mp resync problems

gr33klo · March 18, 2002, 13:27

When I am playing a mp game by LAN, then very soon
the client starts to resync every turn and sometimes even
in between, so that he cannot invent anything or buy
improvements.
At a certain point of evolution, about the time of fighters and
tanks, ctp2 simply stops on the client's computer and
he returns to the desktop, so we cannot finish the game.
We tried this about 4 times and it happened every time.
Who can help me ?

Oerdin · March 19, 2002, 16:00

There are several things you can do to minimize resynchs:
1) both you and the other players should close all other applications.
2) make sure the person with the best ping, most memmory, & fastest CPU hosts.
3) make sure you;re playing on a patched version of the game.
4) make sure you play on a server that has a good ping rate for all of the players.
5) make sure the server isn't over loaded with other games.

If your computer is unstable and continues to crash then reboot the system as this will most often fix the problem. If the resynching STILL continues then there is either a lack of resources on someones machine or the other player is using the inifinite builds cheat. The cheat will cause the game to continually resynch because every time the cheater suddenly gets something new the other computers will think it is missing part of the game and will try to resynch.

Wade · March 29, 2002, 20:46

I have the same problem and both computers are very new and we don't have any apps running, also neither of us are cheating, what happens is a the game goes on about (not always) 20-30 years and the a bar comes accross the non-host screen to resync, but then it does do it every turn afterwards, but not always, whats is pissy is that the science turns always go to extreme high turns, that is why i quit playing the game so if anyone else knows what we are feeling let us know how to fix it?

child of Thor · March 30, 2002, 15:29

Hmmmm.....this problem is more of a nuisance than game threatening for me. Over LAN i do still get the resync's, but they happen intermitently and then go away for a while.You must have the official 1.1 activision patch installed(i'm guessing you do), this really helps smooth the problem out. Also always have 'dynamic rejoin' selected when you set the game up - if someone gets booted back to the lobby screen they can then rejoin again as the same civ. I find that MP games are over quite quick(small/medium map) - i might have to test a long game sometime to see if it is a problem the further you get. Something else that could be a factor, the pc's i use are at my place of work and all exactly the same(PIII 600s 64MB WiN98). Maybe different pc spec's increase the frequency of this problem?

Eagle · March 31, 2002, 21:17

I am having about the same problem.
Am playing on my home 100Mbit LAN with 2 pc's (PIII500 and above). The host is having 392MB and the client (portable) 128MB. Both are running Win2k.
My problem: The client is getting the resyncs regularly, slowing down his science development.
Main problem is that the host is crashing regularly. Not the pc, just the game crashes to desktop. This is very annoying !!
We have to use the autosave function to restart the game every time, but something is buggy in there too, since things change after we reload.
Have already tried disabling all other running applications, but to no avail ...

Does anybody has any problems playing the game under win2k (server or pro) ???
Or any other tips to solve these problems ??

Tnx !

Oh yeah, i installed the patch and medmod.

PS Something about the medmod. Is it normal that science stops somewhere around 1600AD ?? I cant research anything anymore, neither can my partner. Are we too fast researching and do we have to wait till AI catches up ??? (I didnt have this before installing the medmod)

Wow, this is getting long.

Eagle · March 31, 2002, 21:20

Oh yeah, something else strange happened to me yesterday ...
I installed Emperor, battle for Dune. Great game, but crashing all the time on my Win2k Server.
Strangly enough my CTPII was crashing more often with this game installed. After I uninstalled Emperor, CTPII was crashing less .......... ???????????

Oerdin · April 3, 2002, 21:38

I've been using win98 and I haven't had that many resynchs so maybe the problem is with win2k. Also you don't have to save and restart every time the client crashes; just make sure the dynamic join is on and then the client can rejoin as soon as he restarts the program. The other players can move there units or negotiate until the other player returns.

Eagle · April 3, 2002, 22:16

Yes, but it is the host that is crashing every time, not the client.
Client is running win2k pro on my portable.
host is running win2k server on my desktop with 392mb ram.

on my portable no problems (rarely). but my desktop keeps crashing to the desktop.

already tried disabling everything that is running in background.

Oerdin · April 4, 2002, 00:25

Hmmm, did you already install the patch? The game without the patch is very unstable in MP play but with the patch I've found it to be quite stable. Again I'm using win98 not win2k. As I recall win2k uses the old winNT kernal so there in may lie the rub.

Eagle · April 4, 2002, 00:40

Yes, I have the patch installed. And the MedMod also.
Dunno where the problem could be, but it's annoying and spoils our MP games.

Prob the server version of win2k that is the problem, dunno what else could be.
Once I have a dedicated server, I can put win2k pro again on this machine, will be better for gaming.

Oerdin · April 4, 2002, 14:06

Do you have a friend who might let you load the same set up on his non-win2k machine? Not many of us have played CTP2 over a network so it may be worth while to experiment to figure out if the problem just happens in win2k or if it happens with other versions of windows as well.
Also have you tried playing over the internet? Perhaphs this problem in specific to LAN games. I'm just guessing but maybe we can figure it out.

Eagle · April 4, 2002, 20:54

Ey Oerdin,

I can't go anywhere else to install and try out the game.
But it is running without any (well, rarely any) crashes on my laptop, which is also running win2k. Pro instead of server, but ok, it's win2k.

Must be some setting or conflict of drivers on my server.

Bad thing is that I am having a VIA chipset which has given me nothing but problems. Knew it when I bought it, but let me talk into buying one. Will also be the last time I buy something else then I want. Damn thing, I want Intel again !!

Thing is that I have to do with it for now, till I can buy a new machine (want to put this one up as dedicated server).

Any ideas more ?

Eagle · April 4, 2002, 20:55

Haven't tried internet play yet ...

Dunno if that is possible. Am on other side of the world here eh ...