SMACX Multiplayer Issues with Game Ranger

[augustus]

I've already complained about this on the SMAC subreddit but I thought this would be a more appropriate place to ask.

Info: Windows 10 | Intel i5 7th Gen | GOG Planetary Pack + GOG Patch | Scient's patch

Me and some friends have been trying for days to get this game's multiplayer working. At first, we tried using Hamachi but whenever we tried to join each other's lobby, the game would freeze while connecting to the game and then boot them back to the main menu. What's weird is that my friends could see my server and my lobby and what-not but the game just wouldn't let them join. We've checked everything, Firewall, NAT, Hamachi, it just doesn't work.

Next, we tried Game Ranger. Game Ranger isn't working at all. When we begin the game in the Game Ranger lobby, the screen freaks out a bit and displays a message about IPX not working and making sure something is in the CD drive. When clicking the Multiplayer tab, it only displays two options, IPX and Hotseat. I think this is strange because 1. I'm pretty sure IPX doesnt work anymore, why would Game Ranger use it? 2. Why would running the game through Game Ranger remove all of the other connection options? 3. Why has nobody had this problem before? I've searched for hours online to look for someone with the same problem and only found one which was inconclusive,

Yes, we have DirectPlay on.

I understand replies can be slow in forums but please, any sort of help is greatly appreciated.

[DrazharLn]

Did you try IPX with GameRanger?

As I recall, gameranger just takes you straight to the lobby in SMAC, so you shouldn't need to look for a lobby within SMAC.

Have you tried IPXWrapper yet?

Also, what version of Scient's patch are you using?

[augustus]

I believe we're using the most recent version of scient's. 2.1 or something

I'll try IPXWrapper with Game Ranger whenever my friend gets on and report back anything new ASAP.

Thank you for helping btw, it means a lot!

[DrazharLn]

I think this is roughly what you'll want to do: http://www.gog.com/forum/project_eden/making_multiplayer_work

IPXWrapper + a VPN (e.g. hamachi)

Don't skip the ping test they suggest. If you can't ping each other then nothing else will work and you need to debug the VPN and Windows firewall setup first.

I seem to recall that a common problem is that your network interface is set to "Public" rather than "Home" or "Trusted".

[augustus]

Thanks a million man, i'll try this ASAP. Unfortunately most of my friends are busy early in the week so it may take a day or two.

Once again thank you for the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

[DrazharLn]

Thanks, you're welcome. Do let us know what works for you (if you get something working).

[augustus]

Unfortunately I have some bad news. None of them worked.

We installed IPXWrapper, disabled firewalls, nothing.

Our Hamachi's were working perfectly, we could ping each other. IPXWrapper got rid of the DirectX 5 CDROM error but even using Game Ranger we couldnt find each others games. We'd get into a Game Ranger lobby, launch the game, I'd be in the lobby but my friend trying to join would be instantly booted to the main menu and when attempting to join via IPX, it would say he couldn't find a game. Trying to join via TCP/IP still wouldn't work and just froze when trying to join the game. Trying to join via IPX without Hamachi also yielded no results.

[DrazharLn]

I'm sorry to hear that. Did you try IPXWrapper without gameranger as described in the link above?

[augustus]

Yes, we've tried that.

Sorry for the late response, school started and i havent really been able to get on my computer

[DrazharLn]

No worries. Sorry I wasn't able to help.

I'll update the thread if I experiment and find a solution, but I might not get around to it

[augustus]

Yeah it;s fine, we switched to Civ 3 

[DrazharLn]

Cool beans

[Senti]

we basically have the same problem. except for the freaky part when starting smacx with gameranger.
one of us can host and see the gameranger client in smacx, but the others get stuck on "Waiting for Host".
And when i create, SMACX doesn't show the gameranger client in multiplayer. anybody got any solutions?