UPDATED 14/10/11. PLEASE READ FULLY TO UNDERSTAND THE EDIT.

Hi everyone

If you hadn't already noticed, we've bid farewell to our Full Rotation and Fight Yard servers. These servers were removed due to being heavily underpopulated, and we wanted to free up resources on our boxes, as SCRDS doesn't support multicore systems at the moment.

We're also removing our GunGame server, and possibly replacing it with a server idea that myself and Matt talked about last night, taking into consideration input from other admins and players.


The general idea is that we have a server with a rotation of popular custom maps made by mapmakers. Some of you may be familiar with custom maps already. They are maps that were not created by Valve, but have been released by creative individuals in their spare time, using Source SDK. With the help of my friend, I've been looking at a good amount of maps to fill a server with.

We have also been requested that a "Pistols Only" server be made. Until SCRDS has support for mutlicore systems, we're only going to be able to put up one server. Matt and I discussed this last night for a while, and came upon an idea.

We were thinking of having a server with several good, balanced custom maps that are fun to play, and having a plugin that randomly forces pistol rounds at different times in the map. So for example, you could be 5 rounds in and the 6th round would restrict you to only using a pistol.

This could, in effect :

- Give the losing team another chance at gaining money
- Break up boring game play (you'd be able to get that annoying awper who was camping every round)
- Improve your skill with pistols (people rarely use them after the first few rounds)
- Make the game have an added dynamic (you never know when a pistol round is coming)


I personally think that combining the two ideas could make the server a lot more fun. Lots of servers are either one or the other, if we could successfully combine 2 ideas into one, then we'd be in with a hit.

As we're a community, we'd like to hear your thoughts on the idea, or if you think you have a better idea, please tell us

EDIT : Okay, so I finally finished testing a bunch of maps. I'll mark the ones in green that are going to be tested in AAs testing lab, or red if they're denied. If they're denied, they could be added at a later date. The reasons behind denying a map is because I've felt that it would be a waste of time testing the map, or if I felt that it's just not a very fun or balanced map. I know this is mainly just my opinion, but I am putting a lot of work into getting custom maps tested, and trying to organise a fresh new server with some nice, (relatively) new maps. If you think you can do a better job than me, you're welcome to try. If there are any maps that you'd like me to reconsider, just post and I'll see about testing them. Just because I have denied them this time, doesn't mean they can't be added at a later date.


- Hostage Rescue Maps -
cs_747_css
Will be tested in AAs Lab.
cs_mansion
Will be replaced with cs_estate_source (basically the same map)
cs_italy_reloaded
Not as good as tactick_2
cs_italy_tactik2
Should be included, need to test in AAs Lab
cs_italy_tactik3
Worse that tactik_2, will not be included
cs_metrobudapest
Really large map (90mb), may be included or added at a later date.
cs_parkhouse
Doubtful whether this will be included.



- Bomb/Defuse Maps -
de_westwood
In my opinion, it was a poor map. The fog textures got old quickly.
de_industrial_estate
Need to test this in AAs lab
de_shutdown
Very crowded map.
de_dust2_pro
We have a War Lords version of dust2 that would be used, if we were going to use any.
de_sunken_temple
Very swish Aztec style map. Will be testing this in AAs Lab.
de_doomhouse
I'm still undecided on this one. Maybe considered for a later date.
de_westcoast
Very doubtful about this one.
de_nightfever
Definitely testing this one Love this map.
de_desert_atrocity_v3
Another dust map.
de_gallery
Will be testing this map
de_3rdstreet
Will test this one, purely because I'm curious as to what it's like with human players.
de_boreth
There are several errors I noticed with this map, mostly radar problems
de_bluecorridor
Will be testing this map
de_strata
We did test this map, but it was rather big and people were distracted. May retest.
de_forest
I'm going to decline this one at the moment.

WARNING : The previous map pack was missing a few files, I completely overlooked their inclusion. The new link provides all of the maps approved here for testing. The testing server is currently being set up with fastdl, so downloading the map pack is not essential, unless you want to have the maps prior to entering the server.

NOTE : All the maps approved for testing are now available for downloading here. I highly suggest downloading this map pack if you're going to be testing these tonight in the AA Lab Server (DandyAndys server). Unfortunately, this is a closed group, and the map pack could change before it's put on the server, so download at your own risk.

This list is top heavy with bomb defuse maps, so I'll be looking at the other suggestions to find some more hostage rescue maps, just purely for a bit of diversity. Since defuse maps are better that hostage maps, I don't see how this will be a bad thing In the spirit of this, 3 cpl maps and de_losttemplepro will also be added (because they are boss maps).

As for the pistol round mod, it's being rethought at the moment. The latest update changed the accuracy (and thus the effectiveness) of pistols. Not sure how popular being forced to use unpopular weapons would be.

Sounds like a solid plan.

8)

I'm in! Perfect idea!

this is intersting, just make a server and i will be there everyday!  :o

rival you said that there will be no gungame server, but how about the future tournaments?  ???

I want cs_jeep_2 lol

this is intersting, just make a server and i will be there everyday!  :o

rival you said that there will be no gungame server, but how about the future tournaments?  ???

Well I don't know about future tournaments. I'm sure a GunGame server could be set up relatively quickly if we needed to. Would you really want to do the same type of game mode again for the next contest though?

I want cs_jeep_2 lol

If you post your suggestion here (its stickied in Suggestion section), I'll have a look at it.

We did test a few maps today, but I didn't really organise it very well. I'll attempt to have a better map pack sorted out before the weekend and try and get a few testers together for that, see if I can get a little test server up and running (with the help of a root admin or the use of DandyAndys server). This time it will be better organised though, and I'll release the map pack.... Friday, so that people can download it in the daytime and then test during the night.

cs_jeep_2 is old school map, sorry that you didn't understand my joke, it's probably not ported to CSS and it was pure fun like 8-9 years ago=)

cs_jeep_2 is old school map, sorry that you didn't understand my joke, it's probably not ported to CSS and it was pure fun like 8-9 years ago=)

Cool.

So what do you think of the server idea then? Any thoughts?

If you are on like the 4th round,and restrict us to using pistol only,would all our money be lost? Also could we buy nades and body armor?

thast was going to be my Question...but it sounds like funn!!!