9 replies to this topic

[CherokeeRose187]

*I've never played co-op before, and I'm not a tech wizard.

I'm looking for info on playing co-op via LAN, without going through the internet.

We would be either connecting direct (computer to computer via Ethernet cable) or using a wifi router, or hardwire via Ethernet through a router.

I already bought the base game through Epic when it was first released, and I have a family member who is wanting to play co-op, but we have geostationary satellite for our normal internet connection, with limited data usage (and 1000ms ping), so I'm hoping there is a way we can log in to the game and then host it locally without needing to run through a geostationary satellite (twice).

Is this going to work? How are the games hosted? Can we set our computers up to both be "discoverable" on our router and my computer will be the host?

Sending a signal to a satellite for game play with two computers that are in the same room is ridiculous and will be unplayable with our lag/data/bandwith issues.

Before we go out and buy another game license, I want to be sure this will work.

[CherokeeRose187]

I did some internet searches which kept leading me back to a trashy Reddit thread, and the MWO search engine is... lacking.

We have Windows 10 computers, if that matters.

The way we normally do this is go to a local library (rural area, they are very understanding) and set up our desk tops to download game updates to stuff (like minecraft, which we are also about to try and multiplayer)

Edited by CherokeeRose187, 05 August 2023 - 08:33 PM.

[NullaNulla]

Only the host has to have the DLC's. as to the LAN, contact PGI support. good luck, good hunting.

[CherokeeRose187]

NullaNulla, on 05 August 2023 - 08:39 PM, said:

Only the host has to have the DLC's. as to the LAN, contact PGI support. good luck, good hunting.

I actually bought the game twice, once through Epic, when it first came out, then later through Steam (because most of my other games are through steam).

My steam account has at least one DLC added (maybe two, I forget), so I had thought they would not be compatible.

I assume I will need to update both accounts to the latest download version, just like different versions of minecraft won't mesh for group play.

Would this allow me to play both accounts together for co-op, even though one is through Steam and one through Epic, so I would NOT need to buy another license?

I unfortunately used the same email for both licenses, and used the same account name... I'm hoping this won't cause an issue.

I did pay individually for both games though (~$100 out of pocket) so I'm now hoping I can use these accounts together.

Edited by CherokeeRose187, 05 August 2023 - 09:16 PM.

[CherokeeRose187]

Found this gem of an article.

https://dev.epicgame...ultiplayer-reqs

"Products with online multiplayer functionality must support crossplay across all PC storefronts in order to be distributed on the Epic Games Store. This requirement ensures users who purchase a multiplayer product

on the Epic Games Store can easily connect with friends and other players, regardless of where purchases were made.

You may use your preferred solution for crossplay, such as the free Epic Online Services (EOS) crossplay functionality, your own method, or any third-party system that works across PC storefronts. Crossplay with other non-PC platforms (i.e., consoles) is optional but encouraged."

(cont)

This really should be in a manual in the game, I shouldn't have to do internet searches to find this stuff.

[CherokeeRose187]

apparently steam and epic accounts can be linked, thank goodness I did not link them already, so it looks like I might be able to still use my already purchased game licenses without buying a THIRD account.

[CherokeeRose187]

Looks like I can change my email and displayed name, in case that could cause an issue.

https://www.epicgame...-a5720285595291

[kalashnikity]

https://portforward....-5-mercenaries/

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries has the following styles of gameplay.

In a simulation game the primary goal is to simulate a real life situation either for education or entertainment. Simulation games have a huge vareity of types including sports, driving, flying, and dating. Some of the most popular sims of all time are SimCity and Madden NFL.
Tactical games are a subgenre of strategy games that focus more on operational warfare, military style tactics, and troop placement. They focus more on logistics and production than on combat, and can at times feature complex battlefield tactics.
Action games are fast paced and tend to put the player in the middle of the action, requiring you to jump over obstacles, climb ladders, and shoot things.
Shooter games are fast paced action games that are based on testing the players reaction time. They usually involve the player holding a weapon in front of them and attempting to shoot other players or characters. Some shooters are short lived arcade style, but most have both a single player mission series and some have a large multiplayer following. Common shooters include Call of Duty and Battlefield.

Port Forward MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries

When you are playing MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries you might need to forward some ports in your router. Forwarding ports is a useful trick in gaming because it can really help to make your network connection most stable and sometimes even faster. Routers were not designed to allow incoming network requests and some games can play tremendously better if an incoming connection is forwarded through the router to the game.
Before You Forward a Port

Before you can forward a port you need to know the following things:

The IP address of your router.
The IP address of the device that the game will play on: either your computer or your console.
A list of TCP and UDP ports to forward.

How to locate your Router's IP Address

The easiest way to locate your router's IP address is to run our free Router Detector utility. It's a part of the Network Utilities suite of tools and it's completely free to use.
How To Forward Ports

The easiest way to do this is to use Network Utilities. Network Utilities can forward your ports in just a few clicks, and close them back down when you are done just as easily. You can also do it the manual way.

The usual process for forwarding a port is:

Start by logging in to your router.
Locate your routers port forwarding section.
Put the IP address of your computer or gaming console in the applicable box in your router.
Put the TCP and UDP ports for your game in the matching boxes in your router.
Intermittently you have to reboot your router for the changes to take effect.

