Muzer
5 Jul 2009, 19:51
When the WormNET server went down for maintenance a few weeks ago, it has prevented some (all?) people from connecting since.
The explanation
This is because they changed their ISP. Now, a sensible game would have the DNS address (like google.com) coded into it in case such a thing like this were to happen. But Team17 in the past weren't exactly the most sensible coders on the planet, and they decided to skip that and instead just code in the IP address directly (the same was originally true with Worms Armageddon but an update fixed it). So, when Team17 changed ISP, their IP address also changed, and the old one coded into the game became invalid.
Fortunately, this is very easy to fix. WormNET (from connecting up until you join a host) is comprised of two basic and standard communication protocols: http (the thing that is used for websites), and IRC (used for a lot of chat rooms). Because they used HTTP, they thought they would go the whole hog and use HTML in the bit before the channel list (at which point it is handed over to IRC, with the HTTP still dictating the game list) - that is, the login screen. So, the server list (before you actually connect) is also a HTML document, and inside that is the IP address we need to change.
The fix
Browse to your Worms World Party folder (by default C:\Team17\Worms World Party I believe). Browse into the graphics folder, then into the ServerLobby folder. Right-click on the file serverlist.htm, mouseover "open with", and select Notepad (or another plain text editor if you have a preference).
Find the line that says:
<a href="http://195.89.193.88/wwpnet/WelcomeLoginForm.php">
(the 11th one if you haven't modified it)
Change it so it says:
<a href="http://212.240.191.124/wwpnet/WelcomeLoginForm.php">
Save, and exit
That's it!
More about the fix
The fix merely changes the IP address the game tries to connect to to the correct one. I am not sure if DNS is actually implemented in the game but just unused, or not implemented at all. If someone has some free time, could they try replacing the line with this:
<a href="http://wormnet2.team17.com/wwpnet/WelcomeLoginForm.php">
and seeing if it works?
Future
If the problem happens in the future, and Team17 have indeed changed their IP address (rather than the server just being down), here is how to find out the new IP address:
Press start, click run (Vista and above skip the click run, since you don't have a run button), type cmd (NT-based, including XP/Vista/7) or command (9x/ME) and hit enter. Now, type:
ping wormnet2.team17.com
You might get error messages; just ignore them. The important thing is the IP address. I don't have a Windows box on me, so I don't know exactly how it's formatted, but you should see somewhere in the output a string of four numbers, separated with dots. If you don't, that probably means the server is down. If you do, and the numbers are 212.240.191.124, then again it probably means the server is down. But if you do, and the numbers are something other than 212.240.191.124, then it means Team17 have changed ISP again. Replace the line in serverlist.txt as per above including the new numbers in the string, so it will read:
<a href="http://number1.number2.number3.number4/wwpnet/WelcomeLoginForm.php">
Save and exit, it should work.
More problems
If you still have problems after following the steps above, post in this thread, or start a new one if this one gets locked. But first, make sure it's not one of these issues:
Time and date. WormNET2, unlike WormNET1, uses authentication. This authentication is done by applying an algorithm to a string that the server gives the game and the current date. Therefore, if the date is wrong on your computer, the authentication will fail, and you will usually be left with a blank channel list. Just set the date and time to be correct for your local time zone, and also make sure that your time zone is set correctly in regional options. If the timezone is wrong or the time is out by a few hours, the symptom will be that it works at some times of day, but not others.
Downtime. The WormNET server does have the occasional bit of downtime. Check the rest of the forum (including the Worms Armageddon subforum - they are run off the same server) for announcements or other users having problems.
Firewall. Your firewall might be blocking the game. Manually add it as an exception, or disable in entirely if you can't figure it out.
If you've checked all of these and are still having problems, then it's time to start a new thread (or post in this one). Include the following information:
What you get in your web browser when you browse to wormnet2.team17.com and 212.240.191.124 (it should be a single line of text with the word WormNET2)
Go to start, click run (Vista and above don't click run since there isn't a run button), type cmd (Windows 2000 or above) or command (Windows 95/98/ME), hit enter. Type the following command:
telnet wormnet2.team17.com 6677
And tell us the output. Also tell us the output of:
telnet 212.240.191.124 6677
If it is different. (They should look something like this, though it'll be slightly different because it'll be the Windows telnet, I'm using the Linux one):
Trying 212.240.191.124...
Connected to wormnet2.team17.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
NOTICE AUTH :*** Looking up your hostname...
NOTICE AUTH :*** Found your hostname
PING :wormnet2.team17.com
ERROR :Closing Link: [unknown@255.255.255.255] (Ping timeout: 60 seconds)
Finally, post the contents of your serverlist.htm file (see above how to access this)
Any questions?
