We're settling in on a good map rotation in the UT server.  

I'm contemplating making two more UT server changes soon:
1) Allow the newest Bonus Pack 4 skins
2) Turning CSHP up to a higher level of hack detection

I also plan to stop listing the cheaters, since it is a PITA for me to update it constantly.
  I think the point has been made by now. ;-) 

Merry Christmas !!
--------------

I'm now allowing all of the original UT Bonus Pack Skins, including ... the COW.  Mooo.
"Who let the Cows out??"

  I may allow the UT Bonus Pack 4 skins if you folks really want them, do you???

------------------------------------
If you are looking for the UT Cheaters Web Page, that lists the cheaters caught by CSHP, it is here.
  New cheaters outed every day!! 

Thanks to Viking1 the News hound for giving us the heads-up !! 

NEW UT Bonus Pack is OUT NOW!! 

And best of all -- the new Bonus Pack is free, get it here ASAP! !

unreal.stomped.com/publis..._33_1.html

December 18, 2000

More UT cheaters listed on the "UT Cheaters" page.  New cheaters discovered every day! 

They are sorted with the most recent detects listed first.  Some of these guys keep trying to change IP addresses, or keep reconnecting.  Give it up guys, just stop trying to cheat then you are welcome to play.

Damn I hate cheaters.  I always have, back to the Quake 2 Server days. 

  I popped CSHP up this yesterday afternoon and within 10 minutes it had booted a cheater!!  This thing is pretty sweet, and does a foolproof job of spotting all sorts of aimbots, including hacked ones. 

I'm making a new "UT Cheaters" page so everyone can see who the lamers are,
 I'm beginning to recognize some of these names.  The cheaters page shows their name, partial IP address, time they were kicked out for cheating and what specific cheat they were using.  I am not showing their entire IP address, but I will consider permanently banning anyone found to be cheating.  I hope anyone who gets kicked will not cheat anymore and just play legitimately around here from now on. 

I'm sure there are more surprises to come as we find out who is and who has been, cheating.  I am considering expanding CSHP's detection to include all sorts of other hacks like, no smoke, FOV cheats, so if you do any of this stuff, you might want to consider not cheating around here anymore.

The best part about running CSHP on the server has been that now, when a guy makes a good play, nobody needs to wonder if it was skill, or a cheat.  

OK, I had Command 2 up on the UT CTF Server Sunday morning and it was a dismal failure.  It was too big and played too slowly, so I pulled it down pretty quickly. We are back to the previous rotation for now, which folks have been really enjoying (including me).  I am thinking about adding Cybrosis][ from the Bonus Pack at some time in the future for a change of pace.  I am also considering adding the Bonus Pack skins, with the exception of that goofy Cow skin, that one is harder to see IMO. 

My ISP continues to improve our bandwidth situation, and since Sunday night the server has never played better.  Pings are good but the biggest improvement has been the significant reduction of packet loss. 

Tonight I played UT for about 3 hours straight for the first time in a looong time.  Both times November came up we played those marathon games that I dislike strongly.  So guess what....  I pulled November from the map rotation!!  Shock!!  Gasp!!  Yes you heard it here, November is on hiatus.  We now have a really zippy, frag-till-you-puke map rotation that is not for lamers, spawn snipers or the faint of heart.  I really like the new rotation and most folks who have e-mailed me love it.  Check it out, as always it is subject to change.  I MAY put Coret in the place of Gauntlet, but I haven't decided on that yet, Coret frequently stalemates also, and old time UTers are sick of it because it was the ONLY CTF map in the UT Demo. But, it is a cool map and it is symmetrical. 

I also put the Force Respawn back to cut down on the lamers spamming, etc. while they are dead. And I made a few other minor performance tweaks that seemed to make the server a tad bit smoother as well. 

Last week was the busiest week I have ever seen for a UT Server, heck it is the busiest week I have ever seen for ANY server.  We were over 232 DAYS played!!!  Thanks to everyone who played, and particularly to those who played a whole lot this week.  We kicked the crap out of the Number 2 Server this week and are beating the life out of the other servers for the Quarter. 

My ISP's bandwidth problems are definitely tremendously improved.  Things are much better on both servers particularly during the daytime when it was almost unplayable before their upgrades. 

Long time no news update.  Been busy at work, we had a major project due to the USEPA on November 27th.  I am just now starting to catch up on my e-mail etc.

Well, Logicsouth has recently been adding additional bandwidth.  They have actually been adding it for a couple of weeks now, but they are still tweaking and working out the bugs in their systems to optimize their bandwidth.  Also, Cable & Wireless has been having all sorts of problems with overloaded circuits in Atlanta, so that has compounded the problems for us. 

The UT Server has just gotten unbelievably busy lately, and we are now crushing the number two busiest server in the world on ngWorldstats (check pout the Quarterly Stats, we are pulling away).  Thanks to all of you, we play on the busiest UT server of any type in the world.  "WE'RE NUMBER 1"!!  "WE'RE NUMBER 1"!! (Actually we have been number 1 for almost every single week since July 10.)

The concerns about the UT aimbot are a tad overblown, IMO.  Mostly folks who use it are lamers to begin with, and secondly the thing goes haywire in a server as busy as ours is; it is too much of a "target rich environment". Nevertheless I'll be soon installing CSHP which will eliminate any aimbots or other cheats completely.  I am holding off a short while longer until Dr. Sin releases the final bug free Version.  

The UT CTF map Command has been such a huge hit, I'm wondering why I did not add it sooner.  I think it is a blast to play and a nice change of pace also.  It is the only level I know where the "goo-gun" rules. 

I still plan to add Command 2, but I'm waiting for EPIC to break compatibility and force ALL servers to switch over, along with the clients. Be sure to grab the Command 2 map from the link below, so you will be prepared.

Tribes

The Tribes server gets less and less action, and I suspect it is for many reasons, one of which is folks are just plain bored with playing Tribes.  There is still a loyal crowd that plays there regularly, so I'm glad they are still having fun, but there are not as many new faces appearing there lately.   

For some unknown reason the Tribes server has always been much more sensitive to lag and ping spikes than the other servers have been.  I just plunked down another $300.00 to add more/faster RAM so I would be 100% positive that ram spikes were not causing the ping spikes. 

Quake 3A Team Arena

Has anyone here played this yet??  Is it any fun??  Should I out up a Demo Server??  

Lag City Update Part 2

My Server is co-located at LogicSouth in Columbia, SC.  The folks who run LogicSouth tell me they are completely SLAMMED for bandwidth, particularly during busy times, and particularly during the daytime 9a-6p M-F.  I do know they have been trying to obtain additional bandwidth, but as I type this they have not had success doing so.  

Since I pay almost nothing to have my Game Server and Web Page hosted at LogicSouth it is difficult for me to do too much complaining.  I know they recognize the problems and are working to correct them. 

We had this same problem about 1 1/2 years ago, and it all got worked out then, so I hope it will get worked out again. 

Oh, a new Unreal Tournament CTF map is out from Digital Extremes.
  It is CTF-Command][ 
  I think this map will rock with 30 players !!
  Go grab it now from here.

I plan to put it up within the next few weeks, or so. 

Unreal Tournament (UT) News: 

I upgraded the UT Server to Version 4.35 early Saturday morning.  And IT ROCKS!  The gameplay seems much better with the big games.  EPIC has done a good job of fine-tuning the game IMO.  

