UniBall Central

Rebuilt servers for UniBall 2.3.6 and its chat client BR Chat (ByteRyder Productions, 2008): the server list, the game server, the chat server and BR Chat's update check.

Download

UniBall 2.3.6 with BR Chat: the original installer, from the Internet Archive (ubsetup.exe, 1.2 MB). This copy was archived in 2010 and is already set up for uniball-central.net, so it connects to this server without any changes.

SHA-256 fa21f9b9f5290db76a4ed653ffbe595acdd816f78ab28840a8900389d88d48f6

Connecting

UniBall and BR Chat use uniball-central.net unless their INI files say otherwise. The download above needs no changes. The 2013 installer's files point to uniballhq.com instead: in the game folder, change these lines as shown, or delete them:

UniBall.ini
[Network]
MasterServerAddress=uniball-central.net

BRChat.ini
[Network]
ServerIP=uniball-central.net
UpdateURL=http://www.uniball-central.net/ubupdate/update.txt

The server speaks the protocol of version 2.3.6. A client of another version is told that "there is a new version of UniBall available".

Accounts

There is no sign-up form. Log in to UniBall or BR Chat with a new name and a password, and the account is created on the spot. The same account works in both. Names have at most 15 characters and no spaces, passwords at most 10. Passwords are case-sensitive. To change yours, type /setpassword <old> <new> in BR Chat.

"This account is already in use"

If UniBall refuses your login with this message and you are not playing anywhere else, a game session of yours is stuck. It clears itself within about a minute. To clear it now, use the Self-Booter. The same message appears after too many failed logins from your address; then wait a minute.

Low frame rate or choppy play

Try these fixes one at a time, in this order. Play a game after each one, and stop as soon as UniBall runs smoothly.

1. Use your screen's native resolution.
   On the UniBall login screen, click UniBall Configuration. Under Screen Resolution, choose the entry that matches your screen, and click OK. To find your screen's resolution, right-click an empty spot on your desktop, choose Display settings, and look under Display resolution. The native one is shown as recommended.
2. Turn on Alternate Fullscreen Mode.
   In the UniBall Configuration window, tick Alternate Fullscreen Mode, and click OK. This mode needs a resolution that ends in x 32 (32-bit color), and it can cause some screen tearing.
3. Run UniBall in compatibility mode for Windows Vista.
   Press the Windows key and R together, type %LOCALAPPDATA%\UniBall, and press Enter. In the folder that opens, right-click UniBall.exe (it may show as just UniBall), and choose Properties. On the Compatibility tab, tick Run this program in compatibility mode for, choose Windows Vista in the list, and click OK.
4. Disable fullscreen optimizations.
   Open the Compatibility tab for UniBall.exe again, as in step 3, tick Disable fullscreen optimizations, and click OK.

On Windows Vista and later, the installer puts UniBall in %LOCALAPPDATA%\UniBall. If you chose another folder when you installed it, open that folder instead.

Forums

The forums of the original site are gone, and this site has none.