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Good Games for LAN Parties?
An Anonymous Coward asks: "I'm trying to figure out what games are good for LAN parties and especially what games don't require a CD after installation or at least allow multi-player games with only one CD. I'd like to have friends over to play over a LAN without everyone needing to own the same game. Starcraft will let you do this but I couldn't find much info about other games so I thought I'd turn to Slashdot. Which games do you like for LAN parties and why, and especially which games allow a group of people to play if only one owns the CD?"
DOOM! Get the DOOM 1 and or DOOM 2 WAD and DOOM Legacy. Can run on Linux, Windows, Macs, Whatever. DOOM is quite old and someone is sure to have one of the WADs somewhere, or just go and find them and DL them yourself. DOOM COOP or DM, Either are good. And if some of you get real board, you can do the 3 display Pan view thing with 3 computers. Should be in the manual.
(Score:0, Interesting)
- Often, the game has to be chosen to run on the slowest computer in the bunch; running an older game ensures that everybody can play.
- Older games tend to rely a little less on flashy 3D graphics and a little more on gameplay, especially team play.
- Extremely old games (read: those that came on floppies) usually have a trivial form of copy protection which can usually be avoided. Not that I'd ever advocate such a thing.
;) Even older CD-based games with first-generation Safelock and such are easy to copy. Just make sure that all copies are destroyed at the end of the night.
- Finally, older games are less immersive. I don't mind forgetting myself when I'm playing Silent Hill 2 or something similiar, but I go to LAN parties to socialize. Games with MIDI soundtracks are just asking to be talked over.
All that said, some of my personal recommendations for fun games:Total Annihilation (one of my favs)
Starcraft
Warcraft 2
Counterstrike
Quake 1 (yes, 1)
Descent
Diablo/Diablo II
Duke Nukem 3D
Worms 2/Armageddon
Grand Theft Auto 2
One final note: go download GLTron before the party starts. While it's only a 4-player game at max, I guarantee your guests will get a couple of hours out of it, more if you show it on a large TV so everybody can watch. =)
The subject says it all. UrbanTerror (.net) is a great Quake III mod. It is similar to Firearms. Firearms is a great mod for Half-life. Both involve soldiers (or SWAT people, etc) in which you get your weapons in the beginning of each game. StarCraft is a very nice strategy game and doesnt involve heavy graphics, so even slow computers with (shall I even say it) embedded graphics chips can run it. Cataclysm is a version of Homeworld and is also strategy, but requires nice graphics cards and (decently) fast computers (a 500mhz with a TNT2 or so should be fine). Unfortunately, if you are the few unlucky people (like me) who have 2000 or XP and a Radeon, Cataclsym will only run in software rendering mode.
:).
These were just suggestions based just being on good games for LAN parties, not for their price or CD checking. I have been going to LAN parties for several years, most lasting from 3 days to 1.5 weeks (my friends and I are pretty hardcore computer people). In fact, I am at one right now! If you really want to get good at FPS, play Urbanterror in team survivor mode with you and any other humans on one team and nightmare bots on the other. I have been doing this for a couple days and I have improved my skills dramatically! We (my friends and I) are actually better than the best bots (nightmare). We are much better if we snipe, but only a little better when we assault. Anyway, I'm rambling; I hoped this helped some
the most fun i ever had at a LAN party was in an 8-player Kingpin deathmatch.
You don't need the CD for multiplayer action, and the graphics and sound effects make for a good experience even on older machines (uses Quake2 engine)
I gots ta ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long