This Version also has some significant changes over Version 4.28 which I was running previously, namely:

- limit translocator firing rate (max 2/sec) to prevent translocator spamming bind cheats
- prevent message spamming in net play
- fixed thrown weapons sinking into ground in net play
- fixed server still sending data on disconnect
- servers are now prioritized by version on the master server
- slight improvement to server CPU utilization
- centered admin messages 
- voice auto taunts not printed in net games
- fix for CTF AI
- suicides are counted as deaths
- disallow setting of actor properties using the "set" command on clients.
(Prevents a whole class of cheats)

---------------

Oh yeah, and now the UT stats get uploaded automatically, two minutes after each map finishes. 

BIG Unreal Tournament NEWS !!

Epic has finally decided to break compatibility with an upcoming Version (4.36) due out soon.  Breaking compatibility means that if the Server is running that latest Version (4.36) you cannot connect and play unless you are also using at least Version 4.32.  This will be the first time that all players will not be able to connect to ALL servers using the version of the game that ships on the original CD.  They will need to patch the version to at least 4.32. 

Since this means ALL connecting clients will now be able to be re-directed automatically to a different server for textures, skins, and maps they do not have; for Cain's Lair this also means:
 New maps!!  New Skins!!  Woohoo!!  Oh YEAH BAY-BEE!! 

Be sure to grab AT LEAST Version 4.32 to be prepared.  

I'll keep you posted. 

I have gotten quite a bit of very nice e-mail lately. 
Thank you all for the kind words and compliments on the servers.  
I also have several folks to add to the regular's list, and I'll try to add everyone before Monday.  

Take care, have fun !!

Lag City Update

My ISP Logicsouth has run completely out of bandwidth, but they are working very hard to rectify the problem.  In the meantime the servers may be laggy with high pings.  It should be better at night and weekends but horrible during the daytime (when all his business customers use a ton of bandwidth). 

I'll keep you posted. 

 I have been unable to FTP into my Web page for the last week, so I could not post any updates or news.  That has been fixed late today. 

I will be updating the UT Server to Version 4.34 soon.  

I'm also occasionally running a UT: Assault server at 207.2.252.100:7790.
  Check it out, Assault is mucho fun. 

Tribes Server:
We're Baaaack!!  Number 1 CLQ Server in the world again.. 

 Thanks to all the folks who play there and call Cain's Lair their Tribes home.
 Tell all your buds to come play with us and have some fun. 

Unreal Tournament Server News:
Well EPIC has released UT Version 4.32.  It is a good patch and I recommend all clients go grab it.  It also does away with the CD check, which is a relief as well.  I have not updated the server yet because they do not have the dedicated Server only version available yet.  I'll let you know when I get the server updated. And check out the Forums. we have some good lively, and usually pretty funny discussions going on over there. 

I removed LavaGiant and put Gauntlet back in.  So we have Face, November, Gauntlet, Coret.  That makes for a good fast-paced rotation, and about two hours of play with no repeats. 

-----------------------

I've been LMAO at some of those Haikus over in the Tribes Forum. 

I have been informed it is OK to say this without violating my Non-Disclosure Agreement.  

I will soon be running a private Tribes 2 Beta Server.  I do not expect this to degrade the performance of the regular servers in any way, but please e-mail me if you think it has.  

I popped up a good FAQ on Unreal Tournament over on the Guides Page. Check it out. 

Unreal Tournament (UT) Stuff: 
More p1mpage!!  My UT CTF Server has gotten some good publicity by the mapped dude "Bangout" over at Planteunreal.com, here is the link to his page:
 http://www.planetunreal.com/mapped/
Scroll down to Sept. 17 News to find mention of my UT CTF server.  
Thanks "bangout" !

Tribes Stuff:
Guys, if someone TK's you, vote to kick or purg him, immediately; then say "Vote yes, he is a TK".  If YOU got TK'd your vote and vote initiation carries more weight with BWAdmin installed.  If he TK's others in a short span, and someone who is TK'd also votes to kick him, it can take as few as 2 votes YES to get him booted out.  So stop asking Admins to kick folks, I want the players to take responsibility for policing the server, I do not want Admins to have to do that. Tribes is set up to run well with NO Admins, and usually does work better when the players take some responsibility for what happens there. 

If players annoy you, MUTE them. If they TK you, vote them out, if you want another map, vote for it.  Anytime you initiate a vote explain what you want, and why, and many folks will agree.  this is particularly true of TK'ers. Be sure to say WHY you voted to kick "Joe Blow", or ask others why they initiated a vote to kick him. 

I think I have the light skiing fixed, but let me know if it is not fixed.  I had to remove the station eject, since it was buggy and could kick in long after you had left the station..

Tribes Server stuff:
Apparently light skiing was messed up for the last week or more, but only one person, "{VV}Yetskii",  took the time to e-mail me to say that something was messed up with the Tribes server (Thanks!). 

 I thought I had fixed what he was describing with a reboot, but it came back. FUNKY called me at home yesterday to tell me light skiing was broken. 

Guys!!  Drop me an e-mail anytime something messes up..  You know I'll fix it ASAP! 

Anyhow the problem has something to do with BWAdmin, although the author says it does not.  I fiddled with many settings and disabled stuff we can live without, and light skiing seems to be OK again, but e-mail me ASAP if it is not!! 

Everyone keeps asking me if I will run a Tribes 2 Server when it comes out. The answer is absolutely, YES!  I do not know when it will ship, but I will probably slowly phase out the Tribes 1 Server and phase in the T2 Server.  I will also have a T2 Server running the FIRST DAY the game ships, so you know where to go.

The UT Server fell to number 2 for the Quarter, a few days after I bragged about it being number 1 !!  :-)  WRT the 9 of the top ten servers, I still cannot believe that folks would want to play FACE, over and over and over and over and over and over and over.  Oh well, to each his own.  

I pulled down Coret and replaced it with LavaGiant.  Coret is a little long in the tooth, and if you have been playing UT since the DEMO, you may be tired of CORET. 

Thanks to the good folks over at  http://tribes.stomped.com/ , your best source for any Tribes related News, for mentioning the changes around here lately. In case you missed it in their news tonight, I copied a pic of it and have it posted here locally, but first go over there and check out all the other cool stuff and news they have.  (Local Copy of "Cain's Lair" mention in the Tribes.Stomped News for 9/4/00.)

Almost everyone seems to love Team Damage being on in the Tribes Server, and I'm glad.  I have always liked it but was concerned about TK'ers ruining the fun, however BW Admin has some very elegant ways of handling real TK'ers.  I have fiddled and tweaked the BW Admin settings based on feedback from you folks and now I seem to have it just about perfect. Thanks for the feedback!! 

The Tribes server has been getting very busy at non-normal times lately, so that is good.  It has always been busy at night, but it is getting busier earlier, and earlier in the day, and staying busier later and later at night.  Thanks to all who play here. 

The UT CTF Server has now taken over the top spot in ngWorldStats for the entire Quarter.. Thanks to many, many folks who play there regularly, at all hours of the night and day. 

I sincerely hope I have all the Domain name mess behind me.  There is one final step to take, and hopefully that will be done this week. 

Domain problems.  My Domain name (cainslair.com) got lost for a few days there in a paperwork shuffle that hopefully has now been resolved. Well at least 90% of it has been resolved, with the remaining 10% to be resolved over the next few weeks. 

It looks like from this point in time forward, this URL will be the official Website address for the "Cain's Lair" Web pages, so bookmark, or mark as a favorite www.cainslair.com and delete the older URL. It will soon point here anyway, and cease to exist as a separate address.

A completely new Web site design, to accompany my new Domain name.  www.cainslair.com  

I have put a great deal of time and effort into the new Web page design and layout, and I'm very pleased with the results.  I wanted it to be distinctive, functional, not so graphics intensive that it loaded slowly, and easy to navigate. 

