Throwing a LAN party

[Flechmen 0]

So, you want to have a game night slash LAN party slash raid.

 

Well, I usually group these things into a LAN party. The concept is simple: you and a bunch of friends gather in a location and bring your computers along for a night of gaming fun!

 

I've done lots of fairly small LAN parties, but the concepts here should apply to much larger ones.

 

First, what is a LAN party exactly?

 

LAN stands for Local Area Network, which is a bunch of computers that are directly connected to one another independent of the internet.

So of course for a party based around this, we would need computers, ideally ones that can play the games we have in mind.

For the more party aspect of it, we need food, music, a location and people.

 

The Planning:

There's several things we need to consider in planning a successful LAN party.

First, how many people are there? The number of people can determine what games we can play and how much we need to spend on food and if there's to be a cover charge.

Food: This is probably going to be the second most expensive part of your party. Pizza and chips are a staple among LAN parties, foods that can be quickly grabbed are always the best. If you can do foods that are low in oils and fats, and aren't crumbly, it will be a lot better because you won't be messing up keyboards. While pizza is a popular choice, it's not a very good one, because oil and crumbs get everywhere.

Fresh fruit and cut vegetables are a better choice. If you can have a time where everyone stops and eats a meal, a meal that is high in carbohydrates will help the party stay lively into the night.

Drinks should be pretty simple. Ask the people what they like, get 2 liter bottles of it. In the morning hours, caffeinated drinks like coffees and teas should be made available, as well as softer foods like oatmeal, cheeses, and breads. I usually like to grab a baguette, which people can easily pull a piece off and munch on if their bellies get sore.

Space: Space is a big concern.. not only do you need to plan on space for people to comfortably sit at their computers and play, but also space for people to lay down and sleep. Ideally, you will have more than one room. Set off an entire room or more for just sleep. Stock blankets and pillows for those that don't bring their own. Sleeping areas should have the ability to be quiet and dark, apart form the activities of the party.

Alternatively, you could have a set time for sleep, clean up computer areas, and set up there.

You should also keep in mind that man and machine are two things that produce a lot of heat. To the point where you might just have all of your windows open in the middle of winter! Make sure you have sufficient airflow and air conditioning to keep your space about 70 degrees.

Your space will also need the ability to power the number of computers you plan to run. Keep in mind that a high end gaming machine can take 2 or 3 amps of power. Most circuits in your house are wired for 15 amps, and entire rooms might be on a single circuit.

Also take into account lights, microwaves, TVs and radios. Often my friends will be using an Xbox and a 48" DLP television for music. That uses a lot of power!

 

Now we have a location with ample cooling and power and food planned out. What are we going to do?

Game choice can be a bit fickle. We have to take into account how many people there's going to be and what those people have to play on.

Games like Age of Empires and other team-based games have a maximum number of players. If you're having a small party, this isn't much of a concern. With a larger party, you're more limited to games like Minecraft and Team Fortress, that have a very high maximum, upwards of 20 players. If you don't mind having groups of players, as in, some people play one game while others play another, that can be a way to get around the maximums of some games.

Next we have to keep in mind what people are going to be playing on. It's a good idea to ask people what the specs of their computer are beyond "it's a gaming rig" or "it's a peice of junk". A 10 year old gaming rig won't be playing new games very well. A good solution is to have a spare computer or two, or have friends that can bring spare computers.

I have a spare machine that I tag along. I built it from scraps I had laying around and got the CPU on Ebay for $10. The entire system could be built for very cheap if you were to go out and buy the parts.

Motherboard: MSI P4N SLI

CPU: Intel Pentium D 805 @ 2.66GHz (old dual core)

RAM: 2GB DDR2

Video: nVidia GTX460

HDD: 750GB Samsung SATA drive

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

 

Like I said, someone gave me the motherboard with a Pentium 4 processor in it, I got the Pentium D on Ebay, I had all of the other components laying around. It plays my entire Steam library perfectly. I did go to Fry's and get the cheapest case they had later on because the case I originally had it in made it overheat.

So it really doesn't take much of a computer to play most games at an acceptable level. Granted, some of my friends see this computer and drool because it completely overpowers theirs... :s

 

So now we can base our game selection on the number of people and whoever has the slowest/oldest/cheapest computer.

Some good choices could be:

Team Fortress 2

Alein Vs. Predator (It doesn't really have anything to do with the movie and is a fun first person shooter)

Majesty Gold (Old RTS)

BRINK

Company of Heros

Counter Strike (you really can play this on the most minimal of hardware)

HOARD

Sanctum

Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Accadamy (FPS)

Star Wars Empire At War (RTS)

Terraria

 

 

Just to get you started.. there are many more games out there, these are just some I end up playing with my friends.

If you can afford it, you might want to have an extra Steam account for people that wouldn't otherwise have one.. maybe even have it travel with your spare computer.

 

The Final Setup:

Now, if you're planning on using your wireless for your party, you're planning for disaster! I've done it before, and it just throws up all over the place. It's plagued with random dropouts, not being able to join games, etc. Don't use wireless!

You might be tempted to use these 10Mb "hubs" that you see on ebay for a couple of dollars. You really don't want to use hubs either. Again, I've done it before, and it is slightly better than wireless, but it's very slow and still not very reliable for gaming because of how hubs work. They just aren't meant for gaming traffic.

You might also see some very cheap ethernet switches direct from China. These do work, but they're not that great. I used one for a long time, it was fine until it burnt up.. but it burnt up after a month or so of use.

 

Now, the most problem-free setup I've had for a LAN party so far has been using two of these fairly inexpensive ZyXEL switches. They're gigabit switches built into a metal case and what seem to be pretty reasonable quality components. At the location we were in, I had a Linksys wireless router (like this) connected directly to the internet, then from there into one ZyXEL switch, which went to three computers then a line going across the house into the second switch, which fed 4 more computers. Using this setup, we didn't have a single dropped game and multiplayer matches were recognized without issue.

More switches could be added or larger switches could be used to get more computers connected. These ZyXEL switches come in a few sizes, and there are many other brands that work just as well, such as little Netgear Prosafe switches, or you can find used Dell PowerConnect and Cisco switches on ebay for pretty cheap if you need a 24 or 48 port switch for your party.

 

I hope this helps Always remember to have fun!

[XarZyth† 0]

Oh LAN parties. How I have yet to go to one and actually enjoy it. We had one here at school but I was just visiting at the time, so I didn't really stay. I also missed a GIANT League of Legends tournament LAN party....... Any idea of location yet?

[Flechmen 0]

I'm just kinda outlineing how to have a successful one I wasn't thinking a CF party or anything like that

[kmmnderkoala† 0]

Huh. Looks like it would be enjoyable. Unfortunately, im an unpopular, antisocial, 13 year old living all the way across the ocean. Any of those 4 disqualifies me. But when im older, if ive developed a social life, i may try it.

[riddle kat† 0]

cs surf must be amazing, espically in lan, I never played cs surf tho cs:s's surf is quite ace so I'd imagine counter strike's surf maps to be much better.

[Pooty_BlaDiBla 0]

I would love to do it, but sadly I can't drive, don't have my own computer, and even if I found a way to transport my Dad's MAC, I can't download steam again, because I had to delete it, and was offline when i deleted it. that was about a year ago.

[XarZyth† 0]

Oh and here I was thinking a CF LAN party would be awesome!

[otsoka† 0]

that would be pretty baller