Introduction
Whether you bought Demigod or got it from some other *ahem* means, GameRanger provides a convenient and efficient way to stay connected with other players from around the region. This is particularly useful as Demigod's online multiplayer system is currently inadequate. So even if you paid for the game, it's not easy to get a seamless game going.
GameRanger features a serverlist so it is easier to find games than using Hamachi.
Setup
Get GameRanger from [url]www.gameranger.com[/url] and follow the setup procedures. When your account is created and verified/activated, check that it recognizes your Demigod installation. If it doesn't, go to Edit > Options > Games Tab and scroll through the game list to Demigod. Click on browse on the right side and navigate to Demigod.exe in your installation's bin folder (eg. D:\Games\Demigod\bin).
Once Demigod is added, you can filter your serverlist to only show Demigod rooms.
FAQ
I can't join any rooms! There is an error that says something about 'no late joining'.
These rooms have already launched the game. You can avoid these rooms by watching out for the green dots on the serverlist. Rooms with green dots means they have already launched, so look for those that does not have green dot.
Why do I see some people's nick in italic inside the room?
This means that you can't connect to that player and vice versa. Chances are if you launch the game, one of you will have trouble entering the game lobby. In the case that you have a router, you can forward UDP port 16000, 6073, 6100-6200 and turn off UPnP.
However, GameRanger states that it should not need any portforwarding so your mileage might vary. Also make sure you add Demigod.exe and GameRanger.exe to the exception lists of your firewalls and anti-virus softwares. If the problem persists, you might have a screwed up router (symmetric NAT) or just some really stupid home network (a standalone router on top of a modem with router functionalities).
I joined a room. What now?
Just wait for the host to start the game. Once he launches into the ingame lobby, everyone else's game will launch. You don't have to start the game manually.
I am the host and launched the game but the people in my room are not entering my game lobby after a long time.
There is a glitch with GameRanger + Demigod where some people's game will not launch after the host started the game. This is usually rectified by the host exiting/aborting the game and then relaunching. Keep repeating the process till everyone is inside the game lobby and you're golden. It normally works on the second try.
I joined someone's room but my game did not launch after 'Waiting for Host' disappears.
If your host knows what is happening, he will ask everyone to exit/abort the game so that he can relaunch the game. Just wait for him to exit/abort the game. Your game should launch on the second attempt. Third if you're unlucky.
Help! I get a fatal error when the game tries to launch!
Delete the Demigod settings/preferance folder in My Documents (eg. c:\My Documents\Gas Powered Games\Demigod). This will fix the problem but note that you will lose your favor points because your profile will be gone. Also, you will have to re-do your graphics setting and keybindings etc.
The game launched but says my game version is different from the host's.
Depending on how you acquire your game, you will have different versions of the game. Currently, there is game version ending with .91 and .105. Most hosts will put the game version they are running in the description of the room. Join those with the same version as yours.
I see [no text] on the map load screen and the map seems to take forever to load.
Your map will never finish loading and you will need to Ctrl-Alt-Del to exit the game. This problem can be fixed by getting the host to delete his Demigod settings/preferance folder in My Documents (eg. c:\My Documents\Gas Powered Games\Demigod).
Everyone loaded into the game but it is very laggy! Why?
I'm glad you asked. Let me explain Demigod's multiplayer system.
Demigod utilizes a Peer-to-Peer (p2p) connection instead of the more common client/server architecture. DoTA and most RTS are client/server. FPSes are also client/server.
Basically in layman terms, as long as there is 2 people in the game that has high ping to each other, the game will lag for everyone. A common scenario is a game consisting of Singaporeans, Koreans and Australians. To us Singaporeans, we might see everyone's ping as below 200ms and wonder why is the game lagging.
The actual reason is because the Korean is having high ping to the Australian and vice versa.
So now that I know how Demigod's multiplayer system works, how do I stop the lag?
The solution is to play with others in your immediate region. If you're in US West, try playing with US West players only. Other part of USA might be fine so experiment on your own.
You can see a player's location by right-clicking his nick in GameRanger and clicking 'Show Info'. If you fail at geography, too bad. If you're the host, kick people from other regions, especially someone far, far away.
I can't find anyone near my location to play with!
The community is still growing. Nightly games are common but it might be hard to find low-ping games during the day. Add other players near you to your friendslist so it's easier to set up games. Keep GameRanger on when you're using your computer so people can ask you to join.
I play in windowed mode. Why do I keep having problems launching the game with GameRanger?
Windowed Demigod does not seem to work with GameRanger. Run the game in fullscreen.
Everyone has low ping to everyone but the game still runs slowly, why?
Someone might be using a low spec computer and thus everyone will be running the game at the speed his computer can run the game. Nothing much you can really do except to remember who they are and ask that they kindly exit your game next time.
I am play from Singapore and I am having high ping to another Singaporean. Why?
I have not found the exact reason yet but I suspect it is due to router/firewall conflicts. Doing the following on both players' end might fix the issue.
1) Add gameranger.exe and demigod.exe to the exception list of your firewall
2) Turn off UPnP in your router
3) Forward UDP port 16000, 6073 and 6100-6200