OpenArena Message Boards

Dear OpenArena players,

I would like to point your attention towards the new instant-gib server: SCREW OA (rail), vindimy.dyndns.info:27960



It features Corkscrew, a railgun-only, instant-gib variant with an off-hand grapple having Tarzan physics, and also incorporates  quake3-brainwork bots (http://code.google.com/p/quake3-brainworks/) which use a more realistic aiming and awareness model.

Server description:

• chicken's Corkscrew216UL2 (client-side)
  
• Corkscrew216 + brainworks bots (server-side)
  
• gpl-q3a2oa-textures (v3)
  
• non-mature OA models (pak2-players.pk3)
  
• bright-skins for all available models (by shader)
  
• custom maps (http://vindimy.dyndns.info/doc/baseoa/) in a dynamic map cycle (next map depends on a probability and the number of players). Not every available map is part of this "cycle" but can be callvoted for.
  
• BigBrotherBot (B3) administration framework (server-side)
  
• xlrstats real-time stats (http://bb.game-host.org/oa)
  
• server-side recorded client demos (http://vindimy.dyndns.info/doc/demos/?C=M;O=D) (chat/voip not recorded).
  

Participation in the stats is voluntary up to 50 connections, after which you become auto-registered. Type !register once to start collecting stats immediately.

I should point out that B3 comes with a rather strict name and language checker (so don't rename yourself after genitals or insult your opponents after every frag). That said, I believe you won't run into any troubles if you just concentrate on playing  ;).  

Many thanks to Vindimy for providing the game server and the http webspace.

Have fun,

^TheDoctor^

\o/ great fun!

Sounds very nice! Gonna try it tomorrow :)
(on this laptop I can't even get one or two fps =) )

Great server, great maps, great ping, fast action. I like it.

Anyway, I'm not TOO familiar with the brainworks bots, but at the default level (which is 5, and should correspond to nightmare), they are totally worthless. Instagib with nightmare bots should be close to impossible, but these guys can't hit anything, and move like turtles.

WOW WHAT A FABULOUS NAME AND HEADER!!!!!


I love it!

Good work !

The old and good DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/ModCompat/CorkScrew]CorkScrew mod (http://([b), with bright skins added? Nice idea...  :)

Just played there, cool server :) I like the stats and there are some neat maps. At least a nice variation on the standard OA maps (and playing style too).
Didn't see it in the topic yet (or ctrl+f game-host.org didn't return anything), so here are the stats: bb.game-host.org/oa (http://bb.game-host.org/oa). I thought it's too long though so made a tk-domain: screwoa.tk (http://screwoa.tk). It'll be valid for as long as it gets 25hits/3months, starting now (so in 3 months it will become inactive if it got less than 25 hits).

Good job on the server. Good map rotation and great choice with corkscrew mod. You will see more of me on this server :P

BTW Is there a list of all !commands? Like when changing alias it still records statistic under same name.

Few suggestions:
1. Remove some maps 45??? (this will mean more people sticking around cause we all hate waiting between matches)
2. Add timer at the beginning of the match. 10 second pause and than 3,2,1 FIGHT

Just having the maps after downloading them is great - there are some cool DM maps in there. Plus the mod is awesome, and the mod to the mod is neat too. :)

I agree that having a countdown would be nice.

Also - It would be kinda cool to take all the maps the server uses in the rotation, throw them in a ZIP, and upload it so eliminating the need to DL every new map (and thus wait before every match and miss like half of it)

Other than that, great server...needs more people...

A thing... since it is not completely the original DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/ModCompat/CorkScrew]Corkscrew mod (http://([b), but a mod of a mod that is not compatible with the original mod (I don't know what are the changes you made that make it no more compatible...), if someone has already installed the "classic" Corkscrew, he will not be able to connect to your server (game freeze or "Error: client/server game mismatch" in console).

It would have been better to change the folder name of the "new" mod, for example "ScrewOA", instead of simply "Corkscrew"....

Are you sure this is an occurring issue? After all I did not change the client side but re-used an existing package. AFAIK the  "client/server game mismatch" is shown if someone has cl_allowDownload disabled. If you had problems, please zip your original corkscrew folder and send it to oa.doctor (a) gmail.com to let me take a look.


