Multiplayer - some network questions

[mapfi]

When we were talking after the game last night we came up with a few questions that probably noone can answer:

• Of course, the LAN setup in the game sucks - any other decent game let's you enter the IP of the counterpart. But how does it work? Does it search for a already existing lobby on the whole LAN and if so what defines the borders of the LAN? IP, workgroup, ...? Any network specialist around here?
• gamepoint is the last server that's available. What if they quit? I know they're dutch so maybe Locutus can beg them not to for the sake of patriotism...
  So how would we set up such a server? Where do we get the necessary programs? Activision?
• anyone ever tried to find out through which ports ctp2 is communicating? Maybe we could find the cause for nonworking setups (like ETB and me) like that.

[Martin Gühmann]

Maybe it could work to add new servers to the CTP2 server list if you edit the bootserv.txt in your ..\ctp2_program\ctp\ folder. The only problem I see here is how to set up a server.

-Martin

[Tominator]

Hi! I used to play CTP2 MP a lot when it first came out. When I'm trying to play MP via Internet today, it doesn't seem to work at all: One server doesn't even let me enter the lobby, the other one (nl.alink.gamepoint.net) allows me to enter the lobby but I can't enter any game (nor can a friend enter my games).
I mailed that to Locutus and he suggested I posted it here, so I do. Perhaps all MPers can work on those server problems to try and have again the fun it used to be "back then".

Yours,

Tominator

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Tominator
Hi! I used to play CTP2 MP a lot when it first came out. When I'm trying to play MP via Internet today, it doesn't seem to work at all: One server doesn't even let me enter the lobby, the other one (nl.alink.gamepoint.net) allows me to enter the lobby but I can't enter any game (nor can a friend enter my games).
I mailed that to Locutus and he suggested I posted it here, so I do. Perhaps all MPers can work on those server problems to try and have again the fun it used to be "back then".

Yours,

Tominator

Dont worry, none of us can enter the other server, i think its for CtP1. My first question to you would be, do you have a firewall, or the one that comes with Win XP enabled? Some people cant join other peoples games, its becoming a common problem. Maybe we should ask Activision what the hell theyre playing at.

[Locutus]

I already asked him that and he said no. What OS are you using, Tominator?

[ETB]

I’ve done a little research since my MP game ended yesterday with Maquiladora and mapfi. I found this question and answer (ID 8399) on the Activision web site:

Question: When trying to connect to multiplayer using my direct connection, I receive the error "You need to dialup, to use Internet".
Answer: This error only occurs if you are using Windows XP, which uses different network code from the Windows 9x/ME platform. This operating system is not one supported to play the game.

At first I thought that this was extremely bad news – like XP (my OS) can’t play properly in MP. But this also got me thinking And I had an idea about Windows compatibility. I was able to set my CtP2 program file to run as Windows 98 compatible and it actually worked! I was able to go to the lobby via a network connection instead of being forced to use my dial-up connection directly. I am certainly encouraged by this initial test, but the real test will be in MP Internet play.

To run CtP2 in Windows 98 compatible mode under Windows XP, right click on the program file (ctp2.exe), select Properties, the Compatibility tab, and check the top box “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and select “Windows 98 / Windows Me” in the drop-down box. Click OK to save your changes and CtP2 will run in Windows 98 compatibility mode.

I hope this will solve the remaining problems (crashes) that we experienced in our MP Internet game. Time will tell. Any suggestions or comments are welcome!

[Maquiladora]

I didnt know XP wasnt supported, that doesnt mean it doesnt work for some though. ETB why dont you try and host a game with mapfi just to see how it goes now?

What does the Carptivison server do besides hosting chat, and showing games available?

[ETB]

Originally posted by Maquiladora
I didnt know XP wasnt supported, that doesnt mean it doesnt work for some though. ETB why dont you try and host a game with mapfi just to see how it goes now?

Yes, excellent idea since mapfi and I were not able to connect before. Let me know if you have a few minutes this week mapfi – I should be available after 2100 hours GMT, but I could make it earlier on a specific date if you want. Just let me know ahead of time.

Also, I want to verify combat without the host crashing! I wouldn’t mind digging out our savegame just to have some human vs. human combat.

[mapfi]

by Craptivision: This operating system is not one supported to play the game

Was anyone surprised reading that?...

Yes ETB, we should try to out. I'd have a little time tonight or tomorrow - whenever suits you best.

It looks, however, that I was right and noone can answer my questions in the first post...

[mapfi]

Went cruising on the activision support page and found something else that might be of importance to all of us:

Q: My game crahes to the desktop without any error message:

A: No other programs should be running on your desktop and:
"The virtual memory has to be set on a fixed size."

So we shouldn't use the automatic size assigning that windows has as a default setting.

[Locutus]

You mean you don't set that to a fixed size be default? That's the FIRST thing you want to do when you install Windows on a PC... If you can afford it, set it to 3 times the amount of memory in your system - although the ideal amount differs per system, that's a good rule of thumb to follow (I learned that from the King of System Optimization himself: skorpion59). So if you have 64 MB RAM, try to have a 192 MB swapfile (if you have a small HDD and can't afford this, you should still try to have as large a swapfile as possible). If possible you even want to give the swapfile it's own partition, preferebly one near the 'front' of the HDD... Having a fixed swapfile is a big performance & stability saver on ANY system and for ANY application (although I'm not sure about XP, a lot of things changed in XP).

[mapfi]

You mean you don't set that to a fixed size be default? That's the FIRST thing you want to do when you install Windows on a PC...

lol - I can picture you sitting in front of the computer shaking your head...
No - I don't because I can't decide on turning it completely off. I've got 512MB RAM and in such cases most advise to turn it off completely because it slows the system. (at least that's what they say for XP...) So I just rely on Microsoft not producing total crap...

[Locutus]

Well, I did some research and found what I expected to find: on XP, it's normally it's best to have a swap file on a seperate partition which a large blocksize (due to NFTS's properties it's important to use a large blocksize (e.g. 64 kb), rather than the small 4kb block size that is used by default), and depending on how much you burden your PC, a swapfile size of 1.5-3 times your amount of RAM works best. If you have a very light usage of your PC - never more than two or three apps open at the same time, you don't work with graphics- or video-editing, you don't run high end apps or games or you don't do anything else that burdens your system - you could try disabling your swapfile altogether. However, some programs may not work correctly if you do this and you should only do this if you're certain you'll never exceed your physical memory, as this will cause serious performance and stability problems. When you have a large, fixed swapfile but you don't need it, it will simply remain unused, the performance reduction isn't all that dramatic. I have 512 MB memory as well and have set my swapfile size to 768 MB for starters.

[Lord Master of Order]

Hi!
My game starts to resynchronize each turn after the 5th or 6th round. and later it's crashing to the desktop every 4th or 5th turn or so. And the really strange thing is .. we're only playing LAN-games, so theres no weak internet or server-problem.
I set my swap-file to 512, 1024 (standard) and even 2048 (just for testing ). I even changed destop res. to 16 bit (said on activision-site).
i tried smaller maps, less players, .... crash,crash,crash,...
it's really depressing ...

[Tominator]

Good idea to run in Windows 98 compatibility mode. Personally, I'm using 98 SE, but my friend Andy (with whom I was trying to play) uses XP. I'll ask him to try in Compatibility mode, let's see if this works.
Keep looking! I think it might work! And let's tell Activision they should reopen some of the other servers (e.g. the one in Germany!) or else ... (we'll think about that later).

Hopefully

Yours
Tominator