Host.txt

dagg929 · 11-17-2008

No matter how I make this file, the ad I have does not fit for everyone. I've tried hosting it as a jpeg, and i've tried hosting it on a website. The jpeg had white space around it, with the banner barely showing - on html, I fitted it in the upper left, and it fits fine, but folks who use different resolutions then myself; well, it shows up differently for them.

Anyways, here's the file. Does anyone know how to make it fit universally so it looks the same for folks with lower resolutions/higher resolutions?

http://www.totalpunishmentgaming.com/l4dbanner.htm

MWestfall · 11-17-2008

Is Host.txt where you set the advertisement image for the server in the top right?

squerl · 11-17-2008

The host.txt banner changes depending on a person's screen resolution, which is crap.

zuffdaddy · 11-17-2008

I believe the safe resolution to go with is 500x100. And it's best to link to the html file NOT the image itself, that way you can set a background that suits the image.

here's mine:

http://www.yellatducks.com/l4d/banner.html

dagg929 · 11-17-2008

How'd you get it at the middle of the screen? When I do that, it won't show my banner at all, with me linking it to the HTML.

Anyways, I'll hit you up about your suggestion, 500x100 here I come.

MWestfall · 11-17-2008

Umm, the center tag? Its been around since HTML was conceived about, a decade ago

dagg929 · 11-17-2008

Obviously the center tag, but when I use it, my ad doesn't SHOW the banner, it shows the blank space in the upper left corner.

crazychicken · 11-19-2008

you need to link to the website in host.txt not the image itself.

the easiest way is to download the valve banner website that is in host.txt by default and edit your picture into the code, then upload the site to your hosting space.

i also resized it to 590x110 and it fits good in 1680x1050 though havent tried other resolutions. the improtant part is the no border otherwise it will be offset like if you just link to the image directly in host.txt

<html><head>

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.l4d.com/servermessage/images/favi con.ico">
<title>Left 4 Dead</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="banner_files/main.css">
</head><body>

<img src="LOCATION-OF-PIC" width="590" border="0" height="110">

</body></html>

Tagischeap · 11-19-2008

I feel this fits here.
http://www.freewebs.com/unoriginalimagination/Stea m/pickle.html

fiercedeitylink1 · 11-19-2008

crazychicken: don't forget that you would need main.css for that to be useful. Or you can just use:
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
html, body {margin:0px; padding:0px; border-style:none}
</style>
</head>
<body scroll=no>
<img
src="banner.jpg" />
</body>
</html>

Which results in this, with the same top-left, 0-padding orientation.

uggi · 05-04-2009

Originally Posted by fiercedeitylink1

crazychicken: don't forget that you would need main.css for that to be useful. Or you can just use:
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
html, body {margin:0px; padding:0px; border-style:none}
</style>
</head>
<body scroll=no>
<img
src="banner.jpg" />
</body>
</html>

Which results in this, with the same top-left, 0-padding orientation.

After several days with testing i found out how to use Gametracker banners thanks to you fiercedeitylink1. First of Its is possible to use different banners for each server on same computer by naming them f.ex (host1.txt host2.txt).

Secondly I had to put the html file on a web page and link the host1.txt with the html containing the banner image link from Gametracker. My html document included this coding:
quote
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<style type="text/css">
html, body {margin:0px; padding:0px;border-style:none;}
</style>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>Uggi's Left4Dead Server 3</title></head>
<body scroll=no>
<img src="http://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/62.73.250.58:27022/b_560x95.png" style="border-style:none; margin:0px; padding:0px; width:675px; height:137px"/></a>
</body>
</html>
unquote

For motd.txt i only used the gametracker link, and when you are ingame you can even browse the link to get stats and status for the selected server. The welcomescreen is opened imgame by pressing "H" as many of you already know.

The welcome screen looks like this for server 3 with same coding:

After clicking on server 3 i get this:
Welcome screen 2
Welcome screen 3

If you have any improvement tips for me on how to do it better, please add me on steam "apollon84" alias Uggi.

Apex_ · 05-04-2009

For reference, both the MOTD window and banner window properly scale using HTML. They're considered individual viewports, I believe.

<img src="yourimage.jpg" style="width:100%;" />

You can also use height:100% if you like but it could cause distortion. I don't know why the aspect ratio of the windows changes per resolution, but using just width:100% and a black background works pretty well overall.

My main MOTD window is three width-scaled images and works fine, so give that a shot and see what happens.

Oh also, animated GIFs don't seem to actually animate while viewing the MOTD or scoreboard. Oddly enough things like Paypal donate buttons do work though.

Darkness · 05-04-2009

This may be slightly off topic, but I dont feel like I need a new thread for it. On my server, the motd picture does not fill the whole screen. It just sits as a small block in the MOTD window. Any idea why? The only thing I have in my motd.txt file is a link to its location:
http://rage.clanservers.com/motd.htm

doa · 05-04-2009

I had some issues with motd too - i wrote up my experience here if it helps?

http://left4dead-info.blogspot.com/2...d-banners.html

fly · 05-05-2009

wtf you guys. 411 made an awesome guide for this months ago.

http://left4dead411.com/left-4-dead-server-motd

uggi · 05-06-2009

Originally Posted by fly

wtf you guys. 411 made an awesome guide for this months ago.

http://left4dead411.com/left-4-dead-server-motd

I have tried the 411 setup, but my banners didnt work at all. the widht 100% and hight 100% is not working. Still getting a box in the middle. Had to just it manually to make it happen. Dont know why. And the host file and banner resulution in 411 is for me totally wrong.

uggi · 05-06-2009

Originally Posted by Apex_

For reference, both the MOTD window and banner window properly scale using HTML. They're considered individual viewports, I believe.

<img src="yourimage.jpg" style="width:100%;" />

You can also use height:100% if you like but it could cause distortion. I don't know why the aspect ratio of the windows changes per resolution, but using just width:100% and a black background works pretty well overall.

My main MOTD window is three width-scaled images and works fine, so give that a shot and see what happens.

Oh also, animated GIFs don't seem to actually animate while viewing the MOTD or scoreboard. Oddly enough things like Paypal donate buttons do work though.

When i try to use width 100% it will not fit the window, still alot of white space to occupy. Maybe it doesnt work with the gametracker png foto.

Apex_ · 05-06-2009

Originally Posted by uggi

When i try to use width 100% it will not fit the window, still alot of white space to occupy. Maybe it doesnt work with the gametracker png foto.

It depends, is the white space at the top and bottom? It could just be the aspect ratio of the image causing it, so when you stretch the width it's not as tall as the full window. Put height=100% in there too and see if that works. It may distort the image, but it'll fill the space.

If it's not that, it could be something gametracker is doing I suppose. I use regular images hosted on my domain and they stretch without any issues. If you're making an MOTD image yourself, use the guide linked to above and pick one of the resolutions on the table. As long as the ratio of width to height is the same as the MOTD viewport, setting width=100% will work.