The VG Resource

So you may have noticed that we've begun using the chatroom again in the navigation of the forum, but there is an easier way to join the fun, without using your browser, and have it set up to join on your computer startup!!
If you already have an IRC program, connect with these details;
Server: drshnaps.biolizard.net
Room: #spriters-resource

irc://drshnaps.biolizard.com/spriters-resource

Step 1.
http://www.hexchat.org/
Download this application, and install. Start it up!
Only 1.5mb of space needed!

Step 2.

You'll want to fill in your name information. The second and third choice are basically for if that name is already taken. It probably won't be, but, you know.
Now click the "+ Add" button, and you'll have a new network in the list. Name this whatever you like, something like tSR Network or whatever you want. And then hit "Edit..."

You want to then hit the "+ Add" button in the top right, and put in "drshnaps.biolizard.net" - this is the network our room is hosted on.
Also tick "Auto connect to this network at startup"
You then want to type in "#spriters-resource" under the favourite channels section.
Click close!

Step 3.
You can now hit the connect button in the bottom right of the Network List window, or close the application and re-open it. It will now connect to the chatroom straight away!

Set up the application to start when your PC boots up using any method you wish, I use Windows 7 Manager's "Startup Manager" but you can use anything you like!

That's all you need to know in order to join in.

Register with NickServ
You can register a nickname with NickServ on our IRC host. That way, you can ensure that you'll always be able to use your own nick!

To register, all you have to do is to write a simple command while you're in the IRC.
/msg NickServ REGISTER password [e-mail]
Enter a password of your choice but keep in mind it's case-sensitive (Password and passWord are not the same)! An email address is not required but can be added if you want. It's good if you lose your password, or there's any issues like that that come up.

To log in to your newly created account, you just need to identify with NickServ:
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY password
Use the same password as the one you registered with! Remember, it is case-sensitive!
Most clients also feature automatic identification. XChat for instance has a "NickServ password" input field on the Network options window - just enter your password and XChat will do the identification for you!

You can also reserve multiple nicknames with NickServ. Change to the nick you want to add and tell NickServ
/msg NickServ GROUP groupname password
where groupname is a nickname you have already registered.

There are a few other interesting NickServ commands, check /msg NickServ help for more information.


Other tidbits

People frequently ask how to change their nickname when they already are connected. It's easy!
/nick newname
where newname is the name you want to have. For example, "/nick Potato" will rename you to "Potato". Keep in mind you cannot have whitespaces in your nickname, so "/nick Potato Chips" will result in "Potato" as well!

Another nice thing which can be fun is the action command.
/me does something
will print a line "user does something" where "user" is your current nickname.

Just keep in mind not to overuse these so other users don't get annoyed!

Revised: XChat is trial based, HexChat isn't. It's pretty much the same thing (litterally) except it doesn't expire.

Another "alternative" is the X-Chat build from silverex.org.

NVM, I answered my own question.
Anyways, a few other commands I find useful:
/away (reason) - marks the user as being away. The reason will be displayed to anyone who tries querying the user.
/quit (reason) - Self-explanatory.
/join (channel) - Joins the given channel.
/cs register (channel) - registers the given channel in your name, making you its owner (~/qo).

I can't seem to connect via mIRC ("connection refused" is the error I get).

The server is probably down or something right now.

I'm pretty sure it's not actually on our own network so there's nothing we can do about it.

It isn't. If I remember correctly, it's on a server that Drshnaps owns, I think.

(06-08-2014, 06:27 PM)Petie Wrote: [ -> ]It isn't. If I remember correctly, it's on a server that Drshnaps owns, I think.

Not sure about that, but any connection attempts were basically shot down by the server, given the error I got.
PS: What's the policy on IRC bots?

You'll have to ask Drshnaps.
It's not our server, we just have a channel on it.

Don't look at me I don't have anything to do with it. I have no idea why my name is on it.

To my knowledge it's owned by Sephy; and I'm not even 100% sure on that.

Well, isn't this wonderfully convoluted?

I do know that rules regarding bots are left up to the owners of the individual chatrooms; so that at least answers that question.