Need help setting up a Mann vs Machine server

[AlexM13]

I'm following a combination of this tutorial and this for making my Mann vs Machine tutorial : am I right in doing so?

I'm finding it a bit confusing and would like a specific set of instructions based on my information :
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Specs :

Origin EON17-S (laptop)
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Intel i7 Extreme 2920XM (Sandy Bridge) @ 4.1 - 4.8 Ghz
16GB Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 Dual-Channel @ 1600Mhz
240GB OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS Solid State Drive (my main drive) [C:]
750GB SATA III Hard Disk Drive (secondary / storage drive) [D:]

WLAN : Intel Centrino Wireless-N 6230 (this is my method for connection)

Router : Belkin N+ (2011 series)

Note : My ethernet port is blown, which is why I am FORCED to use WLAN for connecting to the net. I'll have my port fixed sometime late this year.

REGION : Suzhou, Jiangsu, China (about 100km from Shanghai)

Bandwidth : Chinese bandwidth runs wild - they don't even attempt to control it. For that reason, bandwidth depends completely on how many people are on the internet at the same time. During the day, bandwidth might be around 350 or 400Kbps at best, at peak hours it could go as low as 50Kbps, but then at really late times it can skyrocket to about 700Kbps. Chinese internet just isn't reliable, but we need servers here anyway - Hong Kong servers aren't working out.

ISP : China Telecom

Location of my TF2 Folder : C:\tf2

Location of my hldsupdatetool : C:\Program Files (x86)\Valve\HLServer\hldsupdatetool.exe

Static IP : 58.209.7.181
Private IP : 192.168.2.6

Note : No VPN is enabled, though I do have StrongVPN (uses OpenVPN GUI) to connect to San Fransisco with 128-bit Encryption if I need to.
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Note : I've placed my PC in DMZ for best compatibility. This means there shouldn't be any port problems, yes? I may disable Windows Firewall entirely while using my PC as a server to increase compatibility and make it as open as possible.

The result that I want : A fully public MvM server (that can be found via simple server searching) that cycles through all the MvM maps and gametypes and is fully customizable by me at any time.

Desired Server Name : MvM Suzhou (might change it to "Freelancers MvM" if I get a team started with it later)

Can you make it so that 8 human players can join, or is 6 the limit?

Additions I want to make : Quake sounds, remote controlled turrets, slightly more cash drops than usual, and the ability to customize what enemies will be faced. Please cover as many of these as possible!

More additions : I want to make the first screen have some info about my server (many servers do this) and put links to my website that appear when the game starts.

Note : I want to make sure the item server works fine with my server as well. I want to make this as professional as possible.

Assume anything not listed above is in it's default state.

Any help / advice would be great, thanks!

- Alex

PS : I'm going to trick out my website to be a website for gaming, especially Source games / TF2 : http://freelancers.forum.st

Feel free to join and help out

Thanks in advance!

[AlexM13]

Update : My server is not appearing on the normal list of servers. I've followed these directions to the letter. Do servers not operate via WLAN?

CMD Screenshot :



Where does my error lie?

Also, after solving this issue, please educate me on map cycling.

Sorry, this the absolute first time I've ever tried hosting my own server.

Edit : I am so damned confused...

[AlexM13]

Okay, well the server isn't coming up anywhere on the servers list and I'm really confused with making map configurations. Does anyone know where I can just download all the basic configuration for common MvM games and tell me where to put them?

[AlexM13]

Alright, well here's my final report for tonight. I've done all I could so far.

- Made the SCRDS shortcut with commands inside :

Code:

C:\tf2\orangebox\srcds.exe -console -game tf +exec server.cfg +maxplayers 32 +map mvm_decoy +hostname MvM_Suzhou +hostport 27015

This is the final result of such :



What I have not done yet but plan to :

• Set up configuration for maps and map cycling (which I have no idea how to do yet)
• Add a few small modifications.
  

Problem is : Even after doing this and everything, it still does not display in TF2.

Note : YES, I did enter the command "sv_lan 0" to no avail.

Note that I have no working .cfg files yet. I have some in a cfg folder, but the command line just says that it's not detecting them anyway. Please tell me the EXACT place I'm supposed to put configs, and how to write them?

Damn this is feeling complex.

[n0name]

Create a new File in YourServerDir\orangebox called "steam_appid.txt" (without quotes) and write in: 440

[AlexM13]

Okay, well here's CMD after doing that :



Server still isn't playable though, and not appearing in the server list :/

[AlexM13]

Okay, so we can play on the server, but it's only listed under the "LAN" tab. It's not in the internet yet suggestions?

