How to build a gaming server for use by 2-8 people? Specifically for LOTR BFME 2

[blueblanket]

Hello all, I've never built a server (nor have I ever really done much of anything like this), but I was looking to build a small gaming server. Basically a few roommates and I used to sit out in the living room and have LAN parties where we would all hardwire to a router and player "Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2" together. We've since moved to different apartments but would like to be able to play together. I know there are other servers out there, but I don't want to deal with downloading/using any of them.

Basically I'm looking to build/host my own server where I can just shoot out a text and we could hop online and play together. I'm new to building servers, but since this is all I'm looking to use it for, I would assume it would only need turned on when we want to play. As of now it would only need to accommodate 2 players, but it'd be cool if it could do more (around 8-10). These numbers are relatively small to all the other server building threads I've seen.

I don't really have any idea of where to start, but I've got old computers sitting around that I could salvage for parts. In all honesty though, I'm open to building a new server from scratch. I can provide more detail if needed. Any help on this project would be greatly appreciated!

 

[James Mason]

Building your own server isn't really the solution to this problem.
You'd be better off just registering for these guy's server and only playing with your friends: http://t3aonline.net/

It'd be incredibly complicated to get LOTR setup to work on your own server, it's not designed to work that way, like minecraft.

The other option would be to only use the 1.3 version of LOTR and setup LAN/TCPIP game. You'd have to forward ports but it should work.
http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Linksys/WRT54G/Lord_of_the_Rings_Battle_Of__Middle_Earth_II.htm

 

[blueblanket]

Building your own server isn't really the solution to this problem.
You'd be better off just registering for these guy's server and only playing with your friends: http://t3aonline.net/

It'd be incredibly complicated to get LOTR setup to work on your own server, it's not designed to work that way, like minecraft.

The other option would be to only use the 1.3 version of LOTR and setup LAN/TCPIP game. You'd have to forward ports but it should work.
http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Linksys/WRT54G/Lord_of_the_Rings_Battle_Of__Middle_Earth_II.htm

Thanks for the reply! One quick question about the LAN/TCPIP method. What do you mean when you say 1.3 version? Do you mean the patch version, because I believe the latest patch is 1.06. And other than that, why is it important to only use version 1.3 as opposed to any other?

 

[James Mason]

Building your own server isn't really the solution to this problem.
You'd be better off just registering for these guy's server and only playing with your friends: http://t3aonline.net/

It'd be incredibly complicated to get LOTR setup to work on your own server, it's not designed to work that way, like minecraft.

The other option would be to only use the 1.3 version of LOTR and setup LAN/TCPIP game. You'd have to forward ports but it should work.
http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Linksys/WRT54G/Lord_of_the_Rings_Battle_Of__Middle_Earth_II.htm

Thanks for the reply! One quick question about the LAN/TCPIP method. What do you mean when you say 1.3 version? Do you mean the patch version, because I believe the latest patch is 1.06. And other than that, why is it important to only use version 1.3 as opposed to any other?

Yes, I mean the 1.03 patch version. They disabled LAN/TCPIP in later versions.