Setting Up a TF2 Server: The Basics

This is part one of a series of tutorials I plan to make involving creating a dedicated Team Fortress 2 server. I plan on using an obsoleted machine to run this myself and hopefully by the end I will have a fun and creative server.

The following tutorial will help you set up a strict vanilla server. That is to say, this is what setting up a bare bones basic server is like.

Installation

1) Download Steam's HLDSTOOLUPDATE tool from the Steam page here.

Install the program to wherever is most desirable.  Personally, I feel that just sticking to the root C drive is easiest since it is easy to find and shortens the length of the commands you need to run.  

2) Now you need to obtain all the files for the dedicated TF2 server.  To do this, you need to create a .bat file containing one short line.  Let's assume you installed HLDSTOOLUPDATE to c:\tf2server, the line would look like:

c:\tf2server\hldsupdatetool -command update -game tf -dir c:\tf2server

If you put the updater somewhere else then just change the two path names.

Now just run the .bat file and wait.  It will start downloading the 1.8 Gb file so sit back since it will take awhile.  

If the update tool fails just run it again and again until it seems there is nothing left to download.  This may seem frustrating but it is the easiest way to make sure you get everything. 

Set Up

Now you need to configure all of the files for use.  To do, download this very small server.cfg file I put together.  It only contains the basics for running a server.  If you want to edit it or just check it out you can easily boot it up in notepad or as I always prefer, notepad++ and check everything out.  Most of the settings have a short description with them.

There are a more complete list of server commands here in case you want to add anything, but it may require a little digging because there are a lot of them.

Execution

To start your server you just need to know how many players you want and what map you want to use.  Keep in mind that in vanilla TF2 the max players possible is 24.  

Now just run the command: 

c:\tf2server\orangebox\srcds.exe -console -game tf -hostport 27015 +maxplayers 24 +map cp_dustbowl

Go ahead and change the bold parts to suit your preference.  Just make sure that you only use official maps for now as those are the only ones you will have.  Also remember to change the file location if you used a different path.

Blogspots Updated Editor is Great

After finding out about Blogspot's updated editor I had to delete one of my old posts ranting about how terrible the WYSIWYG editor.  The greatest thing about the new editor is that you can actually stretch the whitespace being used to compose, a feature once reserved oddly enough for just the HTML editor.

Now they just need to start using color tags and I might have to stop writing all my posts in Notepad ++.

You can find the updated editor in settings towards the bottom of the Basic tab.  The feature is so useful I cannot see how it is not set as the default.  Even putting in pictures becomes much easier.  And even better, changing picture sizes actually changes what size they are.  A novel concept I know.  Of course you still cannot resize objects to an exact pixel width and height, or change the borders or padding.

My favorite part of it though, and the part most useful to me, is that the Preview button gives a real preview.  Before I had problems with images being too big and not realizing it until after I had posted it.  That meant that after I thought I had finished a post, I would have to go back and resize all the images.

Time to resize some images.

Hopefully Blogspot continues to make useful improvements for the future.  It is nice to have free bandwidth, so hopefully the restrictions become less of a bother. 

Self Righteous E-Peen post

What things matter most to nerds?

Games:

http://www.steamcalculator.com/id/iam413x

Music:

Am I missing anything?

Still One of My Favorite Videos

This is still one of my favorite vids.



For those of you that don't get it, the video is parodying this speed test video done by Google.

Fun with Images in Blogspot

Blogspot has the ability to insert images through a GUI rather than just putting in a simple line of HTML. The only redeeming feature of this is how hysterically bad it is. Let's check it out.

Images can be imported in three different sizes. These are as follows.

Small

Medium

Large

Blogspot also has the nifty feature of always putting the image at the top and making it unreasonably hard to drag down to the bottom of the post give then default tiny little frame for actually writing blogposts. I consider myself a fairly competent human being, and it actually took me multiple tries to drag the three images above to where I wanted them to be.

Why are you so tiny?

Just to add insult to injury its super easy to stretch in the HTML editor.

Blogspot: top tier trolls.

Now of course you could just forget about blogspot and write everything in notepad anyway or as I prefer, notepad ++. Embedding an image in HTML is super easy and simply entails writing the single line. W3 schools already have excellent tutorials on how to embed images so I recommend visiting them.

How to Mic Spam in Video Games with HLSS

Mic spamming is so even a kid could do it. HLSS, despite being highly popular is not often talked about due to the first few rules of HLSS:

1. Do not talk about HLSS

2. Do NOT talk about HLSS

3. User friendly is for chumps

I might do an hldj tutorial later but for now lets focus on HLSS.

There are already great tutorials on how to download and install it on the HLSS website and since you need to do different things for every game, I wont bother going into too much detail. Just be sure to check the tutorials for whichever games you intend on using here.

Now the problem becomes finding the sounds to use. A lot of good spam can be found on Youtube. To rip the audio just use this simple audio ripper.

Other than that there is not much to it. Be sure not to use sound buttons that might conflict with FRAPS or any other program you want to be running. Also keep in mind that the num pad buttons are viewed as different buttons and make for good keys to bind,

Setting Up Virtual Audio Cable Tutorial

There are some cases where you would want the audio coming out of your computer to be mirrored through your microphone. This is useful for streaming audio on sites such as Justin.tv or for trolling people in online games by letting them listen along with the full discography of Captain Beefheart. A lot of people also use it to record Skype calls so that they can record both themselves and the people they are talking to.

One of the best services for this is Virtual Audio Cable. I found the tutorial on their site to be quite lacking. Getting the basics to work is quite simple though.

After installing the program you want to open its control panel which you can simply find in the program files directory.

If your control panel doesn't look like this, you've done something horribly wrong.

In the control panel, you are going to need to set up at least two Cables in the top left. You can set up more but to get the basics done you only need two. Most of the other fields you can leave defaulted as they are not that important.

Next you need to adjust your audio outputs and inputs. Right click on the speaker button in the bottom right of your computer and bring up playback devices. Set up the default playback as Line 1. Next go to recording and set the default microphone line as Line 2. For the time being you will be unable to hear audio or record from your mic.

Now you will need to boot three instances of the Audio Repeater. You want Line 2 going into Line 1 to allow audio to go through your mic. You will also want Line 1 going into your speakers or headphones. You also need to have your mic going into Line 2 so that both your voice and the computer sound will go through Line 2.

What everything should look like.

You will of course need to hit start on everything to get things going. Go ahead and play around with some of the other values. In particular try playing with the priority. Depending on what you are running, and the quality of your computer you may be able to run on better priority and better audio.

Loading Unsigned Drivers in Windows 7

Windows 7, as well as Vista, restrict your ability to install unsigned drivers. After spending so many years on XP and loving its freedom, transitioning to Win7 was quite a bother.

If I want to install shady software and probably get infected with large amounts of Trojans then I better be able to. Having security in place to prevent the ignorant from accidentally installing malware is nice, but at some point there needs to be a work around for people who want it and know what they are doing.

Guys this looks legit.

Well thankfully Win7 did put in a work around, although its a little bit of a bother to use. Just hit F8 a couple times until eventually you get to the advance boot options that look like this:

Now if that seems like a bit of a bother to you, well that's because it is. The best option is to use a program like the Driver Signature Enforcement Override found here.

To use the program, just boot it up with "Enable Test Mode" checked and hit next. Open the window back up and click "Sign a System File" and find the exact path to the unsigned system file.

The benefit to this is that it removes false positives and gives you a bit more freedom. Just be careful what you put on your computer.