[dildoughy]

Title thing
So I wasn't allowed to play games as a kid and didn't start playing until about two years ago; an unexpected health thing had me playing some silly game called TF2...started playing til 2 in the morning...rented one small server...met my boyfriend playing TF2...number of servers became six...cost became unjustifiable...found this forum, got advice, moved to an unmanaged vps yesterday.

It's weird being so new and so incredibly fascinated by an older game (TF2) when others have been modding and developing for it for YEARS, so sometimes going hunting for a specific map or plugin is like going on a quest for hidden treasure, requires a ton of digging and hunting around and trying out dodgy links. Overall it's been really amazingly fun and kept my mind off the various issues that got me playing in the first place.

I figured I'd use this as a log on putting together a multi-purpose network of servers, expanding it, testing out various systems of ranking/stats/donor/credits and similar things, as well as share more obscure resources or bundles I've put together (maps, plugins, maplists, etc. -- all credited and within the rules of the forum).

This is also coming right with the addition of the new tokens/incoming restrictions from Valve too so we'll see how that goes. We're also testing out both Battleborn and Overwatch this month* and I honestly suspect I'll still prefer TF2 but maybe some opinions on those incoming too.

Along the way if anyone wants to help out, chime in, correct or scold me, etc., I would be very happy.

This week my to-do list:

1. Figure out what's wrong with my UMC maplist syntax that I can't get it to work...UMC would be great for bhop, jump, kz and surf maps because of the ability to tier difficulties, prefixes and classes if applicable, and also edit Workshop map names if the plugin supports the workshop/.ugc88332873 format...but after hours of configuring, testing, etc. I CAN'T GET IT TO WORK
2. [TF2/CS:GO] Download + bundle all Jump.tf maps, organize by their difficulty system, plus dig up an outdated "jump starter kit" that had a couple of plugins I can't find anywhere else

Things i have ready to upload, it's just queued in with about a thousand items in WinSCP uploading:

1. [TF2] Full Comp.tf roster (latest releases or major forks of maps only) + map lists
2. [TF2] TF2Maps.net's 2012-2016 April Fool's joke maps divided by year, Asymmetrical CP, Dynamic CP, and Dynamic PL contest entries/winners, zipped separately with plaintext map lists

Some other things I'm doing:

1. [TF2] Comparing and troubleshooting a bunch of ranking systems (reserving post 2 for this)
2. Revamping the way my current Sourcebans/Sourcecomm, Webadmin, custom achievements, HLX, Psychostats, all that work together under a new Drupal-based framework for the home site
3. Trying out seDirector, full license - review coming when I've had enough time using it

and etc.

This topic may be of zero use to anyone with experience running servers, but maybe could be helpful to a brand-new beginners like me

-dad

[dildoughy]

First batch of stuff is kind of a haphazard mix

For security: all DL links are from my webhost and go straight to a .zip file, go here to look at the directory first.

Jump.tf starter kit 1.1
I was looking for an expired download link that CrancK posted along with the (still-active) conc grenade plugin and found an old jump.tf thread with this "starter kit" someone had put together. I've been trying to identify some of the plugins and testing them out, there's some interesting stuff in there if only for novelty's sake.

Step-by-step from tf.tv on getting translucent viewmodels in TF2 and an example modification of rayshud (only one file was modified, nothing external added).

Some map collections with sources and authors:

Every map used in major league rotations, as recorded by Comp.tf

Several dozen tfdb_ dodgeball maps and a couple of db_ maps that are meant to go with the Redux plugin, I think (please correct if it's the other one)

Mirrored map packs 1 & 2 (Valve stock maps flipped)

Valve maps decompiled - put together by someone at tf2maps, haven't altered it, useful for look at in your included Hammer editor (in your source game install) with A Boojum Snark's ultimate mapping pack (prop libraries for Hammer, etc.).

Jump.tf has a pretty nice map list, one ordered by difficulty tier and one by class(es)/style. I think some are probably outdated or could be better kept up with through Workshop but I just prefer having the actual .bsps. I'm putting together an individual pack for each category, I only have soldiers and soldiers+demos incomplete, all the other categories are complete for download (otherwise you have to individually go through megashare or something etc.): competitive training (single map), conc grenade maps (all classes), co-op maps, defrag/speedrun maps, demo-only maps, freestyle (open-world) jump maps, a few allclass/offclass maps, and old-school tower-climb maps. Check the list for full bright, DX requirements, etc.

kz_ map official Workshop collections (~270 maps) + Pastebin with mapcycles.


