Hellforge Rushing Guide

[Ragnarod]

Well, to change between different game versions, you can have different Diablo II folders (which is recommended if you want to run multiple game instances), or use TrenShadow's version switcher (which can be found here, along with other useful files).

Keep in mind that, once you open your characters in a newer version of the game, you won't be able to open them in the older version again (except for 1.10 and 1.11, you can switch between them without problem), so you can go from 1.09b to 1.11, but not the other way round, for example

Hope that helps, if you need any further explanation, just ask

 

[Thirty-Thirty]

I remember your report saying something about having rushed about 100 characters. Out of curiosity, what do you then do with them?

 

[Ragnarod]

Well, after getting their hellforges done, there's not much you can do with them, so I usually delete them if I don't need to get anything socketed or something similar. Besides, I like reusing the same names in the rushed chars, it helps automatizing things for me

 

[Brainalot]

Well, to change between different game versions, you can have different Diablo II folders (which is recommended if you want to run multiple game instances), or use TrenShadow's version switcher (which can be found here, along with other useful files).

Keep in mind that, once you open your characters in a newer version of the game, you won't be able to open them in the older version again (except for 1.10 and 1.11, you can switch between them without problem), so you can go from 1.09b to 1.11, but not the other way round, for example

Hope that helps, if you need any further explanation, just ask

Ive been playing Diablo since D1, but i still dont understand what u guys are saying.
Can u play D2 v1,09 on Bnet, rush chars and then play then on D2 v1,11 also on Bnet ??? I thought when u logged onto Bnet it installs v1,11 automatically.

How can i run 2 instances of D2 on one pc ???

Sorry, for asking such stupid questions.

PS: Who wants to join me rushing some chars....??? i want to get some high runes this ladder.....(im on Europe....*dingrilde)

 

[Hrus]

Ive been playing Diablo since D1, but i still dont understand what u guys are saying.
Can u play D2 v1,09 on Bnet, rush chars and then play then on D2 v1,11 also on Bnet ??? I thought when u logged onto Bnet it installs v1,11 automatically.

How can i run 2 instances of D2 on one pc ???

Sorry, for asking such stupid questions.

PS: Who wants to join me rushing some chars....??? i want to get some high runes this ladder.....(im on Europe....*dingrilde)

Did you notice that we are talking about single-player? On BNet you can only play the version installed on the server - that means 1.11. On single-player you can have 2 different versions on your computer and copy your character from lower versions to higher versions.

 

[Thirty-Thirty]

Well, after getting their hellforges done, there's not much you can do with them, so I usually delete them if I don't need to get anything socketed or something similar. Besides, I like reusing the same names in the rushed chars, it helps automatizing things for me

I see your point about automatization. I thought you might keep them around to try building everything on the face of the planet, or maybe just to name a 200 items. Or try a few imbues.

How much faster can HF rushing get if one uses other players to play for the rushed characters on a LAN/Open game?

 

[Ragnarod]

Well, having at least an extra person managing the rushed characters speeds things up significantly, and you can probably save yourself about half an hour or more in each full rush, which is quite nice

I did think about keeping a few chars to use imbues, but I haven't leveled any of my rushed chars past level 5, and you need to be at least level 8 to be able to complete the quest. If you're willing to do so, I think diadems can get +2 skill affixes imbued at any level, so it might pay off in the long run, if you have a heap of white ones just lying around

 

[DX-Crawler]

great guide Ragnarod :thumbsup:

But I havent figured out how the userswitching with windows XP works

DX

 

[kabal]

great guide Ragnarod :thumbsup:

But I havent figured out how the userswitching with windows XP works

DX

Let's say I have kab1 and kab2 as my two XP user profiles on my machine. To do user switching and run two copies of d2 at the same time, I would:

1) Log onto kab1, start a TCP/IP D2 game
2) Alt-tab out of D2, go to the start menu and select Log Off
3) At the Log Off menu select Switch Users
4) Log onto kab2 (leaving all apps running on kab1 open), start another copy of D2, and enter my own IP address to join my own game (being hosted on kab1)

 

[DX-Crawler]

Ok thanks Kabby no I know how it works great :thumbsup:

Maybe I shall give back Tubby his ear as a thanks

DX

 

[silverwolf0]

I have a few technical questions if anyone can answer them. I created a second account to install diablo on but when I log into it, it is really slow and skips and lags. Also, it takes an excruciatingly long time to install diablo for some reason. I have a 2gigs of ram and set page file to be windows managed. It seems the computer slows down dramatically when I insert a disc. The discs are pretty scratch free. So what can I do to fix this?

