Quake 2 Coop Server -- maraakate.org -- 4 gamemodes, 100+ maps

[Maraakate]

Earlier this month I was looking for a decent coop server that wasn't a custom RPG-ish one and noticed Tastyspleen's coop servers leave little to be desired.  I took it upon myself to code my own server and after some extensive testing I think it's mostly ready for public consumption:

New features include:

* Ability to play Vanilla, Rogue Mission Pack, Xatrix Mission Pack and Zaero Mission Pack all from the same game session.
* Map, gamemode and skill level voting commands.
* Persistent inventory during respawn (i.e. you get to keep your goodies unless it's a gamemode switch or map change vote).
* Players drop a backpack when they leave the server.
* Shared key cards and other important inventory items.
* Checkpoints! Not all maps have them yet, but it is easy to add them.
* Spectator support.
* Any map message (i.e. "You need a red keycard to open this door") is broadcast to everybody as a hint where players are in the level.
* Unlocking doors, etc. also broadcast a message to everybody as a hint.
* Long uptime bugs in the original Quake 2 game DLL has been fixed.
* Based on time-tested, paranoia-checking, rock-solid stable Yamagi Q2 codebase.
* Respawn protection.
* Players start as SOLID_NOTs so they can pass through each other until the respawn protection expires. After that, if anyone is in the way they will gib. This is useful for bad custom maps that only have one player spawn, or the checkpoints if everyone happens to die at the same time.
* Death messages when enemies are killed.
* In game menu for easy spectator switching, voting, and viewing MOTD.
* 3 additional user community map sets, with more to come.
* AI bug fixes that were present in the original iD software code and likely have been inherited to other ports.
* Stability fixes that are pending review for addition to YamagiQ2.
* Pop-up vote menu for voting yes/no during map votes; which also dynamically updates.

To come after New Years:

* Default weapon sets for individual maps.  i.e. warping to a later level will give you a larger starting weapon set.
* Extra coop spawns for up to 8 players.
* Map voting menus sorted into categories for gamemodes/additional units.
* Over 100+ maps that need QA'd.


Point your favourite Q2 client to /connect maraakate.org and start fragging!



-- Hope to see some of you on there.  And hopefully to be linked in with WallFly.  Server is running in debug mode so any additional bugs should be caught and squashed.  Update this thread if you find one.

[Butane]

This is a great coop server. I've been playing there quite regularly. The  ability to vote for map changes, game modes, difficulty settings etc. are amazing.  One of the best features is the checkpoint spawns; really convenient on larger levels.

One of the most frustrating things on the current TS coop server is spawning with only a blaster mid-game in front of a bunch of Gladiators. This isn't an issue on this server since you can vote for a map change. And eventually with the upcoming default weapon sets, you won't need to vote for a map change.

Look forward to the addition of more user maps.

[macanah]

hi macanah here
are you going to release this mod for download?
would b good if u did.

bye from macanah

[Maraakate]

Do you mean the source code or the assets?  Because the server takes care of all the assets to download.  My server supports HTTP downloading so any client that's not YQ2 or 3.20/3.21/3.24 should be able to grab what they need.

[macanah]

could u make a zip file with all the files needed for the mod?
No not the source code

i was hoping to run a server with your coop mod

[Maraakate]

could u make a zip file with all the files needed for the mod?
No not the source code

i was hoping to run a server with your coop mod

I'm hosting a server already (with paid dedicated hosting) and it's still in constant development so I'm not sure why you need to host a mirror of it.  Unless you're in the EU or something and want to host a EU mirror.

With that said, in a couple of months once the additional features are complete and the stability has been proven you can do this.

In the meantime, source code is available at https://bitbucket.org/neozeed/q2dos.  Keep in mind the q_shared and g_local files have additions unique to Q2DOS.  Currently, Q2DOS doesn't support the R1Q2 protocol beyond HTTP downloading, but this may change in the future.  You would have to change all gi.dprintfs to remove the DEVELOPER_MSG_GAME, etc. flags that I use to filter out dev messages by category.

EDIT: And Q2DOS has a Windows port to cheat with debugging and I use it as my Windows client as well.  So, no, the ded server isn't actually running on DOS

[macanah]

in the future could you add r1q2 dedicated server support?

[Maraakate]

Maybe, but I would have to look at what specifically R1Q2 wants from a gamex86.dll.  Currently I don't know what is needed to "upgrade" a DLL to it.

[Maraakate]

Thanks to quadz and another player I was able to find and fix the cl_tent ERR_DROP from blue hyperblaster effects in Xatrix.  This didn't affect Q2 v3.24, YQ2 or Q2DOS clients.  But now Q2PRO and R1Q2 can play the xatrix mode with blue hyperblaster guards with no problems.

[Gouki]

I get "HTTP(maps/SGC9-2.bsp): 404 File Not Found" for some reason so I had to manually download it to connect.

[Maraakate]

I get "HTTP(maps/SGC9-2.bsp): 404 File Not Found" for some reason so I had to manually download it to connect.

Yeah HTTP server running linux so it was case sensitive map names.  Should be fixed now, thanks.

[Maraakate]

Zeppelin found a crash issue with the boss map in Zaero (zboss.bsp) and that has now been fixed as well.  Voting booth menu will always pop up if you do cmd inven or cmd menu if a vote is in progress.  You can also type /yes /agree or /no in console to cast your vote.  As well as "yes" "agree" or "no" as a chat message (in addition to "vote yes" and "vote no").  Hopefully the confusion on how to cast a vote is resolved.

1964b has a progress breaker that I will have to look into as well.  I believe sgc9-1.bsp has one as well.  Will check them over the weekend and update the thread about it.

[Roopo]

Just tried connecting with berserker@quake2 client, and I get connection refused, works just fine with r1q2.  Strange because I can use berserker to connect to another server I play on.  Too stubborn to step graphics back down =P

Maybe its because its not r1q2 dedicated, and Im thinking the other server I joined was. 

[Maraakate]

What is your setup?  I've never used berserk@quake2 before.  Is it just a mod or an engine?

Let me know what is needed to set it up and I will test it to see what is specifically failing.

[Roopo]

its an engine.  http://www.moddb.com/mods/berserkerquake2/downloads/berserkerquake2-145-full.  Its written by a Russian guy.  I do believe a +set compatibility 1 is needed in command line or +set net_compatibility 1 but do believe its the first one.  Not entirely sure what the problem, havent really tried multiple servers, I usually just only play Chamooze's giex server which is visible on q2servers.com