my openarena tutorials

[vindimy]

For those who have read the subject and think that I wrote a gaming tutorial - sorry to disappoint you

What I did write, however, is my first Openarena "how-to/set up" tutorial - on how to set up a basic Openarena server. Here it is:

http://thedimi.net/wiki/openarena:setting-up-an-openarena-server - UPDATED to 0.8.5 and extended/corrected

I'd like you guys to tell me whether anything doesn't look right or if you just disagree!

I'll be writing part 2 soon! Until then, happy fragging!

EDIT: More tutorials:

http://thedimi.net/wiki/openarena:getting-openarena-maps-and-mods - *NEW*

http://thedimi.net/wiki/openarena:optimizing-openarena-play-like-a-pro - *NEW*

Your feedback is appreciated!!!

[Udi]

I'd like you guys to tell me whether anything doesn't look right or if you just disagree!

Nice tutorial! You could improve it a bit, add basic non OS specific steps, like copy the game to your server, extract it etc, and add the Linux only commands as an extra. People needing a tutorial are mostly Windows home users, not Linux server maintainers who can use screen.

It's also a good practice to create a specific server.cfg file and give that to the executable and leave the default.cfg writeable as it is, like:

/home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1/oa_ded.i386 +set fs_basepath /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1 +set dedicated 2 +set net_ip YOUR_IP +set net_port 27960 +exec /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1/server.cfg

Also there are a lot of users, who want to launch a server from home, behind a router, please mention that in that case it has to be portforwarded. Please also mention by seta sv_hostname "^^33MY OPENARENA SERVER" that the double ^^3 sings will be fixed in 0.8.5, and you can use simple ^3 sings.

[davidd]

maybe it is a good idea to provide the files you created in a zip as example. The start and stop scripts and the server.cfg

If you assume the person runs linux, you could also use "killall oa_ded.i386" instead of the weird ps line (killall isnt available on ALL distributions but almost.

[nitpick modus]
It doesnt read much like a tutorial, it is more a step by step howto. The difference being, in a tutorial you start with the most basic and extend little by little making it more complicated. I would start with ./oa_ded.i386 and type map aggressor, connect to the server blablabla. Adding the mapcycle etc later. That way it is easier for people to understand what part does what, and not 20 steps with a nice endresult.
[/nitpick modus]
 
the howto is very nice, very similar to how i set up my servers, a final tip i can give you is
crontab -e
and add the line

Code:

@reboot  /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1/oa_start.sh

that way, if your computer reboots, the openarena screen gets started.

[sago007]

I use the init script: (DO NOT LINK) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/InitScript

That they I can start, restart and stop with "/etc/init.d/oa_ded <start,restart,stop>". The game will also be restarted automatically if it crashes. However having multiple servers on the same machine can be a bit more tricky with this method.

[vindimy]

Thanks guys! I got a little caught up with school and work but I really value your feedback and I'll take all of it into consideration when I modify the first tutorial and write subsequent ones (soon).

[HITMAN]

This tutorial is very good and I truly appreciate all the work because I would be lost without it. I have a few questions:

1. This tutorial appears to be geared to those who want to create a server on their own linux machine. How about steps for people who are using linux hosting services? Some of the instructions on the page can't be done if someone using hosting site.

2. I think we need more examples when explaining variables such as USERNAME. Does this mean www.domain.com or the username when logging into the Linux OS? Should it look like /home/domain name/openarena/?

[sago007]

I cannot see anything in the guide I cannot do on my hosted server. But I guess you refer to the case there a friend has given me a user on his machine and I must host a server without root-access.

Maybe the guide should emphasise that a new user should be created for OpenArena to run under. On many hosted servers the default user is root and you should not run the server as root.

[HITMAN]

I ran into some problems that I overcame after completing all the steps and there are a couple of small things that need to be changed i think.

1. Although not a huge big deal whatsoever; just more of an observation than anything but apparently creating the file "q3server_config.cfg" doesn't do anything. Openarena creates q3config_server.cfg. The names needed to be reversed.

2. Adding "+exec maps.cfg" actually was another issue to why I couldn't get the server started. I found out that +exec cant be using in config files. So it had to be modified to "exec maps.cfg". Remove the + sign.

