Download Booster for Dedicated Servers of Counter Strike 1.6

Booster is a plugin for metamod which will allow the clients to connect to the server with low pings. The booster works only with Dedicated Servers and does not have any affect on Listen Servers.

The booster is available at this website.

The name of the file is given as booster_lite_mm-1.13.zip. The booster works on Metamod. So, first the metamod must be installed on the cs1.6. If the installation of metamod is completed, the booster can be installed just by extracting the files of the package to a folder named booster and placing it in the addons folder of cstrike. The name of the dll and its location must be entered into the plugins.ini file of the metamod. This can be done as shown below,

Add a line like this, win32 addons\booster\booster_lite_mm.dll

Similar lines can be found for AMX Mod X, or Admin Mid if installed on Metamod. To disable the booster, just add a ";" in front of the line shown above. The location of the dll must be same as that shown in this line.

The Booster is a similar kind of plugin to AMX Mod X, and hence must be directly run on Metamod and not AMX Mod X.

The commands for the booster can be found in the config file of the booster. The config file can be located in the same folder as the Dll file with the file extension .cfg. The values for different CVars and commands can be found in the Config.

Counter Strike 1.6 Dedicated Server Help Post - Complete HLDS Help

What is Counter Strike 1.6 Dedicated Server:
It is a application which can run the Counter Strike 1.6 engine in a Public or Private Server. The application can be installed without installing the game itself. The application will be included in the game while installing the game CS1.6. The Dedicated server is for the public and is intended for other players to join the game. Where as the Listen Server is one in which the player himself will start the game while the game is being played himself.

How to Host:
This Dedicated Server application can be launched by the executable hlds.exe, the one which is commented as HLDS launcher. This HLDS is the Half-Life Dedicated Server. Once the application is opened, it will show up a GUI. The GUI contains some options and tabs. The game which is intended to run on the server should be given in the options of the first Tab. It includes the following,

Game,
The Game is the Mod which the server should start. It includes CStrike, DOD, CZero, etc... These Mods are all the sub parts of the game Half-Life. CStrike stands for Counter Strike, either CS1.6, CS1.5 or Other versions.

Server Name,
Server Name is the name which should be shown while showing the server in the server browser of the other players GUI. The Server Name is to be specified clearly so that the other players can easily know what game is going on and what mod is being used in the game.

Map,
Map is the starting Map, the Default map can be changed to the required map by changing the map in InstallationFolder\Platform\Config\Server.VDF. This file will save the data previously given. So, to be specific, this is not the default file but it keeps on changing.

Network,
The Network is obviously LAN or Internet.

Max Players,
Max Players can be 32.

UDP Port,
The is the port defined universally for all the PCs. These ports from 27015 to 27020 and more are all dedicated to the Half-Life applications. If you want to setup another server in the same PC, then you need to give the port different to that of previous one. If some error is reported as shown below,

Could not allocate dedicated server IP Port 27015

This may be the case when you are trying to start a second Dedicated Server in the same PC or you may have previously started a Listen Server and Closed it, but that game is still running.

Rcon Password,
The rcon password which is used to control the server from another computer. If you think you will be administrating the server all the time this should be neglected. To know about rcon see the previous posts in this blog.

Once the Dedicated Server is started, you can see the Tabs on the top of GUI. The first Tab is Configure

Configure,
This Tab lets the Administrator change the Cvars of the game. The Cvars included are Round Limit, Win Limit, Buy Time, Freeze Time, Teams Limit, Time Per Round, Bomb Time, Starting Money, Friendly Fire, Flash Light, Foot Steps, Team Balance, Camara Angle,

Some more CVars can be added to these by changing the parameters in the GameServerConfig.VDF. This file allows the administrator to add any number of CVars to the GUI in the HLDS Applicated after launched.

The other Tabs include Statistics, Players, Bans, Console.

The Console can be operated from that tab. The condump command can be used to dump the console to any .txt file in the game DIR.

How to Host Counter Strike 1.6 Multiplayer LAN Server with AMX and MetaMod

Basics of Hosting a CS1.6 Server: Dedicated Server and Listen Server

Listen Server:
You can host a listen server by opening the cs1.6 game and going to the option Create Server. This is called Listen Server. You can give commands in the console while playing in the Game itself. In the beginning you alone will be there in the game, the players join later.

Dedicated Server:
You can host a dedicated server by opening the file hlds.exe in your directory where hl.exe file exists. This will not open a game but it will just create a server with a GUI. You can select the required options in the GUI. Like whether to host a LAN or Internet server. The map. The maximum number of players. The Rcon etc. See whats Rcon and Port in this blog posts. You wont be in the game. You should join the game by opening the hl.exe and then by typing connect loopback:27015 in the console.

