Things to Remember to Bring to the LAN Party
1 - Computer/Monitor/Cables/Keyboard/Mouse/Headphones (don't use speakers, with 60+ people it gets really annoying)
2 - Already have your Network Card installed and running properly in Windows! Don't ask me how to do this,
your Network Card should come with instructions, if it doesn't get someone you know at home to install it. You
_MUST_ have this installed before you come to the LAN Party!
3 - Windows CD, Backup CD, or whatever you need to get your system running again if it crashes and you have to do
a total reformat and reinstall of your entire system. It is rare, but can happen (it has happened to me before).
So I cannot stress this enough, bring your OS CD and a boot disk. You won't regret it!
4 - Driver Disks/CDs for your Video Card, Motherboard, Soundcard and Network card. Bring them ALL. It goes with
above statement, be prepared for the worse in case you have to reinstall. You may be the only one there with
a certain piece of hardware, don't rely on others to provide drivers! And the LAN Party may not have an Internet
hookup, so don't count on downloading drivers! BRING YOUR DRIVER DISKS AND CDS!
5 - Your Game CDs. If you don't have the game because you aquired it from other means, then you are SOL in this area
but it goes with the territory. If you have the CDs though, make sure you bring them. And you BETTER make sure you
have all games you want to play at the LAN Party PRE-INSTALLED on your system BEFORE you go.
I cannot think of anything else except the obvious like: soda/food (unless they state these items will be provided before hand).
Bring a change of pants incase you get the crap scared out of you from someone or the police, etc. If the party is to be held
for a long time, bring a pillow at the least in case you feel the need to crash. If you don't use it to crash on you might be
thankful you brought it if the chairs are a bit stiff and you can use it as a cushion. 16 hours straight of Quake in 1 chair
can put a hurting on anyones rear.
Most important thing to remember is that the host of the party and the network admins (which is usually the host) want to play
Quake and other games as well. If you come to the party without anything pre-setup you take time away from them. That sucks
for them since they have probably spent the entire morning/day getting everything ready for you to frag. So be considerate and
try to get EVERYTHING pre-installed and setup so you can just jump on the network as soon as you sit down and hookup. If you have
a question, ask a person near you or a friend for help first. Resort to the network admins and hosts only after you have tried
everything else and everyone else who was willing to help. If it seems to be a problem with the LAN, then go immediately to the
host or network admins since they are the ones most knowledgable about the LAN.
Remember these - things you absolutely MUST remember to bring
with you to the LAN party
Step 1 - Setting up TCP/IP for your Network card/system
Step 2 - Setting up IPX for your Network card/system
Step 3 - Setting up File Sharing on your System