Part 2 - Using Gamespy: The Basics

THE BASICS - CONNECTING TO A SERVER!
Well, you've spent all this time learning the basics to deathmatch but you have yet to actually connect to a server and start playing!!! Congratulations because your patience is about to pay off! Just follow these steps to begin your first deathmatch!

  1. If you haven't already, start Gamespy.
  2. When you first start Gamespy a couple windows popup. The first is just a little nag screen that reminds you of the fact that you can register Gamespy if you want (and why not, it's a great program!). Just click Continue to proceed.
  3. The next screen is called the player profile screen. This is where you can choose which player name you want to play with. If you haven't created a name yet click the New button. Another window appears that lets you setup your player. All you need to fill in is the "Player Name" box. When you're done click OK and then click Continue.
  4. We are now at the main interface window for Gamespy. On the far left side of the window is a column of buttons with names like "All Sources", and "Quake 2." These are source buttons. Selecting them tells Gamespy what kind of servers you want to search for. Since we want Quake 2 servers click the Quake 2 source button. Make sure that "Quake 2" is the only source button selected (you can tell a source is selected because the button changes colors to white).
  5. Now that we've told Gamespy we're looking for Quake 2 servers we need to tell it to go out and find these servers. Click the Update from current source button on the toolbar (as pictured below). Gamespy will then contact several other servers which maintain lists of Quake 2 servers. After downloading the most current server lists it will go out and "ping" each of these servers. This process can take a minute or two so be patient (now would be a good time to go grab a caffeinated beverage).
  6. When Gamespy is done "pinging" servers you will be presented with a list of all the Quake 2 servers it pinged. They are listed from top to bottom in order of fastest to slowest. Look at the ping times for each of the servers - they're right next to the server name. Try to find the smallest ping time you can. Pings over 400 aren't very playable, the 300's are playable but can be jumpy at times, and anything above that is typically very smooth. Find a server that isn't empty, or full, and has a low ping number. Double click on the name of that server and Gamespy will launch your Quake 2 deathmatch game!!
Note
Well I'll be saying goodbye for a few hours now, because you're likely going to be having too much fun on those deathmatch servers playing Quake 2 to worry about this tutorial! When you do manage to wrestle yourself away from the fray join me back on this page and we'll continue!

Click below to continue on in the tutorial. Lag and ping is our next topic.

Next Page