Where do I go now that Gamespy is down?

[Capecodman]

Hello. I realize I'm late to the party here. After not playing UT99 for the past few years we decided to start playing online again. I have GOTY99 on a dedicated old laptop with all the proper port settings, and have all my router port settings adjusted correctly also. I expected to just power up, select muliplayer game, select dedicated server, and see my server name pop up as it always did.

But of course, it didn't, and I got a Gamespy error in the Unreal Console. Now I find that Gamespy shut down last year. The problem is that I've been reading a ton of posts on different sites, and there seems to be a myriad of opinion on who's now hosting the GOTY99, if anyone really is hosting. There seems to be differing opinions if I'll find a hosting site at Epic Games. Right now my head is swimming from reading so many opinions on how to approach this problem.

Can someone give me the simplified version of how I find a new hosting site, if one exists, and how I point the game itself to that server?

Thanks very much for any help you can provide.

[Chamberly]

Check out www.333networks.com if you want to. There is a lot of information.

Basically, u can still see other servers with other master host.

[ShaiHulud]

In conjunction with what Chamberly said, I've modified the Engine.GameEngine part of the UnrealTournament.ini file from this:

Code: Select all

[Engine.GameEngine]
...
ServerActors=IpServer.UdpServerQuery
ServerActors=IpServer.UdpServerUplink MasterServerAddress=unreal.epicgames.com MasterServerPort=27900
ServerActors=IpServer.UdpServerUplink MasterServerAddress=master0.gamespy.com MasterServerPort=27900
ServerActors=IpServer.UdpServerUplink MasterServerAddress=master.mplayer.com MasterServerPort=27900
...

To this:

Code: Select all

ServerActors=SecureValidate.SVUdpServerQuery
ServerActors=SecureValidate.SVUdpServerUplink MasterServerAddress=unreal.epicgames.com MasterServerPort=27900
ServerActors=SecureValidate.SVUdpServerUplink MasterServerAddress=master.333networks.com MasterServerPort=27900

...removing the references to gamespy and mplayer. We also use SecureValidate to protect against "a quite simple bug and with it is also quite simple to crash lots of unreal servers by sending a single UDP" (A Google search for SecureValidate will turn up download links).

[Dr.Flay]

Epic relaunched the original unreal.epicgames.com so I unless it is down you should have had a server list
Anyone that was connected while Gamespy were running will have utmaster.epicgames.com

Epic Masterserver status was posted in the Announcements section.
https://www.ut99.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5652&start=0

SecureValidate.SVUdpServerQuery is a function used by "XServerQuery"
http://wiki.beyondunreal.com/XServerQuery
https://www.ut99.org/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=6061

Players have the option to use the other half "XBrowser" (the ini needs to be updated with new masters)
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=3284
Try XBrowser anyway as I'm sure you will love the functionality.

To get an idea of the upgradability there is for UT99 have a look through these posts and pick the stuff that suits your taste.
http://hooksutplace.freeforums.org/unre ... -f104.html

At the top of the site here you will see a link "Tweak Your UT Graphics To The Maximum! "
This is the best guide to configuring UT for modern hardware.
https://www.ut99.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=373

Finally;
http://333networks.com has supplied a newer updated Masterserver to several clans, sites and companies.
Any you see listed above the top of the www.oldunreal.com forums that show (Multi), are capable of supporting UT.
Feel free to ping them and choose the fastest 3, but remember that using Epic and 333 masters will display more results.

[Capecodman]

Hi. Thanks for the responses. I changed the Unreal INI file to show the epic games and 333 networks links. I started the dedicated server, and according to the console everything was successfully bound to those servers. No errors messages at all. However, I still don't show up on the server master list.

I know I probably have too many ports open based on forum posts from years ago, but this is what's open on the router. All are UDP.
27900
7777
7778
7779
80
8080
8777
9777

The same ports are opened on laptop firewall.

Quite honestly I'm stumped.

If anyone has further ideas, I'll be glad to try them. If not, thanks for the help and maybe it's time to move on to another game.

[$carface]

Off the top of my head:
Pretty sure 27900 should be TCP.

Check douplink

[IpServer.UdpServerUplink]
DoUpLink=true
UpdateMinutes=1
MasterServerPort=27900

[Hook]

Often, you are unable to see your own hosted server from your computer.
I could never see mine when I used to host my own servers.
Are you sure it is not showing up for other players?

Also, in my router I had to turn "attack detection" off to get out on the net.

[Dr.Flay]

These pages will help configure and test your ports.
http://www.portchecktool.com
http://portforward.com/english/applicat ... efault.htm

[Capecodman]

First of all let me say thanks to all of you for being so helpful.

Scarface: I tried changing the port forwarding for 27900 to TCP with no luck, so I put it back to UDP.

Since the Unreal console was telling me I was bound successfully to the Epic and 333networks master servers, I decided to plug their IP addresses in manually. The Epic IP address said it was connecting, but that's as far as it went. It sat there for 10 minutes and the screen never changed.

The 333networks IP address said I needed to update to the latest patch. I'm not sure if that's necessary or just a weird non-response message. I'm on version 436, which I see some servers on the list are still using. So I can't imagine that's the issue. Does anybody see a problem if I upgrade to the 451 version? In the past I've heard there were problems with it.

I haven't asked anyone else if they can see the server. I use a different PC to play the game than the one that acts as a dedicated server. In the past, when I can't see it, nobody else could see it. But I can give that a try.

Hook: I will try turning off attack detection and see if that helps.

Dr. Flay. Thanks for the links. I'll see if they help point me in the right direction.

[Hook]

You shouldn't NEED to upgrade to the 451 version, but it isn't a bad idea for Servers.
For Servers, it is a good idea.
Do NOT upgrade a player install to 451, leave your Player install at 436.

[EvilGrins]

Go outside, give your eyes a chance to adjust to the light, discover the whole wide world you forgot about.

[Dr.Flay]

In general the only major problem with installing 451 is that is breaks UEd.
If you don't use UEd on that install, you have no problem.

Note: Using 436 as a server means that players with 451 cannot connect.
I have 451 installed as I like the extra body impact effects, and I have a separate mini install for editing.

[Capecodman]

No luck guys. still can't be seen on the server list.

$carface, I don't see that section on DoUplinlk in the ini or in the console. I only see IpServer.UdpServerUplink. Maybe it's in patch 451. Out of frustration in not getting this going, I tried recreating everything on a Windows 7 laptop as opposed the the older XP machine I always used. For some reason I can't install the 451 patch, even in XP compatibility mode. Maybe I'll have better luck on the XP machine.

Dr. Flay, I followed the port forwarding guide you pointed me too. I have the D-Link 655 router. It wasn't on the list, so I used the port forwarding of the D-link 855. Anyway the ports were

TCP: 7777, 8080, 8777, 9777, 27900

UDP: 7777, 7778, 7779, 27900

Didn't work. Same result when I try to connect, even though the console says I'm successfully bound. Very frustrating to say the least.

If I ever get this going I'll let you all know what the problem was. Thanks again for the help.

[Darkelarious]

If you want to check if the heartbeat was successfully sent out, try finding your server ip in http://master.333networks.com/g/ut

You can also try adding your server manually with http://333networks.com/new
If that doesn't work, or if it says that the server seems offline, the problem is indeed with your ports.

[Chamberly]

I've always rather refer this link for port workaround. http://findports.com/document.php?tag=unreal-tournament

If the ports are open, then hmm..