Basics of Hosting a CS1.6 Server: The Graphic Card

It does not matter whether you have a graphic card or not, but what you really need is a good Processor and RAM. The game consists of two basic divisions. One is the Graphical User Interface and other is the actual program. The graphic card only takes those responsibilities which are directly related to the graphics. But it wont care about the actual program. In the game if you press a key then that goes to the main processor instead of the GPU - Graphical Processing Unit. This is how the processes vary.

I will give you practical difference. If you are hosting a dedicated server or listen server, no matter how good graphic card you have, you server may lag. This is because of the processor or RAM.

Basics of Hosting a CS1.6 Server: The Commands

You can give commads to change the variables of the game. Like, kicking a player, slapping a player, changing map, changing gravity, changing time per round, changing friendly fire. You can give these in the starting of the server itself in the GUI, but if you want to change them in the middle of the game.

Some commands:

• mp_startmoney "money" - Gives that much money in the starting of the game
  
• mp_friendlyfire "0/1" - 0 for Off, 1 for On
• mp_roundtime "timeinminutes" - time in minutes 2, 2.5, 3 etc
• sv_gravity "number" - Default is 800, 0=players fly, 2000=players cant jump.
• changelevel "map_name" - de_dust2 for dust2 or any other map name.
• sv_restart "timeinseconds" - The time in seconds, game restarts from 0 rounds.

Basics of Hosting a CS1.6 Server: The Mods

CS1.6 server can be equipped with some mods like AMX Mod X, Admin Mod, Chicken Mod, StatsMe etc. These are mods which help in server administration or change the gameplay. AMX Mod and Admin Mod help in server administration, where as Chicken Mod changes the game play, StatsMe allows in-game on-screen statistics of the players.

AMX Mod X:
Installing AMX Mod X allows you to get menus on the screen, which will allow you to change the game variables with out the use of console commands. You will get the AMX Mod Menu if you type this keyword in the console "amxmodmenu".

For more on Mods see other posts of this blog about how to install and how to use.

Counter Strike 1.6 Configs and GUI Settings, Listen Server Must Haves

You can download the GUI_Temp.rar in which you are given 6 Configs apart from config.cfg and userconfig.cfg. Namely they are demoplay.cfg, demorecord.cfg, sensitivity.cfg, lsmain.cfg, plugins.cfg.

You can get them in tha package. extract them all into the cstrike folder in your harddisk. Now when you run your listen server, you can observe the difference you get in operating the listen server.

This is how it goes on.

1. Firstly Control text Color is changed.
2. Secondly the operarion is made easier.

1. Control Text Color:

The control text color is changed from default orange to green.

2. Operation:

It is like this

Under F3 - Some Commands related to Listen Server

Under F4 - Some Commands related to Plugins CSDM GUNGAME WARCRAFT etc

Under F12 - Some Commands related to Demo Playback etc

while In the Listen Server:

You can Directly change the entire settings from your key board.

Press F3 and then...Number Pad keys

1. Enter - Switches on Friendly Fire
2. . or Del - password protects the server
3. 0 or Ins - Switches on autoteambalance
4. +(Plus key) - Freezetimet to 6 seconds
5. -(Minus) - Changes Gravity to low value
6. / - Shows AMX MOD X Menu if installed
7. * - Shows Clan Mod Menu if installed
8. 1 or End - Switches of Friendly Fire
9. 2 or Downarrow - Switches off auto team balance
10. 3 or Pgdn - Freezetime 0
11. 4 - Gravity Normal
12. 5 - No Password for server
13. 6 - Specify your own Password
14. 7 - Specify you name
15. 8 -Specify Freezetime
16. 9 - Specify Hostname

Press F4 and then...Number Pad keys

1. Enter - Swap Teams if amx_match_deluxe is installed
2. . or Del - Restart Server in 3 Seconds
3. 0 or Ins - Restart Server (Reload Map)
4. +(Plus key) - Add CT PodBot if installed
5. -(Minus) - Add T PodBot if installed
6. / - Shows AMX MOD X Menu if installed
7. * - Shows Clan Mod Menu if installed
8. 1 or End - Vote What Map
9. 2 or Downarrow - Want Mod or not Vote
10. 3 or Pgdn - What Mod to Select
11. 4 - Disable CSDM
12. 5 - Vote Map change or not
13. 6 - Disable Warcraft 3 Mod
14. 7 - Enable CSDM
15. 8 - Enable GunGame Vote
16. 9 - Enable Warcraft

