Difficulties Joining Directplay remote game

[El_Nino 0]

Hey folks,

My first post here.  Just purchased OPFGOTY and am enjoying it immensely.  

My problem is that I am having difficulties joining a directplay game being hosted by a friend over the internet.  The first time we tried, everyone but me was able to find the server and join without a problem.  I wasn't able to see the server until I turned off Windows XP Pro firewall, Zone Alarm, and placed computer in DMZ on router.  

The second time I tried it with the same ip address, I was able to find and join the server without changing anything (XP firewall up, Zone Alarm on, and no DMZ change).

Today, I can't see his server no matter what I do though others are able to join.  

All three times, he had his server set up directplay/internet.  He insists that nothing has changed on his end and others were able to find and join the server no matter what.

I know that there are many posts addressing the question of what a person must do to HOST a multiplayer game but I couldn't find anything about this issue.  I checked the Avon Lady's FAQ (God bless her), but no joy.

Any ideas?

I'm running a P3 Windows XP Pro system.  It's behind an Actiontec DSL wireless gateway. I have static external and internal IPs.  If it's a matter of having a certain port open just to join a game, it seems placing my comp in the DMZ and turning firewalls off should take care of it as it did the first time.  Why different today?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

El

P.S. This is a duplicate post. I also posted in the troubleshooting topic. Moderator, please feel free to delete if this is in the wrong section. Thanks.

[RN Malboeuf 12]

do you have his corect IP

[Placebo 29]

P.S. This is a duplicate post. I also posted in the troubleshooting topic. Moderator, please feel free to delete if this is in the wrong section. Thanks.

As the board rules state duplicate threads are not allowed, I've deleted the one in troubleshooting

[theavonlady 2]

What version of OFP are you playing and why are you trying to use the DirectPlay MP interface?

[El_Nino 0]

@placebo:  I wish the solution to the problem was that simple.  Yup, got the right IP number. Also, forgot to mention that I seem to have no problem seeing or joining games that appear in the multiplayer screen for internet/sockets/gamespy.

@RN:  Thanks for deleting the other message.  Wasn't sure which section to post in.  Won't post dup messages again.

@Avonlady.  Resistance patched to 1.96. If not directplay, what other options are there?  Are you thinking All Seeing Eye? It just seemed to easy in theory for him to host a game and for us to all join via IP.

No one else has had any problems joining.  However, they are running Windows 2000 and Windows ME systems respectively.  The host is running Windows XP.  I am running XP Pro SP2.  I know there have been some issues with the SP2 patch and multiplayer games so I assumed that my problem was caused by something to do with XP.  

Also, I was thinking that since I am on the west coast of the U.S. and the host is in the UK.  Other players are on the east coast of the U.S. with faster connections.  Perhaps the problem is caused by OPF's default timeout setting when looking for multiplayer games.  I was able to ping the server from DOS command window while he was hosting at about 256ms.  Perhaps the OPF multiplayer Directplay function simply doesn't look for the server long enough before giving up and returning a blank screen?

Thanks for your replies.  Perhaps we'll see if we can get his server to show up in the Gamespy browser or else on ASE.

EL

[theavonlady 2]

@Avonlady.  Resistance patched to 1.96.  If not directplay, what other options are there?

OFP's Sockets MP interface. You should no longer be using DP.

[El_Nino 0]

@Avonlady.  Resistance patched to 1.96.  If not directplay, what other options are there?

OFP's Sockets MP interface. You should no longer be using DP.

Why should we no longer use direct play? To use sockets, does the host need to do anything different?

[theavonlady 2]

@Avonlady.  Resistance patched to 1.96.  If not directplay, what other options are there?

OFP's Sockets MP interface. You should no longer be using DP.

Why should we no longer use direct play?

BIS introduced the socket MP interface because of DP's lousy response and headaches. DP is passe.

Quote[/b] ]To use sockets, does the host need to do anything different?

Search The FAQ for "resisatnce firewall". Less is better. Also search the forums here for threads with words like "firewall" or "port" in the thread titles.

[Smartti 1]

@Avonlady.  Resistance patched to 1.96.  If not directplay, what other options are there?

OFP's Sockets MP interface. You should no longer be using DP.

Sounds familiar subject to me, haven't we discussed about this earlier?

Just wanted to point some things about Direct Play.

We at LDD Kyllikki have been using DP since... the beginning I guess. All our members and lots of "outsiders" have been able to play there. Of course you need quite often to remind people to select DP instead of sockets

There are also positive technical features in DP I like. Built-in voice comm for example. With different channels automatically set-up. No need to hassle with TeamSpeak or any other 3rd party software. Oh dear, this little boy scout got lost in off-topic track...

But back to topic. You mention ZoneAlarm. I had problems with quite recent version of ZA, couldn't access DP servers. With older version - sorry don't remember version numbers - there wasn't any problems. Also other LDDK members and fellow OFP sceners have mentioned troubles with new ZA and DP. I bypassed this problem by installing Sygate's Personal Firewall.

Switching firewall software isn't really a solution. I'd suggest you to contact/browse Zone Labs' "support facilities". If you're feeling "pro", you could try finding out which files are used for DP connection (dplaysvr.exe?) and give them permission to access internet? And as last hope: Switch to alternative software or sockets servers  

[El_Nino 0]

Thanks all. I think we'll give sockets a try. If that doesn't work, we'll try hosting over ASE. I read plenty of posts here and scoured AVON Lady's FAQ but didn't really find anything specifically adressing problems encountered while trying to join (as opposed to host).

It goes without saying that less is better when it comes to firewalls and online play. The thing that confounded me about this problem is that I was able to see the server one day and join it after turning all firewalls off and placing comp in DMZ from router but not another. Also, was able to see and join the server one day without turning off any of the firewalls and without placing the comp in the dmz.

In any case, we'll give sockets a try. Thanks for all your replies.

El

[turms 0]

Go to startmenu --> Run--> type dxdiag---> test directplay.

EDIT: If i recaal correctly, Feersum.endjinn had the same problem some times ago.