This is a fix to make servers that have more than 24 players show up in the server list.

Download the engine.dll file from one of the following links and replace the file orangebox/bin/engine.dll

http://www.is1337.net/engine.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64196582/engine.rar.html
http://www.mediafire.com/?7dguzwsxtyb

Now replace server.dll file or use the player limit remover plugin in orangebox/server.dll

Run srcds.exe with “+maxplayers 32″ and you’re done.

Note: I’m still looking for the linux version of this fix.

I’ve been playing tf2 ever since the orange box came out and while I enjoy it I was puzzled why the maximum server size in the browser was 24 players when games like counter strike source can support 32. So I looked around and found out that team fortress 2 does support 32 players.

Valve in its infinite wisdom has chosen to block 32 player servers from the game browser and hasn’t given an option to display servers larger than 24 players. Supposedly the game is made for 12vs12 which to me seems kind of limiting considering there are 9 classes.

I compiled a list of known TF2 32 player servers. Just add them to your favorites if you want to try 32 player. If you know of any more be sure to tell me in the comments. You can also use something like gamemonitor to see the active 32 player servers.

32 Player TF2 Servers

217.19.212.4:27017
74.53.95.133:27015
75.125.51.115:27015
75.125.51.114:27015
75.125.51.116:27015
68.178.255.207:27015
64.34.214.14:27015
208.122.49.153:27015
74.86.90.118:27015
74.86.110.129:27015
74.54.24.200:27015
64.34.212.154:27016
66.228.122.147:27015
74.86.94.176:27015
64.34.170.117:27016
206.196.106.182:27015
67.90.47.47:27015
91.121.79.198:27017
67.93.155.118:27015
69.65.39.149:27016
74.86.151.157:27015
74.86.151.156:27015
69.28.220.97:27040

32 Player TF2 Servers without VAC

89.190.205.222:27015
89.190.205.222:27016

Creating a 32 player server

If you want to create your own server you have to edit the server.dll for windows or the server_i486.so for linux. The links contain up to date downloads and instructions. Back-up your existing server_i486.so or server.dll from /tf2/bin before replacing.

After you’ve replaced the file, go to /tf2/cfg/valve.rc and open this file in notepad or something similar. Add the line:

maxplayers 32

Then in your startup for the dedicated server add:

+maxplayers 32

You will have to make these changes every time the server is updated from valve.

World in Conflict launched on the 18th and while I’ve been really excited about the game but I held off on pre-ordering it due to my experience on getting burned with Command and Conquer 3. Based on my investigation, I have to say that the number of people who have appeared to buy the game and play it online is less than encouraging. Heading over to Massgate, the battle.net of Massive Entertainment you can see the number of players that have currently played the game online by scrolling through the ladder to the end. As of today, the number of players who own the game and have played online is roughly 5,200. ** edit(9/24): its now over 28,000 **

Call me jaded but after playing games like Counter-strike, Starcraft and World of Warcraft this number seems a little low for a game that got 93% in PC Gamer.When I played Command and Conquer 3 the game basically died when the number of active ladder players shrunk to below 10,000 due to the 1vs1 nature of the ladder. If 5-10% of the playerbase is online at any given time the number of people to play against is 260-520. The 5-10% of 5200 number is reinforced by going online with the demo and looking at the server list where I counted 360 people at 8am.

Don’t get me wrong I really want to play this game, I think its fun and its probably the perfect blend of action and strategy. I enjoyed the demo a lot but if the player base isn’t there to play against then I don’t really have much interest in investing money on the game. If the game doesn’t take off Massive should think about making the game free to play online with limited graphics so that the player base increases and makes the value added features of the game more appealing.

The multi-player aspect to the game appeals to me and I really want to try out the tug of war mode. Once you get used to the camera and can find a few people that know how to work together the game is a blast. If the user base increases to around 50,000-100,000 I will probably pickup the game but I don’t feel like paying 50 bucks to play on less than 20 active servers.

