What is IRC?

If you don't know what IRC is, you can look it up on Wikipedia for details, but as far as the basic principle goes: it's a protocol for live group text messaging. You communicate with people in channels, also called "rooms" — there are usually different rooms for different subjects. We have #sonicscanf and #sonicscanf-en, which we use for general discussion, and #scanfplay, which we use for roleplaying.

How can I join the fun?

Our channel is #sonicscanf-en (#sonicscanf for Russian) located on BadnikNET. So just install an IRC client and go to irc://irc.badnik.net/#sonicscanf-en

There is a massive amount of IRC clients available for almost any platform (Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, etc.) We can recommend KVIrc for PCs and have a preconfigured version of it for Windows. However, it's not the only choice. Look at HexChat if you're looking for something lightweight, or go to Wikipedia for IRC client comparison. Also, some instant messaging programs (such as Pidgin, Miranda, Trillian) support IRC natively. It might be more convenient to connect to IRC this way.

For Android, AndChat (Play Market page) is one of the best choices. For iOS, there is IRC999 or you can try Colloquy and other apps available in the App Store.

Settings

Configuration procedure differs from client to client, but the main things you need to set are:

• Server: irc.badnik.net
• Port: 6667 (6697 for SSL). If 6667 is blocked, try 5190, 6660-6669, 8067
• Channel(s): #sonicscanf-en, #sonicscanf
• Encoding: UTF-8

What are the rules?

Please look in the forum thread for more information.

I can't install a client, what should I do?

If for some reason you can't or don't want to install an IRC client, you can always join our channel from your browser using the web interface. There are also browser extensions, allowing you to connect directly, such as ChatZilla for Mozilla Firefox and CIRC for Google Chrome.