Soldats maintains an IRC channel at #soldats on irc.enterthegame.com. There, you can find Soldats' unlicensed projects available for download, and you can ask questions or offer comments about our releases. At least, you can make the attempt. We reserve the right to selectively ignore you.

If you already know the basics of IRC, great! You can visit us by clicking here if you already have mIRC installed. For more general information on how IRC works, you may want to look at IRChelp.

If you just need some help with downloading via IRC, proceed to Ronin's guide for an explanation on downloading (aka "leeching"). His guide is written specifically for the mIRC client, but with a little common sense, you can apply the same logic to most other IRC clients. On the other hand, if you're completely lost, and you actually don't even know what IRC stands for... well, there may not be much hope for you. But we can try!

First, you'll need to get an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client. Windows users can download a common IRC client at mIRC's website. If you're using a different operating system, try Google. It works. Really.

Once you have that downloaded (and installed!), go ahead and run the program. You'll probably be asked to fill in some information like nickname, e-mail address, and your name or user ID. Remember that all of this information can realistically be found by everyone else on IRC, so don't provide information that you want to keep private.

Now, tell your client to connect to an EnterTheGame server. You'll see an EnterTheGame status window. After you connect, in the input box at the bottom of that window, type this: /join #soldats

Hopefully, you made it. First of all, read the topic that you see at the top of the channel as soon as you join. It isn't just there to look nice; it has important information. You should see some words like !help and !rules, as well as a list of recent releases. After you've read the topic, go ahead and type "!rules" (without quotes) in the Soldats channel window.

You'll see something like this:

1. Don't beg for sends/resumes/releases/trades.
2. Use silent (CTCP) fserves/TDCCs (this only pertains to people who are serving files, not people who are just downloading them).
3. No @find/@locator/!find/!search/!seen/ads/welcome back messages.
4. No asking for raws or scripts.
5. No harassing people or groups (ops can harass you, though).
6. No spamming channel names or website addresses.
7. Don't ask when releases are coming; they come when they're ready.
8. SPEAK IN ENGLISH, PLEASE.
9. For help using IRC and/or downloading, visit Ronin's guide.
10. For help determining what files to serve (if you decide to start a file server), visit ETG's Copyright Policy.

Pay attention to the channel rules. If you follow them, we'll all be happy. If you violate them, you'll get kicked or banned, or at the very least, heckled by the regulars (and they can be merciless).

If you do get kicked, don't worry. You probably made a simple mistake, so just rejoin the channel and make sure you don't do it again. If you get banned, check that EnterTheGame status window where you typed "/join #soldats" earlier. It should have a message explaining why you were banned (and maybe how long the ban will last). Be patient and wait for the ban to be lifted, or message the operator who banned you if you think there was some mistake.

Remember that this is a public place, so try not to make too big of a fool out of yourself. When in doubt, lurk.