FSX Formation multiplayer help

[JakesF14]

Good day, Maybe one of you clever guys can help...

We are in process of establishing a Formation display team, and the biggest issue we have at the moment is jittering aircraft.  - well, the formation is not smooth at all - you all know what I am talking about.
Now, We have tried to make use of Gamespy,  as it is smooth, bit with that comes another problem - unreliable connection. We are 6 aircraft in the team, and on we are lucky if we can get 3 in the air at a time. We've got 4 connected, but not for long until one gets kicked.

We have all set static IP's, all of our Firewall's are turned off, and we have set our framerates to 22 fps.
Is port forwarding still necessary when firewall is turned off? and if so, how do you know what forts to forward.
Also, is there another server one can test out? I does not have much info, or knowledge, so any help will be appreciated!

Best regards,

[ShaneG]

Hi Jakes!

Ports are always an issue with the FS series. If you don't open ALL of the ones needed, on ALL computers attempting to join, then someone is ALWAYS inevitably going to be kicked.

In all, there are 106 total ports that need to opened in BOTH your router, and firewall!

Check back to this tutorial I made if you need a quick refresher! 

http://205.252.250.26/cgi-bin/yabb25/Ya ... 1252421080


As for the "jittering", that's unavoidable as you get within a certain distance to another player because FS is slow to update a player's exact position, and you see this updating as the plane jumping around in the sky. A LAN connected session may avoid this, but I've never been able to test it.

Hope this helps a bit!

ShaneG

[Fozzer]

Lucky old me...
..I make a point of not using a; "Router", which always eliminates any Port problems for me.... :)...!

I just use a simple ADSL Wired Modem* for my Multiplayer Sessions...
..and use...FS Port Test v 1.6.... >>>> http://www.chocolatesoftware.com/forum/ ... opic=737.0 to check that everything is OK!

Paul....FS 2004.... 8-)...!

* http://www.micronet.com.tw/mod/product/ ... RlSUQ9NTk=

[JakesF14]

Thanks Gents.. I discovered according to portforward.com that Gamespy only need port 8871 open Why would that be?

Cheers!

[Fozzer]

Thanks Gents.. I discovered according to portforward.com that Gamespy only need port 8871 open Why would that be?

Cheers!

Why use Gamespy?

Most/all of us, FS 2004 and FSX users, use FS Host for our various Multiplayer Sessions...>>> http://www.chocolatesoftware.com/

(Use "FSHost Client" for FSX connection).

Note that Simviation has its own Multiplayer Server. http://cockpit.netfrag.org:81/

Paul...FS 2004 and FSX... 8-)...!

[Jetranger]

Ahhh, I'm still into MUDPOND myself,, the more I use the Formation flying program, and get the hang of it, the more I like it, and I can pick any aircraft I want to fly next to me , kinda neat program I feel.

[ShaneG]

Thanks Gents.. I discovered according to portforward.com that Gamespy only need port 8871 open Why would that be?

Cheers!

Most likely Gamespy are ignorant to the cause of the FS multiplayer woes. 

Each sim since FS2002 has had it's own dedicated ports that it uses for online play...

HOWEVER... (  )

The fact that M$ in their infinite wisdom decided to make each version somewhat compatible in an online environment by leaving in bits of code from FS2002 - FSX, it has the unfortunate side effect of causing a sim to "jump ports" which leads to 99% of online connection issues.

For example, one minute, your FSX is flying along happily on it's own dedicated FSX port, and then for some unknown reason, it will jump over to an old FS2002 port and cause a kick for you, or someone else!

Even worse is FS9's 101 ports!!  If one person has just one of those closed, and one of the sims jumps to that port, it's session over for someone.