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Want To Play The Multiplayer FPS Games You Bought?
Thanks to GamerDad for its editorial discussing why it's sometimes impossible to play multiplayer FPS titles as the developers intended it. The author argues: "I certainly don't think that every mod I've ever run across is better than the core game that ships in the box but yet there's often no one running the boxed game", before noting that most game publishers "...do not run their own servers for these games so you can't count on them supporting the boxed game either. There are exceptions to this rule but for the most part when it comes to PC games, you're at the whims of the many fan owned and operated servers... [which may] limit the maps to a select few in a deathmatch game or change the settings of the game to make it play very differently from what you expect."
What it shows is that, if you have a situation like CounterStrike where the modded game servers way outnumber Half-Life game servers, the customer is really showing the publishers what they want.
It's rare nowadays to see market forces so easily detectable and free from the controls of the publishing monstrosities.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
Whenever I play UT2004 online, I almost always play on an "ATARI/EPIC OFFICIAL EAST #" server - I am guaranteed the game as they intended it, with no extra distractions, and a fast consistent connection.
I think it's a very good idea for them, and I think other game developers should be thinking along the same lines.
Savage is a team FPS where one player commands the team RTS style. There's a linux version available which I've found tends to run faster than its windows counterpart. As far as this game goes, the balance is so subtle that any changes made by server admins can completely ruin the dynamics of the game... fortunately this rarely happens and I think s2games run quite a number of servers themselves (though I don't use them because I'm in europe).
ill probly get modded as flame bait but still it needs to be said You can always host your own game or rent a server set up just the way you like it. Since this inst pay to play I doubt were going to see offical servers pop up like crazy as much as I would like it. America's Army thank god has a host of Offical Servers of course its got the finacal backing of the US goverment.
...run your own server. Then you can play the way you want instead of crying about people who run their own server to play the way they want.
I REALLY hate instagib, but who am I to tell them how to run their own server? Sheesh.
You almost NEVER have a problem finding a server that's fun to play on. The real server problems arise with the new mods that MIGHT have good potential, but unfortunately only a few servers......and only a few good ones out of those. Forgotten Hope is a good example, as is Pirates.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
As with so many things, this issue isn't as simple as it first appears. Certainly, where "official" servers are offered for an fps, I tend to use them. The servers for Battlefield 1942 are a good example here.
However... running servers isn't free and, if you plan to do it on a large scale, it isn't particularly cheap either. With something like Battlefield 1942, megabucks publishers like EA currently seem willing to foot the bill for hosting these servers. However, I doubt that many of the smaller companies out there can afford to to this on the scale that their game might need.
Ultimately, I wouldn't be surprised to see the online fps market moving in the same direction as the MMORPG market; with customers paying monthly fees (albeit probably a bit lower than the fees for MMORPGs) and being restricted to official servers. GSPs that have tried to implement a pay-to-play policy, such as Barrysworld, have unfortunately failed miserably, but once the publishers start implementing this, things might change. Indeed, I'd see the (very successful) X-box Live as already being a slight move in this direction.
Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. At least, not for gamers like myself, with an income sufficient that I don't mind a few pounds a month on monthly fees if it ensures a quality service. I've virtually given up on playing fpses online these days, owing to the difficulty of finding decent servers with pleasant settings and admins who aren't on a power-trip. Ultimately, I can pay $15 per month (which at current exchange rates, works out at virtually nothing for UK residents like myself) to play a MMORPG on a stable, well maintained, well admined server, resulting in less stress all around.
The biggest loser if this does happen will probably be the mod scene. This will obviously struggle if deprived of the ability to run unofficial servers.
I disagree with that. I haven't got much experience in terms of online play because even broadband is too laggy for my taste, but from what I saw most servers run on a completely out-of-the-box config. That means all settings are default, maybe fraglimit disabled or something. That can be frustrating if the defaults for a game suck. Descent 3, for example, doesn't allow mouselook in the default setup, which means you cannot aim properly unless you have one of these joysticks that only make sense with about 1% of all games. Because it defaults to off, any server I tried (granted, there weren't many for D3) had it disabled as well.
As I said, I haven't got much experience with online, but there never seemed to be a lack of ootb servers. It's hard to find servers for those really good but low profile mods (as opposed to insanely popular generic mods like Counterstrike and its derivatives), but not for the original game.
On the other hand, it's sometimes hard to find a server that isn't full, empty, listen or highly latent (i.e. high ping). That IS annoying, but happens to any game or mod.
... if you can't find what you want, you have to create it yourself. If you can't find a "stock" server, then why not create one? Surely you can't be alone in wanting to play stock Half Life, or Quake ]|[, or Battlefield 1942. Get together a few like-minded individuals and rent a server somewhere. A quick google on "game server rental" brings up quite a few places to rent servers. If you have a good, fast connection to the internet, get a second computer and set up a dedicated server. If you aren't willing to host your own server, or pay someone to host one, there are still plenty (thousands) of game servers out there, there are ones that you will find fun.
Julie Moult is an idiot.
I am glad somebody said this. For every good mod there are 20 bad mods. For every CounterStrike and Desert Combat there are 20 that just tweak a few weapons or add a couple of new textures. I think its great that people are spending time developing mods but its frustrating to download a mod and then realize it sucks. Too many games don't label the games on server lists as mods, so the only way to find out is to get the boot. It is sad to say but sometimes the best play is with OTB settings and graphics.
Attention VU / Sierra / Tribes people --- pay attention when you release Tribes Vengeance!!!
