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Author Topic:   Multiplayer problems.

quix0te posted 03-31-99 08:51 PM ET
I'm trying not to be critical but EVERY time I've played a game over TCP/IP I have had severe droppage problems and connectivity problems and such. I don't know if it's because I usually try this around 8pm-9pm. I can think of no other problem. I am playing with somebody 70 to 80 miles away so the lag issues shouldn't be huge. Is this a common problem? Is there some troubleshooting I can perform? Help!! It's frustrating and makes the claim of being able to play 4 players (!!!!) over the internet kind of laughable.

tfs99 posted 03-31-99 09:04 PM ET
You can try using 'ping' to see what kind of response times you are getting for data packets.
I have been able to play 3P and 4P games of MP SMAC. Sometimes the problems you cite are highly prevalent, other times things are quite smooth. Another time my copy of TERRAN.EXE kept GP faulting and two of the other players gave up in disgust after an hour of trying to get the game going.
But all in all things have work fairly well. I play a lot with a SMACer from Australia (I'm in California) and the ping responses I get from him are around 500 to 800 ms.
I play in another 3P game with two more California SMACers, one in LA and another from the SF Bay Area like me. It seems to help a lot that the host for this game has 128k ISDN.
The biggest (and most consistent) problems I have encountered though are from someone's ISP "booting" them off and dropping the connection. That seems to happen at least once a session.
Needless to say we have gotten good at saving and reloading, but you're right, it is a royal pain in the neck.
Anyway ...
SMAC n ... Ted S.
lprent posted 04-01-99 02:34 AM ET
I'm in New Zealand, and have had real problems getting links into games played in the US. Pings are 400-600ms. If I'm hosting or joining it usually bombs when starting into the game.
I have a permanent ISDN 128kbps link. It may be something to do with using NT4....
Haven't found a local player to test if it is the link or SMAC or NT...
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Author	Topic: Multiplayer problems.
quix0te	posted 03-31-99 08:51 PM ET I'm trying not to be critical but EVERY time I've played a game over TCP/IP I have had severe droppage problems and connectivity problems and such. I don't know if it's because I usually try this around 8pm-9pm. I can think of no other problem. I am playing with somebody 70 to 80 miles away so the lag issues shouldn't be huge. Is this a common problem? Is there some troubleshooting I can perform? Help!! It's frustrating and makes the claim of being able to play 4 players (!!!!) over the internet kind of laughable.
tfs99	posted 03-31-99 09:04 PM ET You can try using 'ping' to see what kind of response times you are getting for data packets. I have been able to play 3P and 4P games of MP SMAC. Sometimes the problems you cite are highly prevalent, other times things are quite smooth. Another time my copy of TERRAN.EXE kept GP faulting and two of the other players gave up in disgust after an hour of trying to get the game going. But all in all things have work fairly well. I play a lot with a SMACer from Australia (I'm in California) and the ping responses I get from him are around 500 to 800 ms. I play in another 3P game with two more California SMACers, one in LA and another from the SF Bay Area like me. It seems to help a lot that the host for this game has 128k ISDN. The biggest (and most consistent) problems I have encountered though are from someone's ISP "booting" them off and dropping the connection. That seems to happen at least once a session. Needless to say we have gotten good at saving and reloading, but you're right, it is a royal pain in the neck. Anyway ... SMAC n ... Ted S.
lprent	posted 04-01-99 02:34 AM ET I'm in New Zealand, and have had real problems getting links into games played in the US. Pings are 400-600ms. If I'm hosting or joining it usually bombs when starting into the game. I have a permanent ISDN 128kbps link. It may be something to do with using NT4.... Haven't found a local player to test if it is the link or SMAC or NT...