Timeout loading multiplayer session

from GalCiv3 Forums

Hi guys (Rhonin in particular),

First question,  I've already submitted this with all appropriate documentation and files to the support folks,  who responded saying that it had been sent to development but that I should not expect a reply anytime soon or possibly at all.   I noticed that the support tickets are "no longer being used" (from one of Rhonin's recent posts) and that I should post here.  

Has my support ticket gone to /dev/null?

In case it hasn't and you/Cari would like to get at it,  the ticket number is SOY-989-15292.

Please let me know if you'd rather I repost the gory details here.

Second question,  has *anyone* been able to load a multiplayer session at 3.0/Intrigue using the GOG version of the game?  Anytime I've tried the joiner and/or the host has simply crashed out.   I really like 3.0 and Intrigue both but MP is currently DOA.   :(

Thanks!!

68,268 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock.net Forums Top

It would be best to upload and link the savegame and debug.err files here, they can be found in Documents\My Games\GC3Crusade.

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Rhonin_the_wizard, reply 1

It would be best to upload and link the savegame and debug.err files here, they can be found in Documents\My Games\GC3Crusade.

You can download all files from here:

ftp://[email protected]:2222

(no password needed for the FTP site,  just hit enter)

I have PM'ed you the password for the zip,  which does have information in it that I'd rather not have all over the net.

Thanks Rhonin!

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

bump!

I know this is probably a low priority bug but..  has anyone even downloaded the files?  Is there everything there the dev. team needs?

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

That last submission you have from the crash reporter (the box that pops up when the game taps out) was 4/12/2018 9:41:02 AM.  If you can readily repro it, fill on the popup and let me know when you have, please.

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

GalCiv 3.03,  GOG version.   Starting an MP game - works fine.   Playing - works fine!

MP load - not working.    But at least it isn't crashing any more - now we're getting timeouts.

Debug.err from my side (hosting):

Debug Message:  CGalaxy::LoadDataTables: Using object ptr list
Debug Message:  DLCSystem Begin Loading Data
Enabled DLC:
Debug Message:  DLC MapPack
Debug Message:  DLC RegistrationBonus
Debug Message:  DLC MegaEvents
Debug Message:  DLC Snathi
Debug Message:  DLC PrecursorWorlds
Debug Message:  DLC Mercenaries
Debug Message:  DLC BuildersKit
Debug Message:  DLC RiseoftheTerrans
Debug Message:  DLC LostTreasures
Debug Message:  DLC AltarianProphecy
Debug Message:  DLC Crusade
Debug Message:  DLC Intrigue
Debug Message:  DLCSystem finished loading data.
Debug Message:  Save Version: 326  Original BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 3.03  Original BUILD_NUMBER: 10709
Debug Message:  Save Version: 326  BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 3.03  BUILD_NUMBER: 10709
Debug Message:  Save Original Platform: GOG
Debug Message:  Game Loaded.
Debug Message:  LobbyData created with ID 123366200812466914
Debug Message:  Popup Manager Update: Unhiding LobbyWnd
Debug Message:  LobbyData created with ID 123366200812466914
Debug Message:  MPAdapter::CloseP2PSessionAndRemovePlayer begin 191102959257215792

Debug from other side (joiner):

Debug Message:  DLCSystem finished loading data.
Debug Message:  Save Version: 326  Original BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 3.03  Original BUILD_NUMBER: 10709
Debug Message:  Save Version: 326  BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 3.03  BUILD_NUMBER: 10709
Debug Message:  Save Original Platform: GOG
Debug Message:  Game Loaded.
Debug Message:  Error Timeout other player 191103607591255817
Debug Message:  Host disconnected
Debug Message:  MPAdapter::CloseP2PSessionAndRemovePlayer begin 191103607591255817
Debug Message:  MPAdapter::CloseP2PSessionAndRemovePlayer m_OpenP2PSessions removing 191103607591255817

I'm on a 10Mbit up / 100Mbit down exceedingly stable internet connection;  joiner is in another province behind a professional-grade Sonic Wall with much slower (1Mbit up / 10 Mbit down) connection.   In theory transferring the savefile to him should take around 20 seconds -- I can't imagine that is the problem here as other people out there must be playing over similarly slow connections...

Any suggestions?  We'd really like to be able to play.

Thanks!

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

bump.  Anyone?  What's timing out?  If your own debug messages aren't enough for you to tell me what's going on,  maybe you can put some more in?

Thanks!

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting SilasOfBorg, reply 5

joiner is in another province behind a professional-grade Sonic Wall with much slower (1Mbit up / 10 Mbit down) connection.

Do you have any issues playing with any other person not under such limited Internet resources?

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting sdRohan, reply 7


Quoting SilasOfBorg,
reply 5

joiner is in another province behind a professional-grade Sonic Wall with much slower (1Mbit up / 10 Mbit down) connection.



Do you have any issues playing with any other person not under such limited Internet resources?

