LAN Party – Blog. by Next Thing https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com News & Notes. Process & Projects. No BS. Srsly. Thu, 09 Nov 2017 03:16:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.5 Multiplayer Fragfest: Quake III PocketC.H.I.P. LAN Party! https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/multiplayer-fragfest-quake-iii-pocketc-h-i-p-lan-party/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/multiplayer-fragfest-quake-iii-pocketc-h-i-p-lan-party/#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2016 19:08:36 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1252

Party like it’s 1999 with Quake III Open Arena on PocketC.H.I.P.!

Released in December of 1999, Quake III Arena lives on today thanks to the Open Arena Project. This community maintained project uses the open source code from id Software’s classic shooter and updates it to run on new systems and add extra features and levels.

Open Arena is easy to install on PocketC.H.I.P., and with the new 3D acceleration driver, the game is screaming fast. And just like the DOOM LAN party, your Quake III party will work with another PocketC.H.I.P. or Quake III playing device—like Mega PocketC.H.I.P.!

With all the fragging, you also may want to customize the PocketC.H.I.P. keyboard, check out these popular mods. Have a great LAN party!

1. Flash PocketC.H.I.P. & Setup Wifi

pocket443d

Use the online flasher and update your PocketC.H.I.P. with the PocketC.H.I.P. 4.4 image. Flashing overwrites all of the data, but also installs an MLC NAND driver which gives you the extra storage space on C.H.I.P.s with Hynix NAND, and the 3d acceleration driver.

Once the flashing finishes, connect PocketC.H.I.P. to your WiFi network. This LAN party only will work if all the devices have access to the same WiFi network. For a more advanced setup where PocketC.H.I.P. is used to create its own network, see steps 1-7 in the DOOM LAN party guide.

Note: Need help with PocketC.H.I.P. setup? Check out our online PocketC.H.I.P. docs.


2. Update the Package List

Open the Terminal application on your PocketC.H.I.P., type the command below, and then press enter. This command updates the list of available packages you can install on your system.
sudo apt update

When prompted for your password, type chip and press enter.


3. Install Git & Clone Quake III

Install the version control software git which you’ll use to download the Quake III source code.
sudo apt install git

Use git to clone the source code for Quake III from GitHub to your PocketC.H.I.P..
git clone https://github.com/NextThingCo/ioquake3-gles


4. Build Quake III

Change to the directory with the source code.
cd ioquake3-gles

Run the build.sh script, which compiles Quake III and makes a configuration change to the Awesome window manager. Just sit back and relax while the script does the work!
./build.sh


5. Start the Game

Start Quake III by typing the following command.
openarena

After the splash screen plays and you’ll be presented with a menu; use the arrow keys to highlight Multiplayer and then press enter.


6. Create the Server

multiplayer screen

Multiplayer screen

From the multiplayer screen, use the arrow keys to highlight create and press enter.

Select the level to use

Select the level to use

You’ll then need to select the map for your game, which can be done with the arrow keys, tab, and enter. When you’re ready to proceed with the selected map, press next.

Server configuration screen

Server configuration screen


7. Join the Game

screenshot-120116-225333

Now that the server is setup, other players can join the game simply by going to the multiplayer section in Quake III and selecting the game from the list of available servers. Once you see the server, use the arrow keys to select Fight and get ready to frag!


chipLogo64x64

Now that you can host your own Quake III LAN parties, what other classic games do you want to play on PocketC.H.I.P.? Share your favorites in the comments below and make sure to tweet us photos from your PocketC.H.I.P. LAN party!

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Here’s How to Host a 90s-Style DOOM LAN Party Using PocketC.H.I.P. https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/heres-how-to-host-a-90s-style-doom-lan-party-using-pocketc-h-i-p/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/heres-how-to-host-a-90s-style-doom-lan-party-using-pocketc-h-i-p/#comments Tue, 19 Jul 2016 18:19:41 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=771 Doom LAN party battle of the Stands: Team Pencil versus Team Pen

Doom LAN party with PocketC.H.I.P.: Team Pencil Stand versus Team Pen Stand

PocketC.H.I.P. is more fun with friends, so call them up and make plans for a 90s-style Doom LAN party!

Following this guide you’ll learn how to setup a Doom server that runs directly on PocketC.H.I.P.. Plus, you’ll learn how to configure PocketC.H.I.P. to provide IP addresses to all your friends’ devices –PocketC.H.I.P., C.H.I.P., or any Doom playing devices (so basically anything).

The best part is no rackmount servers or ethernet wires required. Happy fragging!

1. Setup PocketC.H.I.P. as a WiFi Access Point

Since PocketC.H.I.P. is mobile, you’ll want to be able to have your LAN party anywhere, even if that means far away from your home network. To be this portable, you’ll need to configure one of the PocketC.H.I.P.s involved in the LAN party to provide a basic network infrastructure for the event.

Update the apt package lists and install DNSmasq.
sudo apt update && sudo apt install dnsmasq

Note: DNSmasq is a software package that enables you to set up a small dynamic host protocol (DHCP) network using C.H.I.P..


2. Configure DNSmasq

DNSmasq_config_RocketCHIP

Use the text editor Nano to write a configuration file for DNSmasq.
sudo nano /etc/dnsmasq.d/access_point.conf

Enter the text below into access_point.conf file.

interface=wlan1
except-interface=wlan0
dhcp-range=172.20.0.100,172.20.0.250,1h

Save and quit.

Note: If you feel lost with Nano, check out this great tutorial.


