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BG2:EE, when will you fix multiplayer?

KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
edited December 2016 in Multiplayer
As it stands now, it is nearly unplayable in multiplayer.
The problems me and my friend(s) face are staggering.

We had set aside an entire weekend each, to meet online and finish BG2 from Chateau Irenicus to ToB.

Alas.. Saturday afternoon we decided to fold and give up, possibly do it in a vanilla BG2 installation using Hamachi to connect at a later time.

What we experienced:
Numerous incidents of NPC's spawning in the wrong place, often breaking quest chains:
Yakman from Watcher's Keep spawned in Firekrag's lair, went hostile and of course was killed.
The Genie in Chateau Irenicus spawning 10 feet away from the Duergars.
.. the list goes on, and it seemed entirely random.
The Chromatic demon spawning outside of his cage, and in the fight staying as an Ice element the entire fight allowing us to just kite him around and kill him with just Firetooth..

Not ONE of us could reproduce these kinds of insane bugs in singleplayer.

Savegames becomming unplayable on Guest clients.
The host would never have this problem, but the Guest clients would at times be entirely unplayable.
The game would hitch for 1 second, every 2 seconds.
Reconnecting, rebooting, nothing helped.
Rolling back to a previous save (and losing progress and time..) was the only alternative.
How do you even break a specific savegame like that??

Losing sync, losing connection, Host client would crash quite often (we swapped around roles several times for testing).

Beamdog.. the game has been out for a long time now, you have been very nearly entirely radio silent since the SoD backlash, patches are few and far between and we have no idea when this game will even be playable online.

Is this the best you've got to give?

edit:
@Nathan
Post edited by Khyron on
thelovebat

Comments

  • raelcariraelcari Member Posts: 133
    Wait, it really doesn't work with direct connection / Hamachi? I'm surprised to hear this; I have finally gotten a group of friends to join me in playing through 1 and 2.
  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,262
    edited October 2016
    Er... That edit... Nathan hasn't been a Beamdog employee in years... Also if you tag someone in an edit they do not get a notification.

    I have played BG1:EE in MP with people scattered all over the world. It was very playable, and that was before 2.0 even came out! BG2:EE probably works just as well. Here is the trick: Don't use direct connection. Use the Beamdog client. That thing works pretty well now.
    JuliusBorisov
  • raelcariraelcari Member Posts: 133
    Tresset said:

    Here is the trick: Don't use direct connection. Use the Beamdog client. That thing works pretty well now.

    While I'm glad to read this, I recommend Hamachi/Direct connection. BG1EE has proven more than playable this way to me and my friends. We're starting a full playthrough this weekend, and I expect no less of BG2EE.
  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    We did use the Beamdog connections in-game. And it was entirely useless.

  • raelcariraelcari Member Posts: 133
    I'm going to rant at you guys. This thread put me a bit off the idea of playing through the entire saga with my friends. But we're currently late in ToB, and apart from a few hiccups* forcing us to recreate the game a few times, direct connection works wonderful in BG1, BG2 and ToB (we skipped SoD).

    This time we used direct connection without Hamachi, just standard LAN setup / IPv4 adress. One of my friends was playing on a Mac, and it went smoothly (but I hosted the game on my PC). I can't pass judgment on the current state of the online service, but direct connection with or without Hamachi works better than I remember BG multiplayer from my youth.

    I'm not saying they shouldn't keep working on it. Some things in MP are annoying, such as being in the level-up screen whilst someone initiates dialogue. The dialogue screen forces itself on top of the UI, making it impossible to accept the level up. *Cromwell is buggy in MP, and having him forge an item usually kicks everyone but the host out of the session (especially if all the ingredients are not in the host's inventory). Cespenar also has a similar bug where everyone but the host has to stay in his dialogue for a long time after it has ended, or until the host saves. Containers such as gem pouch are often glitched if they are in anyone but the host's inventory, etc.

    But if you are willing to work around minor aggravations like that, I'd say direct connection is working pretty good at the moment.
    Grond0JuliusBorisov
  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    Then I truly do envy you.

    We've tried again now, thinking it might have been a weekend of server issues and what not.
    Sadly, with every one of us having 100% clean installs (removing Documents files, install folders, even temporary files) and we still get the same crap.

    We can't use direct connection (without resorting to hamachi) due to isp structure.. so nearly 20 years after bg1's first release, we still can't finish it together.
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    The sort of problems you refer to sound like they're the result of incompatibility between installations. Are any of you playing with mods or do you have different versions of the game?
  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    No. As I said, 100% clean installs. We're all quite tech savvy and know how to remove any and all traces of installations and potential mods.
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited November 2016
    I wasn't just talking about mods or potentially corrupted installs, but also the type of installation. For instance:
    - are they all using the same basic programme (you can play BG1 either on BGEE or SoD and the programming is not identical)?
    - are they all the same version number of the programme?
    - do they share the same platform (PC, ipad etc)?
    - are they all from the same source (GoG, Steam, Beamdog etc)?

    While I certainly agree that MP is not perfect many people find it playable, so I don't think it makes sense to suggest that your issues are purely down to the core programming. Have you tried connecting with different combinations of your group to try and isolate where the problem lies?
  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    We all use the Steam Windows version, we've played with two of us, three and all four in what I guess is pretty much every possible combo.. and swapped hosts.
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    I'm playing at the moment through BG2:EE v2.3.67.3 with a friend, I'm on a Windows from France, he plays on a Mac from Hungary and it works totally fine. We even sometime have another friend who joins us and we didn't experience any lag or crash.

    The only 2 issues we got so far (minor) are:

    -He was once prompted to enter the password again when the game began but it was impossible to press enter, re-starting the session solved this.

