Putting a New Spin on Party Games

While there are “party” games such as Rock Band and SingStar, a good time for many players is shooting down your friends. Packing up your PC and heading to a big annual event like QuakeCon can certainly be a great experience, but the do-it-home version is a blast in more ways than one.

LAN parties don’t need to be on such a grand scale to be fun. In fact with just a few PCs you can have an intense battle at a local hotel banquet room, or possibly even in your own home. Whichever route you decide to go however, don’t let a forgotten extension cord doesn’t ruin the night—be sure to have a back up plan and be prepared to adapt to keep things running smoothly.

Size matters
Perhaps the most important thing to consider is the size of the event you want to host. Do you want to a game session open to friends of friends? In this case it might require an outside space, such as hotel or other convention space—or would an intimate party with a dozen or so close friends be more your liking. As an experienced LAN party host, and attendee of numerous events, I would stress that you try the smaller route first. This will allow you to have more control over the situation and also keep costs down.

Off-site locations like a hotel’s meeting room or banquet room are good, but they’re often overkill for LAN gaming with less than 20 people. So even smallish apartments offer adequate space provided you have tables, chairs and a couch for those people not playing.

When going the home route the first point is to settle on a date and give your friends plenty of warning. This might seem obvious but it’s good to get the word out early. There will always be scheduling conflicts but giving your friends some warning will ensure that more folks can attend. Likewise, be sure to invite people that actually like to play the types of games you’re planning to play. In other words don’t invite a bunch of your World of Warcraft or Guitar Hero buddies to a first-person shooter party that is attended by experts.

The other point to keep in mind is how many computers you’ll supply and whether you’ll expect your friends to bring their own. LAN parties don’t really need 20 plus computers to be successful but you should aim for at least six machines for more heated competition. Two-on-two (with four PCs) is good but three-on-three really makes a difference for team-based games. Anything more than that is better, but don’t go overboard trying to get too many PCs.

Especially since the more computers you add to the mix, the more likely something will go wrong, and in that case it is better to have some back-up plans, such as an extra PC or a console to keep the gamers happy while you resolve any issues. It should also be stressed that if your friends are bringing their own PCs that you have ground rules set ahead of time.

These don’t have to be a manifesto but should be clear. Does everyone need to supply a computer? Will you provide computers for those that can’t bring one? And be sure that those guests not bringing a computer know which machines are off-limits—such as a custom-built machine that you’d would rather not let others use. This should all be addressed before the event. And don’t pressure your friends to bring a machine if they’re really not into it. It is better to have a smaller party than force your guests to do more than they’re comfortable doing.

If you’re using a mix of your own systems and some friends computers you should try, at least as much as schedules allow, to have those bringing PCs to show up earlier in the day. This will allow time to work out the kinks, and trust us—there will always be kinks, such as having a router for eight computers but end up with 10 instead. Should two sit by the sidelines or can you track down a larger hub? And even if you are supplying all the computers, set them up as early before the party as possible. This will allow time to make sure everything goes as planned. At least it gives you time to run out to Best Buy or Radio Shack if you need something.

Game time
Once the number of machines is set—but well before the night of the shindig—decide with your friends which games you want to play. Are you going to play a whole night of Call of Duty: Modern Combat or mix it up? Even if you think you’ll play just one game you might want to have some other backups just in case. Sometimes the games don’t mesh with everyone, and other times the games don’t seem to run so well. By making sure you have a backup game you can try mixing it up if the party starts to crash—even if the PCs don’t.

Whatever you decide on games install these before the party set up time if possible. And have the software on hand for anyone bringing their own computers. Most games can run on a LAN (but not the Internet) with the same serial number on multiple machines but test this ahead of time to make sure.

Depending on the games you’re playing there is usually a mode for every group size. At the same time some game maps just require more people. A big sprawling map isn’t going to work for two-on-two or three-on-three games. These demand more players and are better suited to online play or larger tournaments. Of course you can always finish the evening with humans vs. bots if you absolutely have to try these larger locations.

