setup_en.md

Archipelago Setup Guide

This guide is intended to provide an overview of how to:

• Install, set up, and run the Archipelago multiworld software
• Generate and host multiworlds
• Connect to the multiworld after hosting has begun

This is a general overview. For more specific steps, reference the relevant game's setup guide.

Some steps also assume use of Windows, so may vary with your OS.

Installing the Archipelago software

The most recent public release of Archipelago can be found on GitHub: Archipelago Latest Release.

Run the exe file, and after accepting the license agreement you will be asked which components you would like to install.

Archipelago installations are automatically bundled with some programs. These include a launcher, a generator, a server and some clients.

• The launcher lets you quickly access Archipelago's different components and programs. It is found under the name ArchipelagoLauncher and can be found in the main directory of your Archipelago installation.

• The generator allows you to generate multiworld games on your computer. Please refer to the 'Generating a game' section of this guide for more information about it.

• The server will allow you to host the multiworld on your machine. Hosting on your machine requires forwarding the port you are hosting on. The default port for Archipelago is 38281. If you are unsure how to do this there are plenty of other guides on the internet that will be more suited to your hardware.

• The clients are what are used to connect your game to the multiworld. Some games use a client that is automatically installed with an Archipelago installation. You can access those clients via the launcher or by navigating to your Archipelago installation.

Generating a game

What is a YAML?

YAML is the file format which Archipelago uses in order to configure a player's world. It allows you to dictate which game you will be playing as well as the options you would like for that game.

YAML is a format very similar to JSON however it is made to be more human-readable. If you are ever unsure of the validity of your YAML file you may check the file by uploading it to the check page on the Archipelago website: YAML Validation Page

Creating a YAML

YAML files may be generated on the Archipelago website by visiting the games page and clicking the "Options Page" link under the relevant game. Clicking "Export Options" in a game's options page will download the YAML to your system.

Alternatively, you can run ArchipelagoLauncher.exe and click on Generate Template Options to create a set of template YAMLs for each game in your Archipelago install (including for APWorlds). These will be placed in your Players/Templates folder.

In a multiworld there must be one YAML per world. Any number of players can play on each world using either the game's native coop system or using Archipelago's coop support. Each world will hold one slot in the multiworld and will have a slot name and, if the relevant game requires it, files to associate it with that multiworld.

If multiple people plan to play in one world cooperatively then they will only need one YAML for their coop world. If each player is planning on playing their own game then they will each need a YAML.

Generating a single player game

On the website

The easiest way to get started playing an Archipelago generated game, after following the base setup from the game's setup guide, is to find the game on the Archipelago Games List, click on Options Page, set the options for how you want to play, and click Generate Game at the bottom of the page. This will create a page for the seed, from which you can create a room, and then connect.

If you have downloaded the options, or have created an options file manually, this file can be uploaded on the Generation Page where you can also set any specific hosting settings.

On your local installation

To generate a game on your local machine, make sure to install the Archipelago software. Navigate to your Archipelago installation (usually C:\ProgramData\Archipelago), and place the options file you have either created or downloaded from the website in the Players folder.

Run ArchipelagoGenerate.exe, or click on Generate in the launcher, and it will inform you whether the generation was successful or not. If successful, there will be an output zip in the output folder (usually named something like AP_XXXXX.zip). This will contain all relevant information to the session, including the spoiler log, if one was generated.

Please note that some games require you to own their ROM files to generate with them as they are needed to generate the relevant patch files. When you generate with a ROM game for the first time, you will be asked to locate its base ROM file. This step only needs to be done once.

Generating a multiplayer game

Archipelago is a multi-game multiworld architecture, so any number of players and any number of games may be used to generate. Of note, the website currently has a maximum generated player count of 30. If you would like to generate a game larger than that, it must be done on a local installation. Generally, it is better to generate locally to free server resources, and host the resulting multiworld on the website.

Gather All Player YAMLs

All players that wish to play in the generated multiworld must have a YAML file which contains the options that they wish to play with. One person should gather all files from all participants in the generated multiworld. It is possible for a single player to have multiple games, or even multiple slots of a single game, but each YAML must have a unique player name.

On the website

Gather all player YAML files into a single place, then navigate to the Generate Page. Select the host settings you would like, click on Upload File(s), and select all player YAML files. The site also accepts zip archives containing YAML files.

