Spectator-only slots?

[xyblor]

A question has come up on the Boom Boom server: everyone is happy with the 16-player limit, but is it possible to increase the player limit on a server, but force these "extra" players to join the spectators team (until the number of aliens+humans drops below 16)?

The issue has arisen because some people spend a lot of time just spectating, which is fine except when the server becomes full (which happens frequently), because then people who want to actually play can't logon.

I know some servers demand that people either play or leave, but I'm looking for a solution that can satisfy the voyeurs without depriving people of a chance to play. This would also provide a "waiting area" for people who want to play on their favorite server and are willing to wait for a spot on a team.

Apparently the server in question is powerful enough that adding extra slots would not reduce the responsiveness of gameplay for the players.

[rasz_pl]

and why not just go to IRC?

[xyblor]

IRC won't help because it doesn't let you spectate (graphically) a game of Tremulous. Is it possible to communicate with people on a Tremulous server via IRC?

[rasz_pl]

IRC won't help because it doesn't let you spectate (graphically) a game of Tremulous. Is it possible to communicate with people on a Tremulous server via IRC?

why not
-go to IRC to chat
-go on a trem server to play
-download a demo to watch other ppl play

[|Nex|TrEmMa]

R1 had AKKA setup to have a certain number of player slots, and a larger number of server slots.  Generally people joined thinking htey could play and were very disappointed when they found out not everyone on the server could play.

[Lakitu7]

R1 had AKKA setup to have a certain number of player slots, and a larger number of server slots.  Generally people joined thinking htey could play and were very disappointed when they found out not everyone on the server could play.

Pretty much this is the way to do it and people will get over it.

[squishy]

So I assume this is the method being discussed?

//How many can join
set sv_maxclients 25
//How many can play
seta g_maxGameClients 22
//How many must have password
set sv_privateclients 6

[squishy]

I'm kind of curious what happens with the reserved slots when I use g_maxGameClients.

With the settings noted above, are the max players limited to 16? Or does the private slots only come off maxClients?

[Undeference]

g_maxGameClients is supposed to do that, but it doesn't work right. I think I fixed it on my local copy, but need to wait until I have enough people to test it. Anyway, if I get it working well, I'll submit a patch to Bugzilla.

[squishy]

Yeah. I just ran a test on the server and it appears the reserved slots only apply to the maxclient setting. With my settings, 19 public slots were allowed to play. I was hoping only 16 public could play, 6 private could play, and 3 specs. Look forward to your patch, Undeference.

[Dissapointed and Banned]

Sweet... Game Arena really needs these extra spec spots, I've seen people get booted for lingering 30 secs in spectator mode without talking been booted. Something sad that everyone probably has seen, but true.

[cp blast]

Sweet... Game Arena really needs these extra spec spots, I've seen people get booted for lingering 30 secs in spectator mode without talking been booted. Something sad that everyone probably has seen, but true.

indeed

[Paradox]

There is a CVAR in R1, not sure if tjw added it, i think he did, i dont know, we are running both at the same time pretty much on sst.

The variable is g_maxgameclients.


Set it to 16 if you want 16 players to be able to play, then bump up the sv_maxclients up to whatever number you want, only 16 will be able to play at a time, all the others will be forced to spec.

This is how AKKA used to do it.

Private slots are seperate from all this, to the best of my knowledge.

[Risujin]

Keep in mind that those specs are using server bandwidth. In light of this, any patch that adds specs should also patch to limit spec rate (a new cvar?).

I also would like to be able to chat on a server while downloading or loading (like in homeworld). Thats tougher though.

[rasz_pl]

I also would like to be able to chat on a server while downloading or loading (like in homeworld). Thats tougher though.

I would like to have my keyboard while loading ... :/ Q3 loading algo sucks ass, steals 100% cpu and keyboard

[squishy]

Paradox: See my previous posts in this thread.

I tried the following settings:

//How many can join
set sv_maxclients 25
//How many can play
seta g_maxGameClients 22
//How many must have password
set sv_privateclients 6

And this is what happened:

Yeah. I just ran a test on the server and it appears the reserved slots only apply to the maxclient setting. With my settings, 19 public slots were allowed to play. I was hoping only 16 public could play, 6 private could play, and 3 specs. Look forward to your patch, Undeference.

IMO the privateclients should be permitted direct playing access. Since they are in a sense, special! So I was hoping the 6 privateclients would get subtracted from the 22 maxgameclients. Instead the 6 privateclients are being yanked from the 25 maxclients. So 19 public players can join and play. Leaving room for only 3 private clients to play and 3 private clients to spectate.

I want 16 public players max. 6 reserved players to be able to play. And 3 spec slots. 16+6+3 = 25

It's not a huge deal. Just a nice-to-have!