Alien Front Online Server Update: Now Online

[Jako]

So Jako mention that the ranking system didn't update, so that is fixed now

Thanks for the fix Shu!!!

You got it at the first try. You are the best!!! Yeah



PD: And thanks for the Ccr export too!!!

[Nz17]

I am using DreamPi v1.7 DLE running on a DreamPi from PCWzrd13 (a Raspberry Pi 3 model, I believe) with Wi-Fi. I use the phone number 555-5555 to dial-up. I can successfully play 4x4 Evolution, ChuChu Rocket!, Internet Game Pack, The Next Tetris: On-line Edition, and PSOv2 using the dial-up modem via the DreamPi as well as browse the Web, join IRC, read and send e-mail, etc.

But Alien Front Online gives me problems. (It is a good, official copy that I bought from the GOAT Store. All of the modes run just fine, and yes, I am running it directly from a real GD-ROM.) I can connect to the lobby. I can create a room or select auto-join. The game can download the high scores (jako, dcdingo, etc.). But at the tank selection screen, I get a "connection problems, will retry" kind of a message. After ~20 seconds, I am automatically disconnected. This happens every time. I can get past the tank selection screen by quickly picking a tank and allowing the match to start, but the same situation happens during game-play with the error message and the ~20 second disconnect.

My Pi is normally running at 192.168.1.145. This fully works for all of the other games but only gets me this far with AFO. I have port forwarding enabled (including AFO's port 7980 which I have tried both via UDP-only or UDP with TCP) for all Dreamcast games except for the recently-revived Gundam (see the screenshot for my router's configuration). I have also tried using DMZ instead of port-forwarding. After changing any settings for my DreamPi or router, I have tried leaving them as-is and I have also tried rebooting both of them: all to no avail.

When I set my DreamPi to run at 192.168.1.98 instead of nnn.nnn.n.145 and change the matching settings for ports or DMZ, the problem is even worse whether I am using port forwarding or DMZ. In this case, after dialing-up and verifying my username and password with the DreamPi, I get a "trying to establish a connection to the server" type of a message. It just sits there with that message until the connection attempt times out. I can't connect to the lobby, nor create a room, nor select auto-join, nor download the high scores. I read from this article a mention of using port 8080 but obviously that port would have been covered when DMZ was enabled for the DreamPi, and it looks like the communication is established with an initial outgoing connection so that shouldn't be affected by port forwarding nor DMZ anyway.

What black magic must I perform to get this game to work online? Please feel free to get technical with your responses. Thank you.

[megavolt85]

need create portforward to dreamcast IP (not dreampi)
if ip xxx.xxx.xxx.98 free then script set Dreamcast IP xxx.xxx.xxx.98 (192.168.1.98 in your network)

[Nz17]

Thank you, megavolt85: That worked the trick!

Silly me, I didn't realize that the DreamPi (192.168.1.150) and the Dreamcast (192.168.1.98) had different, addressable IP addresses. As all of the other games that I had tried worked just fine with port forwarding to the DreamPi's address instead of the Dreamcast's, it made it seem like I had things set up correctly. I thought that the DreamPi, as it was basically working as the Dreamcast's dial-up Internet Service Provider, was somehow automatically passing along any packets by going, "Packets for IP 150? Send these to IP 98," via its own port forwarding.

However as is now obvious, things have to be set so that packets go from the cable modem (192.168.100.1) to the router (192.168.1.1) to the DreamPi (192.168.1.150) to the Dreamcast (192.168.1.98) by forwarding packets to the Dreamcast's IP of 98. (Though one could set things up to forward from the router to the DreamPi, and then set the DreamPi to forward to the Dreamcast by putting the Dreamcast's IP into the DreamPi's DMZ or routing tables with the "iptables" command.)

Anyway, thanks to your advice, I have corrected my router's port forwarding. Now it forwards to the Dreamcast for all of my DC games. Thanks for helping to fix my problem with Alien Front Online!

Oh, and Scrivani, thanks for playing AFO online with me the other day! It helped to verify that things were working correctly - and it was fun!

[redcoffee90]

Hi all -- Bringing this thread back from the dead -- but would anyone be available to help me test out Alient Front Online connectivity?

[Bob Dobbs]

I am on the eastern time zone, so can you post a time you would like to test, if you still need to.