After some time, you will be redirected to a seed info page that will display the generated seed, the time it was created, the number of players, the spoiler (if one was created) and all rooms created from this seed.

On your local installation

It is possible to generate the multiworld locally, using a local Archipelago installation. This is done by entering the Archipelago installation folder (usually C:\ProgramData\Archipelago) and placing each YAML file in the Players folder. If the folder does not exist then it must be created manually. The files here should not be compressed.

After filling the Players folder, runArchipelagoGenerate.exe or click Generate in the launcher. The output of the generation is placed in the output folder (usually named something like AP_XXXXX.zip).

Please note that if any player in the game you want to generate plays a game that needs a ROM file to generate, you will need the corresponding ROM files.

Changing local host settings for generation

Sometimes there are various settings that you may want to change before rolling a seed such as enabling race mode, auto-release, plando support, or setting a password.

All of these settings, plus more, can be changed by modifying the host.yaml file in the Archipelago installation folder. You can quickly access this file by clicking on Open host.yaml in the launcher. The settings chosen here are baked into the .archipelago file that gets output with the other files after generation, so if you are rolling locally, ensure this file is edited to your liking before rolling the seed. This file is overwritten when running the Archipelago Installation software. If you have changed settings in this file, and would like to retain them, you may rename the file to options.yaml.

Hosting an Archipelago Server

When a multiworld seed is generated, the multidata will be output as a .archipelago. If the game was generated locally, a compressed folder will be in /output and will contain the .archipelago, the spoiler log, and any relevant files for the generated games.

Hosting on the website

After a seed page has been created on the website, clicking on Create Room will create a new server instance, and a page that can be linked to the other players, so they can all see the connection info, obtain their data files, and connect to the multiworld. Simply click on the url in the title bar, copy the link, and send it to your friends. Room servers will shut down after 2 hours of inactivity, saving the multiworld progress. By returning to the room page, the room server can be started back up, and the multiworld can continue to be played. If the link to the room is lost, the creator of the room can find it on their User Content Page. The person who created the room becomes the "owner" of the room, and as such has access to the server console. Clearing cookies will remove access to this console, and there is no way to regain it. If a server password was set when generating the multiworld game, server admin privileges may be gained by entering !admin <password> from the ArchipelagoTextClient.exe.

The room page

1. Server/Host Name
2. Port
3. Slot Name
4. Download link for data files
5. Link to tracker page for this player

From a website generated game

After generating a game on the website, you will be redirected to the seed page. To begin playing click on Create Room to create a new room page and server for your game.

From a locally generated game

After generating a game, a compressed folder will be output to the /output folder. Go to the Archipelago Host Game Page, click on Upload File, navigate to your Archipelago installation, and select the generated folder. This will create a new seed page using the information from this folder.

Hosting on a local machine

The .archipelago file may be extracted from the compressed file. Double-clicking the file will then open ArchipelagoServer.exe in order to host the multiworld on the local machine. Alternatively, running ArchipelagoServer.exe and pointing the resulting file selection prompt to the .archipelago file or the generated compressed folder will begin hosting.

Connecting to an Archipelago Server

The actual method of connection will vary depending on the game, so follow that game's setup guide, but all games will use the same general connection info noted here.

Connection Info

For connecting from the game to the server, the connection info is needed for any of the game clients. Games that use data files will usually contain the connection info within these files, when hosted on the Archipelago website. If the information needs to be entered manually, it is usually comprised of four different sections.

• Server, Server Name or Host Name are all used interchangeably as the domain or IP address of the server. If the game is being hosted on the main Archipelago website this will be archipelago.gg. If the game is being hosted on your own local machine localhost will work. If the game is being hosted on another person's computer then you enter that person's public IP address.
• Port is which port on the domain or IP address the game is being hosted on. On the website room pages, this is displayed as archipelago.gg:<port>. Most clients will accept that information being entered directly as is. If the information needs to be entered separately, then the port is the sequence of numbers after the :, and the : does not need to be entered. If a game is being hosted from the ArchipelagoServer.exe, this will default to 38281 but may be changed in the host.yaml.
• Slot Name is the name of your player slot that you are connecting to. This is the same as the name that was set when creating your YAML file. If the game is hosted on the website, this is also displayed on the room page. The name is case-sensitive.
• Password is the password set by the host in order to join the multiworld. By default, this will be empty and is almost never required, but one can be set when generating the game. Generally, leave this field blank when it exists, unless you know that a password was set, and what that password is.