Cannot host a game or find a friend's game

[marcai 1]

Hi, since the removal of Gamespy both myself and my friends have been unable to actually use the Multiplayer functions at all. We had been using Tunngle until recently as it was the only way to connect. The use of a third party program should NOT be the only way to play the game. I was really excited to hear of Steam integration of multiplayer as I assumed it would be like every other game I own on the service- that is right-click a friend and Invite to Game. Even this appears to not actually have any functionality as doing so doesn't actually connect us once the invite has been sent. I've seen numerous posts about this, but barring the use of Tunngle/ Hamachi/ Evolve, I've not actually seen anyone fix it. Is there something I'm blatantly missing here? I'd love to get an answer as I've been itching to play the new DLC content with friends and wholly unable to do so simply because the multiplayer function isn't working.

Extra info:

• 
  
• We can host games, but we can't see each other's games in the Steam lobby.
  
• We can't direct connect via IP
  
• We sucessfully hosted games without issue with Gamespy, and regularly host games through the Steam service for one another.
  
• We haven't tried the dedicated server tool, but again we just want to be able to host/play a game quickly through the game interface.
  

Any hep I can get will be much appreciated.

[slynchy 0]

I had this issue too with my friends. The solution (for us at least) was to amend the firewall rules on our routers. This is most important for the person HOSTING the game, otherwise the other players won't be able to see them when they search.

When you try to host a multiplayer game over the internet, you should see a warning saying make sure ports 2303 .... (or whatever it is) are set up on your firewall.

So effectively, you will need to make sure that outbound and inbound traffic on those ports is allowed on your router. Each router is different, so I can't give you a step-by-step, and Windows Firewall might also need tinkering with (I myself never had to do this, but keep it in mind)

This worked for us, but every few days I need to update the rules on my router whenever my PC gets assigned a new IP address.

It's a pain in arse to have to do it this way, but I don't know of an easier way.

[norybiak 10]

What Slynchy described is port forwarding. As mentioned, you will need to look up the specific instructions since every router is different. A simple Google search such as "how to port forward [enter router here]" will return results for what you want.

This worked for us, but every few days I need to update the rules on my router whenever my PC gets assigned a new IP address.

It's a pain in arse to have to do it this way, but I don't know of an easier way.

You can eliminate having to update the rules by reserving an IP to your computer in the router configuration. It will be under the DHCP settings, but as you know all routers are different, so you may have to do some research on where to find it.

Edited November 12, 2014 by norybiak

[shiv 10]

How do I load up pics

[dupa 10]

I have the same problem. When hosting a game or running a dedicated server, I can see it in LAN, but not online. Ports are open, firewall disabled. Last time I tried to host a server was about half a year ago, and it worked OK (since then quite a few patches were released).

[norybiak 10]

I have the same problem. When hosting a game or running a dedicated server, I can see it in LAN, but not online. Ports are open, firewall disabled. Last time I tried to host a server was about half a year ago, and it worked OK (since then quite a few patches were released).

Did you open up ALL ports? Here is a nice article for reference.

[albertfish 11]

I am having the same issue. We tried for about an hour to join each others server with no success. Multiple people tried hosting, and forwarding ports. Nothing seemed to work. I tried a dedicated server and also tried creating one from the ingame menu. Seems every time we want to play we need to make a sacrifice to the gods before we can join each other. When GameSpy was around we did not have a single issue. Seems like something needs to be fixed.