Strange multiplayer problem :(

[Ako 0]

Yesterday i encountered a strange problem with multiplayer gaming.

A friend of mine set up a server (512k Cable / Version 1.46) and when i entered his ip, his game appeared and i clicked join. Now the black screen with "Wait for server" appeared, and in the top left it said "Player Ak0 connecting..." and just stayed like this, then after about 2minutes it said "Session lost"

Other people did join his server tho without any problems!!

We tried numerous times trying to get it to work but nothing would work!

I then tried connecting to a random server through ASE and it worked perfectly.

Any ideas on why i cant connect to his server?

My specs: Ofp v1.46, athlon 1.4ghz, 512ddr, gf2pro, isdn connection, running on winxp pro.

[Lt_Damage 0]

Try getting the server to create the game on port 2235 instead of 2234, I find WindowsXP machines have problems creating / joining sessions on this port.

You can test this by running DxDiag from the Start > Run area.

Go to directplay tab and test creating / joining sessions on Ports 2234 and 2235, I found that 2234 would not create but 2235 was fine.

Goodluck with it.

[Ako 0]

Thx for the suggestion.

We tried it out but it didnt work, and i still get the black "Wait for server" screen for around 2 minutes before i get session lost appears.

Surely someone else must have experienced a problem like this?

[Mister Frag 0]

Do you have a firewall, or are you trying to connect from a system that uses ICS or some other NAT solution?

[Ako 0]

I dont use a firewall, ICS used to be enabled but i turned it off.

This is getting very annoying

[Mister Frag 0]

Let me understand this: you said that you tried DXDIAG, and THAT didn't work? Did it display an error message of any type when you did the network connection test in DXDIAG? Have you tried reinstalling DirectX?

[Ako 0]

Ok sorry bout dodgy answer :/

I did some tests, i tried with another XP user, and i could create a dxdiag test on 2234, and he connected no problems. Then he created on 2234, and i could connect to him too.

Then i tried with my friend who tried to host the ofp server, he is on win98, and when i tried to connect to his test i couldnt, and he couldnt connect to mine either!

After this i thought i could try reinstalling directx, but since it already is included in winxp, there is no download avaliable for it!

[Mister Frag 0]

Does the Windows 98 users have a firewall?

[Ako 0]

The friend on win98 does not have a firewall, he was the one who hosted the ofp server..

I am begining to think there is some incompatability problems between Dx on 9x and XP, of course i may be wrong, but if anyone else could test this i would be grateful!

[Ako 0]

*bump*

[Ako 0]

*bump* Last time before i totaly give up *bump*

[whisperFFW06 0]

Last chance : happened 2 times for friends, on Win2k, I assume it is the same on XP.

Disable IPSec. In your TCP/IP properties, advanced, unselect "enable IPSec".

It has nothing to do with playing online games, but it has permit 2 people to join a server they couldn't before, with exactly the same problem as you (ie creating client, player connecting, then nothing).

It seems that DirectPlay API uses network calls that refer to some IPSec layer when enabled in 2k/XP. I really don't understand why, but.... Who understands M$?

Whis'

[Ako 0]

I looked in my connections tcp/ip options and there was no IPSec, and from reading in winhelp it looks like its not loaded by default, and has to be loaded for it to be active.

Thanks for the suggestion tho!

[whisperFFW06 0]

Well, take care if you are under Win2k, it can be activated when it shouldn't be, even by default.

What do you mean by "there was no IPSec"?

Is it that IPSec was set on "do not use IPSec"?

Or that you didn't see IPSec Option?

In the last case, I suggest you to see in TCP/IP options, advanced button, Options tab, IP Security properties, and activate "do not use IPSec".

[Ako 0]

Im running winxp

And by "there was no IPSec" i mean that the option isnt there, i read about how to active it, and i checked the section of xp where it would be loaded but it isnt!

So it is not activated :|

[Ako 0]

Ok time to make this weirder...

I deicded to set up a win98se test, all the system has one is ofp, drivers, ASE, and dx8 installed from ofp cd.

Now i used the following server for testing..

Dedicated server on gamesdomain.co.uk (03) - Custom Maps [non subscribers]|| 213.221.165.251:2250

I am on ISDN (Asuscom isdn card) and when i try to connect on a single line (64k) i STILL get the black screen wait for server.. session lost..

Then i tried again using dualline (128k) and it connected no problem.

Has anyone else with ISDN experienced anything like this? or any ideas what the hell is going on!