Post by {USI}_Zombie on Jul 10, 2008 8:56:19 GMT -5
Information for Server Admins
Impact on server performance The Battle recorder feature can impact server performance in two ways:
A bandwidth hit (if the demos are uploaded on the same machine that is running the game server.) We strongly recommend that you do not run battlerecorder on the same server you are using to host gameplay. Instead, set up a separate ftp server to host demo files.
A performance hit - dependant on the demo quality setting, which is found on the BF 2 server launcher UI. The demo quality setting can range from the default setting of 1 (lowest quality / minimal performance hit) to 10 (maximum quality / biggest performance hit.) Depending on the server specifications, you'll want to set your demo quality appropriately. We recommend no more than quality 5, the highest quality was built in for users that are creating movies / trailers with the Battlefield 2 engine. Due to the demands even the lowest setting of quality can have, we do not recommend running Battlerecorder on any server that is configured for 64-players.
Impact on server performance The Battle recorder feature can impact server performance in two ways:
A bandwidth hit (if the demos are uploaded on the same machine that is running the game server.) We strongly recommend that you do not run battlerecorder on the same server you are using to host gameplay. Instead, set up a separate ftp server to host demo files.
A performance hit - dependant on the demo quality setting, which is found on the BF 2 server launcher UI. The demo quality setting can range from the default setting of 1 (lowest quality / minimal performance hit) to 10 (maximum quality / biggest performance hit.) Depending on the server specifications, you'll want to set your demo quality appropriately. We recommend no more than quality 5, the highest quality was built in for users that are creating movies / trailers with the Battlefield 2 engine. Due to the demands even the lowest setting of quality can have, we do not recommend running Battlerecorder on any server that is configured for 64-players.
All the above is pretty self-explanatory
Requirements
FTP server (only if using a separate machine from the server to host demos.)
Web server - our in game downloading system requires http transfers, and does not support ftp downloading.
FTP server (only if using a separate machine from the server to host demos.)
Web server - our in game downloading system requires http transfers, and does not support ftp downloading.
How To Set It Up
To activate the BF2 Battle Recorder using the BF2 Server Launcher UI the admin must:
Enable the AutoRecord option.
Input the address where users can download demo files (this has to be in the format of an http: address, as the Battlefield 2 front end does not support ftp downloads.) IMPORTANT - at the end of the address (i.e. 123.456.7.8/demos/) make sure you include the final slash, or the demo download url won't parse correctly in the Battlefield 2 front end, and clients won't be able to download your demo. If the FTP server is password protected (which we strongly recommend) the admin must use a text editor to make changes to the rotate_demo.cfg file located in the c:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2 Server folder to contain the proper server address, user login and user password.
To activate the BF2 Battle Recorder using the BF2 Server Launcher UI the admin must:
Enable the AutoRecord option.
Input the address where users can download demo files (this has to be in the format of an http: address, as the Battlefield 2 front end does not support ftp downloads.) IMPORTANT - at the end of the address (i.e. 123.456.7.8/demos/) make sure you include the final slash, or the demo download url won't parse correctly in the Battlefield 2 front end, and clients won't be able to download your demo. If the FTP server is password protected (which we strongly recommend) the admin must use a text editor to make changes to the rotate_demo.cfg file located in the c:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2 Server folder to contain the proper server address, user login and user password.
The section of the file you must edit is shown in its default state here:
# login information for the ftp server goes here
ftp_server = my.ftp.server
ftp_user = my_user
ftp_password = my_password
Make sure to enter the full address for the ftp server as shown below:
# login information for the ftp server goes here
ftp_server = ftp:\\1.2.1.1
ftp_user = user
ftp_password = userpassword
Inside the rotate_demo.cfg file, you will also be able to set the maximum number of demo files to keep in the rotation, before older demo recordings are overwritten.
Once the above steps have been completed correctly the server will post a recording of the action to the specified server at the end of each round.