This is easily solved with a server browser that lets you filter servers based on their settings. So you don't just filter for your vanilla gameplay mode, you also filter for the default settings for that gameplay mode. You can also filter based on levels, etc...
I have been playing Quake since 1996. I still play it today using Fuhquake client and a Qizmo proxy / server browser. Qizmo lets you run such heavily filtered searches, and so I get a list of about 5 servers that match exactly what I want: low ping, non-empty, vanilla ktpro deathmatch.
This lets me pop onto a server, get in and get my quick fix of intense fast paced deathmatch. Even though Quake, after 8 years of being modded, has splintered into several common variations, mods, server settings. You have a slew of CTF varients, a slew of Team Fortress varients, a chunk of deathmatch varients, and even vanilla deathmatch with really lame settings (like Nobody's servers with "teamplay 1" so llamas don't kill themselves with splash damage).
However, every skilled deathmatch player knows that ktpro is the standard for competitive Quake deathmatch. All of the other DM varients are for lamers. I am sure Team Fortress has a similar standard.
I've read the same argument on Penny Arcade, that mods and mutators ruined Unreal Tournament 2003. Being the author of one of the larger mutator packs for UT2k3, I thought this was a bit suprising.
... you don't want them playing vanilla Q3 - they'll likely rocket jump your ass out the door ;) )
#1) Mods and mutators are actually fairly hard to proliferate online, they aren't some kind of virus that seeps into servers - they get put on and stay on because the people enjoy playing them. If people didn't enjoy playing them, they wouldn't be there.
#2) If people preferred to play vanilla games, people would run vanilla servers. For those people who prefer to play vanilla games they should run vanilla servers.
#3) If you can't afford renting a server by yourself, find some like minded people and share the cost. Or, just up your broadband and run a very low-end server (most decent connects can run at least 4-6 player games, and yes - those can be fun too with the right players).
#4) If you can't afford a server, don't have any online friends, and are still running off a 56k modem, then, well, tough. Sorry, the internet gaming world isn't a democracy and never has been (you don't think the term Low Ping Bastard came from nowhere did you?).
Now - the part where I do give this complaint sympathy is in -finding- vanilla online games. Here is where UT2004 really shines, giving much better filters for mutators or no mutators or custom maps or no custom maps and comes with a complete voting package right out of the box so that people on your server can choose to play what they want.
(and btw, the reason Quake III is so tweaked is that many people mastered this game years and years ago
I've been playing BF1942 for over a year now. Most of the big problems I've seen with people (Team killing or blowing up a vehicle because you got to it first) have been with the mod versions of the game like Desert Combat and the like. I'm not sure why this is but ever since I started playing on Co-op servers I've rarely had any problems. People just seem to be more mature on the classic version.
Chika Chik-ah... do-e ow ow.
I used to love this game but I can hardly play anymore. Every server has their own stupid campaign, even though most are the same. They have a different name so guess what, you have to download it again. The custom maps SUCK. The mods suck. Lately there have been a few that utterly crash clients in certain combinations, even of the same mod. And what do the mods do? Oh, your guy drops his binoculars when he dies. Oh goodie! Medics spew out medpacks when they die, wtf is that? This is one game that I wish we could have left well enough alone. Good luck finding a vanilla server of ET.
My experience with online FPS is limited to less than half a decade (RtCW, ET and CoD). I haven't had quite the problem that GamerDad has. I locate a server that runs map rotations that are to my liking and I keep going back. Most of these are run by clans or communities that host forums. Go to their forums and interact. Let them know what you like and don't like. Find out why they have the rotation the way it is. Frankly, I think the mods are far less irritating the the foul-mouthed-mental-midget-12-year-olds that whine/cry/flame about other players/gameplay/aps/rotation during the games.
I've found that the best servers are the ones that routinely have admins playing and enforcing rules. Most of the mods I have experience with only tweak the gameplay to add a few things or allow better admin abilities. There are far more intrusive mods, but I avoid those servers. Some mods add subtle dynamics that the game developers left out (cookable grenades are a popular item in CoD, but the developers didn't implement this), others aim to change the entire nature of the game. The server I help admin (VSFGamers Northeast for CoD -- shameless plug) uses an admin bot that facilitates admining the server. We rotate in a mod that allows for a variant game type. But most of the game is pretty stock. The players do not need to download anything to play, all the extra stuff is server-side. Except for maps... but we keep links in our forums for where to find the maps.
If you are playing a game that has aged significantly you cannot expect the servers to remain there forever. Just because every six months or so you get an urge to play [insert old game name here] doesn't mean that someone else has to maintain a server 365day/year. Its easier to locate unmodded servers for newer games.
All that being said, I think it behooves the game companies to host servers of their own. The main purpose is not to provide an unmodded environment, but to demonstrate how servers can be run using only the basic install (patched, of course). That is, have the server admins enforce the rules and keep the gameplay focused on the game and not teamkilling, sapping, and general knuckle-head behavior.
jroop
"nerfed the tranny"? Using foam weapons against people with gender identity issues isn't very nice...
How the fuck is this offtop it deals directly with the topic
If you have a relatively decent internet connection and a machine handy for a server, run your own server.
Actually I had exactly the same problem mentioned in the article. I couldn't find any decent vanilla deathmatch Q3 server. So I ran my own. I was surprised how quickly it got filled.
I guess there were more players like me who wanted to play vanilla deathmatch.
So..
Yuioup