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README.md | ||
SERVERS.md |
README.md
Instructions for playing Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield in 2020 and beyond.
Obtaining the Game
The game is frequently on sale for under $5 on Steam. This edition contains the Athena Sword expansion but not Iron Wrath. Iron Wrath is out of scope for this guide, but it adds 8 maps, 5 game modes, and 6 firearms.
Community Resources
Playing the Game
Essential Improvements
- Borderless Gaming will run the game in a fullscreen window, allowing you to instantly alt-tab. You can download it from Github for free.
- Check the PC Gaming Wiki for any tweaks you might want to perform.
Single-Player
You can now play the campaign, a custom mission, or a training scenario. To unlock all maps in custom missions, press ~
at the main menu and enter the command unlockall
.
Multi-Player
On September 4 2016, Ubisoft shut down the authentication servers for Raven Shield. We use OpenRVS to point our clients at a new set of authentication servers so we can still play the game together.
- Download the latest version of OpenRVS from RVSGaming.org.
- Open
readme.html
to read the documentation. - Copy
openrvs.ini
,OpenRVS.u
,R6ClassDefines.ini
, andServers.list
to<YourGameDir>\system\
. - (Optional) Edit
Servers.list
to choose which servers are displayed when RVSGaming servers cannot be reached. The names in this file are for reference; the in-game server name will be retrieved from the server. You can force the usage of this file by editingopenrvs.ini
and changing the value ofServerListURL
to an invalid URL, such ashttp://127.0.0.1/servers
.
Hosting a Server
VPS
This section will cover hosting a Raven Shield server with MarkMods.com. MarkMods is one of the few vendors to still offer Raven Shield gameservers.
From the Raven Shield page, choose a number of player slots, a server location, and a billing frequency. Smaller servers will cost around $1/slot, while larger servers can be more efficient (around $0.50/slot). Finish the signup process.
Basic Setup
- Open your server in the control panel.
- Under Control Panel, Stop the server.
- Under Configuration, make sure
Use FTP config
is enabled. Save at the bottom. - Under File Manager, click
Open In Fullscreen
to start a minimal FTP client connected to your server. This will be the primary way you interact with the server's content and configuration. To open a file, click it in the UI. Save it to disk if you plan to make changes. To update a file, clickUpload Files
in the bottom left and choose the file to upload. It will replace the server's copy. - Install OpenRVS by uploading its files according to the instructions.
- Replace
R6GameService.dll
with a copy from Discord, or use the Game Service Patcher (TODO
: find a link to this). - Replace
RavenShield.mod
with a patched copy, or update its contents according to the OpenRVS instructions. - Start the server again when finished. It should now be using the config files from the file manager.
Adjusting Configs
The two primary files for server configuration are system\RavenShield.ini
and system\Server.ini
. Here are some common settings you may want to change:
- In
RavenShield.ini
- If necessary, change the values of the server ports.
Port
: Default value is 6777, but set this to the value you are assigned. If connecting to your assigned port takes you to someone else's server, they have used your port. If this happens, add 10000 to every port number and try again.ServerBeaconPort
: Set toPort
plus 1000BeaconPort
: Set toPort
plus 2000m_iRegSvrPort
: Set toPort
minus 1000m_iRSCDKeyPort
: Set toPort
minus 2000m_iModCDKeyPort
: Set toPort
plus 3000
- If hosting custom content, you will need to also purchase web hosting in order to avoid slow download speeds for players. Configure a file server with the content your players will need to download, and set
RedirectToURL
to its URL.
- If necessary, change the values of the server ports.
- In
Server.ini
- Under
[Engine.R6ServerInfo]
ServerName
should contain the name of your serverMOTD
will be shown to players when they connectDedicatedServer
andInternet Server
should be set toTrue
MaxPlayers
should be set to the number of player slotsRoundTime
is the length of each round in secondsBetweenRoundTime
is how long players have to select their gearRoundsPerMatch
sets the number of rounds before the map rotatesUsePassword
should be set toFalse
for public serversAdminPassword
should be set andUseAdminPassword
should be set toTrue
FriendlyFire
may be set toFalse
if desiredForceFPersonWeapon
should be set toTrue
CamThirdPerson
,CamFreeThirdPerson
, andCamGhost
can be disabled for adversarial modeCamTeamOnly
should be set toFalse
in co-op modeNbTerro
is the number of opponents in co-op modeDiffLevel
sets the NPC difficulty. Default is 2AIBkp
may be set to false to disable AI followers in co-op mode
- Under
[Engine.R6MapList]
- There is room for up to 32 maps in the map list. Each position in the list has an index (0-31) and two values to set:
GameType
should beR6Game.R6TeamDeathMatchGame
for PVP orR6Game.R6TerroristHuntCoopGame
for PVE. See game documentation for more mode names.Maps
should be set to the name of the map you want in the rotation
- There is room for up to 32 maps in the map list. Each position in the list has an index (0-31) and two values to set:
- Under
Publishing Your Server
Once the server is ready to go, you will need to visit the SMClan forums and make a post requesting that Tony add your server (and port) to the OpenRVS server list.
Linux
This section will cover hosting a Raven Shield server with DigitalOcean Droplets. You can also use these steps with your own Linux hardware for self-hosted servers.
Windows
This section will cover hosting a Raven Shield server with Microsoft Azure. You can also use these steps with your own Windows hardware for self-hosted servers.