Total noob: server and mod support?

[Captain_Fragg]

I've been running and modding Starfleet Command III for about a year now and I'm interested in moving into the FPS genre and running a modded server for CoD. I have some basic questions that I couldn't find answers for here (either I'm not looking in the right places or my questions are below your average reader's skill level :P ) so here they are:

1. What tools are needed to set the variables of your server environment, like which maps it uses, and what weapons are available?

2. Are there built-in features that allow for things like setting only rifles to be available, but having a couple SMG's laying around for players to pick up?

3. Is there a mod community set up for making or importing new maps, weapons and skins for CoD? What tools are needed for map/level editing?

4. Does the game CD have to be in a drive on the server box to run a server? Does it have to have it's own unique CD key to operate?

5. How can I mod things like weapon damage and movement rate, and if I use the "autodownload" feature I've read about, will that make players on my server unable to play on other servers? (due to the modified files).

I know a lot of people are just gonna groan when they reaad this but I'm really totally lost here. This is my first experience with modding or running a FPS server. If there is a better place to ask my questions than here, please let me know and I'll get outa yer hair :) and thanks in advance for any help!

Captain Fragg

[Reissmann]

I will answer everything that I DO know so that I don't give you any false infromation, so here goes.

1. Setting variable such as what maps and or weapons are available on your server can be controlled through simple rcon commands. Rcon is a feature that is built into the game. It is fairly easy to navigate but will take some time getting used to. Here is a link to IW's basic rcon commands page.
http://www.infinityward.com/cod/server%20commands.html

2. If you want to limit weapons and such, your best bet is to find a mod which will change the script in the game. Here is a link to a good mod site. Be patient though there aren't many mods yet.
http://www.codfiles.com/

3. There is a fairly large modding community for COD. However, mods are fairly limited and simple at the moment. IW is supposed to be releasing their SDK and level editor soon. Both of these tools will be downloadable from any major COD site I'm sure. Here is a link to the COD official site, you can watch for news on the much anticipated release of these tools there.
http://www.callofduty.com/index.asp

4. I don't know the answer to this question but judging from some of the posts in this forum, I'm assuming that a CD key is needed to run the game on a server. Not 100% sure though.

5. If your into modding wait until the SDK and map editor come out as it will be a lot easier. It is coming very soon apparently. It is true that if you use the autodownload feature, clients will automatically downlaod the necessary mods to play on your server. Unfortunately for them. If they have any custom .pk3 files in their MAIN folder, they will be unable to join pure servers. Right now most servers are pure because of the abundance of hacks and te lack of mods. Once more mods and maps come out you will see more and more servers going unpure I think. Once again we have to wait for the SDK and level editor for the mod community to explode.

Hope this information helps!
:smile:

[Captain_Fragg]

Thanks a lot, this info is a great help in getting started!

[PoD]

The CD does NOT have to be in the drive, however you Do need a valid CD-key for the server

[Captain_Fragg]

I wonder if the server CD key needs to be different from my "player" cd key? I guess we'll find out.

[PoD]

let us know plz

[Tighten]

The CD-Key does not have to be different from what you are using for your server - It does need to be different from other players (I am sure you knew that)

The master server checks for two players using the same CD-Key not a server and client using the same.