Connectivity Issues (Please Read)

[dpeters911]

I recently purchased FGII after the most recent patch. My install is fresh.


I configured my router via portforward.com's instructions for my router.

I can pass both FGII's built-in connection test on port 1802
AND
can see it on: https://www.canyouseeme.org/

I can a host a game without content just fine (as the clients don't need to download anything - i.e. creating a blank foundation game).

However, the moment I have maps or other files:
*the downloads take forever (no one has completed them, so I don't know if they even work).

I'm at a loss - my router is set-up properly, my system is tip-top, etc.

Any ideas? I'm trying to run a game Saturday and don't want to have it be a dud.

Thanks!

My specs (in case it matters):

Processor Intel Core2 Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.26GHz
Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GT 512MB (2130 via DX10)
Primary Hard Disk 28GB Free (93GB Total)
Secondary Hard Disk 63GB Free (93GB Total)

[Griogre]

What are you up and down speeds? How are you connected to the Internet? How big are you maps, filesize wise?

[Spyke]

Also...

Are your maps ordinary jpgs or pngs?

Is there anyone else sharing your internet connection (and possibly streaming large files)?

Do your players have good bandwidth?

Do you have a lot of tokens?

If you create a new campaign with a very small map (say < 300kB) and remove all but a handful of tokens from your token folders, does this work?

Can you host using the FG2 demo without difficulty?

Spyke

[dpeters911]

File Sizes/Types
I am using JPGs for the maps folder. PNGs for tokens

In all:
campaign folder 2.07MB total (1.29 MB in images, 5 files)
tokens 0 KB in shared, 859 KB in host folder

I'm using the d20_JPG ruleset, which everyone who has tried to connect to me already downloaded into their folders.

The only way I hosted properly was to do a dummy foundation campaign with no files, no content (as the players literally download nothing).

For someone who has the ruleset, they should only be downloading 2.07MB to begin with and 2.9 MB when all the tokens are revealed (since they are in the host folder)

Connection:
As for my connection, I now have a static ip on my router. XXX.XX.X.106 versus the default 100. This should alleviate the other two network users winding up with my IP.

My external ip (the router): 66.218.202.110
It is configured to forward all 1802 port requests to my machine.

It passes FGII's internal test and online port test. This should mean the router is configured properly.

It's not blazingly fast but throygh uTorrent and other programs, I can normally upload at 7-14 KB/s. I'm on DSL.

As for bandwidth concerns, no one was on last night except my computer.

During peak times, my roomie might play XBOX 360 or watch a movie over Hulu but I still achieve those 7-14 KB/s upload speeds (my downloads drop from 75-85 KB/s to ~34 KB/s)

[Tenian]

Clients always download the ruleset from the host, even if they have a copy of it. It is stored in a different directory/format when you're a client. After the initial download it will revert to downloading only the changes.

[dpeters911]

Clients always download the ruleset from the host, even if they have a copy of it. It is stored in a different directory/format when you're a client. After the initial download it will revert to downloading only the changes.I ran a blank foundation game and that worked without downloading the ruleset. How come the d20_JPG won't?

Even then, it should only take ~16-32 minutes to download all my files on my connection (assuming they download EVERYTHING from my campaign, tokens/host, and specific ruleset folder).

I'm wondering if it's just sub-optimal netcode.

[Tenian]

When you say


*the downloads take forever (no one has completed them, so I don't know if they even work).


Do you mean the players never get connected. Or the players get connected and they can never access maps, tokens etc? They are two different issues.

Have you attempted to start a second FGII connection and connect to the "localhost" as a client? If that works then your issue is probably going to be network/router related.

[dpeters911]

When you say



Do you mean the players never get connected. Or the players get connected and they can never access maps, tokens etc? They are two different issues.

The players show up as connected and get to the downloading portion on their end. I can see them connect/disconnect.

However, they are never able to finish downloading.

When I did the blank foundation game (with no content), it connected after a second or two and went straight into the game where we could chat and roll dice.

This is sad because I want to use custom maps and be able to share "story" pages.


Have you attempted to start a second FGII connection and connect to the "localhost" as a client? If that works then your issue is probably going to be network/router related.
That can't work as it creates License Key conflict if I do the external IP

If I do the internal IP, it says it could not connect to the host at all.

My players however can connect at least and start downloading but none of them seem to finish. My ports are forwading properly according to three sources (FGII included).

[Tenian]

Try entering "localhost" for the hostname. FGII knows what this means. I think 127.0.0.1 works as well. That will bypass the License issue. Ruleset developers use this all the time to simulate a client connecting.

That should download a copy of the ruleset, tokens, etc to your client connection exactly as an external client, however it will bypass your external network.

Some networks use technologies like "traffic shaping" to reduce (aka strangle) your bandwidth based on the type of packets/number of packets you're sending. For a while my ISP used to assign me a new IP if I had more than 10 active connections open to the internet. Who knows what crazy idea your ISP has come up with.

Connecting via localhost should take your ISP out of the equation.

[dpeters911]

I decided to cave in and run Hamachi. Glad I did!

Using it, I was able to connect to myself and download the adventure. It worked flawlessly.

I also exported the adventure into module format so my players could download it. This should promote ease of use.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful support!

[Griogre]

I ran a blank foundation game and that worked without downloading the ruleset. How come the d20_JPG won't?

Even then, it should only take ~16-32 minutes to download all my files on my connection (assuming they download EVERYTHING from my campaign, tokens/host, and specific ruleset folder).

I'm wondering if it's just sub-optimal netcode.
Tenian is right here. The JPG ruleset will have to be transfered to the players with they connect. The reason the Foundation ruleset did not is because it is a PAK ruleset. It would have work the same way with the d20 ruleset if all the clients had it installed. Thus you would have been transfering about 11 Megs to each player on connection the first time you start the campaign. If you have five or six players doing this at once it might take a while.

What type of wireless network to you connect too? If it is a citywide or university one then you can't control the firewall to the Internet so you can't really port foward corectly if this wireless network is your connection to the Internet. If on the other hand you are just using a wireless connection to your cable module that's different. If Himachi works that implies there was a problem with the ports being forwarded through all the boxes or all the firewalls allowing the connection. Generally speaking you are better off not using a VPN if you can avoid it because of the extra network overhead.