Preliminary Map Rotation for BW TFC Servers

[old.Stuart_Granger]

Thanks to Fatbloke and KTM I've been able to devise a list of maps for three potential BW TFC Servers. As they are going to be providing more support for TFC and Half-Life in the future, I've come up with 3 server solutions. I am not out to please everyone ... but to give a great mix of various maps on each server:

Server 1: BW VALVE SERVER (14-16 players)

2Fort
Rock2
Hunted
Well
CZ2

Server 2: BW CUSTOM SERVER 1 (14-16 players)

2 More Fortresses (the new one ... with less bugs)
Circle Jerk v2
Confrontations
Betrayed
No Mans Land
Fortsaken
Shutdown
Total War
Tiger

Server 3: BW CUSTOM SERVER 2 (20-24 players)

Total War
Circle Jerk v2
Darkness
Domination
Bases (revised one)
Betrayed
Shutdown
The Hood: Team Fortress
The Pipezone

I've been looking at the maps Armageddon and Cydonia ... both are interesting ... both are available on Fileplanet or JMC ... so go check them out and see if we should add them

I've gone for an odd number of maps due to the fact that at 6pm everyday it seems that the same map is there ... which gets tedious.

Additionally the server will not download the map ... so that free's up spots for people to join if they have the map. Additionally the message spamming limit will be placed at a maximum of 5 with a 15 second wait if that limit is reached. I'll also ask BW Admin to defrag and reboot the server weekly.

Let me know if this is an acceptable map rotation for Barrysworld servers ... if you have any constructive comments, please let me know asap.

With thanks

[A&I]Stuart_Granger

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Proud Member of [A&I]

 

[old.[A&I]BigSir]

What can I say?

Nice one Barrysworld chaps

& Stu of course

Like you say mate, its not going to please everyone, but I think that the vast majority will be pleased with it, especially the rather large Custom 2 server

If the lag is reduced as well, I will surely 'crack one off' in joy

 

[old.pheonix2]

OK.
Pros: We get 3 servers
Cons:
Will the third server actually survive that many players?
As long as the map rotation changes regularly, that'll be nice, but if you keep certain of the maps in there too much, you will get deserted.

Run does *not* work ona public server, and works very badly. A shame, I personally love the map, but it just doesn't work out.

CJ2. It is practically impossible for blue (the defenders) to win.

Confrontations (con1) - this map is a badly made clone of 2fort - without the secondary entrance to the bases

no mans land (1) is a bad idea on a server with more than 12 players...

Total war isn't a great map, but on the 20-24 player server might really shine

Never played tf_hood

At lats shutdown goes into some server rotations.

Hmmm...
But the general consensus in the chatooms I'm in is, these rotations aren't great.

Too many maps that too many people dislike.

So - make sure the rotations change regularly (more than once a week) and it'll be fine.
Stick with these for more than aweek - and you'll probably irrevocably lose players.

i

 

[old.Bungeyjump]

Hate to say this Stu but the new map rotations/servers are not at all popular with TiTS or SLH
Here's some snippets from IRC conversations...

" beleive me, I'm gone from that place, if these changes go ahead"


"BW2 server cant even handle 16 without lagging out"

"20-24 players...like the server would be able to handle that"

7"'Stuart Granger is in charge of the BW map rotation'Damn ****, have you seen his Ideas for the server??"

Selected opinions from #[SLH]and TiTS IRC channels.

[This message has been edited by Bungeyjump (edited 27 October 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Bungeyjump (edited 27 October 1999).]

 

[old.pheonix2]

Ouch.
I was trying to be nice, no such respect from you there...

 

[old.Bungeyjump]

I wsa just trying to get across how unpopular that rotation was...


[This message has been edited by Bungeyjump (edited 27 October 1999).]

 

[old.-=StrafeBunny=-]

dammit bungey - if you're gonna edit msgs, at least spell it right

Ragh - stuart, thats a crap lotta rotations stuff there, and badmouth me all you want...i care not what you think, whats the point of changing things on the server if you aren't out to please everyone (even if not humanly possible to achieve)

bwtfc3 would be the biggest mistake since putting betrayed on! (but it would be a bigger mistake, if ya get what i mean)

--
Kez (who doesn't hide behind psuedonyms he can't spell)

 

[old.KTM]

If you read Stuart_Granger's message he asks for constructive criticism. Don't just moan about the proposed maycycles, suggest what maps should be added and WHY.

