We’ve all been to one but how about hosting one yourself? I’ll take some time out to write up on how to host your own LAN party! Results my vary.

 

  • Step 1: How big is it going to be?

The difference between planning a LAN for 8 and 80 people varies quite alot! Hosting a LAN Party at home is great for mates, even tell your mates to bring a friend (so long as they don’t cause trouble). If you’re going to advertise your LAN in the local classifieds you wont want to have it at your house, Last thing you want is strangers wandering around.

Home LAN’s are great fun. Theres generally little to no cost in setting up and asking your mates to chip in for pizza or power usually comes at with a “no problem!” response, and you use anything for tables and chairs! If your going to have a LAN, start small with your mates at home. You dont want to spend $$$ on a venue to seat 100 people and have 4 turn up. Also, check with anyone else that’s living in your house, especially if your sharing that it’s ok to have a LAN. If its going to be out in the shed and your going to make a bit of noise, perhaps also let your neighbours know not to panic if they hear gun fire and people shouting from your shed.

If you are planning a BIG LAN with heaps of gamers, make sure you don’t do it alone, It’ll drive you crazy! If you want to see a great example of big LAN’s done right (and in WA) check out Redflag Lanfest. You can check us out too, but we dont get the scale of gamers the rflan team get in Perth!

 

  • Step 2: Sponsors (Big LAN’s)

So now you’ve decided how big your LAN is going to be, it’s time to shop around for sponsorship! These can range from Computer Stores, Venues, Even Internet Service Providors. Make sure you take something solid to a potential sponsor and that you’ve hosted some successful LAN’s in the past.

 

  • Step 3: Venue

Small home LAN’s generally squeeze fine into a Lounge or Dining room. If you have a shed, even better. If you’re having a big LAN, shop around for venues and make sure you can source one with an internet connection or arrange for an internet connection. A shower is also handy, especially for those over night LAN’s.

  • Step 4: Equipment

The size is set, Venue is booked, now time to get the equipment sorted. If it’s a home lan, all you really need to worry about is a switch big enough to plug everyone into (10/100MB is fine) and you have a router to handle your DHCP (IP assigning). You can then use a spare PC to needed files and hosting games.

Big LAN’s require investing in hardware. 10/100MB switches are fine but it’ll be worth buying 10/100/1000MB switches for your backbone where you host the servers and/or plugging other switches into. You will also need to setup some dedicated servers for files, DHCP, DNS, and game servers. Recommend leaving this to your teams local linux expert. It’s also wise to make sure the building can support a large number of computers connected. Hiring an electrician before hand to tell you how many computers you can safely accommodate and perhaps look at some generators to handle the load.

  • Step 5: Games

It’s what we goto LAN’s for, Games! Checkout what games are hot at the moment and find out what games support LAN Play. Most games these days will require an internet connection or must have you connected to the internet to multiplay through a dedicated server (with no offline supported). So games like Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 3 support LAN Play and have dedicated servers you can setup yourself, and anyone else on the network with the game can join. Games like Battlefield 3 do not support LAN Play and you have to connect to the internet to play and if you have 4 ~ 8 people playing on a home-grade DSL connection it can be very unplayable and not alot of fun (which is a shame because Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2 are fantastic LAN games!).

There are also some really great free games to play at a LAN! TrackMania Nations, Savage 2, Wolfenstein – Enemy Territory, Nexuiz, Tremulous & Team Fortress 2. Have a Google around the internet, there are plenty! Some are old now but alot of fun. Other great commercial games for LAN’s are the Battlefield Series (1942, and 2), Unreal Tournament Series, Call of Duty series, Left 4 Dead series, Starcraft, even Flatout 2 is a great laugh!

 

  • Step 6: Food and Drink

Accommodating your fellow Lanners with some food and drink is always welcome. If you go out and buy a carton of coke, energy drinks or alcohol setup an honor system, “Put a $1 in the jar for a drink”. As for food, pizza is always welcome.

In a Large LAN it’s a different case. Having access to a canteen at a LAN is always a good idea, then you can sell chips, pies, and assorted soft drinks for everyone. These will need to be manned at all times, so ask a friend who wants a break from gaming for an hour or partner to hold fort at the canteen for a while.

 

  • Step 7: Setup a place to crash

If you’re having an overnight LAN, make sure you have somewhere for gamers to passout. Whether it’s a spare bed or couch, you will get tired and need a rest. Most gamers will often go and pass out in their car or under their desk at the LAN, just make sure theres somewhere to sleep.

 

  • Step 8: Invite People

Everything is set, now it’s time to get some gamers! You can easily Email, SMS or call your friends and invite them around for some games, even the use of facebooks own Event Invitation system is effective! Large LAN’s will commonly have a reisgration system on their website and encourage all attendees to register for a ticket. Word of advice if selling tickets, Pre-paid tickets. Get everyone to pay before hand and it’ll help cover the costs fo venute and equipment hire.

 

  • Step 9: Play Games!

The LAN is on, Computers are connected, and friends and potential targets are now in games. Time to play some games! Also, Nerf guns are fun at LAN’s!

 

  • Step 10: Cleanup.

The LAN is done and dusted. Your exhausted and dont want to see another computer for at least 48 hours. When cleaning up at home see if you can get some friends to help move things back where they were or worry about it another day. In a venue situation you’ll need to cleanup before you leave. This is where you call on a crowd to help clean up.

 

I hope you find this article informative and helpful. If you’re hosting a LAN we’ll be glad to offer advice and feel free to post your LAN on our facebook wall!