Dune 2000 - The Return of the Online Multiplayer sandy Match

[ST Dragon]

I've always been a fan of the original Dune RTS games, especially Dune 2 on the Amiga / PC and the 1998 PC Remake, Dune 2000.
Since the demise of Westwood studios, their multiplayer servers were shut-down and thus online gaming died with them...

How ever, recently various fans resurrected the Dune 2000 online death-matches via Hamachi & Tunngle and I had various awesome matches via Hamachi! So, for anyone wanting to relive the good old days, here are all the necessary steps to follow for a flawless sandy skirmish...

OK, so I’ll sum things up.
This is exactly what I did to get Dune 2000 multiplayer working on Windows XP & Hamachi (Vista & 7 will work just fine too!), without having to install IPX protocol in the Lan adapters and without having to open any ports or port-forwarding what so ever in the modem / router.

1. Install any version of Hamachi from here:
http://filehippo.com/download_hamachi/

Join the following Networks where most people play on right now:

Network Name: dune2011net
pass: dune

Network Name: Dune 2000 IPX
pass: 2000

To organize your matches & chat with any one of the users, right click on the username and choose "chat..."

Or to chat in the main network with all the users at the same time, right click on “dune2011net" (example) and choose "Open Chat Window"

Please note that the later version of Hamachi (V2.0.3.89) don't have sound notification turned on by default when a new message arrives, so you should do the following in order to see messages from other users who are trying to invite you for a match.

In the main Hamachi window go to:

System > Preferences > Settings > Chat Settings:
When new Message Arrives = Show the Chat Window
Play a sound when new IM arrives = Yes

2. Download and unpack the files needed (DirectPlay UDPtoIPX patch) to bypass the need for the ancient IPX protocol from here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9043120/Dune2k%20Files.7z
Unpack and Copy them in your Dune 2000 game folder (WinXP users will only need to copy wsock32.dll)

3. Update Dune 2000 to version 1.06 (I use the (English – US) version and seems to work fine) from here:
http://dune2k.com/Downloads/13

4. Re-prioritize your network adapter order in Windows. Hamachi adapter must be on top in Adapters & Bindings:

WinXP: Start -> Control Panel -> Network Connections -> Advanced -> Advanced Settings -> Adapters and Bindings -> Move Hamachi up 1st on the list.

WinVista: Start -> Control Panel - Network and Sharing Center -> Manage Network Connections - Adanced -> Advanced Settings -> Adapters and Bindings -> Move Hamachi up 1st on the list.

Or...

WinVista: Start -> Control Panel -> Network and Internet Connections -> Network Connections -> Manage network Connections -> Organize -> Menu -> Advanced -> Advanced Settings will give Network Adapters & Bindings Order

5. Setup exceptions for Hamachi & Dune 2000 in Windows firewall & 3rd party firewalls. Or Disable Windows Firewall and any 3rd Party firewalls.
Also, disable the SPI firewall in your modem / router.

6. Start Dune 2000 -> DirectPlay UDPtoIPX patch -> select the network address to use:
Choose the IP corresponding to hamachi (The virtual IP 5.75.x.x, you see in the hamachi client / interface) and not your local lan card IP (192.168.x.x)

7. Start Dune 2000 -> Go to Multiplayer Game -> Lan -> Lobby... and join any existing match or create and host your own by pressing “New” (You should see the other players in the lobby)

Please note the following!!:
A few more things you should do to maximize the performance


Uninstall IPX protocol from any of your Lan Adapters including from the virtual Hamachi adapter (If you had all ready installed it prior to this) and restart your PC.

Don’t use ALT+TAB while playing Dune2k, it will lead to sensible lags for all players & later connection lose with that user.

Also to reduce the in-game lags and slow downs you should do this:
http://www.logmeinwiki.com/wiki/Hamachi:Ga...igh_ping_issues

Lag/High ping issues
If your game lags there are a few things you can try:

1.Ensure you aren`t downloading/uploading anything and that Windows isn`t downloading/installing updates;
2.Get a faster internet connection;
3.If you have a multi-core CPU, open Task Manager > click on the `Processes` tab, find `Hamachi.exe` (Vista users should tick `Show processes from all users` and make sure they have admin rights!) and right click on it > Set affinity... and use only CPU0 (untick the others).
You`ll have to set the affinity every time you start your PC!

