== Tip for all admins running an Unreal server using lots of add-ons ==

Today many servers run custom maps, mods skins or music. These have to be downloaded before the player can join the game. This usually happens automatically when the player joins the server, but downloading from servers directly is a slow process that causes lag for the players. A better solution is to put the files for download on a website, but when you install them in their original format they may cause version conflicts on other servers.

Therefore it's better to make a downloadable cache package. The advantage of this approach is that it does not lag the server anymore AND never causes version conflicts. However a drawback of cache is that you can't use cache files in single player games. In spite of the drawback I still think that this method gives the best experience for the Unreal player.

Here is how you can get the cache files of your server:

1. Rename your current cache folder
2. Make a new, empty cache folder
3. Connect to your server, and let Unreal download all files (You eventually need to enable downloading from the server first)
4. Shut down Unreal when you have all files
5. Make all cache files read-only (To avoid accidental deletion by players who have set PurgeCacheDays to anything else than 0)
6. Now put these cache files in a zip file, include a readme.txt with installation instructions, and put the zip on your website
7. Now you can restore your original cache folder
8. Eventually disable downloading from your server again with }TCP{Wolf's Anti Download tool.

I hope that this will be helpful for the Unreal Server owners.

You can see an example on my download page,
http://www.hyper.nl.tt (click files for download page)

With kind regards,

Hyper.nl