NWN Dedicated Server (Old)

[JBMoney]

I've been working on this and I'm not sure if it's going to be possible behind the ISA Server. I have one more thing I want to try at home but that's going to have to wait until I get there, obviously.

I have something running now, and I'm thinking that there is a possibility that you can connect to it, but you can't see it on the master Gamespy list.

If anyone wants to try to directly connect from the outside, I'd appreciate it, just as a test.

You'll want to connect to:

165.107.185.40:5121

The password to log in is: spudboy

Let me know if it works or not. If it works, then maybe I'll throw an actual adventure up there and see how long before it crashes or I get fired. The game loaded now doesn't actually have any adventure, it's just a staging world.

[JBMoney]

hold on.

[JBMoney]

ok. transposed some numbers.

[JBMoney]

Alright, that actually worked for me, using the external IP, which means it's publishing fine. I'm still on the internal side though, so I'm interested if someone out there can get to it.

Either way, whatever I did here, should work fine from home, even though it's still not showing on the Gamespy list.

Someone give it a quick try ok?

Use "Direct Connect" from the Gamespy list and type in the info from the first post.

[JDub]

I don't think it worked, JB. I can't even ping that address.:what:

[JBMoney]

You can't ping 165.107.185.40?

Seems like that wouldn't be a problem, I get all kinds of traffic to that IP. However, I'm not real familiar with what's between me and the rest of the world from that address. I have my ISA server blocking my stuff and then there's another level beyond that before it gets into open waters. I have no control over the next level, but it never seemed to be very restrictive.

I think what I finally ended up with should work from home though, so I'll probably give it a try after 5pm PST. So, if you're around maybe you could give it a go for me then.

[JBMoney]

Are you at 192.234.213.47?

[JBMoney]

No, I guess not. Sorry. :OOPS:

[JDub]

Originally posted by JBMoney
I think what I finally ended up with should work from home though, so I'll probably give it a try after 5pm PST. So, if you're around maybe you could give it a go for me then.

I will be available.:hang:

[JBMoney]

I'll post a new IP when I get it set up at home.

This one is still on if anyone else wants to try it.

[JBMoney]

I have a low level game set up at 12.246.234.83:5121

It's not showing on the Gamespy list, so try to direct connect. I can't connect to it at that IP, only the internal, which is odd, because I think the set-up is identical to what I tried before.

Let me know if you can get in.

[JBMoney]

Correction, I think I was able to connect. Enough so that it rejected my password, but then it wouldn't connect. :shrug:

[JBMoney]

I think I've done all I can here. Someone said it couldn't be done and now I'm starting to believe them. It's still running if anyone besides JDub also wanted to give it a shot.

12.246.234.83:5121

Later tonight, I'll look through my crud for another network card and try to set up a DMZ which will hpefully do the trick.

An interesting item I found today, a D&D afficionado has scoured through some AD&D 1st Edition books and 'found' gambling. He's put together some scripts and whatnot to set it up in NWN. So... looks like Carl's place will have some gambling to go along with the prostitutes. Nice...

[JBMoney]

Grrr... I need another public address to do the DMZ.

I don't understand why nobody can ping my IP. Makes me think AT&T has something going on. One more reason to go DSL. AT&T revised their acceptable use policy this week. It's hilarious.

[JBMoney]

Would anybody be up for a low level thing tonight?

[Comic Book Guy]

i will be off work between 8 or 9 cst if you wanna give it a go...

[JBMoney]

No can do tonight (Sunday). I'll be chilling with a movie and maybe BBQing.

Unless someone here can host a game though, we'd need to meet on the matching service. Which is doable, just more complicated (need to coordinate an exact time, meeting room, find a game, etc.).

I'm pulling the plug on AT&T. They may, or may not, have something to do with my server problem (technically it would be a violation of their new AUP anyway). I ran a few traceroutes to my IP and they all end at one of AT&T's servers, so they are probably doing some filtering to 'enforce' their new (as of July 25th) Acceptable Use Policy.

