Worms 2 (or one of the expansion packs like Worms Armageddon)

UTGLR drivers in every UT system folder should deal with the compatibility issues well, but that's for modern computers. When all else fails on an oldschool PC.......... VOODOO3 😀.

Since you have Serious Sam, MOHAA and Renegade on your list, this pretty much calls for a 700-1200mhz system of a P3 or AMD Athlon. Forget about the K6/P2's for those particular games, or even Voodoo cards. Those 3 benefit from a Geforce2 or greater.

Sounds like a fun lan party much better then the ones that I go to where where I play sc2 the whole time and they play LoL the whole time but anyway.

I recommend you have a dedicated server box for games that have it although it will take a little more work and you need to set up things like mapvote so everyone can choose what they want.

Assuming you don't want to set up pvpgn for warcraft 2 you need to remember to install ipx.

So other games you could consider (just remember this is bias based on games I like)

More of the same for your list:
Team Fortress Classic or Planet Fortress for Quake (i think this is what it is called)
Age of Empires II
Tribes
Red Alert 2
(I would put diablo 1 on this list but then you might realise im a crazy person 😜)

A bit different for your list:
Sacrifice (think it might be only 4 players but this would be a fun game to play assuming its not too hard to play without knowing anything)
Stronghold/Stronghold Crusader (learning curve not sure but its different to your other strategy games i think)
Re-Volt (haven't actually played it but looks good from the LGR video and it has multiplayer)

Another question how far are you willing to go back? DOS games ? I guess the question is are you going to have 98se on the computers or XP ?

Chaos Overlords, Missionforce: Cyberstorm just to name a couple

awergh wrote:

Sounds like a fun lan party much better then the ones that I go to where where I play sc2 the whole time and they play LoL the w […]
Show full quote

Sounds like a fun lan party much better then the ones that I go to where where I play sc2 the whole time and they play LoL the whole time but anyway.

I recommend you have a dedicated server box for games that have it although it will take a little more work and you need to set up things like mapvote so everyone can choose what they want.

Assuming you don't want to set up pvpgn for warcraft 2 you need to remember to install ipx.

So other games you could consider (just remember this is bias based on games I like)

More of the same for your list:
Team Fortress Classic or Planet Fortress for Quake (i think this is what it is called)
Age of Empires II
Tribes
Red Alert 2
(I would put diablo 1 on this list but then you might realise im a crazy person 😜)

A bit different for your list:
Sacrifice (think it might be only 4 players but this would be a fun game to play assuming its not too hard to play without knowing anything)
Stronghold/Stronghold Crusader (learning curve not sure but its different to your other strategy games i think)
Re-Volt (haven't actually played it but looks good from the LGR video and it has multiplayer)

Another question how far are you willing to go back? DOS games ? I guess the question is are you going to have 98se on the computers or XP ?

Well, I'm actively trying to avoid the whole SC2/LoL thing because I suck at SC2 and I absolutely can't stand MOBA games. 🤣

As for setting up a dedicated server, it's a pretty good idea though I am absolutely clueless when it comes to setting them up. 🤣 Do you think you could give me some pointers or maybe even a tutorial on setting one up, say for Quake 3? 😁

I'm planning on installing Win98 on the machines I'm building for this (with KernelEx), so IPX shouldn't be a problem. I actually used to have a LAN of Win98/2K machines in my basement a long time ago, so I have some experience with that.

The games you suggested sound pretty good. 😁 I don't have AoE 2, but I do have Age of Mythology. Is that any good?

As for how retro I'm willing to go, I would definitely be willing to play DOS games, though I'm having a hard time thinking of any that would work well on the hardware I'm likely to be using. Maybe Duke3D? 😁

Battlezone
Duke3D (with certain custom maps)
Deadly Games
UT2004 (with mutators like Ballistic Weapons and vehicle replacers for custom ones)

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

As for setting up a dedicated server, it's a pretty good idea though I am absolutely clueless when it comes to setting them up. 🤣 Do you think you could give me some pointers or maybe even a tutorial on setting one up, say for Quake 3? 😁

quake3.exe +set dedicated 1 +map q3dm17

done!!! 🤣

Redneck Rampage

leileilol wrote:

Battlezone Duke3D (with certain custom maps) Deadly Games UT2004 (with mutators like Ballistic Weapons and vehicle replacers for […]
Show full quote

Battlezone
Duke3D (with certain custom maps)
Deadly Games
UT2004 (with mutators like Ballistic Weapons and vehicle replacers for custom ones)

