Internet Gaming

[dgardner]

Its been such a long time since I have had a mutliplayer game!! I was reading though a couple of threads and was wondering. Last time I played multiplayer games me and my mates all went round to one house hooked up our puters and played for a day. So now I have free net connection on 56K modem? Is it up tointernet gaming or is it tooo slow??? Info plz, also if I am gonna be able to game what software do I need apart from games? And what are the costs??

I am sure many people will be able to answer this.

~Dave~

[neo_otyugh]

it is possible to play on free dialup, but you may suffer a poor ping. this doesn't mean you can'tplay, but it does mean guys like me have a big advantage over you. i ping anywahere from 30-70 ms on the servers i play on, but do have people that ping into the 300-500 range who are very very good and can play well with those terrible pings. the best thing to do is get out there and play and see how it is. if you want the greatest selection of game servers to play on get half life and download the counter strike mod....there is usually at least 2000 servers up at anyone time...

[Warthog]

Just go sign up at the Internet Gaming Zone - www.zone.com (http://www.zone.com) - and make sure you have one of the games they support. That's the easiest way to do it. No money involved.

I play Rogue Spear on a 56k (not free). I have almost never been kicked out for lagging. Not to bragg, but I am much above average in that game and usually kick some serious buttocks http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif even though I am on 56k.

It also has to do with your system. The system I used to play on (just sold it) was 400mhz, 192mb RAM, 4mb onboard. It loaded RS in about 6 seconds. Even if you have a fast cable/DSL connection, if your system is a 233mhz, you're gonna get booted for slowing down the game when it's loading. I and others hate slow loaders.

Warthog

[neo_otyugh]

it all depends on what games you play. In Counter Strike I have never seen anyone kicked for being too slow to load, or having too low a ping. I have a big advantage with a cable connection and a fast system (cel566@850, tnt2ultra, 192 megs of ram), so my ping and fast system can save me many times when a guy on a slower system would die. in my clan there is a guy that plays on a 26,400 connection on a k6-2 300 and he does serious damage wherever he goes...but he has been playing the game longer than most of us in the clan have known about it.
btw all the gaming i do online is free on public servers. With Counter Strike there are over 2000 public servers to choose from at any one time...

[dgardner]

Thanks for the advice people, my experience of games like counter strick is that other people always seem to be 500 times quicker than me when it comes to building up forces. But if I have the time I usually kick some rear end!! Think its something to do with my stratiges!!

Anyway was looking at playing games like quake 2, 3. UT and half life! And if people still play it Quake 1 Team fortress I loved that game!!!

~Dave~

[Entragian ][]

I think your going to get irritated quickly when playing games like Q2, Q3, HL, UT using a 56k connection.
By the time you see someone, theres a good chance you will be a corpse looking up at your killer.
With cable/DSL pings going at 30 and your 56k going at 350 (being generous) you are a sitting duck. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/frown.gif
If you can kill people who have a 30 ping and you are at 350+, well thats just pitiful! hehe

Entragian ][

[dgardner]

Well I am going to brush up on my skills first, but I used to absolutly whip my friends butts when we played over a network and they were all playing on Pentium 233 and greater with 40fps + while I was on a p75 with 12 fps+. Now I don't know how that compares with ping times, and I am aware the skill levels of players out there is gonna be higher, but I'll give it a go. If not then maybe strategy!
Also arnt there servers where people with **** connections like me meet up for a game or two???
And I take it when I am ready to get a sore a*se (due to large amounts of whipping) I take it, it would be better to connect to english servers as supposed to american ones. As I am based in the uk!!

~Dave~

[neo_otyugh]

350 is way too high for a 56k ping. on 56k i ping at 120-210 depending on the server. a guy in my clan in colorado pings in the 280 range on 26.4 connections to a houston gameserver. i have seen pings of 180 on a 33.6 connection that is about 400 miles from the server. what you want to do is traceroute to the server and see which ones have the fewest hops.
and for counter strike...i think we are thinking about different games... i am referring to the Half Life mod that is the most played online game...check out www.counter-strike.net (http://www.counter-strike.net) for more info...

[voogru]

when i Used to play counter-strike i had a ping about 300-500. i never got kicked out
But i really stunk and my half-life quit working.

I was in a 56k(not free http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/frown.gif )

[ReRun]

I play CS on a 56K and my ping norm is 140 to 180 range. If I get in a game with nothing but lpb's I usually get stomped on pretty bad but if it's a decent mix of lpb and hpb, I usually end up mid to upper area of the scorebord on frag count. And I've seen guys with 250 pings have some really good scores. Of course you'll see some that can't stand to loose and resort to using cheats like see through, white patch, and proxy cheats. They're the ones that depend on surfing ability vs skill in the game. What a bunch of loosers they are.

[Sharpy]

After typing in a huge well worded reply explaining all about the good and bad points of online gaming i hit the **** clear fields button and lost it all.

Here's a quick version :

I'm in the UK. (Newcastle)
I play CS, UT, Rogue Spear/UO.
I highly recommend it but don't get put off by people who seem to forget that they where newbies once aswell.
If you want any help/advice or just a practice game then send me an email.

Cya online.

[GhostAgent]

Sometimes when you have a high ping people will tend to not like you. I know this because I once had a very slow connection, but i have cable now. Get it if you can afford it, mine is $30 per month (Regular costed my $27 if you count the phone line). A high ping can sometimes effect your game in a bad way (especialy if you try to snipe), but sometimes it can be an advantages. Either way, fast or slow... internet gaming is extremely fun. I usually dont play single player anymore because I get a kind of lonely feeling... hehe.

[neo_otyugh]

http://users.ev1.net/~neo_otyugh/NCG_Match/cs_militia0003.jpg http://users.ev1.net/~neo_otyugh/NCG_Match/HTMFvNCGdust1.jpg http://users.ev1.net/~neo_otyugh/NCG_Match/HTMFvNCGdust2.jpg http://users.ev1.net/~neo_otyugh/NCG_Match/HTMFvNCGlivrm.jpg
as you can see ping can't overwhelm skill. i am lil_bunny_fufu and as you can see i ping considerably better than spawn. he plays on a 33.6 or less connection in corpus while i am in houston on cable adn the server is on oc3 houston...

[HowardH]

Oh Well! I can say 56K SUCKS, my average ping was +400 but after I change to a new modem it's 200~300!!! your reason for high ping maybe your modem or you have to update your driver!
I play Half-Life but not CounterStrike

SnipeR[DA]

[neo_otyugh]

the modem and ISP play a big role in your connection. Gamespy has a good selection of gaming ISPs and there are variousping guides and tutorials online.