Think about map rotation, game time limits and modes of play. Deathmatch is always a favorite but sometimes one player dominates the others, so again mixing it up with capture the flag and objective based games will allow everyone to shine for even a moment.

And don’t leave out the consoles. LAN parties don’t have to be strictly PC affairs.

In fact the Wii makes for an excellent party game experience in its own right. So try and set up a TV—it doesn’t even need to be a large one—where you can play Wii Sports or Wii Play.

Likewise, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 make for solid instant party machines on their own. You can do split-screen racing games or of course rock out with Guitar Hero and Rock Band. And even if you’re having a PC party its still a good idea to have the consoles set up to offer something a little different but while keeping everyone in the gaming. Besides, shooters are fun to play, but Guitar Hero is just as much fun to watch!

Work Place Fun
If you don’t have room for even a small LAN party there are some other options. Most offices are networked together and provided you have a reasonably fast machine you’re ready to go. Nothing beats a tough day at the office like some after work gaming. Check with your supervisor and IT department first, but chances are some workplace camaraderie will be welcome. And IT guys are usually masters at getting things working and they tend to like games.

Likewise, you can also pool some funds together with your buddies and head to a cyber café. Computer arcades are starting to offer their locations for birthday parties and other private events including those devoted to gaming. While this is a bit more expensive than a do-it-yourself event, you can try to get a group rate for a few hours of closed-door gaming. The best part is that if any technical problems arise they won’t be your problem.

Tips From the Zen-LAN Master

As a veteran of LAN parties this author can assure you things are bound to go wrong and during these times you need to remain calm under pressure. In a perfect world you’d be able to have your eight or 10 PCs set up for spontaneous LAN showdowns but this will seldom occur. Instead you need to adapt to circumstances and here are just a few tips to make things run smoother.

1) If possible have a back-up machine and keep the number of computers in use even. This allows for balanced teams and having an extra computer means you can swap out a system in a few minutes and still keep playing.

2) Nothing is worse than lugging a computer across town to find out that you’ve forgotten something important. So if possible try and have an extra mouse or keyboards. It is advisable to have plenty of RJ-45 Ethernet cable whether you’re supplying the computers or not. Chances are someone will forget to bring a cable or it will be too short. These cables tend to crap out at the worst possible moments and having a few back-up cables is simply a necessity. To play it safe get a cable tester, which will allow you to determine if a cable is bad. This will save you time from switching out cables when the problem could be on the PC side.

3) Try and have the same version OS. Since most LAN parties are probably going to be PC-based events this means you should try to have machine running Windows XP (Home version is preferable) or Vista – but maybe not both. If you must mix the OS versions check before you play to make sure the games works.

4) Just as important is to have the same versions of the software. All of the machines should be using the latest updates and patches. This helps ensure that the machines won’t find conflicts on the software side. Additionally the games absolutely need to be the same version, so as the host you should have a CD-ROM with the latest patches for any games you’re planning on running.

5) Use a server. If you are able to do so try and run a dedicated server. This means you’ll be down one machine right off the bat but this will allow for improved gameplay.

6) Try and have a unique serial number for each game. While it can be expensive to buy eight copies of the game you can have your friends supply their own copies for the evening so that you don’t run into any conflicts. This is an absolute given if you’re trying to do a “virtual LAN” by having friends from distant locations attempt to join you through the Internet.

7) Have you got the power? Whether you live in a house or an apartment you’ll want to make sure that you have adequate juice. You’ll never have enough power strips so try and pick up a couple more. Have some extension cords ready and if possible use these to tap into power from another room so as to not overload any circuits.

8) Have the right games for the audience. If your friends like to play real-time strategy games don’t spend all night playing first-person shooters. Also make sure everyone gets to play. If your friends are supplying their own computers make sure it’s cool with them if someone jumps on their machine when they go to get chips and dip.

9) Watch the volume. Even if you live in a house you should be careful about noise. This doesn’t mean you should rely on headphones, which might be a good idea for those in apartments, but manage the noise accordingly.

10) Have fun. This may sound silly but sometimes LAN party hosts can take things too seriously. If you don’t like to lose don’t host LAN parties. This isn’t a tournament you’re holding, after all.