#tcod tutorial 2.0

[Zhorken]

Quick answer for people who already understand IRC: we're #tcod on irc.veekun.com, port 6667 for non-SSL or 6697 for SSL.

#tcod is TCoD's unofficial but de facto IRC channel. veekun's chat page has a pretty good explanation of IRC. Basically, the channel is a fixed place people come to talk, in contrast to an IM conversation being a smaller, temporary thing people have to be invited to. There are usually 10–20 people in #tcod at once, but nowhere near that many talking; it's common for IRCers to leave their clients running so they can catch up on conversation or jump in when something interesting comes up. If the channel's silent, try saying something and/or waiting around for a while; someone else might pop up. Though we might also all just be asleep.

Anyway. HOW TO JOIN #TCOD IN JUST ~TEN EASY STEPS~. (You only need all ten steps the first time, don't worry.) Helpful screenshots: user information/network list, editing new network, success!

1. Acquire an IRC client. XChat is decent, and the focus of this tutorial. Mibbit runs inside your browser; it works if you can't install a separate program, but it's pretty clunky.
   
   Windows users: You'll want to download this unofficial build of XChat. XChat's open-source, so other people can freely and legally distribute the program themselves, but the official Windows build costs money after 30 days anyway. (Yes, this is ridiculous.)
   
   Linux users: Check your package manager; I know it's in apt (Ubuntu's repository) as xchat. If you're using Ubuntu and don't know what that means, look for "XChat IRC" in the Ubuntu Software Centre. (XChat-gnome, if you come across it, is a stripped-down version and likely not what you want. xchat-indicator could be useful if you use Ubuntu's indicator applet.)
   
   Mac users: There's an OS X variant of XChat called XChat Aqua. (The actual download is buried a bit.) The setup UI is a bit different; here are some screenshots courtesy Spoon.
   
   
2. Run XChat and enter whatever user information you want; see also screenshot 1. "Nick name" is the name you'll appear as — letters, numbers, and any of _[]{}-^\ only, and it can't start with a number. The other choices are for if it's already taken, usually if your connection dies and the server takes a while to realize. "Real name" shows up when we ask the server for info on you; it doesn't actually have to be your real name, of course. "User name" is used as part of an identification string that we can also see; it can be the same as your nick.
3. #tcod is on veekun's IRC server, which won't be in the list by default. Click "Add" and enter a name for it ("veekun" or whatever you want), then select it and click "Edit".
4. Click on the newserver/6667 under "Servers for veekun", change it to irc.veekun.com/6667, and hit enter. Alternatively, if you want a secure (encrypted) connection, replace 6667 with 6697 and check both SSL options. See also screenshot 2.
5. Enter #tcod under "Favorite channels" and check "Auto connect" so you'll automatically connect to veekun and join #tcod when X-Chat starts up.
6. Change the character set to UTF-8 so fancy Unicode characters don't get garbled. This is quite relevant in a Pokémon channel.
7. Click "Close".
8. Back at the network list window, check "Skip network list on startup".
9. Select veekun and click "Connect".
10. You're here! ... Probably. It should look like screenshot 3. If something goes wrong, feel free to post about it here. In particular, if it tells you you're banned, and you aren't (you'd know if you were), you're being hit by a ban intended for someone else; poke Zhorken or surskitty via /query (see below), or send a PM/VM on the forums.

A few commands (enter these in the message bar):

• /nick newnick changes your nickname.
• /away reason marks you as away, with a reason people can check; /away again marks you back. I think /back also works by default on XChat.
• /me action sends a message as an action, e.g. "/me blinks." -> "* Zhorken blinks."
• /query nick opens up a private message window with someone (which is how you'd poke someone), or you can right-click their name in the channel users list and select "Open dialogue window".
• /who #tcod lists people in #tcod; if you're not in #tcod, you'll get a partial list depending on people's individual settings, but Zhorken will always be visible. It can be useful if you're having trouble joining and want to query someone about it, but don't know what nick they're using.
• /ns register password e-mail registers the nick you're currently using, assuming nobody else already has. The e-mail address is optional.
  /ns identify password then identifies you as the rightful owner of your nick; /ns identify nick password identifies you for a nick other than the one you're using. You can go back to the network list ("XChat" menu → network list), edit the network, and enter your password there to have XChat do this automatically. EDIT: Don't use the "NickServ password" box for this; it doesn't work on this server. Put ns identify nick password in the "Connect command" box instead.
  /ns ghost nick password reclaims your nick from a ghost connection (or, unlikely, a nick thief.)
  /ns help for more information.
• /whois nick displays a bunch of info on someone, including "real name" and away message. You can also get most of the same info right-clicking the person in the sidebar.

