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. 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 View menu select Options. On the General tab make sure there is a check next to on Startup. Then make sure you have Update and refresh all servers and sources checked.

Quick Tip
Now that you know how to automatically ping servers, don't do it. When the automatic option is checked Gamespy updates every server, not just Quake 2 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 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" listing. Let's setup a basic filter right now that everyone should be using:

  1. From the View menu select Options.
  2. Click the Filtering tab.
  3. Click the Wizard button.
  4. Check the Refreshed in less than… box.
  5. In the box that says milliseconds enter the amount 400.
  6. Click Ok and then Ok again. Now every time you select the "Passed Filter" button Gamespy will only show those servers that had a ping higher than 400!

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:

  1. From the View menu select Custom tabs.
  2. From the sub-menu that pops up click Import.
  3. Locate the custom tab file on your hard drive, click on it once to select it, and then click Open.
  4. After you've done that a new button will appear near the other tabs with the name of the type of game it will list (e.g. CTF II).
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.


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
Gamespy player profile button
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.

  1. On the main toolbar click the Buddy List button. The buddy list button then appears
  2. In the name contains: box type the name (or part of the name) of the player you want Gamespy to look for.
  3. Click the Add button and then click OK.

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:

  1. Player - Enter the name of the player you wish to search for here. The names you enter are called search parameters.
  2. Re-receive player lists… - This essentially makes the search more accurate by re-checking servers to make sure the player you're looking for is still on that server. It does make the search slower though.
  3. Do a substring search - Finds any occurrence of your search parameters in a player name. For example, suppose you had entered "Death" as the player name you're searching for. Gamespy would return with every name that either was "death" or included the word "death."
  4. Match whole string only - Tells Gamespy that you want to only locate the exact name you entered, no exceptions.
  5. Search beginning of names - Matches names starting from the beginning of a player name.
  6. Check selected server - Gamespy will only look for your search parameters on a particular server: the one you select that is.
  7. Check entire visible list - Gamespy will search every server on the current list for the name you entered. To check all Quake 2 servers make sure the All Servers tab is clicked.
  8. Re-Query servers with no response - Does what it says. It re-queries servers that are marked as not having responded when Gamespy last checked them.

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!

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