2 Clients

[Reeses007]

This is my input:
@echo off
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Turbine\DDO\"
start dndlauncher.exe
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Turbine\DDO2\"
start dndlauncher.exe
exit

Says its not recognized as an internal or external command.. whats the problem here?

[Reeses007]

Along with that, it says Windows cannot find "dndlauncher".
dunno why theres a problem there either.

[binnsr]

This is my input:
@echo off
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Turbine\DDO\"
start dndlauncher.exe
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Turbine\DDO2\"
start dndlauncher.exe
exit

Says its not recognized as an internal or external command.. whats the problem here?

see the part in red

[megathon]

I am able to run 2 instances of DDO but my problem is performance in game. It's a little jerky and I have long load times. Is there a way to help improve performance?

[binnsr]

I am able to run 2 instances of DDO but my problem is performance in game. It's a little jerky and I have long load times. Is there a way to help improve performance?

My solution to this was to install the two clients on separate hard disks. The long load times are because you have two programs trying to do a lot of reads from the same disk - so one is always waiting on the other.

Jerky is potentially your video card -- I always have really low frames in the non-active session, and the notoriously laggy zones like GH and Meridia are more jerky (laggy?) when both clients are running in that same zone.

[megathon]

Thanks for the suggestion. I put the second one on a separate hard drive and that cleared up alot of the problems

[Nodoze]

Thanks for the suggestion. I put the second one on a separate hard drive and that cleared up alot of the problems

If you are on a mobile laptop like me & money is not an issue you may want try one of the newer SSD drives or a combo SSD/magnetic drive (if they make those for laptops yet). I would do that myself but I keep way to much data for an SSD drive...

[Strakeln]

I run 2 copies of DDO on the same machine, it was tricky to get it to work, but here are the tricks:

1. Create a 2nd Copy of the DDO folder. I have D:\DDO\ and D:\DDO2\
2. Create a batch file that launches both games at the same time, otherwise you will get the client is already running message.
3. It can look like only one client is running, but if you drag one onto a different spot on the screen, you will see the second client.
4. Running dual monitors helps a lot with this.

Hope this helps.

This works, I've been running 2 clients on 1 computer simultaneously for over a year now.

However, I skipped the batch file stuff, the timing was too close and often caused a failure. I just double-click one icon, then double-click the next.

When running from the launcher (the little DDO circle in your taskbar), I can launch either or both at any time. It's only when hitting the icons that you need to do them fairly close (from a temporal perspective) to each other.

[diamabel]

I've done some searches (Google, forum & otherwise), but I can't find any answers. Is there any way to run more than 1 client at once? I'm interested in subbing for 2 accounts, but I only have 1 computer. My comp seems to run DDO well with other programs running in the background, so I figured it could handle 2 instances of the client.

Any way that's possible?

Well, if I'm in the mood for soloing I start 2 DDO clients.

The solution I have come up with is to have DDO installed regularly on my computer. The other clients are installed within a virtual machine. I use VMware for that purpose (as well as for other things too). It just runs OK this way. The overall performance will depend on your computer though. With the right operating system (64-bit version), a minimum of 4 GB RAM, a decent multicore processor and a decent grafics card and it will be just fine. The only drawback is sound. I don't get sound within my VM if I run the default client (the one not within the virtual machine) or a TV application.

It makes soloing a little easier and you don't need to purchase the hirelings from the store. You can even approach the quests with the puzzles and stuff and those where the party needs to split up.

[Alopikal]

I am trying to get this to work. I have created another DDO folder and a batch file to open both dndlauncher.exe's at the same time, but only one will open. I read that I may have to uninstall the TDM, but when I try to I get an error message that says: Uninstall key name argument missing.


Anyone know what's up?


EDIT: Got it to work, had to uninstall from the Control Panel. Works like a charm now.

[TimoteoDeLani]

Running 2 (or more) instances of the DDO client is actually really easy. You can even get completely separate configurations. And you can do it with only a single install.

The method is to use Sandboxie, running each instance (other than the first) of the client in a separate sandbox (you need to pay for the program to run multiple sandboxes at the same time).

Sandboxie will:

1. Isolate the sandboxed client from the others - they won't be able to detect that another instance is running. The window class name is changed to include the name of the sandbox (I suspect the window class is what is used for the detection). The window title is also changed (though you can suppress that behaviour).

2. Redirect writes to configuration files, etc to a location for that sandbox. E.g. if you are running in a sandbox called "DDO2", your UserPreferences.ini will be written to C:\Sandbox\<username>\DDO2\user\current\Documents\ Dungeons and Dragons Online\UserPreferences.ini. Note that the configuration files from "My Documents" will be copied by the sandbox (so your second client will have the same configuration initially).

