Great small LAN games

uean

I SUCK AT OPs

...

Now that that is out of the way, let's turn this into a brief flurry of activity until it ultimately slips off the bottom of page 1 and is never seen again. I'm in Africa and we just recently received a donation of 7 computers so that we can run a small computer lab out here in the village. I got tasked with running it and teaching basic computer skills, like the difference between a CLICK and a DOUBLECLICK. It's pretty intense. Also, typing, and how to most effectively get a virus.

So of course, being the responsible guy that I am, my first instinct is to run out and find an old router, network them all up wirelessly, and install games. BAM, gaming cafe in Africa!

I'm looking for some small games that are great over LAN, but we can talk about all LAN games here. I say small because there's a bandwidth cap here and I can't download too much in one sitting (like, I personally have a 100MB limit per month).

So far I have Amagetron Advanced (a TRON lightcycle game, which is awesome).

ZackSchilling

Starcraft + Brood War.

http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=110000124

If that's too huge, try to get your hands on the physical discs. Look for the nearest Korean mission.

Sladvan

Swat 4 is the best small LAN game.

Raiden333

Best LAN game ever, provided your friends have the honor system to not look at each other's screens:

The Hidden

Hidden is played by rounds. Each player selects one of the 9 IRIS characters (these are visually different but do not affect game play). A player may choose to play as 2 classes: Assault and Support, whose main difference is that Support can replenish teammates' ammo. The player also chooses a main weapon, side arm and item. Each round, a player is selected automatically to be the Hidden, usually based on how much damage they dealt to the Hidden in previous rounds. All the other players play as the IRIS, whose goal is to work as a team to hunt down the Hidden. After the time limit hits, or either side kills the other, the round will end, and a new Hidden may be selected (depending on who won the round and server settings).

As the Hidden, the player is given several extra abilities not available to the I.R.I.S; The Hidden is nearly invisible, with only a little distortion of the background indicating his presence, sticking to walls, and the ability to detect enemies' auras from a distance. Other abilities include pouncing and cannibalizing corpses of slain enemies to replenish health. He can also scare and taunt the IRIS with pre-recorded voice chat.

Robman

WORMS

End of discussion

Honk

Diablo 2 is great in LAN games and to my knowledge it's pretty small.

theSquid

I think by "small LAN games" he means less than 2 CDs, geniuses.

Like Soldat or Little Fighter 2, except produced less than half a decade ago.

Although those are good too.

theSquid

Honk wrote: »

Diablo 2 is great in LAN games and to my knowledge it's pretty small.

Diablo 2 is well over a gig.

Robman

https://secure.team17.com/browse.html?area=detail&skuid=79

6 pounds isn't bad, plus got knows what in shipping

Honk

theSquid wrote: »

Honk wrote: »

Diablo 2 is great in LAN games and to my knowledge it's pretty small.

Diablo 2 is well over a gig.

I am surprised, but okay.

How about Age of Empires 2? That's pretty fun and a lot of people can play at once, runs on just about any system too.

rayofash

Raiden333 wrote: »

Best LAN game ever, provided your friends have the honor system to not look at each other's screens:

The Hidden

Hidden is played by rounds. Each player selects one of the 9 IRIS characters (these are visually different but do not affect game play). A player may choose to play as 2 classes: Assault and Support, whose main difference is that Support can replenish teammates' ammo. The player also chooses a main weapon, side arm and item. Each round, a player is selected automatically to be the Hidden, usually based on how much damage they dealt to the Hidden in previous rounds. All the other players play as the IRIS, whose goal is to work as a team to hunt down the Hidden. After the time limit hits, or either side kills the other, the round will end, and a new Hidden may be selected (depending on who won the round and server settings).

As the Hidden, the player is given several extra abilities not available to the I.R.I.S; The Hidden is nearly invisible, with only a little distortion of the background indicating his presence, sticking to walls, and the ability to detect enemies' auras from a distance. Other abilities include pouncing and cannibalizing corpses of slain enemies to replenish health. He can also scare and taunt the IRIS with pre-recorded voice chat.

