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### Introduction

## Overview

Welcome to Syntensity! Syntensity is a virtual world of games that is free and open source, and lets anybody both play the games as well as modify and improve them.
To get started right away, see the Quick Start Guide (but you should read the rest of this page later).
A detailed description of the getting started process is below. The main steps are:

- Get set up: (only needs to be done once)

- Create a user account and agree to the terms of service
- Download and install the client program

- Play a game:

- Select a server to connect to
- Connect to the server (from the client program)

We now explain each of these in turn.

## User Accounts

Creating a user account on the registration page is free and takes just a few seconds. Your username and password will then be needed in two places:

- In the client program: Before you connect to a server to play a game, you need to log in to the master server, using your username and password. (The client program can be downloaded here.)
- In the main website, www.syntensity.com: Your same username and password can be used on the main website to log in to your account. When logged in there, you can pick a server to play on ('select' a server), manage your content (assets, which can contain games, scripts, textures, meshes, etc.), ask for a server to run a particular game ('requisition' a server), change your password, and so forth.

Note that, for now, logging in to each of these is separate - logging into one doesn't mean you are logged into the other. This is a technical issue that will be resolved soon - sorry for the inconvenience (however, the website will keep you logged in, so you shouldn't need to log in there too often anyhow).

## Connecting to a Server to Join a Game

To play a game, you need to connect to a server that is running a game.

### Jumping right in

Run the client program, which you should have downloaded (and installed, if necessary), then log in to the master server using your username and password.
Next, if there is an option called 'connect to lobby...', then click that. Otherwise click 'connect to selected...'. In both cases you will then connect to a 'lobby' world, which has a tutorial as well as portals into other worlds.
The easiest way to get to other worlds is simply to use the portals in the lobby world: walk into them to teleport to another world.

### Selecting a server

Aside from using the portals in the lobby, you can also select a server 'manually'. This is useful for worlds not appearing as portals in the lobby.
To see what servers are currently running, see the server instances page (or go to the main website (http://www.syntensity.com, go to the 'tracker' - there is a link in the upper right - and click on the 'Server Instances' tab. The 'tracker' is the part of the main website that tracks games, game content, users, and so forth).
Each server will have listed for it the current activity (that is, game), number of players, and so forth. Each will also have a 'Select' button (at the right edge). If you press it, you will 'select' the server instance. You can have only one server instance that is 'selected' at at time. The purpose of selection is that you can connect to the selected instance in a convenient manner from the client program.
Run the client program, which you should have downloaded (and installed, if necessary), log in to the master server using your username and password, and click on 'connect to selected...'. You will then connect to the selected server that you chose earlier on the website.
We realize that it is a little annoying to select servers on the website and not in the client program itself. As mentioned earlier, we are working on making this more convenient.
There are also some other ways to connect to games:

- 'local connection...' will connect to a server on the same machine (which you must set up, see running a local server).
- 'manual connection...' lets you specify an IP address/hostname and a port, of a server that you want to connect to.

Updated on Oct 23, 2009 by Alon Zakai (Version 25)

Subpages (1): Quick Start Guide