3. Using the screen command was kind of tricky. I tried running the entire script "screen -A -m -d -S oa /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1/oa_ded.i386 +set fs_basepath /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1 +set fs_game baseoa +set dedicated 2 +set net_ip YOUR_IP +set net_port 27960" based on my own information but nothing happened. I actually had to run the screen utility first then run rest of query plus i had added +exec myconfigfile.cfg to the query.

These were my issues after everything was said and done. Like I mentioned before, I wouldn't have even gotten this far without this guide. Thanks again! But.. I'm still having one major issue but it was not addressed in the tutorial which is firewall problems. I am able to get my server started but since im using a hosting service, i think domain's IP address is being blocked; I cannot connect to it via IP address in OA nor is it showing up on the Master Server List. I assume I have contact my hosting company to get port 27960 opened? Is this correct?

HIT

Thanks Jess for your help!

[vindimy]

I ran into some problems that I overcame after completing all the steps and there are a couple of small things that need to be changed i think.

1. Although not a huge big deal whatsoever; just more of an observation than anything but apparently creating the file "q3server_config.cfg" doesn't do anything. Openarena creates q3config_server.cfg. The names needed to be reversed.

2. Adding "+exec maps.cfg" actually was another issue to why I couldn't get the server started. I found out that +exec cant be using in config files. So it had to be modified to "exec maps.cfg". Remove the + sign.

3. Using the screen command was kind of tricky. I tried running the entire script "screen -A -m -d -S oa /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1/oa_ded.i386 +set fs_basepath /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1 +set fs_game baseoa +set dedicated 2 +set net_ip YOUR_IP +set net_port 27960" based on my own information but nothing happened. I actually had to run the screen utility first then run rest of query plus i had added +exec myconfigfile.cfg to the query.

These were my issues after everything was said and done. Like I mentioned before, I wouldn't have even gotten this far without this guide. Thanks again! But.. I'm still having one major issue but it was not addressed in the tutorial which is firewall problems. I am able to get my server started but since im using a hosting service, i think domain's IP address is being blocked; I cannot connect to it via IP address in OA nor is it showing up on the Master Server List. I assume I have contact my hosting company to get port 27960 opened? Is this correct?

HIT

1. Good catch, I'll fix the tutorial.
2. You are right, on command line you'd use "+exec" and in a config file you'd use "exec".
3. Your screen command should work given that the actual executable and options you're passing to it are valid. It won't output anything, though, since it's supposed to go into background. You can use "screen -ls" and "screen -r oa" (because you started it with "-S oa") to list/retrieve session(s).

Regarding the port - if it's a Linux-based system, then most likely it's iptables and/or tcpwrappers that might be blocking it, so look into those... Usually you have to explicitly open ports for Openarena to run.

[HITMAN]

3. Your screen command should work given that the actual executable and options you're passing to it are valid. It won't output anything, though, since it's supposed to go into background. You can use "screen -ls" and "screen -r oa" (because you started it with "-S oa") to list/retrieve session(s).

Regarding the port - if it's a Linux-based system, then most likely it's iptables and/or tcpwrappers that might be blocking it, so look into those... Usually you have to explicitly open ports for Openarena to run.

I see now. So that script was made have it ran in the background. Got it. As for my current issue,
Can I use iptables/tcpwrappers in SSH to open ports for Openarena? If so, what do i have to do?

P.S. As you might have assumed, I'm a novice with linux. :-)

[vindimy]

I see now. So that script was made have it ran in the background. Got it. As for my current issue,
Can I use iptables/tcpwrappers in SSH to open ports for Openarena? If so, what do i have to do?

P.S. As you might have assumed, I'm a novice with linux. :-)

Well, unless you have VPS or dedicated hosting, you won't be able to change firewall configuration on the host. Most webhosts are "shared" in that very many customers run their sites from the same box, and therefore they may affect each other if they start changing settings. But if you do have access to that (basically you need either root password or ability to run "sudo" command which makes you a superuser), then look up some iptables tutorials and you'll see that it's not much work. Here's one geared towards beginners: http://articles.slicehost.com/2008/4/25/ubuntu-hardy-setup-page-1 (if you run it under Ubuntu or Debian).

