i am overwhelmed by the community...

[Liptick]

Hello people. I would be known as a noob even tho i played and beat outcast and academy when they first came out. I was in school and at the time I could not find a single multiplayer game. It had not occured to me to find an online community and i had never used or even known what a forum was.

 

now that i have been using steam for about 2 years ive re-played both outcast and academy and again beat them on the hardest settings. At this point in time i would really like to get engaged in the multiplayer community as its simple using steam. the problem is im overwhelmed by the differences between single player and multiplayer. I have determined however that i do not want to invest time into outcast's multiplayer community.

 

i will list the issues i am having so that maybe i can get some help.

 

the first problem id like to have addressed is that there are a tonne of servers with nothing but bots. i spent about a week gleefully slaughtering bots that were mindfull of laming rules and quickly got an inflated ego... i assumed they were people. so where do i find information for active servers? i find them occasionaly through ingame means but sometimes can never find them again. why does the server listing seem inconsistant? i do use a few filters but have even tried removing them to see if this was the problem. i want one of my friends to join in with me but we cannot find the same servers ingame at the same time. wtf?

 

the next and biggest issue is i am outclassed big time. i can handle learning and being a noob, but i am watching other players fly around and move in extremely odd ways constantly. i specificaly want to learn the nuances of the saber combat, including the wierdness that i have learned is mostly due to the engine. im led to believe some of it may be due to mods as well... the issue is there are so many wierd quirks, i dont even know how to use the jetpack! how can i learn all these odd little nuances to the saber combat? i believe they would lend well to the game as opposed to making it flawed, but as i see it im stuck with finding a mentor through a guild.

 

the guilds... why so serious? i get it actualy, and its apealing to me. ive never felt more like a noob than in this community tho. I found one person recruiting who took a considerable amount of time to talk to me about the clan he had just been initiated into, the new alliance clan (TNA). i went and checked out the website and was blown away by there requirements for membership. i am willing to train, i am willing to dedicate time. i am not willing to study a confusing mess of history where each minor event is treated like a major event to the point where i dont believe its within my mental capability to remember all the details of the history. I was seriously contemplating making the effort however... i just could not find the server again, even when i tried to manualy join it using the ip address. they are still active so again, what am i missing?

 

and then there are the mods. i am under the impression that they are basically handled by the servers? i have not modded my game and i seem to be able to play any server unless i am missing a map... assuming i can see the server listed ingame. I dont know what any of the mods do either. moddb offers mostly update changes as information... maps have teleports, grappling guns, matrix physics... none of this was part of single player so ya.

 

Sincerely, OVERWHELMED. help me obi wan kenobi, you're my only hope.

[Artemis]

First, hello and welcome!

 

Yes, there are servers that up their player counts with bots (TNA is one, as far as I remember). Sometimes they have obvious names so you know they're bots, but other times it's not that easy. I know for sure on JA+ servers, the bots' pings can be spoofed. Elsewhere, a ping of constant 0 usually means a bot. To find info about active servers, either just visit them or talk to people. If you like a server, add it to the favorites selection in the server menu so you can find it. If you're on a server and you want your friend to join, hit Esc -> About and get the IP so your friend can /connect that way.

 

If you really want to learn, I'd suggest hanging out on base servers (not modded). It sounds like you've been on a + server, where you'll see some wonky stuff when you don't have the mod.

 

Clans... or guilds... are all fairly different. You'll just have to hang out with the people until you find a clan you like, if you even want to join a clan. There's nothing that says you HAVE to join one. I don't know the issue with TNA's server and you not being able to connect via IP. Maybe the IP changed.

 

Mods are generally server-side, but there's some stuff that doesn't work well without the client-side plugins. There are a few different mods, and players scattered across them all. JA+/JA++ are more or less FFA mods, then there's Lugormod and maybe still Makermod for... Building? I haven't really messed with those. Then there's Moviebattles 2, which is definitely not my field of expertise.

 

Just a random thought, since you've mentioned Steam, I'm guessing you're updated to 1.01. Make sure your friend is as well, or you'll never see the same servers.

 

Hopefully I answered some questions. If not, someone else probably will!

[eezstreet]

First, hello and welcome!

 

Yes, there are servers that up their player counts with bots (TNA is one, as far as I remember). Sometimes they have obvious names so you know they're bots, but other times it's not that easy. I know for sure on JA+ servers, the bots' pings can be spoofed. Elsewhere, a ping of constant 0 usually means a bot. To find info about active servers, either just visit them or talk to people. If you like a server, add it to the favorites selection in the server menu so you can find it. If you're on a server and you want your friend to join, hit Esc -> About and get the IP so your friend can /connect that way.

 

If you really want to learn, I'd suggest hanging out on base servers (not modded). It sounds like you've been on a + server, where you'll see some wonky stuff when you don't have the mod.

 

Clans... or guilds... are all fairly different. You'll just have to hang out with the people until you find a clan you like, if you even want to join a clan. There's nothing that says you HAVE to join one. I don't know the issue with TNA's server and you not being able to connect via IP. Maybe the IP changed.

 

Mods are generally server-side, but there's some stuff that doesn't work well without the client-side plugins. There are a few different mods, and players scattered across them all. JA+/JA++ are more or less FFA mods, then there's Lugormod and maybe still Makermod for... Building? I haven't really messed with those. Then there's Moviebattles 2, which is definitely not my field of expertise.

 

Just a random thought, since you've mentioned Steam, I'm guessing you're updated to 1.01. Make sure your friend is as well, or you'll never see the same servers.

 

Hopefully I answered some questions. If not, someone else probably will!

Bots can sometimes have faked ping. Bots can even be programmed (in the base game even!) to respond to particular phrases or

 

Some mods require a clientside (including Moviebattles which also has its own maps).