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

As for setting up a dedicated server, it's a pretty good idea though I am absolutely clueless when it comes to setting them up. 🤣 Do you think you could give me some pointers or maybe even a tutorial on setting one up, say for Quake 3? 😁

quake3.exe +set dedicated 1 +map q3dm17

done!!! 🤣

I was actually thinking of doing something more elaborate with a mapvote system and stuff. 🤣

Then slip in UIEnhanced? 😀

Now I'm gonna be that guy and say that setting up numerous decent computers each with monitor etc could turn out somewhat costly and in fact you don't even know for sure if your audience would be interested in it? Just saying that there exist source ports for a lot of these games which make them really easier to get into for newcomers. You could show them something like Zandronum (Skulltag successor, multiplayer Doom source port), gauge interest and then go from there.

d1stortion wrote:

Now I'm gonna be that guy and say that setting up numerous decent computers each with monitor etc could turn out somewhat costly and in fact you don't even know for sure if your audience would be interested in it? Just saying that there exist source ports for a lot of these games which make them really easier to get into for newcomers. You could show them something like Zandronum (Skulltag successor, multiplayer Doom source port), gauge interest and then go from there.

Well, it is kind of a crazy, pipe dream sort of idea, but I know at least a few of my friends would be in favor of it. Hell, if I can get something going with just like three other people that would be good enough for me. 🤣 But yeah, I actually have a fair number of spare parts stashed away that I've been meaning to do something with, and this might be a good opportunity for that. That being said, my dream retro lan setup would probably involve a set of four Tualatin boxes, and I sure as hell don't have any of those. 😜

Definitely go for the real thing more fun to set up then.

I forgot Age of Mythology that should be fun yeah I don't think I've ever played multiplayer but I'm sure it would be good. Rise of Nations is fun too but it does tend to produce very long games.

As for dedicated server do you prefer to run it on windows or linux? I'm sure I can play with quake 3 and work something out like a tutorial for you though.

Age of Empires II is great for LAN multiplayer. UT2004 is also good, but that's pushing the hardware more.
Star Control II Melee mode - Does the modern source port "Ur Quan Masters" have any kind of LAN multiplayer for this? Because that would be awesome. It's only 2 player, but people can make a tournament out of it or something.

I guess I'd just keep an eye out for whatever you can get in quantity at a cheap price. I wouldn't try to be too idealistic about it given the expense. I'd worry more about being able to scale to as many games as possible.
P4 era hardware is cheap nowadays, I bet you could get a good deal on a stack of such motherboards. CPUs are definitely no problem in that range. I wouldn't do this with Tualatins due to the likely cost of getting the boards. I don't think you'd get as much out of the investment that way.
P4/Athlon XP would be a good starting point IMO. Later platforms probably aren't needed but might be worth looking at depending what things cost.

Faster AGP video cards might get expensive. GeForce4 MX and especially 2MX are dirt common, but might not satisfy for everything you want to play. If you need much faster cards, PCI Express might get more economical than working, higher end late AGP cards.
I'd probably at least look into the availability of Express capable motherboards, to avoid getting heavily invested in AGP.

network cards - Intel 82559. Very cheap in quantity and they always just work. It doesn't sound like you have any use for gigabit.

monitors - Every now and then these turn up in thrift stores. Sometimes CRTs, but I think it's more common to see 15-17" 1024x768 or 1280x1024 LCDs with a scratch you won't really care about once you're using it.
Depending how things work where you are, maybe you can grab some better monitors that are sent to be "recycled" and might be saved with a recap.

shamino wrote:

Age of Empires II is great for LAN multiplayer. UT2004 is also good, but that's pushing the hardware more. Star Control II Mele […]
Show full quote

Age of Empires II is great for LAN multiplayer. UT2004 is also good, but that's pushing the hardware more.
Star Control II Melee mode - Does the modern source port "Ur Quan Masters" have any kind of LAN multiplayer for this? Because that would be awesome. It's only 2 player, but people can make a tournament out of it or something.

I guess I'd just keep an eye out for whatever you can get in quantity at a cheap price. I wouldn't try to be too idealistic about it given the expense. I'd worry more about being able to scale to as many games as possible.
P4 era hardware is cheap nowadays, I bet you could get a good deal on a stack of such motherboards. CPUs are definitely no problem in that range. I wouldn't do this with Tualatins due to the likely cost of getting the boards. I don't think you'd get as much out of the investment that way.
P4/Athlon XP would be a good starting point IMO. Later platforms probably aren't needed but might be worth looking at depending what things cost.