The explanation
This is because they changed their ISP. Now, a sensible game would have the DNS address (like google.com) coded into it in case such a thing like this were to happen. But Team17 in the past weren't exactly the most sensible coders on the planet, and they decided to skip that and instead just code in the IP address directly (the same was originally true with Worms Armageddon but an update fixed it). So, when Team17 changed ISP, their IP address also changed, and the old one coded into the game became invalid.
Fortunately, this is very easy to fix. WormNET (from connecting up until you join a host) is comprised of two basic and standard communication protocols: http (the thing that is used for websites), and IRC (used for a lot of chat rooms). Because they used HTTP, they thought they would go the whole hog and use HTML in the bit before the channel list (at which point it is handed over to IRC, with the HTTP still dictating the game list) - that is, the login screen. So, the server list (before you actually connect) is also a HTML document, and inside that is the IP address we need to change.
The fix
Browse to your Worms World Party folder (by default C:\Team17\Worms World Party I believe). Browse into the graphics folder, then into the ServerLobby folder. Right-click on the file serverlist.htm, mouseover "open with", and select Notepad (or another plain text editor if you have a preference).
Find the line that says:
<a href="http://195.89.193.88/wwpnet/WelcomeLoginForm.php">
(the 11th one if you haven't modified it)
Change it so it says:
<a href="http://212.240.191.124/wwpnet/WelcomeLoginForm.php">
Save, and exit
That's it!
More about the fix
The fix merely changes the IP address the game tries to connect to to the correct one. I am not sure if DNS is actually implemented in the game but just unused, or not implemented at all. If someone has some free time, could they try replacing the line with this:
<a href="http://wormnet2.team17.com/wwpnet/WelcomeLoginForm.php">
and seeing if it works?
Future
If the problem happens in the future, and Team17 have indeed changed their IP address (rather than the server just being down), here is how to find out the new IP address:
Press start, click run (Vista and above skip the click run, since you don't have a run button), type cmd (NT-based, including XP/Vista/7) or command (9x/ME) and hit enter. Now, type:
ping wormnet2.team17.com
You might get error messages; just ignore them. The important thing is the IP address. I don't have a Windows box on me, so I don't know exactly how it's formatted, but you should see somewhere in the output a string of four numbers, separated with dots. If you don't, that probably means the server is down. If you do, and the numbers are 212.240.191.124, then again it probably means the server is down. But if you do, and the numbers are something other than 212.240.191.124, then it means Team17 have changed ISP again. Replace the line in serverlist.txt as per above including the new numbers in the string, so it will read:
<a href="http://number1.number2.number3.number4/wwpnet/WelcomeLoginForm.php">
Save and exit, it should work.
More problems
If you still have problems after following the steps above, post in this thread, or start a new one if this one gets locked. But first, make sure it's not one of these issues:
Time and date. WormNET2, unlike WormNET1, uses authentication. This authentication is done by applying an algorithm to a string that the server gives the game and the current date. Therefore, if the date is wrong on your computer, the authentication will fail, and you will usually be left with a blank channel list. Just set the date and time to be correct for your local time zone, and also make sure that your time zone is set correctly in regional options. If the timezone is wrong or the time is out by a few hours, the symptom will be that it works at some times of day, but not others.
Downtime. The WormNET server does have the occasional bit of downtime. Check the rest of the forum (including the Worms Armageddon subforum - they are run off the same server) for announcements or other users having problems.
Firewall. Your firewall might be blocking the game. Manually add it as an exception, or disable in entirely if you can't figure it out.
If you've checked all of these and are still having problems, then it's time to start a new thread (or post in this one). Include the following information:
What you get in your web browser when you browse to wormnet2.team17.com and 212.240.191.124 (it should be a single line of text with the word WormNET2)
Go to start, click run (Vista and above don't click run since there isn't a run button), type cmd (Windows 2000 or above) or command (Windows 95/98/ME), hit enter. Type the following command:
telnet wormnet2.team17.com 6677
And tell us the output. Also tell us the output of:
telnet 212.240.191.124 6677
If it is different. (They should look something like this, though it'll be slightly different because it'll be the Windows telnet, I'm using the Linux one):
Trying 212.240.191.124...
Connected to wormnet2.team17.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
NOTICE AUTH :*** Looking up your hostname...
NOTICE AUTH :*** Found your hostname
PING :wormnet2.team17.com
ERROR :Closing Link: [unknown@255.255.255.255] (Ping timeout: 60 seconds)
Finally, post the contents of your serverlist.htm file (see above how to access this)
Any questions?