Insurgency - A Few Questions

[DoctorFink]

I'm a first time server renter and a novice server host. I've hosted a vanilla PvP server off my own hardware a few times, but they were as basic as you can get, so my experience with this is minimal. I'm current renting a 16-slot Insurgency Standalone server out of the Chicago data center. My server is up and running and I've modified a few basic things such as Friendly Fire, TK Punishment, etc.

After cruising around the Control Panel and FileZilla checking out files, I have a few basic questions that I am hopeful somebody can answer with minimal effort/time:

1. Where does it indicate the game mode? I know to check the mapcyclefile and mine is currently pointing to the basic mapcycle.txt file. In that file, it has the following listed:

-----------------------
heights
siege
market
district
ministry
sinjar
uprising
contact
revolt
-----------------------

I see no indication within mapcycle.txt as to what game mode these maps should be. I am used to seeing the game mode indicated by, before the latest patches, "_mode", so for example "heights_firefight" or more recently, "heights firefight". I don't see the mode indicated anywhere.

I'm happy it's on Firefight as that will be the game mode for this particular server, but I want to understand how that is so I know what NOT to change, or what TO change, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish.

2. How does installing plugins work with a rented server? I have FTP access - both via Windows Explorer and via FileZilla, but if I'm installing, say, GameME, where I would normally just download the plugin, extract the contents and then copy the "plugins" and "translations" folders into my "sourcemod" folder...what is the best way to do this via FTP? Create zips of them? Try and upload the entire folder via FileZilla? Upload through the Control Panel? I know this is a very basic question, but even after searching I couldn't find much information specific to performing these actions on a rented server. I've done it before on my own hardware with direct access, just never through FTP on a rented server.

3. I notice there are multiple server_mode.cfg files. Examples are server_firefight.cfg. When do these come into play? What files point to these config files? I like that there are multiple variations, such as server_firefight_realism.cfg. Would love to be able to switch between them to see which ones are preferred. Just not quite sure what would be involved in getting that done.

Those are all of my noob questions so far. Again, I did search for these but didn't find much specific information on them - even on Google I couldn't find a ton. I will continue searching and if an answer is found, I will update this post as to not waste anyone's time.

Thanks very much in advance!

[DoctorFink]

As if it wasn't already obvious, I'm blind. If a Mod/Admin would be so kind as to move this to the Insurgency Sub-Forum that I stupidly missed, that would be great and my apologies!

[kraze]

1. Where does it indicate the game mode? I know to check the mapcyclefile and mine is currently pointing to the basic mapcycle.txt file. In that file, it has the following listed:

-----------------------
heights
siege
market
district
ministry
sinjar
uprising
contact
revolt
-----------------------

I see no indication within mapcycle.txt as to what game mode these maps should be. I am used to seeing the game mode indicated by, before the latest patches, "_mode", so for example "heights_firefight" or more recently, "heights firefight". I don't see the mode indicated anywhere.

I'm happy it's on Firefight as that will be the game mode for this particular server, but I want to understand how that is so I know what NOT to change, or what TO change, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish.

The gamemode is actually dictated by which map file you end of using. We have a guide on how to edit those settings here.
http://forums.nfoservers.com/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=11584

2. How does installing plugins work with a rented server? I have FTP access - both via Windows Explorer and via FileZilla, but if I'm installing, say, GameME, where I would normally just download the plugin, extract the contents and then copy the "plugins" and "translations" folders into my "sourcemod" folder...what is the best way to do this via FTP? Create zips of them? Try and upload the entire folder via FileZilla? Upload through the Control Panel? I know this is a very basic question, but even after searching I couldn't find much information specific to performing these actions on a rented server. I've done it before on my own hardware with direct access, just never through FTP on a rented server.

The easiest way would be to just upload the raw files via FTP.

3. I notice there are multiple server_mode.cfg files. Examples are server_firefight.cfg. When do these come into play? What files point to these config files? I like that there are multiple variations, such as server_firefight_realism.cfg. Would love to be able to switch between them to see which ones are preferred. Just not quite sure what would be involved in getting that done.

These files would come into play based on whatever gamemode the server is being played. Even though, you can set the gamemode and mapcycle on your server at the end of the game players can vote for a new map/gamemode. Some of the options won't always be what the server is designed to run. For example, if you set the server to run coop players will also be able to vote for the gamemode hunt when the map ends.

[DoctorFink]

The gamemode is actually dictated by which map file you end of using. We have a guide on how to edit those settings here.
http://forums.nfoservers.com/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=11584

I guess that's where my question/confusion comes in - right now my server.cfg file is pointing to mapcycle.txt which only has the list of map names as listed above - no game mode is indicated in that TXT file, yet the server is running Firefight only, even at the end of the map - only Firefight options are present.

