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  • Trials & Tribulations of Running a Server

    I'm in the process of getting a server up and running. I'm hosting this server at home on a dedicated machine and this is MAINLY intended to be for a bunch of local friends to play on. I have a 75 mbps down / 10 mbps up cable connection, so it should be up to the task for hosting ~8 person DM.

    I'm starting this thread both to ask some questions as well as at to keep track of some of my thoughts.

    I'm looking to snag a DNS name through freedns.afraid.org - anyone have any experience with that service? Name will be something ridiculous like inferno.chickenkiller.com or a similarly silly name.

    I'll be running the server using the ProQuake dedicated server.

    My main interest in is playing + hosting custom maps.

    Question #1:
    What do I do about downloading custom maps? I've seen reference to server settings that allow downloads (similar to QW?), or that allow you to specify a location where files can be downloaded from automatically for clients? Is this part of ProQuake if I host a dedicated using ProQuake?

    Server Mods

    I am struggling a bit to chose which mod to run for the server. When I play off-line, I use Omicron bots (my favorite bot still and it does well on any map even without routes).

    Omicron Bot Mod - Server stuff I like
    - Deathmatch 3 & 4 mode
    - 24 custom skins - bots use them and players can as well
    - Built-in rocket arena mode
    - Built in KasCam
    - Some teamplay options
    - Map rotation support via server config file for fixed or random map selection

    As a bot mod though, it doesn't provide much by way of player control for voting on maps or other gameplay settings. So I've been looking at other mods to run as well ...

    Reincarnation
    This was a DM mod by Gen that totally flew off the radar but seems to have some cool features:

    - KasCam & observer mode
    - Expanded teamplay options
    - spawn protection
    - Powerup drops (I love QUAD DROP! - the only good thing about QW)
    - DM 3 & 4 equivalents
    - New game modes: dark mode, berserk mode, king of the hill, keep away, hunter & hunted
    - Control for weapon/armor drops/spawning
    - Message of the day (requires recompiling from source)

    Overall kind of a nice package and one of the few that supports quad drop. BUT NO LEVEL ROTATION!? It does have the source code provided, so perhaps I could figure out how to add that?

    RuneQuake
    Pretty expansive and popular mod (that's good) - but I'm not really interested in the fancier/wackier rune modifications. But still ...

    - DM 3 & DM 4 equivalents
    - Powerup drops (yeah!)
    - Damage based scoring (kinda interesting)
    - Teamplay options
    - Map rotation (requires recompiling settings.qc)
    - Control for weapon/armor drops/spawning
    - support for hook
    - RUNES (I'd probably want to disable this though)
    - Modes: Arena, Match, Practice, Head Hunters (YES!!!!)
    - Message of the Day (via .qc)
    - Adds new alternate weapons (I'd like to disable these server side - how?)

    Maybe RuneQuake is the way to go?

    Others include:
    - CRMOD
    - CaX
    - Requiem (old school mod)

  • #2
    My responses are underlined

    Originally posted by Mezmorki View Post
    I'm in the process of getting a server up and running. I'm hosting this server at home on a dedicated machine and this is MAINLY intended to be for a bunch of local friends to play on. I have a 75 mbps down / 10 mbps up cable connection, so it should be up to the task for hosting ~8 person DM.

    I'm starting this thread both to ask some questions as well as at to keep track of some of my thoughts.

    I'm looking to snag a DNS name through freedns.afraid.org - anyone have any experience with that service? Name will be something ridiculous like inferno.chickenkiller.com or a similarly silly name.

    I'll be running the server using the ProQuake dedicated server.

    My main interest in is playing + hosting custom maps.

    Question #1:
    What do I do about downloading custom maps? I've seen reference to server settings that allow downloads (similar to QW?), or that allow you to specify a location where files can be downloaded from automatically for clients? Is this part of ProQuake if I host a dedicated using ProQuake?
    This is handled via the modern Quake clients!
    Server Mods

    I am struggling a bit to chose which mod to run for the server. When I play off-line, I use Omicron bots (my favorite bot still and it does well on any map even without routes).

