LAN Parties

[johnjohn320]

Wasn't sure which forum to post this in, so I suppose this will do. Alright, I've read a lot about LAN parties, where basically you actually physcially go someplace and play a bunch of LAN multiplayer games with other people. Good place to meet people of common interest in your area, as well as just a good time it sounds like. So, how do I find out about any that are occuring in my area? Also, how does it work, does everyone just load their PC into their car and drive to the place, or are there comps already there for you? Just like to get some info on these, thanks.

 

[willhart]

There used to be the best one called www.lanparty.com. I haven't been there lately and just check and it's down. Mabey try that one later. but here are 2 more that are working.
http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/lanparties.pl
http://lan.gibbed.com/frameset.html

Hope that helps

 

[doug]

http://www.lanparty.com/ is up right now, lots of info on finding and hosting there.

 

[randomlinh]

usually my friends have a lan party once in a while. we all bring our comps and play some CTF and whatnot. Lotsa fun, but i'm starting to get tired of bringing all my junk.. 17" monitor, big case, table... all them little things Probably because we spend all night playing, then i go home in the morning.. heh, should opt to just sleep there...

 

[spidey07]

lanparty = lunchtime and after work.



spidey (swingin from grapples, railin the baddies)

Yes that is where my handle comes from. Care to play?

 

[Harrald]

I got so pumped up after seeing the title of this thread that I called my Bro-in-Law and we are setting up a "Superbowl LAN-party" at my house.

Oh crap....one week to get ready. I may have to take a few days off from work to get everything set up.


Thanks for the idea.

 

[randomlinh]

i can't host any lan parties... my basement doesn't have too much room.. plus, no parking.. and neighbors (damn townhouse)

 

[cavingjan]

We usually host our own lan parties but there is a little bit of a drawback when doing so in the summer. The electric meter just spins. Fast. And at the old townhouse in Delaware, even two extra air conditioning units were unable to help the central air enough to avoid overheating the three computers in the office. However winter time lan parties usually do not cost me anymore electricity that normal. Consider each system a mini space heater.
And to answer your original question: try the local computer shop. Most of the techs probably play net games and some do enjoy lan parties and know where and when.

 

[macssuck]

Iam thinking about converting the back half of my garage is a 14x23wide area large enough for a lan party? and does anybody know what size a/c i would need?

 

[Ben]

I'm having one here on Feb. 10.

I usually have one about every 2 months. I'm poor so I make all my friends bring their own computers.

I can tell everyone is getting tired of lugging their computers over here though. The attendance is dropping little by little with every party.

I have found though, that people like it if you provide them with some of the essentials. Like power strips, and even a mouse, keyboard or speakers. Some people insist on using their own stuff, but others would rather use yours so they have less to move. Sometimes providing these things can persuade the hesitant people to show up.

We always all chip in for pizza.

I usually tell everyone that they can set up a day in advance. That way the night of the games we're all ready to go. Then they usually leave their stuff here until the next day, or longer, sometimes a lot longer.

I had one guy that left his computer here for 7 months. I finally just asked him if he wanted to sell it. LOL! That made him come and pick it up.

 

[PC Freak]

Ben, what type of network hardware do you have? Hub or Switch? which type?

 

[Ben]

Right now I'm using a Linksys Etherfast II 16-port switch model: EF2S16.

I use an Intel Dual-port Server NIC in the server which is just a Pentium Pro 200/1MB cache/128MB EDO RAM running W2K Pro.

My computer has Intel Fast Ethernet on the motherboard.

All the other computers are running Linksys LNE100TX cards, mainly because I bought a bunch of them before our first party and sold them to my friends when they showed up. I wanted to have a little uniformity to minimize conflicts and problems. It has worked out very well.

I am anticipating having to upgrade the server someday, but that thing is hanging tough. So far we haven't hit 100% CPU utilization during a party (except when it's changing levels), and everyone's ping is good, so I haven't had a reason to upgrade it. I think the Dual Port NIC helps with the ping times when we have a full load, which is sometimes as high as 12 computers.

I do have two Xeon 450/2 Meggers's under my desk though for the next server.

 

[PC Freak]

Ben, is the Dual port nic in the server dual port for load balancing.
each port supports 100Mb/s? If so that's a great idea. Your switch knows that it can send data down both drops to the server?

When you host a party do you 'hook up' to the lan, like everyone else, or do you play you game on the server? I imagin playing on the server, may bog it down.

 

[Ben]

Yes, the server NIC does load balancing so I have the two ports "teamed" together.

Unfortunately, my switch isn't smart enough to split the data between the two ports so all the incoming data just goes through one port. Linksys makes a Managed Switch that does port trunking and all that but it's $700. Yowza! I may buy one with my tax return this year.

The server runs in dedicated mode and that's it's only job. The server only has a TNT video card in it so it wouldn't play very well anyway.

I play on my own computer which is set up better for gaming. Plus, then I have the latency just like everyone else so they can't complain when I kick their butts.

 

[Wizkid]

I host LAN parties at my house every once in a while. We usually go for a whole day on saturday or during a holiday of some sort. We usually don't have a server, so one of us just hosts the games. I built two tables in my basement with some 2x4's and 4x8 sheets of plywood. For network hardware I have two 10/100 switches (one 4 port and one 8 port).

Throw in some pizza and a movie and everyone has a great time

 

[PC Freak]

Ben, here's a sweet deal on a switch that you may want to look at. Much cheaper than $700. just a thought. may work for ya, let me know.

Link

 

[Ben]

Thanks PC_Freak, but that switch is about the same as what I have. In order to team ports together from the switch to the computer, you usually have to buy a managed switch. In other words, a switch that you can configure through a host computer or through a browser window. That's why it's so expensive.

Wizkid, sounds cool. I wish I could get everyone to show up earlier over here, like during the day like you have yours. That would be better.

Most of the people who come to mine can't get out of the house that long because they have a wife and kids.

Man, I'm getting old....