Hosting Issues
"I cant find my Race" -
A common Problem
If you try to host a multiplayer race & can't find your course which you made in the editor then try the following tips...
1. Go back to edit the course & make a note of the number of spawn points (boats) you have created at the startline. Ensure it is at least 4 for a fleet race (2 for a match race).
2. Now go to host and get to the 'Create a Network Game' screen. Ensure that the Max Players number is the same as or less than the number of spawn points in your race. Make sure that the Race Mode is set correctly (Match, Team or Fleet) for your race's parameters.
3. If you still cant find the folder or race, go back to the 'Create a Network Game' screen and click on the Race Mode to cycle through all the options (Fleet > Match > Team > Fleet). Have another look for your race and it may be there now. (This is a bug I have seen sometimes).
Hosting
Successful hosting needs a stable fast (Broadband/adsl) internet connection. If no-one ever joins your races, then you may have a problem with a firewall preventing traffic to and from your PC. This includes software and hardware firewalls. Create a rule for each of your firewalls (including WindowsXP if you have it) to allow inbound and outbound traffic through ports 2350 and 3450. Include UDP and TCP traffic. If you have a router, you should also do this for its firewall (see notes below on the Netgear DG834PN). Usually there are fewer problems with a modem than with a router and while problem-solving, you might like to try using a modem to take the router out of the equation. For the same reason, use a wired connection rather than Wi-fi when setting things up; it's one less variable to worry about.
NAT Warning in VSK: If you use a router and are going to host on the internet, a message will appear after you have selected your games, warning you that unless you have configured your NAT (Network Address Translation), other players will not be able to join your race. This is a reminder to do this and does not mean that there is actually a problem, despite the way this is worded. You will continue to see this message, even when your PC is correctly configured for hosting.
Helpful Links: http://www.suderman.com/hosting4.html (written for VSK4 - dont forget port 3450 in VSK5!)
http://www.portforward.com/ a great site for help with port forwarding.
Netgear DG834PN Router Configuration
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To Configure my Netgear DG834PN router so that I can host, I found that the following worked, so I thought I would record it here for anyone with the same router. Some of the information will apply to any router. I emphasise that this works for me and I cannot guarantee it will work for you (since I am not a computer expert). 1. Click the Windows Start Menu and the 'Run...' Type 'cmd' in the box & then click OK to bring up a DOS window. Enter 'ipconfig' at the flashing cursor and you will see information about your connection. Write down the value given for the IPv4 Address. This is your PC's LAN address. In this example, it is 192.168.0.3 On the internet, go to your Router’s home page as given in Netgear’s instructions. Enter your user name & password. In Settings, under the ADSL Port heading, note the two Domain Name Services given. Also under the LAN Port heading note the IP Address & IP subnet mask. 2. Click on ‘Services’ under the ‘Security’ heading in the left hand index. Click [add custom service]. Enter a Name (eg ‘vsk’). Select [TCP/UDP]. Enter Start point 2350. End Point 2350. Click [Apply]. You need to do the same for port 3450. 4. That should be it. Try & host (with your fingers crossed).
If there are problems, try the following: a) Proxy Setting. Sometimes the dialup connection you had before the router has the Proxy Setting enabled. To deal with this, go to Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections > then click the connections one at a time to highlight them. When each one is highlighted, click Settings and make sure the Proxy Server Box is not ticked. b) Static IP Address. This is the LAN address within your network - you don't need a fixed IP address from your ISP. You may need to create a permanently fixed IP address because when you switch on your PC, it will be allocated an IP address which may be different from the one to which you told the router to send the port traffic. Open the Control Panel > Network Connections > Right click on the Local Area Connection that you are using and click on Properties. In the box 'This Connection uses the Following Items' scroll down, click to highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click on Properties. In the dialogue box (shown to the left here), activate 'Use the Following IP Address' and 'Use the Following DNS Server addresses' and fill in the required information. The click on OK and again click OK in the next box and it is done. Another way to find the information to enter in the Internet Protocol Properties box is given in this excellent link : http://www.portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm If you do make your IP address static, you must make sure that your static address is the same address that you have entered in the Firewall Rules in '3' above.
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Hamachi ServersThe game can be hosted with a Virtual Private Network on a Hamachi Server. This is useful if there are internet connectivity issues for some skippers, or the Virtual Skipper home server is down. All the players and the hoster have to have the software up & running on their PCs to allow a player to join via Hamachi. The players find the games using the Multiplayer - LAN menu instead of the Internet option. However a hoster can launch the hamachi programme but then create the race on the internet and then his race will be available for both internet & LAN skippers. The following may be helpful if you have problems using Hamachi: 1.Normally you get the software from the main Hamachi site but the latest version will not work reliably with Virtual Skipper. Therefore only use the older version of the programme - Version 1.0.1.5 - you may need to Google this to find it, although VSK-Nordic may have it available to download. 2. You should not need to alter any of the VSK5 Configuration menus to make it work (despite information I have seen elsewhere). 3. You may find this link helpful. It's to a Setup Help page.
Using a Guest ListThe Guest List is a way of allowing your mates to join a race you are hosting, even if the race is full. This can be helpful but there are some problems: Making a Guest List: To help you start, here is an example of a fictional guestlist.txt file. You can just replace the fictional skippers with the names of your mates. Just add new boats as needed - a new line for each. Dont forget to use Wordpad because Notepad will not work; at least that is the case for me. You need to use the players' login names for this (these are the ones that can be seen on the 'report abuse' & 'kick' lists in the game). <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <guestlist> </guestlist>
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