Setting up a Vent Server

[icedcrow]

How difficult is this?

[devinnight]

it's very easy...

You should just need to install it.
You may change the codex if you want a mac person to be able to connect, but if all your friends have PC's then the default codex works fine.

Then just set up port forwarding to the machine the server is on and that's about it...

-D

[icedcrow]

Cool. So we don't need to rent anyone's server or anything.

[Griogre]

No, you don't but make sure the person running the voice server is different from the one running the FG server. Voice servers are bandwith hogs (especially Vent and Skype which are designed for broadband connections) and can starve the FG server of bandwith so you don't want them on the same external IP. Ideally you want the person with the fastest "up" speed to be running the voice server.

[icedcrow]

I was going to have someone on the same network as I am serve the VENT. I guess that's probably not a good idea.

[devinnight]

I've always hosted the vent server and FG on the same machine.
I probably should have someone else host Ventrilo. Though I cant really say we have ever had any problems, except maybe slow map sharing?
So you can do it, but it probably is better to have it hosted on a different machine.

-D

[Griogre]

No, not unless you are using seperate connections to the Internet.

[Griogre]

I've always hosted the vent server and FG on the same machine.
I probably should have someone else host Ventrilo. Though I cant really say we have ever had any problems, except maybe slow map sharing?
So you can do it, but it probably is better to have it hosted on a different machine.

-D
Yeah the biggest thing you would often see is slow map sharing, mask not shared properly, maps where the players see the tokens but not the map under them. You may also increase the odds you are going to have tokens time out also. If you are religious about preloading maps you might not see much impact except when you move the viewpoint.

If you have a fast enough "up" connection you might not have any problems at all - but typically on non commerical accounts the up is only a quarter to a third of the down and voice with a good codex and a bunch of people talking at once uses a *ton* of bandwith.

[mramirez]

Depending on how much you use the vent server, it may be beneficial to rent one. I rent mine and love it. But I also play a variety of online games. If you do go that route you can set up your server in a matter of minutes.

[Xorn]

If you're whole group chips in for a voice server, you can get one very cheaply. Branzone is $60 for a 10-person server for 12 months. There might be cheaper out there, I've always been very happy with Branzone though. I have a group of buddies that all use it for MMOs, too.

[Griogre]

I pay a little over 2 bucks a month for a 10 person teamspeak server that is used in 3 games a week. If you look around you ought to be able to find something for about 3 bucks a month if you sign up for a year. A dedicated server is the way to go for minimum hassels once you have a regular game up and running. You do need to look around because not all server hosts are equal.

[Xorn]

https://www.getgsc.com/

We found this last night. We're going to use it this weekend, but so far it works pretty sweet.

[icedcrow]

I skimmed it. Didn't see pricing info, is that free?

[Sorontar]

I skimmed it. Didn't see pricing info, is that free?

Looks like it FAQ (https://www.getgsc.com/gsc/faq/)

[Xorn]

Yes, free, and quality was fantastic. Until I can try it this weekend with a full crowd in the server, I'm not going to endorse it harder, but three people talking at once didn't even make it hiccup.

[icedcrow]

That's pretty awesome. I'll give it a go myself.

[Griogre]

Yeah it looks interesting. Let us know what you think of it after a session.

[Xorn]

You know, what I really need is to just get a lot of people on it, more than anything. Maybe we could coordinate a bunch of people to all hop onto a chat room tonight (or tomorrow) and see how many people we can get in there without issues.

(Maybe even try out the various token methods too, and kill two birds with one stone.)

[Tenian]

Will the tokens include the character's from the DnD cartoon?

If so I claim Warduke, if not...I'm too busy to test!

[Xorn]

I will not submit to extortion; however I am not without heart. You can be Sir John: Official Protector of the Villiage of Pendrake, and Battler of Beasts, Dragons, and Demons!

[Tenian]

Perhaps a compromise is in order.....
Can I be Josef Mueller complete with plane?

[Griogre]

If you want to set up a test. I can help today or tomorrow.

[Xorn]

Is 8 PM Central too late for folks to converge?

Search for the voice chat by owner (Xorne). I'll see everyone there that can make it!

[Xorn]

So the Great GSC Login kind of floofed last night. Anyone still interested in getting together to test out the capability of the free voice servers?

My brother picked up the Forgotten Realms campaign guide today, so we might be logging in to make characters tonight, but I'm not sure yet.

[icedcrow]

Man if I could I'd love to. Time is in short supply though. I'm going to attempt to run with this this Saturday as well.

[icedcrow]

Hmmm i can't seem to get to the getgsc website.

[Xorn]

https://www.getgsc.com/

It popped right up for me just now.

[icedcrow]

Yeah. For about 20 min it kept directing me to ask.com. Finally it came up. I downloaded and set up a server. Will be using it for saturday's game.

[Xorn]

Just finished a 5 hour game, did not have one single issue the entire game. Up to 6 people were on it, blabbering and chatting like crazy, no issues at all. This is a fantastic chat server!

(Note, no issues with tokens or anything either, using my same tokens-in-module workaround. The difference is I didn't have an 800KB common.xml module force loading!)

[icedcrow]

We had seven on ours. And no problem at all.

[Bidmaron]

I have used this successfully both on Vista 64 and XP. However, on both, when I try to record the session, the .wav file generated is so bad you can't tell what people are saying. Any thoughts on this?

[Xorn]

I have used this successfully both on Vista 64 and XP. However, on both, when I try to record the session, the .wav file generated is so bad you can't tell what people are saying. Any thoughts on this?

Never tried recording what they are saying. I'll try tonight and see if I have the same experience.

[joedog96]

lol, it happens....XD