eatenbyagrue said:
So for the first time ever, my friends and I are going to lock ourselves in a semi-lit room for a good 18-24 hours for a straight, full-on marathon gaming session. We are roughly 8 people, and are planning on rotating Team Fortress Classic, Diablo 2, Call of Duty, Starcraft and Company of Heroes.
The thing is, this is pretty much a first time for me, and indeed, for a lot of my group, to have a marathon LAN gaming session.
The point I'm driving at then, is this: does anybody here have any tips on surviving 18-24 hours of nothing but gaming, with only short breaks to use the loo or to go and inhale pizza and soda?
I've hosted LANs in my house before as well as participated them in communal shared accomodation. Here are the things that will assist:
* Find out what all the guests are bringing in terms of hardware. Try and make sure everything planned runs well on everyone's PC. (From looking at your game list I reckon you've already thought about this.)
* Plan your food! Best case scenario, have someone cook and cater for you! I used to cook for people having LANs when I lived in a communal residence, I enjoy cooking so I'd make all sorts of wild asian cuisine concoctions, for compensation I would lend one of the LANers my PC and they would fill it with shit (legal ahem). Living off Red Bulls and other sugary junk alone will give you quick energy but also turn you into a crabby asshole who won't have much fun, and fun is #1 priority. At the very least, plan what you're all going to eat for your big meal beforehand, make it something awesome and not too shitty, i.e if you get pizza don't get it from a shitty fast food place, get it from somewhere that makes it gourmet style with fresh ingredients and real-deal crust. Might cost a little more but totally worth it. You get the idea. Also ask people beforehand about diet, some people might be vegetarian etc.
* Not all of you will want to game all the time. As crazy as it sounds, by the ten hour mark someone in your group will get eyestrain or go stir crazy or just get plain bored of gaming. Have other non-computer based distractions available. A couch, TV and DVD player and a gaming magazine or two to read will do as bare minimum. Also give people the option to go outside or away from the LAN room.
* Make sure you have adequate supplies of toiletries for 8 people. I'm sure I don't need to go into detail about why this might be important.
* Game for fun. Don't be too serious. If you are playing an FPS with vehicles, race the vehicles. Starcraft has tons of kick-ass silly mods for it, download some in advance. Third-party mods are a gaming LAN's best friend. If you can bring something a little different and a little new to the night, it will go down well. Others may also do this.
* Have some spare bedding, couch, sleeping bag, whatever in case someone needs to crash for the night. Driving home while dead-tired after a gaming marathon is dangerous. If parents are giving people a lift all good but sometimes parents can't make the pickup so have a backup plan.
* You can never have enough POWER BOARDS, TABLES, NETWORK CABLES and EXTENSION LEADS. If possible have spare computer parts on hand. Sucks if someone can't participate because a mouse or PSU gives out or something. Also know the procedure in advance for if a fuse blows, i.e how to change the fuse.