Concerning maps: follow the instructions at http://thedoc.freeq3.com/baseoa/ to download them at once.

Strange, I checked q3config.cfg in both baseq3 and corkscrew folders, and they had cl_allowdownload 1.
But, after some more tries (once I first started the mod, and only then tried to connect), now it connects with no problems. And now, also if I try to connect directly from the base game, it works. I also deleted the whole directory of the mod in appdata folder, restarted the "classic" mod to have the config re-created, quitted, and then connected to your server again... and it works (it downloads the required files and goes). I really don't understand what happened. :-/

This was the computer where the game "freezed"... tomorrow I will try from another computer, that gave me the "mismatch" error instead...

Anyway, now my "classic" Corkscrew has become "your version" of if... I have those brightskins also if I play locally (I know, I can wipe out your customizations simply deleting the folder in appdata, but...).

A question: in version 2.16UL2 ... "UL2" is a name you added then you modified the mod, or is a "real" version released by Firestarter (original author), or do you think someone else modded the mod before you and added that "UL2"? When I created the Wiki page about Corkscrew, the latest version I found around the web was 2.16 (without UL2)...

Let's differentiate here. The file CorkScrew_216ul_oa.pk3 required and provided by ScrewOA does not contain a qagame.qvm (the server-side part of the mod). If you are running a Corkscrew server at home, it is loaded from a different pk3 file.

ScrewOA also requires and provides the file z-player-shader.pk3. It contains simple substitutions for the non-mature player textures of OA and is loaded if contained in the server's fs_game directory, unless there is another pk3 loaded thereafter (files are loaded in alphabetical order) overriding some or all the stuff in z-player-shader.pk3

UL2 is part of the original package's name, see CorkScrew_216ul_oa.pk3 (http://q3eu.com/site/modules.php?name=Downloads&op=getit&lid=440). I understood it to be a hint that the original qagame.qvm contained Unlagged2.0 code. The difference between the original file and ScrewOA's: I removed some unnecessary files such as qagame.qvm to reduce the size of the pk3.

Do you think this version is from Firestarter, like the original mod? I tested, it works with OpenArena only (not with Q3) and, unlike the "classic" v2.16 download, does not include any "preset" configuration file or windows batch file. Quite different from the original package...
So I suppose this could be an unofficial modification of CorkScrew, too. Anyway, having "unlagged" support is good (if someone did this, I suppose the "classic" Corkscrew doesn't inherit the "unlagged" features included in OpenArena... or simply this was created before OpenArena included delag?)...

I've done DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/index.php?title=ModCompat%2FCorkScrew&diff=6538&oldid=6527]some updates on the page on the Wiki (http://([b), to mention this "UL2" version. Do you think they are ok?

No. It seems to be specifically recompiled and (most definitely) repackaged for OpenArena, which would be in accordance with your observations. One could call it unofficial in the sense that Firestarter was likely not involved.

Concerning UL2: Without the source code, one can only speculate what server-side features were in the original package.

Concerning your changes in the wiki: Seems OK to me.

Tried from the other computer: for some reason I don't remember, the %appdata%\openarena\corkscrew\q3config.cfg file had automatic download disabled (strange, I usually have it enabled).
So, okay. The only thing is that after playing on your server, the player will experience some changes, like the brightskins, also when playing locally.

I have problem with connecting to this server.
1. it's not listed on ingame server list < this happens sometimes
2. when I want to connect with ./openarena.i386 +connect 212.65.13.87:27960 I get error: Server uses protocol 68

What version of OpenArena do you have? Is it the current version (0.8.5)?

Jup. Weirdly enough it has OAX written in lower right corner but I just applied 0.8.5 patch to my previous 0.8.1

I played on this server without problems before but sometimes it doesn't list it in servers list.

Strange... In the Deathmask server list (http://dpmaster.deathmask.net/?game=openarena), it's reported to use protolol 71 (http://dpmaster.deathmask.net/?game=openarena&server=212.65.13.87:27962), like the other servers... :-/

It is a known bug that 0.8.5 writes OAX in the corner.