Not blahblah should be added cos it RAWKS.

It looks like whatever was chosen by Stuart would have met with moaning, at least he actually did something about getting the mapcycles changed.

 

[old.Bungeyjump]

WTF you on Kez?
What didn't I spell correctly may I ask?

 

[old.Stuart_Granger]

After considering your un-constructive complaints, I have decided to stick with the rotations above ... unless someone has any suggestions (with reasons) for other maps to be added (instead of subtracted)!

BW will be increasing the support for HL/TFC in the near future and consequently upgrade the current systems to cater for a wider range of games. I was asked for map rotations which don't have to stick to the current server constraints. Which means if the money is available to offer a kickass 24 player server (like XS4ALL) then it'll be set up.

I have also been asked by a few of my contacts to suggest to BW Admin the possibility of a Half-Life DeathMatch comeback as well as Action Half-Life modification. Unfortunately I require a map rotation for those servers, so please let me know which maps you would like.

With thanks

[A&I]Stuart_Granger

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Proud Member of [A&I]

 

[old.[A&I]BigSir]

As Stu & KTM say " Constructive critisism and suggestions" *me takes a peek at replys and see's neither*
So any suggestions?
I personally don't have any, as I don't make a habit of downloading maps for the sake of it.....but, I'm sure that lots of you chaps out there do, so please do suggest some.....

& stop your filthy whining, or feck all will get done.

[This message has been edited by [A&I]BigSir (edited 01 November 1999).]

 

[old.-=StrafeBunny=-]

um, I have nothing constructive to say, much like bigsir (who admitted it) yet I'll still make useless comments backing up certain people (stuart in bigsirs case, everyone who dislikes stuart in mine)

have fun now!

 

[old.devin]

Please can we stop the player bitching and get on with some real decisions

If 3 games is gonna lag the server (like Games-World) then obviously drop to maybe 2 18 player games. From the news i read, brand new servers have been bought.

As for maps, i recently read that only something like 8% of servers use custom maps, which is appalling.

Lets have both servers with custom maps AND the valve ones, playing alternately.

Just please leave off NML maps

 

[old.Merkaba]

Heres an idea: Scrap the whole Custom map idea alltogether. Just have valve maps, sure its not as interesting but most people would be happy. As soon as this "map vote" map comes out we'll all be happy cos we can just decide what map to go to in the game.

 

[old.Fatbloke]

If we are looking for a map list for Action Half Life, then I suggest starting with the standard maps. There are 10 maps that come with release 2.5 and they are:

wikked3
actcity
asylum2
daydam
fragdock
hlcliff
hostage
prison
urban
undergr2

There are some VERY nice maps in there too!



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[A&I]Fatbloke

www.armedandinsane.co.uk

 

[old.[SLH]Pakman]

I have said it before and will say it again : cj2 is a bad map. After about 2 games on that map people will work it out and no-one will want to play offense. Please don't put it on. I am not going to ask for a replacement for the list either because i think they are too long anyway. If it stays 30mins a map ,added up, thats a long time to wait for your fav if you just missed it.

 

[old.Stuart_Granger]

The map rotation has been submitted ... look out for the changes on the new dual PIII 550Mhz SCSI driven machines in a couple of weeks

With thanks

[A&I]Stuart_Granger

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Proud Member of [A&I]


[This message has been edited by Stuart_Granger (edited 02 November 1999).]

 

[old.DrChris]

To clarify a few points...

- The current TFC servers will be moved to one of the new boxes (dual P3-550) which should sort the lag problem. Hopefully there will be sufficent "spare" cpu on this box to provide a 3rd TFC server.

- We're adding another 2 such boxes to provide Half-Life DM, AHL and CounterStrike. I can't say exactly how many of each yet, since that'll depend on the final configs and the resulting CPU load (Half-Life is not cpu friendly).

- I'd like to provide an "out of the box" value TFC maps server, so newbies don't have to download maps, plus two others, one for medium sized maps and the other for large maps.

