Multiplayer connection problem

[Legacy_excelinor]

               Hello, my fellow NWN fans! 

I happen to have a problem with our favourite game. After downloading it from GOG I had no problem installing and running it. Having completed all the campaigns I set my sight to the game's multiplayer feature. And here is where I ran into an unpassable obstacle. While I can easily connect to other servers on the internet I can not seem to be able to connect to my friends' servers. I can neither see their games, nor join them via Direct Connection through IP. Whoever hosts a game - none of us can connect. All of us have the necessary ports opened and at least two of us have static IPs. NWNServer doesn't help too. All the CD key are, ofcourse, unique. 

I imagine I'm not the first one with such a problem, however there were no search results for "multiplayer connection problem".

I hope at least some of you can shed some light upon this mystery and help me solve it.
Thank you in advance for any advice you might have for me! 
               
               

               

                     Modifié par excelinor, 05 septembre 2012 - 07:47 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_BelowTheBelt]

               Welcome to the world of online NWN!

On a positive note, the issue isn't with your game.  

The problem lies with the hosting server's configuration and getting it to be recognized by Gamespy.  The problem could be in the server ini file, a router setting, a firewall or something else.  Your host should post the configuration settings (ini and router) to see what the issue is.  There are lots of posts about the difficulties in configuring a server to get listed that can be used as reference.  Sometimes the host may be able see the server in Gamespy or be fooled by the 'Server Online -Login At Will" displayed in the sever client and think that it is public, but in reality it isn't and no-one else can see it.

Also, make sure your host has restarted his router.  After making changes to the settings, the router should be restarted.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par BelowTheBelt, 05 septembre 2012 - 09:26 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_QlippothVI]

                Check out running a dedicated server: http://www.neverwint...catedserver.htm
Surprisingly little about what ports are needed to be open. I'm restarting my own server and needed to look this stuff up again, so here's what I found:
http://findports.com...erwinter-nights
Much better: 
http://www.shadowsof...ndex.htm#NWN105  

Hope this helps. I'll reply again if I have issues using this info myself.
- Qlippoth 
               
               

               

                     Modifié par QlippothVI, 08 septembre 2012 - 07:19 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Lightfoot8]

               Look them up again?  

The ports needed are in the Readme.txt that shipped with the game.

nwn\\docs\\readme.txt
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_PlasmaJohn]

               The only port you need to open is the one the game server is running on.  This is typically 5121 (UDP protocol).  If you're running a firewall or router you will need to forward the traffic received on that port to the machine running the server.

The GameSpy protocol used by NWN has been significantly changed since that readme was written.  Most configurations don't need to to anything now, however you may need to make sure that outbound IRC connections aren't blocked.  Check your antivirus for that.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_QlippothVI]

               Ok, I opened up all of the ports listed in the link above (so I can RUN a server). Working great. I wanted to ensure the info I gave would lead to the OP and his friends successfully playing the most awesome MP game of Neverwinter Nights. '>

PJ: Are you saying I ONLY need to open 5121 and none of the others? Please note, it is my understanding that they are trying to run a server to which all of them can connect. Currently they are having difficulty.

I made the assumption that the person running the server does not have all of the required ports for HOSTING a server game, which is why I replied to this post with details on hosting a server.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par QlippothVI, 09 septembre 2012 - 06:52 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_PlasmaJohn]

               I'm a bit unclear what they mean by "open".  I think they mean "make sure these aren't blocked".  Gamespy uses the IRC ports for NWN's server browser.  Since the IRC protocol is popular as command & control for botnets, most antivirus programs get particularly militant about closing those ports.

I had meant to fire up wireshark to see what ports they really need but work is sucking away all my free time '>

Regardless, most off the shelf consumer router/firewalls don't limit what hosts on the inside can connect to.  Other than ensuring that nwserver.exe can initiate TCP connections to a remote IRC port, inbound traffic received on the UDP port it's listening for (typ. 5121) need to be forwarded from the router to the internal machine hosting it.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_excelinor]

               Thank you all for you replies!
Unfortunately we still can't play the game.
All of us forwarded the needed ports using instructions from this site: http://portforward.c.../start_here.htm
I'm not familiar with any other.. uhh.. "technical" stuff that is needed to be done to play, so any instructions (step by little step, preferably) would be greatly appreciated.
Qlippoth, I've seen the info you've mentioned but it didn't help. The servers can't be seen '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_BelowTheBelt]

               Just to be clear, players don't need to forward their ports.  Players don't need to do anything other than making sure their CD keys are unique.  It's the "host", or the person who is putting the game online that needs to make all the changes.

I would recommend that person come here and post everything they've done, with specifics (ports forwarded, router settings, firewall settings, .ini settings, etc...).  With that, we'll be in a much better position to help out.