GlassAttack maps that I really like and people who come to play arena seem to like. If anyone has any more information on introducing breakable entities into maps for either TF2 or CS:GO I'd be interested. There are really VERY few glass_ maps for TF2 and are meant to go with this Sourcemod plugin, though they work fine without.

TF2maps doesn't really like having their stuff rehosted at all for good reason, but they had an archive crash back in the day which makes some of their things really hard to track down, so this is the only thing I'm going to put up, which are all the April Fool's joke maps from 2012-2015 (2016 contest just ended.)

Also, this map list maker and the .bz2 batch conversion script are two things that are very tiny but very useful to me (external links).

I'll probably reorder this so it goes step-by-step from server creation to maintenance to expansion, etc., and move the maps way far down the page since this topic isn't really supposed to be about maps, that's just as far as my spring cleaning went today.

[friagram]

None of this is helpful or contributes to the community.
If everyone just posted a hey this is what I am doin thread, these forums would be useless.
Generally people ask specific questions or make specific guides.

[dildoughy]

Weird comment, given that my first post is a list of uploads I'm preparing, resources, and a general log. Not sure what your comment is offering, tbh.

Ignoring the comment above me, day one was super exhausting. Lot more I didn't know than I thought. Decided to go with ultra-cheapest unmanaged plan for a month just to see if I was up to the task, which only offers Ubuntu, and what little I know is on a Windows server.

It's 2:58 a.m. and I'm finally finishing my second install - one for TF2, one for CS:GO, at the moment they're sharing a one core machine but will have low usage and low numbers compared to the fully managed servers I have.

Updating topic above me with some zipped map packs and other things. I checked thoroughly for any authorship claims/requests not to repackage, I left out a few bundles from tf2maps, etc., but please let me know and I'll remove immediately. I mostly have these zipped for my personal backup.

seDirector use is on hold (I'm eventually planning on moving to a more powerful Windows-running machine when my other subscriptions expire) but I'm going to be testing out this: https://github.com/lenosisnickerboa/csgosl/releases and reporting back tomorrow.

Edit: oh, the server config I'm working on for CS:GO at least is multi mode so you guys will get to see me learning/asking about cron jobs too, lmao

[dildoughy]

Part 1: Beginning stages (skip to each tl;dr for summary)

• Transitioning services
• Learning basic command line abilities
• Writing up small .bats etc. (on my local Windows machine)
• Testing out a LOT of mini-apps meant to tie into sourcecmd, srcds, etc.

(not much sleep)

Since 2 days ago:

tl;dr A lot of content for a few people
And providing as much obscure, worthwhile resources as possible, both in- and out-game)

• Ultimate MC is amazing for tiering content, since I'm focusing on: full Comp.tf roster, full Jump.tf roster (tiered), full kztimer/kzclimb/xc official roster, full cksurf roster (tiered), obscure/cool offclass training modules, etc.
• I've been with NFO for about 8 months, a little less? I eventually want to run the barest-bones machines on some rackspace somewhere, plus turn my friend's dead tower into something, but transitioning to their unmanaged VDS/VPS/whatever seemed a good stepping stone. $7.99 with webspace (unlimited MySQL databases which is mainly what I'm interested in). However, I do NOT want to stay with them--I'm only there bc my other managed gameservers are active til next month or so and I want to make sure everything is adequately consolidated, backed up. There's an Australian CS:GO provider that has an amazing custom cpanel , one can dream.

tl;dr Some server management utilties I've tried
Some scripts, visual interfaces, bits of code, etc. that I've tried..

• General consensus is: csgosl (the vgui not the direct .sh) would be amazing and be the Unix rival to seDirector, and for free, if it wasn't incapable of detecting my goddamn CS:GO install every single time.
• Reliable but not as feature-rich is SteamCMD graphical interface, looks slick as heck too
• Remote desktop/tight VNC absolute no-go, seems resource-intensive and a pain to use
• WinSCP is excellent for SSH/SFTP/SCP whatever drap-and-drop file transfer. I launch PuTTY straight out of there and don't bother using PuTTY's own file transfer module.
• Learning how to use Screen within Ubuntu to keep processes running even if I happen to close the terminal. Learning cron is next.

• Keeping up w/ FastDL, etc.
• Also figuring out best file sync methods. Any ideas? Right now I keep synced/mirrored directories locally for my webfastdl and my gameserver and do my own conversion using the .bz2.bat I posted up there but beyond that I'm stumped, feel there must be a way easier method of bidirectional synchronization without risk of accidental data loss.