Thanks to "Masta" (aka MastaKilla) who pointed me in the direction of a very nice 3D Text creation program called ULead Cool 3D. I grabbed a Demo Version, fiddled with it for a few hours, and look what I made!!  

I'm very happy with the 3D, rounded bevel, red shiny, back-glowing text you see above (and on all the header pages).  Someday 3D text will be very easy for anyone to make, but until that day comes, Cool 3D makes it easier than anything I have ever seen, and much, much easier than making 3D text in Photoshop or PaintShop Pro. 

If you fiddle with Web pages you are probably wondering how I did that mouseover business on the left. It is a javascript I picked up a long time ago; just look at my source code and copy it if you want to use it for yourself.  WARNING: It can be a PITA to get working properly, but it looks good, works great, and will work with any browser, even the old ones.

I'm taking a serious look at a putting up another server; perhaps another Quake3A DM Server; or maybe a new CounterStrike Server; if/when they get their netcode straightened out.  

I'll also look at a Quake 3 Team Arena Server when that add-on ships, which should be soon. It will be a $20.00 add-on for Q3A, so let's see how well it sells and how much fun it is first. 

The UT CTF Server and the folks who play there have been nothing short of amazing.  It is BY FAR the busiest server I have ever run, and has been the busiest UT Server of any kind in the world for the last 7 or 8 weeks in a row. I upgraded to Version 4.28 with some reluctance, but it became a necessity after some lamers learned about the skin cheats and the ability to crash the server by committing suicide over and over.  4.28's netcode seemed different to me, but I raised the tick rate and now it feels better.  I know 4.28 has some significant netcode changes to help low bandwidth/high latency clients (analog modemers).  

I briefly tested the 4.29 UT Beta Server Sunday morning at about 4:30AM, and it was a complete and total disaster. Anyone who was there for the testing can account for that!  

I'll wait for at least 4.30 to upgrade again, which will be out in Beta soon.  It is possible that 4.30 will include some sort of MUTE for folks who spam messages over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (this was my suggestion to the programmers). 

I put BWAdmin on the Tribes server and also enabled TD.  Folks kept begging for Team Damage, so we'll see how it goes. I know you hardcore folks love TD but I'm worried about TK'ers.  BW Admin is supposed to handle them well, so we'll see how it goes.  Drop me an e-mail with any comments or concerns.  We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks.

I tried out Reverse Damage and it was a complete and total failure.  EVERYONE hated it, so I just went with good old fashioned Team Damage, then after 5 TK's you get TD and Reverse TD for TK'ers. 

BW Admin has a ton of other great features, including auto-eject from stations, team scramble after each map, Intelli-Kick for TKers,  fixes many bugs inherent to Tribes, and so on. 

Be sure to let me know how you folks like the changes.
 

The UT CTF server has been unbelievably busy. The thing is hard to get into at night, and stays very busy 24/7.  Thanks to everyone who plays there, particularly the regulars.  I have made some nice new friends there, and that is what all this is about anyhow ... for me at least..

Today is my Birthday!!  Woohoo!!  43 Years old..  I took the day off from work, to work around the house. 

Well the big upgrade has had another, unexpected positive effect. ..... Lower in-game pings.  I am not exactly sure why this has happened, but I suspect it was going from 320 Meg, cheap, 4 sticks of RAM, to two sticks (256+128) of the highest quality Micron PC100 RAM.  I do not think the increased CPU speed would have any effect on in-game pings, which appear to be 15-30 percent lower than before.  Also I doubt the better power supply can account for this either..  Perhaps it is a cumulative effect, I'm not sure. 

Thank you to everyone who e-mailed me earlier tonight (Friday) to tell me the server was down.  Many times folks do not let me know when it is down, so I cannot restart it. 

Tonight however the server was down from about 5:30-8:00 because it was in about a zillion pieces on the floor.  I did some major upgrades to what was already one of the fastest most powerful game servers out there.  I moved everything to a new Antec Server tower with four fans blowing a gale force of cool air through the case, I put Micron RAM in there and upped the RAM to 384 Megs, I used a new Antec 300W power supply, AND .....  I upgraded to Dual P3-800 Coppermine CPU's..  Whoa!!  That thing dimmed the lights in downtown Columbia when I switched it on!!  It was blazing before but it is SCREAMING now..  

Also, I got a fix for the UT server's ngWorldStats display.  The stats work, and have been working all week, but now I got a fix that will show them as "enabled" and "active" which they really are, they just do not show that in the browser now..

Grrrrrrr. Those damn ngWorldStats on the UT server are a HUGE pain in the ass.  HUGE..  I have finally found a workaround, with a file that batches them up then I can manually run them..  BTW we are really getting some GOOD, and I mean GOOD players in the UT CTF server, including the current Number 1 ranked player in the world (Shhhh, you know who you are ;-)  ..

For those of you who don't know this is a universal problem with UT and ngWorldStats.  When their FTP server does not accept the stats upload after a map change, it hangs up the server for 10-20 minutes.  It is sitting there, but you cannot ping it, and cannot join it either..  Two guys wrote two separate files I am using to work around this problem, and I think it will be better now.  Stats may not get updated immediately, but we should not lose any of your stats now. 

Did you guys notice that Cain's Lair CTF is the Number 1 UT CTF Server in the World (click on Games above, then ngWorldStats)!!  Oh well, it is at least for this weekend.  My server is not as busy during the weekdays, but if you are a regular  - - PLAY here during the weekdays!  If you join and play particularly when it is empty, then others will join and play also..  

Thanks to all the folks who are playing UT CTF here, I added some new regulars I have been seeing quite a bit in there..

We all had some really great and hectic UT CTF games Sunday and Sunday night as well..  Lots of fun.  If you do not like heart-pounding action, then find a server with a 10 player limit..  WOW! It gets intense, really fun.

The new BWAdmin mod is coming "soon" to the Tribes server.  It will feature reverse Team Damage that works this way. If you shoot a team mate, you take 100% of the damage you tried to inflict on him.  If you shoot your own deployables you take 50% damage. If it is empty, disabled, or if you placed it you take 0% damage.  If you shoot your own team's vehicles you take 75% damage.  If you get too many TK's in a certain time span, you get auto-booted and banned for a while.  This will really be good, IF THEY WILL EVER FINISH IT !!  ;-0 ..

OK, I brag about ngWorldStats (on the UT CTF Server) being fixed and they crashed this afternoon and make my server unpingable every 1/2 hour or so.  I have disabled the ngWorldStats again, and may not put them back up..  I noticed all the other Top 5 CTF servers crashing over and over today as well..  My server had gotten to Number 1 UT CTF Server in the World, until it settled in at about number 3..  

Oh well, as long as you folks enjoy it, who cares about the stats, I have never looked at mine anyway.

I may re-enable them tomorrow, we'll just have to see.. 

Happy 4th of July.  

I re-enabled ngWorldStats on the UT CTF server this afternoon, and they seem to be working again properly..  Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me asking for them to be re-enabled, I didn't know anyone looked at those things, but I'm glad to know many of the regulars do. 

Still no release of the new Tribes BWAdmin with reverse TD.  They still have not had a chance to finish it, so I'm guessing several more weeks.  It will allow the Server Admin to set reverse damage for killing: teammates, deployables and vehicles.  

I'll put it up on the Tribes server as soon as it is available..

Road Runner is still having mucho problems with routers in Raleigh and Atlanta, both of which feed into my server.  If you are a RR customer, and you are having problems (either pinging or playing in my servers) try to release your IP and renew it to get a new IP, this often seems to help (grabbing a new IP address). 

If you tried to connect to any of my servers in the last week and they appeared to be down, they weren't, RR was down and many of their  customers in the Southeast could not reach my servers.  Arrrrgh...