 

 

@@Liptick, something to consider is how you want to play.

• If you're looking for something close to the base game, you'll want to play either the base game (no mods), JA+ or JA++.
• If you want a sandbox experience with building things, perhaps similar to Gerry's Mod, Makermod is what you're interested in.
• If you're interested in servers with custom content and some RPG-lite mechanics, Lugormod is what you're interested in.
• If you're interested in a round-based, Counter-Strike in the Star Wars universe, Moviebattles is what you're interested in.

There's also a lot of singleplayer level packs here on the site. @@mrwonko's JKFiles mirror has even more. Alternatively, you could try the JK:Enhanced mod (currently only available for Jedi Academy) which changes a bunch of the game elements.

 

Tell us more about what you're interested in!

[Cerez]

Bots can sometimes have faked ping. Bots can even be programmed (in the base game even!) to respond to particular phrases

I've noticed this most on certain Lugormod servers. Lugormod has an intelligent AI system for bots that makes them behave and respond to your actions almost as if they were real people. For example, turning off your lightsaber will make them stand by you, and meet you, and not attack you. They will also answer to certain simple questions as if they were real people. I've found myself fooled, and chatting to the air this way at first a few times... >.<'

 

The thing about JKA is that it's been around for so long, and the community has evolved so much, it's hard for us to relate to the very beginnings. But most of us are very helpful, so if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

 

In terms of competitive dueling, you can still occasionally find dependable, base-game styled competitors who value a vanilla, fair play above all, but more often than not you'll encounter competitors who use enhanced 'tricks of the trade', some of which may have once been considered as 'laming' and 'hacking' the game. These tricks give them an advantage over standard competitors -- such as triple and quadruple hits by spinning with a heightened mouse sensitivity applied, but they are consistent as a competitive practice. If you find yourself facing a lot of these competitors, you can either choose to join in the fun, and try to learn these 'advanced/hacker' practices, or simply turn away and find a server with 'normal' duelists. Whatever you do, don't get upset over it. Everyone has a right to play the game the way they like.

 

As for disappearing servers, this can be due to one of three reasons:

 

1. You're not using the same version of the game. OpenJK has a different server list to retail 1.01, and retail 1.01 has a different list to 1.0. I've noticed that the Mac retail version also often shows a slightly different list to the Windows version. I recommend using OpenJK, as it's the most up-to-date for Multiplayer, and seems to be consistent and reliable across the different platforms (Mac/Windows/Linux).

 

2. JKA is old-school -- you have two buttons that operate the server list. One for refreshing the current server information, and one for populating the server list with new entries. Make sure that you get a new list each time you're looking for a server. Sometimes you need to do this twice if there's an interruption in your connection to get the full server list of currently available servers.

 

3. The server you have joined previously is not a reliable server. Running a JKA server these days is low-cost, and relatively easy to set up, so there are a lot of servers that are temporary, or periodic. That said, there are a lot of servers that are steady and reliable as well. You just need to get to know the steady ones over use/time.

 

Note that you can favourite a server, and that will register and save its IP address into your client, to the Favourites list. This works particularly well with OpenJK, as in the retail versions of the game I've noticed there is a bug that causes your favourites to disappear from time to time. In OpenJK I've never lost my favourites, and it shows me when the server is down, too, so I can follow its uptime. (When it is unreachable, it will show the server's IP address instead of its name.)

 

You can also search for a user's player name, and follow them to the server they are logged into. This is not always most up-to-date and reliable, but can help when you're looking for each other in the vastness of the server list.

 

For transitioning from SP to MP, I remember one of the first things I had to learn was to use the katas/specials sparingly -- very sparingly. Some people even recommend not to use them at all. They leave you very exposed to a well-timed, one-hit-kill attack from your opponent. I still use them occasionally, but only in well timed circumstances, where I know my opponent's reach for a well-timed counter-attack is not optimal, and where using the kata/special really has an advantage. I do not use them against a very experienced opponent who knows how to easily counter them, however! That will surely get you killed in no time. The trick is to keep your attacks unpredictable.

 

In general practice:

 

Red/Strong breaks Yellow/Medium form on direct hit, and easily breaks through Blue/Fast.

Yellow/Medium breaks the Blue/Fast form on direct hit.

 

All three forms have their advantages, and can/should be used in combination skillfully to surprise and outsmart/overpower your opponent.

 

In common sense, for your sake, you do not want to jump into the middle of a Red/Strong swing -- you want to stay away from it, and counter-attack from the side or back while your opponent is vulnerable.

[ensiform]

The serverstatus command tells the true pings though. So unless they are running a hacked server exe forcing client data for that, I think it shows 0 ping there.

 

OpenJK uses the retail 1.01 server list still. o.O why do you think it doesn't?

[Cerez]

OpenJK uses the retail 1.01 server list still. o.O why do you think it doesn't?

There was talk of having switched to a different master server.

 

Does the retail game show OpenJK servers all the same?

[ensiform]

You can have multiple master servers set to broadcast to on the server in jampded and OpenJKded.    OpenJK broadcasts to both.  The OpenJK client supports multiple master servers for the server list but it requires UI changes to see anything but the raven master unless you know how to work the console to make it show the jkhub master with a trick.

[ensiform]

Not really sure where you got the idea we changed the master server totally O.o  That was never the case.

[Cerez]

Not really sure where you got the idea we changed the master server totally O.o  That was never the case.

Not totally, but since the Raven blackout, I had somehow gotten the impression that we've switched to our one as the default master server, and relegated the Raven one to a secondary position. Don't ask... I really don't know where or how I got that idea... >.<'

 

In that case, in theory at least, by default, OpenJK and the retail 1.01 JKA should both give exactly the same server list at the same time when prompted (and if the connection is steady).