Multiplayer problems

[Blamer]

My friend and I want to get a game of Alpha Centauri going online, but we haven't had any luck. When either of us hosts a TCP/IP game and the other tries to join, we end up with a Game Not Found error while the host is waiting on the game setup screen. We've played by TCP/IP in plenty of other games before, so it's not an issue of using the wrong IP address or whatever.

We both use Windows XP Home Edition and have updated SMAC to version 4.0. We both use the same cable ISP, which to my knowledge does not block any ports. Neither of us run firewalls, but we do run virus scanners and AOL Instant Messenger in the background. I've looked through the game and text files for any sort of network configuration options but they seem to be nonexistant.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[Mongoose]

Sure sounds like a firewall problem to me. Try without the antivirus.

[johndmuller]

Have you established that either/both of your computers will play multi-player SMAC - for example on a LAN? It may also be possible to make a direct dial connection between your computers bypassing the ISP (it would of course help if you two lived nearby to try this without running up a big phone bill).

As to more detailed advise, there are some Poly members (Fitz, for example) with extensive experience in the multiplay area; you could probably find them by searching for something like "tcp/ip" and then sending them a message, unless one of the threads you find happens to address your problem.

[Blamer]

Well, we got SMAC working...it turned out that my friend didn't tell me about his firewall because "it worked fine with Jedi Outcast"

Anyway, I have a couple more questions:

1) In our first couple games, I got the 'ole "terran.exe has encountered an error and needs to close" window about 30 turns into the game, but the game still played fine after I moved the window to a bottom corner of the screen. It froze only when I tried to use the voice chat function. In our third game, I stopped using the voice chat entirely and I've experienced no problems in about 100 turns of play. Is this an issue that anyone knows about with Windows XP? It's not terribly important, but the voice chat is nice. Do any Windows XP users here use a program like Roger Wilco in SMAC with success?

2) My friend is, shall we say, "not very good" at expanding, we're past MY2200 and he has a grand total of three bases. Of course, he blames it entirely on Mind Worms. In any case, I'm conquering his neighbor the Hive, and I can't find a way to give him the bases I take over. The multiplayer commlink has options to give techs, credits and make treaties with a player, but I don't see a way to transfer control of a base. Am I missing something on the commlink screen, is it an option in the base control interface, or is the ability to give bases to other human players missing from SMAC?

[Adalbertus]

Blamer,
If you like (and your friend is trustworthy) you can go to war, and leave your bases you want to give him unguarded. You should, however, expend all your energy and have "spoils of war" deactivated unless you want to give him also energy and/or techs. I'd prefer to see a "proper" diplomatic way, however.

[Mongoose]

MP SMAC (including pbem/hotseat) has no peaceful mechanism to pass bases between human players. Whether design decision or omission, I do not know.


I don't think the voice thing is a WinXP issue; it's a SMAC issue. As far as I recall, there have always been stability problems with the voice chat. When I used to play a lot of MP IP, we never used it. Several of the players in the group with which I used to play insisted on turning sound off altogether.