What is Reverse Team Damage??  Simple, it is a nice compromise in between normal Team Damage and no Team Damage.  In Reverse Team Damage, the TK'er takes all the damage and kills himself, without injuring his teammate.  This will greatly cut down on Mortar Spamming, and eliminate people disking each other off of inventory stations.  As it looks now it will probably be on the server before July 4th..  When it has been installed, I'll mention it in the MOTD, the loading message and here..  You will also be able to tell because my Admin mod will then be BWAdmin. 

June 24, 2000

I finally got around to adding the photos of my game server, including the building where it is housed and the room where it is located.  If you ever wonder what the machine you are playing in looks like, go to the Server section and click on "Photos of the Cain's Lair Server".. 

For any of you out there using the Road Runner Cable Modem service and who play in my server, life just got a whole lot better.   I was having really bad packet loss problems playing in my server (I'm a RR customer here at the house) and after several months of complaining and finger pointing at Cable and Wireless in Atlanta, it turns out the fault was all Road Runner's; the bad routers were theirs!!  They identified the problem, improved their load balancing, and also significantly increased the bandwidth of those last routers before they hop out into the Internet when heading South.  

If any of you had horrible PL problems in my servers, and you are a RR customer, then check out the game servers again, they are fantastic now. 

Also, I had re-enabled ngWorld Stats on the UT CTF server, but they hung up the server again last night, so I disabled them again.  I cannot even get into the ngStats Web page to look at any World Stats anyway, so I'm not sure what is broken.

There is a new UT Patch coming out within the next week or so.  It will be 4.21 and the vast majority of the changes will be server side, so it will be important for me to get, less important for you to get, unless it specifically fixes some bug you were having. 

The UT server has been so busy late at night, that it took me 30 minutes to get in there and play last night.  It has really been hopping, with some of the best games I have ever played in, and a good crowd of players.  Remember these are usually very fast paced games with TONS of furious action, and a 28 player game is not for everybody (but it for us old Quake players!). 

June 19, 2000

The UT Server started acting "weird" this weekend and lost the ability to be pinged after three maps.  After nearly pulling all my hair out on Sunday, and kicking the dog and chewing out the wife (more about her later), I finally realized (at 11:30 Sunday night) the problem was the ngWorldStats.  Apparently their server was messed up, so my server would lock up when it could not upload the stats.  I killed the ngWorldStats and now it is running smoothly,  I'll re-enable the ngWorldStats when I patch the Server to 4.21 or whatever they will number the next UT patch..

My experiment with new UT maps was a dismal failure.  So we are back to the Retail Maps only, and I may add one or two more retail maps. 

Tribes!!  Tribes!!  OK, after loooong and careful consideration I am giving some serious thought to enabling Team Damage on the Server.  I may start with a few nights per week, and see how it goes.  I like to play in BIG games with lots of players, so an empty server is no fun to me no matter how cool its maps or settings or connection.  E-mail me your thoughts on TD on the Tribes server.  Or post over in the Forums.  I will also switch to a new Admin Mod that will automatically BOOT TK'ers, so that should be a real help.. 

Most of you may not realize how much money and time it costs to run these game servers.  Those of you who are married must realize that I am married to a Saint; I don't pray for her I pray to her!! 

Anyhow, her Birthday was Sunday, and she got neglected because I spent most of the day trying to trace my UT Server's problems.  How about you folks send her an e-mail, and wish her a Happy, belated birthday, just send it to me and put "Mrs. Cain" somewhere in the title and I'll forward them all to her, she would really get a kick out of that, and appreciate hearing from you folks. 

June 11, 2000

I got my hands on a simple NT batch file that will restart the UT server when it crashes.  So if you are in the server, and it crashes or you get disconnected, just reconnect because it now pops right back up automatically. Also, I increased the UT player load to 26 and I may consider taking it up to 28, but I doubt I will go higher than that.  Folks I'm here to say that a 26 player game is a BLAST, rockets, redeemers, heads, arms, plasma balls EVERYWHERE.  I had a ball playing yesterday and last night.  Remember to go to the "Games" link here and go to the ngWorldStats Icon to see the stats for my server, and to look at individual game stats, and your ngWorld stats, it is pretty cool.

I took November out of the UT rotation, because it goes into overtime about 75% of the time, and that can go on FOREVER..

I'm considering one more CPU upgrade in a month or so, to give me plenty of CPU for the upcoming Quake 3 Team Arena which I think will be fun, we'll see how that goes. 

I dumped some maps from the rotation in the Tribes server; I dumped Domino, Dropzone, Cloak of Night and Desert of Death, and I added back ....... Dangerous Crossing (I can hear the cheering)..  I think D/C gets pretty busy with 34 players, but you guys keep begging for it, so it is BACK.  I also made it slightly more difficult to pass a vote, it had gotten to easy for a few players to vote to switch maps, etc. 

I wanna spiff up my Web page, anyone willing to help me out??  If you are, drop me an e-mail..  Thanks..

June 5, 2000

The UT CTF server keeps crashing..  If you want to play, and you cannot ping it, the server has crashed..  Either call me, or e-mail me immediately so I can put it back up.  Otherwise it stays down for hours on end.. 

The Tribes server is holding steady at the Number 1 CTF Admin Server in the World on CLQ!!  Thanks gang.  And the UT CTF server is in the 14 to number 6 range pretty consistently (it would be higher if it didn't crash every 8 hours or so!!)..

June 4, 2000

Well, some big changes came to the UT Server this weekend..  I removed the Instant Rockets, which now allows folks to load up as many as six rockets at one time, and I now allow power-ups.  I also increased the maximum players to 24. 

The Quake 3 Arena Server has bitten the dust, again.  Just not busy enough to warrant keeping it around.  We'll see how the new Team Arena looks when it gets released.  I decided to use the extra CPU cycles to increase the number of players in the UT Server, since it has been very busy and lots of folks cannot get in to play UT at night when it stays full... 

Like I said I'll take a look at the new CS for HL when it gets released next week, in the meantime I'll hold with two very busy servers with a good group of regulars, Tribes and UT CTF. 

Be sure to post over in the Forums.  That Haiku thread in the Tribes Forum is really funny.  Thanks Petyr (GoKartMozart) for starting that one..  (BTW Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that is three lines, does not rhyme, and is 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables. Make one and post it!!)..

Also, send me some photos dangit!!  I have only gotten a couple and I want to post photos of regular players..

May 28, 2000

I added a new section to the Forums..  "Report-a-Jerk" When some lamer ruins the fun you are having  - report him; I'll check all these out..  

Q3A straight deathmatch has been doing fairly well, I'll see how it goes before I decide whether or not to keep it.  

May 25, 2000

I put up a Q3A Team Deathmatch server tonight and the response to it has been pretty good so far..  The game really is fun BTW, lots of laughs..  Check it out, I'm still rotating gametypes looking for the Q3A game that most folks want to play..  I'll see how this one goes, in the meantime I have downloaded Q3F and am studying it now..  

I still haven't ruled out a HL-CS server when the 1.5 TFC and new netcode gets released, we'll see how it goes..

May 21, 2000

I popped up a Forum for all the regulars around here to exchange ideas, share stories, etc..  

Just click on FORUMS above.. And have fun.. I reserve the right to remove any posts that are offensive, too abusive of anyone or that get boring and pointless (e.g. "Linux rules Windoes sucks").  I'll likely add more sections later..  Maybe just a general rant section, or general non-game section.

