Crashing Multiplayer? - Info on Firewalls, Routers and Proxies

[JRWMD]

XP Firewall

Naive ? :

Does XP's built-in firewall option have an effect on PTW connectivity ?

JR

[JRWMD]

NIS/NAV

What about Norton Internet Security, and Norton Antivirus?

JR

[JRWMD]

Synch errors

Finally, what on earth is with all the Synch errors when playing PTWMP using Gamespy. Every single game ended this way after a generally brief time, sometimes after the first move !

Is it me, or have others had similar frustratrions ??

JR

[isak]

Re: Hotseat crash

Originally posted by JRWMD
I am able to play and host games on Gamespy (yes it took some doing...)

My Civ buddy is not able to connect to me, however, either via Gamespy or direct IP.

We found that he cannot even host a hotseat game; the game immediately crashes when he tries to set it up. Civ3X has to close, please send info to MS etc.

This does not sound like a firewall problem, but I just thought I'd ask here if anyone had any ideas.

TIA, JR

I could actually be a router or firewall problem. That's exactly the same way my game was before I got my Router configured properly with all the necessary ports open. But that was back on version 1.01f mind you.

Make sure you are both patched to version 1.14f.

If you already are, he should reinstall Civ3 and PtW, cause he should be able to setup and host a Hotseat game no matter what, AFAIK.

About XP Firewall: Yes, it can affect your ability to connect. I have to deactivate it on a day-to-day basis for people who are unable to connect to the internet through Internet Explorer, while it is activated

NIS and NAV - yes, they can have effect too, but instead of deactivating them, just make sure they allow Civ3PTW, DirectPlay and Gamespy access to the internet. NIS may need to get deactivated though, as it IIRC has a built-in antivirus checker which could interfere (terribly) with the game's performance.

Out of synch - well, if you're both patched to 1.14f, you shouldn't be getting that many anymore, but even so Firaxis have already promised they're working on another patch, so hopefully that will take care of the remaining ones. Until then, make sure you only play low-ping players, have as few as possible running tasks on your computers, and all that

Stygian: Sorry about not replying - I didn't see your post (must have missed my email notification) and anyway I know absolutely nothing about setting up Linux routers.

Have you only port-forwarded port 2302 ?

[Panag]

Re: Re: Hotseat crash

Originally posted by isak


I could actually be a router or firewall problem. That's exactly the same way my game was before I got my Router configured properly with all the necessary ports open. But that was back on version 1.01f mind you.

Make sure you are both patched to version 1.14f.

If you already are, he should reinstall Civ3 and PtW, cause he should be able to setup and host a Hotseat game no matter what, AFAIK.

About XP Firewall: Yes, it can affect your ability to connect. I have to deactivate it on a day-to-day basis for people who are unable to connect to the internet through Internet Explorer, while it is activated

NIS and NAV - yes, they can have effect too, but instead of deactivating them, just make sure they allow Civ3PTW, DirectPlay and Gamespy access to the internet. NIS may need to get deactivated though, as it IIRC has a built-in antivirus checker which could interfere (terribly) with the game's performance.

Out of synch - well, if you're both patched to 1.14f, you shouldn't be getting that many anymore, but even so Firaxis have already promised they're working on another patch, so hopefully that will take care of the remaining ones. Until then, make sure you only play low-ping players, have as few as possible running tasks on your computers, and all that

Stygian: Sorry about not replying - I didn't see your post (must have missed my email notification) and anyway I know absolutely nothing about setting up Linux routers.

Have you only port-forwarded port 2302 ?

hi ,

www.esafe.com , desktop firewall and anti bug scanner runs its antivirus in the background and no troubles what-so-ever , ....

have a nice day
have a nice day

[isak]

I don't know the eSafe products, but I do know that there is no such thing as a product that runs without any problems whatsoever on all setups.

And this review done by PC Magazine isn't exactly flattering to the product either

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,4726,00.asp

[Panag]

Originally posted by isak
I don't know the eSafe products, but I do know that there is no such thing as a product that runs without any problems whatsoever on all setups.

And this review done by PC Magazine isn't exactly flattering to the product either
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,4726,00.asp

hi ,

it can be complicated to use if you mess with the settings , ...... and dont have a clue as to what you are doing , .....

well since PCMAG does not believe in updates , the reviews they make should go in the trash , ....

they should start with reviewing the first line , "its a freebie" , no its no longer for a long time (!) , ..... that itself proves they have not even bothered to look at the think or download it , ..... otherwise the writer would have known that , .... (!!!)

there are many other people who run esafe desktop and are able to play with MP , ...... thats a fact , so why not try it out , .....

each comp user like this or that , so each player tries to find what he or she likes or is the best for him , ....

its like MAC , some like it , others not , ..... some like to build there own , others like a brandname , .....

rest assure that esafe desktop has had no problems so far with MP , ..... that is if you dont start to lock all outbound signals or so , ......

have a nice day

[Acererak]

As a general rule, I turn off my Anti-Virus when playing any games. Some games have problems and performance issues, some do not.

