Topic: Server Administrators Please Respond

[SghnDubh]

Server administrators, you are the selfless slaves of code that make SFC the fun that it is for the rest of us. I'm interested in devoting a portion of BattleClinic to the exclusive use of server admins.

Is there already a centralized website for SFC where server admins can post configurations, server settings, rulesets, map & mod files, problems noted and solved, and pointers to resources?

If not, should there be? Or are the forums good enough?

Would something like this, available exclusively to server admins and protected, be of value?

If so, what features would you wish to see?

What would the site need to be able to store, change, or provide access to?

What else would make a site like this valuable?



Looking forward to your thoughts,
SghnDubh


(crossposted to General, D2, D3, and Command Mods forums)

Edit: There are folks out there --SFCX.NET for example--which already devote space & time to server admins. This is not an attempt to compete with them. Please don't miscontrue this post as "BattleClinic can do it better." This is a post to see if there's a need, and combine that need with upcoming BattleClinic functionality. If there's no need, the 'clinic willl serve the community in other ways.

 

[Herr Burt]

Whenever I play on a server, I always wonder what settings have been used in the gf files to control things like:

*ship prices
*mission difficulty
*political tensions
*production percentages
*base building
*AI size/activity
*Ship resale value
*etc.....

When I finish building Day of the Eagle (which will happen in the forseeable future, honest!) I'll collate all the gf alterations I made and send them to you for hosting.  I'll also try to do the same thing for the last server I ran.

-Herr Burt  

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Maybe a page with links would be a good place to start?

like:
http://www3.telus.net/NuclearWessels/sfc/index.html

or have you seen:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DynaverseAdministrators/

I'm not sure the content will remain when updated to SFC2.net... but:
http://www.bozobits.com/
I think bozobits was intended to be what you describe, but it
is somewhat out of date and seems underutilized.

also:
http://klingon.stasis.ca

or maybe (j/k) :
http://wildweasels.org/

The single biggest issue I had with the D2 serverkit is that the latest
patch of it will not start from a command prompt but only if double-clicked
in the windows explorer... took me two months to figure that out..  
I know I'm not the only one who had that problem either. This should
be posted somewhere prominent where everyone will see it.

I like your idea of a centralized site for server info. The forums
are good but can present too much garbage info when searched
or even none at all!    

[jdmckinney]

One of SFCX's goals has been to offer players and admins sets of .gf files and maps from D2 campaigns and solo campaigns, but we just can't put those up unless admins are willing to send them to us. We can do the same for D3 campaigns, if the admins want to release their settings. I recommend packing them up in a .zip once a campaign ends, in case the players who played there want to use the settings for solo play, or other admins want to fill a gap left by a server layoff.

For Q&A on server settings, Dave W's guide is the best thing going.