Either way, I'm tired of their crap.

1. Their new Acceptable Use Policy is a mockery. Basically 50+% of what I do online could be construed as a reason to suspend my service. One of the provisions spells out that you are not allowed to transmit in any fashion material that may even be deemed EMBARASSING to a 'reasonable person', whether the material is legal or not.

2. They've screwed the former @Home folks by making it almost impossible to use NAT Routers (like my Linksys) in some areas. They are trying to keep as many people as possible from using more than one computer at home, unless they pay extra.

3. At the same time that they are imposing sever restrictions on your use, they are raising prices another 20% in August.

4. Their customer service is the most byzantine pile of crud I've seen anywhere.

5. They're considering charging based on bandwidth used.


Anyhow, I'm expecting to be on DSL by August 6th, at which time I'll try again to set up a server. DSL is the same price and, if I want it, for another $15 a month they'll give me FIVE STATIC IP ADDRESSES. Who wants me to host a site for them??? Haha. Awesome!

[Comic Book Guy]

zounds like the DSL is the way to go then. ATT is in the pooper anyway with the recent falling of world com anyway. jdub and i have gotten some online stuff up and running for a little while and it seems to work pretty well. lemme know if you need a player anytime later this week. its much more fun to play with PCs rather than NPCs. ;)

[JBMoney]

I will be playing or working on a module A LOT this week. Just let me know what IP to hook up to and when I can.

I have two retired 20's (a cleric and a ranger) right now and a level 6 thief. I wouldn't mind starting something new either. I prefer low level but whatever is fine with me.

[JBMoney]

Oh, and if you need recommendations on modules to download and play, I've been through a lot of them.

Better to play something brand new if you've already been through the single player once - more surprises.

[Comic Book Guy]

any recomendations are welocome as i do not actually know where to get more of them ....still in single player :)

[JBMoney]

You should definitely go through the single player at least once. Lots of good loot and gives you a good leg up on future characters. I could tag along on that with my thief, if that's what you guys are doing.

[cuda]

I'm moving into a new place some time in August (bought me a co-op :)). I'll will definitely be getting DSL once I'm in. Maybe I'll try and meet up with you guys once in a while. whatever.

[JDub]

Originally posted by cuda
whatever.

whenever.
wherever.
see you then. I was beginning to wonder if your computer got repo'ed or something...haven't heard much from New Yawk lately.:hehe:

[cuda]

Originally posted by JDub

I was beginning to wonder if your computer got repo'ed or something...

I went to a computer show yesterday to see about upgrading my CPU. I'm currently running a 733/P3 chip, which about six months ago I considered a pretty good chip. I also had put in an ATI All-in-Wonder 32mg video card which I also though was really good at the time. I though I was set for a while.

I went to see if I could find a P3 chip to upgrade and nobody's selling any, it's all P4's. As far as video cards go, a 64mg G-Force seems to be the way to go. My computer is a dog again. :mad:

[Comic Book Guy]

cuda... i found P3 upgrades @ www.pricewatch.com 933Mhz for about 110 bones delivered :)

[cuda]

Originally posted by Comic Book Guy
cuda... i found P3 upgrades @ www.pricewatch.com 933Mhz for about 110 bones delivered :)

Cool, thanx. Now I'm wondering if I should just just buy a new board get a 1.6/P4 and be done with it. :what:

[robb]

John, did you get your server up?

Does the server require you have the game? If not, I could possibly set one up at my house. Cox doesn't really care what we do.

[JBMoney]

I still haven't gotten it to work through the ISA server, but I haven't given up. I can't necessarily blame that on AT&T... yet. Even if I could though, serving games is against their TOS (as is just about 50% of what I do on a daily basis) and they could boot me... hence the move to DSL.

If I can't figure out a way, I'll need to find another solution. I have a couple possibilties in mind.

You don't need to have the game to run the server, or let's say you don't need to have the CD in. You still need to have a CD to install it though. I don't know how to cut you one, it has some new-fangled CD copy protection on it.

