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What's a LAN Party?
LAN parties are social events held around the country and the world, where gamers
can meet, with their computers, to participate in games on a high-speed network.
It's like playing with people over the Internet, but without the lag, and with
a much better atmosphere.
Lag?
Anyone who's played a multiplayer game over the Internet (especially on dialup!)
will have realized that there can often be a noticeable delay between an action
(i.e. firing your weapon) and something actually happenning (i.e. your enemy's
head exploding). Because of the high capacity of a LAN, this problem is eliminated.
The network can easily support many players playing many games simultaneously,
with unnoticeable response times.
What games will be played?
This is largely up to you. Anyone is free to host their own games on the network,
but we will aim to provide dedicated servers to host the more popular choices.
These will be determined before each event, in collaboration with members, on
the forum. Favourites tend to consist of the usual FPSs; Call of Duty, Battlefield
2, Unreal Tournament 2004, Quake III and 4, CounterStrike : Source, and
often RTSs like Warcraft 3, Starcraft.
Who can come?
Any member of the Swansea University LAN Society is welcome. Others are also
welcome, though the entry fee is slightly higher for non-members. There is an
age restriction of 16 years or older for non-members. Atendees will need to
book in advance for each event, since there may be a limited number of places
available. Places for an event will be on a first come, first served basis.
How do I join the society?
Joining the society costs £2 a year and allows you half price entry to
all events. This is only open to Swansea university students, this
lets them attend all society AGMs/Meetings and even become society staff. You
are more than welcome to join the society at an event, you can even join when
you turn up and save half the entry price.
How much does an event cost?
Entry will be £2 for members, or £5 for non-members. There will be no other
costs to you unless you decide to buy food/drink/network cards/etc during the
day.
How do I pay
As places for each event is limited we advise people to pay in advance to secure
there place. There are a few ways of doing this. You can either contact us and
arrange to meet us and pay in person if you a university student. A cheque/Postal
Order to cover event attendance and/or society membership can be sent to the
address on the contacts page, please make all cheques
payable to "SUSU" and write your full
name and student id (if applicable) on the back.
Does signing up for an event guarantee
me a place?
No you can only confirm your seat by payment either before or on the day. Depending
on how popular the event is we might not have any seats available on the day,
so we advise prepayment by one of the methods mentioned above.
What do I need to bring with me?
There are a few things you should bring to every event, and a lot of things
you shouldn't!
- Your PC; base unit, keyboard, mouse, mouse pad, headphones, etc. Please
don't bring any speakers or sub-woofers! A room full of people with speakers
all playing different games can get really noisy really quickly. It's also
less of a drain on available power :) Please bring only 1 PC with you, unless
you have arranged otherwise with us beforehand, and leave behind any misc.
peripherals that you aren't going to need (scanners, printers, etc).
- A power strip, with enough sockets to plug in everything you'll need (probably
just base unit and monitor).
- CDs, etc that you will need for any games you wish to play. It might also
be a good idea to bring your OS CD, in case you need to reinstall any bits
and pieces.
- Food and (non-alcoholic) drink to keep you going (see "Can
we bring food and drink?").
- Most importantly: An RJ-45 network card! We recommend any 100Mbps card that
works with your OS, but 10Mbps cards are also fine. 10Mbps will be plenty
for most gaming.
How can I get my stuff down
to the venue?
This might be a problem for a number of people, this is why we ask on the signup
page if you are able to help with transport. Hopefully we will have a list of
people with cars who are able to provide lifts for others. The next easiest
method is to grab a taxi. As the university is very central, a taxi from the
student village should cost about £3 and from Mumbles no more than £5.
When should I arrive, and when should I leave?
The room will be open from 8am, and we'll need to start packing up at 8pm.
Where can I unload/park?
You will be able to stop at the front of the building to unload, but you will
need to move into one of the nearby parking areas afterwards (free on weekends).
What if I don't have a network card?
When you sign up for an event, you will be able to tell us whether you want
to purchase a 100Mbps network card on the day. These will cost only £10 each,
inc. installation/configuration if you need it.
Can we bring food and drink?
You can, and that's probably a good idea :) We would recommend you bring enough
soft drink and snackfood to keep you going for the day. We now also sell a variety
of our food and drink. We normally have a selection of canned pop, crisps, chocolate,
sweets and other goodies for sale at very low prices!!
What about alcohol?
The venue is licensed, so you may not bring your own alcohol to the event. There
is, however, a bar located in the building, only a short walk away :)
How should I configure my system?
To connect to the network, you'll need to have your PC setup to use DHCP. Unless
you have changed these settings, this is usually the default! Windows calls
this something like "obtain an IP address automatically" in the TCP/IP properties
of your network card in Control Panel. As long as you have a network card, we
should be able to help you if you are unsure as to how to configure this.
Do I have to provide my own network cable?
At the present time we ask people to provide their own network cable.
A piece of UTP Cat5/5e RJ-45 between 5m and 10m long will be sufficient. I personally
recommend either www.redstore.com or B&Q for high quality, good value cable.
We will have a small supply of network cable if people either forget or are
unable to obtain their own, They will be on a first come, first have basis.
Will there be an internet connection?
We are currently investigating this as a possibility, but we do not expect we
will be able to provide one initially. Don't worry about not being able to download
latest game patches, though. We will aim to provide as many popular game updates/addons
as possible for download from our servers.
I have another question. Where can I ask it?
Take a look at our forum, here, to see
if anyone else has brought it up, or to ask it. Alternatively, you can email
us here, and we'll get back to
you ASAP.
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