So it's basically Alien vs Predator 2's Predator mode? Awesome.

Edit: Synthetic Reality's Warpath series is a really fun mini-4x type game: http://www.synthetic-reality.com/warpath21.htm Don't let the 4x part scare you away, the gameplay is really quick and you'll figure it out in 5 minutes. The game is also about 5mb in size.

theSquid

So long as we're merely going with old games: Skulltag. Needs DooM or DooM 2 to work, gives it a modern FPS interface (as in mouselook and stuff), server browser and 32 player maps.

A multiplayer FPS where you're a dude with a rocket launcher that can run at speeds exceeding 100km/h with no stamina bar is the best kind of FPS.

uean

Thanks guys.

Soldat has been highly recommended. I'll check it out. I also found TetriNET which works great on Vista but bombs out on XP oddly enough, so it's out (though this would probably be the hands down winner).

Worms! I forgot about, and am going to get that.

Also yeah, 100MB a month. A MONTH. Though I appreciate all the suggestions. I tried to find Scorched Earth but I dont think it supports LAN play. Scorched 3d does but its 32Meg... I'm going to have to get into the city (4hrs away) and find an internet cafe I guess. I do have a copy of GTA2 kicking around somewhere, I hear thats fun. My excitement at having a gaming room is lost on everyone here, who wonders why we can't just play cards or something. Fair enough I guess. But we could play cards on the network.

It'd probably be better if I didn't go and install a bunch of blood and gore games though. People here aren't exactly gamers... plus, it's a relief organization. With values and things like that.

And I'm not concerned about how the game looks. If it plays fun, great, but the donated "computers" are actually little wee netbooks with onboard GPUs and sucktastic gaming performance, so really, pre 2000 games are welcome

I'll check out AOE2 as well.

Suriko

Blockland.

I remember many fond LANs of this. Absolutely tiny, and great fun - seriously, who doesn't like Lego?

Although it's gone retail, older versions were free. One of them + an addon mod (like TBM) is what we used to use at our LANs.

uean

Raiden333 wrote: »

Best LAN game ever, provided your friends have the honor system to not look at each other's screens:

The Hidden

Hidden is played by rounds. Each player selects one of the 9 IRIS characters (these are visually different but do not affect game play). A player may choose to play as 2 classes: Assault and Support, whose main difference is that Support can replenish teammates' ammo. The player also chooses a main weapon, side arm and item. Each round, a player is selected automatically to be the Hidden, usually based on how much damage they dealt to the Hidden in previous rounds. All the other players play as the IRIS, whose goal is to work as a team to hunt down the Hidden. After the time limit hits, or either side kills the other, the round will end, and a new Hidden may be selected (depending on who won the round and server settings).

As the Hidden, the player is given several extra abilities not available to the I.R.I.S; The Hidden is nearly invisible, with only a little distortion of the background indicating his presence, sticking to walls, and the ability to detect enemies' auras from a distance. Other abilities include pouncing and cannibalizing corpses of slain enemies to replenish health. He can also scare and taunt the IRIS with pre-recorded voice chat.

Also, THIS.

I played the crap out of this on the net before I moved out here. I can't even fathom how awesome this would be with people you know rather than strangers.

uean

Ooo, does Darwinia support LAN play?

Dr. Gero

Little Fighter 2!

Alegis

We've had several LANs. Small LANs, big LANs, it doesn't really matter

because the most awesome LAN game of all time

is

IS


Achtung die Kurve

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5rtU8Ax_N4

GESPIELEN ZUSAMMEN
Don't let the horrible trailer put you off, this game is awesome. You will play it when you're starting up all the PCs and you will continue to play it even when everyone is ready set to play counterstrike or whatever. Because Achtung die Kurve is that awesome. Play in LAN or with like 5 or 6 on one keyboard/mouse set. All you need is two buttons for each player. It's like TRON but viewed from the top and with more curvish movements.

There are a few clients I played and I can't remember the best one, but they shouldn't be that far apart.