Here is my server.cfg file on Pastebin - hostname, sv_contact and RCON password are "BLANKED"...

http://pastebin.com/bJytmsEX

Here is my current mapcycle.txt file as well...

http://pastebin.com/2DRrxZMC

I hope this illustrates my confusion. From what I can see, when looking at the server.cfg and mapcycle.txt file, there is no indication of game mode in either one. If my mapcycle.txt file had "_firefight" or " firefight" after each map name, then it would all seem to make sense. I'm just trying to figure out where the game mode is indicated in my current instance so I don't mess things up when I start going through and customizing things.

The easiest way would be to just upload the raw files via FTP.

So extract everything out on my local PC and then upload the contents via FTP? No zipping or anything? Just copy over full folders and such?

These files would come into play based on whatever gamemode the server is being played. Even though, you can set the gamemode and mapcycle on your server at the end of the game players can vote for a new map/gamemode. Some of the options won't always be what the server is designed to run. For example, if you set the server to run coop players will also be able to vote for the gamemode hunt when the map ends.

This ties into my response to your first answer about the server.cfg file. Right now, the only game mode available anywhere on the server is Firefight - even at the end of the match when the players vote. I just don't know why!

[kraze]

The gamemode is actually dictated by which map file you end of using. We have a guide on how to edit those settings here.
http://forums.nfoservers.com/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=11584

I guess that's where my question/confusion comes in - right now my server.cfg file is pointing to mapcycle.txt which only has the list of map names as listed above - no game mode is indicated in that TXT file, yet the server is running Firefight only, even at the end of the map - only Firefight options are present.

Here is my server.cfg file on Pastebin - hostname, sv_contact and RCON password are "BLANKED"...

http://pastebin.com/bJytmsEX

Here is my current mapcycle.txt file as well...

http://pastebin.com/2DRrxZMC

I hope this illustrates my confusion. From what I can see, when looking at the server.cfg and mapcycle.txt file, there is no indication of game mode in either one. If my mapcycle.txt file had "_firefight" or " firefight" after each map name, then it would all seem to make sense. I'm just trying to figure out where the game mode is indicated in my current instance so I don't mess things up when I start going through and customizing things.

The gamemode that is being played is dictated by the specific mapcycle file you choose to run. The link I gave you above helps explain this. http://forums.nfoservers.com/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=11584 If you want to run coop you'd edit the server.cfg to use "mapcycle_coop.txt" and then populate it with coop maps. For some weird reason Insurgency seems to be mix multiple gametypes into a single gamemode. So if you're running mapcycle_coop.txt as your map cycle your server would play checkpoint, outpost, and hunt. You would then need to edit each of server_XXX.cfg to customize the gameplay. As of now, you can pretty much ignore the standard mapcycle.txt file.

The easiest way would be to just upload the raw files via FTP.

So extract everything out on my local PC and then upload the contents via FTP? No zipping or anything? Just copy over full folders and such?

Correct.

These files would come into play based on whatever gamemode the server is being played. Even though, you can set the gamemode and mapcycle on your server at the end of the game players can vote for a new map/gamemode. Some of the options won't always be what the server is designed to run. For example, if you set the server to run coop players will also be able to vote for the gamemode hunt when the map ends.

This ties into my response to your first answer about the server.cfg file. Right now, the only game mode available anywhere on the server is Firefight - even at the end of the match when the players vote. I just don't know why!

My first response should clarify this better.

[DoctorFink]

The gamemode that is being played is dictated by the specific mapcycle file you choose to run. The link I gave you above helps explain this. http://forums.nfoservers.com/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=11584 If you want to run coop you'd edit the server.cfg to use "mapcycle_coop.txt" and then populate it with coop maps. For some weird reason Insurgency seems to be mix multiple gametypes into a single gamemode. So if you're running mapcycle_coop.txt as your map cycle your server would play checkpoint, outpost, and hunt. You would then need to edit each of server_XXX.cfg to customize the gameplay. As of now, you can pretty much ignore the standard mapcycle.txt file.

My mind is absolutely boggled right now given that it's using the basic mapcycle.txt file with no game mode being indicated therein (like you'd normally see after the map name) and yet, it's only serving up Firefight options. I'm scared to touch anything with it magically working this way!

Do I not need to add the game mode to each map listed in any given TXT file? When I look in the existing mapcycle_push.txt file (untouched by me) as an example, there is no game mode indicated there either - just map names. Basically a mirror of the mapcycle.txt. Wouldn't I need to add " push" after each map name - for example, "heights push" - for it to offer up Push game modes for the maps that I list?