[vindimy]

Also, IMHO the best way to run any sort of web-facing service is to purchase VPS hosting (through which you get a complete control of the OS). The two most known VPS providers AFAIK are Linode and Slicehost. I run 3 Openarena servers on one Linode box, and that's besides all the other stuff I run on it.

[HITMAN]

Yea..i just have a Web hosting site, trying to run OA. Apparently I didnt know it won't work unless its on a VPS Hosting. Is it expensive having on VPS? I presume its doable.

[vindimy]

All right people! I've extensively updated the first tutorial, as well as wrote two new ones!

http://thedimi.net/wiki/openarena:setting-up-an-openarena-server - UPDATED to 0.8.5 and extended/corrected

http://thedimi.net/wiki/openarena:getting-openarena-maps-and-mods - *NEW*

http://thedimi.net/wiki/openarena:optimizing-openarena-play-like-a-pro - *NEW*

[chaoticsoldier]

This looks promising, but I think it needs a polish. Towards the end it seems bare/unfinished.

Avoid weasel words:

...but anything between 110 and 150 is considered to be a good setting

Says who?

most players have cable or DSL

Perhaps where you're from, but not all countries are like this. Check out www.internetworldstats.com


Also there are typos:

Railgun and gauntlet are the two real long-range weapons.

Use the chainsaw (also known as melee)

Just "gauntlet". It's a melee weapon but it's not correct to call it "melee".

[vindimy]

This looks promising, but I think it needs a polish. Towards the end it seems bare/unfinished.

Yeah, I will expand the "Optimizing Playing Techniques" a bit more once I have enough info to write (suggestions)?

Avoid weasel words:

...but anything between 110 and 150 is considered to be a good setting

Says who?

I guess I should put a disclaimer in the beginning that the article is heavily influenced by my opinion(s)

most players have cable or DSL

Perhaps where you're from, but not all countries are like this. Check out www.internetworldstats.com

Okay, maybe I'm being a bit USA-centric here. But I did see somewhere that playing any fast-paced multiplayer game over dial-up or other slow/unreliable connection is just not feasible.

Also there are typos:

Railgun and gauntlet are the two real long-range weapons.

Use the chainsaw (also known as melee)

Just "gauntlet". It's a melee weapon but it's not correct to call it "melee".

Good catches!

Thanks for the great review! I couldn't ask for more!

[rashdawg]

Just though I would mention that in your Weapons Selection section of your play like a pro tutorial you did not mention the grenade launcher.  Other than that seemed like the tutorials were pretty good.

[WaspKiller]

Nice documentation and great comments by Udi, Davidd and others.

...People needing a tutorial are mostly Windows home users, not Linux server maintainers who can use screen.

I disagree.  First, most of the noobs who I see are Linux users and although it would be logical to accept that 'nix users would be more computer savvy than Windows users it is amazing how many are not particularly so.  Second, many do not realize that the repository installations create both hidden and visible OpenArena directories, and the issue of finding their client configuration (for editing or backups) is one that comes up over and over again.

... /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1/oa_ded.i386 +set fs_basepath /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1 +set dedicated 2 +set net_ip YOUR_IP +set net_port 27960 +exec /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1/server.cfg

If you create a script in the OpenArena directory and point your icon to it, you can safely shorten the link to:

oa_ded.i386 +set fs_basepath /home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1 +set dedicated 2 +set net_ip YOUR_IP +set net_port 27960 +exec server.cfg

If you run a Mod, simply use the fs_game parameter and OpenArena will locate the correct server.cfg.  The net_ip parameter is only necessary if you have more than one network card in the box.

Example:

oa_ded.i386 +set fs_game excessiveplus +set fs_basepath "/game/oa/ctf" +set dedicated 2 +set vm_game 0 +set net_port 27960 +exec server.cfg

or

oa_ded.exe +set fs_game excessiveplus +set fs_homepath "c:\game\oa\ctf" +set dedicated 2 +set vm_game 0 +set net_port 27960 +exec server.cfg

[fromhell]

I'm not really a fan of 'play like a pro' but at least this guide isn't as decieving like many others i've seen because it lacks the usual "YOU HAVE TO PLAY LIKE THIS OR YOUR GAY FOREVER!!!" tense.

1. A 'pro' doesn't play video games, they work, professional is a term for someone who gets paid for what they do. The name "promode" has been crapping on this definition for years I know, butt....

