How to connect to another player online

Hi guys, I’m pretty much done with the first pass on my prototype game and I want to test it online with a friend just to make sure all that multiplayer goodness is working.

Anyways, I’m using the ShooterGame example. So I packaged the game as a Development build and sent a copy to my friend, here’s what happens:

  • I load up a (listen) server/host a game
  • my friend loads the .exe/game (no big deal)
  • I’m using Skype to see his desktop and guide him on what to do
  • he opens the console and types:
  • open 155.15.154.5 (that’s a made up IP, he is actually putting in my IP, which I get from googling “what is my IP”)
  • at this point the game just hangs and never connects

I’m wondering, do you have to put a port number after the IP? If so, do you type it like this: “155.15.154.5:7777”
I can’t find good information out there on the topic; a step by step example would be great!
I found this wiki entry: Networking but I still can’t successfully connect.

Can anyone explain how to connect a MP game and get it up and running?

Thanks!

Hi Jak,

Nothing stands out for what you are doing. There are a few nuances with networking and error handling in shootergame (that we are currently working out as we speak), so if it’s failing it may just not be handling that correctly.

But the reason why it’s failing could be a number of things. When running over the cloud, the #1 thing I check first is firewall settings.

Can you try to run two instance of shootergame locally, and connect to the other with “open 127.0.0.1”? If this works, it’s most certainly a firewall issue, and you both need to make sure port 7777 is open, and forward all packets on that port from your router to your pc (if you are behind a router).

Hi John, thanks for chiming in on this issue, I really appreciate it.

Yes, if I load up 2 instances of ShooterGame(development build) on my PC, one can connect to the other by typing in 127.0.0.1, as well as my internal LAN IP from my PC.

I did forward port 7777, and even port 27015 (GameServerQueryPort=27015) I found in the DefaultEngine.ini, I’m not sure what GameServerQueryPort is for though, I’m not really a network guy- maybe I’ll ask one of the engineers at my studio tomorrow or if you could quickly explain that would be awesome!)

After forwarding lots of ports, my friend couldn’t connect. We did not try having him open port 7777, or any ports on his end for that matter. I will have him try that as soon as we get a chance, I’ll let you know if that works.

Quick question:
How would you go about setting up a MP match on ShooterGame with people outside of your LAN? Is going through the console command (Open xxx.xx.x.xx) the best or only way to do so? Is there another way at all? What do you recommend?

Thanks again, really appreciated! Keep up the great work, UE4 is amazing!

P.S.
Why do you have to use port 7777? Is there a specific reason, or will UE4 only work with that port? Just curious…

Edit: Tonight we tried again, both myself and my colleague opened port 7777 on our routers, however he still can’t connect to my hosted game. So this is what he is doing:

  • loading shootergame
  • opens console
  • types Open 75.xxx.xx.xx (whatever my public IP address is)
  • the hangs, looks like it is trying to connect
  • continues to hang forever, never connects or times out or does anything for that matter

Am I correct in that a client should connect by using the server’s ‘public’ IP; the one you get if you search on Google for “what is my ip?”- is this right?
I’m just not sure what I’m doing wrong, and there’s no info on the web about this…

Hey - did you resolve it? I am having the same problem here. Looking into it as we speak, hopefully I can respond to you with a way to make it work.

No, unfortunately I never did resolve this. Would love a solution for this…

I am not sure if you have already resolved this problem but here are few tips that could help troubleshoot this:

  1. Do a ping between you and your friend on port 7777. See if you get any reply.
  2. If you are behind a router, it is possible that your router is blocking direct traffic from this IP. Go to your router settings and white list your friends IP. Do the same on your friends router.
  3. Disable firewall completely for a moment on your machine and on the router also.
  4. Run a trace on your friends IP see if you can reach it. Ask your friend to do the same.

What is your internet provider?
Are you running a DS-Lite connection?

You are using a shared IP address your friend can not join you.
You need a static IP so your friend can join you.