Direct computer to computer question and connection problems

[SgtShultz2]

I finally played a human in a single online game and enjoyed it much more than playing against the very predictable and not very smart AI opponent. But the connection was lost. Other times my computer froze up when exchanging data with my human opponent. So far I've not completed a single game online. There are very few players ever in the lobby looking to play this game online, probably due to all the connection failures. Another thing reducing interest is the need for a pretty beefy computer and maybe a fantastically good internet connection to make the game run anywhere close to real-time. The one game that lasted 18 minutes and worked properly before disconnect was slowed down so much a half-hour game would have taken about and hour and a half to complete.

Years ago there were versions of Close Combat that allowed 2 computers to be hooked together WITHOUT having to use the unreliable internet connection[:(]. That would make for a great game at wargame conventions. How hard would it be to make that possible again?

[ineffable]

You also didnt have to use a game lobby for online connections back in the day.

You might give Radmin-VPN a try.

[PipFromSlitherine]

You can set up for a direct connection by getting the host to open their port 1945 for TCP traffic. This means you are directly connected and can help a lot with game latency. Please let us know if that doesn't help with your issues and we can dig in deeper.

Cheers

Pip

[SgtShultz2]

PIP - We would like to try for a direct connection, but we will need fully detailed instructions on how to do this. We are not as computer savy as you are. I have no idea how to open up my 1945 port for TCP traffic. Since we are not computer savvy, should we forget about trying direct connection?

Suppose I somehow get my 1945 port open for TCP traffic, what do I do after that? What does my opponent do?

Today we tried to play a saved campaign using the lobby. We had played a lot of games in that campaign both on the same side. But the internet connection was weak. One red bar for me, none for my opponent. How many and what color bars do we need to have a solid connection? Does a direct connection help with a weak connection indicated by a red or no bars? We don't have latency problems once the battle starts and we've played a lot of them. Today we got to the screen where we see the results of the last battle, but after that, we get kicked out back to the lobby. This happened over and over.

There are many times we completed a battle and tried to continue the campaign but were kicked back to the lobby. So he hosted the campaign in the lobby and we were able to continue the campaign that way, one battle at a time. Other days we could play several battles in a row without being kicked out. This must be a common problem. Recently I've seen the same 2 players go into the lobby, then they both disconnect from the lobby, then both enter the lobby and, then both disconnect. Over and over. They are likely doing what we are doing, trying to play an operation or campaign and getting regularly kicked out. My computer has sent you a lot of error messages.
[&:]
If you can get this fixed maybe there will be more players.

[PipFromSlitherine]

Setting up the direct connection will entirely depend upon your brand of router. There are some resources on the internet to help (e.g.: https://www.noip.com/support/knowledgeb ... ing-guide/) and you may be able to find info on your specific router.

If you are being kicked back to the lobby, that isn't necessarily a connection issue. Is the campaign from a much older version? If you kick off a clean campaign in MP do you see the same issues?

Cheers

Pip

[SgtShultz2]

Pip - No this was a campaign with the same version. We had played Normandy all the way up to operation Cobra, we got into our 2nd battle in Cobra, then it stopped working. Maybe it's because the connection is so poor. Lately, it's been on red bar for me and zero bars for my opponent. I guess that means the game won't work.