Hi there, also Destruction Derby 2 maniac writing here.
I was at the same point as you. I set up local lan, everything was connected and working, but I couldn't start the game just because the function keys to start the session did not respond.
swapping out the key bindings in hex is an idea I haven't thought about yet and it would be great if we could fix it that way. that would require some decent debugging skills, though and I'm not diving into it.
I was thinking about another approach: trying the same multiplayer with two instances of PCem/86box running DD2-mp on a win95/98 machine with networking enabled - maybe the F1-keys are working there? when I find the time, I'll give it a chance.
Edit:
I just saw you already tried it with w98 in virtualPC and it's working.. so I guess it will also work with two PCem/86Box-W98 instances.. an expensive workaround I know.. I'm barely able to emulate a p166mmx on my modern CPU so all instances running the game over the network would have to have a similar powerful PC. the hex-keyfix would def. be the better solution.
Edit #2:
I tested it and I got it working!
My setup is as follows:
Host is a Win10 PC.
Box#1:
I've configured a 86Box instance (166mmx is the max I could do) with Windows 98SE and installed DD2 from CD + DD2net patch.
Networking in 86Box: Mode: PCap (host needs PCap drivers), <your hosts> network interface, Adapter [ISA16] Realtek RTL8019AS, choosing a fresh random MAC address from the options.
Networking in W98: install the network card with drivers from the W98-CD, in the network options for IPX enable netbios, in the TCP/IP protocol options choose your local lanIP and subnet mask (192.168.1.10 / 255.255.255.0). Remember every goddamn change you make to your network requires a w98 reboot.
That should cover everything relevant.
Box#2:
Now just make a clone of your Box#1, copy it to your other computer (i run both on the same PC for testing).
We just need to make some adjustments to the networking stuff:
in 86Box network settings, create a new random MAC for the network card and if necessary adjust the host interface.
in W98 give it a unique tcp IP (like (192.168.1.11 / 255.255.255.0) and a new unique computer name (in network settings)
and that's all. fire up DD2 on both instances and start multiplayer either by IPX or TCP/IP.
The Host of the Session can start the game with F1 key and here F1-keys do work!
A few things I've noticed:
IPX (for local lan gaming session) is far better, it performs better, is more sync, less lags.
TCP/IP works too, but I got async and lags and shortly after disconnects from host. (despite being on local lan)
In the Multiplayer Session Chat on Windows 98 and the player name selection screen I CAN'T enter numbers, it's like the keys get ignored.
On Windows 10 i CAN enter number in these screens.
it seems the keymap is somewhat deranged on Win10.
Final Thoughts so far:
While it's working with two emulation boxes it is actually cumbersome and requires lot of processing power. A patch or fix for DD2net.exe to make the keymap work for OS' of the NT era would be much better.
On another thought: maybe it is not the F1 key? what if it is the underlaying network code that fails to start when we press F1 on a modern windows os?
Maybe someday we will get there - i hope so 😀