Multiplayer

[Dark Elf]

Hi, I enjoy the better BTS mod and I wanted to try it out with a friend however when we tried starting a game we found that we would always get the "Game is out of Sync" error. We tried several restarts and it was always the same result before we could do a single turn.

We unloaded the mod and then had no problem. Is the Mod not meant for multiplayer use? Or is there some solution which I have missed on the forum?

 

[JujuLautre]

Better AI is not particularly known to cause OSS errors. However, I'm sure that if you can upload a save creating an OSS it would be of great help to all the devs here.

Oh, and welcome to CFC

 

[MadmanAtW]

I use it in multiplayer a lot (non-simul turns, direct IP) and rarely encounter OOS, so I can say that it is intended to work fine for MP use. If you got it as soon as the game started, did only the "host" have Better AI installed? All players need it, and if they don't have it it will indeed OOS immediately, if I remember my early experiments correctly.

 

[Munch]

Take care to ensure that the version is exactly the same for each player. It would probably be worth re-downloading the latest non-beta version (0.82 I believe) and installing it for each player. Also make sure that each player loads the mod before joining or hosting a game.

 

[Dark Elf]

The versions were definitely the same, I gave him the link he downloaded it and installed. When we had 3 games with the sync error I deleted the mod, redownloaded it to make sure I had the correct version.

We both had it loaded as well, as Civ had to "reload" for the mod.

We were using a direct IP connection and using Hamachi to ensure a good connection, is it possible Hamachi is somehow affecting it?

I will be sure to post a save next time we play, probably won't be for a couple days though

 

[TheOnlyDJCat]

I use BetterAI in multiplayer (synchr. turns) by replacing the game core dll and the other files in the program folder. Perhaps there is only a problem when using it as a mod?

 

[Munch]

I don't know what else to suggest. Is there a chance one of you has modified their original civ files?

 

[Dark Elf]

If either of us modified the original civ files would we not have the same error when playing Civ in normal mode? When we have no mod loaded we have no problems.

 

[Cowardly Maggot]

I made a thread about this and posted two save games with easily repeatable instructions. Haven't tried it yet with 0.83 but it was a problem with 0.82 still.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=338985

In a way, I'm quite happy to hear that I am not the only one with the problem.

I can often get past the error by reconnecting each turn or two, suffering along until the error condition is passed.

 

[mwyeoh]

I play BetterAI with 3 friends on a weekly basis and we rarely have any problems, also using hamachi.

The only thing I can suggest is make sure no one uses the "War Plans" as these cannot be communicated over the network and will result in a near immediate OOS (If not during the processing of the next turn)

Also make sure you are both running it as a mod and its installed in the BtS mod folders

 

[Dark Elf]

How do you disable the War Plans?
That could very well be it.

 

[mwyeoh]

How do you disable the War Plans?
That could very well be it.

You dont actually 'disable' the War Plans, just make sure no human players use it

War Plans are signals to your vassals that you are preparing for war with another empire, activated by pressing SHIFT+ALT and clicking on an enemy on the scoreboard
(Denoted by a Yellow WAR next to their name instead of a red one)
It works in single player but is not supported in multiplayer and results in OOS when used in multiplayer games.

 

[Dark Elf]

I am positive neither of us hit SHIFT-ALT

 

[Cowardly Maggot]

We also never use war plans. I the second file I uploaded (in the other thread), the action which cases the sync error was upgrading a warrior to a pikeman. Nothing fancy, completely reproducible. Try it yourself if you like. It would be interesting if you could not reproduce the error. We last tried it with the official 0.82 from sourceforge.

 

[Dark Elf]

We are using 0.83, but we can't even do a single turn. Once we join the game it is instantly out of sync.

 

[Cowardly Maggot]

The only time I've had instant out of sync was when I forgot to load the mod. Perhaps one of you has a problem with your installation.

 

[mwyeoh]

Hmm, as soon as you load the game??

Are you loading an old game or starting a new one?

If its a new game, only other thing I can think of is make sure you have the mod located and run from the BtS folder

 

[Dark Elf]

No it was instantly when we joined, couldn't even play 1 turn.
Perhaps it was installed incorrectly, my friend has been away for the weekend so I have been unable to test anything out.

It was a new game.

 

[Cowardly Maggot]

One thing I always thought was odd was when they released the official civ patch integrating a lot of changes from Better AI this summer, the sync errors apparently were not present, because they would have been a problem in the official civ version. So maybe all the pain and suffering I have had (for nearly a year!) has just been some tiny detail of how the mod is installed.

Actually, I load the mod manually each game whereas my brother has it load as the default. Perhaps our sync errors come from this difference.

 

[MadmanAtW]

That can be it. My friend and I had that problem- one of us had a trailing slash in the path and the other didn't, and so Civ considered them to be different mods.