However, you would probably need to re-start the server frequently (it's had problems) and change modules. It's not like you can change maps on the fly like counter-strike, but you can run more than one at a time.

[Comic Book Guy]

for all interested, I would be will to set up a game tonight (low level of course)(no local characters) around 5 cst if anybody is interested please email me or im ::leadforehead @ yahoo.com (also messenger) or 102038550 icq :D

[JBMoney]

Out of town tonight. :cry:

You're using server vault only?

[JDub]

Originally posted by JBMoney
You're using server vault only?

I am having a hard time understanding the differences between server- and client-side characters. I mean I get that client characters are stored on your local machine (or whatever machine you physically transfer the char to), and that the server characters reside on a server, but what server...the one running the game? some bioware server somewhere? And are there limitations on client chars that make server chars more appealing? Perhaps someone could help me understand...:confused:

[JBMoney]

A server vault game is a game where you can only use characters that are stored on the server that is hosting the game. This implies, unless you are chummy with the server operator, that you created the character on that server to play strictly on that server. The downside would be that you would not be able to use that character elsewhere (generally).

A local vault character is stored on your computer, and you can use it to play anywhere you want. The downside is that the character may not be created in a strictly legit environment. For example, I could create my own module, load it with tons of free loot, and give my guy 2 million xp just for talking to the shopkeeper.

Every internet game is usually (always?) one or the other. So if you're only allowing server vault, you'd better be in it for the long haul, offer several modules, or be willing to email everyone their chars when every campaign is over (in which case they'll then become local vault characters).

Originally, Bioware was going to develop a central vault (bank of characters) that was going to be managed by them. There was then going to be a way that server operators could 'trust' that vault so those characters could be used on their server. This was one of the most anticipated features of NWN, to avoid the BG style character editing and whatnot.

For some reason that fell through, which has pissed a lot of serious gamers off, because kiddies can twink their chars however they want (not as much as BG though... yet).

I don't think that any sort of server character bank mechanism has sprung up to replace that, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen. I would participate if it did.

I'll keep an eye open for that sort of thing. Maybe I just haven't seen it yet. I think the 'trust' between servers would be the biggest roadblock to it.

[cuda]

I can't wait to hack everybody up. :evil:

SHIT! I hit the reply button by mistake! :scary:

[JBMoney]

Victory!

I set DSL up, re-installed my old LinkSys router. Had a NWN server running and visible on the matching service in 5 minutes.

I'll leaving it running for a bit, while I re-assemble my office, but it'll probably be down soon, unless I see someone on it (in which case I may log on as DM and give you a warning.

It's listed under 'story' games, server 'Atilla', password 'spudboy'. Give it a try if you want. It's a very low level module.

It's being served on a laptop, don't know how well that'll do. Hehe.

[JBMoney]

I started a more challenging module and I'll let it run until it crashes.

I still need to do some configuration to make things more stable, etc. etc.... but I just want to see if the thing works ok right now. So, if you go in there and all the critters are gone, somebody might have cleaned it out before you.

[JBMoney]

It's down now, but I think it's because they just released a patch and it will need to be upgraded before it can be started again.

I'll set up a campaign tonight that is supposed to be one that you can start at level 1 and use all the way up to 20 if you want.

Unless... nobody is interested....

[cuda]

I think there's been like three patches to this game already. :what:

[JBMoney]

Yes. Hopefully there will be a lot more. Always room for improvement. ;)

[JBMoney]

Well, since none of you guys want to play it, I've posted a public game in the 'Role Play' room. Server 'Atilla'.

[JBMoney]

Just loaded up "Sword of Nefarious" for mid-levels. 5:20pm PST

It's listed in the 'role-play' room of the matching service.
Server name - 'Atilla'.
No password.
It's set to reload when empty (doing a little experiment).

I may jump in later as Sparrowhawk or as the DM. :scary:

Let me know if you will be there.

[robb]

Dude, I now have NWN.