Press F8 and then...Number Pad keys

1. Enter - Specify Sensitivity
2. . or Del - Change Crosshair Color to Red
3. 0 or Ins - Change Crosshair Color
4. +(Plus key) - Sizeup
5. -(Minus) - Sizedown
6. / - Left Hand
7. * - Right Hand
8. 1 or End - Sensitivity 1
9. 2 or Downarrow - Sensitivity 2
10. 3 or Pgdn - Sensitivity 3
11. 4 - Sensitivity 4
12. 5 - Sensitivity 5
13. 6 - Sensitivity 6
14. 7 - Sensitivity 7
15. 8 - Sensitivity 8
16. 9 - Sensitivity 9

Press F11 and then...Number Pad keys

1. Enter - Specify Record Demo Name
2. . or Del - Change Crosshair Color to Red
3. 0 or Ins - Stop
4. +(Plus key) -
5. -(Minus) -
6. / -
7. * -
8. 1 - Record Demo With Name 1
9. 2 - Record Demo With Name 2
10. 3 - Record Demo With Name 3
11. 4 - Record Demo With Name 4
12. 5 - Record Demo With Name 5
13. 6 - Record Demo With Name 6
14. 7 - Record Demo With Name 7
15. 8 - Record Demo With Name 8
16. 9 - Record Demo With Name 9

Press F12 and then...Number Pad keys (You must use Viewdemo Command not Play or Playdemo) For viewing Demos

1. Enter -
2. . or Del -
3. 0 or Ins - Pause Demo
4. +(Plus key) - Forward 10 seconds
5. -(Minus) - Rewind 10 seconds
6. / - Rewind 60 seconds
7. * - Forward 60 seconds
8. 1 - Extreme Slow Motion
9. 2 - Much Slower
10. 3 - Slower
11. 4 - Little Slower
12. 5 - Play at Normal Speed
13. 6 - Little Faster
14. 7 - Faster
15. 8 - Much Faster
16. 9 - Extremely Fast

Download the configs from this Blog.

Changing the Counter Strike Versions Backgrounds, GUI Settings, Listen Server

All these tutorials are very well compatible with Counter Strike: Condition Zero Settings, Counter Strike 1.6 Settings. etc

Background:
The Background of the Counter Strike Versions are in the form of Targa, that is .tga form. If you want to change it you can do it very easily by a software which allows you to change the background.



When you don't have that software, you can go in the reverse direction. This is how you do it. Open the "Cstrike" folder. Open "resource" folder. Open "background" folder in it. Edit each piece of the background with the background you like to put. But make sure that the pieces go in their exact location.

The pieces appear like this 800_1_a_loading.tga, 800_1_b_loading.tga, 800_1_c_loading.tga, 800_1_d_loading.tga, 800_2_a_loading.tga, etc.

Now that you have finished placing all the pieces in their place, open the game and you can see your new background.

Now to change the Transparency of the Menus or the Windows.

You can change the transparency of the Menus or the Windows in the Counter Strike Versions. Just follow these options,

1. Open the File TrackerScheme.res in the RESOURCE folder of you CSTRIKE.
2. Now Open it with Wordpad or Notepad or any other Text Editor.
3. Change the Last parameter in each line for changing the transparency.
4. First three parameters correspond to RGB and the Last parameter is for Transparency.
5. Now ifyou decrease the last number (range is 0 to 255) you will see the windows get transparent. 10 looks good.
6. But make sure that you wont open two windows at once because their text will interfere with each other.
7. Hope you got it.

Now that you have finished Transparency, go ahead

The CommandMenu


The CommandMenu is that which will show you a tree menu while you are in the game. By default this menu is bound to the key "H". If you press H, you can see a tree menu displaying some options. Thats good but you can make it better and the best.

For this, follow these steps,

1. Open CommandMenu.txt in your CSTRIKE folder.
2. You see some numbers tags and flower brackets.
3. The text in the flower brackets represent a branch.
4. See the CommandMenu.txt in the GUI_Temp.rar you have downloaded.
5. You can write your own comands there.
6. The syntax is "Sl.No" "Description" "Command"
7. Example: "5" "Change to Dust2" "changelevel de_dust2"
8. If you put this line, an additional command will appear in the commad tree.
9. If you put this line in flower brackets it will show under another branch.
10. This commandmenu.txt in GUI_Temp.rar is very useful for Listen servers and no so for HLDS, Dedicated Servers or Normal Clients.

Now that you have known about CommandsMenu.txt, Lets go ahead,

The Autobuy
When you press F1, Computer Buys you the required equipment and stuff. How come computer knows it? Its like this. There is a file named autobuy.txt in the CSTRIKE folder. The info of what to buy is given there. Just change the order there and you can press F1 with out any hesitation. The order there really matters, It is the priority in which the computer should try to buy the items. Thats it.