The same way should work for Tunngle too, however you’ll have to open port 11155 and port forward it to your local PC Lan IP 192.168.x.x in your Modem / Router.

P.S.
Here are a few older Hamachi Networks for anyone that wants to try joining are:

Network name: Dune-2k Networks
Passw: dune

Network name: dune2k-2008
Pass: 2008

Network name: Dune 2000 Server
pass: Arrakis

Network name: Dune2009
pass: Dune

Network Name : volk-ss
pass : 123

Network Name:
Troy 1
Troy 2
Troy 3
etc...

pass: 1234

Network Name: Dune2000Server
Pass: dune

Network Name: Dune 2000 Server 3
pass: dune

Network Name: Dune 2000 Server 4
pass: dune

Network Name: THE IX
Pass: lolz

Network Name: dune-bagalx
pass: dune


For a whole lot more info on Dune multiplayer online gaming, you can find in the following site / forum:
http://forum.dune2k.com
And in this thread in specific:
http://forum.dune2k.com/index.php?/topic/2...ltiplayer-game/
Also look through this guide about Hamachi gaming:
http://www.logmeinwiki.com/wiki/Hamachi:Gaming
& Tunngle Troubleshooting Thread if you have questions/troubles:
http://www.tunngle.net/community/topic/884...-and-solutions/


So that was that!
The spice must flow!

[kode54]

Also, be sure to disable the SPI firewall in your modem / router.

Umm, what? Shouldn't Hamachi be tunneling past this, and thus not need any modem/router setting changes? Also, it should only be necessary to add exceptions for Hamachi and Dune 2000, not actually disable the entire firewall. Since, you know, that would kind of open all of your default address listen ports up to that big LAN of strange people who may be doing more than just playing Dune 2000. But that's just paranoia talking.

Yeah, modem/router SPI firewalls are often permanently enabled, or at least required for the minimum of forwarding traffic from the LAN side to the Internet. I could disable my router's iptables firewall rules by clearing the entire table, but then at the very least I'd need to add rules for forwarding traffic from the LAN interface(s, I have a second one for isolating one of my WiFi networks) to the WAN interface.

Hamachi does need TCP and/or UDP ports forwarded to itself, but by default, it doesn't use fixed port numbers, and it uses Universal Plug and Play to request the port from any NAT router. If your router supports UPnP, then you don't even need to mess with anything to get it working. Other than Windows Firewall. Yeah, it may be necessary to add an exception for it, but damn, shouldn't pretty much any application which targets Windows XP SP2 or newer be requesting its own exceptions in the firewall, which would pop up an Allow/Deny dialog on the host system? Hmm...

[ST Dragon]

Also, be sure to disable the SPI firewall in your modem / router.

Umm, what? Shouldn't Hamachi be tunneling past this, and thus not need any modem/router setting changes? Also, it should only be necessary to add exceptions for Hamachi and Dune 2000, not actually disable the entire firewall. Since, you know, that would kind of open all of your default address listen ports up to that big LAN of strange people who may be doing more than just playing Dune 2000. But that's just paranoia talking.

Yeah, modem/router SPI firewalls are often permanently enabled, or at least required for the minimum of forwarding traffic from the LAN side to the Internet. I could disable my router's iptables firewall rules by clearing the entire table, but then at the very least I'd need to add rules for forwarding traffic from the LAN interface(s, I have a second one for isolating one of my WiFi networks) to the WAN interface.

Hamachi does need TCP and/or UDP ports forwarded to itself, but by default, it doesn't use fixed port numbers, and it uses Universal Plug and Play to request the port from any NAT router. If your router supports UPnP, then you don't even need to mess with anything to get it working. Other than Windows Firewall. Yeah, it may be necessary to add an exception for it, but damn, shouldn't pretty much any application which targets Windows XP SP2 or newer be requesting its own exceptions in the firewall, which would pop up an Allow/Deny dialog on the host system? Hmm...

Not sure, I just posted all the possible and minimum combinations, as some people had problems connecting...

Tunngle has a Dune2000 Network too, but alas I have not seen anyone connected there...

So care for a match? I'm regularly online on the 1st two Hamachi Networks.

[ST Dragon]

It seems that my last Hamachi network got full:

Network ID: dune-bagalx
pass: dune

So I made a new one, for anyone that wants to join and play Dune 2000 online:

Network ID: dune2011net
pass: dune

I've had some excellent matches so far!