May 20, 2000

OK gang.  I'm looking for a new game to add to the Server's lineup.  I have run Q3A servers in the past, I have also run Half-Life Servers too.  I'm currently looking at Half-Life CounterStrike, and several mods of Q3A.  I'll try several games but the one that gets the most support, the most e-mail, and stays the busiest will be the one that stays up.  

Any suggestions??

I upgraded the Server again yesterday, BTW.  I had to get a new motherboard that would run Slot 1 Coppermine CPU's then I got two P3-650 Coppermines.  It really looks sweet so far. I added two players to Tribes and two players to UT.  I wanted to add more to the UT server but it just sucks down too much CPU for any additional players to be added.

I fixed a bug with the Tribes server where players could vote to turn TD on, but they could not vote to turn it off !!  Thanks to Lazyboy~37~ for the e-mail feedback on this problem.. 

I also added a Link on the Games page to the ngWorldStats for the UT CTF Server, just click on it and it takes you to Cain's Lair CTF section of the ngWorldStats.  You can now see how you stack up with players from all over the world, and if you click on index of recent games you can look at unbelievable detail of game by game for the last week or so. 

May 14, 2000

Well Quake 3 Arena is Back at Cain's !!! 

I'm upgrading the Server soon, with a new Motherboard and brand spanking new CPU's.  More POWER!!  More Games!!   So I got a head start and popped the Q3A CTF server back up to celebrate..  We should be OK for a while till I upgrade, I have run all three before, and it was fine..  After the upgrade, I may add another Q3 Server, or perhaps a Half-Life Counterstrike Server.  I'll definitely add more players to UT and Tribes. Probably 2-4 extra in each one. 

You must have the latest Q3A Patch to be able to play, I have linked it below so you can get it from fileplanet. 

Q3A 1.17 Patch

Get the patch, come play with us..  

I may switch it to FFA, and Team DM to see which is the most popular..  I may also look at some of the more popular MODS.

I patched the Tribes server to 1.11 this morning, so you have to have the latest patch OR YOU CANNOT CONNECT..  It is the anti-cheating patch, so that is important..  Tribes 1.11 Patch

Also, I'm taking down the custom stats for the UT server, they just took waay too much of my time every morning, but I switched the nGWorld Stats, so you can go see your stats there.  That should be cool, and it is much easier for me as well.

May 4, 2000

REMEMBER, UPDATE YOUR VERSION OF TRIBES OR SOON YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONNECT !!!

I'll be upgrading the Server hardware within the next few weeks and when that happens I'll add some form of Q3A back to the server, probably CTF or FFA. 

Also, I am talking with my old ISP, Logicsouth about registering the Domain name, "cainslair.com" to make it easier for folks to find this Web page, I'll keep everyone posted when this happens. 

April 29, 2000

Whew..  Long time no updates..  Let's see, this is what is going on with the Servers.

1) IMPORTANT!!  There is a new Tribes patch out to fix all those client side hacked models cheats, like the one where you can see six story tall flags on your PC, while everyone else sees normal sized flags. (Photos of various cheats here.)  When I put this new patch on the server which will be around May 9th, you will have to have the latest patch to connect, AND no oddball client side models will be allowed.  This patch does CRC checking to stop all this cheating (and you all KNOW how I feel about cheating!).. 

Get the Latest Tribes Patches Here --------> Tribes 1.11 Patch

2) The Tribes server just keeps going, and going, and going, and going.  My Server is still one of the busiest CTF Admin Servers in the world, and when I can get it back to 36 players I'll take back number one !! (CLQ Server Rankings.)   Since soon everyone will have to have the latest patch I will put a few of the best Open Call and Balanced maps in the regular CTF rotation.  That should be fun.  

3) So far all I have heard about the new Tribes BasePlus has been bad, so for now I will stay away from it. 

4) The UT Server started acting odd, and was crashing frequently.  I disabled the compressed map re-directs and went back to standard maps and now it is fine again.  I had gone out of town for a few days but nobody e-mailed me to say the server had crashed.  ALWAYS e-mail me I can usually fix it no matter where I am at the time.

5) I'm still looking for more server horsepower so I can increase the Tribes players back to 34 or 36, increase the UT players to 20 or 22 AND bring back some form of Q3A server as well.  We'll just keep seeing how that will go. 

6) My Internet backbone, Cable and Wireless in Atlanta is still having periodic meltdowns, hopefully they are going to get better soon, permanently. 

 7) I really want to upgrade the server to Win2K Professional Server, but I know too many Admins with serious problems with it, so I'll hold off on that a little while longer.  Win2K seems to really rock as a client OS but the Game Server Admins are having some real packet loss and wild ping swing problems with it for now.  I'm sure Uncle Bill will get all this fixed, if not Janet Reno will send some "jackbooted thugs" to pepper spray the programmers and "rescue the codebase"..  Hehe..

8) Did you guys all see that Elian Waaaaazzzzzuuuubbb video??  I have it here locally in case you missed it.  As soon as I figure out how to link to a Flash 4 file I'll put it up.

9) Speaking of Flash, I'm going to learn how to use it in the next week or so, so look for a snazzy new Flash intro here!!

10) Apparently my MRTG graphs have dropped dead, I need to call my ISP and ask them what happened.  Do any of you look at those things anyway??   {You must, I got two e-mails telling me they were not working ;-) }

10) Take it easy folks, as usual e-mail me with problems, concerns or to chat about the servers.. I read all, and reply to 99% of, my e-mail..  I am going to set up a Web based Forum here so you folks can talk to each other.. 

--  Cain

March 23, 2000

OK here we go..  The problem for some of the folks with packet loss and ping swings is completely out of my control..  

It has nothing at all to do with my server, it is not a CPU, OS or NIC Card issue at all, I have fiddled with everything imaginable, but I know the problem......

You see the Internet is a series of routers, and you could have to hop through anywhere from 8 to 30 to get to my server.  If any one of those routers is having a bad day, they will drop some of your packets, and they will add latency to your packets so your ping goes up and down..  Lately the Cable & Wireless routers in Atlanta have not been too great.  Not horrible just not perfect, so a packet here and there gets lost.. It comes and goes..  Check your own route to see how it looks, then complain to the hops that are bad for you..  You click on the hop and do a "whois" to find out who to complain to.

If you need help, I'll check it out for you, just e-mail me your IP address, and/or perhaps I can check it next time you are in the server.. 

March 20, 2000

OMG!!  Those new Tribes maps chew up some SERIOUS CPU Cycles..  Those things use 75% more CPU than the old maps..  Sheesh..  What does that mean for the clients??  Jerky play in the Tribes Server, at times..  I'm still looking into more CPU but it looks like it will cost me about 1,000.00..  We'll have to see about that..

March 19, 2000

Go here for latest patches, and/or to just download the new Map packs. 

You want Open Call and Balanced, or the final two patches which include the Map packs..  

http://www.tribesplayers.com/tribesplayers/downloads.html

------------------

Lots of issues and questions on my e-mail lately.  Let me see if I can answer them.

1) Q: The Server seems more "laggy" lately.. 

A: Yes it has been, for a variety of reasons.  My internet backbone is through "Cable and Wireless" the company who purchased the MCI internet routers and routes.  And for a week or so the routers in Atlanta, which most of you come on your way into "Cain's Lair", have - to use the technical term- sucked.  They had horrible packet loss and wide swings in latency (ping).  They are getting fixed now, much better lately. You really need to go to the Guides page and grab "UO Trace" if you do not already have it, it will let you poll all the hops (routers) between me and you and see where the problem lies.  It may be that your ISP stinks, many do <s>.  If you are in the game and EVERYBODY has packet loss, then you know it is not just you, it is either my internet routers, and/or the server acting up.  Always check YOUR ping and PL first, because about 90% of the time it is probably just you with the problem.. 