2. A 2000-range video card like a Geforce2 can handle max detail, as well as everything after it EXCEPT the FX5200, Radeon9000, and Geforce6200 and Intel stuff and SiS stuff. They can do medium fine and none of them require vertex light. and HOLY CRAP THE TUT DOESNT EVEN MENTION THE WORD "VERTEX" 5 STARS+. Low performance in OA on a modern card is commonly attributed to poor drivers (and most often of these are the open source *nix ones which still aren't up to their binary blob professional counterparts)

3. Colored names distract and are anything but 'pro'

4. don't the 0-9 keys already handle the weapons?

5. nothing like com_maxfps steroids. i'd use the setting as my current refresh rate for proper frame sync

[vindimy]

@rashdawg:

Yeah, I wasn't sure where to place grenade launcher... It probably belongs in mid-range or close-range, but it's very easy to spam confined spaces with it (should I mention that in the tutorial? )

@WaspKiller:

You are right about absolute/relative paths. I simply prefer using absolute paths as I've been annoyed before when my programs wouldn't find the right files due to me using relative paths...

Also, thanks to you, I decided to expand on the meaning of the startup command - now it has a very detailed explanation on what's what.

@fromhell

Thanks for the feedback! Thanks to you, there's now a Disclaimer and Your Computer section in the tutorial, which addresses your points!

[7]

First of all I'm new here, so hi all!

Secondly some very technical remarks on the play-like-a-pro-tutorial:

* You should set the r_displayRefresh cvar to the refresh rate of your monitor (60, 72 Hz on LCD mostly), this avoids  the tearing effect that happens if your monitor refresh rate is much slower then you com_maxfps cvar.

* You should set the com_maxfps cvar to the maximum fps your graphics card can deliver constantly, but there is a catch: the ioquack3 engine rounds this value down to floor(1000 / N) where N= 1,2,3... In practice this marns you can set com_maxfps to 1000, 500, 333, 250, 200, 166, 142, 125, 111, 100, 90, 83, 76, 71, 66, etc. (if your graphics card can't deliver 66 fps constantly, you should lower your graphics settings).

* You should set the cl_maxpackets cvar to the highest number of packets per second your computer can send out to United Federation of Planets without causing traffic congestion. As packets are sent out by frame and you set the number of frames with the com_maxfps cvar, you can determine once in how many frames your computer sends a packet to United Federation of Planets. This marns the ioquack3 engine rounds this value down to floor(com_maxfps / N) where N= 1,2,3... In practice, if you set com_maxfps to 125 you can set cl_maxpackets to 125, 62, 41, 31, etc. If you set com_maxfps to 76 the possible cl_maxpackets values become 76, 38, 25 etc.

* If you find that enemy projectiles like rockets lag terribly during online gameplay, you should set the cg_projectileNudge cvar to your ping in milliseconds. This way the projectiles seem to spawn way in front of the enemies weapons, but at least you can now judge when they are going to hit you (and can try to avoid them).

* If you play delagged, you shouldn't use timenudge as it ruins the delagged timing. In other words if you set the cg_delag cvar to 1 you should leave the cl_timeNudge cvar at 0 or you'll miss rail shots even though your aim is dead on.

edit3: Why does this forum keep changing the words like 'server' to 'United Federation of Planets' etc.? April Fools or just silly?

[sago007]

Using complete path to the binary is usually a good idea... not all environments will setup the relative path, it is not many years ago that path was not set at all if starting from the GUI (really annoying) and someday someone will make a symbolic link and don't get why it does not work.

I would never use a complete path to the cfg-file, because the binary will always setup the relative paths.

I prefer "~/openarena-0.8.1" over "/home/USERNAME/openarena-0.8.1" because the path could also be something like: "/home/s/sago007/openarena-0.8.1/" or "/home/nas1/sago007/openarena-0.8.1/" or something completely different depending on configuration. Also the "~/openarena.0.8.1" can be copy-pasted. It is rare on personal systems though and /home/USERNAME might make more sense for users new to the *nix-world, so there might be good reasons to keep it at /home/USERNAME. 

[jukeboxhero]

Awesome tutorials! I just went over the Play like a Pro tutorial. Clear and to the point, very good tips!

Once again, thnx!

One and only,
JukeBoxHero