What is a Room?
Arcade channels, also known as arcade rooms , are online multiplayer servers that can feature a variety of game modes and user-generated tracks.
The most common game mode you'll see played on the channels is "Time Attack", a mode where the goal is to set the best time possible within a given timeframe.
You can find a curated list of arcade channels by navigating as follows from the main menu: Play -> Live -> Arcade
Create a room activity
When you create a Room activity, you have the choice between three options.
- Select A Campaign
- Select Tracks
- Use Your Dedicated Server
See below for the details of each of these options.
Select A Campaign
If you choose this option, you can easily create a multiplayer room for one of your existing club campaigns.
Simply select the campaign of your choosing and then you will be greeted with a screen where you can select several options which are explained in detail below.
Select Tracks
If you choose this option, you can easily create a multiplayer room with a selection of your favorite tracks.
Keep in mind, that there is an upper limit of 100 tracks per Arcade Room. After selecting your tracks, you will be greeted with a screen where you can select several options which are explained in detail below.
Use Your Dedicated Server (Advanced)
If you choose this option, you can select a dedicated server login you want to use for this activity.
This option requires you to host a Trackmania server by yourself, but allows you to run custom game modes, connect external tools to the server via the XML-RPC interface, etc.
Dedicated servers are strictly PC only
Due to platform restrictions, Dedicated Servers can only be joined via the PC version of the Trackmania.
If you want to create a room that allows for cross-platform play, please use the "Select A Campaign" or "Select Tracks" options instead.
For an in-depth tutorial on how to setup a dedicated server, please refer to this guide.
Room settings
The Room settings allows you to tweak and fine tune the multiplayer experience on your arcade room to your liking.
You can change the following:
- Room name: This is how the room appears in your club and in the Arcade room list. (Maximum length: 20 characters)
- Privacy: If the room is set to private, players must be a member of your club to be able to join the room.
- Server location: You can choose between two locations: "EU West" and "Canada Central".
- Max players per server: This allows you to change the maximum amount of players per server. (Range: 1-100)
- Game mode: Choice between these modes: Time Attack, Rounds, Laps, Knockout, Cup, Teams.
- Game mode settings: Allows you to fine tune the settings of the game mode, e.g. the Time Attack timelimit or the points needed for a team to win in Teams mode.
- Scalable room: This allows the server to split if the player numbers are approaching the maximum amount of players.
- Password: Once activated, players require a password to join the server. The password can be seen by Club Owners/Admins in the Room window after this option has been enabled.
Author: Chris92