General Info
Who: THX - Up to 34 people can comfortably fit
What: Halo 1 LAN
When: Saturday, June 7, 2008: Be There At 11AM
Where: Rayne's House outside of Huntsville, Alabama - PM Mintz for directions if you do not have them already.
Why: It's been a while since the last LAN. It's time to fire it up again. Keep your thumbs warm. Bring your controller. Yes, most of this is just copy-pasted from the last JuLAN.

Rayne is graciously opening her house for our LAN entertainment, and it's time we got together again to play Halo 1. I'm talking about lugging TVs and Xboxes from your house, four-people-per-screen, Mountain-Dew-fueled, all-night-and-into-the-morning gaming. And Chaos'/Cyneater's/Jonathan's cookies.

It's been long enough; let's do it again.

So without further ado, when should it happen?

Saturday, May 31 OR Saturday, June 7?

Update: The LAN will take place on

Saturday, June 7th.

Inform your friends and family that you will be unavailable on that date. Look for more LAN-related information in the next few days.

Action from the Hushed Casket 5th Anniversary LAN

It’s 10 PM on Saturday night, October 6th. The temperature is 81 degrees Fahrenheit, but my central A/C unit has been running non-stop since noon. There are 38 people in my house playing Halo 3 multiplayer in four separate games on 26 Xbox 360s, most of them connected to high definition displays. In my office sits five gamers I’ve never met. Two exhausted gamers sleep in my living room amidst the commotion. My electrical meter spins like God’s own anti-son-of-a-bitch machine. This must be the THX 5th Birthday LAN.

We had a great time LANning after FoulBreed's bachelor party last night. We had 5v5 at our peak. First, we cycled through the Halo 3 maps playing team slayer. Next, we tried some objective games such as CTF, oddball, and territories. We were all pretty lost in the beginning, as none of us had extensive experience in the multiplayer maps yet. We were able to play each map at least once and many maps twice before hanging it up. I think we're all better prepared for next week's birthday LAN after this experience. Furthermore, it introduced me to exactly how nice BYOS LANs can be. Here's some bullets on how the BYOS LAN differs from the traditional

-Everyone's setup and tear down responsibilities are intuitively obvious (your own gaming rig and station). The host just has to show each participant where to plug in to the network.

-Tear down goes quickly because of this. I think less than 10 minutes transpired from when everyone hung it up to when my house was back to normal.

-Making teams no longer involves figuring out seating. Someone hosts a game, everyone joins up, and we figure out teams in the lobby.

-Not much shifting around to change players equals more playing time.

-Having your profile and settings on a memory unit will save you a couple minutes at each box creating a guest profile.

-Power strips are a huge concern. If a gamer is bringing an LCD monitor and speakers then he needs 3 electrical outlets. That means that a single dual wall outlet cannot support a single gamer! Everyone that brings a 360 should bring a powerstrip for best results.

-It's a blast!

Here are some pictures from the event.

Never heard of the place before, but it's at Vulcan GameBox. Here's the site:
http://www.vulcangamebox.com/

I'm probably going to drive down and check the place out sometime today. I'll post impressions when I do.

As the LAN approaches I thought I'd post some house rules so everyone is on the same page with what I expect. I'm not the type to flip out about any of the below concerns, but knowing the below info makes things easier on everyone.

1. No dipping or smoking inside the house. No spit bottles, cans, cups, nothing. Both are permissible on the back porch where you can spit in the yard.

2. No drinks on the ground. Keep your drinks on a table or some other elevated surface.

3. If you spill something, grab a towel (which will be available) and clean it up immediately (not after the round is over).

4. My dog and cat are both friendly. The dog will probably be apprehensive of all the things you're carrying in your hands on your way in, but after you put it all down just kneel, let her sniff you, and you'll be best buds. She'll probably decide to stay in the back yard during most of the LAN. Do not feed her anything unless I give you a doggie treat to feed her. My cat is deaf. No amount of yelling at her will get her attention. Do not feed her either.

5. There is a beverage refrigerator in the garage for your use. Alcohol is permitted. Do not get drunk.

6. Parking is a big concern. Park along the road that goes directly towards my house and ends at a stop sign with my house at 1 o'clock. If you really want to take one for the team drop off your items in front of my house and then take that same road further back to where new homes are being built around the curve. Don't block anybody's driveway. Leave the left lane of my driveway open for my wife and I to come and go if we need to.

7. There is a Wal-Mart 4 minutes from my house. I suggest grabbing last minute supplies there before you arrive. However, there are no "close" electronic stores that will have audio adapters for your speakers, and Wal-Mart probably won't either.

