Kerbal Space Program is a multi-genre game where players create their own space program. The game is still being developed so multiplayer isn't available officially, but an enterprising individual (godarklight) on the KSP forums has made multiplayer available with their client and server system called Dark Multiplayer.

Dark Multiplayer can be run as a Windows Service using FireDaemon Pro. FireDaemon Pro allows you to start Dark Multiplayer automatically at boot prior to login, start multiple instances of Dark Multiplayer and restart Dark Multiplayer should it crash. This HOWTO will show you how to set it up. You can also use FireDaemon Fusion to manage FireDaemon and other Windows services via your web browser.

Dark Multiplayer Setup Under FireDaemon Pro

First, download and extract the latest server package zip of Dark Multiplayer. There are two versions of it, the development build and the release build. The development build typically has more features but would probably be more prone to crashing, so use the release build if server stability is your primary concern. For the purposes of this guide, we will be using the directory "C:\DMPServer".

When you first extract the server files there will only be 4 files in the folder. Run the DMPServer.exe once to generate all the other files. You can then close the server executable once it finishes loading.

Now configure your server by opening all the .txt files (except for git-version.txt). Configuration instructions are in each text file.

Download and install FireDaemon Pro into the directory of your choice (typically C:\Program Files\FireDaemon).

Next, start the FireDaemon GUI from the desktop shortcut. Click on the "Create a new service definition" button in the toolbar (or type Ctrl+N) and enter the information into the fields as you see below. Adjust the paths to suit your installation.

• Executable: The path to your DMPServer.exe file. For the purposes of this HOWTO, the path is C:\DMPServer\DMPServer.exe.
• Working Directory: The directory containing the DMPServer.exe file. For the purposes of this HOWTO, the path is C:\DMPServer.
• Parameters: None. Leave this field blank.

Now click on the Settings tab. If you DON'T want to see Dark Multiplayer running, uncheck the Interact with Desktop check box. You can optionally Dark Multiplayer as the user you installed it as. In the Logon Account field type your username (e.g. Administrator) and then enter the user's password twice in the Password and Confirm fields. You can change the Process Priority to allocate more CPU time to the dedicated server or specify which cores the dedicated server will run on.

Now click on the Lifecycle tab. Uncheck Graceful Shutdown and check Console Application.

Now click on the Install button to install and start Dark Multiplayer! If you are running Windows Vista or later your server will start on Session 0. You will need to switch desktops to see your server running.