How to Use Remote Play with SW:GBS?

[bibletech55]

Hi there,

Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and its expansion pack, Clone Campaigns, which is now known as Galactic Battlegrounds Saga, has been one of my favorite games for years. I've played it with family locally and other players online through third-party servers like GameRanger and Voobly. These options have worked fine, but when I heard about Steam's new Remote Play service (how only the host requires a copy of the game) and found GBS claims it's compatible with Remote Play, I purchased the Steam version so I could play this great game with many of my friends who don't have GBS. So, after a small hiccup (not opening the game) quickly resolved with setting Mcafee's Real-Time Scanning to exclude player.exe (a problem I've heard of before for Steam's GBS) I loaded GBS and have since been able to open a single-player game (only tried that for a few seconds). When I invite my family member's account to join me, it's able to join the stream, but every time, it says "LIVE BROADCAST: PLEASE STANDBY" with the Steam Logo in between: beneath "LIVE BROADCAST:" and above "PLEASE STANDBY". I have accessed several areas of the game on my computer (the host) and tried a single-player game while running the "stream" but nothing changed on my family member's computer (the client). So after all that reading, here's my question(s). Does Remote Play really work on GBS? If so, how can I set it up so it functions properly? If it doesn't work, why does Steam say it works and, if anyone knows, why doesn't it work? (Is it a problem with DirectDraw vs. DirectX graphics, internal error, etc?)

I know that this is a long reading, but if anyone knows how to fix the problem, could that person/people please post a suggestion on how to use Remote Play with GBS, or if it doesn't work, why it doesn't work?

TL:DR: Love this game, but Remote play doesn't work; does it work? If so, how? If not, why?

[StoicSirius]

I could be confusing something, but are you sure you're using the Remote Play feature and not making your fam join a broadcast?

If that's indeed how Remote Play works, then I'm afraid I have no idea what's the problem

[bibletech55]

Originally posted by StoicSirius:

I could be confusing something, but are you sure you're using the Remote Play feature and not making your fam join a broadcast?

If that's indeed how Remote Play works, then I'm afraid I have no idea what's the problem

Thank you for your response!

Yes, I do believe I was using Remote Play because when I invited my family member's account, I clicked "Remote Play Together". This button did not appear on Star Wars: Empire At War, another Steam game I have. Star Wars: Empire At War did not show Remote Play compatibility on the Store page at all, probably because it already has online servers through Steam.

Again, thanks for your quick reply! I appreciate your input!

[MrMacke]

I also have a problem with remote play. In my case, steam wont allow me to alt+tab at all, so I can't invite anyone else. Does anyone know what that is all about?

[stepan.lunak]

I have same problem with my friend. Remote play dont work. If anybody have any idea how to make it. We will be happy for this.

[bibletech55]

Originally posted by MrMacke:

I also have a problem with remote play. In my case, steam wont allow me to alt+tab at all, so I can't invite anyone else. Does anyone know what that is all about?

I think I might know why the Steam overlay doesn't work on GBS. If I recall correctly, it was the fact that GBS uses DirectDraw instead of DirectX for graphics. Steam Overlay only works on DirectX-graphics games, hence it doesn't appear for this game. I accessed Remote Play by minimizing GBS, then accessing my friends list tab from Steam itself.

Originally posted by stepan.lunak:

I have same problem with my friend. Remote play dont work. If anybody have any idea how to make it. We will be happy for this.

I was thinking about it and I wonder...perhaps the problem with Remote Play on GBS is the fact that Remote Play isn't online multiplayer, it's more like "online split-screen". More like LEGO Star Wars III split-screen routed online than peer-to-peer or server games like GBS. GBS never had split-screen, only LAN and online multi-player. I think Steam says Remote Play works because official online servers (Zone) have been offline for years, so technically it's not an online game anymore, hence Steam might want to reestablish it "online". All of this is speculation though. :)

I love this game though. Even though Remote Play hasn't seemed to work, perhaps I missed something. Maybe it works somewhere. But there are so many other benefits to this Steam version. For instance, the non-Steam game sometimes freezes/lags on my computers, I've had many multiplayer games go "Out of Sync" and had difficulty with music (disc versions require the disc for music) I've played one full LAN multi-player 2v2 game (2 players vs. 2 A.I.s) and I didn't notice lag, freezes or any connection issues ONCE. Again, I could have missed something, but this is impressive for a 2-hour game... I should probably keep an eye on my future multiplayer games of GBS to confirm this is a consistent benefit, though. And it's only $6.00 per game, so paired with free GameRanger or free Voobly, it's only $12.00 for 2 players.

I know, another long post, but for both it's pros and cons, it's all part of this game we so enjoy. Thank you all for reading my original post and thanks for reading this long message. Hope everyone has a great week and May the Force Be With You! :)

EXTRA: Also, the hero Vader in GBS is only a Sith Knight, not Master. He can't turn many types of units; if he tries, it says you need a Master. "Now I am the master." he's said. Guess not. Just thought you all might find that interesting.