Faster AGP video cards might get expensive. GeForce4 MX and especially 2MX are dirt common, but might not satisfy for everything you want to play. If you need much faster cards, PCI Express might get more economical than working, higher end late AGP cards.
I'd probably at least look into the availability of Express capable motherboards, to avoid getting heavily invested in AGP.

network cards - Intel 82559. Very cheap in quantity and they always just work. It doesn't sound like you have any use for gigabit.

monitors - Every now and then these turn up in thrift stores. Sometimes CRTs, but I think it's more common to see 15-17" 1024x768 or 1280x1024 LCDs with a scratch you won't really care about once you're using it.
Depending how things work where you are, maybe you can grab some better monitors that are sent to be "recycled" and might be saved with a recap.

I've got tons of Pentium 4 era hardware, especially Socket 478 stuff, though most of it isn't all that great. 😜 In theory I could easily make a few systems with 2.4-2.8GHz Northwoods, 40-80GB hard drives, 256-512MB DDR ram, and AGP Geforce FX 5200s (blech 😜) with minimal costs included for things like power supplies, cases and heatsinks. They would probably be oldschool enough for my friends and provide enough horsepower for the more demanding games, but I just don't quite feel it. To me, there's a huge difference between Pentium II/III era stuff which I consider "oldschool", and Pentium 4 era stuff which I mainly just consider "old". 😜

Man, I just realized that my game selection encompasses a huge period of time, like from 1995 essentially (though the version of Warcraft II I'd like to use is a 1999 release) to 2002. No wonder I'm having a hard time deciding on what hardware I should use. 🤣

Dungeon keeper (2) might be a lot of fun in multiplayer.

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

In theory I could easily make a few systems with 2.4-2.8GHz Northwoods, 40-80GB hard drives, 256-512MB DDR ram, and AGP Geforce FX 5200s (blech 😜)

Blech all you want, but with Win98SE that combination can work out for a lan party. You don't even need to tell them it's a Pentium 4. It also has the specs to cover UT2004! but with ballistic weapons... that's another question 😀
Nvidia cards do have some directdraw troubles with certain games like Winquake (palette performance issue) and 7th Legion (buffer issue)

Hunting down decent PCI DOS soundcards would be the ultimate barrier toward dos compatibility if you're still for that, but these P4 systems should be enough for dosboxing even the BUILD-powered first person shooters and maybe with an ipx passthrough supporting build

A couple of years ago I threw a retro DOS LAN party with five or six 486 & Pentium machines from my collection. Set them all up with network cards and packet drivers, hooked them up to a switch, and did some competitive Doom, Duke 3D, and ROTT. It took a couple of weeks to set everything up properly and there were occasional glitches with frozen machines and whatnot, but overall it worked pretty well.

However, if I were to do it again, I'd just prepare a CD-ROM with DosBox and all the games I wanted to play, tell my friends to bring their laptops over, load all the software on their machines, and connect them over the network. But again, this only applies to MS-DOS games, not Windows.

For my last couple of LAN sessions I had a stack of custom built ISOs [for the mostly old stuff we played] and served them on the network using iSCSI. The best options were games that once installed/patched/modified could be copied to any machine [aka portable]. During planning I was also very specific on what were going to play so those attending could do as much setup as possible prior to the day.

Quake 1 with ProQuake
Quake 3 + Painkeep is a great mod
Unreal Tournament DM, Assault
Half Life + SVEN Coop through all of the SP story
Serious Sam SE (sadly it's usually unstable but a huge blast when its OK)
Far Cry + coop mod
Toca Race Driver 2
Flatout

We had many other choices but in general these were less accepted/played than those above. In effect we looked to make use of anything that gave instant gratification and ran on a wide range of kit. I never saw the attraction of strategy games as these were generally not install-n-play.

I always had some spare kit: network cards, soundcard, mice, headphones, etc. Older kit but serviceable for the day in case something didn't go to plan.

Although I even invested in a bunch of USB MS FFB wheels (got 3 of 'em in the loft collecting dust) for those that didn't own one I wouldn't do it again. I'd certainly not recommend you purchase actual machines for the same reasons. Go with the ISOs idea and get people to BYOD!

A quick update. The last mini LAN session I had was just with Quake 1 and Unreal Tournament running on a range of laptops.

Tip of the day - take the laptop charger 😀