You are connecting to the wrong game server (wrong port). Type 27962. 27960 is a Smokin'Guns server (which indeed utilizes protocol 68).

Aside from the problem that the in-game multiplayer list is generally somewhat inaccessible, it has the design flaw to omit game servers which do not respond to the client's ping. So even if you know the server's name and know it is online, you cannot connect because it won't show up. Even more problematic, the game browser is a part of the ui (ui.qvm), therefore it depends on the loaded mod (e.g. oa085 or corkscrew). I did some test identifying the best settings to list ScrewOA:

• oa085: Game Type: Free For All, Sort By: Ping Time, Show Full: off, Show Empty: off, Only humans: off, Hide private: on. Refresh and look for "SCREW OA (rail)".
• corkscrew: Game Type: All (not Free For All!), Sort By: Ping Time, Show Full: off, Show Empty: off. Refresh and look for "SCREW O".

I strongly suggest to use an external game browser (xqf on Linux does it's job) to create a personal list of favorite game servers. This would enable you to see a list of players currently connected. Of course the OA in-game multiplayer browser supports favorites too, but then not even I know how to add servers to this list. How inaccessible is that?

1# This IP 212.65.13.87:27960 is written on home/statpage http://screwoa.tk/ so it was honest mistake  :)

27962 is working properly. Tnx for pointing it out!

 

This was a copy/paste error which is now corrected. Thanks for clarifying.

Are you sure about that? Do you mean a "classic" ICMP "ping" (echo request) is needed, in order to have a server shown in the in-game browser? If it is this way, it would be better to write something about it DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/Manual/Multiplayer#Options]here (http://([b), what do you think?

I wrote how to add a server to "favorite list" here (http://Manual/Multiplayer#Options) (it took a while also to me to figure out how to do it).
I'm not sure how to do it from command line, instead... but I just read in this useful list of Q3 commands (http://joz3d.net/html/q3console.html) that there are 16 variables, from "server1" to "server16", that should hold the favorites IPs/URLs... (not tested yet... and maybe OpenArena has got more of them?)...

Update: yes, the favorites are stored in variables from "server1" to "server16", so you can have up to 16 favorites. If you try to create a variable like "set server17 ...", it will be ignored by the server browser, so you cannot have more than 16. If you try to add another favorite from the GUI, when you have already used all the 16 slots, you will get no error message (I would call this a "bug"), simply the server will not be added.
I've also noticed that, if you delete a server from the list, the data in those variables will be "reodered" (to have the empy slots at the end) when you exit from the server browser.

Somewhat ;D. I took a brief look at the sources and it seems to confirm my observations:
I don't see that servers with pendings pings get added to the list after i has reached MAX_PINGREQUESTS.

No, it is probably a "getstatus" request, but be sure to ask someone else before you document this particular information.

That unresponsitive servers are not shown is logic... so I don't understand why you consider this "a design flaw".... that maybe would be the case, instead, if it needed the client and server routers/firewalls to allow also ICMP echo requests traffic, other than the OpenArena 29750 (master server) and the main UDP port (27960 or custom).

When I did some tests, I found a situation where my server was not shown in the Deathmask server list (http://dpmaster.deathmask.net/?game=openarena) (and probably also in the in-game server browser), but was still possible to connect to it manually specifying its IP in the game (manually specifying its ip worked also to see its informations on Dpmaster, like http://dpmaster.deathmask.net/?game=openarena&server=My_server_IP:port).... Then I figured out that when it sent the first "heartbeat" packets to the master server, my router used a random port instead of 27960 (the permanently open port), and the master server then continued to send later packets to that port, but then the temporary connection was already closed.
I wrote about this (and about the option to fix it with my router) DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/Manual/Multiplayer#Testing]here (http://([b).

Why aren't the unresponsive servers added with ping 999? With "sort by ping" they would appear at the end of the list. If a game server is in the master list, it ought to be online (although it may not be reachable by the client in rare cases). As getstatus request/responses are sent via UDP, they are not reliable, therefore the absence of a response tells nothing about whether the server is reachable or not. The silent omission of unresponsive game servers seems to cause more confusion than it does help (as demonstrated by the posts above).