The Ubuntu build I'm working with is:

Linux 16.04 LTS x64 only Single core without extra options
One full, dedicated HT CPU core (Nehalem or better)
1024 MB of RAM
100 GB of RAID-protected storage
4000 GB of bandwidth transfer
Restricted to Linux installs
No SSD or extra-memory options

Next post: statistics, web interfaces, ethics behind donor perks

[dildoughy]

Part 2: Statistics systems that reward different strengths
I'm really interested in stats systems that reward for different reasons. The VIP aspect doesn't appeal to me, I do the bare minimum of solitation but I'd rather not give people perks just because of money. Fair gameplay, etc. Sorry, I got tired of linking so I'll come back do that later.

• TF2Skill/Trueskill : Microsoft-developed system of ranking based on skill, not frags -- might be Elo based?
• Skills rank : sounded perfect for my jump server but it seems to have diappeared?
• TF2Stats : not TOO appealing to me for some reasons, but attractive, easy to use, etc.
• ckSurf and kzTimer (I believe they're forks), plus Timer and a coupla other things that reward challenge or obstacle-based maps. I find something silly like Friendly Mode to work great on these kinds of maps where inevitably someone is TKing or whatever. I've yet to try Neutral Team Mode for surf/hop kinda maps so I'll report back when I do.
• "VIP" systems I've tweaked to take the commercialized aspect out, I turned Stamm into a time- and round- won based reward system: this rewards not kills, but strategic team wins. Of course you'll get idlers; I'll just delete them. Easy-to-use webpage packages your custom stats.

Content management for servers:

• Looking for some kind of hybrid between Webadmin (no longer up to my standards), SMSS (would be perfect for plugin management but seems to be missing a crucial step somewhere where I get hung up at the last step, might just be me), Sourcebans, etc.
• Question: curious about running multiple instances on forked server setups, would help address the above. Don't worry, you don't have to answer, I'll look it up.

For me, these things somehow work better than any fancy outputs, etc.

• The command dumper plugin is incredible. It's ugly, but it's incredible. Just outputs plaintext that I can then turn into player-friendly info pages like thisw/ Google Docs, export as .pdf or .html, the end: Playpoints menu on my site/unfinished/scrapped Master global list of cvars and sm_ commands.
• I mentioned the .bz2 compression batch file in post one, create for processing directory by directory--literally use it everyday and beats any websync my GSP provides.

Finally, just sound misc. (open license) sound bites, use them with saysounds, admin sounds, umc vote triggers, whatever. Freesounds is a good place. Also, this is probably licensed so tell me to take it down if you want, but all Overwatch voice lines broken down (I put em back into an easy pack for you, from Blizzheart), all TF2 sound bites unpacked (one) (two), fwiw I own both games.
Creative Commons: a bunch of 8-bit noises.

OK, til tomorrow. My to-do tonight is migrate the web frontends for store, tweak some stuff from TF2 to CS:GO, and hopefully get SMSS working lol LP

[dildoughy]

Originally Posted by friagram None of this is helpful or contributes to the community. If everyone just posted a hey this is what I am doin thread, these forums would be useless. Generally people ask specific questions or make specific guides.

So is your day going a little better today?

[Neuro Toxin]

You should make a blog or dairy.

[lay295]

On the note of you switching from NFO, if you find another provider that can match their performance on their unmanged $8/m VDS i'd love to hear it I honestly couldn't find anything better than that. Well I could, but with no ddos protection, and stuff like this happens. So the part of running a server on a spare tower from your home will work great, until you get DDoS'd then it goes downhill from there. You could set up a GRE tunnel but at that point the latency might not be worth it.

You're probably used to the horribly priced managed plans, but if you can migrate to unmanged VDS's your wallet will thank you and it'll be a lot easier to be a self sustained community. I have 23 single core VDS's and it becomes kinda a pain to manage, but I plan to order more in the future.

http://i.imgur.com/51mKNbB.png

[dildoughy]

Damn, 23 cores?!

Honestly, you're right, I really have had flawless customer service and now that I've switched to a more independent structure, the price seems pretty dang cheap. I just get worried about sounding too commercial on any forum.

I def wouldn't say I'm unhappy with them but I'm holding out for hope that there's cheap rack space out there that isn't even affiliated with the gaming community (a reason to "mark up" products a little imo). But I was looking at server rentals for non-gaming purposes and the market is mostly saturated with super high volume business traffic, like $450+ month. I will stick with NFO for now.