Thanks, I didn't know about sv_search_max_ping Very nice to know. However I LOVE the lobby system and I probable wouldn't like the game if it wasn't there. It's great way to meet up with people and arrange the teams before hand. Also since I hate starting in the middle of the game, the lobby system is great at handling that. The only thing I would suggest is that the lobby system looks for servers in a certain order, instead of first available. 1) Servers in your favorites 2) Servers in your Steam Groups 3) Servers that other people in the lobby mark as favorites. 3) Servers in your Region 4) Servers worldwide.
I acknowledge that doing this would cause it to take longer in Searching for Dedicated server, but I think it would be worth it. To speed up this process, Once a lobby is created it should start looking for servers and compile a list of like 30 servers that is maintain (as people start using a server in the 30 it drops that from the list and generates another). When you start the game it should then pick from the first group (aka servers in your favorites) based on lowest latency. Then go up from the list. As another note I think a good ingame option is to add current server to favorites. This way Servers can actually make use of the rank system, as the more people that add that server to a favorite the more likely it will be more often used which means the rank goes up. And as players build up favorite servers people will start to get a higher chance at getting a good low latency server. To balance that I think it should look for lobbys going from 1) Regions based on first Lobby Leaders location (In this way all resulting people joining will also be in the same area, and is simpler than an average of all players location.) 2) Steam group members in Lobbies I also know that being to picky will cause it to take awhile for a lobby to fill, but I think its more annoying when you end up in a Japanese server with everyone with red bars. I see reason why attaching a lobby to a server makes sense, but I also see why Valve didn't do such. I personally don't want it that way as it can tie up servers for no real good reason. Also it seems exploitable as someone can perhaps tie up a server that they have a grudge against (throwing out possibilities here, doubt someone would). I usually agree with a time to meet with my friends to play L4D. After that I just open up a lobby a couple of mins before and with windows w/o borders I get the full screen experience with the easy of running multiple programs and the ability to alt-tab. Then I let the lobby fill with friends over time. If lobbys were attached to servers then I would be wasting one server while I wait around for friends to join. If that is handled with sv_search_max_ping and sv_search_key I'll have nothing to complain about. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jonah Hirsch Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 10:35 AM To: Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list Subject: Re: [hlds] A Suggested Solution to the Lobby System Well first of all, there is a command for specifying the max ping to a server you will accept when you are the lobby leader: "sv_search_max_ping" = "250" - Maximum acceptable ping when lobby leader searches for dedicated servers. But yes, it'd be nice if something made sure ALL players had an acceptable latency instead of just the lobby leader. Stephan Botha wrote: > So I emailed Valve about this and thought I'd let you guys know of my > "solution" to the Lobby System. > > Firstly, I agree that the lobby system is a good addition but I don't agree > that it is needed. > Anyway, here is what I propose: > > Members of Steam Groups are currently able to see servers from the groups > they are members of. Now, the problem with the Lobby system is that it puts > you in a server regardless of your latency to the server. I suggest that > players who want to create a server, can open the Steam Group Server List, > click on a server that's empty and then click on Create Lobby. The Lobby > System then assigns this server and locks it to the current Lobby created by > the player. From here on, you select the difficulty and campaign to play, > wait for players to join and then when you click START GAME, the Lobby sends > the server some info to change the settings of the server to that specified > in the Lobby BEFORE the players actually connect to the server. Once the > settings have been confirmed, players connect to the server and enjoy their > game. > > With this system, players will need to specify what is an acceptable latency > they want to be able to play with. If this range meets the latency of the > server created by the lobby, they can connect, else, the system will keep > searching until a server has been found within the latency range specified . > > Now, the reason I think the Lobby system is NOT necessary: > I was told that the Lobby system was implemented because with the old server > browser people would join a server where the game is halfway through. Or > they'd leave in the middle of the campaign. Well, people do that anyway. > People come and go as we play the campaigns with no real affect on the game. > And besides, what is the Steam Group Server List other if it's not a Server > Browser? The only difference that I can see is that the Steam Groups Server > List is a server browser that only shows servers of the Steam Groups you > belong to. > > Please share your thoughts. > > Stephan Botha > L4DMods.com > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds
