I'm a noob! Get me out of here!

[gilby4747]

:? Hi, I hope someone can help me. I have the game of the year edition of cod and not united offensive. I have played game for a few months. But I am now, after just joining a game on multiplayer want to make a server. I am completely a noob on servers and know nothing. Almost nothing. I've managed to make a server from 'Start New Server' , but a reallybad unmodified one like all the other servers. What I want to do is make a server like the real professional clan servers etc…I mean, how can I get the ‘tools’ to host a server like a realism server for example; to have the power to restrict the numbers of machine guns and to create randomly exploding shells on a map etc.. and to occasionally automatically post messages in-game. I would be very glad if you could help. Also, almost no one is going to join a sevrer with one man in it. Does anyone have any tips on attracting people to a home-made server, other than its name. Thank you very much! :!:

[OldDog]

Well, that's certainly an ambitious goal you have there. You basically asked every question imaginable in one sentence.

First of all, you should determine how committed you are to this. Are you forming a clan? Are you willing to spend some $$$? Or, better, do you have a bunch of other people interested in spending some $$$? If so, then you should consider renting a game server. There's plenty around.

Second, to get your feet wet, I would suggest starting real, dedicated server at your location. By dedicated I mean that it should be on another box, not on your PC and doing "Start a New Server". You need to be concerned here with your bandwidth...what is your UPLOAD speed (this will determine how many players you can handle), and, the horsepower of your dedicated server as well. Once you have a dedicated box, read this to find out how to set it up behind your firewall/router (hopefully you have one): http://www.olddogvt.net/cod-firewall. You should then consider what platform (O/S) you'll be running the server under: Linux of Windows.

Once you've absorbed THAT, then you need to create a server config. You will need to figure out gametypes you want to provide, map rotation, pure server, or not, PunkBuster enabled (recommended) or not, etc...basically quite alot of stuff. You can look for BoSBrian's writeup on creating a server config. It's a PDF and quite good for starting a new server.

You will then need to know how to administer this server, because, after all, you're making it public, and you don't want just any cretin connecting in and screwing up your loyal players. People get pissed off at servers that are badly managed. To find THIS out, go to the Guides section in this site, and find Anex's RCON Guide, then read it.

Once you've done all that, you MIGHT be ready to start adding modes such as AWE, Total War, PRM, etc., that will give you the exploding cigars you mentioned.

THEN, if you've rented a game server, you can transfer all you've learned to that, if you decide to do so.

My point here is that you have a lot of work to do to make a server playable and enjoyable...that's what attracts, and keeps, players.

When you;ve got the basic, dedicated server up and running, pop in for questions, but, use the search function first. Most questions have been answered here at least once.

[gilby4747]

WOW. I didnt think it was so complicated. Umm...Thanks for all that info. I'm not really interested in paying $$$. But more just a free, home-made server but where i can get the most out of it, loads of stuff and options (i.e realism mods: like having only one or two machine guns in-game,; and also stuff like the random artillery that i have witnessed on some 'realism' servers). Umm...dedication. Now, i think dedicated mean that a little 'console' starts up on your computer when you put the 'internet' on the making new server options list, right? Now, you said that i should start a dedicated server on another box. I suppose you are saying if i wanted to play on my server and run it on the same box, it would slow it down, right? Well, would it matter that a 'console' or server would be running on another computer, while i play on a different on, BUT some programs were running like internet explorer on the computer that has my coinsole running?(it would be my brother's computer that i would have to run it on, so he'll be on the internet). Ok, now, next...UPLOAD SPEED. I think both computers have an UPLOAD speed of about 512,000 BYTES or whatever it is. Is that ok? Next, I do have a firewall on both comps. And Windows XP. Ok, so i think thats all sorted. Can you help me on how these server configs work. I have looked on this site, and read things on servers but it doesnt explain to me how to apply all these things. Also, one more question. By a real, dedicated server, what sort of dedication is required? :smile:

[bullet-worm]

At-home servers are for LANs, not internet play. Unless you happen to have at least a T1 being piped into your house. Multiplayer FPS games are very bandwidth intensive, and worse, the bandwidth has time-critical information in it.

worm

[OldDog]

Well, I wouldn't go so far as that. In-home servers are fine, if you make sure that you keep your players within the bounds of your bandwidth. I've been running one for over 3 years (MOHAAs and CoD/UO), without too many problems, and my players are ok with it. There are plenty of admins in this forum with home-based servers, a lot more than you'd expect.

As for "dedicated", I mean a "dedicated" server...that is, its visible on the internet, in-game browser, ASE, GameSpy, etc. In other words, not a private server for a few friends. You did say you wanted to attract players...that means a "dedicated" server that is visible. bulletworm is correct in the fact that, if you're going big-time (say, more than 12 or 16 player slots), an in-home server is definitely not the way to go. I limit mine to 12 players, and, as I said, it works ok...most of the time. My UPLOAD, or inbound, bandwidth isn't excessive, but it isn't a T1, either...about 440-450KBps. Some of my players do get lag, but they are usually at higher ping rates (I have it limited to 250) when the server is heavily populated. It's a crapshoot with a home server, unles you're willing to spend the time to fine-tune (which I've done).

My point is that you need to start small, and work upward, before you start inviting others. Otherwise players will become annoyed and not come back. So, I'd leave off the whizbangs (mods) for now, and concentrate on bringing up a decent, stock gameserver...and open it up to the outside. Once you have a player following, THEN start adding in the cute stuff. Or, you can start "private", non-dedicated, for a few friends, WITH the mods, then eventually go public. This is how I started with MOHAAs...4 of us decided to play on weekends without the general public. This gets old pretty quickly (did with us), and I started building/rebuilding server platforms with more and more capacity. After awhile it became what it is now...an obsession... :?

[gilby4747]

Profuse thanks, old chap. Good boy. Fetch