The second part of this answer is the Unreal Tournament (UT) server is a resource hog for a server.  I finally discovered that it goes through some crazy CPU spikes that are very brief.  I always monitor CPU resources for the servers, but it was not until I reduced the update speed of Perfmon to 0.10 seconds that I could see what was happening..  I have reduced the number of allowable players in the UT CTF server, so that should help.  Additionally.....

I am also probably going to upgrade the server's CPU's from Dual P3-500's to something more powerful.  I may need to get a new Dual P3 motherboard to do that <bummer, $$$$$$>.. If you have any interest in purchasing a Dual P3 ASUS P2B-D motherboard with matching CPU's (P3-500) drop me an e-mail..  

As you can imagine, all this gets to be very expensive, so I may start accepting contributions to help defray the costs of all this equipment.  I saw 5assedMonkey has a page where he lists contributors by dollar amount, that may be a good idea..  Most of you have little idea how much all this costs both in time and money.  I spend on average 1-2 hours per day fiddling with the game server and all its components.. 

_____ _________________ ____

2) Q: Why can't we vote in the new maps in the TRIBES Server??  Do you have the "auto-vote" set too high??

A:  First, many of the players in there on a day to day basis do not have the new maps, or any of the patches.  So when the new maps DO get voted in, you may see the number of players drop, I may be wrong. We'll see, new maps with lots of players will rock !! 

Second, the voting threshold is set by the server Admin.  And the number of players who must vote in order for any vote to pass is also set by the Admin.  Currently the number of players who MUST vote in order for any vote to pass is set to 8.  It was set to 12 before.  Also, in order for any vote to pass it must have 60% voting "YES" and 70% of the folks in there need to vote.  So for a 20 player game, it would be possible for, say 14 people to vote, then of that 14 people if 9 vote "YES" then the map will change.  OK think about that for a second;  9 players out of 20 made the map change.  That means that 11 players did not vote for the map to change, so a minority got it voted through.  That concerns me somewhat, so I changed the start-up message to remind folks to vote, or do not complain if a vote passes.  

Third, there is no "auto-vote" that votes "No".  There IS a threshold of players who must be in the server and vote to make any vote valid, and like I said it is now set to 8, down from 12 or 16 as I recall.

Update!!!  Well the Open Call maps have been a HUGE hit.. It appears that  more folks than I thought actually have the latest patch, and/or the newer missions..  

That Rox !!

March 16, 2000

OK, I guess the Cat is out of the pajamas!  I had already put some Open Call and Balanced Missions on the Tribes Server.  They do not cycle through automatically like the CTF maps tho, and nobody has been voting them in.  I will be interested to see how often they actually get voted in to be played..  (I'll predict, almost never.)  I popped in the server to check it out late yesterday, and while a ton of folks were begging for the new maps, one Guy, I think it was Raze was saying, "They are already here folks!"  "Nobody has voted them in!".. Hehe he was the only one who was looking for  them!!  I just remained silent <s>....  

March 15, 2000

Well the UT CTF Server has been a big hit.  I have had well over 3,200 different players in the server over the last few weeks.   That is great, lots of cool folks having a lot of fun!!

Earlier this week, I was going crazy with packet loss and latency problems.  My backbone out to the Internet is through Cable and Wireless (MCI) and their Atlanta routers have been awful lately. Grab UO Trace (From the Guides section here) and check it out for yourself..  It is getting better.. But still not perfect, I have complained, I may get you folks to complain to them also...  

I am giving very serious consideration to upgrading the server AGAIN..  I just to hate to have four or five hundred bucks that I cannot throw into the game server <s>..  I may go to Dual P3-600's or Higher possibly..  I want to increase the number of players in the UT CTF server, because, I can hardly ever get in the darn thing in the evenings!!  It is 18 players now and I am thinking of making it hold 24 players, if/when I get more CPU. Also, I will add more maps as soon as the 4.06 patch is released.  It will allow for redirected map downloading and it will allow clients to automatically download compressed maps!!  That will be very nice.  

When 4.06 ships, I'll add a ton of new UT CTF maps..  You got any favorites??  E-mail me, I'll put them up.

I am using the NOP Stats for the UT Server, and they seem to be pretty popular, I'm getting many hits checking them out.

Also on the Tribes Server.  I will try out Balanced maps soon.  If they are a flop I'll pull them down..  

I think many of you will be stunned to see how few players have the latest patches and/or the latest map packs..  I'll predict only about 30% of the players have the new maps..

March 5, 2000

Stats are temporarily driving me crazy..  I really like the NOP Stats but they do not record much of the data that is specific to UT, many of these items make UT unique and fun to play..  I will experiment with ngStats local to the server machine for a while and see how that works.  I'll also need to monitor the ngstats.exe for CPU usage because I do not want it to periodically lag the Tribes server. 

February 28, 2000

Stats!!  Stats!!  UT CTF Server Stats!!  I think you will really like these stats, good stats on CTF games, individual players and on the Server, and on the maps..  Check them out, I use NOP which is very nice but getting it all set up can be a PITA.  I'll continue to tweak so keep checking back.. There is so much number crunching going on you have to give the pages a few seconds to load fully. 

I can do more individual stats but they make little sense for CTF games..  

The Stats are Here..  Cain's Lair CTF UT Server Stats Pages. 

Also, we are getting a good crowd of regulars in the UT server, and they are a pleasure to play with and against.. A big "shout-out" to Gr00v3, Jouster, Milady (a real 100% female UT player, who kicks some serious ASS!!), funkdubious, Geddy of course, and ... who am I leaving out!!  I'll start a regulars in the UT Server page, but you can just look at the stats and see who plays there often.. 

As always e-mail me with any feedback.. 

On the Tribes server, I added the final Patch that was supposed to fix all the well known cheats.  I also pulled Iceridge 2 and Dangerous Crossing 2 and added back the old Iceridge, and Snowblind Teleport, by SL83.  

Gotta run, later....

One more thing, I added a link to a UT Newbie Player's Guide if you are new to UT and want to learn more..  Go to the "Guides" page here and check it out.. 

February 20, 2000

Well I dumped the Quake 3 servers, they just did not have enough steady activity to justify their existence.  I added two more players to both the Tribes and the UT CTF server.  Both of those stay pretty full so it makes more sense to use the CPU and bandwidth from the Q3 server, on servers that stay busy..

The UT CTF Server is on "instant rockets" which all you Quakers will love.. UT CTF really is a blast to play, that is all I have been playing lately. 

I added some new maps to the Tribes server this weekend.  I think they are good, I spent several hours Saturday looking at new maps, then I loaded a bunch on Sat. Afternoon.  I dumped several later that night, based on e-mail feedback, so, here are the new ones that are still running:

Dropzone 2
Desert of Death 2
Iceridge 2
Dangerous Crossing 2

I pulled DoD, Snowblind, Iceridge and Dropzone.  I also upped the Cap limit on Flags of Death.

Everybody needs to get and install all the latest Tribes Patches.  I plan to run the new balanced maps soon, and you have to have them installed in order to play.  The latest patches include the latest maps, which was a good idea; now if they only made it such that you had to have the latest patch to connect, then everyone would get them.

February 6, 2000

The UT CTF server has been jamming, and it is really lots of fun.  We are getting a good crowd of regulars from the GT Interactive UT Forum..  Welcome GUYS!!  

We need some more great UT CTF maps, when is that expansion pack coming out ?? 

I also added a "Guides" section where I will put helpful stuff for all internet gamers to use. 

February 1, 2000

Unreal Tournament!!  Unreal Tournament!!  Coming to the Lair..  I'm deciding between, UT CTF, UT Domination, and UT LMS (Last Man Standing).  Also UT Rocket Arena is a mod that will be released very shortly..  

