Playing Online Behind Firewalls (/w Hamachi & TCP/Com)

[Guest JediIgor]

Due to recent discoveries it is now possible to play Star Wars Rebellion online if you are behind a firewall, if your friend is behind a firewall, or if you both are. To sum it up, you use Hamachi to get behind the firewall issue, and TCP/Com to make a virtual COM port that uses a TCP/IP connection.

 

Here is the tutorial:

 

Step #1 (get Hamachi)

--Download latest Hamachi from http://www.hamachi.cc/download

--Hamachi installs a Virtual NIC which lets you join VPNs on-demand. For "What is a VPN," see here. For how it gets around firewalls, see here.

 

Step #2 (join network)

--After installing Hamachi, join the SWR network.

--name of network: swrebellion

--password of network: starwarsrebellion

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-neg0.jpg

 

Step #3 (find a buddy)

--Find the person you want to play with in the buddy list.

--Your "Hamachi IP" will be at the top of the Hamachi window, that is the IP others will connect to. Your buddies' Hamachi IPs are next to their names.

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-0.jpg

 

Step #4 (get TCP/Com)

--Download and install TCP/Com 2.0 from here.

--TCP/Com is a program that makes virtual COM port to use over the Internet, which means instead of using a physical RS232 cable everything goes over a TCP/IP connection.

 

Step #5 (configuring TCP/Com)

--Run TCP/Com. Now one of you will be the server, and the other a client.

--If you are the server, choose "This PC Will Act As A TCP Server," otherwise pick "This PC Will Act As A TCP Client."

--For servers, make sure your Local IP address is your "Hamachi IP" address. I left local port as 1000. For clients, your remote IP is your buddy's Hamachi IP.

--On the left pick an unused COM Port (I used COM4) and change the Baud Rate to 57600. A little lower check "Create Virtual COM Port."

--Hit Activate.

--When both people activate it, it should say "TCP/IP Status: (1)Connected"

--If you are getting port errors pick a different COM Port, but make sure it's 1-4..

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-1.jpg

 

Step #5 (connecting in SWR)

--Patch vanilla Rebellion to 1.01 (for non-vanilla we can make a separate network)

--Run Star Wars Rebellion, go to Multiplayer (head-to-head icon)

--Pick "Serial Connection for DirectPlay" and "Setup Game" if you are the TCP/Com server, otherwise "Connect to Game" if you are the TCP/Com client.

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-2.jpg

--Choose the same COM port as in TCP/Com, don't change the other settings, hit OK.

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-3.jpg

 

Step #6 (let the games begin)

--Pick a player name, and a game name. Hit the next arrow button.

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-4.jpg

--If you are server, I suggest IMing your friend and telling him to join, then patiently wait.

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-5.jpg

--Finally, your friend should connect if you are server, or you will connect to your friend if you are a client. Hit the check button to start.

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-6.jpg

--Enjoy the game!

http://www.swrebellion.com/images/swr-over-hamachi/step-7.jpg

 

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Things To Know:

 

• TCP/Com is a 30-day trial and will not let you use it for more than an hour on end. You need to buy it or somehow get it *fixed.*
  
• Hamachi can be used to play most games without using TCP/Com, but Rebellion does not or cannot bind to the second NIC. Therefore it never sees the Hamachi IP (I tried with IPX and TCP/IP, didn't work). But it always sees serial ports..
  
• Hamachi currently has a network limit of 12 people (although soon will go up to 16). Please stay in the network only if you are actively seeking out to actually play Star Wars Rebellion. In the few weeks I have made information about Hamachi active I've only seen two other people online and of tthose only one had SWR (guess who). We can always make two networks but then people would have to use MSN for matchmaking.
  
• I suggest going on Hamachi whenever you aren't doing anything important, that way people can see you are on and ready to play SWR. You can join other Hamachi networks (I'm in zsnes also) if you want, look at their forums

 

Questions, Comments? Post Here when you join the Hamachi network.

[Darktrooper]

Boss, you did it!!!

 

Congrats!!!

[Drazek]

bah its full, everytime I try.

[Dominio]

...how about going ahead and creating a few more official rebellion hamachi networks, ie swrebellion2, swrebellion3 etc? Matching would not really be a problem I think since if the first network is full, one would just go ahead and try the next one. Sooner or later you will come across a network which isn't full but which has someone else in it that wants to play.

[tehgrandadmiral]

we need to get another network for this

I think, i THINK i have another network set up, but i dont know much about comps so...

swrebellion1 is the network name

starwarsrebellion is the password.

come play with me.

[tehgrandadmiral]

does anyone know why connecting via tcp/com wouldn't work?