This means that only people on my router can see it.

[AlexM13]

Well, I've close to given up. Here are the commands I've made so far, to no avail :

Code:

C:\tf2\orangebox\srcds.exe -console -game tf +maxplayers 32 +hostname MvM_Suzhou +map MvM_Decoy +sv_lan 0 +sv_tags Suzhou +heartbeat +sv_pure 1 +tf_mm_strict 0

It's not even appearing in local lan anymore.

Also, trying to use a "server.cfg" file just causes the server console to enter an infinite loop for some reason, so I decided to delete it until I figure out why and just edit the shortcut instead :/

[AlexM13]

I did a port scan from http://www.whatsmyip.org/port-scanner/ and these are the results :



The test comes out the same for Server, Application, and P2P port searching - All are listed as "Timeout (Blocked)". Using a VPN does not change the results at all. So, is this really true information I'm seeing or is this something wrong on their end? Because if it's correct, then I have some serious issues. My computer is placed in DMZ, it shouldn't be doing this.

I really hope I haven't run into conflicts with the great firewall of China... that means I'm screwed. But VPN should get around that... makes no sense to me


Also, the game will appear in local LAN if I use the TF2 server creating application. If I change the shortcut to use the console (-console) then it won't even list in the local LAN.


Edit : I'm going to guess that this port-checking tool is broken. It lists my port 88 as timing out. If port 88 wasn't working then I wouldn't be able to browse the net, so I'm taking this as my indication that the tool is broken.

[AlexM13]

Bump. Any suggestions? Same issues on any computer, connected by LAN or otherwise. I'm gonna have to give up on this soon to take care of more important matters. I'd hate to leave this as a complete failure

[AlexM13]

Last bump. Seems the problem persists on any computer, even ones connected directly via LAN.

Games will only appear in LAN, at best.

If no reply in 24 more hours, I will delete this topic to keep my IP information private.

[Ghost Assassin]

Did you try putting -ip XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX and -port 270XX in your startup command?

For example,

Code:

-ip externalip -port 27015

Ports needs to be open:

UDP 1200 (Friends Network)
UDP 27000 to 27015 (Gameport)
UDP 27020
TCP 27030 to 27039
TCP: 27015 (SRCDS Rcon port)

[AlexM13]

Thanks, I'll get to that.


Could you educate me on how to get the server to cycle through the maps I want as well? I want it to work in the following order :

Decoy
Coaltown
Mannworks
Decoy Advanced (max 7 human players)
Coaltown Advanced (max 7 human players)
Mannworks Advanced (max 7 human players)
Decoy Advanced 2 (max 8 human players)
Coaltown Advanced 2 (max 8 human players)
Mannworks Advanced 2 (max 8 human players)

How would I set this up?

[AlexM13]

Bump. Still isn't working. It only appears on local lan. I added my IP and port commands to no avail.

Current commands in the shortcut :

Code:

-game tf
-console
+sv_lan 0
+tf_mm_strict 0
+heartbeat
+tf_server_account_identity_id (My ID)
+tf_server_identity_token (My Token)
+sv_pure 0
+sv_tags Suzhou
-ip [My IP]
-port 27015

I have my computer set in the router DMZ. This should have fixed any port blocking problems, yes?

I haven't made a mapcycle.cfg or edited any default content in the cfg directory. I also haven't made a server.cfg because it causes a problem with looping.

I'd like someone to teach me how to do the things in the above post when I get the server running the way it should.

Edit : Well I decided to connect directly to the modem instead as it has many ports (it's a modem + router 2-in-1) and after doing so, I had to enter our username and password from the ISP (they use PPoE to connect here). After doing so and starting the server, an error came back reading "Could not allocate any server port".

I dunno. I think it might have something to do with having sub-optimal networking conditions (like DSL through PPoE) that are interfering. This is how things are in China though :/ for all I know, I'm hitting the great firewall of China.

I was told by a few friends that some ISPs simply aren't very good for hosting servers on - like China Telecom, because they block lots of ports and throttle connections depending on how many people are online. Is this true perhaps?

Edit 2 : I'm trying to use the "Virtual Server" tab in the router firmware to setup the ports, just in case the DMZ isn't working right. Unfortunately, Belkin's firmware is kinda shitty and not made for this kinda thing. You can only free one port at a time, and about 25 ports maximum. You can't free a range of ports all at once, like we need here.

[AlexM13]

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Out of nowhere, after the newest update, the server started working fine.

Now I just want to know the answers to the other questions in my last post. Thank you.