- Stuart is not "in charge" of the map rotations, I simply asked him to send me his suggestions. I will, however, probably base the initial rotations on his list.

- The aim here is to provide the maps you want to play on. The best way to arrange that is for you to decide amongst yourselves what that is and send me the list. If someone wants to come up with another set that most people agree on, that's cool, but never forget...

- Rule 1, day 1 of running game servers is "no one ever agrees with the choice of maps"



DrChris.

 

[old.Bungeyjump]

May I suggest starting with 2 servers and seeing how well they run before adding a possible third? With the tow there are already tehre is a tendency to lag a lot... how about having a bookable TFC server too?

 

[old.[EQX]Kain]

Thanks for the useful insight there DrChris.

Good luck with setting up those servers, and thanks for taking the patience to listen to us all

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[EQX]Kain

 

[old.DrChris]

Yes, the plan is to start with two, then add a 3rd if possible. Trust me, removing a server is much harder

DrChris.

 

[Strange`]

I can't say for sure which maps you should put on, but I do know which maps people *really* hated, and some of them are in Stuart's list:

Confrontations - This map just plain sucks. This was the one that emptied the server faster than anything else, including Run!, so why bring it back?

Pipezone - Most boring CZ2 clone ever seen.

CJ2 - Unbalanced and unfair.

Tf_hood - Never really had any fun on this map.

Remove those maps from the list and you'll have quite a good lineup.

 

[Deady]

Dear Mr Granger

While you are friendly with the admins..can you get "Dr Flexyjerkov" banned from BW2

Speak to you soon,

MR Dead

 

[old.devin]

Hey is there any chance i can put up my own map for some testplay?
Its not a huge map and so far ive had v.good response.

Merkaba, you need your head testing, there is no argument for keeping the Valve maps only.

If you cant give time to learn a new map then find another newbie server.

[This message has been edited by devin (edited 02 November 1999).]

 

[old.Merkaba]

LOL!! I'll ignore that newbie referance and just pass it on as ignorance on your part. All I'm saying is, is that we can't seem to agree on all the custom maps so either find a map which everyone'll enjoy, or stick with the valve ones. You do know theres a voting map in the making? Where everyone votes for which map to go to. Well, as soon as that comes out it'll all be sorted.
Just a clarification:
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE *dont* put con1 back in the server list!!! Or pipe_zone cos control point levels get boring easily.

 

[old.Fatbloke]

Well, it certainly seems that it's easier to say what NOT to put on rather than what else to put on. In that case, I'll be happy to wait and see what the maps (that I don't know) play like...THEN I'll bitch about them here

BTW, what's the reasoning behind NOT disabling the auto map download on the custom server. With new maps in the rotation the place will be filled with maps being downloaded and only 2 players actually playing

One last thing, on the custom server, can we have the number of players set to a number divisible by 4. That way we can possibly look a some 4 team maps in the future.

Cheers all

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[A&I]Fatbloke
www.armedandinsane.co.uk

[This message has been edited by Fatbloke (edited 03 November 1999).]

 

[old.devin]

The only problem with vote maps is that half the people will vote yes and the other half will vote no, and the other half will...

I thought that the map with fascists and communits was quite cool, and personally i liked Run!...

 

[old.[SLH]Pakman]

The only problem i have with run is that the engineer clas is allowed, since the respawns are EVERYWHERE i have yet to find an engie whose gun didn't kill people as they spawned.

 

[old.[EQX]Kain]

Regarding Run!:
Cos its such a crap map, and totally boring, blah blah blah.
I'm going to resort to being a nasty ugly bugger of a sniper, and nothing else - if anyone complains, you'll recieve a red dot on yer face.

As for Pipezone & Confrontations - those 2 maps have already had quite a frosty reception when they were previously added to the map rotations.With a lot of regulars leaving the server. By all means add the maps, but I urge you to view the end of map logs, because not many people will stay on the server to play those two maps.
Good luck with those servers

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[EQX]Kain

[This message has been edited by [EQX]Kain (edited 04 November 1999).]

 

[stu_granger]

Those Were The Days ...

Hehe, anyone remember this discussion?