If you do disable AV while playing, it's also a good idea (essential if you are using Outlook), to turn off your email program while playing. Nothing like ending your conquests for the evening and discovering a virus conquering your computer! Other than email (well, Outlook really), turning of AV should do you no harm.

I don't use XP or a software firewall, so I can't offer any advice on those topics.

[Acererak]

Re: anyone got it working with linux as router?

Originally posted by Stygian
Hi folks,

I've got a linux-router with some 2.2.x-kernel doing masquerading.

Joining and playing a game works fine but hostings seems not possible.

I tried portforwarding and tcpdump shows packets received to my local pc but civ3-ptw (1.14) seems to send answers or messages from port 2302 only to broadcast address 255.255.255.255.

Any ideas or hints on how to get it working?


Thanks,

Thomas

This doesn't sound right. Civ3 wouldn't know anything about your router, nor would it care, so Civ3 shouldn't be broadcasting (and 255.255.255.255 isn't your broadcast address anyway). It should be sending data back to the contacting host.

Also, just because you can join a game successfully, doesn't mean your firewall is set up correctly. You can have your firewall completely closed to incoming traffic, but if your computer originates the connection (i.e. joining a game), the firewall will let it through.

It's been a while since I set up 2.2 IP masquerading (I used IP Tables with 2.4, but now have a Linksys router), so I don't remember all the setups.

Make sure you opened and forwarded the correct ports and protocols. When hosting a Direct IP game these are:
13139 (UDP)
6500 (TCP)
2302 (TCP)

All three ports should be open and forwarded to your game machine IP address.

[knighterrant]

Thanks go to the arch lich, Acererak. His setup is exactly like mine so his post on port forwarding is exactly the instructions needed to perform the task on my setup.

However, some questions.

I am using the LinkSys router as my hub for the LAN. The LinkSys only lets you port forward to one computer. So does this mean that LAN games are out of the question since I can't open the ports on the other computers?

It is my thinking that all the computers on the "inside" of the router would be free to talk to each other over whatever ports they like.

As an experiment, I've put my own computer (which is on the LAN) in the DMZ. Theoretically, the rest of the computers should be able to see it and send data to it at will with no port blockage. However, tests indicate otherwise. Perhaps I am doing something wrong or missing some fundamental understanding of how the router is working.

What was that whole thing with the return to the tomb of horrors?

[Acererak]

Originally posted by knighterrant
[snip]

However, some questions.

I am using the LinkSys router as my hub for the LAN. The LinkSys only lets you port forward to one computer. So does this mean that LAN games are out of the question since I can't open the ports on the other computers?

You only need to open ports if you are hosting a game AND want computers outside your LAN to join. The computers on your LAN should be able to join your LAN hosting machine with no problems, but they need to connect to the 192.168.1.xxx address rather than the IP address provided by your ISP since they are behind your firewall.

It is my thinking that all the computers on the "inside" of the router would be free to talk to each other over whatever ports they like.

As an experiment, I've put my own computer (which is on the LAN) in the DMZ. Theoretically, the rest of the computers should be able to see it and send data to it at will with no port blockage. However, tests indicate otherwise. Perhaps I am doing something wrong or missing some fundamental understanding of how the router is working.

First, you shouldn't put your machine in the DMZ. By putting your machine in the DMZ, you are effectively putting it outside your firewall, thereby exposing it completely to the Internet.

If I understand you correctly, you are trying to host a Civ3 MP game and have the other machines on your LAN connect to it to play. In this case, your router basically has no role other than shuffling data. The firewall does not come into play at all. It sounds like you are using the wrong IP address to connect to your host machine.

The client machines on your LAN should be connecting to the 192.168.1.xxx address rather than the IP address provided by your ISP.

What was that whole thing with the return to the tomb of horrors?

I've been out of the AD&D world for a while now (those were fun times!). I know of the new module, but have never played it. The original Tomb of Horrors was one of my favorite adventures.

[knighterrant]

Ok, thank you. It was my thinking that the router's firewall should be completely out of the picture. I have more evidence to proceed from that presumption now.

Anyone else:

Has anyone else run into a problem with the game just freezing up if you try multiplayer and are not connected to the internet?

This only happens sometimes, but when it does its annoying. Usually the progress bar gets to 100 and it just sits. I think it may be related to the last game search being at the location "internet" so the computer has to time out trying to find internet games.

Its minor and thanks again for the help.

(computer didn't stay in DMZ long once I found that didn't work either).