A guide to running an Orion dedicated server on Windows

A) Considerations
B) Setup
C) Minimal Configuration
D) Special Considerations
E) User Contributed Content
F) Change Log

Considerations
---------------------------------------------

A few details need to be ironed out prior to running a dedicated server. These concern connection type, server hardware, and server software.

DO NOT:
*Run the server on cable or low speed DSL. (FTTH and U-Verse should be decent connections, you can use cable but it might increase server latency)

*Use a bloated OS installation.

*Use a data center in a region that does not target your audience, nobody likes high latency.

DO:
*Ensure you can dedicate a minimum of 150-200kb/s constant bandwidth usage for servers 20 slots or higher. (This figure does not factor in people who need map/file downloads and an alternative solution will be talked about later on)

*Use a fresh installation (not required) of Windows with no virus scanner and lock it down. I use Windows Server 2008 to run my Orion server.

*Defragment using a 3rd party tool such as Defraggler after all the files and mods are installed.

*Attempt to run a separate web server and game server. I utilize multiple data centers / hosts for this and any regular joe can get web hosting for ~USD$3/m.

*[BETA Q/A] Send all crash dumps to an Orion dev while reporting good details such as mods installed.


Setup
---------------------------------------------

*Note: Your Program Files directory may/may not match mine, 32bit may ignore the (x86) part of the folder name*

Grabbing the required files is pretty straight forward:

1. Get http://storefront.steampowered.com/down ... tetool.exe
2. Run the installer, this tutorial will assume you used the default directory at all times. Do not install this package in your existing Steam folder, if you have one.
3. Run the windows command prompt by typing 'cmd' in Start -> Run (search box in start menu on Vista or higher)
4. Run the following commands in sequence:
4.1: cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Valve\HLServer
4.2: hldsupdatetool
4.3: hldsupdatetool -command update -game "orangebox" -dir .
5: Open the folder at C:\Program Files (x86)\Valve\HLServer. Inside you should find a directory named hl2. Move this folder into the "orangebox" directory.
6: Download the Orion beta files (no public link, sorry!) and shove them into a folder named Orion that you must create inside of the "orangebox" directory.


Minimal Configuration
---------------------------------------------

Orion already has most, if not all configuration files ready to go.

Edit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Valve\HLServer\orangebox\Orion\cfg\server.cfg
Edit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Valve\HLServer\orangebox\Orion\motd.txt
Edit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Valve\HLServer\orangebox\Orion\mapcycle.txt

Pay close attention to rcon_password because the default is publicly known.

If my memory serves me well, Orion also has bad values configured for the following:

sv_gravity "600"
mp_fraglimit "6"
sv_allowdownload "1"
sv_allowupload "1"

Set those values to match what I have above if you wish to have optimal play.

Set your sv_region setting to something as dictated by the following:

* eastcoast - sv_region 0
* westcoast - sv_region 1
* south america - sv_region 2
* europe - sv_region 3
* asia - sv_region 4
* australia - sv_region 5
* middle east - sv_region 6
* africa - sv_region 7
* world - sv_region 255

Create a new file named orion.bat in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Valve\HLServer\orangebox\" with the following text:



Edit the slot and port info as you see fit. This can also accept IP addresses.

PRO TIP: This script will only save you from soft crashes. The current Q/A build has been hard crashing all the time and requires you to click a crash dialog box.

You may now boot the server up by clicking orion.bat. Be sure to check windows firewall (manually add srcds, it never does it on its own) if your server cant be seen in the list!


Special Considerations
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==Remote HTTP==
Remember the whole map / bandwidth / having a separate HTTP server BS? Well, it actually comes in handy when you don't want to impact the game servers performance. You simply create a directory on your web server named "Orion" and then recreate any required directories for maps or custom mods. The default Orion maps only require a directory structure like "Orion/maps". You need to upload each and every map you wish to use on the server to both the web server and the Orion servers "maps" directory.

Configuring this is a snap, just add the following line to server.cfg:
sv_downloadurl "http://example.com/Orion/"


==Sourcemod==
Metamod:Source and Sourcemod help you easily administer an srcds server through menus instead of the rcon commands. These mods also accept various plugins to enhance the game experience (Think: Deathmatch, Quake Sounds, Stats...).

These do require special files/modifications to work with Orion and I have compiled all of my working files into a downloadable package.

Contents (enabled/disabled by default?):
*Metamod Source, Sourcemod (enabled)
*Admin Menu (enabled)
*Rock The Vote (enabled)
*Enhanced information through game chat (enabled)
*Map nominations (enabled)
*Nextmap command (enabled)
*High Ping Kicker (disabled)
*Quake Sounds [Modified with UT3 sounds, custom compiled to work with headshots] (disabled)

Download: http://mt.westh.linuxwarz.com/oserver/smorion.rar

*Installation*
1) Extract and dump all folders into Orion folder while saying "yes" to any overwrite prompts
2) Edit: addons\sourcemod\configs\admins_simple.ini
3) Edit: cfg\sourcemod\* (review all files)
4) (Optional) Delete the following if you never intend to use Quake/UT3 sounds:
4.1) cfg\sourcemod\sm_quakesounds.cfg
4.2) sound\quake
4.3) addons\sourcemod\translations\plugin.quakesounds.txt
4.4) addons\sourcemod\plugins\quakesounds_other.smx

Boot the server, type "sm plugins list" to ensure everything is loaded.

User Contributed Content
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==TingPing==
If your hosting from a dynamic IP, i would recommend going here: http://www.no-ip.com/
For free Fast Download hosing go here: http://www.ukgame.com/redirect/
To prevent DOS attacks download this: http://www.sourceop.com/modules.php?nam ... load&cid=9 (get TF2 one)


Change Log
---------------------------------------------

11/13/2009-
*Added Metamod/Sourcemod
*Added mapcycle.txt direction

11/11/2009-
*Tweaked bandwidth requirements from 30 to 20 slots

11/10/2009-
*Release

Much appreciated! This should help quite a few people.

*Stickied*

Thread has been updated.