I KNOW I can't. People here say "if you need help, just read the mailing list, look at the forums". I say I have, and there's some basic stuff that is simply impossible, by design or by flaw. People defending Valve's lack of documentation and support do nothing but stick their fingers in their ears and repeat "if you need help, just read the mailing list, look at the forums".
I point out obvious flaws or omissions or behavioral oddities, and people ignore them. Some people will respond and say "the lobby controls that" or "you can't". If Valve's answer is "you can't" (without a good reason) for some basic functions, my server is going down, and I will never buy another Valve game. If Valve continues to ignore server operators, my server is going down, and I will never buy another Valve game. Valve basically has free labor, hosting, and marketing for their games. They are dependent on us, NOT the other way around. And yes, I will continue to bitch and whine and moan about it. > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: hlds@list.valvesoftware.com > Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:26:15 -0500 > Subject: Re: [hlds] How about some server instructions and server.cfg files? > > >I want USERS to be able to change between coop and versus maps. > You can't. > > >If this is not possible, I want to restrict my server to coop only. > You can't. > > On Tue, 2008-11-25 at 14:21 -0800, Blood Letter wrote: > > You can't "drive the cycle of maps on the server based on the lobby system" > > - you have no control over that. > > I want my server to be public at all times, so I won't be using using > > sv_search_key. > > > > I know how to change the map via rcon, I want USERS to be able to change > > between coop and versus maps. > > If this is not possible, I want to restrict my server to coop only. > > > > The lobby system should dictate the game mode, sure. But if I don't want > > hat game mode running on my server, I should be able to turn it off (and > > the lobby system would then not pick my server when looking for a server). > > What frequently happens is people make a versus lobby and join the server, > > then after a while the server empties out, and is still in versus mode. No > > new lobbies join the server, and people are less likely to manually join > > because it's at 0/8 instead of 0/4, or because they don't like versus. > > If I, or my friends, were to join the server and they try to change it to a > > coop map via the gui, we would find that it's IMPOSSIBLE via the gui. We > > would then have to rcon and force a map. We could set up a coop lobby and > > hope we get matched to that server, but the odds of that are very very low. > > We could use sv_search_key, but that again involves rcon, so I might as > > well just manually change the map. This doesn't work so well if I'm not > > around and my friends want to play on my server. They don't have my > > password, and I'm not giving it to them (well, one of them does...). > > > > Of course I can do whatever I want with rcon. The point is I want the > > server to do a few simple things automatically. I'm not even asking for > > something difficult. I just want the server to obey the maplist file. > > Anything involving rcon is NOT a solution. I don't know about you, but I > > have a full time programming job, and I do not have time to babysit a > > server, injecting commands into it. Nor do I want to fiddle around with > > commands while I'm actually playing. I want the server to be a dedicated > > coop server, open to the public. Or, a server open to the public, with a > > gui option for ANY user to vote for ANY map (including switching between > > versus and coop maps). > > > > You can't find a solution, can you? There is none. > > > > > Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:04:13 -0500 > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > To: hlds@list.valvesoftware.com > > > Subject: Re: [hlds] How about some server instructions and server.cfg > > > files? > > > > > > Inline responses. > > > > > > > What about maplists and map cycles? Or mission cycles? > > > > > > Typically you should drive the cycle of maps on the server based on the > > > lobby system and restrict your dedicated server search using sv_search_key > > > cvar. This is good if you want to create a public lobby but use your > > > dedicated server. If you're finished playing and want to let others find > > > your dedicated server you can disable it by clearing the sv_search_key > > > cvar > > > via rcon (e.g. rcon sv_search_key ""). > > > > > > > What about switching between versus and coop maps? > > > > Why is my server currently on a versus map, when I only have coop maps > > > > in the maplist, and it starts on the hospital coop mission (via command > > > > line)? > > > > > > Again it should be controlled by the lobby system, but if you joined and > > > want to switch maps as an admin use the changelevel command. > > > > > > For a versus map: > > > > > > rcon changelevel l4d_vs_farm01_hilltop > > > > > > For a coop map: > > > > > > rcon changelevel l4d_hospital01_apartment > > > > > > Notice the coop maps don't have _vs_ in the name. If you're interested in > > > the complete list of maps start typing the changelevel command to let the > > > console autocomplete with the available maps. Once you've found the > > > desired > > > map, prepend the command with rcon and you're good to go. > > > > > > > There is no way for users to vote for a different map type in the gui. > > > > There should be. (Then there should be an option for server admins to > > > > restrict their servers to a specific type or not.) > > > > > > Wrrrry?? Lobby system should dictate the gamemode. > > > > > > > What about controlling team balance between survivors and zombies in a > > > > versus map? Too many times I've seen it be 4 survivors vs 2 infected. > > > > What about controlling the behavior of the director, the hitbox values, > > > > the max number of infected spawned at any given time, etc.? > > > > > > I've seen a good strategy for evening team skill. Change the difficulty > > > when the stronger team is playing as survivors. This can be done using > > > the > > > z_difficulty cvar. There are other z_* commands that affect the zombies, > > > but I haven't used them. > > > > > > > My server is up and running fine, except for it randomly switching to > > > > versus maps when I want coop only. > > > > > > So you're fatal flaw here is that you're doing it wrong. Valve wants > > > everyone to use the lobby system. I know that the steam group server > > > concept doesn't reflect that, but if you're looking to kick start your > > > server try creating a public lobby and using the sv_search_key cvar. If > > > that's not the approach use the changelevel command when you're connected > > > to > > > the server. > > > _______________________________________________ > > > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > > > please visit: > > > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Windows Live Hotmail now works up to 70% faster. > > http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_faster_112008 > > _______________________________________________ > > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > > please visit: > > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds > > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please > visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live Hotmail now works up to 70% faster. http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_faster_112008 _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds
