IRC Guide
CSG's IRC channel is on Gamesurge - #csgamer (Connect↗)
For those of you who dont know how to connect, I'm going to include a lengthy guide.
There are a few ways of joining our IRC channel;
- An IRC client
- A Java (web-based) IRC client
- IM program
Option #1
...IRC CLIENT
If you are new to IRC, you should probably try mIRC. mIRC can be downloaded from mirc.com or from mircx.com among other places (size is about 1MB). After you install it, open mIRC. You will be greeted with a register box. Registering is optional. Close that, and you will be brought to the Options configuration screen. You can put anything you want in the Full name and Email boxes. There are thousands and thousands of people connected, so if your name is taken, be creative. Next, click the IRC Network drop-down box and select Gamesnet. <---- UPDATED -- Gamesnet changed to gamesurge, so in IRC, just type /server irc.gamesurge.net --then type /join #csgamer
You should now configure the other options listed in the "Category:" box. Everything is pretty self-explanitory, but if you need help with an option, click the "Help" button to find out more about that option. You should enable the Identd Server in the "Identd" section. The user ID can be anything, you should leave the other boxes the way they are. You also should be carefull about the DCC settings. DCC = Direct Client to Client. This is used to connect directly to another person on IRC to send/recieve files and also to "DCC Chat" which is basically a more secure type of chatting. The default DCC settings in mIRC are secure, but you might want to check through them to see if you want to change something. Most of the other settings are for cosmetic purposes mostly.
After that is done, make sure a Gamesnet server is selected, and click "Connect to IRC Server". Once you are connected, you will be greeted with a Message of the Day from the server. At the bottom of the window is the place where you type your messages. Type "/join #csgamer" to join. All IRC commands begin with "/". Some you might want to know about are: /join xxxx, /server xxxx, /away xxxx". Click the Help menu and go to Contents > Basic IRC Commands for more commands and help.
ADDITIONAL HELP AND GUIDES CAN BE FOUND AT irchelp.org
NOTE: We would appreciate it if you could stay connected. You can leave your client connected to IRC as long as you want. It will not affect your connection and will not cause lag unless you have a [very] low end computer. You can simply set it up to have the icon in the system tray and leave it there until needed. IRC has an "away" feature that you can turn on which will log all your messages like email, and tell people that you are away and why (if you want).
Option #2
...Web-Based IRC Client
This is a more basic and simple to use version of a full client. It's not recommended to use permanently, full clients have many advantages over this type of app but it's fine for occasional/temporary use.
Option #3
...IM Programs
I know of 1 Instant Messaging program that can connect to IRC and that is Trillian. I use trillian for AIM and ICQ, I have tried it with IRC but I don't like it. You can find out more about Trillian at trillian.cc.
