Once you’ve decided what games you want to run during your tournament, it’s simply a matter of launching each game in multiplayer mode. There are two ways this can be done: you could either designate one of the players in the network to host a server and have the rest of the players join in, or you could designate a machine on the network to run as a dedicated server with everyone else joining into that server.

The first method is straightforward-simply launch a new game from the ‘multiplayer’ menu and set the details such as the map name, number of players, time and frag limit, etc. This process is fairly straightforward and is similar even between games of different genres. However, if a game is run in dedicated mode, it means that no other player will be able to use that machine, but the upside is that a dedicated server performs much better than having one of the active machines as the host of the game.

This is because a dedicated server uses all of that computer’s resources in hosting the game and results in a smoother networking gaming experience. It makes a lot of sense to run a dedicated server in large LAN parties where a dedicated server will be capable of handling the intensity of heavy network gaming.

With most games, running a dedicated game server is simply a matter of choosing that option from a drop down list box. However, a smarter way is to launch the dedicated game server from the Windows XP command line itself. This launches the game in a special stripped down mode that conservers the machine’s resources and uses it to handle the network gaming without wasting precious processing power on rendering frames, etc. Next up, you should create a shared folder on your computer that contains all the must¬have, must-install patches and drivers.

This is very useful, for participants may not have the latest graphics card drivers or game patches that are needed for joining the network games. Obviously, un-share this folder before joining a game or you could suffer significant performance losses if someone decides to install Service Pack 2 from your machine in the midst of your killing spree in Unreal Tournament!

There are a few other points to bear in mind if your event is hosted in a community hall. For one, make sure you indicate clearly where the toilets are-this can’t be stressed enough! You don’t want all and sundry to ask you repeatedly to show them the way, as this can really break concentration while you’re in a railing spree! Next, make sure that you warn participants to go easy on their verbal taunts and victory yells. If left to themselves, it is not uncommon for gamers to let loose a string of expletives during the heat of an intense fragfest! One wouldn’t want to hurt other people’s sentiments.

Finally, for the duration of the event, put on some funky music-it really gets the adrenalin flowing and creates a more exciting environment. Now fire up those servers and play on!