Smartex

The configuration of a steam standalone server was a tricky process, but i managed to gather enough information to get something out of it. So in turn i decided to get have a go at writing a definitive setup guide for everyone to avoid the stressful process i went through. This was setup using XP home, but im pretty sure all said details mentioned below should work with all Microsoft OS

Going to try and obtain a linux version at some point and bring that up to date also.

Step 1 – Obtain yourself a copy of the setup tool, named http://storefront.steampowered.com/download/hldsupdatetool.exe get it downloaded and installed, strongly advised to create a specific folder for this i.e c:/TF2Server

Step 2 – Next stage is you need to get it up to date so open up command prompt and change directory to the TF2Server and issue the command : hldsupdatetool -command <command> [parameters] [flags] – see below for options on commands parameters and flags

• Commands
  • -command version - View installed versions
  • -command list - View available games
• Parameters
  • -game <game> - Install a game where <tt<game></tt> is the desired game’s code
  • -dir <installdir> - Specify the absolute path to the desired installation directory with <installdir> (the tool will install to the last directory used if no directory is specified)
  • -username <username> - Steam account username (only needed to access limited content)
  • -password <password> - Steam account password (only needed to access limited content)
• Flags
  • -remember_password - Remember password (if a Steam account username and password are supplied)
  • -verify_all - Verify that all HLDS files have been updated
  • -retry - Automatically retry every 30 seconds if the Steam Network is busy

Step 3 – once updated you should be ready to roll, so issue the command and pick your game -  hldsupdatetool -command update -game <game> -dir <installdir>

1. Source-engine Games

• Counter-Strike Source - Counter-Strike Source
• dods - Day of Defeat: Source
• hl2mp - Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
• tf - Team Fortress 2
• GoldSrc-engine Games
  • cstrike - Counter-Strike 1.6
  • czero - Counters-Strike: Condition Zero
  • dmc - Deathmatch: Classic
  • dod - Day of Defeat
  • gearbox - Opposing Force
  • ricochet - Ricochet
  • tfc - Team Fortress Classic
  • valve - Half-Life Deathmatch
• Third-party Game Content
  • redorchestra - Red Orchestra
  • ship - The Ship
  • sin - Sin Episodes
  • darkmessiah - Dark Messiah
  • garrysmod - Garry’s Mod

then go get a cup of tea and go read some nuts magazine as this will take a while

Step 3.5 – you need to forward the port 27015. visit portforward.com to obtain procedure on how to forward with the accosiated router that you have.

Step 4 – Now once complete you are ready to roll, open command prompt once again and launch hlds.exe – see below for addition options.

• -autoupdate - Automatically updates the server whenever updates are released
• -console - Starts the server in console mode (no GUI)
• -game <game name> - Indicates which game server to launch
• -ip <ipaddress> - Sets the server IP if multiple IPs are available
• -port <port number> - Sets the port which the server will accept connections through (port 27015 will be used by default if no port is specified)
• +maxplayers <number of players> - Sets the maximum number of players allowed on the server
• +map <map name> - Sets the starting map

Step 5 - So thats you now got all components setup, next stage is obtaining a configuration file  for the server, essentially telling your server mechanism on how to behave. Grab one here, add it to the CFG folder held with in the folder tree – c:/tf2server/orangebox/tf/cfg for example. Other file, are there for you to mess around with aswell if you so desire

Step 6 – Now you can edit your cfg file to whatever you like, maps changes,