3. Setup a Static IP Address

networkinterface_RocketCHIP

Since you’ll want other devices to connect to your PocketC.H.I.P.’s Doom server, it’s best to configure a static IP address for the device. This way you can tell all your friends the server’s IP address and quickly join the the network game.

You’ll use the PocketC.H.I.P. wlan1 network adapter to handle all of the Doom server networking.
sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Populate with the file with following lines of configuration.

source-directory /etc/network/interfaces.d
auto wlan1
iface wlan1 inet static
address 172.20.0.1
netmask 255.255.255.0

Once entered, save and quit Nano.

Note: Static addresses get their name because they don’t change when you reboot. This is opposed to dynamic IP address, which can potentially change on reboot and are typically served by DHCP servers.


4. Start the wlan1 Interface

Use the ifup command to start the wlan1 static IP address. The command reads the configuration file /etc/network/interfaces, which you set up in the previous step.
sudo ifup wlan1

Test that everything worked by typing the following command.
ip addr show wlan1

You should get output showing the IP address of wlan1 is 172.20.0.1. If you don’t, revisit the last step and make sure you input the configuration file correctly.


5. Restart the DHCP server

dnsmasq_restart_RocketCHIP
To provide IP addresses to all of the client devices of your LAN party, you’ll need to setup a DHCP server. DHCP servers dynamically assigns an IP address to any client device that asks for one. In fact, the ‘D’ in DHCP stands for dynamic.

sudo /etc/init.d/dnsmasq restart

Note: When setting up a network where you don’t know the number of devices that will connect to your server, DHCP is a nice way to dynamically handle the problem. The configuration file you wrote in Step 2, permits the DHCP server from giving out IP addresses from 172.20.0.100–172.20.0.250. So, unless your friends bring over 151 WiFi devices to the party, you should have more than enough IP addresses for the DHCP server to assign.

DHCP servers can also configure far more client details than you’re using in this project: things like the route for traffic to get to the internet and which domain name servers to use. That stuff is way beyond the scope of configuration you’ll need for a Doom LAN party server. Here you’ll just need several devices to communicate with each other, not get on the internet.


6. Configure the Access Point on C.H.I.P.

In order for any devices to connect to the PocketC.H.I.P. DHCP server you just configured, you’ll need to broadcast an SSID –just like the one from your home WiFi network.

Here’s how to create a SSID called NTC_LAN_PARTY, fitting for what this whole project is about. Edit the hostapd.conf file by typing:
sudo nano /etc/hostapd.conf

Populate the file with the following text.

interface=wlan1
ssid=NTC_LAN_PARTY
channel=1
ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd

Once you’ve saved the file, start the hostapd application, which reads the config file you just made.
sudo hostapd /etc/hostapd.conf

Note: Check out this bbs post for more info about how to add password protection to your wireless network.


7. Write a Systemd HostAPD Configuration

Since you’ll want your access point to work even after a system reboot, edit one more config file and your server will be almost set.
sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/hostapd-systemd.service

Fill the file with the following text.

[Unit]
Description=hostapd service
Wants=network-manager.service
After=network-manager.service
Wants=module-init-tools.service
After=module-init-tools.service
ConditionPathExists=/etc/hostapd.conf

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/hostapd /etc/hostapd.conf

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

And finally run these commands to get systemd squared away.
sudo update-rc.d hostapd disable
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable hostapd-systemd
sudo systemctl start hostapd-systemd
systemctl status hostapd-systemd

Note: Systemd is what controls when daemons start and stop in Debian Linux. You can learn more about it on their site.


8. Install Doom

If you don’t already have Doom on your PocketC.H.I.P., open the Terminal and install Doom plus the shareware map files.
sudo apt install prboom doom-wad-shareware

Note: Doom maps use the file extension .WAD and you can find all sorts of them online, many of which are free to use. If you bought a copy of Doom, you can also use the .WAD files that came with the game. But don’t be a pirate, make sure you’re using freeware WAD files or you own the game!


9. PocketC.H.I.P. LAN Party

Once you’ve gotten all the PocketC.H.I.P. Doom server setup, it’s time to have some LAN party fun. On the PocketC.H.I.P. that’s setup as the server, open the Terminal and execute the following command.
prboom-game-server

Then open a new tab in the Terminal using the icon in the top left corner with a plus. This will give you a new terminal session from which to launch the Doom client application. Here’s how you should start the Doom client.
prboom -net 172.20.0.1

On all the other PocketC.H.I.P.s (and non-PocketC.H.I.P. Doom-playing-devices you’re inviting to your party) join the network NTC_LAN_PARTY. Once you have an IP from this network, open the Terminal application and type the following.
prboom -net 172.20.0.1

Note: Careful readers will notice that the IP address used in these command is the one that is statically assigned to the PocketC.H.I.P. server. It makes a lot of sense, you’re telling prboom to look for a server at the IP address where you set it up.

Network Doom will not start until there are at least two clients connected to the server. The client connection from the PocketC.H.I.P. counts as one, so you’ll only need to find one other person in order to have a LAN party.

Note: If anyone quits the game, the Doom server may terminate. On the PocketC.H.I.P. that’s handling all of the server responsibilities, look to see if prboom-game-server has stopped running. You’ll be able to tell this because there will be a flashing rectangular input cursor if the server has quit. Just run the command again and have all your friends join to get it working again.


Get Fragging!

Now that your server is up and running and your friends are on the way, make sure you have plenty of snacks and beverages for hours of fun.

When you do take a break between rounds, snap a picture of your LAN party and share it on Facebook, Twitter, and in our forums. And while you’re there, don’t forget to mention your favorite WAD file!

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