# SDMB Team Fortress 2 server **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 3, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186 "2011-01-03T01:48:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/241 "2011-07-02T02:36:43Z")
Okay - I just downloaded this today. I’ve never played a FPS-style game on the PC before. Ever. I’m going to need some advice. But first - my graphics are horrendous. I admit that my graphics card is not up to snuff whatsoever. (It may, in fact, be an integrated card.) I’m not in a position to go out and buy even a $40 card right now. But I have a good 22" monitor. What settings do I need to jigger with to figure things out? Video settings within TF2, or video settings via my desktop? Once the game started up things went completely hinky - that doesn’t seem right, does it? ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/242 "2011-07-02T03:45:06Z")
Your first step would be to go to the Windows system control panel, find out what you have for video hardware, and download/install the latest drivers for it. Integrated video is likely not going to have enough oomph to smoothly run basically any 3D game made in the last decade, but it should at least run right, just slowly. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/243 "2011-07-02T16:18:21Z")
We’ll be running without replays or mods tonight. The performance of the server has been crappy when we get to 15+ people lately and I’m working with their support to try to figure out what’s causing the problems, so I’m going to run it stock tonight to see if it improves the situation. If not, the lease on this server is up tomorrow and I may go with another provider to get better performance. Anyway, join us tonight at the normal time - 8 eastern. We’ve had enough people lately to lock the game and keep it private and still fill up, so that’s the plan tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/244 "2011-07-02T20:40:11Z")
NO REPLAYS!?!?! It’s just as well, I guess. I can’t seem to stop making them, even though half of them crash TF2 and, when they do work, they take an eternity to render and then an even longer time to upload. Here’s some more videos of my Pyro in action: [Nuclear beef](http://youtu.be/OCPrDt6WInI) [I burning your cart](http://youtu.be/viK0u9Mrmxs) [Pyro making the rounds](http://youtu.be/8M4T3CdyyAM) [Pyro disrupts the enemy](http://youtu.be/pn-QDXi11Gk) [Spawn camper](http://youtu.be/ZMxLIzlnijU) [Fire, fire, fire!](http://youtu.be/d_Ibda1Sl1k) [Offense and defense](http://youtu.be/dHyOMKe7fic) And, just to show I don’t always play Pyro: [Little Geisha Boy](http://youtu.be/40C4hyY1QG0) I also have a video of an epic defense of Mountain Lab, which I’ll post if it ever manages to finish uploading to YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/245 "2011-07-02T20:46:42Z")
I do appreciate that you finally killing me is such a rare and momentous occasion for you that you feel the need to record it and make it into a video every infrequent time it happens. Btw, you might want to start using the export video feature and [avidemux](http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/) to string videos together. The in-game editor is rather limited, it all has to be one single run, which leaves a lot of downtime if you want to show a few events that happen apart… like in your first video 80% of it is you running around. Anyway, if you render the take (use mjpeg-a), then export it rather than upload it to youtube, you can then use avidemux to stitch those videos together into one video and then upload that. That’s how I did my shield kills video, which used like 40 different replays as sources. It just gives you a lot more control over the videos and lets you cut out the dead air, or show the same scene twice from different angles. You could even make a highlight video where you staple together the few times you kill me. If you record every time you kill me, after about a month you’ll have about 4 little takes to string together into one highlight reel. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/246 "2011-07-02T21:26:21Z")
I’d have a lot more videos of burned beef it weren’t for the aforementioned crashes. The whole “take” system leads me to think that the editor was supposed to be more sophisticated, with the ability to splice together different takes. I’ll use the tool they gave me, though. And the long stretches of me running around lets you admire my nice shiny helmet. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/247 "2011-07-05T21:17:26Z")
I won’t be able to make the game tonight, so just hop on and organize yourselves at 8. If there’s a last minute patch or the server is otherwise screwy contact Electronic Chaos or Res. Also I posted this to the wrong thread and most to post it here: So over the last few weeks our server performance has been deteriorating. We’ve had occasional problems with outages but they were pretty infrequent and between outages it worked fine. But lately the server has just been turning laggy anytime there were 15+ people on. Over the weekend a tech said he’d tried various things, and I also tried some stuff like disabling the replay system and mods. I had to make a decision to re-up for another month on Sunday, and on Saturday night our game went off hitch free. So I thought we’d solved it. But then Monday night the server crapped out and was unplayably laggy again, so I guess not. So unless they manage to somehow figure out a way to fix it, we’ll be moving off to another service next month. I’ve already paid up for July though so hopefully the performance is adequate for now. I’m still trying to work with their tech support to come to some sort of resolution, but it seems like it’s something to do with the network at their data center. We’re getting a really good deal on the server ($15/mo) which will probably get bumped up to $25 a month if we move, but oh well. It’s not worth it if we have to suffer through problems more and more frequently. I may try having them move our server to another data center - Chicago is the next best place for everyone on average and maybe that will help while allowing us to retain the price. I’ll have to go back through my paypal history to see how much we’ve got for running the server vs our costs so far. I’ve had other transactions on there since then so it’s not just a matter of looking at my account total. I don’t think we’re going to be short anytime soon because my non-SDMB real life friends (red13nek and Adarmus) were very generous in donating $50 each to run the server. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/248 "2011-07-05T21:23:12Z")
