LAN party advice

teh_fattsteh_fatts Join Date: 2004-06-21 Member: 29442Members
in NS2 General Discussion
I'm hosting a LAN party for 14ish people soon where the main game will be NS2. Any warnings or advice would be appreciated.

For starters, would it be better to use a bootcamped Macbook with one of the newer i5s to run a dedicated server, or should I run a dedicated server on my personal machine (which should, by then, be overclocked to have a higher clock speed) on two cores, and my client on the other two?

Are there any settings for dedicated servers that would be good for a LAN? eg disabling communication with the master server?
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Comments

  • wirywiry Join Date: 2009-05-25 Member: 67479Members
    I'm not sure if this still applies since it was a good while since I read stuff about servers. But last time I checked servers needed a 4Ghz~ to run smooth enough.
    A laptop sounds at a glance like a horrible environment for the much demanding NS2 server, but you could try it.

    As for setting, naah I don't think so.

    If you have some time to read it, I suggest you check out: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Dedicated_Server" target="_blank">NS2 Dedicated Server wikipage</a>
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  • ZeframZefram Join Date: 2004-05-11 Member: 28611Members, Forum Moderators, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, NS2 Map Tester, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts, Retired Community Developer
    Not advice, but commentary: you have 13 other friends who will actually play NS2? As much as I tout and hype this up, I can't even get 5 real life friends to play with me. Lucky man you are... lucky man.
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  • BurdockBurdock Join Date: 2012-08-27 Member: 156553Members
    I can try and get a hold of a server for you? About where will this "LAN" party be :)
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  • teh_fattsteh_fatts Join Date: 2004-06-21 Member: 29442Members
    edited December 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2049316:date=Dec 21 2012, 01:23 PM:name=wiry)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wiry @ Dec 21 2012, 01:23 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2049316"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm not sure if this still applies since it was a good while since I read stuff about servers. But last time I checked servers needed a 4Ghz~ to run smooth enough.
    A laptop sounds at a glance like a horrible environment for the much demanding NS2 server, but you could try it.

    As for setting, naah I don't think so.

    If you have some time to read it, I suggest you check out: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Dedicated_Server" target="_blank">NS2 Dedicated Server wikipage</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    The thing is, the laptop is honestly more powerful than most of the desktops at the LAN if we ignore GPU, which a server shouldn't need anyway. Heating may be an issue I suppose for an extended load such as this but it's looking to be a definite option vs half my quad core (which should wind up higher than 4ghz).

    I'll be sure to investigate the wiki thoroughly.

    <!--quoteo(post=2049331:date=Dec 21 2012, 01:48 PM:name=Zefram)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zefram @ Dec 21 2012, 01:48 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2049331"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Not advice, but commentary: you have 13 other friends who will actually play NS2? As much as I tout and hype this up, I can't even get 5 real life friends to play with me. Lucky man you are... lucky man.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Well, three of the group are from a larger group of friends (6ish in total) that used to LAN the first one with me all the time. One more is a more recent addition who just happened to have excellent taste. The rest are pretty much of the "if it costs me less than $20, looks cool, and I have to have it to come to the biggest LAN this year, then I'll buy it, whatever it is" nature. I think we bought three 4-packs during the flash sale.

    The fact that I'm paying out of pocket to rent out the top floor of a bar to host this probably helps guilt-trip things along a bit, too.

    My biggest concern right now player-wise is that none of the other experienced players has any experience or interest in commanding. One of the newbies is all over it, but he's got precious short time to catch up to my Strategical Geniusâ„¢ and will only be attending the first half. Much as I love alien comm, I may have to step down for part of the night and play a few goofy rounds of dual-newbie-comms.

    <!--quoteo(post=2049364:date=Dec 21 2012, 02:48 PM:name=Burdock)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Burdock @ Dec 21 2012, 02:48 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2049364"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I can try and get a hold of a server for you? About where will this "LAN" party be :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    If you mean an off-site server, our internet connection at the site will be completely insufficient to play anything not on the LAN.
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  • jeffcojeffco Join Date: 2011-02-14 Member: 81785Members
    edited December 2012
    I have been on a LAN party last weekend (Northcon, 2000 attendees) and there I hosted a 16 slot dedicated ns2 server on my gaming machine (i5-3450, 8gig ram) while playing the game on the same machine at the same time. I didn't touch the process affinities. The server was full at some point and I didn't experience any performance issues. (The client ran smoothly and the server maintained 30 ticks per second.) But actually, I don't know if that was mid or late game. I guess, the ns2 server is still demanding but not as demanding as it used to be.
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  • teh_fattsteh_fatts Join Date: 2004-06-21 Member: 29442Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2049824:date=Dec 22 2012, 11:56 AM:name=jeffco)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jeffco @ Dec 22 2012, 11:56 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2049824"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I hosted a 16 slot dedicated ns2 server on my gaming machine (i5-3450, 8gig ram) while playing the game on the same machine at the same time. I didn't touch the process affinities. The server was full at some point and I didn't experience any performance issues. (The client ran smoothly and the server maintained 30 ticks per second.)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Good to know. I might try that first and see how it goes before I muck with affinities.
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited December 2012
    Pretty much the same through my 5Mbit upload, I've hosted some PT's up to 18 players on my i5 2500K @ 4.2Ghz with 16Gb ram.


    Just run a dedicated on core 0-1 and your client on core 2-3 afinity setting. In a LAN environment the lag compensation and client side prediction has to do less work as well. So it should be smoother still on both the server and clients, then running it through the internet. Do keep in mind though that everyone needs an active Steam connection for the game to Authenticate
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