Here's one http://students.mimuw.edu.pl/~pm262952/netacka/

edit: better vid - two friends of mine playing

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xK065h2E745aRopDM1ldyg?feat=directlink

ArcticMonkey

Midtown Madness 2 Car Tag

But Midtown Madness did not have a tag mode, is this some kind of mod?

No mod. Just vanilla MM2 and yelling Tag! when the car that is 'it' hits another car. Can only be played with all the computers in close proximity.

Agentflit

I used to play a lot of Bontago over LAN. It can be buggy but it's so great. It's kind of like a jenga RTS, up to 8 players.

It's 23MB, there used to be a 4MB version but I can't find it. Screenshot:

Visti

Action Quake 2
www.kweik.com

Mr_Grinch

Heretic/Rise of the Triad/Doom? They're a bit on the bloody side though

Wasn't Battle Chess network-able?

Drake

If you want to Doom it up, go grab zDaemon.

It's tiny. It's Doom. It's probably totally inappropriate. How can you lose?

What about Moonbase Commander, btw? Did that have LAN play? I can see that one being a good time on a LAN.

Lork

If you manage to get your hands on a Starcraft CD, it can legally support a full 8 player multiplayer game by itself. And if you really want to impress people, this is the game to use.

Pacifist

I always had such great fun in Rune with some LAN buddies.

Steev

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory might be a good bet too, although it's pretty large for what you're asking for.

But it is free!

Veevee

Master of Orion 2 is awesome in LAN play.

Yall

Always enjoyed 'BZ Flag' on the lan in the lab at school.

subedii

Veevee wrote: »

Master of Orion 2 is awesome in LAN play.

Actually, the Civ games have LAN play don't they? That would be rocking you nicely. Diplomacy becomes a very personal affair in a LAN environment.

The latest ones might be too large, but it could be worthwhile looking for the earlier entries in the series.

AkimboEG

A million and one Half-Life 1 mods. There's too many good ones to count. And quite possibly HL2 mods as well.
If you can find it, Airfix Dogfighter is great fun over LAN, even for people who aren't usually into simulators.
Soldat and Little Fighter 2 are also pretty rad, and both are free.

Tim James

Given that you are teaching basic computer skills in Africa, Doom is likely the best choice. It's simple enough for people to move around a little in a small level with the keyboard and shoot at someone who is running by them. Probably easier than going from using the double click to build orders in Starcraft.

citizen059

Quake 1 shareware. 9MB download.

Hours upon hours worth of fun when I was in college.

subedii

He mentioned later that he wanted to avoid blood and gore style games if possible.

rayofash

Veevee wrote: »

Master of Orion 2 is awesome in LAN play.

Isn't that horrible over LAN? Turns take FOREVER.

DekuStick

Yall wrote: »

Always enjoyed 'BZ Flag' on the lan in the lab at school.

Seconding BZ Flag. Comes in at 10MB.

And as mentioned earlier Half Life is good for its mods like Counter Strike 1.6 and Team Fortress Classic however Half Life itself is something like 800MB.

Tim James

subedii wrote: »

He mentioned later that he wanted to avoid blood and gore style games if possible.

JEEZ! Might as well not even bother then.

citizen059

subedii wrote: »

He mentioned later that he wanted to avoid blood and gore style games if possible.

Oh, right then.
Hm...

rayofash

Netrek: http://genocide.netrek.org/

Dehumanized

Marshmallow Duel.

It's like Super Smash Bros except it was made in 1996.

http://mduel2k5.spadgos.com/mduel96/



Multiplayer is local-computer, but it's got a ton of replayability and it's only a 113kb download.

rayofash

Dehumanized wrote: »

Marshmallow Duel.

It's like Super Smash Bros except it was made in 1996.

http://mduel2k5.spadgos.com/mduel96/

[im g]http://mduel2k5.spadgos.com/mduel96/static/screenshot.jpg[/img]

Multiplayer is local-computer, but it's got a ton of replayability and it's only a 113kb download.

Holy crud I remember that game! I got it on a weird disc pack filled with hundreds of mediocre freeware/shareware games. There were a few gems on it though, this being one of them.

Sceptre

... I remember those disks....