OK or Forget It. When you first enter an Arena, Mr. B will throw up a progress indicator while he does his little check.


Enter a name for your Blood game.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Check to make this game a ranked game. Scores from this game will affect your Blood ranking.


Select a Game Type from this drop down list.


Select an Episode from this drop down list.


Select a Level from this drop down list.


Select the Difficulty of monsters from this drop down list. If you have Monsters set to "None", this option does nothing.


Select the frequency of Monsters from this drop down list.


Select how Weapons are respawned from this drop down list.


Select how Items (other than weapons) are respawned from this drop down list.


Check this box to use a custom User Map for this game.


Select a custom User Map from this drop down list. User maps must be on your hard drive in your Blood directory.


Get more detailed help about the Blood create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Enter a name for your Shadow Warrior game.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Check to make this game a ranked game. Scores from this game will affect your Shadow Warrior ranking.


Check to display Markers for items that have been recently grabbed.


Check to enable Team Play mode.


Check to allow teammates to be hurt by stray shots (only available when Team Play or Cooperative mode are selected).


Check to allow players to use the Nuke weapon.


Check this box to use a custom User Map for this game.


Select a custom User Map from this drop down list. User maps must be on your hard drive in your Shadow Warrior directory.


Select a Level from this drop down list.


Select a Game Type from this drop down list.


Select whether Monsters are enabled (and their ferocity) from this drop down list.


Select a Color for your ninja from this drop down list.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the Kill Limit you want for this game.


Select the Kill Limit you want for this game.


Select the Time Limit you want for this game.


Select the Time Limit you want for this game.


Get more detailed help about the Shadow Warrior create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Enter a name for your EF2000 V2.0 game.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Check to make your game password protected.


Enter the password for your game here. Only players who type in the same password can join your game.


Get more detailed help about the EF2000 V2.0 create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Launches your specified mail reader. Click this to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Opens the TEN pager, allowing you to chat privately with another TEN member.


Lists all the TEN members currently in this Arena. The icon to the left of each name indicates their current status. Double-click on a name to get that member's profile. Right-click on a name to page, muzzle or whisper.


Displays the chat text in this Arena.


Type your chat text here.


Click this to send your chat text. You can also select the Enter key on your keyboard to send the text.


Takes you back to the Twilight Lands Arena Selector screen.


Click this to enter and play Twilight Lands.


Allows you to get instant pop-up help on the next screen item you click.


Launches your specified Web browser and displays this game's DataSphere. From there, you can get files, strategies, rankings, news and more for this TEN-supported game.


Enter a name for your Total Annihilation game.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the starting amount of Metal you want for this game.


Select the starting amount of Metal you want for this game.


Select the starting amount of Energy you want for this game.


Select the starting amount of Energy you want for this game.


Select the Map you want to play in this game from this drop down list (remember, some maps require your computer to have 32 or more MB of RAM).


Select your Dead Commander result from this drop down list.


Select your starting Location option from this drop down list.


Select the Line of Sight option for this game from this drop down list.


Select your Mapping option from this drop down list.


Check to make your game password protected.


Enter the password for your game here. Only players who type in the same password can join your game.


Get more detailed help about the Total Annihilation create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Enter a name for your Myth game.


Enter a description of your game here. Be very specific in what map and scenario you want to play so people know what type of game you plan to set up.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the color scheme you want for your Coat of Arms.


Enter the password for your game here. Only players who type in the same password can join your game.


Check to make your game password protected.


Enter the name for your team here.


Select the primary color for your team.


Select the secondary color for your team.


Get more detailed help about the Myth create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Enter a name for your Wiz-War game.


Enter a description of your game (e.g., "10-minute game" or "Newbies Only").


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the maximum number of players you want in this game.


Select the maximum amount of time you want players to have to make their turn.


Check to make this game a ranked game. Scores from this game will affect your Wiz-War ranking.


Check to allow people to observe your game without actually playing.


Check to allow people to join your game after you have launched it.


Check to allow people to join your game as an observer.


Get more detailed help about the Wiz-War create game dialog box.


Creates the game and closes this dialog box.


Aborts the game creation process.


Launches your specified mail reader. Click this to read and send e-mail from your TEN account.


Opens the TEN pager, allowing you to chat privately with another TEN member.


Lists all the TEN members currently in this Arena. The icon to the left of each name indicates their current status. Double-click on a name to get that member's profile. Right-click on a name to page, muzzle or whisper.


Displays the chat text in this Arena.


Type your chat text here.


Click this to send your chat text. You can also select the Enter key on your keyboard to send the text.


Takes you back to the Magic: The Gathering Arena Selector screen.


Click this to launch ManaLink and play Magic: The Gathering.


Allows you to get instant pop-up help on the next screen item you click.


Launches your specified Web browser and displays this game's DataSphere. From there, you can get files, strategies, rankings, news and more for this TEN-supported game.


Click this button to watch this game in progress.