PTW on a LAN; 2nd player can't see host. Please help!

[lls10800]

I had PTW up and running and life was good. We play PTW every day...or we did. I had to reinstall windows XP; then I reinstalled CIV3 and the related patch; then PTW and the related patches.
The second player can no longer see the host.

I can play other multiplayer games over the LAN- such as Quake. And, the computers can see each other. So, I believe the LAN is working fine. However, there is a lot about computers that I don't know.

I have a NETGEAR router. The host uses Windows 98 and the second player uses Windows WP.

The second player can get into PTW and play single player. But, when I choose multiplayer, I can never see the host. I have disabled the firewalls and tech support for the router says that I do not have to specify which ports to open in a LAN environment.

I have not been able to play PTW in over three weeks. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Duantalus]

I'd like to help you but I need a touch more info. First of all is the router you are using also connecting you to the internet, or is some other router connecting you to the internet, or do you use a 56k modem (or its equivalent) to connect to the internet?

More importantly Civ III runs best in a TCP environment, so the first question is whether or not the TCP clients are seeing each other. What I would like you to do is relatively simple:

For the Windows WP machine (I assume you mean XP) is click START->RUN, in the command box that it opens type in “COMMAND” and hit enter. That will bring up a black dos command line window. At the prompt type in “IPCONFIG /ALL”. This will bring up a long confusing list of information, what I want is:

IP Adress
Subnet Mask
Default Gateway

DHCP Enabled
DHCP Server

All of them, except DHCP Enabled, should be numbers xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx in that type of format, though there can be less then 3 numbers between .’s. The above will work for any machine running:
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP

For machines running:
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows ME

The above is almost identical, except instead of typing “IPCONFIG /ALL” you need to type in “WINIPCFG /ALL”.

 

[lls10800]

Thank you so much for the help.

We have a Netgear router attached to a Motorola cable modem.

The results of your test are as follows:

For Windows XP:
IP address 192.168.0.2
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway 192.168.0.1
DHCP Enabled yes
DHCP Server 192.168.0.1



For Windows 98:
IP address 192.168.0.3
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Default gateway 192.168.0.1
DHCP enabled yes
DHCP server 192.168.0.1

I really really appreciate your time!!! I haven't been able to play in soooooo long. Withdrawl is setting in!

 

[Duantalus]

Ok the next step is to check and make sure you are both running the same version of the game. At the menu screen where you choose which type of game you want to play there should be version information in one of the corners that will state what the currently installed revision of the software is being played. Make sure both computers have the same number.

Second, make sure that you either:
A) Don't have any firewalls running between the two computers, your both 'behind' the cable modem so there is no concern about it's firewall (unless it's set to ultra-sensitive mode). Check to see if either computer is running a software firewall like norton personal firewall or it's ilk. Another common problem is with windows XP's firewall software. Make sure it is disabled by clikcing START->Control Panel. From there double click the Networking and internet connection (in classic view it's just Network Connection), once you get that window click Network Connections. There may be multiple things in this window, the one you want should be labeled Local Area Connection (if you have a custom network it may be something else, in that case ask the fella who set it up), right-click on that icon and select properties. THis will bring up a new window with several tabs. Click the tab labeled Advanced and make sure there is no check mark in "protect my computer and network...." then click ok.

If neither of those is the problem then go through the Mp process and tell me what screens you get to, what error messages you get and what unusual behavior you encounter.

 

[lls10800]

Some of this may be redundant, since I copied it from a post we recently put on another forum.

Here's my setup:
2 hardware-identical pc's, one running WinXP, the other running Win98SE. Both pc's connected from their Intel PRO/100VE network cards to a router (Netgear RP614v2) which is connected to a Motorola Surfboard cable modem.

What's working or verified:
- TCP/IP protocol is loaded and set up on both pc's.
- File and printer sharing works.
- Internet access on both pc's is fine.
- The router is apparently opening at least some/most of the required ports since other games (IPX/SPX protocol-based) work fine.
- The XP machine has the internal firewall disabled.
- The 98SE machine is running ZoneAlarm and has been set up to allow access by any required ports to both the Local Zone and the Internet.
- Information from running the commands IPCONFIG or WINIPCFG on both computers matches what the router's manual says they should be.
- Each pc can ping the other with excellent results (generally, no lost packets at all).
- We've set up both pc's TCP/IP options both as Automatically Assign IP Address, etc' and 'Manually Assign IP Address, DHCP Server, Subnet Mask, etc' and both pc's work fine with either configuration with the one exception of playing Civ3 or AoW over the lan. So our internal IP addresses and other info appears valid.

All in all, with the one exception of not being able to play the two mentioned games over the lan, the network is working perfectly. This is really frustrating, especially given that we bought these two games with the expressed purpose of playing them together over the lan.

Also, since I refuse to pay for an additional separate external IP address, playing each other over the internet is not an option since the router has only one external IP address assigned to it. So, we don't see each other internet either. Again, this problem doesn't exist with the IPX/SPX based games like QuakeIII and Unreal Tournament.

 

[lls10800]

Oh, you also asked about what screens I get to and any error messages. Both computers can get into the game, click on mulitplayer, click on LAN. The next screen is where one computer is the host and the other should be able to see the host. The host just never shows in the listing. No error messages. The music is playing and everything seem normal except that you can't see the host.

Thank you for your help! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

 

[Duantalus]

All right, at that screen there should be a chat window (at the bottom somewhere if I remember right) can you chat with each other via that chat window?

Also there is a filter button located at the bottom of the list of buttons, if you click it you will be taken to a screen of preferences, while if you know what to anticipate from the server it may be o.k. to select certain options here, it would be best to make sure that none of them have check marks for now, also make sure that the ‘performance’ drop down has 'all' selected.

In addition make sure that the box above the filter button says 'local games', if it doesn't click the 'location' button. It also wouldn’t hurt to wait a minute or so and then click the 'refresh' button.

It couldn't hurt to try that with both pc's, as for the one that’s serving, try changing the servers name, by clicking on the dark box that it is located in at the top left side of the screen, to something short like "LAN_GAME" or something. Also make sure that in the player’s setup at least one slot is left open before the other player attempts to join.

Let me know if any of that helps.

 

[Heathen]

Well, haven't tried the chat window (this is lls10800's BF, by the way - running the 98SE machine) but we did see ongoing chats by people on the web, which is odd because we were both on the LAN selection. And, we're aware of the slight time lag when 'refresh'ing the server list. I'm using past tense here because I recently removed WinXP from her pc and installed 98SE. Problem's fixed. I set hers up just like mine and we're running good now. So, I guess the moral of this story - for anyone trying to LAN play one pc with XP and one with 98 is TAKE XP OUT OF THE PICTURE! hehe. Too bad really. I had grown kind of fond of XP's look, speed, and ease of installing peripherals. Oh well. I only missed it for a moment.

 

[Duantalus]

Thats odd, we play 8 player MP games with mixed XP, 9x and even a Linux system, and there is no problems based off of O.S.. Still though, I'm glad that you have the problem solved.