Starting a multiplayer game over IP

#1DarkTelepathPosted 3/16/2009 8:59:13 PM
Has anyone done this? I'm trying to get it set up with my friend, but it doesn't seem like it's working. I enter his IP address when he's hosting a game and nothing comes up. Same if I host a game and he tries to connect to my IP.

Any suggestions?
"I have an idea. It starts with 's' and ends with 'litting their throats.'"
~Belkar from The Order of the Stick
#2GamingJockPosted 3/19/2009 10:04:46 PM
LOL, people still play this?

I give it a whirl on single player sometimes, but I have no idea how to help you.

Go Gators!! BCS Champions (again)
#3DarkTelepath(Topic Creator)Posted 3/20/2009 7:29:27 PM
Yeah, my friend and I have been on an old game kick. Seems like Sierra had so many good games back in the day. Lords of the Realm, Homeworld, Lords of Magic (ok, that's one isn't so great, but that would be nostalgia for you), and Lighthouse (still better than Myst).

I was hoping someone would be able to help, at least for the IP connection. That one seems like it would be easy enough.
~Belkar from The Order of the Stick
#4Jeff_Red_TerrorPosted 3/28/2009 12:07:10 AM

Do you have routers? That can sometimes screw up IP connections. Several of us old-timers play at Kali.Net. It's a small fee and the connection goes through IPX, which makes playing with routers etc. not a problem.

#5DarkTelepath(Topic Creator)Posted 3/28/2009 1:30:00 PM
Thanks for the tip. We both use routers. I've gotten around it by playing at my friend's house using his wireless. Though it only seems to work when I make the game, for some reason.

Now we just need to actually finish a game. Neither of us are that great, so we play for a couple of hours and then get bored. And instead of continuing a game, we just make a new one.
~Belkar from The Order of the Stick
#6GipFacePosted 4/13/2009 11:19:26 AM
It works, except that this game is subject to much desyncing.

Of course, anyone who actually played multiplayer will tell you that the game devolved to one-man armies, motte and bailey castle spam, and county razing beyond four counties (because you couldn't really manage >4 counties well with a one minute timer).
#7GipFacePosted 4/13/2009 11:42:01 AM
To elaborate:

Motte and Bailey is the best castle in the game because it gives you 150 archers for 80/800. That makes each archer cheaper than a freakin' maceman. A palisade only gives you 50 archers, while a royal castle gives 300, which is an extreme ripoff.

Motte and Bailey can effectively peform the one man army trick because its max garrison is only 200. One man armies raze just as well as full armies.

To combat one man armies, competitive games in their prime (1997-1999) set one or two minute timers. This pretty much minimized the one man army spam, but with it came a new tactic: after 3 counties or so, any newly captured counties would make a motte and bailey, then be drained of all resources and population (by making a suicide peasant army) the next season so that the enemy couldn't do anything with it should it be captured.

The biggest exploit: Look at BSulpher's FAQ and search for "ration trick"

Unfortunately, the entire game was exploited in this fashion and Sierra never made any multiplayer patches to correct it. It seemed that new tricks were discovered each month during its prime.
#8Jeff_Red_TerrorPosted 4/16/2009 7:49:44 AM

I'm not sure which crowd you were playing with back in the old days, but No Pillaging was pretty much understood with everyone I played with on SIGS/WON. And usually we agreed to only one 1-man army at a time. Also, most games I played had 2 or 4 minute time limits, although sometimes we'd do 1 minute games just for a change of pace. The motte and bailey is definitely the fastest and best way to get a bigger army without losing happiness. If you are playing with people who know how to play the game right and well, it's still my favorite mutli-player strategy game hands down, despite the archaic battle graphics. Too bad the Total War people have never designed a campaign option for their multiplayer games.