Tips for people having trouble with MP

[monkspider]

Here are a few pointers I have found to ensure optimal performance, at least until the netcode gets polished a bit.

-Make sure you download 1.04f, this is a must!
-Don't play games with anyone whose ping is greater than 200, if there are some high ping players in your room, politely tell them what the situation is, and then boot them.
-Be wary of trying to play behind a router or a firewall. Some players are having success with this, others are not.
-Don't play games with any more than 4 players or so. Too many players right now will cause the game to hang in the transition from the staging window to the setup window. One day we will have likely have 24 player matches without hiccup, but for now, keep things at 3-4 players. In fact, I have found that 1 vs 1 with a bunch of AIs is probably your best bet, but if you have to have more people, keep them at 3-4.
-Play on smaller maps, to ensure optimal performance and more lively games with fewer people.
-Make sure you're not playing with anyone with a warez/pirate version of PTW.
-Disabling Virus Protection programs while playing online may be useful as well.
-I have heard from some players that turning off auto-save as well as various unit animations can help reduce some of the lag that you may encounter once you are actually in game.
- Don't try to launch PTW through any kind of external Gamespy software, always launch through PTW directly.
-If al else fails, try finding someone close to your geographic region to play.

If you do all these things, you should look forward to some extremely fun and exciting MP games while things get polished up a bit on Firaxis' front.

[kittenOFchaos]

Try to play people who are on the same OS...the best from my experience of beta-testing since June is Windows XP.

Windows ME in my opinion isn't really compatible with PTW...


I recommend using MSN or some other instant messenger device to talk to people you are playing with, crashes in the early stage could break up a game quickly.


If you try more people than 1 VS 1 make sure you all have a ping lower than 200 with all players and preferrably lower.


Also: the host player should have the most powerful computer (of the people playing), the host player suffers most slowdown and having a computer with alot of RAM can really help rectify this.



All this points to it being better to organise games outside the pathetic "lobby" and have some other means of "match-making" players.



Advise to newbies to the mp fun: defend your cities and settlers or I will attack them and you will give in

[kittenOFchaos]

If you do PBEM try to play a scenario were there is alot to do each turn, or the mass regicide option (humans only for best results).

Passing a save file around when people have only pressed enter is boring...lets hope some nice fellows putout some great ww2 scenarios soon.

[ColdFever]

I only have a minor thing to add: with few people it is more fun to play on a PANGEA world, as you do not have to play until Navigation to meet each other via oceans - one massive continent usually is more fun to play on short games with few people.

[Boris Godunov]

Re: Tips for people having trouble with MP

Originally posted by monkspider
One day we will have likely have 24 player matches without hiccup

I doubt it, considering MP is limited to 8 civs only.

[monkspider]

Kitty/Cold: Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Bory: Stop correcting me when I'm wrong, damn you.

[Capt Dizle]

I used to play games at gamespy and could keep up to six players on consistently with pings twice as high as 200 so Firaxis should be able to improve this.

[Dinner]

So does the game seem to be unstable a lot of the time? If it is then it would be a sure sign of a rushed production cycle.

[monkspider]

UPDATE-
The only games that seem to be working on a reliable basis are two player games, that is only two human players, but with a few AI civs.
So don't try any games with more than two human players. Try a small pangea map with another human and two or three AI civs.

[Dinner]

Does it seem to be a problem with the server or with the software itself?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by monkspider
Bory: Stop correcting me when I'm wrong, damn you.

Like on the evolution debate?



Alright, I need to test out MP...

[Tuberski]

Sounds like MP is a bust at the moment.

[Boris Godunov]

Did you get PTW yet, Tube?

[monkspider]

It's not a total bust, there's still quite a bit of fun to be had in games with 1 on 1 and AI civs.
The various single player features are impeccable, with no bugs to speak of.

[Boris Godunov]

monkie, let's play.