Moreover, it seems only a certain number of game server of the master list is probed at the same time. I wouldn't be surprised, if the last game server on the list of the master has less time to respond than the first game server on the list, therefore having a lower chance of appearing on the client's list.

So, you would like to show unrensponsitive servers that the master server still finds, but your client not... presuming that, for some reason, they had a packet loss just at the moment of your "hidden serverstatus request" (server list scan), and maybe they could be able to answer after a second try?
Well, with the second try, if they answer, they will be listed anyway... but probably your question is "why should I do a second scan if I don't know that there are x servers that should be there (master server finds them) but did not answer to me the first time?"...

BTW: Do you know if "cl_packetdup" works also in the server browser?

Yes , it's a getstatus request and the ping delay is extrapolated ( faked ) by the UDP packet ... the engine hasn't ( or at least shouldn't have ) any kind of access to RAW sockets.


I guess no , but I am not sure of it ... all the asyncronous requests ( like getstatus ) should be not duplicated.

In a previous post (http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?topic=3854.msg34510#msg34510) we talked about favorites, and we noticed that there are 16 "favorites" slots (variables), and that if you try to add a new favorite after 16, it seems you get no error message (not even in console). This isn't good. But another question: how can someone delete from the favorites list an unresponsitive (thus, not shown) server from the GUI?

UPDATE: For the last part, I was wrong. Unresponsitive favorite servers are shown, so you can delete them (I just had to set the gametype filter to "all" or "Free for all"). They are shown with ping 800 and protocol ???, with no description (so, the only problem is that you cannot disingush one from the other).

By the way: since the "Multiplayer" interface shows the server description, but not its IP or URL, couldn't it be possible to show it somewhere? For example, when you have one selected, to show its address in the line below "hit refresh to update"... what do you think about it?

Dear ScrewOA players and community members.

Summary: I have to find a new host for the server ScrewOA. If you want to see this server in operation and have the necessary resources (money and/or a host), please consider to provide a new home for it.


Explanation: On January 31st, I was informed by @spi, the owner of Baller Bude (http://bb.game-host.org), that, because of understandable organizational reasons, the host of Baller Bude will no longer be able to co-host ScrewOA (Corkscrew mod on OpenArena, 212.65.13.87:27962). As this server is close to my heart, I don't want it to perish. However, currently, I absolutely cannot afford to host it on my own expense.

Therefore I ask for you help: If you want to keep this server in operation and have the necessary resources (either a host with available capacities or the money to rent one), please consider to provide a new home for it. I would then offer to install, operate and improve the aforementioned service free of charge.

Necessary requirements:
- a dedicated host (current host was an Intel Pentium 4 CPU 1.80GHz, 1 GB RAM)
- a decent internet connection (24h/day online, static IP, at least 1MBit up-link)
- a Linux-based operating system (current OS is Gentoo)
- shell access
- full administrative freedom w.r.t. the aforementioned server

Please contact me via PM or write an email to oa.doctor (at) gmail.com for further information. My offer to host these services on a foreign host is valid until March 1st 2011. After that, I'll mothball it.

PS: The server went down on February 2nd :'(

This thing is very sad.    :(  :(  :(
ScrewOA is a good server...

I hope someone may help you. I'm sorry I can't.
No server admins around here?

I linked your message in a new thread in the "general" section of the forum. http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?topic=4055.0

I hope this may help in finding someone.

Good news! Thanks to Dmitriy Vin, ScrewOA is back: vindimy.dyndns.info:27960

However, it had to move to Los Angeles in order to survive. The ping is high (for Europeans), but stable (which is necessary for the ping correction to work correctly).

I'll check this out soon.  Looks sweet.  Plus it'll get me practice with a railgun, very good in ctf as I remember. :)

ScrewOA moved to Newark, NJ, west coast (was hosted last in Los Angeles, CA), both courtesy of Dmitriy Vin. Net ping is around 100ms from Central Europe.

\connect newark1.thedimi.net
or \connect 173.255.227.224:27960

Thanks to all who connected this evening/night and turned it into a fragfest, especially Kitty ;).

I'm gonna play on that server simply for your name being a Doctor Who reference! =)