    Omicron Bot Mod - Server stuff I like
    - Deathmatch 3 & 4 mode
    - 24 custom skins - bots use them and players can as well
    - Built-in rocket arena mode
    - Built in KasCam
    - Some teamplay options
    - Map rotation support via server config file for fixed or random map selection

    As a bot mod though, it doesn't provide much by way of player control for voting on maps or other gameplay settings. So I've been looking at other mods to run as well ...
    AFAIK I have yet to see a custom-skin mod in NetQuake outside as you mentioned Omicrons.
    Reincarnation
    This was a DM mod by Gen that totally flew off the radar but seems to have some cool features:

    - KasCam & observer mode
    - Expanded teamplay options
    - spawn protection
    - Powerup drops (I love QUAD DROP! - the only good thing about QW)
    - DM 3 & 4 equivalents
    - New game modes: dark mode, berserk mode, king of the hill, keep away, hunter & hunted
    - Control for weapon/armor drops/spawning
    - Message of the day (requires recompiling from source)
    Overall kind of a nice package and one of the few that supports quad drop. BUT NO LEVEL ROTATION!? It does have the source code provided, so perhaps I could figure out how to add that?

    RuneQuake
    Pretty expansive and popular mod (that's good) - but I'm not really interested in the fancier/wackier rune modifications. But still ...

    - DM 3 & DM 4 equivalents
    - Powerup drops (yeah!)
    - Damage based scoring (kinda interesting)
    - Teamplay options
    - Map rotation (requires recompiling settings.qc)
    - Control for weapon/armor drops/spawning
    - support for hook
    - RUNES (I'd probably want to disable this though)
    - Modes: Arena, Match, Practice, Head Hunters (YES!!!!)
    - Message of the Day (via .qc)
    - Adds new alternate weapons (I'd like to disable these server side - how?)

    [u]you should get into contact with SlotZero over at forums.runecentral.com/index.php , or even ask Zop
    Maybe RuneQuake is the way to go?

    Others include:
    - CRMOD
    - CaX
    - Requiem (old school mod)
    In the end, it really depends on what features are the most important to you and how hard it will be to get at those features. The most feature rich mods will most definitely be RuneQuake and Clan Arena X. They literally trounce the other offerings imo. CAx comes with many submods, the most notable to me being FreezeTag,King of the Hill (which uses custom KOTH maps), and InstaGib!
    Last edited by Mindf!3ldzX; 09-09-2015, 05:17 AM.
    Want to get into playing Quake again? Click here for the Multiplayer-Startup kit! laissez bon temps rouler!

    Comment


    • #3
      Yeah, CaX seems to have a lot going for it ... but is there any sort of documentation for it?

      Regarding Skins ... do any of the modern engines support quake skins? Skins are huge with QW, and I'm surprised that there hasn't been much support for skins in Qrack, DP, etc. from what I've seen so far.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Mezmorki View Post
        Overall kind of a nice package and one of the few that supports quad drop. BUT NO LEVEL ROTATION!? It does have the source code provided, so perhaps I could figure out how to add that?
        For what it's worth: a configured map rotation (i.e. no fancy stuff like player voting) would be one of the easiest things to add to any mod.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Johnny Law View Post
          For what it's worth: a configured map rotation (i.e. no fancy stuff like player voting) would be one of the easiest things to add to any mod.
          Maybe someone can do a tutorial?

          Ideally, having the map rotation be a .cfg file that can be quickly changed without having to recompile the mod is the way to go. Omicron bots and requiem do it that way, maybe CaX too?

          Seems like the map rotation in RuneQuake could maybe be modified to work through a file instead?

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Mezmorki View Post
            Yeah, CaX seems to have a lot going for it ... but is there any sort of documentation for it?

            Regarding Skins ... do any of the modern engines support quake skins? Skins are huge with QW, and I'm surprised that there hasn't been much support for skins in Qrack, DP, etc. from what I've seen so far.
            @ custom skins ; Sadly, no there isn't. (while they support replacement type skins, this just means everyone will have the same updated skin/model or w/e)

            @ CAX documentation , sadly no again AFAIK. I could be wrong but I'm leaning torwards r00k usually just handled everything as it was brought up to him. Lately he doesn't even play much Quake anymore either, but myself and others would probably happily do our best to help you where we can. In the event you chose CAx as your foundation , it would be a fantastic idea to start a documentation on the mod, and I would be willing to help in that department as well. CAx has long been one of my favorite mods, but its not quite the "Clan Arena" main attraction that makes it my favorite. The submods and level rotation are the huge draw for me, the level rotation can be found inside levels.cfg , and while I have a copy of practically the most up to date version, its ripped straight out of WL's quakeitup server.

