Client ruleset download

[Debinani]

Hey all-

I'm using the Savage Worlds ruleset with Deadlands and my clients are unable to download the ruleset. Their log shows "Network Error" and "connect to host". On the client display, it shows "Downloading Files" with a smidge of progress bar and hangs there. The server shows the user is connected.

We had this same problem with the nWOD ruleset and got around it by distributing the ruleset to all the clients, but I sure would like to avoid that. Host is running on Windows 8, client I was testing with was on Windows 7 on the same network.

Any ideas?

[Blacky]

Did you test with another ruleset?

[Valarian]

If you can connect locally to your campaign, you can send your players the campaign folder. They just need to put that in their campaigns folder on their side. This will avoid a large download when trying to get a connection to the game. Occasionally, the download does freeze up with a poor connection. Especially if the players are using wireless. Using this method, online downloads are kept to a minimum.

[Debinani]

@Blacky - As I said, I did have this issue with nWOD (though a custom mod and tokens did transfer automatically). However, I did not have this issue with the Warhammer Fantasy ruleset - though I was running that game from a different host, so not really applicable.

@Valarian - So I can connect to the campaign with a FG instance on the same computer, but I can't get the download with a different client on the same network. When I use that same client (my wife's laptop) to connect to a different campaign, it downloads mods and tokens without issue.

I'll experiment a little more with some of the built-in rulesets and maybe a ruleset that isn't on the client.
Also, are there any known issues with rulesets in PAK format? That seems to be another commonality.

[Valarian]

Is the port forwarding set up to send port 1802 to your wife's laptop? If the Warhammer game was run from a different host, the port forwarding may still be going to that older internal IP address.

The copying of the campaign folder to the player computer allows players to download the files before the game and limits what is downloaded at game time. It still won't work if there's a bad connection. Are the connections connecting and then immediately dropping out or does it try to download some data? Once you've connected to the campaign on the same computer, the player data files should be there.

[Debinani]

The port forwarding is correct because clients can connect to my games as long as they had previously installed the nWOD ruleset (which I used in my previous campaign on this computer).
With the new campaign, the client connects successfully (I see it in the logs on both sides and in the chat window on the host) but the files don't download, the client reports errors in its log.
I'll experiment a bit more and post a copy of the log to this thread.

[joeru]

Do you have some sort of Quality of Service (QoS) enabled in your router/network connections? Might try enabling/disabling/modifying the value of that.

[Valarian]

The port forwarding is correct because clients can connect to my games as long as they had previously installed the nWOD ruleset (which I used in my previous campaign on this computer).
With the new campaign, the client connects successfully (I see it in the logs on both sides and in the chat window on the host) but the files don't download, the client reports errors in its log.
I'll experiment a bit more and post a copy of the log to this thread.
Copying the campaign data file should resolve this problem.

[Debinani]

Yup, so it looks like I'm having trouble downloading files in every case that the ruleset doesn't exist on the client. I tried with a custom mod on foundation and the WHFRP ruleset with the same results - which is odd, because on my last computer I had no issues distributing the WHFRP ruleset via client download. Is there a setting or strangeness with Windows 8 that I should be aware of? I tried running both host and client as administrator with no real difference.

The client console log looks like this:

[23.07.2013 02:06:09] Runtime Notice: User 'Jennifer' attempting connection to 'debinani.doesntexist.com:1802'
[23.07.2013 02:06:09] Network Notice: Client connected to host - 'Jennifer'
[23.07.2013 02:06:31] Network Warning: Download error for file 'ruleset/bmpfonts.xml'; connecting to host
[23.07.2013 02:06:31] Network Warning: Download error for file 'ruleset/charsheet_skills.xml'; connecting to host
[23.07.2013 02:06:31] Network Warning: Download error for file 'ruleset/charsheet_spells.xml'; connecting to host
[23.07.2013 02:06:31] Network Warning: Download error for file 'ruleset/charsheet_talents.xml'; connecting to host


@valarian When you suggest copying the campaign data file, which file are you referring to exactly? The .dat file under the cache folder or some file within the campaign directory?

[Valarian]

The cache file. This is the encrypted ruleset and campaign information. If the connection is not stable enough for a large download, copying this file can help with that.

[Debinani]

Okay, so I took the contents of the campaign directory in the cache folder, copied them to the cache folder on the client, and I'm still experiencing the same issue. :confused:

The only way I can get it working is if I copy the Savage Worlds pak and the Deadlands mod file to the client - then it connects with no issue. I'm just playing with friends, so I'm not worried about piracy of the premium content, but this certainly isn't ideal.

[Trenloe]

Okay, so I took the contents of the campaign directory in the cache folder, copied them to the cache folder on the client, and I'm still experiencing the same issue. :confused:

The only way I can get it working is if I copy the Savage Worlds pak and the Deadlands mod file to the client - then it connects with no issue. I'm just playing with friends, so I'm not worried about piracy of the premium content, but this certainly isn't ideal.
Sounds like you have an issue transferring large files over your network. Is your Windows 8 PC on a wireless connection? If so, try connecting it by a network cable directly to your wireless router and disable the wireless connection on the PC - then try again. I have seen a few issues over the past couple of years running off wireless on the GM side.

[Debinani]

You may be right - other users seem to be connecting and downloading from my host just fine, so it may be that my issue is isolated to my laptop on the wireless network and not to the host (which is wired) as I previously suspected. At last the impact is very minimal - at least three of my players have downloaded the files just fine.