how does hosting a game work

[Toyen]

can someone tell me how host a game works exactly does it cost money for me to host a game for me and some friends to play on or is it free ? can some one explain it as a whole

[Killbuzz]

You start game, they join game. Thats it.

[Uberdude]

As far as I know, you create a multiplayer game and people can join, but if its run like that, the server is only up when your playing. Thats usually fine if its only you and a few friends. If you want the server to be up at all times, you have to rent a dedicated server. I believe you can get an 8-slot server for $15/mth, roughly. I don't know the exact details.

[vannie]

If you want to get someone to host 7dtd yes it costs but you can download the dedicated server form steam tools and load it on your pc or a different one for free and all your friend can play as long as it's online. You can run a game on your local pc and let your friends connect to you desktop too, Same goes with this has to be online for friends to access if your not around.

[Speedbump]

You can start the game and host a non dedicated session. This means your game will be the server and your friends can connect to it. This is kind of free, you'll only have to pay in data usage.

You can create a dedicated server on your computer, which is more stable and can be left running without YOUR character logged in, but you need a very strong computer to run both a dedicated server and the actual game as the two are seperate and both require a lot of resources. This is also free, apart from data usage.

You can pay a company to host a server for you. It'll be online 24/7 (unless an unexpected problem happens, in which case let them know and they will fix it for you) and won't use up your data whilst it is running. This costs money on a monthly basis, though isn't expensive at all. The advantages are that you don't need to be playing for your friends to play, your friends won't get mad at you because they want to play but you don't want too, it's easier and it won't stress your computer out.

[Green777]

I used to host like that get players to join my game but the ping and non optiomisation did not help so i rented my own server on 24/7 ping for me is now between 8 and 20 which is really good. Problem with getting players to join a normal game is they get kicked out if you leave the game. Just if you can use a rented server i have for well over 18 months now not had any major problems