1/10 Mbit is "limited"?  That's pretty damn good internet in a lot of places.  :D

Good question though.   Any fellow GOG-ites (GOGgers?  GOGen?  What the hell do we call ourselves?) on this forum who would be so kind as to test out multiplayer with me?

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Hi Rohan,

Tried this evening with a fellow with 10/60 Mbit (10 up/60 down).   I was hosting.  My side:

 

Debug Message:  LOADING GAME: C:\Users\Gordon\Documents\My Games\GC3Crusade\MPSaves\\Test MP Save 3.04.GC3Crusade
Debug Message:  Popup Manager Update: Unhiding LoadingWnd
Debug Message:  CInfluenceSystem::CInfluenceSystem size_influenceMapActual 4194304 size_influenceMapCache 4194304 size_lastTurnOwningPlayerIndex 1048576 size_prevOwningPlayerIndex 1048576 size_owningPlayerIndex 1048576 size_isSectorChanged 16384 size_numOwnedTiles 480 size_influnceMapAll
Debug Message:  Loading game C:\Users\Gordon\Documents\My Games\GC3Crusade\MPSaves\\Test MP Save 3.04.GC3Crusade
Debug Message:  CGalaxy::LoadDataTables: Using object ptr list
Debug Message:  DLCSystem Begin Loading Data
Enabled DLC:
Debug Message:  DLC MapPack
Debug Message:  DLC RegistrationBonus
Debug Message:  DLC MegaEvents
Debug Message:  DLC Snathi
Debug Message:  DLC PrecursorWorlds
Debug Message:  DLC Mercenaries
Debug Message:  DLC BuildersKit
Debug Message:  DLC RiseoftheTerrans
Debug Message:  DLC LostTreasures
Debug Message:  DLC AltarianProphecy
Debug Message:  DLC Crusade
Debug Message:  DLC Intrigue
Debug Message:  DLCSystem finished loading data.
Debug Message:  Save Version: 326  Original BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 3.04  Original BUILD_NUMBER: 10710
Debug Message:  Save Version: 326  BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 3.04  BUILD_NUMBER: 10710
Debug Message:  Save Original Platform: GOG
Debug Message:  Game Loaded.
Debug Message:  LobbyData created with ID 123435799945186195
Debug Message:  Popup Manager Update: Unhiding LobbyWnd
Debug Message:  LobbyData created with ID 123435799945186195
Debug Message:  MPAdapter::CloseP2PSessionAndRemovePlayer begin 191102959257215792
DebugMessage:  WM_CLOSE message received.

His side:

Debug Message:  DLC MapPack
Debug Message:  DLC RegistrationBonus
Debug Message:  DLC MegaEvents
Debug Message:  DLC Snathi
Debug Message:  DLC PrecursorWorlds
Debug Message:  DLC Mercenaries
Debug Message:  DLC BuildersKit
Debug Message:  DLC RiseoftheTerrans
Debug Message:  DLC LostTreasures
Debug Message:  DLC AltarianProphecy
Debug Message:  DLC Crusade
Debug Message:  DLC Intrigue
Debug Message:  DLCSystem finished loading data.
Debug Message:  Save Version: 326  Original BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 3.04  Original BUILD_NUMBER: 10710
Debug Message:  Save Version: 326  BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 3.04  BUILD_NUMBER: 10710
Debug Message:  Save Original Platform: GOG
Debug Message:  Game Loaded.
Debug Message:  Error Timeout other player 191103607591255817
Debug Message:  Host disconnected
Debug Message:  MPAdapter::CloseP2PSessionAndRemovePlayer begin 191103607591255817
Debug Message:  MPAdapter::CloseP2PSessionAndRemovePlayer m_OpenP2PSessions removing 191103607591255817
Debug Message:  Popup Manager Update: Unhiding MessageBoxWnd

So I'm pretty sure at this point it isn't bandwidth / lag related.  

Anything else you'd like me to try / tweak ? 

Thanks!

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Well I play the steam version it is still crashing. I have 100 mbits per second.

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting SilasOfBorg, reply 8

1/10 Mbit is "limited"?  That's pretty damn good internet in a lot of places. 

My 'limited' comment was related to this, not his / her overall bandwidth.

Quoting SilasOfBorg, reply 5

joiner is in another province behind a professional-grade Sonic Wall 

That said, on your second test - with the second person, is it crashing or is it timing out?

 

 

 

Reply #12 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting sdRohan, reply 11


 
Quoting SilasOfBorg,
reply 5

joiner is in another province behind a professional-grade Sonic Wall 



That said, on your second test - with the second person, is it crashing or is it timing out?

 
 

Timing out.  See the debug.err from my July 9, 2018 10:39:36 PM post.

We haven't clocked it precisely,  but it seems to me that about 30 seconds pass between the joiner attempting to join and the timeout.

The save game is about 10MB which should take around 15-20 to seconds to upload,  plus maybe more if the underlying protocol isn't very efficient (I imagine you're using GOG's APIs?),  so something seems to be happening *after* the game is uploaded.   If I had to guess.

Reply #13 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Monthly bump!