Looks like the Q3 DM (FFA) Server will bite the dust, due to lack of participation, also I have never gotten one single e-mail from anyone playing in the FFA server to say they enjoyed it, but I have gotten a ton of e-mail from the Q3 CTF players, and that server has quickly gotten a loyal following..  I guess team games are just more fun, we are all sick of DM - after 4 years of it :-) 

Check out whatever flavor of UT server is up and running, I'll see which version is the most fun, and the best attended..

-----

Gang!!  Please bind a few team messages in Q3 CTF to help your teammates!!  It is easy..  Pull down the console, then type:
 /bind d "say_team I'm on Defense"  then when you hit the "D" key your team-mates will see "I'm on Defense" preceded by your actual location on the map..   

January 22, 2000

Hi folks..  Well the CTF server is an absolute BLAST!!  We have had lots of fun and have been tired at work all day this week from playing it so late <s>..  

The CTF server had a problem when it had bots,  it would hang up after the CTF4 map and did not want to cycle to the CTF1 map.  That has been fixed as of early this morning, and now it is jamming..  I am giving some consideration to adding Zoids CTF maps to the rotation, but since Q3 does not allow downloading anyone who does not have that map pack will get booted from the server..  I might consider making a CTF2 that runs the Zoid maps only and see how that goes.. I have never seen or played Zoid's maps but I hear they are very good and much larger than the id maps that come with Q3. (Zoid was the person who originally invented CTF for Quake, and made all those maps we know and loved!).

I think most of the folks have found their way over to the new IP address for the Tribes server, although I still see folks trying to play in the server sitting on the old IP, with a 4 player limit!!  Doh!!

As always, let me know any suggestions or thoughts for the servers.  

I may add a new Web page with a screenshot of all the maps with their names and numbers below them so we can learn these maps, and stop having to give those long descriptions of what the map looks like before we can tell any funny stories about stuff that happened to us on that MAP! (You know, "I was on that map with the stairs that lead up to the flag, it sits up in a sort of vestibule area, and when you are going up or down the stairs in front of it you have to be careful not to fall off into that mist, which will kill you..  You know the one I'm talking about??  "Yes I think so, it has that large center area with the regen rune and the plasma gun, and four sets of stairs that lead down to the central floor area??" .. "Yes that's it, anyhow I had the flag, was about to cap and........ "). 

January 16, 2000

Updated AT 7:00PM

OK, the Quake 3 server is jamming, it is staying very busy all the time. It is smooth as buttah, and working perfectly.

I made some changes to the Quake 3 FFA server, and fine-tuned it this morning:

1) It now sends a heartbeat to the Gamespy Master server so it will show up in the Gamespy lists
2) I set the Minimum Players to 2, so that there are always at least two players in there at all times.  If no humans, it will be two bots, if one human, there will be one bot, at least two humans, no bots..
3) I made it so the bots do not talk!!  Not one word !!! Woohoo!!
4) I added back one of the outdoor, jump pad maps.  I tend to shy away from those because they turn into LPB Rail contests, no fun for the modemers at all.  This one is the exception tho.
5) I added back all the extra info, Web page, location, etc.  
6) Added a Warm-up option to make it more fair for folks who connect slowly
7) Reset Force-respawn to 45 seconds so you can type a message or two while dead, and stay dead

As always e-mail me with any comments..  

I am fiddling with a Quake3 3 CTF server today, we'll see how it goes..  I will need to flesh out the teams with bots so it will be fun when it doesn't have many folks, we'll see how it goes..   The Quake 3 CTF server will go on-line around 8:00pm, and will be at the same IP but one port over..  27961 .

I got this brain-storm yesterday to help folks find the new IP for the Tribes server.  I threw together a PC from "pieces-parts" around here and popped up a temporary Tribes server at the old IP Address called "Cain's Moved! Refresh Server Lists!", it holds 4 players, but I should make it hold 0, it actually had 4 players in there many times last night..  Sigh..  I need to make it such that nobody can spawn into the game, and they have to stare at the MOTD.  I'm working on that now.. 

The making colored names in Q3 page has been popular, check it out below in case you missed it..

January 15, 2000

I added a "how-to" on making Colored names in Quake 3 Arena.. 

How do I make my character have colors in his/her name?? 

One final time let me explain the need to move the server to a new Address.  Quake 3 has been giving me fits for the last 3 weeks with randomly dumping clients back to their menu screen.  I have tweaked and changed everything I could, including my underwear, with no improvement.  The Logicsouth folks offered to try and move the server higher up in their system to see if it would help.  It worked!!  And it had a side benefit, lower pings!!  The pings are now 10-25% lower for all connecting clients.  The only problem is the old IP address we all know and love must be changed to a new IP.  The DNS address "games.logicsouth.com" will still work so if you use that, you are all set no matter what happens.

I will likely add a Q3 CTF server when the final IP addresses are set-up.  Geddy tells me that Q3 CTF ROX!!  And I have heard that from several other folks as well, so we'll give it a shot.  

Tell everyone you know in the Tribes server - and say it over and over - that the Tribes server will get a new Address, all folks need to do is refresh the master Server list to find it then make it a new Favorite, and they will be all set. 

January 14, 2000

OK, the saga of fixing the Quake 3 Server .. Continues!!!  It looks like the solution to the mystery of the Quake 3 server dumping clients is going to require me to obtain a new IP Address for all the game servers!!!  EEEEKK!!!!  I'll post the new IP Address in the Tribes MOTD for a few days so folks will know to look for it.  But it will be 207.2.252.100  ... 

We are testing the Quake 3 Server with the new IP this weekend, so the Tribes server will be up and down as will the Quake 3 server..  I plan to put Tribes back up at the old Address for a few days before we move it.. The name will be the same, just a different IP Address..  

If you play Tribes or Quake 3 you can simply refresh the Master List, and you will see good old Cain's Lair, but this time with a new IP address..  If any of you used the DNS which was  games.logicsouth.com  it still works the same..  

January 12, 2000

Hi folks..  First update of the new century..  Glad we made it through that Y2K business.. I guess I can get rid of all those guns, and stored food I have here at the Lair  <s>...  

Oh yes, January is the one year anniversary of the public debut of "Cain's Lair"..  I've met a ton of nice folks and had a good time with the server.  I have run the following games during the Lair's lifetime..  

QuakeWorld, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, Quake 2, Quake 2 Lithium, Quake 3, and Tribes.  The Tribes server has been far and away my most popular server, and typically ranks as the busiest server of any type any where in the world..  I am proud of that, and I appreciate folks playing here.. 

I have had some problems with the Quake 3 server booting high bandwidth clients..  I'm working on this, id software is working on this, and Logicsouth is working on it as well..  We will get it figured out eventually, in the meantime keep on playing and having fun..  It appears to be some obscure bug with Quake 3..  Sometimes it is bad, sometimes it is not. 

If you get dumped from the Quake 3 server, pull down the console, scroll back up, then find the words *ERROR* and jot down the message below it and send it to me in e-mail please.. 

I'll let you know when the problem has been identified and the bug has been squished!!

Welcome to any Logicsouth folks who just read the newsletter!!  Hop on in the servers and have some fun..  Drop me a note with any suggestions..

Merry Christmas !!! 

I took down the Q3 Arena DEMO server and put up a Q3 Arena Full server.  It is a Free for All Server, for you old-timers, that is a Deathmatch server..  I may think about a CTF server in the future.  

Q3 Arena is really fun particularly for old time Quake players like me, it is faster than Q2 or UT, and it just feels right..  There are a bunch of new maps that are very cool, and lots of fun to play.. 

