Jedi Academy Server: Meatgrinder Returns in 2010!

[Kurgan]

Thanks to some last minute sponsoring, my JA server is back for awhile (unless the economy eats EscapedTurkey.com too!).

 

As you've come to expect, the Meatgrinder isn't the place to stand around in line waiting for a duel or to endlessly chat or roleplay or worry about the admin abusing you for not following his esoteric "rules," it's the place to fill the map with the gibs of your wasted enemies!

 

IP is here: 208.43.15.76:29070

 

Status is HERE.

 

Star Wars Skins and OJP Basic supported but not required (see HERE).

 

[Link Fixed]

 

The server is high speed and has room for 64 slots, though the maps I'm using don't work too well with that many, so I usually keep it down to 16 or 20.

 

Come one, come all...

 

 

And IF the Vent server is still running:

 

you can voice chat with other players (assuming they're logged in as well).

 

Get Ventrilo HERE.

Vent Server: vent8.gameservers.com

Port #: 4544

 

Channel "A" Meatgrinder

 

(my setup isn't working atm, so if someone can confirm it's working, let me know)

 

Star Wars skins can be found at JK3files.com or LucasFiles.com

[Alexrd]

Do you just use Siege?

[Kurgan]

Do you just use Siege?

 

Short answer:

NO, but there's a lot of it.

 

 

Longer answer:

There are two cycles of the 3 Siege maps, followed by a cycle of the basejka CTF maps... and between each cycle there is what I like to call a "Mayhem" round (That basically consists of a Duel map set in FFA mode, basically meaning it's a big saber party (it goes by quickly either due to a shorter time limit or the kill limit being reached quickly). It's just for fun/to break up the reptition)...

 

...then it repeats.

 

So basically the first thing you'll see when the server goes up, is a Mayhem round, then there will be a long stretch of Siege.

 

And the maps always cycle, because there are bots in there, so it'll never just sit on a map waiting for people. I always hated waiting for people (or have people leave because there weren't quite 4 people yet on two teams), so that's what I've done and it's worked pretty well so far.

 

In the past I've tried hard to promote the Bonus JKA maps, but unless I'm right there spamming the download links and holding people's hands and getting people in off the forums to do it, it seems like nobody plays them, they just all disconnect when those maps come around (and basic autodownloading is out of the question, it's way too slow).

 

Thanks for the question. Any others?

[Alexrd]

Thanks for the question. Any others?

 

Last year, I had a little break and played on the Duel map set in FFA mode. Theed Generator, IIRC. Great fun.

 

A couple of days ago, I spent some time playing siege, but I got bored for a while. That's why I was asking, because It was always switching between Hoth and Tatooine, and never got a FFA or CTF.

 

In the past I've tried hard to promote the Bonus JKA maps, but unless I'm right there spamming the download links and holding people's hands and getting people in off the forums to do it, it seems like nobody plays them, they just all disconnect when those maps come around (and basic autodownloading is out of the question, it's way too slow).

 

A pity. Those are great maps...

 

Good job, and keep the server alive.

[z3zim4]

The best JKA siege server!

[Kurgan]

Last year, I had a little break and played on the Duel map set in FFA mode. Theed Generator, IIRC. Great fun.

 

A couple of days ago, I spent some time playing siege, but I got bored for a while. That's why I was asking, because It was always switching between Hoth and Tatooine, and never got a FFA or CTF.

 

A pity. Those are great maps...

 

Good job, and keep the server alive.

 

Thanks! I was ready to let it die a quiet death since I was running low on petty cash, but thanks to ET, it's back!

 

I don't really mess with the map cycle arrangement unless I'm playing and people request it (or I'm getting bored myself and want to try something different).

 

The other time it changes if I reset the server (or if it crashes and automatically resets) then it starts back on a Mayhem round before doing the first of two siege cycles.

 

It'll go from Siege Hoth to Desert then Korriban, mayhem, repeat, mayhem, CTF cycle, mayhem, Hoth, etc.

 

Agreed about the addon maps. If you see me on there and ask nicely I can put them on. I just don't dare leave them up, because people seem to get bored fast and then abandon the server until the base maps come back on.

 

Back in the day, when we were a free hosted server (for testing of OJP) we ran OJP Enhanced about half then 3/4th of the time rather than basic and we had several admins. Now it's just me running things, and I'm spending more time traveling or job hunting since getting out of school so I haven't had as much time to micro-manage things. For now the settings are just how I like them, unless people notice some glitches in the cycle that should be fixed (sometimes people get dropped when the game mode changes or the frag/time limits don't get changed properly I've noticed).

 

After too many cycles without a reset, the Cloaking Shield often stops working for me, or you start getting that infamous "shaky camera" from the swoop bikes on Desert. The first bug only a reset seems to fix, the latter sometimes goes away if you type /reconnect in the console.

 

The best JKA siege server!

 

I really appreciate that! I've done my best to make it a good home for people who like to play hardcore JKA, something you don't see on many servers anymore. Siege and CTF can be really, really fun, but all you see most of the time is dueling. As long as there is a demand for that, then places like the Meatgrinder can have a home.

 

MTFBWY

[z3zim4]

Hi.

Could you by any chance go to custom maps. For example I'd play on Tempest custom server (cargobarge from jkasiege.com) but there are always the same 2-3 bots...

[Kurgan]

I could, but sadly, I have had a terrible, terrible time getting people to play when I use custom maps. It's like nobody uses them... otherwise I would, believe me!

[Alexrd]

I could, but sadly, I have had a terrible, terrible time getting people to play when I use custom maps. It's like nobody uses them... otherwise I would, believe me!

 

Fan made are very difficult for everybody to have. But the official Bonus Maps are a very good alternative, and I see you're using them.