Important! The sandboxes will by default copy any files it needs to write to into the sandbox directory. This includes all the DDO .dat files - approx 10GB! There are two ways to prevent this:

a. (Preferred) Configure all the sandboxes to have read-only access to the entire DDO install directory. This means that the files will not be copied (since they're read-only) but only the non-sandboxed instance of the client can perform updates. Do not update the DDO files while any sandboxed client is running.

b. Have separate installs of DDO for each sandbox. Give each sandbox full access (in the file restrictions section of the Sandboxie configuration) to the DDO install folder for that sandbox. This means that each client will directly write to the DDO files, and each client will have to patch separately. You're also doubling (or more) the amount of disc space used.

BTW, I strongly recommend that each DDO sandbox be configured to never delete its contents.

A program that moves your DDO windows to specific locations based on window title is also highly recommended (e.g. to move to a second monitor). One that I've found that actually works for DDO (and is free) is WinSize2. It's not the most user-friendly, but once it's set up you don't need to touch it again. Programs such as AutoIt and EventGhost would probably also be usable.

[Farayon]

Interesting thread necro...

I'll still comment: it's way easier imo, to just install DDO twice and then just simply start it once from each installation.

[SEMPER]

Interesting thread necro...

I'll still comment: it's way easier imo, to just install DDO twice and then just simply start it once from each installation.

Install it in two different areas of your computer

[TimoteoDeLani]

Interesting thread necro...

I'll still comment: it's way easier imo, to just install DDO twice and then just simply start it once from each installation.

The big advantage of using Sandboxie is the ability to have completely separate configurations for the clients. So (for example) one could run at 1680x1050 and the other at 1280x1024, to suit a dual-monitor setup.

You could also reduce the graphics on the second instance to reduce the overall load on the computer.

Setup to get 2 clients isolated from each other was about 15 minutes (with testing). However, there is a ~30 euro cost if you want to avoid nag screens after 30 days, or to run multiple sandboxes (e.g. 3 clients) simultaneously.

BTW, I debated starting a new thread, but felt a thread necro was better (it's only 7 months dead).

[janjalaniII]

Ahahaha, If you guys dont understand what they are saying or if it is not effective, just try mine. You need fast or computer that can really handle 2clients. You dont need alot of computer experience.

JUST CREATE/USE OTHER USER ACCOUNT/ COMPUTER ACCOUNT(whatever you called them)!
Open the DDo launcher on your first account, then open again the DDo launcher on you second account. And done! You can now play 2 ddo accounts on 1 pc and you can now do your monkey business. Do whatever trick you have just be sure that it will not spread around the thread and in stormreach or else youll be reported. (If you know what account iam talking about then you can do it). I have just discover it after reading the threads that i dont understand !


Iam looking for free/cheap flawless siberys. I can also trade that with a valuable information (for f2p)
Blackmachine--------->ORIEN!

[Gelandor]

Ahahaha, If you guys dont understand what they are saying or if it is not effective, just try mine. You need fast or computer that can really handle 2clients. You dont need alot of computer experience.

JUST CREATE/USE OTHER USER ACCOUNT/ COMPUTER ACCOUNT(whatever you called them)!
Open the DDo launcher on your first account, then open again the DDo launcher on you second account. And done! You can now play 2 ddo accounts on 1 pc and you can now do your monkey business. Do whatever trick you have just be sure that it will not spread around the thread and in stormreach or else youll be reported. (If you know what account iam talking about then you can do it). I have just discover it after reading the threads that i dont understand !


Iam looking for free/cheap flawless siberys. I can also trade that with a valuable information (for f2p)
Blackmachine--------->ORIEN!

I dont really see this as a feasible solution for most people. Having to switch between user accounts just to access the other game client would be super annoying. The way I have explained it above is very simple and works very well.

[WargamerIV]

I use a batch file to run 2 clients, but for some reason it isn't working now. Has Turbine changed something to prevent this? Here is the error message I get.

Game Error [105]
Could not initialize Direct3D. Please ensure that DirectX9.0c [Dec 2005] or higher is installed. [105]

Thanks

[Kareena]

It took me a few mins; but I figured out the directions and it works wonderfully. Thanks very much for the info!

[ZirePhoenix]

I know this is a really old thread, but this was one of the top searches and the launcher now supports multi-client by default.

You can configure the launcher to stay open so you can open multiple clients quickly. This is done by clicking on the down arrow button beside the minimize button, then selecting Options.

[Banker]

I know this is a really old thread, but this was one of the top searches and the launcher now supports multi-client by default.

You can configure the launcher to stay open so you can open multiple clients quickly. This is done by clicking on the down arrow button beside the minimize button, then selecting Options.

Yes! With Win XP it's a struggle with system resources. With Win 7 it's much easier and runs smoother. If you put 2 installations on different disks that helps. Or you could put to them on a SSD if you have the space; and it'll run much faster