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Show HN: I built a(nother) house optimized for LAN parties

(lanparty.house)
1071 points kentonv | 5 comments | 16 Nov 24 15:52 UTC | HN request time: 2.536s | source

I wasn't quite sure if this qualified as "Show HN" given you can't really download it and try it out. However, dang said[0]:

> If it's hardware or something that's not so easy to try out over the internet, find a different way to show how it actually works—a video, for example, or a detailed post with photos.

Hopefully I did that?

Additionally, I've put code and a detailed guide for the netboot computer management setup on GitHub:

https://github.com/kentonv/lanparty

Anyway, if this shouldn't have been Show HN, I apologize!

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22336638

Show context
asn007 ◴[16 Nov 24 22:53 UTC] No.42160174[source]▶
That's a sweet LAN setup you've got! The only few things that rub me the wrong way is the choice of peripherals and the lack of headsets. Must be pretty noisy in here!

The tabletops also seems a bit too thin and wiggly for my taste, but, honestly, for LAN parties with chill people you personally know — it's ok

As for the actual host setup with a singular disk image — great job! LAN gaming centres do something similar with their setups, with some differences (a lot of centres either use Windows-based diskless solutions that mount vhdx files as drives remotely over iSCSI, or use ZFS-based snapshotting, which is my personal favourite)

But all in all, seems like my dream house :)

I own a chain of LAN gaming centres, so the feedback is definitely skewered into the business perspective quite a bit

replies(2): >>42160325 #>>42164985 #
1. UniverseHacker ◴[17 Nov 24 16:21 UTC] No.42164985[source]▶
Why would you use headsets to play with friends in person? The whole point is that you can talk directly, usually with the sound completely off on everyone’s computers, and not too loud music playing in the background

For one, if you get a bunch of nerds together a sizable fraction are likely to have sensory issues- and won’t come again if you don’t make it welcoming for them

Some video games require some sound as it shares information, but can usually be configured to only have those sounds, or to turn on an accessible visual indicator

replies(3): >>42165129 #>>42165188 #>>42177954 #
2. kentonv ◴[17 Nov 24 16:45 UTC] No.42165129[source]▶
Correct! We never wear headsets at LAN parties because it defeats the purpose.

Each computer has a sound bar and everyone just uses that. Yeah, that means everyone's sound gets mixed up and you don't get positional audio, but in practice it's fine and we'd rather be able to yell at each other.

3. ycombinete ◴[17 Nov 24 16:52 UTC] No.42165188[source]▶
Open-backed headphones are great for this. Best of both worlds.
replies(1): >>42170935 #
4. ponector ◴[18 Nov 24 09:19 UTC] No.42170935[source]▶
And the next level is bone conduction headphones. Unless you are in the loud environment...
5. asn007 ◴[18 Nov 24 22:48 UTC] No.42177954[source]▶
Honestly it's just that how I've always done this, other ways seemed too noisy for me and breaking the flow of the game :)

That might or might not be due to the games we've mostly been playing on our LAN parties are coming from a bit different profile than "chill co-op" — more MOBAs or tactical / arena shooters. In those styles of games visual cues don't really help and not having the clear audio puts you at a disadvantage

The music is still playing in the background, though — the headsets are not 100% soundproof and you may still easily communicate via VoIP

Yeah, the "live talking" aspect without headsets isn't there, but I've found it doesn't bother me in the slightest. You still are in the same room, you get the "shoulder sense" of your team there, you still celebrate and have fun as one and lose as one singular organism, and that's the feeling I've kinda been chasing on my LAN parties and in my LAN centre