Crashing Multiplayer? - Info on Firewalls, Routers and Proxies

[viper275]

I tried that, but it said
"C:\>IPCONFIG
'IPCONFIG' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file.

C:\>"
I went to a site that shows an IP address (it came with a couple paragraphs about what an IP address is) here (googled it.)

On this firewall issue: it seems like I have one, since that test at DSLreports won't work and I'm wondering if it is what is blocking the Civ3 multiplayer. Any way to find this thing at least to disable it for the report at DSLreports to work?

 

[Isak]

I tried that, but it said
"C:\>IPCONFIG
'IPCONFIG' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file.

Ok, that's a pretty bad result. Either there is something wrong with your Win2000, or something is messing around with you TCP/IP protocol. I've seen spyware and viruses that can produce this error, but it may also be something less dangerous.
Try switching to the WinNT/System32 folder before running the ipconfig command :

> CD Winnt
and then
> CD system32
and
> ipconfig

If it still doesn't recognize it, i'd say there's definitely something wrong.

I went to a site that shows an IP address (it came with a couple paragraphs about what an IP address is) here (googled it.)

Ok, in that case you cant really use it as a test to figure out if you have a hardware firewall or not, as the ip-adress shown would then be that of your firewall's WAN-interface - that is, the connection to the outside world. In other words, that check wouldn't be able to see the ip-adress of your computer.

On this firewall issue: it seems like I have one, since that test at DSLreports won't work and I'm wondering if it is what is blocking the Civ3 multiplayer. Any way to find this thing at least to disable it for the report at DSLreports to work?

Check your system tray first - that's the small icons usually next to the system clock on your desktop. If you have a running firewall, it should be there. But since I am beginning to suspect that you may have a virus or other pest, the firewall may be semi-disabled, not showing up in the system tray but still running somewhat active in the background.

 

[viper275]

Try switching to the WinNT/System32 folder before running the ipconfig command :

> CD Winnt
and then
> CD system32
and
> ipconfig

If it still doesn't recognize it, i'd say there's definitely something wrong.

I don't quite understand.... Do you type the CD Winnt into the Command? I tried that and it didn't recognize it.

Check your system tray first - that's the small icons usually next to the system clock on your desktop. If you have a running firewall, it should be there.

No firewall icon there.

But since I am beginning to suspect that you may have a virus or other pest, the firewall may be semi-disabled, not showing up in the system tray but still running somewhat active in the background.

This is possible, but I doubt it, I have up-to-date anti-virus and scan often. Wouldn't it prevent it going on to the computer or delete it during a scan?

 

[Isak]

Yep, just type it into the command line. The WINNT part has to be replaced by whatever folder your is your main windows folder, but usually on Win2k that is called winnt, so I just assumed it was on yours as well.

you use the CD command to Change Directory. So if the dos-prompt says that you start in C:/Documents and Settings/Username, you will have to step up two folders with the 'CD..' command (that is just CD and two dots) - then once you're in the Root directory (when you only have the Drive letter 'C' in the prompt) you change the folder to the windows folder, and then to the System32 folder which should be located in it.


No antivirus is 100% secure. These days, Antivirus programs are close to useless if they're not combined with the very latest security updates from Microsoft, as there are just so many ways for a virus to evade the Antivirus program if it only gets a few miliseconds on your computer. So the trick is to not let it, and Security updates and (ironically, considering the subject) hardware firewalls are your best bet against that.... but don't uninstall your Antivirus anyway - it still has it's merits, it's just not very good as a 'lone defender' of your system

 

[viper275]

I am very confused . I just don't know too much about DOS-Prompt. I think the main Windows folder has a different name, which I tried, and it gave me the same error. The DOS-Prompt doesn't say anything about where it starts. Is there any other way to find out the IP of the computer besides the DOS-Prompt?

 

[Zidane]

After reading around on here and talking with Atari tech support, i've figured out I have some kind of firewall/router problem or something. But I have NO idea if I have either of those or how to work with them. I have windows xp (i do actually know the xp firewall is off) and recently upgraded from dialup to cable, which is when my multiplayer problem started. (it crashes when i try to host, freezes when trying to connect). I have no idea what to do, can anyone help?

 

[simperial]

Ok, im unbelievably frustrated by the utter lack of a solution to this problem:

Hosted games are not showing up in the lobby. Neither my friend nor i can host games. We both reccently purchased Civ3 Conquests and have both updated to 1.22. We are both running XP and have both DISABLED the firewall.

I live in an apartment complex and am operation on a T1 provided by the complex. I can join games fine and everything functions properly, however, i cannot host games. They are not visible in the MP lobby. On GameSpy, the game is actually visible, and can be joined by others, but then when the game is launched everyone times out while "connecting to multiplayer game."

The same exact problem applies to my friend. However, he lives in a house and has Comcast high speed internet. He DOES have a router, however, he assured me that he opened all the ports specified. Besides, opening ports only applies when there is a firewall present, yes? That being the case, just turning off the firewall all-together should make hosting games possible. Once again, we failed here as well.

No one seems to be able to figure out why this is happening, and i have been told that you guys are the best. So... thanks for any time you guys put into this in advance, and i hope we can get this to work.

 

[lucychili]

i bought the old civ and then bought a gold version so i could play with my hubby and then bought a second gold version because the first game wasnt compatible with the second. and now i find out that we still wont be able to play because we are on the same lan? poop. thats a lot of game purchase to go through to find out it wont work. i know civfanatics are not responsible for this but just needed to say poop. the original game was so solid im surprised there has been such tech issues with the multiplayer thing.
does the game always need to go outside the lan for multiplay? or is there some kind of lan play option which could work for us that i am not understanding yet? so many people live in natted networks there must be some way to lan it instead.
thanks for the gotm games. ive been trying them and am astounded at how well people play them. impressive.