Thanks!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Khuzadrepa]

               Is the host also trying to play from the same computer?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_excelinor]

               Khuzadrepa, yes. I'm hosting and trying to play.
BelowTheBelt, which setting exactly do you need? Both the firewall and the router have tonns of thing that can be changed - anything specific? My firewall settings won't help too much, unless you know russian..

the ini. file looks like this:
[Profile]
ShowMessageOfTheDay=0
Client Port=5120
ShowDDMessage=0
ShowPregenChars=1
JournalPage=0
Player Name=*********
Password=*************
Remember Password=1
ServerList Show All Versions=0
Current Page=3
ServerList Hide Passworded=0
ServerList Hide Local Vault=0
ServerList Hide Server Vault=0
Group Room=275
Direct Connect IP=192.168.0.104:5121
ShowAddBuddyMessage=0
[Server Options]
One Party Only=1
Game Port=5121
Max Players=2
Server Name=Eiwind
GameSpy Enabled=1
Game Type=1
Disable AutoSave=0
CD Banned Behavior=0
Suppress Base Servervault=0
Disallow Shouting=0
ShowDMJoinedMessage=1
Saving Throw Automatic Failure On 1=1
BackupSavedChars=0
Validate Spells=1
Examine CR On Creatures=1
Examine Effects On Creatures=1
Max Hit Points=0
Hide Hit Points Gained=0
Restore Spell Uses On Login=0
Always Reset Encounter Spawns=0
Master Server Authentication Required For Player Login=0
Account validation required during Master Server down times=0
2DA Cache Size=10
MaxCharLevel=40
MPEnabled=1
DMPassword=
PlayerPassword=
PVP Setting=1
PauseAndPlay=0
Auto Save Interval=0
AllowLocalChars=1
Game Region=0
ServerDownTimer=180
Enforce Legal Characters=1
ItemLevelRestrictions=0
ServerAdminPassword=
MinCharLevel=1
Reload Module When Empty=0
[Trap Colors]
FriendlyColor=0,255,0
HostileColor=255,0,0
[Script Options]
Enable Profiling=0
Enable Logging=0
[Banned Ips]
0=
[Banned Players]
0=
[Banned CD Keys]
0=
[Favorites Page]
Server0=81.0.213.241:5121
Server1=192.168.0.104:5121
Server2=
Server3=
Server4=
Server5=
Server6=
Server7=
Server8=
Server9=
Server10=
Server11=
Server12=
Server13=
Server14=
Server15=
Server16=
Server17=
Server18=
Server19=
Server20=
Server21=
Server22=
Server23=
Server24=
Server25=
Server26=
Server27=
Server28=
Server29=
Server30=
Server31=
[History Page]
Server0=95.109.119.126:5121
Server1=192.168.0.104:5121
Server2=80.167.174.61:5121
Server3=79.98.45.115:5121
Server4=81.0.213.241:5121
Server5=31.163.53.78:5121
Server6=213.149.249.5:5121
Server7=50.147.4.63:5123
               
               

               

                     Modifié par excelinor, 21 septembre 2012 - 09:49 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Khuzadrepa]

               Let's try this step by step, as a reference so you can verify you did each one.

First, I would give my computer a static IP on my own network. Most routers give a range of 191.168.1.xxx, with the gateway being .1, and the range of IPs from DHCP starting at .100.  So I would give it something like 192.168.1.10, for example.  Then reboot it to make sure it changes.

Next, I would setup a port forward on the router.  For a router like mine, the entry is nwserver.exe for the application, 5121 for the start port and for the end port, UDP for the protocol, and the address to forward to is 192.168.1.10 (that I set on my computer earlier.)  It's not a bad idea to reboot the router after this step, as well.

Next, I would check my nwnplayer.ini for these values:
Game Port=5121
GameSpy Enabled=1
Master Server Authentication Required For Player Login=0
Account validation required during Master Server down times=0
Client Port=5120
To make sure that my server and my personal client won't interfere with each other and that I'm broadcasting to Gamespy, but it looks like you're good to go for that step.

Lastly, I would go to www.whatismyip.com to get my public IP, which I could then give to my friends to use for Direct Connect.

I do want to mention that some ISPs block the broadcast to Gamespy so that it doesn't appear in the list, however Direct Connect would still work.  This happened to me with a previous ISP.

Hope that this can help you! '>

Also, if anyone notices I missed a step, please say so!  I did this list from memory.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Khuzadrepa, 23 septembre 2012 - 03:05 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_QlippothVI]

               Well, excelinor, I hope you got it to work. Gamespy, which supported the server listing, isn't supporting NWN anymore, but the community is working on a solution. And as long as you set up the ports on your router to allow outside access you should be good to go, just share the IP of your server and let them use Direct connect.