That's all for now, but I may add more later. I hope everyone understands I'm not being a prick, but there are some things we all have to know to get along in my house for 12 hours or more.

The fifth annual THX Birthday LAN is scheduled for October 6, 2007, in Huntsville, Alabama. This will be THX's innaugural Halo 3 LAN to commemorate our 5th birthday on August 28th. This gives you almost two full work weeks plus one weekend after the release of Halo 3 to develop your skills before the LAN. Halo 3 will be the only game played at the LAN. No Halo 1, Halo2, Guitar Hero I/II, XBL Arcade games, Dead or Alive, Tekken Tag, Viva Pinata, or any other software besides Halo 3 will be allowed. Playing other games at LANs makes game coordination more difficult, causes others to wait on you, and therefore it will not be allowed.

Location will be my place. PM me if you need directions.

Go here to add this event to your Facebook events (link)

A Halo 3/ Xbox 360 LAN brings about many different planning factors than our traditional Halo 1 LANs. First, HD displays are preferred. I can provide 2 HDTVs, a 67" DLP and a 30" CRT. Next, because Halo 3 does not have the 4 Xbox maximum per game, ala Halo 1, individual LCD monitors with Xbox 360 VGA cables are encouraged. We no longer have to bring gargantuan TVs. If many people bring their personal 360, a copy of Halo 3, and a personal 19-24" monitor then everyone can have an excellent gaming experience. I can provide one 22" monitor, but my VGA cable is in use on my 67" TV. If you have a monitor and need VGA cables then they are available on Ebay for under $10 or locally for $40.

Next, the LAN architecture at my house will be a little different than normal, and hopefully better. I have in-wall ethernet drops to five rooms of the house. I plan to employ a certain person's 16-port switch in my telco closet to link all the rooms together. The only further thing needed besides some relatively short (15') ethernet cables will be hubs/4-port switches to expand the wall outlets to handle more than one Xbox 360. For instance, in my bedroom I have one wall ethernet outlet that will be networked on the main switch. If we connect a hub to it then we can connect multiple 360s to the hub and have up to four boxes networked on the one wall outlet. This has a neat side effect: achievements. Theoretically, we will all have internet and XBL access, and be able to earn online achievements during the LAN.

Setup will go on the evening of Friday October 5th. I would like to get the main network architecture along with at least half the equipment in place and test the network and XBL connectivity. This will also allow for TV remotes to be forgotten on Friday night so a trip to Wal-Mart will not be necessary on Saturday. Thankfully, I do have a universal remote, but it is about 5 years old so I may not have codes for newly popular manufacturers like Westinghouse. Those participating in setup will also be able to recover their accounts for use online the next day.

LAN participants may begin arriving at 10 AM on Saturday. Late is fine; arrive whenever you can. LAN will end when nobody remains at my house/awake/conscious.

I suggest eating an early lunch/ late breakfast before you arrive. Participants are encouraged to bring snacks and beverages to fuel the fire. Pizza will be on call when we reach a critical mass of gamers that need a meal.

A few closing notes:
Please check your calendar and commit to or deny attendance early. This greatly aids planning.
Be unselfish with your equipment. Bringing your personal Xbox 360, Halo 3 software, small monitor, and ethernet cable is a very light burden and will enhance the LAN experience for everyone for 12 hours or more.
Bring your TV's remote or know how to change its input without it.
Invite your friends. Use the mass market appeal of Halo 3 to build the THX network.
Don't leave things at my house. Any property left on Saturday will be available for pickup on Sunday. After Sunday it will become victim to my 100+ feedback Ebay account.

Let's make this the best LAN yet. THX Birthday LANs and Holiday LANs have become stellar events. Let's continue that fine tradition and set a new standard. As one of the few well-known voices in the Halo community that regularly LANs we have the opportunity to make this one of the first, biggest, and best-covered Halo 3 LANs.

Post your discussion, questions, and equipment below. After you have confirmed attendance and what equipment you will bring I will edit the second post of this thread titled "Attendance and Equipment Roster." Use this post as gospel for what you should bring. Don't worry, I won't put anything on there you didn't volunteer.

General Info
Who: THX - Up to 34 people can comfortably fit
What: Halo 1 LAN
When: July 28, 2007
Where: Rayne's Houze outside of Huntsville, Alabama - Directions (coming soon)
Why: It's been a while since the last LAN. It's time to fire it up again. Keep your thumbs warm. Bring your controller.