I’m considering renting a rackmount server to run game servers on. The servers have no video cards… all interaction with the box is done through terminal services/rdp.
I have a game - ghost recon - for which I want to run a dedicated server. Unfortunately, there’s no console-based external dedicated server program. You run the game with a command line option that launches it in dedicated server mode - a window that appears to load a directx/3d menu system, similar to what you find in game. (Is there any way I can actually find out if this window is indeed running through directx?).
Anyway, I’m not sure exactly how a system without a video card works, but… I assume to run something in directx requires the processing of a video card. Even though there’s no complex 3d rendering, it’s just a window with a menu/monitoring system, it seems to load in a 3d/directx window. Does that mean that I cannot run this on my server because it would require a video card to launch the game that way?
Or is there some way I can emulate directx in software?
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say–ask the publisher. Or find the “official” support forums and post the question there. Some games that require DirectX will refuse to run or even install on a computer without a minimum level of DirectX available but there might be a CLI option to get around that in both cases, for just the reason you are dealing with.
~
Nitpick: The dedicated servers have video cards. Rather, they have onboard video. You can’t have a computer without video. Otherwise you(/they) couldn’t fix Terminal Services when it breaks. Of course, you do not have access to the video card.
RDP uses a virtual video driver that supports no hardware acceleration. It also does not support Direct3D and some DirectX features. If the program is trying to run fullscreen, it probably requires exclusive access to the video card and most likely will not work over RDP. However, every major multiplayer game is (or should be) designed with dedicated servers in mind. As DougC said, you will need to get official support for this game to know if it will work.
The real question is: Who is renting you a Ghost Recon server without guaranteeing it will work? They will install the program for you and then leave you holding the bag? I would hope they would allow you a free trial or refund.
Aha. There’s a dedicated server switch/parameter you start the game with that launches it into the server menu window. It’s not a command line server, though, it’s a graphical menu in windowed mode. It doesn’t attempt to launch into full screen, but I don’t know if it’s 3d accelerated or not … probably.
I’m renting a general dedicated server, mostly for things other than ghost recon. I just also wanted to run a GR server and wanted to ask if it were possible to get around this hurdle to run one. I guess I’ll just wait till I get the server and try it out. Thanks for the info.
I don’t know why a simple menu would need to be 3d accelerated, so there’s still hope. Actually you could test this out now. XP Pro uses RDP for desktop sharing. Do you know anyone with Windows XP and Ghost Recon? If they enable their Remote Desktop sharing and allow you to connect to them you could see what was visible and what wasn’t. They may need to forward ports if behind a router…
Back to the OT: There is currently no way to emulate all the features of DirectX in software. DirectX used to provide a minimal software-emulation mode, but it was still up to the developer to code their game to run in “minimal” mode for the benefit of older hardware. Starting with DirectX 8, Microsoft dropped support for software emulation and basically required users to own a hardware accelerator. Developers can still have it both ways by using the DirectX and Direct3D 7 APIs which take advantage of hardware acceleration if available and emulate where needed. However, the game will end up missing the cool features of DirectX 8 and 9 and will not be visually or performance-wise competitive with other games.
BTW, there is no longer a distinction between Direct3D and DirectX. There is only DirectX as of version 8.
Well, it’s not a seperate program with a command prompt type of dedicated server that’s common for other games. The game provides an in-game server if you want to host a small game on a LAN and play yourself… the dedicated server is basically just launching the game like that but not allowing the game to also be a client. So, rather than it being a seperate program, it appears to be basically the normal in-game server (launched normally, in 3d mode) without the option to be a client at the same time.