Troubleshooting

Find the solution to common problems.
  1. The game runs too slow; can I do something?
  2. Why can't I hear the music? How do I get DirectX 7?
  3. Why can't I connect to the server?
  4. Why can't I play online melees? What is that UDP error?

  • The game runs too slow; can I do something?
    		•

    • Quit all other application when playing StarKnights.
    • Disable memory resident virus shields.
    • Try disabling the music from the Options Menu.

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  • Why can't I hear the music? How do I get DirectX 7?
    		•

    You need to have DirectX 7 (or later) installed on your computer for the music and sound mixing to work properly. Once installed, enable the music from the Options Menu (Choose the DirectSound option).

    The latest DirectX drivers are available (for free) for download from Microsoft's DirectX Site.

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  • Why can't I connect to the server?
    		•

    There are many possibilities...

    • Make sure you have a 32-bit Winsock! The Connect Screen tells you which version of Winsock you have installed. You need Winsock 2.0 (or later) which you should have unless you have an early version of Windows 95. You can get Winsock 2 here. Installing the latest version of IE also installs the latest Winsock DLL.
    • Make sure the server is up! The StarKnights Server page tells you about the server status.
    • Make sure you can reach the server by other means! Perharps it's a network problem? It is possible that both the server and you ISP are up but that a link between them is down. See if you can see the scores for that server from the Server page.
    • If you are running Windows XP Windows XP comes with a firewall by default. You may choose to disable it and to install a more powerful firewall that would allow you to customize which port you want to protect.
    • Configure your Proxy and Firewall! If you're not connected directly to the Internet (using a modem) then chances are good there's a proxy server connecting you to the internet.

      Each software has different settings but in the end, all you need to do is to tell the proxy software to forward TCP port 22225 to starknights.com:22225. Then you type in the address of your proxy server in the server combo box. 

      outgoing TCP 22225 -> starknights.com TCP 22225

      This way, when you click connect, StarKnights will actually connect to your proxy machine, which will forward the connection to starknights.com:22225 just like if you were connected directly to the internet! See the next question for additional configuration.

      Of course, if your proxy software supports IP masquerading, then by all means, turn it on! You won't need to configure anything special for any of your applications.

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  • Why can't I play online melees? What is that UDP error?
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    For real-time battles, StarKnights uses direct UDP peer-to-peer transfers instead of the usual TCP connections for maximum performance. This works great if you are connected directly to the internet (see above). However, if you must use a proxy, then it must supports IP masquerading. There's no other way. Otherwise, you can still play the game but not participate in Online Melees.

    You also need to configure the software to forward incoming UDP data from port 22225 to UDP port 22225 on your computer. For example, if your computer's address is darkstar, the proxy configuration on your gateway system would look like this: 

    incoming UDP 22225 -> darkstar        UDP 22225
    Of course, this means that only users playing Starknights on the darkstar computer will be able to receice UDP combat packets!

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