1. You can see this file too in the GUI_Temp.rar

Now the Aliases
You can create aliases in the game so that you can operate the console with minimum text commands input. How to do it? Just follow these steps,

1. Example1: type in the console alias d2 "changelevel de_dust2"
2. This will assign the command chagelevel de_dust2 to d2 word.
3. So if you type d2 in the console, it will change to Dust2.
4. Example2: type in the console alias ffon "mp_friendlyfire 1"
5. When you type ffon in the console it will switch on Friendly Fire.
6. Example3: type in the console alias ft "mp_freezetime"
7. When you type ft x in the console it will change freezetime to x.

Binding Keys for commads and aliases:
See the post about binding keys of this blog. Or similar description is here:

This is the command to bind a key. bind Ex: bind p "say hello"Meaning assingn the command "say hello" to key "p".

Sample commands in the console:

bind p "say hello" - when ever you tap the p key, it says hello in the chat.
bind kp_del "sv_restart 1" - When ever you tap "del" in the Numpad it will restart the server.
bind kp_5 "record map1" - Record a demo named map1.dem

Must Haves of a Listen Server
With this tutorial, you can Serve with a Listen Server and you donot need to open the console for any command. This section is written as a new post in the blog, see that post.

The sample GUI: You can Download the Temp's GUI here GUI_Temp.rar

ClanMod - an Addon for Metamod

ClanMod is graetly simple and very easy to use mod for maintaining Listen Servers.

Installation of ClanMod:
ClanMod installation is very simple,

1. Extract the ClanMod package
2. Paste the Foldr in the addons folder
3. Add a line to the plugins.ini files of the Metamod in the Metamod folder
4. Line looks like this "win32 \clanmod\dlls\clanmod_mm.dll"
5. Also you need to create an Admin.
6. For this see the documentation.

ClanMod Documentation: http://docs.unitedadmins.com/clanmod/en/

You will get the required inforamtion there. The following information is for Clan Matches and Stuff.

I have tried to get the support for the Clan Matches. I was not able to host the clan matches perfecttly. In my view a good Clan Match Mod, should contain the each every step as indicated below.

1. Should take the clan tags of CT and T
2. Should start the match with a warmup mode and then with a knive round
3. It must guide all the way through the game.
4. When someone wins, it should show the Motd and stop the game.
5. It should ask for the map cycle.
6. It should show the complete statistics after the Clan Match.
7. The statistics must include weapon stats also.

Many of these features are possed by AMX Clan Match Deluxe Plugin. It has a Menu which guides us everything.

you can download the AMX Clan Match Deluxe Plugin here http://forums.alliedmods.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=17394&d=1182746512

Hope you will make everything simpler than what you were doing before.

Binding a key in Half Life - Counter Strike - Must Haves of a CS 1.6 Listen Server

Binding a key in Half Life - Counter Strike means just assigning a command to the keyboard keys.

Console: Console is the interface where you can give a command. You can get the console by tapping the "`" key, the key left to "1" key.

You can bind the keys using the console commands. Or if you want the keys to be used permanently you can add the commands in the config.cfg in the cstrike folder.

This is the command to bind a key. bind
Ex: bind p "say hello"
Meaning assingn the command "say hello" to key "p".

Sample commands in the console:

1. bind p "say hello" - when ever you tap the p key, it says hello in the chat.
2. bind kp_del "sv_restart 1" - When ever you tap "del" in the Numpad it will restart the server.
3. bind kp_5 "record map1" - Record a demo named map1.dem

So, this is how you bind a key.

The commands that a Counter Strike Listen Server must have to be used very frequently.

1. amxmodmenu - Brings up AMX MOD X Menu (Requires AMX Addon)
2. clanmodmenu - Brings up ClanMod Menu (Requires Clan Mod)
3. amx_menu - Brings up client command Menu
4. amx_gungame_vote - Brings up a vote for GunGame
5. wc3_enable - Enables warcraft 3 Mod
6. war3menu - Brings up Warcraft 3 Menu
7. skillsinfo - Used to see own skills (In case of Warcraft Mod)
8. playerskills - Shows other players skills (In case of Warcraft Mod)
9. ultimate - uses ultimate skill (In case of Warcraft Mod)
10. shopmenu - brings up power buy menu (In case of Warcraft Mod)
11. shopmenu2 - brings up power buy menu2 (In case of Warcraft Mod)
12. wc3_disable - Disables warcraft 3 Mod
13. csdm_enable - Enables Counter Strike Death Match
14. csdm_disable - Disables Counter Strike Death Match

For Plugins Download and Installation serach the blog. Site Search is the best way of navigation.

You can bind these to the following keys in the Numpad as shown,

1. bind kp_home csdm_enable
2. bind kp_leftarrow csdm_disable
3. bind kp_uparrow amx_gungame_vote
4. bind kp_pgup wc3_enable
5. bind kp_rightarrow wc3_disable

The Listen Server becomes so easy to operate that you will lose no time opening the console.

You can bind keys to chagelevels, change other setttings of the game.

For some more help... comment here...