what do i need 4 LAN PARTIES

zRoCkIsAdDiCtInG

zRoCkIsAdDiCtInG

HWF Guitar Freak
im gonna try to run a LAN Party with about 6-10 people in my room, i need to know what different supplies I need.

All i know is i need a switch lol what else do I need, and also

HOW DO I SET IT UP

this seems a lot harder than at first haha I have a small budget and want the most for my buck, maybe I can get some of my friends to chip in 20$ too
 
Never done or been to one myself. To set up a network you'll need a hub/switch with the required ports and some ethernet cat5/6 cable. Each computer needs a network card and needs to be connected to a server for the game. Thats all I know.
 
so theres no way i can do this without a server? yea my budget is a bit short, i jus need the simplest affordable way that i can make this possible and get good results
 
Someone else will probably be able ot help you out. I would imagine to host the game, you would need one pc to act as a server.
 
Depending on what games you're playing, it's very good to have a dedicated server. Unless of course, somebody just so happens to have a 2-4CPU beast with several gigs of RAM. Not likely, and still not as good as a dedicated box. Something else you'll want will be a good firewalled router. If people need to download updates for the games you want to play, etc, they'll need a protected route to the Internet. The alternative is to download the necessary files yourself and store them on your dedicated server in a SMB, NFS, SFTP or FTP share (depending on your needs/circumstances). Internal security shouldn't be too big of an issue for a LAN so intimate as 10 people, but you might want to seperate your home LAN from your party one anyway. One thing I do when I host LAN parties is ingress filtering at the edge router for SMTP and all well-documented trojans. That way, nobody is spamming on your pipe (getting you black-listed) and you don't have any uninvited guests. But since you're dealing with a relatively small group, you can just handle problems of that nature the physical way, if you catch my drift. ;) You'll also need lots of surge protectors, patch cables, and it wouldn't hurt to have a few extra sets of headphones (somebody always forgets them). Depending on how your house is wired, your room may not have enough amperage to carry 10 PCs. You might need to run some power from another circut in the house also to prevent tripping breakers. And of course, you'll need a place to put all those PCs...

Hope this has been helpful.
-AT
 
if a pC can play the game at lowest resolutions at above 30FPS it can run the server. That's how I judge it and hasn't failed me yet.

You don't need a dedicated PC. Though the perfomance of PC running the hosted game has very much to do with ping times overall. So it's best if you can. Headphones+microphones and as unusual as it may seem if you can get a few extra PC power cables. The 3 pin ones.

Also try and have people bring laptops instead of desktops if they can. They use much less power.
 
also contact bawls, ATI, nvidia as they do very common sponsoring of lan parties.

Stash up on mtn. dew it's a old school gamer's heroine. Coke and other drinks are good to have. Toilet paper.

edit-spelled toiled wrong.
 
Well actually, I disagree with Fetus on just about everything he just posted. How powerful the hardware has to be depends largely on what game you're playing, how many players will be connecting, how much AI the game will be using (if any), how many games it's hosting simultaneously, and what OS it's running. Generally speaking Linux performs better as a dedicated game server (yes I'm biased, yes it's still true), so it'll do more with the same hardware. A large factor is also RAM and the quality of the network card(s) in the server. As for sponsorship, with less than 200 people showing up it'll be hard to get companies to send you stuff. :)

-AT

P.S. - I do agree with fetus about the Mtn. Dew though :)
 
zRoCkIsAdDiCtInG said:
oh and is it possible to fit that with an amd xp in a 200$ budget?
Click to expand...
Not if you're building from scratch. Maybe you could get the other gamers to contribute either money or components towards the cause? Or maybe somebody already has a decent spare workstation you can use for this event? In any case, the thing doesn't need a decent video card at all, just a good CPU and lotsa RAM really.
 
awesome, i might get every1 to jus bring some money for my b-day n tell em the good cause is it possible to do that for 200$??
 
StimpE said:
don't some games not support linux still?
Click to expand...
On the server end, probably 95% of multiplayer games have a dedicated linux version. Not so many on the client end.
 
StimpE said:
that's what i meant :)
Click to expand...
I don't have much time for games, but there are some good games for Linux, both retail and free. And of course more mainstream games are written for Linux all the time as the install base expands.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top