Getting Server Name Out There

archer1662

<div class="IPBDescription">how to get your server in the stream</div> For my server, I try spicing up my site, adding faster play, giving more slots, offering more support, but people still dont come to my server that often

Is there a way that some of you 'server-giants' got your name started?

I've also tryed being affiliated with other sites, and no big results so far...

Risiko

Well, tell us the IP address <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->.

Also, what is the name of your server? If you have an enticing name, more people will want to come to play. This is more important than one might think.

Make sure you have admins around as well.

archer1662

IP- 68.55.108.45:27014

server name: VPhoenix.net NeverEnding Combat NS 1.6 Server

I'm looking for regulars to assign as admin, but unfortunately, no regulars <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->

I do have myself and another head admin though who are regulars <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->

DragonMech

One thing you can do is put your server & site info in your sig. Then every post you make will be a mini-advertisement for you. I've found many good servers that way. To that end, *glances down at my new & updated sig*

Verthandi

A catchy server name, a few fun plugins (Gore, Fireworks, UT sounds, Nightvision, etc), a couple of responsible admins, and you've got yourself a server that'll keep the masses coming back for more.

And of course, a large enough server (with a rig powerful enough to handle the load). If you get a 24-player server filled up for even a couple of minutes, you can expect the server never to be empty ever again. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

archer1662

Dragon_Mech: I took the advice

Verthandi: mine is 20-man, is that enough?

I know when I look for servers I usually skip all empty ones, so I have whichbot that places 2 bots only in the server... is that a bad idea?

I've had my 20-man server filled up to 10 (without bots, with it was 12) and then they left within the hour... My other admin and a friend who I'm considering admin was there and they said lag was fine

Also, about spicing up the server with some plugins, AmxModX does NOT work on my server. When someone else from outside of my local network tries to join the server crashed (similar to my other post <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67105' target='_blank'>http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/in...showtopic=67105</a> same type of box, but different numbers where the random numbers are in the picture), which is why I chose to take it off... any other suggestions? Affiliation on your awesome site <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> ?

Talesin

Firstly, running bots to give the appearance of players only serves to tick a number of players off. They'll leave and never come back if they see a couple of attractor-bots sitting there.
Secondly, sigs are an acceptable place to advertise your server. Threads in General Discussion are not. We have a forum specifically dedicated to server stuff, including letting people know where your server is, and info on how to make your server a more attractive place.
Third, <span style='color:orange'>*Phased*</span> to General Servers.

archer1662

jeez man you don't have to be so mean about it



anyway, thanks for the idea on bots... does AmxModX work for any of you guys / had any of my errors and have solved them?

also, I wasn't advertising,

<!--QuoteBegin-Risiko+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Risiko)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Well, tell us the IP address .<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

He was trying to help me and asked me to do something so I did as he asked

Grillkohle

[U]VPhoenix.net[U] NeverEnding Combat NS <b>1.6 </b>Server -- 68.55.108.45:27014 ?

archer1662

1.6 = steam, but yea that's a good call <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Verthandi

A 20-slot server should be quite enough. It's also good to play in your own server, and find out what the players like or don't like. See what types of maps the players like or want. An abundance of maps, and an occasional fun map will make sure that the rotation is always fresh.

I run AMXMod for my NS server, and it works perfectly fine, except for the occasional crash. Nothing a quick restart can't fix. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

I also have a SvenCoop server. I installed AMXModX onto that one, just to test it out first. I can't say that the SC server is as stable as the NS server. I'll be sticking with AMXMod for now.

archer1662

Hmm, my crashes <u>may</u> be because of the bots (which is what I just took down), so I'll see how those work out... Because I think it was AmxMOD regular was causing it, because AdminMod (surprisingly) has been giving me little worry.

Thanks you guys for the support!!

[edit]Also, on a side note, my server is only combat maps, as that is the servers I like to play on... are NS_ maps more popular?[/edit]

Verthandi

Well, I think that Combat maps would eventually get boring, after you play a dozen of them in a row. Consider a balance of NS and CO maps.

archer1662

is there a specific type of mapcycle you would recommend?

Verthandi

I used a fixed pattern, with a map change every 20 minutes. Two CO maps, then one NS map. Some of the losing team's players will leave when playing the NS map, but the CO maps refill the server again.

Map voting is freely allowed, so if the majority of the players want to play a certain map (rather than the next map in the rotation), the server will play the voted map first, then continue with the rotation.

archer1662

Well when I added AmxModX on my server, it used to crash, but when I was using bots (whichbot) my server used to crash after a while... so since I took off the bots, if it doesn't crash after the usual time it does, I'll try AmxModX again (which has deagles map management) so hopefully it will work...

