Help, something isn't working right

[UAF]

Hi there,
I'm trying to get back to Spring after a long while, but something just doesn't work right.

I downloaded the windows installer and installed the game. Used the Spring Lobby shortcut from the desktop, which asked me if I want to update the lobby, I agreed.

Now the lobby is running, and I connected to the Official Server with my old username (same one as I use for this forum, which is also old).
At least, I think I connected... because while I get the
" ** Server ** Connected to Official server. "
messege and all that, none of the char rooms open up.
Writing /join main also doesn't help.

I can't seem to join games even if I have the map and the mode (latest BA mode).

I tried starting a solo game, and while it worked the graphics were wrong. The ground appeared fine but the commander and a solar station I built seemed like they don't have their skins for some reason (appeared grey).

What is going on, and how to I fix it? I looked for an updated instructions on the site but couldn't find any...

My system's specs are:
i5 750
4GB memory
HD 5770 ATI
Windows 7

I'll appriciate any help

[Forboding Angel]

/j #main

As far as the rest, are you using ati?

[UAF]

Yes I'm using ATI.
And the channel problem is not in the /join #main problem.
The lobby is set to join main automatically, and when I try to look at the channel list it shows nothing.


Hmm... correction, that's how it was this afternoon.
Tryied to join right now, and indeed I was automatically connected to main.

I don't have time to try and join a multiplayer game now, but graphics are still bad in singleplayer.

[zerver]

That bad gfx is because of your ATI card. Try another driver. 10.4 and possibly the very latest beta version should fix it.

[UAF]

Ok, updating the drivers indeed fixed the graphics problems.

But I'm still having problems with the lobby.
I forwarded port 8452 but that doesn't seem to help.
I suspect I'm getting VERY bad ping time with the channel.

How can I change that, and how can I make it better?
I've played Spring before so I know my connection should be able to handle this!
(Also, seems to be fine with backup server 2...)

[UAF]

What is the lobby's IP?

[Forboding Angel]

I don't have time to try and join a multiplayer game now, but graphics are still bad in singleplayer.

Type /channels in the chat

And of course *A still looks like shit. If you want to play something that looks good, try Gundam RTS, Evolution RTS, Spring 1944, Cursed, or Complete Annihilation.

EvoRTS ingame screenshot:

[UAF]

The graphics problems are solved.
But I have connection problems.
Perhaps I need to open a prot for the lobby to work well?
And I'd like to have the lobby's ip or some other way to test my ping with it, since I suspect the problem is related to it.

Is there an alternate rout to reach the main server in order to join games?

[Forboding Angel]

Open up a command prompt or terminal window (I'm just gonna assume you're running windows)

type

ping www.springrts.com

And whatever ip address it displays is the ip of the server.

[UAF]

Thanks.
Well, I pinged the server, and I get a rather good ping of ~90ms.

So the problem is somewhere else.
On the other hand both SpringLobby and springdownloader share the problem.
I tried looking for the good old tasclient, but couldn't find it. (That's what I used last time I played Spring).

Are there other clients out there?

[Licho]

Ping != lobby connection.

Any sort of crap can interfere with your network. Try on another PC using different ISP.

[Forboding Angel]

That's true licho, but ping is essential for determining round trip time. If it takes a full second or more to receive a response from the server, well it's obvious that' you're going to have issues.

[Licho]

Actually its never 100%, ICMP can be treated differently. I have seen routes which on purpose delay ICMP packets resulting in huge ping/packetloss while other types of packets were arriving on time and without any problems.