Online Server

[tarientheron7]

Hi,
I've been having issues with playing online with friends, where we get kicked out to the main menu with messages like the host left the game or connecting to the server were interrupted. It's not internet connection issues and it's happening to all of us

[Chaoslink]

Got disconnected. Host left.

Also, not internet connection related.

Yeah, those things don’t go together. It’s internet related for sure, you just don’t know what the specific reason is. Since the game is typically a peer to peer connection, my guess is the host has the issue on their end. Could be firewall issues, could be something else, networking isn’t my strong suit. Still, that’s definitely an internet issue.

[The 9th Hokage]

having the same issue here playing locally with my wife

[tuxdelux]

I have been playing locally, on two steam-decks-with-deck-docks.
The host has good performance, but the guest has frequent "dot walls" that sometimes last so long that loading screen activates.
Do you think that I can improve performance by connecting an ethernet cable between the two systems? How much does the game rely on the Internet server?

[RPG Gamer Man]

Originally posted by tuxdelux:

I have been playing locally, on two steam-decks-with-deck-docks.
The host has good performance, but the guest has frequent "dot walls" that sometimes last so long that loading screen activates.
Do you think that I can improve performance by connecting an ethernet cable between the two systems? How much does the game rely on the Internet server?

The dot wall bug is from a lag between loading maps. Even the developer mentioned this. I think it is done on purpose.

[RPG Gamer Man]

NBG_DW  [developer] Sep 5, 2024 @ 12:23pm 
Hi!
We see some of you have encountered our famous "dot walls" in Moria. These are an intended part of the game, as the game loads in the next area. They're typically going to appear for 10-15 seconds, but even on systems with lower specs, or if you're online with a limited connection to the host. But they shouldn't last more than a minute or so. If you find they're persisting for you for a very long time, you may wish to try:
-- Save and exit and reload the game, especially if you have been playing for a very long time.
-- Check that you have the latest updated graphics drivers
-- Ensure no background processes, "overlays" or video card graphics managers are running, as these may be hogging your system when playing and incompatible with Return to Moria.

And if your issues persist beyond this, please submit a report with your specs, save and log files for the game to https://northbeachgames.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new for the team to investigate.
Thank you!

[RPG Gamer Man]

Hey , if any of you want me to help you out, let me know.

[tuxdelux]

It is weird that we have two Steam Decks, running side by side, and then one (the host) gets only a flicker of "dot walls" from time to time, and the other one (the guest) gets "dot walls' regularly for long "10-15 seconds" of time.

The Steam Decks have exactly the same specifications, although the configurations may have been changed, admittedly. I am not sure that the map load time from the solid-state drive would be the only factor. I wonder how I can test this out, further.

[GreyBeard512]

Originally posted by tuxdelux:

It is weird that we have two Steam Decks, running side by side, and then one (the host) gets only a flicker of "dot walls" from time to time, and the other one (the guest) gets "dot walls' regularly for long "10-15 seconds" of time.

The Steam Decks have exactly the same specifications, although the configurations may have been changed, admittedly. I am not sure that the map load time from the solid-state drive would be the only factor. I wonder how I can test this out, further.

The host just has to load the new area locally. The guest has to load the new area from the host. This means the host has to send out the area, the network has to move it, and the guest has to receive and process it. The network piece is probably fine. The guest's issue probably the host is busy running the host's game and isn't sending the new area fast enough.

[Chaoslink]

Originally posted by GreyBeard512:

Originally posted by tuxdelux:

It is weird that we have two Steam Decks, running side by side, and then one (the host) gets only a flicker of "dot walls" from time to time, and the other one (the guest) gets "dot walls' regularly for long "10-15 seconds" of time.

The Steam Decks have exactly the same specifications, although the configurations may have been changed, admittedly. I am not sure that the map load time from the solid-state drive would be the only factor. I wonder how I can test this out, further.

The host just has to load the new area locally. The guest has to load the new area from the host. This means the host has to send out the area, the network has to move it, and the guest has to receive and process it. The network piece is probably fine. The guest's issue probably the host is busy running the host's game and isn't sending the new area fast enough.

Yeah, that’s typically how that works. Unlike playing solo where you might occasionally see one of these barriers for a second or two, in multiplayer only the host is likely to get such short load times.

This next bit is entirely conjecture, no idea if it’s right, but given things back in your base continue to track while you’re gone, it could be that hearths keep areas loaded so the game can track and process stuff. If you have hearths out that you don’t need anymore, it might be worth destroying those. Could possibly help with loading times a bit as the game might not have to track those tiles anymore. Could be wrong though, but there’s no real harm in it.

[tuxdelux]

Here is an update on our efforts to remove the "dot wall" lag.
I put together a network bridge that connects two Steam Decks with ethernet cables, then routes outgoing traffic out to the wifi. That was a fun project, to be honest.
The result is that most of the "dot walls" are very briefly displayed, except for one that appears as my "guest" Deck approaches our primary hearth. At that "dot wall", the "guest" can still be waiting 10-30+ seconds.
I think the next step should be to use the Steam Deck performance overlay to watch the network, disk, and CPU activity, to see which is maxed-out when the prolonged "dot-wall" appears.