Multiplayer issues
 

I did a lot of different things to try and get a multiplayer game going, and am going to list all of them to help figure out what the issues is. So this may get long.

Tried hosting a game and got an error when I clicked on the create button-- something like unable to find or use the address given (even though it automatically detected my IP). I have a router and suspected it as the issue, removed it, and then I was able to host a game (no more error).(I was unable to choose to generate a random map and could only use the existing map,...this MUST be fixed,....random maps are essential for long term playability. Another issue is I was unable to change any flags or colors, not a big problem, but it would be nice if people could play the color and with the flag of their choice).

My opponent joined and we started the game. I had chosen for nations to start as small, so I had one territory(with 2 fab complexes in it)and my usual 2 inf and 1 tank. However my opponent only saw an entire map covered with fog of war. We advanced the turn to see if he would show up when player 2 started its turn. No luck.

We tried starting a gmae with various settings changed- medium and small nations starting size,..nuetrals and no neutrals,...with an AI player and without an AI player all with the same results.

We than tried him hosting and he got the same error I got when I had the router connected. Except he didnt have a router. We then tried making an exception for his firewall,...same error when clicking 'create'. He then tried truning off his firewall, same error.

At this point we gave up.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Ok, a couple of days have passed since the holidays,..... A statement that this is a known issue or that this needs to be looked into or if its something to do with network settings/isp etc,....or ANY communication on this issue would be really nice. I would like to play a mp game eventually...............

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Hello? Would really love a comment,.......starting to get a little aggravated...........

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Well, a week has passed since this post was made and not one single reply from the developer.

Support ticket sent to Shrapnel.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

What will that accomplish?


Can you get a refund?

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Actually its the way shrapnel wants to handle support.


In their answer to me they state they that DO NOT want their developers posting in the forums.

Sounds kinda backwards to me. Why would you want to make it appear the devolper never bothers to post in his games forums? Do you WANT potential customers to come here and see people asking questions, never getting answers, and getting the impression Aaron ignores his customers? Because thats exactly what is happening here......

One of the things I hear all the time about game developers is whether or not they communicate with their customers. To make it appear that Aaron doesnt communicate with his customers.....ON PURPOSE.....is a real good way to get a bad reputation started,...and a good way to prevent sales.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

I hope that there was something lost in the translation there because yeah, you're right...it makes no sense to actively discourage developer interaction (unless you have a 'community team' that functions as a liason or something).

Because the first thing I do when I'm looking at buying a game is go to the game's forum and if there are a ton of complaints and no responses, I tend to be far more careful about my purchase.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Well it's weird that there isnt even a moderator here.

I guess I'll just delete the game and hope it all works out someday.
Multiplayer TCP/ip not functioning and single player not my cup of tea.

Mission acomplished, you got my money.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

eehh ... don't be too hasty; it's hard to judge when the facts are not all in evidence. The company could have good reasons for its policy: legal exposure, bureaucratic protocols, employee work concerns, etc. On a basic level, it might not be a very efficient use of Aaron, Bob, Joe & Sally's time to "monitor" every forum that carries mention of their company’s products, and responding to each signal of distress fired into the electronic night of cyberspace.

In any event, a ticket has the advantage of giving them lots of specifics and a "live" example on which to work. Not always the case with complaints taken off a forum, unless they reach out to the individual complaining, and, more-or-less ... set up a ticket. In which case, you might then discover that the solution to complainant’s problem is very simple, and you just spent an hour of a developer’s time to fix something a minimum-wage lackey could have solved off an answer chart for $3.99.

Regardless, it's clear that the game needs a lot of rework, and those kinds of changes aren't something they can run on the fly. Consider the modest improvement between versions 1.01 and 1.05 - and the fact that it took three (if not four) weeks to bridge that small gap and do the little that it did. And they still have AI work, unit rebalancing, the aforementioned multiplayer, and (in my opinion) rework of some unit mechanics. (Stationary nukes, visible subs, sea spaces exempted from bombardment, ‘moving-target’ infantry … take your pick.) None of this is an easy fix.

So, might as well send a ticket and a list of comments for fixes, upgrades, and alterations. It might be a while in coming, but honestly – would a major like EA give such suggestions the time of day? (No. No they would not. See “Legal Dept.”) It’s kinda neat to be able to participate in a meaningful way on a work-in-progress, even if it does mean playing guinea-pig. Those opportunities don’t come around very often.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

I expected to drive the car right after paying for it and leaving the showroom. That's not unreasonable.

I'm not trying to defend EA (god knows they don't need it),but they would have released a Ready-to-go piece of software.

The game should have bore a huge red label-

Warning- This game is still in development and might not work as expected.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Very true. They pulled way too early on the trigger, probably because they hoped to book additional sales before their year-end close. Which, naturally, will annoy many and dissuade others from buying - sacrificing total sales for a quick advance number. Or not. Their management team could have had something else in mind. In either case, it really is something they ought to have communicated more directly.

I say directly, because management would probably retort that we have the demo, so it's not like we "didn't know" what we were getting into in the first place. We had the opportunity to "try before you buy", and if we chose not to, then we can hardly fuss about the product in hand. That's a position I've seen other indies take in recent years. In fact, I'd swear I've seen it brought up somewhere in Shrap's forum.

Of course, it's a position that totally overlooks the fact that they often nerf the demo, and it can't be relied upon to represent the game's true playing experience. And it would be hard for any reasonable person to believe that the "full game", bought-and-paid-for, would sport such a mentally-challenged AI as the one offered in the demo.

Whatever the arguments, there's still hope that they will hammer this game into a winner. It's got a lot of potential, and I'm willing to give them the time. But once bit, twice shy; I think a lot of us will pause before we drop a thirty on their next title.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

There seems to be a new patch to address the MP issues. Has anyone tried it yet?