Which Ports Does MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries Require

The network ports for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries are as follows:

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Steam

TCP: 27015-27030, 27036-27037
UDP: 4380, 27000-27031, 27036

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - PC

We do not know the PC ports for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries yet. If you know them please send us a message using our Message System.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Xbox One

TCP: 3074
UDP: 88, 500, 3074, 3544, 4500

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Xbox Series X

TCP: 3074
UDP: 88, 500, 3074, 3544, 4500

We have guides that are custom tailored for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries that will show you the ports that need to be forwarded in your router.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Steam
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Xbox One
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Xbox Series X

[kalashnikity]

I don't know if this helps much, but knowing which ports the games use might be a bit of useful info.

[Star Lit Night]

(cliffnotes/TLDR) MW5 cannot do LAN/Local Coop because (surprise surprise) the Devs took the easy way out, coop is not encoded into the game, they force you to do co-op through an online server... so if the server ever "goes away" then no more coop.

I even tried playing at a library, which is on a fiber-optic mainline (and should be as fast as possible), and the coop was very laggy, disgustingly so. My team mate would "bounce around" just like how a light with high latency jumps around on MWO. And from their perspective I was lagging badly too. I can only imagine how bad it would look with 4 people on coop, teleporting the whole time. It's obvious the server that is being used has a very low priority ($$$) for providing quality gameplay. A problem that could be cured by allowing peopel to host games LAN style, but that would require someone at PGI to know how to actually code and not just use plugins.

It was a very unsatisfying experience. Add to the fact that a full mechlab is not included in the game (without mods that the devs break for every update) to make the entire thing a very unsatisfying experience. It's a psychopath form of game development.

"those are some nice mods y'all built, too bad we are going to destroy all your hard work every few months",

With this type of brilliant strategic decision making it's no wonder MWO went from 100,000+ players to barely surviving with a handful of hardcore fanatics.

Here is the article I found to explain it all.

https://www.gog.com/...ooking_for_coop

"doomicle: Also no mention on the store page that the co-op doesn't work without GOG's Galaxy DRM platform.

BlackSun: Now, that one is just a matter of requirements by now. You can thank Steam for that one. (But arguably it was inevitable, if it hadn't been them, it would've been invented / introduced any of the other platforms.)

To explain in an oversimplified manner... the game does not have it's own multiplayer code. The multiplyer code is only provided as a plugin, by <Steam / Origin / Epic / GoG>, which need a dedicated client with a friendlist for matchmaking to work, because that's how Steam did it, and what the games embraced as a standard. (Kind of like 3rd party controllers are all mimicking the Xbox controller protocol.)

The good side of it is, 1) this makes it easier for games to offer multiplayer, as the devs don't have to develop it, and 2) nor do they have to host the servers for it themselves, enabling even small devs to create multiplayer games. They just use <Platform>'s plugin that's provided to them, and don't have to deal with anything else. It's a puzzle piece that slots stright into the game. Multiplayer, done.

Now when a game gets released on a different platform, that puzzle piece obviously can't be taken with, and needs to be swapped out by the one of said platform for multiplayer to function. GoG didn't have one for the longest time, which is why games used to release on GoG without multiplayer support, at all. The puzzle piece simply didn't exist, and it left a hole.

This is the nature of outsourcing multiplayer infrastructure. It's cheaper and easier for the devs to do, but requires the player to be using a client as the game does not have accounts, friendlists, nor multiplayer code of it's own.

Steam invented it, it took off big time, and everyone else can't do anything about it but provide their own puzzle pieces to slot in, or alternatively, cut multiplayer alltogether. It's not been designed as a DRM measure, but as a service to game devs.

Some games do still have their own multiplayer code integrated to this day, like Factorio which will prompt you to create an account with the devs ingame, or Project Zomboid, which even provides a dedicated server for anyone to run. But they are rare, because it's more effort and costly to develop, rather than just... take that 3rd party puzzle piece and be done with it.

But one way or another, people always complain. Either it's "It needs <Client>" for multiplayer", or "It needs me to create an account to play". So again - you may thank Steam for that one.

In the end, should it be marked / explained more clearly? Yes, probably.

Oh, by the way if it wasn't clear which one this game falls under, it seems that MW5 is using it's own code (crossplay system) and you have to agree to a multiplayer EULA ingame for it to work. At least for GoG. Other platforms also support their native friendlists (the "puzzle pieces)."



"Sure, I understand the situation, but it's not something a consumer should have to be aware of in order to make a purchase.

The average gamer isn't a developer, and has zero idea that their game is going to have a vendor-lockin component required for the game to start a multiplayer session.
Therefore it should be clearly marked on the game store for the user to make their informed purchase. Anything less is more or less false advertising or misleading the customer.

Obviously these sorts of multiplayer lobby systems were designed with the dual intention of vendor-lockin with the added benefit of making development easier.
Xbox live back in the day was a tragic case, where many games became totally broken after Microsoft stopped support for Xbox live.

It's just one of the pitfalls of building third party proprietary software into your game. When the company that built that proprietary software stops support for that software, the future support for the game is also forfeit.
This is particularly a problem when that proprietary software dials home. Because as soon as the servers go offline, the functions of the game that do the dialling home simply stop functioning. It's perhaps not necessarily always a case of planned obsolescence, but it sure as heck does make your games obsolete once it happens."

Edited by Star Lit Night, 18 August 2023 - 10:50 AM.