LAN Party/(Video)Gaming Night?

[Kithop]

So, before I go propose something in the event forums and such (especially because I can't really offer to host something right now), I thought I'd put out feelers here. :P

How many of you guys (and gals) are into classic computer games?  I'm talking the original Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Unreal Tournament, etc. for shooters, maybe some old RTSes like Starcraft and Warcraft III, Command & Conquer, maybe Civ (though I suck at turn-based stuff).., and any other good multiplayer games, even co-op?  (I love RTS comp-stomps, for example)

One thing I've tried to do a few times with some of my other friends is get a good little LAN party going once in a while - nowadays with laptops, it should be a ton easier than having to lug big desktop rigs around (though if you want to, feel free - I'd probably bring my Mac Pro. :P), especially if we stick to said older games.

I know enough about networking to be dangerous, and I have an 8-port Gigabit switch and another 5-port to start (though switches are getting super cheap these days), as well as a load of music, movies, and CD images on a fat RAID for sharing.  My only lack right now is a good place to host, and of course other people. :D

I know we have a few hardcore techies in the crowd - what do you guys think?  A good excuse to spend an afternoon/evening/entire weekend gaming, eating junk food (yay pizza!), and generally embracing our inner nerds? ;)

[Silvermink]

I'd probably be down, at least for an afternoon/evening type of thing.

[Tai]

I guess the classic games would be easier to run for everyone :P, I have all the cnc's and allot of the other games you mentioned too, maybe we could playing some css too, heh heh. Though the only 2 problems is that I only have a desktop, though I don't mind hauling it around (Still have the box and foam the case came with). The main problem is the monitor... I really don't want to be lugging around my old 19" CRT though I guess I could... but I really don't want to be lugging around my 24" LCD. So my only real issue is the monitor for me. I also have a 5 port gigabyte switch too if needed with plenty of lan cables.

[Kithop]

I guess the classic games would be easier to run for everyone :P, I have all the cnc's and allot of the other games you mentioned too, maybe we could playing some css too, heh heh. Though the only 2 problems is that I only have a desktop, though I don't mind hauling it around (Still have the box and foam the case came with). The main problem is the monitor... I really don't want to be lugging around my old 19" CRT though I guess I could... but I really don't want to be lugging around my 24" LCD. So my only real issue is the monitor for me. I also have a 5 port gigabyte switch too if needed with plenty of lan cables.

I used to lug around a 17" CRT and a watercooled, steel cased rig - I can totally understand that. :x  That said, depending on location and who else is coming, I'm sure we could arrange rides and give you a hand loading and unloading whatever equipment is necessary, or if someone else has a spare small LCD they could bring, too, etc.

I'm kind of conflicted on Steam based games like CS:S and TF2 - they're fun games, but having to authenticate and junk just for LAN games might get to be a pain in the butt and overwhelm the Internet connection if we have too many people.  I like the older games that can do straight up LAN/IP networking (so when we talk about Starcraft and War3, I don't mean Battle.net), but if there's enough interest in Steam-based games I'm sure they're an option.

[Tai]

Well I have a car so the transportation isn't the issue though I am all the way in Richmond, also you can do direct lan for css you just make the game and go in the console and turn lan on. Though I feel sorry for all the electricity bill for all the computers that would be connected. Mine stuff alone would be like 850watt plus.

[Kithop]

Yeah, but you still have to authenticate with Steam just to load CS:S, right?  It's not something where, say, one person brings in a copy of the game, we install it on all the machines, do our thing, and 'get rid of it' after (right.. <.<; >.>;;)? ;)

And despite having massively high wattage PSUs, most systems don't draw anywhere near that much power - they're fully switching supplies and will only take what's necessary.  I think most gaming systems are actually closer to the 300W range when running.  You need the big PSU for powerup, though, as things like HDs take a massive current draw to spin up.

