HoundDawg needs to sort out the public liability issues in UA first, so that overseas developers don't suffer the issues like I have.
He also needs to ensure that the UA site is fixed, the number of broken links is terrible, and especially the DNS mess starts to lead to a lack of faith in UA as a whole. Up until about 2 months ago, the primary hlstats link on google was broken, and instead of writing a 301 redirect, the server simply wasn't there. Not good for the rep. In general most servers need several key things: 1. Auto configuration of system parameters to get what is considered "core" performance. This should include netcode limiters and timer resolution checks / changers. This could easily be collected together in a POSIX binary that will run on all supported platforms and would be well worth it's weight in gold if it also supported several different cron systems (including ms task scheduler) to provide a one time solution to server launch-time management. This is less for the people of this list, and more for all of the others in the world. 2. Custom data handling scripts, particularly for skins/maps/sounds. Most servers end up with this stuff malconfigured, and there's a pile of stuff you have to go through by hand - this would be easy to script properly in just about any language. Once again POSIX binaries would do best though. This should manage all aspects, including web downloads and automagic creation of bzip'd data. There are some tools for this already, but they are not extensive. 3. Logging is a mess right now. Every stats package has it's own log extensions and each one has it's own way of collecting logs, with every one being incomplete. Currently all logging systems are decentralised, and this could also be considered for change. 4. Education of users, particularly with regard to netcode. It would be a good idea to build a server side mod which sorts this issue one time, it could be done. Saving that however it is necessary to have an updated, fully accurate and extensive explanation of netcode for both source and for hl1. The reason for the need for both is that most information pertaining to "Counter Strike" is not accurate accross both games and often leads to client confusion. Hell 15 minutes after I looked at the first page on the topic I gave up and decided to do my own research. Even the steam forums are largely incomplete and not entirely consistent on this topic. Other things such as real performance guides with tests and results would also prove useful. Add a bit of a scientific approach to game configuration rather than the emperical and highly inaccurate procedures currently used by most. 5. Cheats are something which one should not devote much more time to. It will not be long until PoC's are released for cheats that actually play the game (human style IO) as opposed to gamedata-based hacks. Any attempt to protect against current hacks will simply be a waste of time when this comes along. Further descriptions and justifications of this are available off-list, but I wouldn't dare release too much detail in a place like this. 6. Server management is one area that has not be battled with in the OS world yet, and it could be done so very well. This kind of system would be appropriate for a great many games too, and is not limited to this community. 7. Application architectures need to be improved accrosss the board. I'd rather not see scripts that take 30s to complete where they should ahve been using cached data with a cache filler thread running in the background and so on. Whilst I'm sure doing everyhting the slow way might make coding easy, world class applications do things much differently. Specifically there is a lot that can be done to improve hlstats and related packages. I've been trying to get on that team for some time, as noted above. Similarly there is alot of improvement that can be made to many of the tools out there. Much of the time spent supporting the tools could be easily reduced by simply making scripts which would do the work for the users. Many of these applications are so simple anyway that the configuration is way harder than it should be. Sitting in the hlstats channel for any time will prove this, as with psychostats and many other competitors/derivations like hlstatsx. What I would really like is a tool that gives me access to all of my configuration data on a live basis, from my desktop. I want it to interact with any and all mods/stats packages loaded. I want it to parse cvar lists on it's own, so that when a game update comes out, the applicaiton knows about the changes instantly. I want it to manage server uptime on it's own. I want it to verify configurations on it's own. I want it to validate user input at all times. I want it to be able to replicate a server by configuration at the click of a button. I want it to be able to remotely manage every apsect of my network. This is neither impossible nor unrealistic. On 10/10/05, Ronin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > HoundDawg over at UA want to pick your brains as admins to see what the > admins need. Here's his request: > > Several server admin groups have been meeting over the past few weeks > and are wondering what needs the server admin community need solutions > for. Times have changed since the days of HL, including the server > utilities and anti-cheat scene. > > What are some of your thoughts? What solutions are you using that > already meet your needs? Which ones do you think need improving and in > what ways? > > Feel free to respond to this thread, but CC my email address > ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) so that I can follow the thread without > waiting for the digest version or checking the archives. Thanks in > advance for your input, guys. > > > Ronin > Site Administrator : Counter-Server > http://server.counter-strike.net > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please > visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux > _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