[Guest JediIgor]

There's another alternative. You can use Kali, but you have to find your own private server. I am looking into setting up an official SWR.com server but I can't seem to find any kali Linux versions! If anyone finds a Kali linux version then please send me a copy .

[Kano]

I used hamachi last night for a game and it was great.

 

No slow direct connect.

No firewall messages.

And a stable game for at least 400 days.

 

Thanks.

[punsoh]

Kudos! After quitting SWR for a couple of years due to problems connecting through a firewall using MSN Messenger, I played my 1st game using Hamachi tonight and it was great.

 

* There was no need to download or install TCP/com. *

 

All we did was use the free Hamachi program (had to resort to "swrebellion9" password "starwarsrebellion"), then use the TCP/IP connection option, then the Host chose "Set Up Game" and proceeded normally, and finally the other player chose "Connect To Game" and typed in the Host's HAMACHI IP address. That was it! EASY and FUN!!

 

Thanks for coming up with this simple way of getting around firewalls!!

[Eisenhower]

is there any chance of a slot to open up in the network?

 

or something .

[kleaverjr]

I have a local area network set up with a router, and I have opened all the ports that I believe SW Rebellion uses but I still can not have others see the game on my network, nor will SW Rebellion see any games on the internet. Most likely because it is one computer on a particular LAN trying to connect through the internet (WAN) and SW rebellin doesn't know how to handle it. Is my understanding as to why SW Rebellion can't connect to games correct, that is, it's not JUST an actual firewall issue?

 

Ken L.

aka Darth Siditious

[Guest JediIgor]

Unfortunately with Hamachi there are limited number of people that can join the network.. perhaps one day we can get a Windows VM setup and run the Kali server from that or something .

[DarthTex]

Hello JediIgor

 

An ancient poster has returned(?) after ~1.5 years since his last post Or maybe just an extra long lurking session? Anyways, good to "hear" from you again & hope you comment more frequently

[krystophv]

This thread might be a bit inactive, but I have to admit that I found it quite useful today as me and my brother wanted to play a round of Rebellion but there now happens to be a few routers and a few hundred miles between us.

 

Hamachi I was familiar with, but we couldn't get the TCP/IP to work (no games showed up in the list), but I wasn't about to use some 30 day trial software that only works for an hour at a time (we played a 9 hour game today) and I wasn't about to pay $250 for it.

 

So, I decided that there must be a free solution for emulating a serial connection over TCP/IP and, lo and behold, there is. It seems to work a lot like the program that's mentioned earlier in the thread, but it's free instead.

 

I just figured that this might help some people out: I got it here - http://www.hw-group.com/products/hw_vsp/index_en.html. Enjoy.

 

(We experienced a lot of lag when there were over 100 capitol ships in battle all at once, but I'm not sure if that was a fault of the connection or simply that the game isn't designed to cope with things like that.)

[Guest JediIgor]

So here is what is going to happen. I will see about setting up a Kali server within the next month, after which I will post instructions on how to use it (will be very very simple I guarantee you).

 

It will only require Kali client to be installed and will not need any fancy VPNs, serial forwarding, or anything like that.

 

Once that happens this thread will be destickied.

 

Incase I wasn't clear, it will allow people to play from behind firewalls, and more importantly provide a game lobby for people to lounge in, chat, and look for opponents.

[The Crazy Psychopath]

This thread might be a bit inactive, but I have to admit that I found it quite useful today as me and my brother wanted to play a round of Rebellion but there now happens to be a few routers and a few hundred miles between us.

 

Hamachi I was familiar with, but we couldn't get the TCP/IP to work (no games showed up in the list), but I wasn't about to use some 30 day trial software that only works for an hour at a time (we played a 9 hour game today) and I wasn't about to pay $250 for it.

 

So, I decided that there must be a free solution for emulating a serial connection over TCP/IP and, lo and behold, there is. It seems to work a lot like the program that's mentioned earlier in the thread, but it's free instead.

 

I just figured that this might help some people out: I got it here - http://www.hw-group.com/products/hw_vsp/index_en.html. Enjoy.

 

(We experienced a lot of lag when there were over 100 capitol ships in battle all at once, but I'm not sure if that was a fault of the connection or simply that the game isn't designed to cope with things like that.)

 

Good catch. Someone should write a tutorial for this program. It is a little different.

[zestysteve]

Kleaverjr,

 

I have the exact same problem. I hope somebody replies to your post, since it seems that we are the only two.

 

I once bypassed my router, used tcp-com and hamachi, and got it to work. Just once. Two days later, we tried to actually get some gameplay in, and no matter what we tried, after four hours NOTHING lol. My friend could see my game in tcp/ip, but couldnt join it. It was serial that actually worked. Modem won't help, I'm quite sure.