 

[simperial]

Ok, this is going to sound ridiculous:

My friend has a Dell router. When he opens his router options, he's got room to open ports. There are two seperate text boxes to input port numbers for opening (basically one for UDP and one for TCP). The problem is, the text boxes only allow 40 characters of input... so he cant define ALL the ports in each. So, i am curious if anyone knows which specific ports are UDP and which ports are TCP, that way we can get him to host games. I think we have gotten close to finding the correct definitions, because now i can see his games and get into the waiting lobby, but then he gets an error when he actually goes to launch the game, so we still dont have it right.

If someone could please help me out, it would be much appreciated. I have scanned everything from atari's website to player's forums for this information, but have only found a list of port numbers and the advice of defining them ALL as TCP and UDP rather than figuring out which was which.

 

[lasdlt]

I have a seperate problem here:

Me and my friend have been playing a game, and then, all of a sudden, as the new turn starts, the game will stop responding. If I remake the game, it will work fine for a few turns, then crash again.

Any ideas? Or do you need some more info?

 

[Martin.Tang]

Hello,

I am only interested in playing hotseat games. But since I installed McAfee Security Suite, Civilization 3 Conquest always hangs when I want to start a hotseat game (in the task monitor I can see it starts to eat up more and more memory, then it just crashes...)

What do I have to do?

 

[The Wallet]

Martin.Tang - I have exactly the same problem.
I used to have Mcafee security suite 6.0 - and after opening ports etc I managed to successfully host and play multiplayer & hotseat games.
I have just upgraded to Mcafee security suite 7.0 - and when I start a multiplayer (or hotseat) game - it just hangs - eating up virtual memory (all my settings have stayed the same - so should have been ok).

I've reinstalled the game and tried disabling the firewall - but no change. I'm going to try reinstalling Gamespy next. Has anyone else found a solution yet? The Wallet

 

[Martin.Tang]

Hello Wallet,

I also tried to disable the McAfee Firewall through the "Security Center", but without any change.

Could You please send me those ports You explicitly enabled previously - I would like to try this out, because I hove not done anything like that until now.

Thank You.

 

[The Wallet]

Hi Martin,

The ports which have worked (with McAfee ISS 6.0) are:
for civ3: 2302,6500,13139
for gamespy: 6667,3783,27900,28900,29900,29901

you can specifically open them from the firewall - utilities option in Mcafee by adding new rules (I used both UDP and TCP)

As I said before - they worked fine with version 6.0 (2004) but not with version 7.0 (2005) for some reason.

btw I have now reinstalled everything (gamespy, firewall etc) with no change.

Good luck
Andy

 

[Martin.Tang]

And nobody will ever know how all this came about - in 200 years they will dig up thousands of CDs with "Civilization III" on, but nobody will be able to find out how anybody ever succeeded in running this on any known hardware....

 

[Bart S.]

Hello, well my problem has to do with connecting to the multiplayer lobby, when i try connecting i get a message that says something like this: Couldnt connect to www.gamespy.com please check if you are connected to the internet and try again.
But the problem is that i AM connected and have opened all the game ports and even turned off my firewall.( i do NOT have a router and i have cable modem 256k) Now it gets weirder because when i try connecting with dial-up i CAN!I have tried reinstalling the game lots of times. I used to be able to play. Almost forgot i m using an adminaccount on XP but im not the main admin... even when i use my dad's account i cant connect.And when i try using gamespy arcade with my cable connection i cant, but with dial up i can.
Thanks in advance for your help.

I POSTED A THREAD B4 READING THIS ONE . I TRID EVERYTHING HERE BUT NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK. AND THE IPCONFIG COMMAND DOESNT WORK FOR ME EITHER.

 

[Turner]

Moderator Action: Please refrain from posting about one issue more than once.

 

[Bart S.]

i want to delete this post plz

 

[Bart S.]

how do i delete this post ?

 

[gcummins]

I've been playing Civ III for a long time, and decided to try multiplayer. After about ten hours of trying, I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to take my co-worker's capitol and "liberate" all his gold.

Here's the setup:

My PC - Windows 98, fully updated, CivIII Gold
His PC - Windows XP, fully updated, CivIII Gold

Our PCs are connected to a single hub, and nothing else is on this private network. No hardware firewalls, routers, no connection to the internet, etc.

Each PC has only Explorer and Systray running (No software firewall, antivirus, etc).

Now the fun begins: When I attempt to host a game on my Windows 98 PC, the game immediately crashes. The error dialog says:

This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down...

So, nothing useful there. Consequently, my coworker will be hosting the game. He is able to click Host successfully, and set game options.

Now, it is my turn to connect to his game. I select Multiplayer from the main menu, and "Local Area Network (LAN)" from the pop-up dialog. I click the Direct IP button. I enter his IP address (**192.168.0.20 -- See note on this below). After a few seconds, the error message I receive is:

Failed to connect to multiplayer game. If you are behind a firewall, consult the readme for information about ports that need to be opened. Additionally, be sure the host is not behind a firewall.

Obviously, neither I nor him are behind a firewall. The only hardware on our little network is the two PCs and the hub, and the only software running is Windows, Systray, and CivIII.

Anybody that is able to provide any ideas to remedy this situation will be generously rewarded. (Okay, okay, I'll say "thank you". What were you expecting?)



** Note regarding IP addresses: I am using 192.168.0.* addresses for these PCs. I am aware that these are non-routable IPs, but for an LAN-based, direct IP game they should be sufficient.