![]() Game client software: Though the servers are free, the game clients are not.And the dedicated server for Neverwinter Nights may be downloaded from BioWare. The dedicated server for Battlefield Vietnam can be downloaded from 3DGamers. Game server software: We will install two free game servers in this recipe.And for more than 32 concurrent users, you'll need multiple megabits per second. For 16 to 32 players, T1 speeds are required. Higher-speed SDSL or cable connections, or fractional T1, will be needed for between nine and 15 players. If your server will to be offered to remote players over the Internet, then a dedicated ADSL line is adequate for as many as eight players. Latency dictates how fast the server can receive and respond to movements by client gameplayers-the lower the latency, the smoother the gameplay experience. Avoid wireless connectivity, because wireless has a higher latency than wired Ethernet. High-speed network and bandwidth: In a LAN environment, 100BaseT Ethernet and corresponding switches will be adequate for full-speed game playing.Here's a cheat sheet, courtesy of Electronic Arts, to help you determine how much CPU power your system will need: For my system, I used a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 processor, which is adequate for 32 Battlefield players. How fast a server do you need? That depends on the number of players you expect to support. More is always better, as it will help protect against performance drops. (Linux is also supported by many, but not all, game servers. But for stability purposes, I recommend that you consider Windows 2000 Professional the bare minimum requirement. Most game servers are rated to run on any version of Windows, even Windows 98. The server does not need the latest and greatest graphics hardware-or any graphics hardware at all! A headless machine makes a perfectly good game server, and that's what we will use in this recipe. A PC with robust Windows OS: The requirements of a game server are relatively modest. ![]() Here's what you'll need to build this system: While this system is inexpensive, it is powerful enough to manage both popular first-person/tactical combat games like Battlefield Vietnam, and leading cooperative and competitive role-playing games such as Neverwinter Nights. ![]() In this TechBuilder recipe, I'll show you how to build a multiplayer game server. And for an ISP or ASP with spare bandwidth and an urge to diversify, they make an interesting side offering. Multiplayer game boxes are also appropriate for hobby/game store environments and other recreation centers. LAN-based game servers are also a popular alternative offering for conventional arcades, and an entire business is springing up around the "PC room" and "LAN arena" concepts. ![]()
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