LAN Gaming

I am an avid LAN gamer, and as a result have started a small organization in my area. Our games are too large to be hosted of the box someone is playing on, and therefore we are using a PII 450 system as a dedicated server. My question is what OS would you put on your game server and why?

I recently tested MS server 2003(which is still installed on the server), I found I liked a bunch of the networking specific features build into an actual server platform to be something quite desireable(I have been using regular windows builds in the past). However, MS server 2003 disables DirectX so I am facing that I either have to put on another platform, or figure out how to get DirectX to run. Does anyone have any recommendations of DirectX emulators that they have liked?

If your just wanting a game server then your best bet would be to go with a Microsoft OS, I'd recommend 2000, or XP. Most games are going to be compatible and maybe a little steadier with a Microsoft box if its on 2000 or later build.

As for a Direct X emulator I can't help you out there.

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My question is what OS would you put on your game server and why?

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ideally you want the server to be as fast as possible so you should put on an OS that uses the least systems resources and offers maximum compatibility for a variety of games. the bells and whistles that come with server 2003 you probably wouldn't use, or need. you only need a network connection and the games server. on this i would recommend using windows 98, or even 95 - uninstall, delete, close or otherwise prevent the loading into memory of any unneeded applications to free up as much resources as possible then run the game.

surely there be someway of ``reenable'' directx?

you should also look into overclocking, cooling and ram.

Why do you need directx. For most network games you should beable to find a server program that is basicly a text base system. You don't need all the graphics and what not t ohost a game you are jsut passing data packets back and forth, this is why many people run linux boxes to host games, with a game server program.

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Q: Why doesn't DirectX acceleration work in Windows Server 2003?
A: There are two correct answers for this question:

Official Answer: This is by design. Graphics Acceleration is disabled by default, which disables DirectX functionality. This is to enhance server stability and is not needed in standard server scenarios. Re-enabling such functionality is not a valid server testing scenario.

Unofficial Answer: To enable Direct X, you must first enable graphics acceleration. To do this, right click on the desktop and go to Properties, Settings, Advanced, Troubleshooting, and set the Hardware acceleration bar to Full.

To activate Direct3D and DirectDraw (DirectX), go to Start/Run and type "dxdiag". Click OK. Click on the Display tab, then click on the Enable button for DirectDraw and Direct3d.

Submitted by Larry Samuels (based on a question from the official FAQ)

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Taken from here

for a lowen end system such as this, 98SE or winME would be a good start, 95 would be ok but most of the newer games and newest directx and that kinda stuff dont support it, not that you really need much graphics coz dedicated servers only use command line stuff

i havnt had any experience at all with winME, so i cant really say what is the better choice of the 2 systems, but i do hear some people swear by it but some people have endless trouble with it, as a general rule if you have more than or about 128 meg RAM in this system, ME is probly the better choice, if its anything less than 128 meg go for 98SE

then again you could always forget all this if you have heaps of time and patience and put linux on it and run your apps under wine or winex, but again the problem is a lot of the really new games wont run on wine...

I think I will start by trying to get the DirectX to be enabled. Server 2003 is already installed, so it would be a lot easier just to have that working. The machine is running 256 Mb of RAM.

most multiplayer games have dedicated server programs that don't need DirectX . .

even better some don't even need windows.. I'd go for a nice linux server !!

what game are you thinking of serveing ??

It changes all the time, depending on who's attending, how late at night it is, and how much caffine we have consumed ;)