[Solved] Multiplayer Issue

[masterthief30]

I've read a few posts here of people having issues getting the multiplayer to work, and I've tried the solutions and still can't seem to get this to connect...so, my apologies for another "my game is broken" post.

We've tried both VPN and direct connect port-forwarding methods.  For the VPN we used Hamachi, but it still wouldn't connect.  After that we tried direct connect using our public IP Addresses, and set port forwarding on our routers to 32320.  From what we can tell the firewalls on the computers and routers are disabled, and I'm able to play other games online(we even tried setting the port for AI Wars to one that I know other games use successfuly on my computer).  Each time we try though whichever one is not hosting gets a connection error.

Our Method was essentially this:

Both people opened 32320 port forwarding on our routers.
Booted up AI WARS, one person hosted game.
Other person used the Host's public IP address to try and join a direct IP connect game.(The IP we're using is what "whatsmyip.com" shows.  Is that what we need to use? I assume it's not the 192.XXX.X.XX or the subnet mask...)
Person trying to join timed out.

Not sure if it matters, but we're both using the Steam version of the game.  Also, I tried to launch the in-game updater just to see what would happen(even though Steam updates it automatically) and it wouldn't connect.  When I start the game Steam pops up with a multiplayer code that it says I need to input "when the game asks for it," but it never asks...

Really not sure what else to try at this point.  We bought the game to play online together, and it doesn't make any sense that a connection method that is normally quick and easy is giving us so much grief.  Maybe we're just missing something simple, but for the life of either of us we don't know what it is...

Any help however small would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Revenantus]

Hey masterthief,

The code that Steam provides you with is the license key for the game. Steam uses it to unlock the game automatically, despite it informing you that you'll need to remember it yourself. When using direct ip connect the required ip address is the one shown by whatismyip.com, yes.

Are either of you running any antivirus software? If so, try disabling it temporarily to see if this is causing the problem.

When configuring the port forwarding, make sure that the router is configured to forward UDP traffic, not just TCP.

Hope this helps. I'm also available on the IRC channel today (http://arcengames.com/irc/aiwar_irc.php) if you want to try and connect to another player.

Regards,
Revenantus

[x4000]

The notes from Rev are absolutely right -- beyond that, I would also simply add, have you tried connecting more than once?  As in, when it times out the first time, or even before it fully does and you know it will fail, going ahead and canceling it and connecting again?  There's some sort of lag with the first connection attempt for a number of players at the moment, and that is something I am looking into, but the workaround is really simple.

Beyond that, if other games are working for you, I'd just make sure that it is the UDP rather than the TCP port that is forwarded.  And, that the port is the same on both the client and the server, for that matter.  If one of you changed the network port of the game to some other value, so that the two don't match, then that would explain the issue as well.

Hope that helps!

[masterthief30]

Thanks for the replies, and thanks again Rev for helping me out on IRC yesterday.  My friend and I were able to get a game going with me as host later in the afternoon.  He still can't host, and through other testing we've concluded that it's because his port forwarding isn't setup correctly/another program is blocking him. 

[x4000]

Glad you got it working!

[Blunt]

If you are using Hamachi to play a game and your having trouble connecting to the host via direct connect, try using the Hamachi IP of the host, NOT the public ip that is displayed on whatismyip.com

There is no point using your public IP if you want to utilize hamachi via direct connect from what I understand. It has got to be the Hamachi IP.

See if that works,
Blunt

[x4000]

That is correct, when using hamachi.