Part 2 - More Gamespy |
If for some reason you've skipped ahead and don't yet know how to perform the basic function of Gamespy - finding and connecting to a server - then read the basics of Gamespy
REFRESHING/UPDATING THE SERVERS
Quake 2 servers are popping up over the Internet daily, so you should be sure to update
your Quake 2 server lists every time you start Gamespy. You can do this either manually or
have Gamespy do it automatically (I do it manually).
Manually
Right click on the "Quake 2" source button and then click update
(see the screenshot below). Gamespy will then go out and retrieve all the latest Quake 2
server lists. Once that's done it will then ping all the servers.
Automatically
From the Tools menu select Options. Check the option
labeled Do refreshes on startup... I would recommend choosing
either Refresh all servers - which will refresh all the servers you last
had pinged again, or Refresh favorites - which will ping the servers in
your favorites folder. The only drawback to these two methods is that they don't check the
source servers for new Quake 2 servers. You can do this by checking Update and
refresh all servers and sources. However I would recommend you don't do this
because this will not only ping the entire Quake2 source, but any other sources you may
have (Quake, Hexen, Unreal, etc.). As you can imagine this would be a rather length
process. But hey, if you start Gamespy and go grab a quick sandwich you should have all
the up-to-date servers when you come back.
Refresh Visible Servers
When you've updated the Quake 2 server list once you
shouldn't do have to do it again for a few hours or a day. However you may want to ping
the servers in the current list several times. This helps keep the ping times up to date.
Doing this takes two steps. Make sure that the All Servers tab at the top
of interface is clicked (this can actually be any tab you want, but All Servers is usually
the best). This will display all the Quake 2 servers Gamespy pinged previously. Then press
Ctrl-T (this is the shortcut key for the Gamespy - Refresh Visible List
command). Gamespy will then ping all the servers in the visible list.
SORTING YOUR LISTS
You've probably noticed all those buttons across the top of the Gamespy interface that
have names like "Passed Filters", "All Servers",
"Favorites", etc. These are for sorting out the server lists. This is useful
because you don't always want to look at every server Gamespy pinged.
When you click "Passed Filters", for example, Gamespy will only show those servers that meet certain filter criteria. We will set that up right now.
BASIC FILTERING
Gamespy has many powerful features. One of those lets you specify certain rules that
servers must comply with to be displayed under the "Passed Filters" tab. Let's
setup a basic filter right now that everyone should be using:
CUSTOM TABS
Later on you are going to learn about special versions of Quake 2 called "mods."
These mods add a new level of fun to multiplayer Quake 2 by providing exciting variations
on standard deathmatch play. But how do you know what servers are running these modified
versions of Quake 2?
Lucky for us the folks at Gamespy - and other people on the Internet - make special tabs that will let you list those specific types of Quake 2 games you're looking for. When you download a custom tab (e.g. ctf.qst) you need a way of importing it into Gamespy. Here's how you do that:
Note |
Right now knowing how to import custom tabs isn't important because we don't know what mods are. However later on we will be working with mods and knowing how to import custom tabs will be important. |
PLAYER INFORMATION BOX
The player information box is located underneath the server list box. It lets you see what
players are on a selected server and what their ping and scores are, and more.
GAME RULES BOX
The game rules box is also underneath the server list box, to the right. It displays
information about a selected server. This is usually for determining what version of Quake
2, or any specific mods, the server may be running.
CHANGING PLAYER PROFILES
At any time when you're using Gamespy you may switch
the player you're using with a different one. This is useful not only for changing names,
but also - as we will see later - for using different configuration files with different
player names.
Just click the player profile button located on the main toolbar. This will bring up the player profile screen that you normally see every time Gamespy is started.
BUDDY LISTS
If you've got friends who play Quake 2 over the Internet you can have Gamespy
automatically search for their player name (or "handle" as it's also known)
while it's pinging servers. Gamespy will then indicate that the player name(s) you
specified have been located on a particular server by placing colored dots next to the
server name. Note that the unregistered version of Gamespy only lets you look for one name
automatically.
FINDING PLAYERS
You can also manually use Gamespy to locate player names by searching servers. Press the F4
button and that will bring up the following dialog box:
What follows is a description of each of this dialog's features:
So basically all you have to do is enter the name you're looking for and click Find Now. Gamespy will then search the specified Quake 2 servers for the player you're looking for.
Well that's it for Gamespy right now. Of course that is by no means all there is to Gamespy. I'm primarily concerned with just getting you comfortable using the basic functions of Gamespy. Explore around you'll discover many more things you can do.
So with that we've reached the end of Part 2. By now you should be fairly adept at finding, and playing, deathmatch games at a beginner level. Now we'll push the envelope a little more and ratchet your skills up a bit! Click the link below to travel to Part 3!