Jump to content

Home

So what *IS* the best place to play JKII MP?


Silent_Thunder

Recommended Posts

Before JKII was released I saw many people saying how much the zone sucks, and how laggy your multiplayer existance will be there ect. They said they ingame browser was the way to go...

 

When the game was released (after playing through single player) I decided to play some multiplayer... I choose to try it in the ingame browser mode. You could imagine my distress when I saw that none of the servers had a ping under 600, and appon joining those servers I was greeted with a friendly "connection interrupted" sign which stayed with me for every game on the JKII browser, and the same happens today when I try to join one.

 

I ofcourse I was quite disheartened. In one last ditch of desperation I decided to try the zone. To my utter amazment I could actually play decently (!). Not only that, but the servers' ping were far, far better on the zone, then on the dedicated servers. Soon after that I tried the \rate 3000 command, which has only increased my playablilty, but has done nothing to help the ingame browser. (I'm on a 56k... at 26.4k bps).

 

So, my question is. What really is the best place to play JKII MP? Since it is obvious that the majority of people think the zone is the worst place in the world to play games I find it surprsing that it is the most playable. What is the best place to play MP? I've heard of other places besides the zone to play JKII on... Are they better or worse?

 

Thansk for the replies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it probably depends a lot on where you are, what kind of line quality you have, your ISP provider, your modem, and a host of other things...

 

I used the in-game browser, and saw a lot of servers with a ping of 150, 200, etc. There were some in the 600's or higher. I choose servers with a ping around the 400 mark...because my own connection is (ironically) quite bad, and I don't want to intrude too much on servers with lots of low-ping players, in case I wreck their enjoyment. My ping has a massive range while playing...anything from 270 (very rare) to 999 (frequent).

 

Heh. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm on a cable modem, and I still prefer The Zone. You can tell what servers require passwords, see people getting on and off the server in real time, and people who run servers there are generally more descriptive about the type of game they are running.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I think it probably depends a lot on where you are, what kind of line quality you have, your ISP provider, your modem, and a host of other things... "

 

That would be true if I was lagging terribly everywhere... But why is the zone so much more playable for me, if, in reality the ingame browser if the best way to play? Is it possible I simply have some incorrect settings on the browser, preventing me from playing well? I hope so... Does anyone know what I might want to do to make MP on the ingame browser more playable?

 

But, as it stands; I'm pretty happy with my lag on the zone... it's not too bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I'm not sure where the link is on their site to get into Jedi Outcast. I have the direct address istelf saved as a favorite from when it was a "featured game." I can put the link here when I get home if nobody has put on here a way to get to it. But there are ALOT of people playing JO on The Zone, so I imagine there is a way besides saving the link.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Goodness gracious people! Use the ALL SEEING EYE. It has more servers than neother source, is easy to use and easy to run, and shows u more info. U can see whos in a game, the pings, IF THE GAME HAS A PASSWORD, and much much more stuff i dont even understand lol. U cant beat the low reasource using fast power of the ALL SEEING EYE!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are a few different options at the moment for JO:

 

 

1) The infamous Zone (JO is actually listed on the Zone main page at zone.msn.com)

 

Pros - Descriptive game titles

- Mass 'community' atmosphere

- Easy to organise specific games with friends/strangers

- As a result, IMHO, easier to hone your skills more quickly

- Newbie friendly (usually)

 

Cons - ''Zone lag'', created by the simple fact that the chat windows etc all use the Zone's servers, which are run by Microsoft...

- No support for dedicated servers, a fact that usually equals more lag, and at times (if you don't have cable/isdn/t1), an unfair advantage for the host, not to mention performance issues for the other players if the host's computer isn't up to scratch

- If you have lower system specs, make sure to close as many web windows as possible to reduce cpu-lag

 

 

2) Ingame browser

 

Pros - Click all of 3 buttons and you can be playing a game...

- No ''l33t'' talk (until you're actually ingame lol)

- Availability of dedicated servers

 

 

Cons - Usually not a great selection of games

- Hard to hone skills due to lack of specificity in game choice

 

 

3) mIRC

 

This is actually where a heap of the old school JK1ers hang out to play JO...Of course, this means that it is a rarified atmosphere, meaning that if you didn't play JK1 or weren't known, you probably won't get a game. I'm sure there are plenty of channels with new JOers though...

 

Pros - Very specific community

- Can use IP connection to join games, eschewing Zone lag

- Usually used in conjunction with ''The All seeing Eye'' (don't have a link sorry), in order to get dedicated servers

 

 

Cons - Very specific community

- A little more complicated to get into if you haven't used mIRC before

 

 

4) Other future sources:

 

- Gamespy: I imagine this will be quite popular, as it will mean a huge increase of dedicated servers

 

- Qttracker: support for JO already there, but I'm unconvinced that enough people will use it to make it really useful

 

5) Sources I wished were available:

 

MODEM to MODEM!!!

 

Hahaha, I know it sounds ridiculous, but the hours of sheer fun I had playing my friend in JK1 a few suburbs away over the modem is incredible. Low and consistent pings, very few connection errors, no internet costs and no need to move computers around the place to set up a LAN...

 

Of course, the max. players in the games was 2, but who cares when such a huge part of the Star Wars genre is lightsaber duels!

 

I think that just about covers all possible multiplayer sources...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I highly reccomend IRC. Right now I hang out on irc.enterthegame.com. Yeah you have to learn how to chat like a "real man" w/o any of the zone sissyness, but you can't make an omlet w/o breaking a few eggs, right? I'm DJ_Sith on IRC if anyone ever wants to say hey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...