            I would imagine r00k would prefer having a different version put out there for consumption, I'll try to get ahold of him for you =)
            Want to get into playing Quake again? Click here for the Multiplayer-Startup kit! laissez bon temps rouler!

            Comment


            • #7
              That would be awesome! I'm wanting to learn QC, and maybe I can do some personal tweaks on CaX to add powerup dropping (for example) or other features that I can pull from other open mods. Ideally it would be sweet to roll FrikBots into CaX

              Comment


              • #8
                I'm trying to figure out how to use a custom DNS name ...

                let's say that through freedns.afraid.org I have registered "13acres.pwnz.org" to my IP address. What do I need to do on my end with the router settings to get it to work? Or does it just work automatically?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Mezmorki View Post
                  I'm trying to figure out how to use a custom DNS name ...

                  let's say that through freedns.afraid.org I have registered "13acres.pwnz.org" to my IP address. What do I need to do on my end with the router settings to get it to work? Or does it just work automatically?
                  Is your quakeserver computer's IP address directly routable from the outside internet (unlikely unless your computer is at some colo facility) or is it on some local LAN, like your home network?

                  If the latter, then you're going to need to:
                  - advertise your cable modem's external IP address as the address to connect to (i.e. the address to associate with that DNS name) -- see http://myexternalip.com/ -- and
                  - do port-forwarding in your router's configuration, so that incoming connections on certain ports will be sent to your quakeserver.

                  The necessary port forwarding is pretty simple for QuakeWorld, but NetQuake is kind of a mess. Hopefully some experienced NetQuake server op can help you out. There was an earlier thread about that at http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-hel...-exe-host.html
                  Last edited by Johnny Law; 09-08-2015, 10:03 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Mezmorki View Post
                    Maybe someone can do a tutorial? (about map rotation)
                    The easiest approach may be to just look at an example. You can get the fbx++ mod from here, which includes the source code: neogeographica

                    Download the "mod package", unzip that, go into the qc_src directory, and look in the file client.qc. The map cycle code is all in the function GotoNextMap which has been changed from that of vanilla QuakeC. (Also the addition of the done_changelevel variable.)

                    You can take a look at readme_frikbot.html to see how the map cycling works. It's described in the “Playing” section under the “Map cycling” heading. In a nutshell, you will want to have a config file for your server that sets up a bunch of aliases like:

                    alias map1 "changelevel rapture2"
                    alias map2 "changelevel zed"

                    and so forth. You also need to set "samelevel" as described in that readme.

                    The code in GotoNextMap will construct the name of one of those aliases, and then execute the alias, which will change the map. You can see how positive or negative values of the "samelevel" variable are used as indicators for whether it should randomly pick one of those aliases, or do them in sequence. And the absolute value of samelevel is used as an indicator of how many of those aliases there are to work with.

                    I'm 100% sure that a QuakeC expert could tell you a better way to do it, but at least that approach verifiably works. :-) If you take an existing NetQuake mod, replace the GotoNextMap function in client.qc, and make sure to also declare done_changelevel, then you will have FrikBot-style map cycling in that mod.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I just remembered, Future vs Fantasy FvF supports custom skins!
                      Want to get into playing Quake again? Click here for the Multiplayer-Startup kit! laissez bon temps rouler!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        So ... I had my first successful (mostly) test with things last night with one of my remote buddies. Once we got it working, his ping's hovered around 20, so pretty good. Unfortunately we ran into snags along the way:

                        ProQuake Problems - I had issues hosting a dedicated server with ProQuake. While I could connect to the server through the internal IP address (192.168.1.100), my buddy could not connect. He kept getting various connection errors, "player to server keepalive" messages, etc. I could see in the server console that he was connecting but only partially.

                        Strangely, when I hosted a dedicated server using the exact same settings via Qrack (not really intended to be a dedicated server) there were no connection issues. With ProQuake, my friend tried to connect using both the ProQuake client and Qrack, neither worked.

