Basic L4D Dedicated Server Question

[Xenon]

Hi guys,

Just setup my new L4D dedicated server, it works great! No big issues, just a question :

I have setup my server as a steamgroup server, and made it private (so that only my steamgroup can join). I have also setup the default map as l4d_hospital01_apartment.bsp (the first map) as it seemed the obvious choice.

I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that we could setup the game we wanted (maps, characters, difficulty etc) in the lobby, then go to our server and play. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work this way. When I connect to the dedicated server, it goes straight from the lobby to the l4d_hospital01_apartment.bsp map with no chance to change settings. If we vote to go to the lobby, we can change settings, new maps, etc but we then get a different server.

Surely there is a way for users on the server to vote/choose their own settings before starting to play on the server? I'm sure that I don't have to manually configure the server with the map, difficulty etc. before each game?

Am I wrong? I must be missing something obvious.

Cheers :)

[Mooga]

You can't change the map within the lobby via "Edit Game Settings"?

[Xenon]

When you change the map via edit game settings, you do not reconnect to the dedicated server that I have set up. You end up with some random server instead. I'm fairly sure that I'm missing something basic

[Drocona]

When you create a lobby, set the game up as you like with characters etc.

Then the lobby leader has to open console and type this:

Code:

ms_force_dedicated_server xxx.xx.xx.xxx:27015

So enter the IP and port for the server there.
Then it should work fine for you!

[Xenon]

Cool, that worked well! Is there a way that I can put that into my client config so that I always get my server, without having to type the command in every time?

[Drocona]

I'm not sure if it works in the config (I've never tried) but I think it should

[Xenon]

Thanks! For those that are interested, I added +exec commands.cfg to my startup line, created a new textfile called command.cfg in the l4d/cfg folder and added ms_force_dedicated_server xxx.xx.xx.xxx:27015 to the cfg file. Now it gets automatically set on startup.

On an unrelated note : I found how to disable the startup videos (the valve video + the intro) by adding -novid to the startup string. Helps me load up my L4D that little bit quicker (and not get deafened by the valve music).