[surskitty]

Note that while I am frequently paying attention to #tcod, I'm usually daikonpan, enekoromori, or enekoiru, not surskitty. Or something entirely different. Zhorken's also often not Zhorken. You might want to try '/who #tcod' if you're banned to figure out who to message. If something looks Japanese, it's probably me; if something starts with Zhor, it's Zhorken.

I'm usually on the forums, though 8D and you can also try messaging me with YIM or MSN or AIM or Jabber and that works, too.


Also! There are a lot of things with plugins for loud aways. Do not turn these on. If someone's curious if you're away or not, e can /whois you and find out if you are and why. If you're not sure if you're doing loud aways, someone'll let you know if you are. :/

[Tailsy]

And don't be intimidated! We're all pretty silly usually!

Until we get the knives out, I suppose.

[surskitty]

I'm pretty sure we're silly even when we have the knives out.

[Tailsy]

http://tcodquotes.tumblr.com/ agrees.

[ultraviolet]

FOR EXAMPLE

<Veruniclus> today I realized that molestation looks like mole station
<ultraviolet> choo choo
<ultraviolet> welcome to mole station

[Verne]

STEP 11
SOME OF US ARE KIND OF DICKISH. I JUST GESTURED TO ALL OF ME. DO NOT BE AFRAID. Or maybe you should be, but if you decide one or two of us are huge dicks just pretend we don't exist or maybe go 'hm, why are these people being dicks at me!' Because usually it's just annoying little quirks that we do not like and can be easily fixed. We actually like people! I can... probably hope that's true.

also

http://tcodquotes.tumblr.com/ agrees.

since when is this a thing

[Harlequin]

go to #tcod! #tcod is great! I am often there ... except when I am not! which is often. :(

#mafia is great fun too.

[Clover]

If you absolutely just want to jump in, click here and all you need to do is fill in your name.

Then if you decide to stay, you can come back and download all that stuff. This is also good for school computers and such.

(also yes come play #mafia with us :D!)

[Adriane]

Originally Posted by Verne

also since when is this a thing

Since my mind conceived it >:(

[Blaziking the God General]

Your conversations amuse me and sound like stuff I would actually say. I might just have to join.

[Superbird]

I either never have time or don't remember. =(

[Zhorken]

Okay so the instructions for getting XChat to auto-identify with NickServ don't actually work on veekun; I've amended them.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by enekoiru

Also! There are a lot of things with plugins for loud aways. Do not turn these on. If someone's curious if you're away or not, e can /whois you and find out if you are and why. If you're not sure if you're doing loud aways, someone'll let you know if you are. :/

By this she means they send a message to every channel you're in, announcing that you're away. And yeah, that is indeed annoying.

[Ryan the Terrible]

Ahh, see I kept hearing all this talk of #tcod, but I had no clue how to get there. And I've been here WAY too long to have an excuse for not knowing people, so I definitely need to start hanging around this place sometimes. So, I'll just download this XChat thing now!

....

........

...................

...nah, I'll get it some other time. }:

[Wobbles]

For some very strange reason, I can't seem to connect. The server doesn't like to actually change to "irc.veekun.com/6667", and reverts to "newserver/6667".

What am I doing wrong?

EDIT:
Fixed it! Turns out you need to hit enter to make it work right. Might I suggest putting this in the guide?

EDIT 2:
FUCK! I can't seem to remember to get back in! Any reccomendations, or ways to get back on, as Wobbles?

EDIT 3:
I made it work again...
I just had to wait a few hours!

[Zhorken]

Originally Posted by Wobbles

EDIT:
Fixed it! Turns out you need to hit enter to make it work right. Might I suggest putting this in the guide?

Huh. What were you doing? Just clicking outside of it? Yeah, I suppose I should put that in.

[Light]

XChat Aqua link (for Mac) is broken.

[Zhorken]

Fixed X-Chat Aqua.

[Light]

Thanks!

EDIT :/

Looking up irc.veekun.com
* Connecting to irc.veekun.com (173.255.205.177) port 6667...
* Connection failed. Error: (336130315) error:1408F10B:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_RECORD:wrong version number
Are you sure this is a SSL capable server and port?

[surskitty]

Turn off SSL, or change port to 6697.