# login information for the ftp server goes here
ftp_server = my.ftp.server
ftp_user = my_user
ftp_password = my_password
Make sure to enter the full address for the ftp server as shown below:
# login information for the ftp server goes here
ftp_server = ftp:\\1.2.1.1
ftp_user = user
ftp_password = userpassword
Inside the rotate_demo.cfg file, you will also be able to set the maximum number of demo files to keep in the rotation, before older demo recordings are overwritten.
Once the above steps have been completed correctly the server will post a recording of the action to the specified server at the end of each round.
pretty sure this is configured properly. An item of note is that in the config file you call it an ftp server:
ftp_server = ftp:\\#.#.#
but in the set-up it has to point to an http: type of address...and I also think that instead of putting http://domain name/folder name/ we should use http://ip address/folder name
USAGE
The BattleRecorder allows a round to be recorded and distributed.
The system is very flexible, and the current implementation can be easily
changed. We recommend you have a good knowledge of Python before you
edit the scripts used here.
There are two components to BattleRecorder. First is the Dedicated Server
Launcher.
The Dedicated Server Launcher requires the following information:
- AutoRecord
Set AutoRecord to on to enable the BattleRecorder. Every round played
on the server will now be recorded to a file.
- DemoDownloadURL
This is the URL that will be passed to all the connected clients at the
end of the round. This is the URL that the Battlefield 2 front end will
try and download the demo file from when the user selects 'download'.
The demo file must be in the directory specified in the URL, or the
demo download will fail.
- AutoDemoHook
The server runs this script at the end of every round where AutoRecord
is enabled. Note that the exe ending is only relevant for the
windows-server, on linux it can be any executable file. A python script,
for instance.
The second component to BattleRecorder is the script that is run when a
round ends. This script can be rewritten or replaced as needed. The
Battlefield 2 server will simply attempt to execute the script specified
in AutoDemoHook at the end of each round.
The default script, called auto_rotate, was written in Python and then
built in to an executable.
The Python script can be found here \adminutils\demo\rotate_demo.py
The script will move a BattleRecorder file from the server to a new local
location, or to an FTP site. You can also specify the number of files to
keep archived.
The script is configured using a configuration file, called
'rotate_demo.cfg', found in the root of the Battlefield 2 installation
root directory.
In this file you can configure:
- file_limit =
Use this value to set the number of BattleRecorder files you would like
to keep available. The default is 30. Once the limit is reached, a new
file will replace the oldest one.
- target_root =
If you intend to transfer to a local directory, enter the path here.
- use_ftp =
Set this to 1 if you wish to FTP the DemoRecorder file to a new
location.
- ftp_target_dir =
Enter the path on the FTP site where you want the DemoRecording
transferred to.
- ftp_server =
Enter the URL or IP of your FTP server.
- ftp_user =
Enter your FTP sites login username.
- ftp_password =
Enter the password for your login account.
NOTES
DemoRecorder files become larger as you increase the number of players
and the ticket allocation. For a round with 64 players with 250 tickets
on each side, you should expect a file size of around 10-12 Mb.
========================================================================
*serversettings.con
========================================================================
sv.autoRecord 1 <=== Set to 1 for on
sv.demoQuality 1 <=== Quality setting.
default setting of 1 (lowest quality / minimal performance hit) to 10 (maximum quality / biggest performance hit.)
sv.demoIndexURL "http://demos.teamwarfare.com/" <==replace with your link name
sv.demoDownloadURL "http://demos.teamwarfare.com/" <==replace with your link name
Both settings are used to determine where the client is supposed to download the file from (ie your server). The trailing slash is required.
FTP is not supported as a download option here. HTTP only.
sv.autoDemoHook "adminutils/demo/rotate_demo.exe"
This must be executed on windows boxes for the proper file rotation to occur. Default setting. On linux it can be any executable (ie Python script)
EXAMPLE ONLY
sv.autoRecord 1
sv.demoQuality 1
sv.demoIndexURL "http://demos.teamwarfare.com/"
sv.demoDownloadURL "http://demos.teamwarfare.com/"
sv.autoDemoHook "adminutils/demo/rotate_demo.exe"
========================================================================
*rotate_demo.cfg
========================================================================
This file was originally labeled 'auto_rotate.cfg'. On release of the server it was renamed without documentation.