Reply #14 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Bump again!

(aside:  mods,  please let me know if once a month is too frequent to ask for an update to a support request)

 

Reply #15 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Bump again!

We tried again this evening with 3.10.   Same exact symptom.   Starting a new game works fine and we are able to play just fine.

Restoring a session DOES NOT WORK.   I set up the lobby,  my friend attempts to join,  and it adds him to the lobby.  Then the game hangs on his end with "loading" for around 30 seconds,  then says "host closed lobby".   After he clicks "done" I can then see him removed from my lobby.

Neither game crashes but we are essentially unable to load a multiplayer game in progress.

Both clients are latest 3.10 GOG versions.   We can play all other kinds of MP games without any issues.

I might add,  both of us have upgraded our internet.   I now have GBit internet (up and down),  and my friend has 60 Mbit download.  Please don't tell me this is "slow".   Our internet speeds are no longer even close to being an issue here.

Any suggestions?

Reply #16 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Since Stardock support has been silent for the last several months on the matter,  I opened a ticket with GOG support.   After all,  I thought,  if it is a problem loading an MP session then the issue is likely in the GOG MP libraries;  maybe there was some debug I could enable.

GOG support has been prompt and very helpful.  Their latest email,  which I am quoting verbatim:

 

"I had a conversation with our Galaxy QA Team. In Galactic Civilizations III Galaxy multiplayer component is not used. Galaxy functionality is used during the sign in process to authenticate the User, this is why Galaxy is required for multiplayer. After the authentication Galaxy does not take part in the multiplayer functionality.


Unfortunately we won't be able to provide further assistance in this case."

 

So,  this is purely a Stardock problem and I will be looking 100% to Stardock for support from here on in.

Reply #17 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Hi guys,

Just picked GalCiv3 back up recently,  hoping this would be fixed,  but this still happens in 3.96.   Exact same symptoms we've experienced since 3.0 dropped way back when (this worked fine pre-3.0!!).

We can start an MP match just fine and play as long as we like,  but trying to restore an MP sessions results in a timeout/disconnect during lobby join.   Every time.  

C'mon StarDock support,  I know you're out there...

Reply #18 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

This disappointing and one of the few times I have seen multiplayer referenced. I was hoping to add this into the games my group of friends and I play. Anyone successfully playing multiplayer matches?

Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting SilasOfBorg, reply 17

We can start an MP match just fine and play as long as we like,  but trying to restore an MP session results in a timeout/disconnect during lobby join.   Every time.  

Could you zip / upload, from each player, from the same failed session:

  • The MP save: \Documents\My Games\GC3Crusade\MPSaves
  • Prefs.ini
  • Debug.err

to a cloud service (GoogleDrive, DropBox, OneDrive) and post a link here?  If so, I'll see if I can get some eyeballs on it.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Reply #20 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Hi Sean!

I am tickled at the unexpected reply,  really wasn't expecting much after all the silence.

Sequence of steps:

1.  I host.  Friend joins.  We play a few turns without incident.  I save the game.  We both exit GC3.

2.  Start GC3 again.  Restore multiplayer session.  Goes to lobby.

3.  Friend tries to join.  He gets "loading..." for around 2 minutes,  then it times out.  He presses "Done"

4.  I get "xxxx has left the lobby" on my side.

This happens every time without fail,  ever since 3.0 (it was working before that).

The files you asked for can be found here

Thanks,  looking forward to any feedback you can give me once a dev has a look at it.

Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top

SilasOfBorg,

Two questions:

  • Is the reverse also true; if the other person is the host, and you are the invited, and all other conditions are the same, does it still happen?
  • Regardless of who is the host and who is the invited, if you try with other players, people other than the two of you (assuming that is the case, it's just two of you), does it still happen?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Reply #22 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Hi Sean,

Exact same thing (I mean,  EXACT same,  down to the 2 minute timeout,  lobby behavior, etc) if my friend hosts.

I've already tried to find someone else to test this with,  both on the boards here as well as the GOG boards,  to no avail. 

I can say that every single other game we play -- without exception -- has worked flawlessly.   I'm talking P2P stuff like Warhammer:Gladius,  Minecraft (hosted locally), Civ6, AOW:Planetfall, etc.   This is the only game that has an issue.

If GalCiv3 needs extra ports opened,  or you have some weird hole-punching tech I can bypass by opening up ports explicitly on my router (or his),  let me know and I'll give that a try.  There's something odd going on in GC3 network code -- again,  this worked flawlessly prior to 3.0.

I'll post more if I can think of anything else that might even be remotely helpful.

Cheers!

Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top

The issue has been logged but I can't say when it will be looked at. 

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Reply #24 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Seems I'm not the only person reporting an MP issue.  Stardock,  can this get a little attention now that I don't seem to be an outlier?   There's at least a few other people experiencing something similar:

https://forums.galciv3.com/500326

I haven't been able to play MP since April 2018 when I first reported the issue with 3.0 (it worked prior to that).

Reply #25 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Multiplayer also not loading for me.