LAN Party Basics

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Pharacon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 15, 2004
Messages
308
Hi everyone! Just a fact finding mission of my own to prep for hosting my first LAN Party in Houston, TX. I just got my new house and it has an excellent room that can host parties in. Only thing I'm concerned about is of course power issues. I was thinking of keeping them on the small side (about 16 people max) The room in question is running off a 20 (amp?) breaker will this be enough to power all the computers, monitors and a switch? Or should I invest in some extension cords and run a line in from a different breaker?

I was thinking after L4D drops so there will be an excellent small lan game to play. Also what games do you guys recommend?

I was thinking:
L4D
TF2 (Arena or if enough people some push type maps)
Insurgency
Age of Chivalry
Zombie Panic
Hidden
SoaSE
maybe even Supreme Commander.
 
You'll need extension cords and power strips for this. 20A will get you around 6PCs.
 
My total system draw (24" lcd monitor included) can draw up around the mid 5 amps.
Map out all the circuits in your house and get as many extension cords from each separate circuit.

Setup the lan network as much as possible before hand, it leaves more time for gaming, and download all the patches/steam updates before hand. Cover the rug with old rags and have plenty of trash cans on hand.
 
Also, make sure theres plenty of Paper plates, plastic cups, and napkins and the bathroom is fully stocked. (Last thing anyone wants is a messing / nasty bathroom)

I'd also make sure theres plenty of room to walk. I'd pre-plan it out with X amount of tables / desks so that everyone can play comfortably.

also, schedule DEDICATED break times, for atleast 15 minutes. Reason: for medical reasons alone, a long ass continuous lan party can cause someone to have all kinds of issues.

One 15 minute break every 60 to 90 minutes goes a long way and can make your lan party longer / more enjoyable.

If you're providing food / drinks, make sure people donate to that cause. They should only mooch electric, but thats it.

For game:
SupCom
Halo 1 / 2
UT 2003
Maybe even through in a classic Quake 3 / quake 4
 
also make sure it stays cool!!!! AC, fans, open windows, fresh air is nice..


also lighting.. some people may like it dark some may not..
 
MrGuvernment said:
also make sure it stays cool!!!! AC, fans, open windows, fresh air is nice..


also lighting.. some people may like it dark some may not..
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+1 on both those counts. Also, make it mandatory that people bring HEADPHONES. There will be that one idiot that will bring his speakers.
 
I agree I have LANs at my house maybe twice a month and speakers are a NO. I dont want to hear all the disgusting things boyz can play.
 
pissboy said:
Small lans are about FUN, speakers make it fun. :)
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Maybe if you're in highschool and just want to piss people off - but when you actually want to enjoy yourself, speakers are a big no!

For my group of friends, volume control goes almost completely out the window during LANS. Yelling, screaming, loud music (even with no speakers, just through head phones) etc. When you throw one jack ass in the mix with speakers, it's a recipe for disaster.

With supplies;

• Get enough electrical cords to make sure you're not overloading any breakers
• Have enough surge protectors to cover for 1 computer and monitor per gamer
• Have the network setup before hand! Make sure that there is easy (and close) access to a switch for each gamer. I've found the easiest way to do this is to have a small switch on each table all leading to another switch.
• If possible, it would probably be helpful to even supply the cat5 cable for each computer yourself. This way everyone can just plug in and be good to go.

I've gone to countless LAN parties in the past where I literally had to spend hours getting the network setup for one reason or another (forgot my cable, ran out of space on the switch, forgot the power brick to a switch, bad cable, etc etc etc.) The best LAN's I've been to had the network down solid before anyone showed up.

• FOOD! To make everything easier just supply them yourself. Usually when people bring their own shit hits the fan when at 4am and most everyone's passed out some jackass starts stealing everyones food / drink.
• An area to crash and relax, preferably away from the main LAN room.

With regards to games, I wouldn't worry too much about specific games to play. Everyone will have their favorites, and will want to play those above any other choices. I'd try to really harass people that feel like playing WoW all night long. Unless the WHOLE group is all doing a raid together, it's fucking pointless to go to a LAN and play any MMO. But starting with a list like you have will help people come prepared to play those games.

Good luck with your LAN! I haven't been to one in ages :( Easily 5 to 6 years...

Edit: OH and don't forget to charge admission! If you have to - set an actual dollar amount for people. Or just ask for however much they can give.
 
and you probably watch your 500+GB of porn with the volume all the way up, eh?
 
Lol these are some things ive gathered from going to my friend's sub 20 people garage parties:

1. Heaters and Air Conditioners consume a lot of power. Try to go for fans in hot weather, and as few heaters as possible in cold weather. You are definitely going to have to go the extension cord route.

2. Tell people to bring a 12 pack ( or six depending on what you are drinking) of drinks each, and then you can just buy burgers and buns for food, so your good to go.

3. Try to also have some games that people can play without having skill. CounterStrike Source is great fun, but not when I was going 30-3 against everyone else at the lan.

I highly recommend this game. It is an rpg-strategy-action game, and it is also free. At one lan we played this for about 6 hours straight. Anyone can pick it up and become good in a few hours.

