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Multiplayer gaming is the key to a given game's long-term success. Just look at Half-Life. Mods like Team Fortress Classic and Counter Strike have kept it alive for years since its initial release. What's more, multiplayer gaming can be infinitely more rewarding than single-player gaming. Beating human beings is so much more satisfying than defeating a cold machine.
Online gaming is one way to experience multiplayer madness, but your enjoyment depends on the convergence of a number of factors. You have to find a server with a low ping. (Ping is basically the time it takes data to go from your computer to the server and back; the lower the ping is, the better the game performs.) Furthermore, you're limited to someone else's desired game mode. If you want to play domination but you can only find capture the flag and deathmatch servers, you're out of luck unless you start your own server. Even then, you have to hope that enough gamers join your server to make the experience worthwhile. If latency rears its annoying head or an unsavory player who attacks his own teammates joins your server, it's up to you to try to keep everyone happy. When playing online, you communicate by typing, which leaves you vulnerable for the time it takes to bang out your message, or through voice-over-IP, which can sound like a bad phone connection muffled through a foam pillow.
Want to have some fun without throwing yourself at the mercy of the online world? Host a LAN party! With the right amount of preparation, it's possible to gather a gang of like-minded gamers into one location and experience rewarding, lag-free gaming. There's something special about hearing some poor sod in the same room shout in distress when you rail his gaming avatar in the head. It's so much nicer to communicate verbally through ordinary conversation than through tinny headsets. It's rare to find rude players who aim to spoil the experience for everyone, like some who populate online servers, at LAN parties—probably because if somebody is a bad sport, you can ask him to leave.
In this column, I explain how to connect Windows XP-based computers in a local area network (LAN) to host a multiplayer gaming party. I'll cover how to prepare for the party and how your guests configure their computers for your network.
Let's start at the top. How many players are you planning to invite? If you're only going to invite a few friends over, the logistics of your LAN party won't be as daunting as when throw an open invitation on the Web. Remember that each person will need a chair in which to sit, a table or desk upon which to set up his or her computer, and electrical outlets for their gear. They'll need enough room for the comfortable placement of a keyboard, a mouse pad, and a monitor. Remember, CRT monitors are pretty deep, so you might not have room at a kitchen table for players to sit directly across from each other.
If you're planning a mass-marketed LAN party, you'll probably need to rent a party room at a local hotel. You'll also need tables and chairs, extension cords, and outlet strips. Check with the hotel to see if they can provide these items or if you'll need to contact a local equipment rental company. If so, look in the yellow pages under "rental." Check with several hotels and rental companies to find the best prices for space and equipment rental.
Decide on a roster of games. If your LAN party will be small and intimate, check with each of the participants to see what titles they wish to play. For larger parties, plan to host the most popular multiplayer titles: games like Half-Life and its mods, Quake 3 Arena, Battlefield 1942, Call of Duty, Warcraft 3, and any other favorites.
Next, decide on the network infrastructure. For a wired network, you'll need enough hubs to accommodate each of your participants' computers. It would be easier to go wireless, in which case you'll only need one access point for each 20-25 LAN warriors. Although more networked PCs can technically talk to a single wireless access point, it's not really feasible to have one access point cover more than 25 nodes. Take into consideration the hardware that your participants already have installed in their systems. Some gamers won't want to spring for new equipment in order to participate in a LAN fest.
Will there be prizes? If your party is a fairly large affair, try contacting companies like ATI, Hercules, ASUS, Activision, Microsoft, and other PC equipment and game manufacturers to see if they'll sponsor your gig by offering gear to give away. For smaller parties, you might ask each contender to throw in ten or twenty dollars to purchase one or more prizes. Then decide how you'll award them. Will you host a ladder tournament? Will only certain game sessions count as prize bouts?
What about sleeping arrangements? It's not uncommon for LAN parties to stretch late into the night and even into the next morning. It's a good idea to plan LAN fests to fall on Friday or Saturday nights so your participants won't miss work the following day. If you're throwing a small party in your house, be sure there's room for everyone to crash if they want to. For large parties held in hotel party rooms, check with the hotel to see if you can get discounts for gamers who want to stay overnight. Massive fests, like Gamer's Depot GDFest, might attract players from out of town.
When you've made all of your preparatory decisions, be sure to inform each of your guests what he or she should bring. Include a list of games to be played and PC hardware requirements for networking. Should participants bring their own outlet strips? What about food and drinks: will you provide them or should your guests bring their own? All guests should plan to bring headsets, because too many speaker systems blaring in the same room promote confusion. Will you provide little things like mouse pads or should everyone bring their own?
Set up tables, chairs, and network infrastructure before your guests arrive. If you're using a wired network, run drop cables to each seat. Test each connection with a PC to ensure it works. If you're using a wireless network, such as an 802.11b setup, test it with a PC.
When your guests arrive, they'll need to configure their computers for your network. This is where Windows XP is your friend. No matter the physical setup of your network, the Network Setup Wizard asks a few simple questions and then configures the PC for network access. Have each participant take care of the hardware first: connect the cable, if necessary, or be sure the wireless adapter is at the ready. Then they'll start the Network Setup Wizard and follow these steps:
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Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then click Network Setup Wizard. |
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Click Next on the first two wizard pages. |
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If you're providing Internet connectivity, users should click This computer connects to the Internet through another computer on my network or through a residential gateway, as shown in Figure 1.  Figure 1 Otherwise they should click Other, click Next, and then click This computer belongs to a network that does not have an Internet connection, and then click Next. |
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Fill in the computer description and the computer name, as shown in Figure 2. The computer name must be unique, so have each player use something like his last name or his first name with his last initial. Then click Next.  Figure 2 |
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Type a workgroup name, as shown in Figure 3. We suggest using something simple like GAMES or LANPARTY. Click Next.  Figure 3 |
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On the summary page, click Next. The Network Setup Wizard will make the necessary changes and then the computer may need to be restarted. |
If your computer has more than one network interface, the Network Setup Wizard will prompt you to select one on your own or let it select one for you. Allow Windows to make the selection.
You may need to tweak the TCP/IP configuration of each workstation. If the workstation uses a user-specified IP address or a user-configured alternate IP address, your guest may encounter problems. To set up the workstations so they're not using user-specified IP addresses, follow these steps:
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Click Start, click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections. |
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Right-click the network connection you're using to connect to the gaming LAN, and then click Properties. |
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Under This connection uses the following items, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties. |
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On the General tab, make sure that Obtain an IP address automatically is selected. Make sure Obtain DNS server address automatically is selected. |
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On the Alternate Configuration tab, ensure that Automatic private IP address is selected. |
It's a good idea to share a folder on the server for testing purposes. Your LAN fest participants can then attempt to access the shared folder on the server to ensure that their computers have been successfully set up for the network. Simply have them click Start, click Run, type \\servername\foldername, and then click OK. The server computer's shared folder should appear in a window.
After everyone has set up their PCs and configured their network settings, you're ready to start gaming. You've done all the prep work, now enjoy the spoils. Quake until dawn!
Joel Durham, Jr. is the co-author of Build Your Own High-Performance Gamer's Mod PC (McGraw-Hill Osborne Media, 2003). He's worked as a technical editor for PC Gamer magazine and CNET's Gamecenter.com. Joel is the author of hundreds of articles about videogames and technology.