 

[Ragnarod]

I don't think you need to install diablo twice to be able to use the user switch method and run two instances of it. You shouldn't have any trouble with 2 gb of ram, but perhaps you could try adjusting your windows xp options for max performance, it should speed things up if it's still slowing down (to do this: Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Performance (Settings) -> Adjust for best performance)

Edit1: Another thing you can do, if the slowdown is caused because of having to read the d2 discs, is copying from the LoD disc to your d2 folder the files D2XMUSIC.MPQ and D2XVIDEO.MPQ, that way it will only have to read the disc at startup

Edit2: You can also adjust the video options of the game for max performance (disabling blended shadows and all that), running it in windowed mode (by adding -w in the command line of the shortcut), without sound (adding -ns in the command line of the shortcut), and switching to 2d mode (by running the video test again, it's the D2VidTst file in your d2 folder)

Hope some of that helps, because I'm out of ideas already

 

[Crudesash68]

I have a few technical questions if anyone can answer them. I created a second account to install diablo on but when I log into it, it is really slow and skips and lags. Also, it takes an excruciatingly long time to install diablo for some reason. I have a 2gigs of ram and set page file to be windows managed. It seems the computer slows down dramatically when I insert a disc. The discs are pretty scratch free. So what can I do to fix this?

As Ragnarod mentioned, you don't need to do a manual install of the game for each user, simply open the program; it is easier to make a shortcut to the game.exe file though. Here is how:

From the desktop, right click the mouse. A dialog box will appear; select "new". Then select "Shortcut". This will open the shortcut wizard. Select browse, and a window will display your computers folders. Click on "Local Drive" (or "C" Drive"). Then select Program Files, then DiabloII, then look for the game.exe icon; click on that and then select "OK", and then the shortcut wizard will verify the path. Click on "OK" once more, and the shortcut will be on your desktop. You're all set!

Steve

 

[OCAU_MIKLE]

Nice guide. You can do this without using fast user switching. All you need is a certian "Loader" for "D2" from a certian "Sector" of "D2" off the "net" if you catch my drift . PM me if you arn't catching the swig of my jig :lol:.

- ocau_mikle


- PS. Anyone want to do some regular Hell Cowing ? My 1.09d sorceress need to lvl ALOT more.

 

[silverwolf0]

Thanks Ragnarod for the help. Bad me already installed diablo again twice forthe second account and am using it. I will uninstall it later. It doesn't slow down anymore which is nice. Just stopped doing it after like 4 restarts.

 

[Blito!]

Question: how can you rush 7 chars at once in sp? I mean, with the modified dll you have only one. Do you have multiple users in your XP install and do you open 2 more chars in each one? (4 users total)? If so, what kind of computer is enought to do so?
Thanks a lot guys :thumbsup:

 

[Ragnarod]

The modified dll will let you open more than two d2 instances at the same time, so you don't need to use the user switching method if you've got the dll. It doesn't take a very powerful computer to run 7 instances of d2, I'm doing it in an athlon k7 800 mhz with 640 mb ram, you just have to make sure you have a nice amount of ram and you're set

 

[jrlafrance]

Let's say I have kab1 and kab2 as my two XP user profiles on my machine. To do user switching and run two copies of d2 at the same time, I would:

1) Log onto kab1, start a TCP/IP D2 game
2) Alt-tab out of D2, go to the start menu and select Log Off
3) At the Log Off menu select Switch Users
4) Log onto kab2 (leaving all apps running on kab1 open), start another copy of D2, and enter my own IP address to join my own game (being hosted on kab1)

Great guide!

@kabal: do you need to have "x" number of users set up to rush "x" amount of characters while using XP? I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, but just checking.

 

[Lord_Vega]

Jr, eventhough I dont use the fast user switch method, I could provide you with the apropriate dll to 1.09b classic, so that you could do it even easier :wink3:

 

[Crazy Runner Guy]

Can rushes be done in v1.11b classic? What restrictions does that put on chars? (I want another Ohm rune...)

Also, is there a modified .dll file so I can run multiple instances on v1.11b at once?

crg