Microsoft KB Archive/155672

= Monster Truck Madness: Multiplayer Information =

Article ID: 155672

Article Last Modified on 8/16/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Monster Truck Madness

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This article was previously published under Q155672



SUMMARY
The following article discusses how to play Monster Truck Madness with other players, and how to troubleshoot multiplayer issues. This information is from the Monster Truck Madness Readme.txt file. MODEM-TO-MODEM PLAY

During modem-to-modem play, the modems will connect no faster than the slowest modem (and possibly slower).

If you are connecting with a 14.4 kbps modem, you should not include any computer trucks in the race.

If you are connecting between two 28.8 kbps modems you can include one computer truck. If you are using faster connections, you can experiment with including more trucks.

MODEMS CAN'T CONNECT TO EACH OTHER FOR HEAD-TO-HEAD PLAY

You will have the best chance of connecting your modems if you and your opponent are using the same handshaking speed. Set the initial handshaking speed on both machines to match the fastest speed of the slower modem:

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Modems icon.

Click the modem that matches your system in the list box.

(NOTE: If there are no modems listed then you need to add  one by clicking Add.)

Click Properties.

Click the Connection tab.

Make sure both computers have the same connection preferences.

Click the General tab.

Make sure both modems have the same maximum speed setting. This speed should be set to the maximum speed of the slower modem.

LAN ISSUES

To play a multiplayer game on a LAN, your machine must be physically connected to a LAN. Please see your system administrator if you need assistance with this.

You must also make sure that all players use the same protocol (for example, WinSock TCP, or WinSock IPX), and that the protocol is installed on your machine.

To check the protocol:

Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Network icon.

In the Configuration tab, you should see the protocol listed in  the list box.

If you do not have the same protocol as the person you want to  race against, continue with these steps to add a new protocol:

Click Add.

From the list, click Protocol and then click Add.

From the Manufacturer's list, click Microsoft.

Click either TCP/IP or IPX/SPX.

Click OK as many times as necessary.

Click Yes to restart your computer.

SPEEDING UP PLAY ON THE INTERNET

Network "latency," the time it takes for a packet of data to travel between two computers, and "bandwidth," the amount of information that can be passed at any given moment, are two major concerns for any multiplayer game. These problems are more noticeable when playing over the Internet (which has a relatively high bandwidth but unacceptably long latencies) and when using a modem (which can pass information fairly quickly, but only in very small amounts). When modems are used to play multiplayer games through an Internet Service Provider (ISP), the player is hit with both the high latency of the Internet and the low bandwidth of the modem.

Unfortunately there is no software solution for network latency. Usually it is due to the limitations of the network hardware (in this case, the Internet) and the amount of traffic the network is experiencing. There are, however, ways to minimize the impact of latency on games. See the suggestions below:

Have all participating players connect using the same ISP.

Limit the number of players. This reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred between players.

Before starting play, close any applications, such as chats, e-mail notifiers, and web browsers, that are constantly sending and receiving data. This increases the available bandwidth for the game.

AUTOMATIC DISCONNECT AFTER NO ACTIVITY IN MSN

If you are using MSN as a dial-up network to play an Internet game, MSN may disconnect you after it has exceeded the time limit of inactivity. The system does not consider joystick input as activity.

To alleviate the problem, do the following:

Start MSN.

On the View menu, click Options.

In the Disconnect After XX Minutes of Inactivity box, specify a  longer period of time (in minutes).

SUGGESTION: Changing the value to 59, for example, should give you sufficient time to finish your game.

JOINING A GAME ALREADY IN PROGRESS

You cannot join a TCP/IP (Internet) multiplayer game that is already in progress. Attempting to join a TCP/IP (Internet) game that is already in-progress freezes the game on your machine. If you accidentally try it, You can press CTRL+ALT+DEL, and then click End Task in the Close Program dialog box.

SYNCHRONIZATION PROBLEMS WITH INTERNET PLAY

If you connect to the Internet with a modem, the latency of the connection between players is the sum of your and your opponent's modem latency and the Internet latency. This latency increases with the number of players connected in your game. The end result of increasing latency is that synchronization may suffer. If you are experiencing latency, first remove computer-controlled trucks from the game. Then try playing with fewer participants.

SYNCHRONIZATION PROBLEMS PAUSING A MULTIPLAYER GAME

A multiplayer game can get out of sync if one of the players pauses the game. Because of this, the pause keys (P and F3) are disabled in multiplayer mode. However, it is still possible to pause the game by pressing ALT to activate the menu. We strongly recommend that you do not do this. If you have to do it, do it quickly and get back to the game.

For example, pausing a multiplayer game may cause the paused computer to miss the fact that a remote computer went through a checkpoint. This means that the race may not end correctly.