CheesyPeteza

Unless I missed something in the code. deagles map management won't work with NS.

archer1662

its the AmxModX version of it, coded to fit with the game compatibilities of NS... but i'll post on the AmxModX forums and see what they say.

Also, to increase my server, I have a site which I'm trying to create a community (<a href='http://vphoenix.net/' target='_blank'>http://vphoenix.net/</a>). I'm trying to get affiliated with some good NS sites / friends sites. Right now I'm talking with Suicidal from <a href='http://www.guns4back2school.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.guns4back2school.com/</a>... is that what I should be doing also?

[edit] yea, deagles map management DOESN'T work with Natural-Selection... <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> shame, its such a good plugin [/edit]

Ascelon

Remember that you need to disable some CS plugins that can crash you server. I would recommend you using an AMX version changed specially for natural-selection, which rocks <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> www.modns.org <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo--> I have it in my server which is going down in a few for money problems. Also, if your server had a good ping for me I would go frequently and have a lot of experience in NS Servers. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

archer1662

Unfortunately since I've taken down bots, not as much traffic on my servers <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> I've been working on term papers so I havn't been able to play on them also. And I was going to use AmxModX instead of the regular AmxMod... this is because of why AmxModX was founded, because of the lack of development within the regular AmxMod.

[edit] Cheesy Peteza: BigBaller told me to ask you for any good Map Management plugins that would work for NS [/edit]

CheesyPeteza

I dunno any good map management plugins, we just play the full cycle.

archer1662

Hey CheesyPeteza, I just saw your Natural-Selection supported version of AMXmod over at <a href='http://www.modns.org/' target='_blank'>http://www.modns.org/</a> so I think I'll try that first... looks like they have a nice level of support and plugins there as well

Ascelon

As I told you that is the best AMX Mod for NS since it is configured with everything that ns needs and some good addons which are not annoying or anything. <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->

archer1662

yea and its actually working <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> yay

zodiac

I will clue you in to several things I have learned.

1. Get the highest bandwith you possible can have access to.
2. I would say it is 50%/50% with people who don't like bots and people that don't mind
3. Adding plugins believe it or not that you think are cool (and I have been strict) will actually make people go away. I found that they like to keep it true. Besides too many plugin take more resources from your server and could be a problem depending on your bandwith and machine type.
4. People are detured because of new maps that they have to download but you will get a different crowd that like the map but they will not fill up reguarly
5. People hop on and off all the time regularly, especially when you are starting out.
6. If you run bots, work with the Bot Dev in order to get the very best optimized waypoints for that bot vs your map otherwise your bots will appear to be stupid and people don't like that, but I think many like a competitive bot. Bot also will cost you CPU and fps. Decals will also cost you fps (frames per second)
7. If you run plugins, work with the plugin dev (forum) to see how the plgin works in your environment. Hear this, when it comes to plugins the newest is not always the best for your environment, test them and compare performance.
8. Get the highest system CPU and Memory you can possibly have in the system (see number 1 again also)
9. Run a dedicated server, and when I say dedicated if you use the same server for mail or for domain hosting it will choke the game because the frames will be misaligned. This will also depend on your System and connection
10 Get some Admin tools like HLSW, to monitor.
11. Booster programs are good in theory but may make things worse for performance depending on your System and Bandwith.
12. TEST, TEST, TEST
13. Stay active in the game community as much as you can stand, helping people is good. Go to the Forums
14. Contribute $$ to your mod developer

Thats all I can think of for now, I will post more ideas if I think of them.

[WHO]Them

Here's the few things I've learned over time.

2 FakeFull bots is your best bet as far as drawing the line between people that will not even join cuz the server is empty and people that will leave because there are bots. Generally when people join and there are only 2 players, it's not a huge letdown that there weren't any at all.

Full servers NEVER come quickly. You need to monitor that thing like it's a newborn baby. If there are 8 people on it, join up fast and keep an eye out for ways to keep these people coming back.

Offer something that people can't get anywhere else. Plugins are nice, but it's WAY too easy to **** off your players by adding a bunch of crazy crap they don't like. Think of a gimmick or theme that really set your server apart from the rest.

And as far as map management is concerned, I'm working on the long needed solution to poor voting plugins as we speak. But development is slow due to the complete lack of beta test servers.

archer1662

I just downloaded the AMXmod from <a href='http://modns.org/' target='_blank'>http://modns.org/</a> and its been configured to work with NS, even the map management plugin (so its cool)

Also, does anybody know how to set up an IRC channel / a URL to help me with that?