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General Discussion
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After careful research and testing I've determined that Multiplayer gaming with my current development tools (Gamemaker 6.1) is somewhat limited. Here's some cases and details that should be helpful:

1. If both people are connected directly to the internet things go smoothly. The hosting player should communicate his external IP to the joining player.

2. For LAN play things go pretty smoothly, with the host simply specifying his internal IP address. 

3. If the person hosting the game is connecting directly to the internet and gives their external IP address things should go pretty smoothly. I've tested this a bit: even if the joining player is behind a corporate firewall things should go well. The joining player may or may not need to create an Exception for port 17803 to make it work.

4. Playing behind a router seems to be tricky. Supposedly one can log into their router and create a port exception (perhaps only for a specific connecting IP) and that should work. However, I can't log into the router that I run behind so I can't test this very well -- I had to plug directly to our DSL modem to successfully host an MP game.

*IMPORTANT* Make sure BOTH players have the same version of the game!

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Hosting a Game
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To host a game click "Multplayer." Then click "Host Game." You will see a screen which displays your external and internal IP address.

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Joining a Game
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To join a game click "Multiplayer." Then click "Join Game." You will be asked to provide the hosting player's IP address. Use the one most appropriate to your needs:

Internal IP: Use this IP address if both players are on a Local Area Network.

External IP: Use this IP address if players are on different networks.

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Troubleshooting
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Problem: 
My internal IP address is not displayed on the waiting screen.

Solution: 
1. Click "Start".
2. Click "Run".
3. Type in "cmd" and press "ok". A command screen should pop up.
4. Type in "ipconfig". You should see one or more internet connection details. You will see
   IP Address......................Your internal IP address here

Problem:
My external IP address is not displayed on the waiting screen.

Solution:
Cry Havoc: Test of Faith finds your external IP address via www.whatismyip.org. That site might be down. Visit one of these sites:
http://www.whatismyip.org
http://www.whatismyip.com

Problem:
I can't connect to a hosted game or I see the message "Failed to listen on port 17803".

Solution:
Check to make sure your internet connection is working properly. 
Restart the game and try again. Try having the other player host the game.