Multiplayer

GTA2 was the last GTA game in the series with a built-in multiplayer system until GTA LCS was released. When playing multiplayer, your goal is to kill your oponents and reach maximum frags or points, or to stay alive as much time as you can when playing TAG mode (see below)

Game modes
There are three different game modes. In each mode, the score earning is the same, but it differs in what makes you win the game.

Frag game
The frag game is the basic game mode. The goal is to simply kill the other players as much as possible. The player with the most 'frags' when the time runs out or the player who reaches the frag limit first wins the game. Each time you commit suicide (by being busted by the cops or falling from a high place for example), you will lose a frag, except when you fall in water, where you lose two frags because of a bug. As opposed to that, you get two frags when you push someone into water or rocket them in a way that they fall in water.

Points game
A points game is almost identical to a frag game, but the winner is decided by points instead by frags. The player who has the most points when the time runs out, or the player who reaches the points limit first, wins the game. Killing opponents will give you lot of points (see above), but other things like the "Elvis has left the building!" bonus are also very rewarding. Another difference between a points and a frag game is that points cannot be lost.

Tag game
Tag game is a different form of game play. At the start of the game, the host is "it", which means he is designated as the target. His goal is to stay alive as much as he can, while all other players try to kill him. The target cannot use weapons or pick-ups (the player who becomes "it" loses all his weapons when this happens) and his car will slowly get damage. The player who manages to kill the target becomes the new target. If the target commits suicide, a new target will be randomly picked. The player who has been the target for the longest time wins the game when the time runs out.

Multiplayer maps
There are 6 multiplayer maps that come with the game (the districts and 3 other smaller maps):
 * Downtown District
 * Residential District
 * Industrial District
 * Tiny Town
 * Hidden Surprise
 * Face Off

Making an online multiplayer game
GTA2 can be played on a LAN Network on the internet. If you wanna play on the internet, you need to forward the port range 2300-2400 and the port 47624 (47624 is for hosting only) in both TCP and UDP, and you also need to fully allow GTA2.exe and dplaysvr.exe on your firewall, even if you are just joining a game.

The host of the game (the player who creates the game) must set up the game and decide what are the game mode, frags/points to win, time limit (set it to 0 for no time limit), map to play etc.

Start the GTA2 Manager and go to the "Network" tab. You'll find four possible connection protocols. For most games, this option is set to "Internet TCP/IP connection for Directplay". Beneath this setting, you'll find a box tagged "Protocol Connection". Every joiner puts the host's IP address here. With "show player names" you can toggle in-game names on and off.

Hosting a game
To host a game, you have to go to the Network Manager by clicking the button "Start network game". A new window called "Network GTA2" will pop up. You can enter your nick at the upper right corner. Click on "Create" to create a multiplayer game. The window will change into a window with several settings:


 * Player Name: The name of everyone who joins your game or who joins the game you joined are shown here
 * Ping: Behind the players their ping is shown. The lower the ping, the smoother the game. A ping of <100 is generally accepted as good. Notice that the ping showed in this window is usually wrong.
 * Reject: Select on a player and click on "Reject" to kick him out of your game (notice that this may cause your game to crash if you are using original GTA2 v9.6F from Rockstar Games site, but this was fixed on Vike's GTA2 11.41/GTA2 GTAMP Version)
 * Start: Starts the game. You can only start the game if the number of players is the same as required for the selected map.
 * Cancel: Cancels and removes your game.
 * Game Speed: If your games are too fast or too slow, you can compensate it with this setting.
 * Send: Type a message in the text box and send it with "Send" or enter. Unless you use GTA2 11.41, long sentences will fall off the screen, but you can read them by selecting text and scrolling to the right.
 * Level: Select which map you want to play. Usually, old maps have 5 versions: 1 for each player count from 2 to 6, but most newer maps from GTAMP.com only include one MMP file for 1-6 players. Those only work in the newer GTA2 v11.41
 * Game type: Select a frag, points or tag game.
 * Frags/Points to win: Enter the amount of frags or points to win.
 * Time Limit (Minutes): Enter a time limit for the game. Set this to 0 for infinite time.
 * Cops: Toggle cops on or off. Maximum wanted level varies with the map. Army used to desync the game in older versions.

Joining a game
If someone else hosts a game and you want to join him, you have to go to the Network tab on the GTA2 manager, put the host's IP in the box and click "Start network game". If the host is ready and all player's ports are forwarded, the game will appear in the white box. Select the game and click "Join". You will enter a window in which all players are present. Players who join a game cannot change the settings: they can only chat with other players and leave the game.

GTA2 Game Hunter
GTA2 Game Hunter is a program made to make the hosting and joining process easier (you can host and join games with a few clicks), but it still requires the ports mentioned above to be opened.

Game rules
A lot of players play with some rules, so it is wise to discuss this before the game starts. The following list includes a few of the most common rules used by players in their games.


 * No rules: The most straightforward rule. If it's possible, it's allowed.
 * Don't attack players who have no weapons. Players who pick up a weapon tell this with F10
 * No spawn-kills: Don't attack players who have just spawned and cannot defend themselves yet.
 * No suicide-kills: Don't kill a player if you get killed in the progress (e.g. suicide bomb attack or an instant vehicle bomb).
 * No type-kills: Don't attack players who are typing (F10).
 * No team kills: Don't attack players of your own team (on team maps like Team Tiny Town).
 * No teaming: Don't team up with other players to attack someone together.
 * Ruling out weapons: Don't use certain weapons or power-ups, like vehicle mines or invulnerability.
 * Fair play: Be a good sport, even if no rules were set.