The BattleRecorder allows a round to be recorded and distributed.
The system is very flexible, and the current implementation can be easily
changed. We recommend you have a good knowledge of Python before you
edit the scripts used here.
There are two components to BattleRecorder. First is the Dedicated Server
Launcher.
The Dedicated Server Launcher requires the following information:
- AutoRecord
Set AutoRecord to on to enable the BattleRecorder. Every round played
on the server will now be recorded to a file.
- DemoDownloadURL
This is the URL that will be passed to all the connected clients at the
end of the round. This is the URL that the Battlefield 2 front end will
try and download the demo file from when the user selects 'download'.
The demo file must be in the directory specified in the URL, or the
demo download will fail.
- AutoDemoHook
The server runs this script at the end of every round where AutoRecord
is enabled. Note that the exe ending is only relevant for the
windows-server, on linux it can be any executable file. A python script,
for instance.
The second component to BattleRecorder is the script that is run when a
round ends. This script can be rewritten or replaced as needed. The
Battlefield 2 server will simply attempt to execute the script specified
in AutoDemoHook at the end of each round.
The default script, called auto_rotate, was written in Python and then
built in to an executable.
The Python script can be found here \adminutils\demo\rotate_demo.py
The script will move a BattleRecorder file from the server to a new local
location, or to an FTP site. You can also specify the number of files to
keep archived.
The script is configured using a configuration file, called
'rotate_demo.cfg', found in the root of the Battlefield 2 installation
root directory.
In this file you can configure:
- file_limit =
Use this value to set the number of BattleRecorder files you would like
to keep available. The default is 30. Once the limit is reached, a new
file will replace the oldest one.
- target_root =
If you intend to transfer to a local directory, enter the path here.
- use_ftp =
Set this to 1 if you wish to FTP the DemoRecorder file to a new
location.
- ftp_target_dir =
Enter the path on the FTP site where you want the DemoRecording
transferred to.
- ftp_server =
Enter the URL or IP of your FTP server.
- ftp_user =
Enter your FTP sites login username.
- ftp_password =
Enter the password for your login account.
NOTES
DemoRecorder files become larger as you increase the number of players
and the ticket allocation. For a round with 64 players with 250 tickets
on each side, you should expect a file size of around 10-12 Mb.
========================================================================
*serversettings.con
========================================================================
sv.autoRecord 1 <=== Set to 1 for on
sv.demoQuality 1 <=== Quality setting.
default setting of 1 (lowest quality / minimal performance hit) to 10 (maximum quality / biggest performance hit.)
sv.demoIndexURL "http://demos.teamwarfare.com/" <==replace with your link name
sv.demoDownloadURL "http://demos.teamwarfare.com/" <==replace with your link name
Both settings are used to determine where the client is supposed to download the file from (ie your server). The trailing slash is required.
FTP is not supported as a download option here. HTTP only.
sv.autoDemoHook "adminutils/demo/rotate_demo.exe"
This must be executed on windows boxes for the proper file rotation to occur. Default setting. On linux it can be any executable (ie Python script)
EXAMPLE ONLY
sv.autoRecord 1
sv.demoQuality 1
sv.demoIndexURL "http://demos.teamwarfare.com/"
sv.demoDownloadURL "http://demos.teamwarfare.com/"
sv.autoDemoHook "adminutils/demo/rotate_demo.exe"
========================================================================
*rotate_demo.cfg
========================================================================
This file was originally labeled 'auto_rotate.cfg'. On release of the server it was renamed without documentation.
Pretty much the same info, but I found the part I highlighted in green interesting, perhaps that is our problem?