[quote=“SenorBeef, post:247, topic:566186”] I won’t be able to make the game tonight, so just hop on and organize yourselves at 8. [QUOTE] How do we find each other? I really don’t know anything about organizing games in TF2. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/249 "2011-07-05T21:29:47Z")
Just show up on the server and other people will do the same. The only thing that will be different is that I won’t be sending out invites. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/250 "2011-07-05T22:09:42Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Just show up on the server and other people will do the same. The only thing that will be different is that I won’t be sending out invites. Sorry for needing my hand held again but what’s the server’s ID and how do I find it? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/251 "2011-07-05T22:37:51Z")
Look for the server called SDMB Dallas Stock Maps. The address is 207.210.239.59:27015. If it asks for a password, it will be “cecil”. To put it into your Favorites so you can find it again: [ol] [li]Click on “Browse Servers”[/li][li]Click on the “Favorites” tab.[/li][li]Click on the “Add a Server” button.[/li][li]Enter the address 207.210.239.59:27015[/li][li]Click on “Add this address to favorites”[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/252 "2011-07-06T01:23:47Z")
Having just played for about an hour, is there some advantage to renting a server? What is it? Wouldn’t be possible to just start a normal game and protect it with a password? ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/253 "2011-07-06T02:51:39Z")
If by “start a normal game” you mean someone hosting a off a personal PC, the problem with that is that your typical residential internet connection is not going to be able to cope with a game larger than about six to eight players, and most of them are likely to clear 150ms pings in the process. Commandeering an empty dedicated server requires more communication to get everyone in the same place and doesn’t allow the control of maps / players / etc that playing somewhere you have admin access to. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/254 "2011-07-06T04:45:08Z")
Sweet. I just got the SDMB server favorited. Just stared playing yesterday. I’ll see if I can catch some stuff going on in the next couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/255 "2011-07-09T16:25:22Z")
Just started playing with the replay feature. [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghLknElmpMU&feature=youtube_gdata) a good airblast+flaregun combo (which coincidentally, is one of my favorite things to do in TF2) ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/256 "2011-07-11T15:45:30Z")
Youtube will tell you where your views are coming from. I noticed one of my persian persuader vids was embedded on some Russian forum. I ran the post that came with it through google translate. > [@](#): > > Boy, I WENT TODAY FOR SHORT GOLDEN attack and SAW Soldiers T-shirt “NO LOVE ALI-BAB” Well, I jumped up and into his SHARPLY PEREEBAL SCHSCHI with turntables and explain it SCREAM 'NO LOVE RANDOM Crete ", BECAUSE I FOR MILLI fumes -EBASHILOVU, kid SPIRIT OF THE OLD SCHOOL LIVES ONLY in Persia, where EBASHATSYA software hardcore, kid LIVE WHERE Charge, And shoes of Ali Baba And fuck BALANCE IN MOUTH! ONLY PERSIAN caster ONLY LUXURY Cover! Boys ebashte Soldi, heavy, junctions, ugorayte on Charge, love my family, kids and scene! Speak openly and boldly in the face! So I think I have a fan. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/257 "2011-07-11T15:51:14Z")
So I was having a problem with TF2 totally taking down my internet connection (and not just for me but for everyone in the house); turns out the solution if I don’t feel like buying a whole new router just to play one game (which I didn’t pay money for) is to lie to Steam and tell it that I’m on dial-up. Possibly this will also take care of the problems I was having getting on to the SDMB server. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/258 "2011-07-11T16:21:03Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Youtube will tell you where your views are coming from. I noticed one of my persian persuader vids was embedded on some Russian forum. I ran the post that came with it through google translate. > > > [@](#): > > > > Boy, I WENT TODAY FOR SHORT GOLDEN attack and SAW Soldiers T-shirt “NO LOVE ALI-BAB” Well, I jumped up and into his SHARPLY PEREEBAL SCHSCHI with turntables and explain it SCREAM 'NO LOVE RANDOM Crete ", BECAUSE I FOR MILLI fumes -EBASHILOVU, kid SPIRIT OF THE OLD SCHOOL LIVES ONLY in Persia, where EBASHATSYA software hardcore, kid LIVE WHERE Charge, And shoes of Ali Baba And fuck BALANCE IN MOUTH! ONLY PERSIAN caster ONLY LUXURY Cover! Boys ebashte Soldi, heavy, junctions, ugorayte on Charge, love my family, kids and scene! Speak openly and boldly in the face! Something about that post disturbs me. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/259 "2011-07-11T17:44:43Z")
Describes you perfectly **Beef**! ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186/260 "2011-07-11T17:48:35Z")
I do try to fuck BALANCE IN MOUTH whenever possible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-team-fortress-2-server/566186.md?page=14)