Hosting a private match

[Firestorm Ember]

So a few friends and I are attempting to make a private match to play online with each other, but we can't seem to get it to work. Looking into this I see a few options:

1. Use something like Hamachi and play over quasi-LAN
2. Host a dedicated server.

Hamachi has always been pretty hit and miss, and looking into hosting a server looks like a real pain in the ass. So is there a really simple method to playing with friends online or does it have to boil down to one of those two methods? All we want to do is set up a game with just us and bots.

Thanks.

[MOCOLONI]

I recommend you to use the SteamCMD tool.

·Extract the "steamcmd.exe" anywhere you want. The file where this app is located, will be the server's location.

·Run the program and wait until it will be ready.

·When it's done, write (step by step) this commands:

login "anonymous"
force_install_dir ./CSSourceServer/ (this is optional, you may skip this command if you don't want to save your server on a custom file)

app_update 232330


·When it's ready, it will say "Success! App '232330' fully installed.", then you can close the application (or type quit/exit).

·After that, the server is installed, but you must make it playable by configuring it out; go to the server's destination and open the game's file, example;

"C:\CSSDedicatedServer\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Source Dedicated Server\" and locate an application called "srcds.exe", it should have the Half-Life 2 logo on it.

·Create a shortcut of it anywhere you want. I recommend you to create it on the Desktop for an easier/quicker access.

·Once the shortcut is created, do right click on it and select "Properties".

·It will open you a new window, so on the "Destination" line you must write -game cstrike (at the end). It should look like this:

"...\srcds.exe" -game cstrike (these dots represents the current destination; ignore them).

·Your server is done.


If you're using a Windows operating system, make sure to fully disable your Windows Firewall and opening both TCP and UDP ports for srcds.exe in your router.