[Kurgan]

Yeah, and I am happy to use them anytime. Again, I run into the same problem though as with other addon maps. People say "okay I'll go install them" and then I sit in an empty server for an hour, and give up, or ONE person shows up and we play for a little bit and then they leave and that's it! Guess you just have to find the perfect time.

[z3zim4]

Unfortunately JKJA is slowly dying...

[Kurgan]

Well no game community stays forever...

 

But until another game comes out that does what MP JA does, and does it better, it won't really die.

 

Lots of Jedi games have come out since September 2003, but most of them have been SP only or offered only very generic, basic MP options.

 

If all people want to do is 1 on 1 duels, maybe so. Apparently that's all a significant number of server owners wanted to do and so they bored the rest of the community to death by only doing that.

 

I think there's a lot of people out there that would have given the game more of a chance if they had seen more options like that. Even the old argument "well if you're going to use guns, I'll just go play Quake" was never really that sound, because the gameplay of the JK series was unique in combining this old FPS standby WITH the third person, melee combat AND powers... and not just stopping there with 1 vs 1 fights, but in other game modes as well, putting a new "spin" on the old cookie cutter moulds like CTF and so forth.

 

There are folks out there that complained about many of the changes from Jedi Outcast to JA (and I agree with some of them). However JA has Siege mode, and some subtle engine improvements which I think make it unique, and that's why it has lasted as long as it has.

 

It's a pity though that we went through all that stuff with the abusive admin mods. I think that hurt the JK2/JA community almost as much as cheating hurt the JK/MotS community (and in some ways it was worse, because a lot of server owners and mod makers thought it was a GOOD THING and actively promoted it).

 

Just a reminder for anyone who doesn't remember... back in the day, JK wasn't really setup for "saber duels." There was nothing in the game except a person's own desire to do that and agreement with other players to make that happen. All the game did was give you two maps where there weren't any weapon pickups and so naturally you'd think to use your saber primarily. But you might as well have just had a bunch of people running around having a deathmatch, just without guns. I think people got it into their heads that they had to "regulate" such things to prevent them from being that, but make them into "duels," and so you had these "honor systems."

 

Raven, when they made JK2 (and JA) went out of their way to tailor the game such that the folks who wanted to duel privately could do so and NOT INTERRUPT THE REST OF THE GAME. And dedicated modes were used for servers who just wanted to do that. Sure, it was fun but they were also missing out on 90% of the MP game. So my server promotes that other 90%, and as long as people will join (and I can "afford" the server), I'll do it.

 

I started out with saber dueling back in the JK days, and it's a great way for beginners to start out, and yes it's pretty unique to this series.

 

Every day people are re-discovering this game. So if somebody gets it through Steam and wants to see what a game is like, I recommend you send them to the Meatgrinder.

[z3zim4]

Its the siege gametype why I keep playing Jedi Academy. I have not yet found any other game with similar enough gametype. I don't care if it's Star Wars, I haven't seen any of the movies (really) and JKJA was the first SW game I ever played (I like Battlefront 2 too).

[z3zim4]

And BTW I usually play at weekends and my nick is usually KATARN.

[Alexrd]

I haven't seen any of the movies (really)

 

You should see them. It would make you see the game in a completely different way.

[Kurgan]

Yeah, but watch the Original (Classic) Trilogy (and NOT the special edition) first.

 

Though, I admit, the gameplay in JA is based more on the prequels (and other movies like the Matrix and other games like Bushido Blade 1 & 2, Heretic II, etc), the original series is just a much better set of movies overall and the essence and foundation of "what Star Wars is."

[Kurgan]

Fixed the link to the downloads page!

 

 

The server supports a TON of Star Wars related models and hilts. I guess if you don't have 'em, you'll see a lot of Kyles running around spouting movie catch phrases and acting strange.

 

Currently the only models I have up on my page are:

Scouttrooper, Ewok, ATST Pilot, Imp Commando, Darth Vader, and the team Jawa skins. The rest can be found at Lucasfiles.com or jk3files.com easily enough.

[Kurgan]

Fixed the map cycle again. Sometimes people were getting dumped when it switched to mayhem in between Siege cycles. Now there's no "mayhem" rounds except between changes in game type

[Kurgan]

For anyone still reading this old thread, the server IS still running as we speak, despite the fact that the TRACKER (which merely shows the status of the server) is down. The tracker is undergoing maintanence, as the service blog states (always check that when in doubt).

 

The server is fine, and is on a steady rotation of six rounds of siege (each of the three maps repeated in two cycles) followed by a quick mayhem round and then all five CTF maps.

 

It seems the gametypes don't change properly unless I begin with a FFA map, so we'll continue to start the cycle with a mayhem round.

 

I have put in other alternate cycles that use Holocron FFA and some of the JK2 maps and the Bonus maps. I hope to get to use those again someday if people will finally download and install them!

 

Enjoy...

[Kurgan]

bLaSt reports that JediTracker (the server tracker we use) is "Doing some server maintenance."

 

Again, the Meatgrinder server itself is FINE. You should have NO PROBLEM connecting to the IP posted in my sig or on the page (or from your favorites).

 

While we wait for the tracker to be fixed, check out QTRACKER, a free and useful program created by Ron "the DM Ohio" Mercer, which has been around for ages and supports tons of great games, old and new (including all the JK series that had online play).

 

Install this easy to use app, get some mapshots for the games you like to play and input the IP of the meatgrinder server into your "Favorite" folder for easy access. You can launch JA and join the server right from QT if you like. It's just another easy way to get onto the server...

[Kurgan]

And the tracker is back (has been back up and running for some time). Of course the server was completely unaffected, and people are still playing on it!