    -Two copies of the genie in the Irenicus dungeon spawned in the sewer beneath Athkatla.
    JuliusBorisov
  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    Then you have some of the symptoms we did.. like characters spawning where they don't belong.

    This happened a lot during our first attempt.. along with all the other crazy stuff
    Gotural
  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    We're trying again.. at this very moment.

    100% clean install, manually removing any single trace of BG2:EE.. and this is what we get, not 10 minutes after starting up it bugs out.

    We can't continue like this, because we can't afford wasting another weekend just to have the game flop out entirely much later on, even if it does function somewhat for now.


    What the actual F...




  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    Steps taken today:

    Uninstall BG2:EE
    Remove the leftovers from My Documents.
    Remove leftovers in the SteamApps folders.
    Install
    Verify Game Cache Integrity
    Leave the game entirely intact, not even touching framerate in .lua

    Roll new chars, making sure no strings or -anything- of old remaining.

    *Start playing, encounter Genie after 10 minutes.
    *Try again after shutting down all firewalls - Genie does not appear. Rest in that spot, Genie appears.
    *Try again, Imoen's kick-out dialogue pops up instantly on load - despite having been kicked out of party several quick saves ago, Genie appears.
    *Give up.

    @Gate70 I am at my wits end here. We desperately want to finish BG2 together.. but these bizarre bugs are making this unplayable, and what hurts even more is seeing the ones who somehow manage to finish it in multiplayer.

    PS: We played IWD:EE together for 5 hours without incident. Could it be that 1.4 is more stable in multiplayer than 2.X?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    Try to revert back to the 1.3 in Steam (choose the beta) and play in that version, if 2.X doesn't work for your multiplayer.
  • The_Potty_1The_Potty_1 Member Posts: 436
    edited September 2017
    I'm having a similar experience playing on a lan with my kids. We all have unmodded steam editions, two on windows 10 and one on ubuntu. Generally we use the online service, but have tried direct IP as well. Linux probably gets dropped the most.

    My question is, impartially, is this still better than if I were to dig up the original BG1 disks and install them three times? No Tutu, just patched vanilla? Naturally we'd drop the linux box and use an old XP box instead.

    I'm pretty sure we're gonna do that for BG2 anyway, if we ever get there.

    EDIT is reverting to 1.3 actually a viable solution to this? Was networking ok before, and now it's hosed?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714

    I'm having a similar experience playing on a lan with my kids.

    Can you clarify, what exactly do you mean by a similar experience?
  • The_Potty_1The_Potty_1 Member Posts: 436
    Well I had a potion container bug out, but that's relatively easy to avoid once you know about it. The main problem is the frequent kicking of the linux user. I was certainly kicked as well, but my daughter caught the brunt of it. The other annoyance is freezing up for several seconds when changing areas, but that might just be because we're on the other side of the planet from the online service server.

    Would it be better if she ran the host, and the windows users connected to her, or is linux just not very compatible with windows? Also would direct IP be better, or much the same?

    I can send you any logs or events you might need, and I was actually registered on the system as a BG2EE beta tester, so that might be easier than usual?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    As a general rule, report the issues you encounter on support.baldursgate.com - the QA team will look at your reports and try to help (if possible), also checking if the particular issues are logged in internally. There you will be able to attach to your report all the logs and other files.

    I haven't tested Linux + Windows MP, but the general rule here is the need of using the same game version (for example, 2.3.67), and the same mod setup.

    My experience shows that using the server might be better than direct IP, although for local MP (in the same local network, with IP like 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2 etc direct IP may be better).

    As you were a BG2EE beta tester, it will help in creating those report on our tracker site.

    P.S. Relieved to hear that by a similar experience you didn't mean the constant Genie spawn.
  • The_Potty_1The_Potty_1 Member Posts: 436
    I'll check steam supplies the same versions to windows and linux, that might be it. Changing so Linux is the host is also an easy test, I'll try that tonight. Unfortunately I don't think that XP box has enough video grunt to run EE, but at worst I could bring my work computer home.

    I do think my internet speed might be a factor, so I'm going to play around with Direct IP a bit, we tried once without much effect, but I think I'll ditch the wifi and plug all 3 into an actual switch, using real CAT-5 cable, and manually set the IP addresses.
    JuliusBorisov
  • The_Potty_1The_Potty_1 Member Posts: 436
    Steam does push the same version to linux and windows, so that's good.

    In the end all I did was plug the linux box directly into the wifi router with my one really long lan cable, and it's all working a whole lot better. Perhaps there's a problem with the linux driver for that wifi adapter.

    To clarify, the only bugs we encountered were Kelddath Ormlyr bugged out so he had nothing to sell at all, which seemed to repair itself after leaving the area; plus the container bug if carried by someone other than the host player, which seems to be well known.

    :D
    JuliusBorisovtbone1
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    Thanks for sharing, @The_Potty_1 . The container bug is indeed a well-known issue, and more bugs will be fixed for 2.5. Glad to hear you're able to enjoy the MP!
  • minsc4prezminsc4prez Member Posts: 105
    We got your money, we aint fixing shit. Next question-
  • tbone1tbone1 Member Posts: 1,985

    We got your money, we aint fixing shit. Next question-

    Oh, so you work for the state of Illinois, eh?

    minsc4prez
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    On topic: yes, there're problems with MP, yes, there're workarounds for most irritating problems, yes, there's work being done to patch the existing issues.
  • minsc4prezminsc4prez Member Posts: 105

    On topic: yes, there're problems with MP, yes, there're workarounds for most irritating problems, yes, there's work being done to patch the existing issues.

    any ETA on 2.5 release?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    Very soon.
    minsc4prez
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