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My best friends and I both on vacation for a week last year and this year have tried to play via LAN. Last year my main computer, was just to slow. This year I speny almost a thousand dollars upgrading the system and the game plays excellent on either machne. However when we play via Lan, for three days straight we cant seem to get into Sept of 1914 without locking up. So sad this is our favorite game and just cann not seem to be able to play each other.

I suggest you to try the new PBEM version developed with beta version 1.08Q, that works with a Host and 1+ Clients.

Through the games development it had its ups and downs with TCP play. At one time it really worked (played to mid '15 once before stopping due to updates), but as more patches came out, it went "south". As I really wanted to have MP games with WWI I spent a lot of time working with in the MP mode. To my recollection, playing on my LAN was never a problem. It worked well all along--the problems started beyond the modem. It should be a breeze to play on a LAN.

It has been a long time since I tried my LAN with WWI (the game is just too much for my old laptop)--perhaps something has changed.

I have a new router in the mail--should have it by Tuesday. I will set it up for WW1 and post here the results--good or bad.

Thank you let me know!

Hi CSS --I finally got my new router tonight (another Netgear) and got things rolling. It had been a while since I did an MP hookup with WW1--I had to re-read my instructions . I finally got the connection. As it is a bit late, I just fired up the 1914 scenario. I only played through early August--have to stop for tonight. I saved the game so I can resume it later. The game played very well--no hiccups at all until I ended/.quit the game--then it froze on both--that is no big problem though. I purchased a new copy of the Gold version for this test. It took a while for it to install on my 8 year old laptop, but it worked. For the settings, I used my old standard for both the PC's and the router--instant hookup. Hopefully, it will play as smooth right through September--looks good so far. I cannot remember if even the reaction order messed up play on a LAN--it truly did on the internet, perhaps that is what happened in your game. It would be interesting to know your game settings--so I could replicate the situation. Sorry about the long paragraph, but my keyboard is not working correctly on this website--it might just need a rest. To be continued. PS--if anyone wants to try this just be sure to give permission for the program on your router, firewall and AV programs. For this test I used port 4560 and 1630-1640 for port triggering.

Well--it froze-almost on the last battle for September. It resumed and played fine through all phases. The only odd thing that began in September was the newspaper popup at the end of each battle. Along with the normal message of the retreat, there was a news message that reinforcements had arrived for Belgium and the Brits too. This happened during approx. six battles in Sept, then after Nancy, the game stopped. It was not actually frozen, but the "Next Battle" button was not active on either computer--stuck. I'll try this again.

My two computers are less than 50' apart do you think a direct cable would be best? How would I configure the game?

Wireless is just as fast--or faster now than with an RJ 45 hookup. However, (you prompted this thought) a USB hookup to booth computers to the router just might be more stable--dunno, but I am going to try that. My computers were side by side--connected by wireless network. 50 feet apart can make for a challenging (or comical) test environment--I did that once. I would suggest using the battle ai . Seriously though, I need to spend a little bit of time with the game (WW1 has not touched my router in more than a year)--there may be different issues. I never gave up hope that this game would be playable in TCP.

Sooo, good news--it runs like a champ on the LAN. I changed the game settings to full army by army with all sub boxes checked. I also used the battle ai for both sides--both to make it a bit easier and to eliminate getting confused . In two previous attempts the game would sort of stop at the end of a battle. Possibly, in each case it happened because I added units to the battle line and clicked "engage" before I noticed that the other side had withdrawn. I am not sure if that little mishap causes a freeze-I -did not want to chance screwing up the current game--(1914 scenario-played to completion-draw).

BTW--I monitored the cpu and memory usage. The game is using under 500MB's now--an absolutely amazing improvement. I recall a time when it used more than 1 gig of memory. The CPU is using 30 to 40% for the game. In comparison, HoI3 uses 60% on the same CPU. The data exchange via the router is miniscule--in the '14 scenario anyway.