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

I tried it to create (host) a game.
I get the same error I did using 1.05

I don't think anybody is playing tcp ip games.

Have you even tried it once for example?

The WS multiplayer scene(tcp/ip) is non exsistant.

It hasn't been determined that anybody has successfully played a tcp/ipgame at this point,using any version.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Hi Guys:

Been monitoring this thread and let me say a few things that might make you mad but will at least clear up how we do business. I have stated this in the past on these forums and just want you to know our philosphy.

When it comes to support, we can't do a thorough job of supporting any product if we look to multiple avenues. There just isn't enough people, especially in this economy. We have a support center that is officially monitored 16 hours a day and unofficially monitored closer to 20 hours a day. If you have issues with a game, or with a developer or Shrapnel Games, that is where you need to go for our ear and our answers. Any bugs will be checked against known fixes, and if necessary forwarded to the developer to deal with. Any suggestions are dealt with in a similar mannner.

When we set up these forums, they were set up for the games fans - to talk, share, ask the forum members for help, whetever. They were never intended to be the ear to Shrapnel, or our Developers. And we don't encourage that now. Does that mean we discourage our devs from frequenting the forums? No we don't. But, especially on a new game with issues to be resolved, having Malfador spend their time talking on the forums rather than upgrading the game is just going to increase the time between patches and a more happy gaming experience. Aaron reads these forums, I know that for a fact. And he hears you.

You want answers or to feel like you are being heard, that is what Customer Support is for. There is a link on every page of our website to get support and we have a very strong support presence. It is just that support is not going to happen on our Forums.

So rant and rave and hate the way we operate, but we operate in a way that allows us to be efficient and to offer quality support. Let us help you, use the support center.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

EDIT- posted gibberish by accident while cleaning keyboard.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Can you tell us all if this "ticket" has done anything to improve your gameplay?

I'm willing to try to join a game if you feel like hosting one.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

No the 'ticket' was to inquire about the dev and if he ever read the forums since he never replies to any of the posts..............

As for the game,...I have gave up for now. I will check back in to see how its coming along and will give it another shot later. But for now its not worth playing.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Hey, he simply doesn't post in the forum because it's forbidden by Shrapnel, just read Tim Brook's post. He probably is reading the forum, but isn't allowed to post here. Would be great if they at least would hire some guy who posts infos about new updates in the forum for him, because you simply can't use this forum to stay in contact with the developers at the moment and you won't have luck finding new official info about the game here. Hehe, we can only post info ourselves when we get it by Malfador. By the way, I'd rather mail Malfador directly than using the Shrapnel support function. You'll get an answer much more quickly. I've used the Shrapnel support function before but also mailed the developers themselves, and I've gotten answers much quicker by themselves than by Shrapnel Support, plus in the case of BCT Commander where I also had problems: The answer really solved my problem and the support answer was much more inaccurate, didn't really help me. So, mail Malfador directly if you have tech problems with World Supremacy!
This is their adress: ws@malfador.com
I didn't bother to use Shrapnel support for my graphics problems with WS, because you can't post logs, screenshots etc there, which surely helps Malfador.
Solved my problems by staying in contact with Malfador directly instead of using support.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

What problems were those exactly?

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Well that's just dum.

Why are the CAMO workshop able to patrol thier forums daily and react to things that come up?

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

My problems were that the game produced graphical errors when you have other regional settings than English (USA), I'm German, and number formats are a bit different in the German regional settings. So textures for effects were totally messed up and I had no real effects neither in combat nor on the world map. Malfador fixed this problem in version 1.06, but I really kept in contact with them since the first version of the game until they figured this out. Sent them screenshots, updated all my drivers etc., but only changing the regional settings could fix this problem. Thanks to patch 1.06 I don't have to change them anymore. Hmm, I think they are allowed to post in the forums, but not encouraged to do this. Maybe Camouflage have more people to do this job.
But hey, since your players with Multiplayer are clearly of technical nature, too, you should really mail Malfador directly. Then they can tell you how to change settings so that you get logs you can send them via E-Mail. I had to do this, too (although the problems I had couldn't be detected this way). Contacting them over Shrapnel support surely takes more time, guys!

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Hey, has everybody given up this game? No new post the last weeks!

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Well, to be honest the game is still not ready for release and thats why its not getting played. The game still needs some serious work on balance (so many units there is absolutely no reason to buy-----tanks and fighters are all you need) and the AI still needs a good bit of work.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Well the multiplayer (TCP/ip) doesn't work correctly.
That's why I bought the game, to be able to play other people online.

The single player game is abysmal.

I had emailed MM directly regarding my multiplayer problems but nothing has come of it.

So on to bigger and better things.

I hope they spent my $29.95 wisely.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Hehe, have you seen WS is the second biggest selling game at Shrapnel after Bronze? Man, those buyers need to be warned to wait until this is patched properly and they need to be told that it's not completely finished and has severe flaws.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

I think people who have bought it need to support it in some way, because you simply can't get refunds on downloaded games at Shrapnel (no DRM and stuff, hehe, but if this has had DRM I simply wouldn't have bought it).

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Hmm, you didn't get an answer? They answered pretty fast to my requests. Maybe they're busy finishing a new patch, which would be pretty good.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

Yes I got a response fairly quick, but just asking for additional information.

Now I don't drink alcohol at all, but I'm thinking if I drank a 6 pack of beer and ate a bag of pretzels, everything may work correctly. lol.

Re: Multiplayer issues
 

lol, yeah, beer and pretzels. So, just send them all information they request, maybe they are able to fix the multiplayer problems if they can figure out the cause. I also had to send them about 5 or 6 emails containing logs, screenshots, videos and stuff (until they figured out the simple cause of the graphical problems).