fs2004 Problems with online connection... FS2004

[jhaniofs]

I'm trying to play FS2004 in multiplayer mode with a friend, but every time one of us tries to connect to the other's server we get the error 'Connect failed! Not all players are able to connect'. We have already checked our internet connections, firewalls, antivirus, and configured port forwarding on the router, but the problem persists. Does anyone know how to resolve this?"

[ViperPilot2]

There is no longer a dedicated Server to support FS2004. It hasn't existed for many Years, since the days of Teamspeak and SqualkBox (?).

[lnuss]

14 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

There is no longer a dedicated Server to support FS2004. It hasn't existed for many Years, since the days of Teamspeak and SqualkBox (?).

True, but FS doesn't need a "dedicated Server" if you connect directly to the other player(s). It's been many, many years since I had FS2004 but a friend and I used it between FS2002 and FSX and never connected to a server, just direect to each other, just as we did from FS98 until he died a few years back. I don't recall exactly what the multiplayer dialogs looked like then, but in FSX, after selecting multiplayer, you select LAN and then the SIGN IN button. Then you can choose to host a session or to connect directly, thus for two players, one selects host, tells the other player what his IP address is (the one from the internet, not the one from your local LAN), and the other selects connect directly then enters the host's IP address.

 

However, you must first set the network connection parameters giving the port number or range. I do recall that FS2004 was laid out a little different, but those parameters are still needed, just as jhaniofs said he did.

 

To jhaniofs: Are you doing this with both of you on the same local LAN or are you at different locations going through the internet (as my friend in Dallas and I did years ago). I ask because you say, "and configured port forwarding on the router" so it's not quite clear whether you have each done this correctly on separate routers/LANs or with both of you on the same LAN.

 

So hopefully you have each configured with the same port (or port range) and other parameters matching.

 

Perhaps someone who still uses FS2004 can check what the different dialogs look like and if jhaniofs will list settings on both his and his friend's machines someone might be able to catch the problem. It may well be a permissions problem, a time allowed parameter, or some other (perhaps subtle) difference between the settings of the two machines -- remember that not all routers act the same or have the same interface.

 

Sorry I can't be more help at this point.

 

 

[ViperPilot2]

I just recall the days of the RTW Race and it seemed TeamSpeak and SqwalkBox (I know I'm botching the Spelling) were what everyone was using to talk to each other. I also recall a time during one of the DC-3 Airways World Rally events where a couple of us flew a Flight talking to each other and I think SqwalkBox was the interface we used to Connect MP. Again, that was 10+ years ago. My current laptop has such a bad WiFi connection that I don't use it very much at all, and my Cat 5 connection port doesn't work either.

[MAD1]

Interesting thread. I have FS2002, and want to do multiplayer. About 15 years ago I did get it working to connect into Vatsim, with audio via Squawkbox (http://squawkbox.ca/about/, just looked at this site, it was shutdown in 2013 and the last post recommends Vatsim or Pilotedge https://www.pilotedge.net/pages/how-it-works. Looking at the Pilotedge website it lists suitable sims and includes FS2004. The last news item for PilotEdge is April 2021 so they also might be no longer active.). I was able to sit on the edge of the runway, on the grass, as a newbie should, and watch others takeoff and land. Then Vatsim changed the connection software they used so I couldn't connect anymore.

 

I have tried a few times to see if I can find any online flyers, via FS2002 connection to servers, via FSHost Spy (https://www.chocolatesoftware.com/fshostspy/). I could see them listed, a group in Brazil, but when I tried connecting it wouldn't, so I gave up. I would very much like to connect to one or more other flyers to enjoy some joint flying. My hunch is that what works in FS2004 will also work in FS2002.

 

If anyone has had any recent successful experience, please post here.

[MAD1]

This is a good video re ATC for newbies like me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA-KAak83Vw '10 Minute Guide to ATC for your Flight Sim | Air Traffic Control positions & how to communicate'.