I am so sorry if I seem dense, but I just can't fathom how it's serving up only Firefight game modes for the maps I have chosen in mapcycle.txt without any game mode being indicated.

Correct.

Thanks very much!

[kraze]

Firefight could be a default somewhere, which is likely why it's loading it, and yes, you would want to add _coop to the end of the maps, but only if you're running coop.

[DoctorFink]

Firefight could be a default somewhere, which is likely why it's loading it, and yes, you would want to add _coop to the end of the maps, but only if you're running coop.

Ok...I mean, that's really the only explanation at this point.

I definitely don't want Coop for this one. If anything, I'd just want to change it to another game mode exclusively, or offer mixed modes. Going to do some testing now to see if I can figure out how to change modes just so I can better understand it. Once I figure that out, I can go through and clean up the TXT files so it all makes sense to my layman brain.

I appreciate your help very much, Kraze! Sorry if I was being difficult - I just naturally want to learn as much as I can about this stuff so was trying to piece everything together.

Thanks again! Cheers.

[kraze]

Don't worry about it. This is what the forums are for

[DoctorFink]

Don't worry about it. This is what the forums are for

Last question...for the moment ( )...how detailed of support do you guys offer? Meaning, if I make a change to a mapcycle file and something goes awry, do you offer help with my specific server manipulating files or anything? Just curious what my options will be should I brick something.

[kraze]

That's tough to say, as while you can connect us and ask if we see something wrong with the server/configuration. It's not feasible for us to diagnose and solve configuration related issues. Your best bet here is to take backups of files you'll be editing and to only make one, maybe two edits at once. That way if something does go wrong you know exactly what caused it and can roll back.

[DoctorFink]

That's tough to say, as while you can connect us and ask if we see something wrong with the server/configuration. It's not feasible for us to diagnose and solve configuration related issues. Your best bet here is to take backups of files you'll be editing and to only make one, maybe two edits at once. That way if something does go wrong you know exactly what caused it and can roll back.

I like the way you think. You'd think as an IT guy by trade I wouldn't be so nervous about it...but I am.

Another question...ugh...

Do you know what maplist.txt does? I can't find a reference to it in any of the CFG files. Both the default file straight from Valve and the one you guys provided me only have three maps listed and the maps are in quotes - "siege", "heights" and "ministry". Weird...

Thanks again, Kraze. Sorry for being a pest.

[kraze]

That would be used for third-party admin mods such as SourceMod so they can know/display the mapcycle in the admin menu.

[Caliban55]

With Insurgency, it does not really matter what you name your textfile for your mapcyle, as long as it is in a simple text format and you point your server command line to load that specific file thorugh your server.cfg.

The important part are the maps, which you can find in your /insurgency/maps/ folder, which have a "coop" string somewhere in their filename (if the person creating them was nice enough to include it, in the case of custom maps) and usually also a .nav navmesh file. The other maps you will have to look up in their .txt files, which modes are supported, or they have strings like "hunt" which indicated the gamemode.

Unfortunatley, Insurgency mixes the mode/maps a bit....

[DoctorFink]

With Insurgency, it does not really matter what you name your textfile for your mapcyle, as long as it is in a simple text format and you point your server command line to load that specific file thorugh your server.cfg.

The important part are the maps, which you can find in your /insurgency/maps/ folder, which have a "coop" string somewhere in their filename (if the person creating them was nice enough to include it, in the case of custom maps) and usually also a .nav navmesh file. The other maps you will have to look up in their .txt files, which modes are supported, or they have strings like "hunt" which indicated the gamemode.

Unfortunatley, Insurgency mixes the mode/maps a bit....

Thanks for the response, Caliban!

I guess I'm just not used to how seemingly unorganized Insurgency's data is. The fact that my default mapcycle file (mapcycle.txt) had just map names and no mode indicator next to it and yet the server was set to Firefight only just baffled me. Really messed with my mind, apparently!

I finally went in and manually created some mapcycle files based off of what I knew Valve included with the default software package. Made a mapcycle_all.txt, mapcycle_firefight.txt and a few others. I then went in and modified my server.cfg file to point to the mapcycle_firefight.txt and cleared out the "Easy Setup" screen where it had the initial list of maps. Only thing in there now is the map on which I want the server to start.

Still not sure how the server knew to serve up Firefight with that bland default mapcycle.txt, but I am over it now! It's working and I have all the maps available that I listed in the manually created mapcycle_firefight.txt file! I know that is child's play, but I was proud of myself.

Thanks again for the response! I can guarantee you will be hearing more from me!