Are you in the midst of setting up a LAN party and feeling overwhelmed? Or, are you interested in getting all of your friends together for some killer multiplayer gaming action, but don’t know where to start? This article will guide you through setting up a successful LAN party.
A LAN party is a group of usually three or more people who get together with their computers and enjoy multiplayer gaming with one another over a home network. These parties are usually accompanied by lots of computers, snacks, pizza (or some other cheap food), and a very unique gaming atmosphere.
Generally, the success of a LAN party is dependent on how well you, as the host, are prepared.
First, you need to make sure that you have enough space available to accommodate all of the gamers you are inviting. So, make a list of all of the people that are on the guest list and plan based on all of them coming, even though that is unlikely. But, it’s much better to have extra space than not enough. If you're planning it at a house, you can split it up between floors if you need to. This may be necessary if you are inviting more than fifteen people.
Once you know you have enough space to throw a LAN party, you need to know that you have plenty of long tables. Now, you may have to talk around with your friends and see if any of them (or their parents) have some long, wooden table that you can borrow. They can be expensive, so work this out before you sent out the invites and do not wait until the day before the party to try and get ten tables.
As the LAN party network administrator, you should have an existing network of at least two computers in good working condition. I always test a bunch of LAN games over my small network to make sure that everything is in working condition. If you just want to “wing it” when your friends come over to play, you’re more likely to run into network issues. And that’s not good, because it takes up game time and is essentially a buzz kill at a LAN party.