 

Of course IPX is an old protocol that I know nothing about, and there's no input option in game for particulars like addresses. Some study gave me the implication that IPX should be set up through windows settings, but I'm convinced it will never work in any way, for anybody.

 

I'm quite sure that tcp-com has lasting effects when you create virtual com ports, such that it eats up the ports permanently. There's no instruction in the help files for undoing the tcp-com effects, and no options exist in the program. What ended up happening involved me doing some intense reading of the help file, understanding tcp-com front to back, and then finding that the serial com port I select is the exact one that Rebellion won't let me create a game on, no matter what I did. No error message from the game, it just acts like you never pushed teh arrow and clicked "ok" when you choose the serial port that you need. Seemed Reb. and T-C didn't want to share ports, although that's the premise of the solution. So far we've probably logged ten hours of persistence and experimentation.

 

Grinds the nerves, but solving computer troubles is a favorite passtime of mine so it's not so bad.

[zestysteve]

To ammend my previous post...

 

IPX is not entirely useless. I recently installed teh ipx protocols (in network connections/local area connection properties/install/protocol/ipx/ok) on two computers at my house, set one to, simply, number 2 and the other computer to number 3. Using auto-detect frame type, and no further setup, I was able to CONNECT a game and begin it That's as far as I got with it, since he was in bed and couldnt attempt any playing.

 

This was done with windows firewall running on both computers, which is set to prompt me when a port or service is blocked. So when it blocked Rebellion during connect attempts, I alt+tab'ed to see the message. Of course, unblock both computers, and try again.

 

The rules for IPX are that you probably have to be on the same local network, and each computer needs its own hexadecimal 8-digit number, which can be 00000002 or 00000003. I just entered 2 and 3, the zeros were entered automatically by windows. The most simple way to connect two rebellion games on a router, it seems.

 

Couldn't try it over hamachi, though, because my hamachi friend doesnt have IPX on his Windows Tiny operating system. Hope this offers some relief to all you seriously perplexed players!!! Really I do!!!

[Exocet]

So here is what is going to happen. I will see about setting up a Kali server within the next month, after which I will post instructions on how to use it (will be very very simple I guarantee you).

 

It will only require Kali client to be installed and will not need any fancy VPNs, serial forwarding, or anything like that.

 

Once that happens this thread will be destickied.

 

Incase I wasn't clear, it will allow people to play from behind firewalls, and more importantly provide a game lobby for people to lounge in, chat, and look for opponents.

 

 

I know this is a little old but did anything ever happen with this? It would be great if this was a reality. Honestly, it's such a major pain getting this game to work multi. Also, has anyone here had any experience setting up an IPX game over a wireless connection(s)?

[Ceorl]

Appreciate the posts here. Allowed me and another fella, after several hours of tinkering, to get a game going.

[addict-ant]

Just wanted to echo Ceorl's thoughts (I'm the other fella) and say how we got it to work.

 

We used Hamachi in combination with the 'HW Virtual Serial Port' krystophv recommended above.

(available here: http://www.hw-group.com/products/hw_vsp/index_en.html )

 

One person checks the 'TCP server mode' box in the settings tab.

Then in the virtual serial port tab creates a com (com 3 or 4) with their own Hamachi IP address and any port (we used 1000 and NVT wasn't checked).

Click 'create com' and it should report: LAN status -listen.

 

The other person creates a com with the same numbers, using the 1st person's Hamachi IP.

Clicking 'Create com' and it should report: LAN status -connected.

 

That's it, go in game and use serial connection.

 

Thanks for all the posts.

[addict-ant]

Just an update to my post above.

 

After getting a very occasianonal lock up/crash I've started checking the 'External NVT Commands Port: 2003' which seems to have solved the issue.

[Scott_Kevill]

There's a much easier way. If you play SWR online using GameRanger, everything is handled automatically.

 

No messing with ports or stale/full Hamachi groups. It's also safer than Hamachi because it's not exposing your entire computer to others on the internet.

[Markus_Ramikin]

There's a much easier way. If you play SWR online using GameRanger, everything is handled automatically.

 

No messing with ports or stale/full Hamachi groups. It's also safer than Hamachi because it's not exposing your entire computer to others on the internet.

Thanks, Scott. I typically use Hamachi for my gaming needs, but with a friend of mine we couldn't get a game of Rebellion going, even with the virtual Com port thingie. To my surprise Game Ranger worked for us.

[addict-ant]

Unfortunately for me GameRanger doesn't recognise the UK version - the only difference is the name (for some stupid reason it got called something different over here from the rest of the world: SW Supremacy).

 

If anyone knows a workaround to get it going on GameRanger please let me know.