I think someone at id noticed how cool my domain name was. QuakeZero will be the official name of the next Quake Arena and it will be free!

We don’t want to create a game just for the hardcore players as it’s not broad enough of an audience, and we want to bring new players in, that’s why we’re doing QuakeZero and releasing it for free.

id Software claimed to have a goal of making the most balanced multi-player game possible, thats cool. They also want to make it accessible graphics wise so I wouldn’t expect any jumps in rendering technology. Its taken game developers awhile to figure out that only single player games can exclude people but multi-player games are all about the number of people that can play. More players means lower system requirements. Something I dont like is the jump to completive gaming means a tamer game so that it can be shown on TV. Luckily it sounds like it will be a feature that you can disable.

Read the interview with Marty Stratton.

So World in Conflict open beta came out, you can sign up here and play for free. The game is probably the most fun I have had in a real time strategy game. There is no building or teching in this game, just all out brutal combat. Basically its the best part of any RTS. Losing because you chose to build a tank instead of upgrade something is never fun. Probably the most refreshing part of the game is that you get all the tools required to find a game and engage other people in combat in under a minute. Massive set a new standard for how a games menus should act. One of the most amazing parts of the game is the off map support abilities. You get everything. Paratroopers, nuclear weapons, artillery, a10 strikes, nalpam, carpet bombing. The graphics are lovely even on medium from nukes to napalm. I played so much that I was ranked #3 out of everyone playing online at one point.

I think the best thing the game has going for it is the team work element. Your teammates can work with you very easily. The game has built in voice chat and a menu system to request help or abilities at certain points on the map. WiC is so good that it made me not even want to complete the WCG qualifier. The tourament was by far the worst I’ve ever played in. It was a joke. 20% of the people who signed up played and then whoever was running it didn’t bother to advance people on to the next stage. I got an email 3 days after I was supposed to play the last game asking me to show up that night and play. Then the command and conquer 3 patch came out, which total fucked over the ladder. The game is draining on anyone that plays it. You have to deal with lag constantly. Who thinks that both players should get a disconnect? Not me. The disconnect problem is make worse by the fucking menu system thats tied to the frame rate of the OTHER player. You cant even quit a game in under 20 seconds. Who thinks that being able to take control of any unit, even your opponents isn’t worthy of a quick fix? I sure do. I’m never buying another Electronic Arts game again. I was going to praise the story line but I remember the only decent actor they had in the cut scenes was Kane and the 3rd campaign was 4 missions and just some jellyfish yelling at you.

World in Conflict isn’t without faults though. The most annoying thing is when you tell your infantry units to get inside a transport the game will select the transport when the first unit enters and then select the transport again when the last unit enters. Basically it makes you select it 3 times so if you want to tell another unit to do something you cant because it will tell the new unit you selected as well as the transport to move, canceling the infantry from getting in and unloading them again, aggravating. I think the camera system needs a little work too, its not as smooth as I’d like it while moving around the battlefield. The maps could be bigger too. They need more ambush points to hide infantry in and tanks behind. Its to easy for artillery to just pound known hiding spots, killing everything before you have a chance to fight. I also wouldn’t mind if the UI would allow you to force move everywhere if you couldn’t attack the unit you clicked on.

The World Cyber Games US Open Qualifier for Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars started today. I was matched up against interdependencY (S. Barnes). He played a great game and managed to cripple my main base mid game due to a large pitbull rush (What GDI player doesn’t pitbull rush in 1.05?) I didn’t play 100% and I made a few mistakes but I was able to recovery due to a early harassment took out his expansion and gave me a strong economy that won the game for me. I also counter attacked with my small force to cripple his unit production while he annihilated my construction yard.

If you are interested you can download the replay here: WCG Replay (Patch 1.05)

You can track the results here. I play Oktoberfest (D. Chen) next and if I beat him I get to play the EADevEnder (G. Simon) who works for EA as the lead AI designer for CNC3.