How to 'emulate' a lan

I am playing this game, freelancer, in the lan parties with my buddies. I would like to play the game in LAN multiplayer without needing to actually have a lan, so i can level up different characters. The game works with a server, ran by one computer, and then the players start clients. server and client can run in the same machine. but if i run them without having a lan setup, the client simply doesn't see the server even though they are in the same machine. i tried setting a fake lan by connecting my PC to a switch, and it works, but i don't own a switch. if i 'activate' my network card on winXP withou any other machines connected i get the 'cable disconnected' message.

How can i make this server believe it is on a lan without needing a switch or another pc?

emilio

Just a completly off the wall guess, but do you have 2 lan ports? Perhaps try connecting them?

use virtual network cards (VMWare, VirtualPC, coLinux)

use vmware, install another os on top of your machine and switch between screens, it runs like a regular program in windows basically it will give the virtual computer its own ip, hopefully it works for you

just start your own Freelancer server, then join it

i did it for months. My brothers and I would play for days on end leveling up, but when we wanted to go it alone, we'd make our own servers and level up more, then join back together on another server we had created.

Get a crossover cable

Get a crossover cable and connect two pc's and run the server and client on the same machine.The crossover and the two machines will be the same as a hub/router as far as a network is regarded.

MassRaptor

well, i'll try vmware. i don't have two pcs to run a crossover cable. i have to run the server and the client in the same pc with no other hardware support.