[Tai]

lol the 3870x2 draws quite a bit, plus all the other stuff. heh heh. Also you have to think about the amps, that is what will trip the breakers, but yeah you have to authenticate. I am not sure you can do the offline mode and lan form that, though I never tried.

[Kithop]

lol the 3870x2 draws quite a bit, plus all the other stuff. heh heh. Also you have to think about the amps, that is what will trip the breakers, but yeah you have to authenticate. I am not sure you can do the offline mode and lan form that, though I never tried.

Of course - HDs = massive current draw on startup, hence you having to oversize your powersupply quite a bit.  But then, the line voltage is known (~120), and we know the max current on a standard household breaker (15A), so there's a theoretical max of about < 1800W of power (right?) you can shove down a line before the breaker trips.  As long as everyone doesn't try to cold-start at the same time, you can probably fit ~3 machines per circuit.

I'm not an electrician, though my ex is just about done school to become one - I can ask her if need be. :P

[Tai]

Nah it should be okay, Just have to spread the load out evenly. Also yeah you would be right P = V x I so you get 1800w.

[Acco]

Worst comes to worst, we use multiple rooms throughout a house, right? ;)

Steam games don't require the internet except for the authentication portion... once that's done, then you just have a computer hosting a LAN server. Everybody's happy after that. ^^

Travelling wouldn't be a problem for me. My rig is my laptop. (I could also supply an old laptop to run a dedicated server if need be -- decently fast: Pent-M 2GHz, 1GB of RAM; has the dedicated servers files for all of Valve's games too)

As for times... (almost any) Saturday-Sunday ends up working out best for me.

[Kaji]

I've hosted a video game night before. It was fun but my place is too small which is why I only did it once. After I find a bigger place, I would love to host these again.

[Ravenwood]

I've hosted a couple, and been to several, including a professionaly run one.

If you use a server dedicated for running the server end of games, all on a gigabit switch, then there shouldn't be any problems.  The dedicated server would run all the game server stuff.  A decent box could probably run 2 at once with little problem, since it's all just number-crunching.

If memory serves, downloading and running all the STEAM based dedicated servers are free.

Most of the other games are host-based, so whoever has the fastet, most capible machine should host.

Based on my experiences, some of the better LAN games that I've played (including obscure ones, and ones that will un on pokey systems) include:

• Slave Zero Deathmatch  (30-story robots shooting the crap out of each other.
  
• System Shock 2 Co-op  (9 flavours of awesome)
  
• Master of Orion 2  (kind of buggy and tends to crash from time to time, but still fun)
  
• The Specialists  (HL1 based John Woo style action game, free mod of HL1)
  
• Neverwinter Nights/Neverwinter Nights 2 (great RPG games)
  
• Diablo 1 (The first home-LAN game I ever played)
  
• Diablo 2 (because it's that fun)
  
• Counterstrike/CS:Source  (with or without bots)
  
• TF1-Quake1 based  (Way old, but hella fun, even still.)
  
• Red Alert 2 (Last game made by the original Westwood crew.)
  
• Painkiller  (Because how can you not like a game with a weapon that shoots shirikens and lighting?  A gun that awesome could only be better if it had tits and was on fire.)
  
• Quake 2 - SuperHeros mod  (awesomeness)
  
• Freespace2  (space fighter combat sim)
  
• GTA Multitheft Auto  (GTA-SA mod for multiplayer fun)
  

[Silvermink]

• The Specialists  (HL1 based John Woo style action game, free mod of HL1)
  

I would be so down for smokin' some people in Specialists.

I also use a (big honkin' 17-inch) laptop as my primary computer, so no problem dragging it to anything.

[Some Guy]

Halo 3 LAN x) , 16 player matches, Hope everyone has the Legendary Map Pack!

[Kithop]

Halo 3 LAN x) , 16 player matches, Hope everyone has the Legendary Map Pack!

I don't even have Halo 3, despite having a 360. :p

Pff, too.  Thumbsticks suck - it's all about mouse+keyboard control. ;)