DPSOCKET ERROR RESULTS IF HOST EXITS IN THE MIDDLE OF A RACE

If the host player quits the game (or loses the connection) in the middle of a race, the remaining players will crash. This problem will be corrected in a later version of DirectX, which was not available when Monster Truck Madness was released. Check our Monster Truck Madness product support page on the Monster Truck Web Stop for late-breaking information:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/monster/

RESULTS NOT SYNCHED BETWEEN PLAYERS IN INTERNET PLAY

Due to latency between computer connections in multiplayer play, the times displayed in the Results screen may differ by a few seconds between players' machines.

The host player's computer results should be used for official times and scoring.

TRUCK GETS STUCK

The truck of a joining player who leaves the race gets stuck in park if the joining player is running on Windows NT 4.0.

If you are playing a multiplayer game and a joining player (who uses Windows NT 4.0) leaves the game before the light turns green, the exiting player's truck will remain stuck in park.

This is a very rare scenario, but the game will never end if this behavior occurs. The game goes on as if the human player is still connected and so will continue without end, waiting for this player to finish. If this happens to you, restart the multiplayer game.

IF THE NEXT BUTTON IS DISABLED FOR JOINING PLAYER

Once a joining player reaches the Races screen and is waiting for the race to begin, the joining player should not activate any menu or command. If the player selects a menu or command, the Next button may not be enabled and the race will not begin.

WINSOCK DLL IS MISSING

To use online or Internet connections to play Monster Truck Madness, you must have the proper version of WinSock installed. Using a version of Wsock32.dll other than version 4.00.950, which is manufactured by Microsoft, may cause Monster Truck Madness to function improperly.

The following steps describe how to check which version of Wsock32.dll you are using:

On your Windows desktop, double-click My Computer, and then double-click the hard drive that contains Windows (usually  drive C).

Double-click the Windows folder, and then double-click the System folder.

With the right mouse button, click Wsock32.dll, and then click Properties.

NOTE: To view all the files in the folder, you may have to click Options on the View menu, click the View tab, click Show All Files, and then click OK.

Click the Version tab.

Monster Truck Madness will not run properly, if the version information is:

File Version: Version: 04.10.01.27

IMPORTANT: By replacing your current Wsock32.dll file, you may adversely affect the functionality of another manufacturer's product that relies on this file.

The following sections describe how to replace the existing version of the Wsock32.dll file with a version of the file that will allow Monster Truck Madness to function properly. If you installed Windows from a compact disc, refer to section 1 below. If you installed Windows 95 from floppy disks, refer to section 2.

1: If You Installed Windows from CD-ROM

This section describes how to replace the existing version of the Wsock32.dll file with a version of the file that will allow Monster Truck Madness to function properly.

On your Windows desktop, double-click My Computer, and then double-click the hard drive that contains Windows (usually  drive C).

Double-click the Windows folder, and then double-click the System folder.

With your right mouse button, click Wsock32.dll, and then click Rename.

Type Wsock32.old

Insert your Windows compact disc.

Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.

NOTE: If you are using Windows 98, extract the Wsock32.dll file from the Windows 98 CD-ROM to the \Windows\System folder, and then proceed to step 9. For information about how to extract a file from the Windows 98 CD-ROM, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q129605 TITLE    : How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

Type the following

extract /L c:\windows\system d:\win95\win95_11.cab WSOCK32.

where C:\Windows refers to the drive and folder where Windows 95 is installed, and where D refers to your CD-ROM drive.

Type exit and press ENTER to close the MS-DOS Prompt.

Click Start, click Shut Down, click Restart The Computer, and then click Yes.

2: If You Installed Windows 95 from 3.5-inch Floppy Disks

This section describes how to replace the existing version of the Wsock32.dll file with a version of the file that will allow Monster Truck Madness to function properly.

On your Windows 95 desktop, double-click My Computer, and then double-click the hard drive that contains Windows 95 (usually  drive C).

Double-click the Windows folder, and then double-click the System folder.

With your right mouse button, click Wsock32.dll, and then click Rename.

Type Wsock32.old

Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.

If you have DMF disks, insert disk #12 and type

extract /L c:\windows\system a:\win95_12.cab Wsock32.dll

where c:\windows refers to the drive and folder where Windows 95 is installed, and where "a" refers to your floppy disk drive.

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If you have non-DMF disks, insert disk #19 and type

extract /L c:\windows\system a:\win95_19.cab Wsock32.dll

where c:\windows refers to the drive and folder where Windows 95 is installed, and where "a" refers to your disk drive.

NOTE: If there are 13 disks in your Windows 95 upgrade, you have a set of DMF disks. If there are 21 disks in your Windows 95 upgrade, you have non-DMF disks.

Type exit and press ENTER to close the MS-DOS Prompt.

Click Start, click Shut Down, click Restart The Computer, and then click Yes.

Additional query words: 1.00 Monster Truck Madness multi-player web problems issues modem cd cd-rom Goosebumps DreamWorks

Keywords: kbinfo kbfaq KB155672

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