Check out my Q3 Server, same IP as always, 208.150.166.10...

Well OK folks, I got lots of news <s>.. Let's see where do I start..  

1) I took the UT DEMO server down for a variety of reasons including:
    - I never got even 1 e-mail from anyone who played there
    - It is a CPU HOG like you would not believe
    - It also turned out to be a HUGE bandwidth sucker

2) The Q3 Arena DEMO server does pretty good, not great, but good enough to keep.  At least until I install the full Q3 on the server.  I bought the full game last week and plan to install it on my server this week.  After I do that I'll probably dump the DEMO server soon thereafter..  So if you like playing Q3 Arena here get the full game !! 

3) You folks want to see a Q3 A CTF server???  

4) Man you TRIBES players are a loyal bunch.  You folks are still jamming the TRIBES server so much that at night I can hardly get in there myself.  WRT Tribes I will likely soon add a few more assistant Admins to help out.  IF you play here a whole lot and you want to help me drop me an e-mail..  

5) I added a bunch of new maps to the TRIBES server and folks seem to like the variety.  If you want any other maps CTF only, let me know..

Well I popped up a Q3 Arena DEMO Server today and it is staying pretty jammed. I scaled back the Tribes server to 32 players and may scale it back again to 28 or 30 players, not because it is unpopular but because I am sucking up a TON of bandwidth from my ISP, and I know they will start to SCREAM soon!! (They already have once before.)..  

The UT Demo server has also become very active as well, and I'm proud of that.   Since November 1, there have been over 3,600 different players in the UT DEMO server for at least 5 minutes !!

January will be the one year Anniversary of 'Cain's Lair' going on-line to the public.  It started slow, but has really gained momentum particularly in the last few months; due in large part to folks like YOU who are reading this page right now..  THANKS!!!  I started with a Quake 2 Lithium Server, and had to BEG folks to play, then I popped up a Half-Life server which was busy then a TRIBES server, which has spent much time as the busiest gaming server on the Internet.

More later..

Download the latest Q3 ARENA Demo, it is pretty sweet, and like I said I'm running a server for it as we speak. 

I added several links to Download the UnReal Tournament (UT)  Demo Version 348..  However, I will likely soon switch the UT server to the full game, instead of the Demo.  I received a free copy of the FULL UT from the Epic folks, which I appreciate very much.  They are going to release a new server patch within the next week or so, and that patch is reported to lower CPU utilization for the server significantly.  I will most likely switch my server from a UT DEMO server to a UT full game server after the patch is released.. 

I'm also giving very serious consideration to popping up a Q3 Arena Server again.  It takes sooo much less CPU and less bandwidth, so I can run 3 or 4 Q3 Arena servers in the CPU space that one UT server takes.  

Do you folks have any opinions on this??  You like UT or Q3 A better??  I can pop up a Q3A team DM, DM AND a Q3A CTF server with the CPU cycles one UT DM server takes up..

I'm not messing with the Tribes server it is still very popular, but I may drop it back to 34 or maybe 32 players soon.  I suspect that since Q3A and UT are being released within the next two weeks, that Tribes players will diminish as folks move on to these newer games. 

OK, I put a new photo of me sitting at my desk here at home on the server info page, if you want to see what I look like click on that thumbnail.

The Tribes CTF server has reclaimed the number 1 spot on CLQ !!  Woohoo!!  That means for the last two weeks the Tribes server is the most played server in the World of any type !! 

In the Tribes server I put up the AdminCon mod.  For the clients it just adds some anti-lamer stuff, and it gives the Admins who help me, Funkybutt, and SL83 more flexibility and power to deal with lamers.

I also put up some non standard maps; Shazbot, Dropzone, Rollercoaster 2. 

I upgraded the server's Network Card to an Intel Pro100+ Server card.  Very sweet, it takes almost no CPU at all..

I patched Unreal Tournament DEMO to 348 and it is working very well..  I may add a UT CTF server this weekend.. 

Man we got some really fantastic players showing up in the UT DM server.  If you wanna get your ass spanked hop on in there!!  Those guys were bitch splapping me this week ..  Hehe, hey that is how you get better to play better competition!!  

The tribes server did something weird Thursday night.  I got home late from work pinged it and could not ping it, PC Anywhere'd into the server and it was up and a few folks were actually in it!!  

I restarted infinitespawn and the server and boom it was pingable and all was fine..  It had been running for 4 days without a restart of server reboot.  If you folks see it "down" drop me an e-mail ASAP I'll fix it..

I'm thinking of taking down the UT server's stats.  They are a small PITA and nobody seems to look at them.  If you do look at them, drop me an e-mail, I'll leave them up..

Oh if you need the UT patch and cannot find it let me know, I can pop up a FTP server for you.. 

More anti-lamer tweaks to the Tribes server.  Sheesh I played in a game and the excessive voting was really annoying.  I extended the voting time to 5 minutes between votes and another 5 minutes if you initiate a vote that fails.  I also made it such that only CTF maps can get voted on, and I will make it such that you cannot vote to enable Team Damage, or the Tournament mode. 

Most of you know that SL83 helps me Admin the Tribes server, I am gonna add at least one more assistant Admin.  You will find out who it is if/when you are really bad <s>...

Hey we got a regular in the Tribes server from Porto, Portugal !!  He has to stay up all sorts of odd hours to play with us, tell him "Hi".   His player name is JungleRat, and he is definitely a regular..  

Also in the Tribes server, Dropzone is back by popular demand.  I also added Flags of Death, which is sniper paradise, and I removed Desert of Death, which is universally despised. 

OK my ISP plans to do the backbone switch from Chicago to Atlanta on Monday.  This will make it better for some of you, worse for others and probably about the same for most.  If you live in the East or Southeast it will probably be better..  

I'm gonna switch network cards in the server. I got a really good deal on a Intel Pro100+ Server card.  I'll do it when I get a chance to get to downtown Columbia, perhaps Tuesday morning.  

Well, I had to make a few minor "anti-lamer" adjustments to my Tribes server.  I saw a game the other day that was 26 vs. 10.  Sheesh, what happens is the lamers like to hop on the first team to Cap the flag, then when they get the second cap another wave of lamers switch, etc.  It gets to be overwhelming when the numbers get that far out of whack...  OK with as little I know about all this coding stuff I extracted a file with the admin stuff in it, and I removed the option for them to switch to the team of their choice.  I did leave the auto switch for those folks who actually want to even up the team numbers..  I also removed the option to allow anyone to get themselves voted in as an Admin..  

CL was number 1 again on the CLQ for the week, but it probably will not make that 5 weeks in a row..

My ISP will be switching their backbone this week (hopefully) from Chicago, Ill, to Atlanta, Georgia.  This will make the server closer in hops for most folks and also will lower the average ping for most folks as well, I hope.  Anyhow till they get this all sorted out I expect some problems with my connection.  Keep hanging in there tho, it will get better than ever soon.  

Well the "Cain's Lair" news is back after a long hiatus.. 

Let's see..  The Tribes Server has been number 1 on CLQ for the past three weeks I am proud of that..

 That means it is the busiest Tribes, base CTF server in the World. 

Thank you to all who play there, I am glad so many folks enjoy it.

I just popped up an UNREAL Tournament DM server.

 Man does that game ROCK or what!?!?!  I love it.. 

UT has probably killed the Half-Life server, and it may also kill off the Q3 Test server.

  More folks love UT than Q3,  at least for my servers.. 

Am I the only one that dislikes that low gravity UT map, Morpheous??  I really like the others but that low gravity map is too slow for my tastes.. 

Let me know any thoughts about the servers..