                        Any ideas why ProQuake isn't working as a dedicated? I've pasted my command line and server config below (note that I also tried it without running the obots mod and that didn't work either).

                        Command Line:
                        Code:
                        C:\Quake\glpro493.exe -dedicated 16 -mem 32 -zone 1024 -ip 192.168.1.100 -udpport 26000 +map start +deathmatch 3
                        Server Config for obots:
                        Code:
                        //===============================
                        //Obots Server
                        //=========================
                        
                        hostname "13 Acres"
                        
                        timelimit 20
                        
                        fraglimit 30
                        
                        deathmatch 3
                        
                        // 0 - Deathmatch is disabled.
                        // 1 - Deathmatch is enabled. Picked up weapons will disappear, ammo and powerups will respawn.
                        // 2 - Deathmatch is enabled. Picked up weapons will not disappear, ammo and powerups will not respawn.
                        // 3 - Deathmatch is enabled. Picked up weapons will not disappear, ammo and powerups will respawn
                        
                        // 4 - all players have all weapons, all ammo, 250 health, 200 armor, backpacks also give +10% health; quad does octa damage; more than 300 health =health 100, plus one gets quad and 666)
                        
                        teamplay 0
                        
                        // 0 - Teamplay settings disabled.
                        // 1 - You can't hurt yourself nor your team mates.
                        // 2 - You can hurt yourself and your team mates, you will lose 1 point for killing a team mate.
                        // Teamplay depends on your PANTS color ... should force players to change skins/color for teamplay.
                        
                        noexit 1
                        
                        // 0 - Players are allowed to exit the level and force a map change.
                        // 1 - Players are not allowed to exit the level and will die when they try to exit.
                        // 2 - Players are not allowed to exit the level and will die when they try to exit, except on the start map.
                        
                        sv_aim 1
                        
                        coop 0
                        
                        skill 1
                        
                        nopause 1
                        
                        rcon_password MYSTERTYPASSWORD
                        
                        
                        //start obots map rotation function
                        
                        samelevel -12
                        
                        alias map1 "changelevel bovine"
                        alias map2 "changelevel aggressr"
                        alias map3 "changelevel efdm8"
                        alias map4 "changelevel lundm1"
                        alias map5 "changelevel baldm8"
                        alias map6 "changelevel aghast"
                        alias map7 "changelevel alcyone"
                        alias map8 "changelevel gomdm6"
                        alias map9 "changelevel auhdm2"
                        alias map10 "changelevel oma"
                        alias map11 "changelevel rf"
                        alias map12 "changelevel ultrav"
                        
                        
                        //end obots map rotation function
                        
                        map bovine
                        Anything look wrong? Again, switching in GlQrack.exe for ProQuake, with all these other settings the same, worked just fine.

                        Originally posted by Johnny Law View Post
                        The necessary port forwarding is pretty simple for QuakeWorld, but NetQuake is kind of a mess. Hopefully some experienced NetQuake server op can help you out. There was an earlier thread about that at http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-hel...-exe-host.html
                        Yeah, this thread is describing an almost identical issue with me trying to host a ProQuake server. Read through it and I'm not sure what the eventual solution was ... not using ProQuake as a server?
                        Last edited by Mezmorki; 09-09-2015, 06:56 AM.

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                        • #13
                          Hmm ... I have Qrack and ProQuake both installed in the same folder, and they both use zlib1.dll and libcurl.dll .... maybe that's the problem in some strange way?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Mindf!3ldzX View Post
                            I just remembered, Future vs Fantasy FvF supports custom skins!
                            There's always the "multiskin" and "Deathmatch Plus" mods which have support for [some] different skins
                            Mr.Burns
                            "Helping to keep this community friendly, helpful, and clean of spammers since 2006"
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                            • #15
                              Okay ... next question ... how do I get a DNS to work?

                              I used freedns.afraid.org to get 13acres.pwnz.org as a DNS name. This is mapped to my assigned IP address where I'm hosting the server. I can connect to the server IP in quake and it connects, but I can't connect to 13acres.pwnz.org. Anyone else want to try to connect to that? Server is up at the moment.

                              Are there settings in my router I need to mess with to get the DNS working on my end?

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