Savage

You also can't have a lan without StarCraft or CSS right? =p
Quake3 Arena and Defcon are also good pics.

GoodLuck.

Oh yeah, and about the whole speakers/headphones debate, speakers can be cool too. We usually play music in the early hours of the lan. It helps with the Zerg Rushin.
 
kuyaglen said:
Wrong.
Its 2.5TB now...and others watch it.
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I heard [TMC] is going to PDX in january instead of intel's, true?

And while its not a bad idea for ONE set of speakers to be setup if somebody wants to show off a youtube video or two, it really needs to be the host only.

Our house lans, even in the dead of winter, usually dont need any heaters setup. Get 10 people and 10 gaming computers setup in one room and you have MORE than enough heat to warm the room up. We've had several windows open at 4AM in 40º weather during our new years LANs.
 
Thanks for all the replies! This is very helpful, yes there will be a posting here on the HardForum as well as other places so I can get some people to show up.
 
GLSauron said:
I heard [TMC] is going to PDX in january instead of intel's, true?
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We'll I'm going to the Intel lan cause round trip is less than 1 hour for me vs 10+ hours (one way) and the $25-$30 ticket is more affordable than the $65 PDX + ~$160 gas + ~$90 hotel room + ~$60 for food. Maybe next time. PDX is definitely a spotlight in our lan schedual.

Anyways the op should also have the number of any food joint that delivers.

{edit}

Just now as I pack up for a lan, the op should also have on hand a screwdriver (flathead/phillips) and flash light.
 
games to play, so low key and so easy to pick up on its hard not to love these games for a lan party....
Soldat, do a google search and u will quickly fall in love with it
and also savage 2, its free and its better than savage 1 gameplay was
and also Armegedetron (spelling?) google it and ull love that even more, can play that lan all night long as single players or play teams, doesnt matter
 
You really want to make sure people's computers are clean before you hook them up to the network - spreading viruses != fun party.
Oh, and what's a lan party without starcraft?
 
Speakers are usually a big NO at LANS, but at LanManiac we have one or two guys we trust and allow to bring/use speakers since they end up being the DJ's, playing music that pumps up the crowd. But we are also a group with mostly regulars, so when everyone knows each other it works a little easier, small starter LANs where everyone is a stranger, keep it headphones only.

One thing we found at one of our larger LANs that worked quite well was that someone developed a music request server that worked in your web browser, it allowed you to upload music to the server and make a playlist off of votes for particular songs. Given this works best if EVERYONE uses it, when the LAN gets slow and there is one guy dominating the system, or 3 or 4 guys voting for the same shit, it doesn't work so well.
 
like someone said b4 make sure the network and tables are already set up.. that is what I am doin now in fact, hosting a mini Lan ( 6-10 people ) on Friday.

Also make sure the place is clean... nobody likes stepping over all your crap.

and games?

Left 4 Dead,
Unreal Tourmament 3,
Call of Duty 4
Battlefield 2 ( Online)
CS:S
Combat Arms ( Free but high quality CS:S clone.)

and I usually end up turning the down to 63 that way it will stay off unless it starts getting really cold,

I'm in Tyler, TX so our climates are somewhat similar... so you should be fine with the heater off.
Maybe if you're in highschool and just want to piss people off - but when you actually want to enjoy yourself, speakers are a big no!
Click to expand...

I second that....

. But we are also a group with mostly regulars, so when everyone knows each other it works a little easier, small starter LANs where everyone is a stranger, keep it headphones only.
Click to expand...

Same here, we are almost entirely made up of regulars, and have known each other 2+ years. so that helps a lot with what's going on.
 
I was kinda turned off at my last lan because everyone and their mama is "pro" now. Thanks CGS for teaching 12 year olds to scream anytime they get a headshot in CS.

With that being said you might not have that kind of problem at your lan, but be sure to go over rules and set a level of decency you can live with.

And off topic - lans are dead from the mid atlantic south.
 
Half Life: Deathmatch can save any LAN... nothing not incredibly fun about killing people with flying toilets.
 
Manage the extension cords so no one's going to be tripping over them.

Food should not be anything messy or greasy that is eaten by hand and gets on keyboards (like fried chicken or cheetos). Pizza is always popular. A tray from Subway works, too.

Consider whether you should allow alcohol, especially if you have underaged participants. You definitely don't want to have to be accountable if there's any underaged drinking at your place.
 
L4D is a great game, but it isn't as "LAN Friendly" as other games if you get my drift *cough* Steam content protection *cough*.

While your list is GREAT. It seems more personal than what the average joe would find entertaining. Finding 16 guys in the same area who all love Age of Chivalry just as much as you would be damn near impossible.

A more generic approach...

COD4
COD5
Crysis Wars
Quake 4
UT2K4
Quake Wars

BTW 20amp = 6 people as long as they all don't power on at the same time. 5 per 20 is a safer bet with a lot of guys sporting water cooled rigs, 3x Cross Fire, 8 cores and so on. At least spread out the heavy power consumers to different circuits.

GL
 
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