Help me get Screenmonkey or Maptools to work.

[Chimera245]

I can't get either of those programs to work so far as connecting to other players.

I've been searching and googling, and firewall-ing, and router-ing, and properties-ing around in circles forever, and I CAN'T GET THE STUPID THINGS TO WORK!!

(On the plus side, I've learned a great deal about ports and IP addresses and clients and servers, but sadly, it seems I haven't learned quite enough to actually DO ANYTHING USEFUL with these programs...)

I'm not sure what you guys would need to know about my failed attempts or computer specs, so just tell me what you need to know.

[2WS-Steve]

It's a nightmare. Every year lately I've been moving. Which means that every year I need to figure out the new set of hoops to leap through to set up, in my case, Kloogewerks or Fantasy Grounds.

Last year not only did I have to set up firewalls on the computer and port forwarding on the router, but I also needed to tweak some kind of pass-through setting on my DSL modem.

This year is even worse. Nothing I try works and I've gotten "screw around with incredibly frustrating software" fatigue, so I've given up entirely on this sort of locally hosted software.

I'm now just going to wait for the D&D Insider game table. From what I understand that'll be hosted on WotC's servers and so work without having to fiddle with God knows how many weird haXX0r codes.

[azhrei_fje]

Originally Posted by Chimera245

I can't get either of those programs to work so far as connecting to other players.

If you'll check the RPTools.net forums, you'll find a Networking FAQ that I wrote that takes you step-by-step through the process for debugging a network connection problem.

It starts out by describing how networking ports work in general, then has a series of questions and answers (the FAQ portion) that takes you through the steps, in order, for determining where the problem is and solving it.

Please... Check out the FAQ then post in the MapTool forum if you still have problems. And if it works, please post that along with a description of what you had to do make it work! That way I can make the FAQ even better for the next person.

[Chimera245]

I'm only a few pages in, but I already love the way it simplifies the concepts without making me feel stupid. I love the phone call comparison.

[azhrei_fje]

Originally Posted by Chimera245

I'm only a few pages in, but I already love the way it simplifies the concepts without making me feel stupid. I love the phone call comparison.

Heh, thanks. I've used that analogy in my TCP/IP classes for years. It's not a perfect analogy, but in many ways it fits very well. Certainly close enough for what typical users need to know to diagnose firewall/router problems...