Time to start hacking and slashing!

[Eddioboy]

I jumped in and ran around with some folks through this adventure, and had pretty good response time considering I was on a modem. On the other hand, all of the monsters were cleared out by somebody before I got there. Still it looks really nice. Did you make that module?

[JBMoney]

I didn't make it. It's a nice simple mid-level mod.

The module will reload, bringing all the previously vanquished critters back to life, whenever the game is completely empty.

I've DM'd this a couple times and it's kind of fun. Most of the folks who play it are very 'over-qualified' for the module, so I start populating the whole town area with triggered encounters. It's kind of funny, because all the gaurds apparently are pretty high-level clerics and eventually the place gets a bit overrun with summoned elementals. :laugh:

The server has been real stable though. I expected otherwise.

[cuda]

So you can get there through GameSpy?

[JBMoney]

yes. details are in the first post. :what:

[cuda]

Originally posted by JBMoney
yes. details are in the first post. :what:


My question should have actually read; "Can you still get there through GameSpy?" It got kinda confusing there for a while, is the IP still 12.246.234.83:5121?

My next question would be, how do I go about going through GameSpy? I've been to the web site, but never actually got on any games through there before?

[JBMoney]

Use the multiplayer function of the game and set-up a username. I believe you have to do this to play any multiplayer game, even if it's on your own computer. Once you do that and log on, you will see the matching service.

The service is provided by GameSpy, but I believe it is a custom interface and not part of the GameSpy arcade.

[JBMoney]

Think I'll load a new one tonight.

Maybe I'll load Bresslerville with a password too... just for shopping.

[JBMoney]

As soon as this last guy leaves the server, I'm going to put up a crypt crawl. Should scale to all levels (more or less).

[JBMoney]

Bresslerville and some Sherwood thingy is up, in case you didn't notice. :scary:

[JBMoney]

So, have you guys tried out the Shirewood Module yet?

What are you're login names (to the gamespy thingy) so I know if it's you? A DM only sees login names instead of character names (kind of stupid).

It's probably one of my favorite modules, especially for a cleric.

[Crock-o-stimpy]

Is it okay for a < level 5 char?

[JBMoney]

I've seen it done with a few folks around level 5, but you would need to be carefull of who else was in the group. I saw a level 1 try it yesterday.

The encounters scale to the group, so if you are in there with some guy that has 200 hit points (level 15+), it would probably be a little tough for you, unless you were just using range weapons.

If your group was mostly 10th level or less (under 100 hp?) you would probably be fine.

It's a very challenging module, but a lot of fun if you like fighting undead.

[robb]

So whats the password?

[JBMoney]

There isn't one on Shirewood.

Bresslerville p/w has already been posted, it's spudboy. There's nothing in Bresslerville but some merchants.

[JBMoney]

Carl's Bar & Grill will have a little more 'atmosphere' by tonight, and a few more Forum members in the bar. Possibly cock fighting too.

[wrecker05]

:nerd: So how do I find this alleged game?

[robb]

Anybody up for a low level game ~5 this afternoon or tomorrow?

[JBMoney]

I could start a new character. I'm thinking druid.

[robb]

Um, ok.

[robb]

JB$ and I are going to be on the server. Password batboy

[JBMoney]

It looks worthy, so I'm leaving it running.

The critters are respawning but I don't know that the quests do. We finished a couple low level ones, but this seems to be a huge place, so have at it if you want. I may go back later.

The description is that it's 'epic' with 20+ hours of gameplay, so we've barely touched it.

Name: Pool of Radiance - V1.03

My character is a brand new druid - Beorn.

[JBMoney]

Oh, and if I jump in as DM and see you looting houses and you're NOT evil, you better run fast. ;)

[JBMoney]

Wrecker -

Sorry, I almost forgot about your post. I'll be putting you in command of Bresslerville's defense. Already have your barracks in place but haven't actually thrown you and the men in yet.

I'll get a screenshot when I get there. ;)