Well, if your friends dont mind waiting an hour or so for the download to come (and if the map changes while a doiwnload is in progress, it will start again/resume)
Have fun sending the Textures file which is 144mb. If they install the files themselves they wont need to download them though
Proxyhat, you're really going to want to take the time to set up the redirect function of Killing Floor, even for casual play. After I got my server paid for, I was distressed to find out that the fee did not include hosting for my mapfiles and system resources. (Textures, etc.)
After I got over it, I found a couple of solutions. I'm not even sure how to make things work properly if you don't have a separate space on another server for your maps and muts. Everything you read will assume that you have arranged for outside space. You should really look in one of the threads about server redirects. Here's one that's got some good responses:
http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=73163http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=73163
Here's a quick distillate. Basically, you need to decide where to host the files. Once you do that, you need to paste the URL to the hosting directory into your KillingFloor.ini file. Search for the string "RedirectToURL=". Once you put in the info, and upload the maps, you should be ready to go. (It's always a good idea to
STOP the server entirely,
before you edit the .ini file. Otherwise it's likely to ignore you or do something bizarre. Stop, edit, save, restart. Treat your KF files like a gorgeous temperamental woman, and you'll be golden.)
ON COMPRESSION: Oh boy. Again I refer you to the capable hands of the Search function for this forum. Short and sweet though =
Use it. It should be supported by almost everyone. It saves everyone a lot of bandwidth and time in the long run. So compress those inefficient .ROM, .U., .UCL, etc. files into .UZ2 format before uploading to your redirect directory. Basic rule is UZ2 files go to your redirect, and the originals go the their proper folder on the main server. OK. Moving on.
Regarding hosting, there's a couple ways to go. Many are free, and the creative will come up with more. Free services are never going to be quite as zippy as paid services, but I went several weeks on free service with no complaints from the players about laggy downloads. Here we go.
- Dropbox - Probably your very best option among free services. Dropbox has a solid infrastructure, and can supply swift downloads almost anywhere in the world. Best of all is the price. Just be a little choosy about your maps, and you'll never pay a dollar for FastDL Maphosting. There are many threads here to check out on the topic. My biggest tip is: Use the "Public" Directory or one of its SubDirectories and you will have a hard time going wrong... Another similar service that worked for me is http://fileden.comhttp://fileden.com Not quite as solid an uploading client as Dropbox, but still capable.
- Pay Servers - This obviously contains a vast amount of services ready to snatch up your dollar for varying grades of experience. I'll cut straight to the chase, I'm currently using the $3/mo. plan at gamingredirect.net I've got no complaints. The service is modestly priced, has NO BANDWIDTH CAP, like many competitors do, and features a classic FTP route to uploading your data. Hard to mess with FTP. There's a reason it's still around. (This isn't meant to be an ad, just one place you can go.)
- The Community - The great thing about Killing Floor is that a lot of really kickass people play it. Sometimes they give us tools, or knowledge, or serverspace out of pure generosity. (well, and bragging rights) One Unreal Tourney enthusiast has opened up his evidently vast server capabilities to the general public for use in UT and KF redirect hosting. See his thread here: http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=78600http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=78600 I didn't try out this offeriing, so I don't know how it performs. I think you have to register in the forum and post four or five legit posts before you'll be given uploading rights. Still, that's a sweet deal.
OK. If you've read to here you should be ready to go master the http redirect. I'm afraid this response has gone rather longer than I expected, and is reproachably off-topic at this point. Hopefully the repeated request for a somewhat thorough reprise of this info redeems it to some extent.
Now if you're not a noob, continue your discussion of
WTF-Mut (which I'm still working the kinks out of) amongst yourselves and discuss. Feel free to move this post if you like.
PS: @EpharGy - Thanks for all your replies and info. I've seen your trail all over. In fact, you just saved me from a terrible headache over in the steam forums because I didn't expect using UCC would cause KF to hang when connecting to
ANY server. Doubly didn't expect that deleting the steam_appid.txt file would be the answer. Thanks and big ups.