GTA 1/GTA 2 Direct IP multiplayer guide

[jm-9]

I put this together for my own reference, but I thought others might find it useful. This guide is for players who want to play multiplayer in GTA 1 and GTA 2 over Direct IP using TCP/IP. There are other excellent solutions like a VPN (Hamachi or Radmin for example), but for anyone who wants to setup a direct connection without a program in between they may find this useful. Direct IP allows players to play locally or over the Internet. Note that the DOS versions of GTA 1 and the London games do not support TCP/IP, but do support IPX/SPX, which can be played online over a VPN.

 

I have tried all three connection types below personally (the latter two both with a wired ethernet connection and over WiFi) and can confirm they work. In regard to the last (Internet) method, performance may be affected by latency. Latency is dependent on how far the players are from each other. For example, in the games I have played across the Atlantic Ocean, the latency is so great that it has the effect of halving the frame rate, from 24fps to 12fps. If players are closer to each other this effect would not be nearly as extreme and may not be noticeable at all. Note that this is not input lag. The game still responds instantly when a button is pressed.

 

The steps below in regard to Windows Firewall do not apply to Windows 9x (Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me) or Windows 2000. Windows Firewall was introduced with Windows XP. The steps with regard to the modem's firewall apply regardless of the operating system on your PC. I have also heard that there can be issues if playing between PCs running Windows 9x and other versions of Windows.

 

Hopefully this guide will clear things up and allow people to avoid pitfalls that commonly happen with playing Direct IP games over modern connections.

 

Direct IP Guide (GTA/GTA 2)

 

General Setup

1.      Go to Turn Windows Features On/Off and enable Legacy Features -> DirectPlay (this isn't necessary for Windows 9x, not sure about Windows 2000 or Windows XP).

2.      Go to Allow an App through Windows Firewall. Allow C\Windows\System32\dpnsvr.exe through the firewall. This is the DirectPlay Server.

3.      Install GTA 1 (involves PC restart).

4.      Run the GTA 1 settings app and save settings.

5.      Start GTA 1 in single player. Ensure you can select a playable resolution and colour depth (it can be unplayable sometimes on modern PCs).

6.      Exit the single-player game. On the main menu select Gather game. Select whatever gameplay options you want. Select Internet TCP/IP connection fpr Directplay. Continue until it says waiting for players. Then quit the game.

7.      You should see be two Windows Firewall prompts. One for DirectPlay Helper and one for GTA 1. Allow both through Windows Firewall on both public and private networks.

8.      Install GTA: London 1969 and GTA: London 1961 (On 64-bit Windows use 7zip to open GTAINSTALLER as an archive and extract the GTA: London 1961 installation files).

9.      Repeat step 6 for both. Upon each exit there will be a prompt to allow the respective game through Windows Firewall. Do so for private and public networks.

10.   Install GTA 2. Start the settings app, select language, video and sound and click the GTA 2 button. Start a single-player game and ensure you can play properly. Note that a crack is required to run the original disc-based version of GTA 2 on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

11.   Quit GTA 2. Start its GTA 2 Manager, go to the Network tab and click Start Network Game. A prompt will appear to allow GTA 2 through Windows Firewall. Allow it on public and private networks. Exit out of GTA 2 settings.

 

To start a network game in GTA 1, GTA:  London 1969 and GTA: London 1961

1.      On the host PC, on the main menu click Gather Game, choose game settings and a TCP/IP game. Leave waiting for players to join.

2.      On the client PCs, on the main menu click Join Game and select TCP/IP game.

3.      Clients can leave the IP address blank to search for game, but this hasn’t always worked for me. A more reliable method is to type in the IP address of the host and search. The IP address will vary depending on connection type.

4.      The host’s game will appear. Press Return to join.

5.      When all players have joined, the host starts the game.

 

To start a network game in GTA 2

1.      On the host PC, in GTA 2 Manager click on Network tab, select TCP/IP in the connection list, click Start Network Game and then click Create in the Windows that appears. The host then chooses the game settings. Leave the Network window waiting for players to join.

2.      On the client PCs in GTA 2 Manager click on Network tab and select TCP/IP in the connection list. To search for a game, click Start Network Game. Otherwise enter the host’s IP address in the IP protocol field and then click Start Network Game. The host’s game will appear. Click Join.

3.      When all players have joined, the host starts the game. Note that the map type must match the number of players.

 

Connection Types – note that these steps must be performed on both PCs

 

Direct Connection between two PCs (two players only)

1.      Connect two PCs together with an ethernet cable (a cross cable is required for older PCs).

2.      Go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Centre > Change Adapter Settings. Identify which connection is the physical ethernet port, right-click it and click Properties.

3.      In the list, click on Internet Protocol Version 4, and click Properties.

4.      Click Use the Following IP Address. Assign the same IP address to each PC except for the last number. For example, PC 1 could be 192.168.0.1 and PC 2 could be 192.168.0.2. Type 255.255.255.0 as the subnet mask for both PCs. Take a note of the host PC’s IP address. Click OK and then OK again.

5.      Start a game. The host’s IP address is whichever one they entered in step 4 above.

6.      Note that you may want to set the ethernet port to obtain an IP address automatically after finished playing. Otherwise you won’t be able to connect to the Internet using a wired connection.

 

Local connection – all players connected to the same router (for example the same home WiFi network)

1.      The host goes to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Centre > Change Adapter Settings and identifies the network adapter connected to the router (ethernet or WiFi). Take a note of the adapter name.

2.      The host starts command prompt, types in ipconfig and presses enter. Take a note of the IPv4 address for the adapter identified in step 1.

3.      Start a multiplayer game. The clients join with the IP address identified in step 2.

4.      All PCs can be connected wired or wireless.

5.      Note that by default PCs are assigned IP addresses by the router using DHCP. Whenever the PC is shut down (not hibernated) a new IP address is assigned. You can assign a static IP address that does not change by logging into your modem via your browser. This can be done with any PC connected to the router (wired and usually wireless). Note that the method of checking and changing settings after logging in differ depending on your modem. This includes steps 1 and 4 of Internet Connection below. There is usually a standard IP address that your ISP uses for every modem that you can enter into your browser, in addition to a standard username and sometimes password (the password might also be the same one you use to connect to WiFi).

 

Internet Connection – players connected to different routers (can be anywhere in the world)

1.      Login to your router. Check the public IP address listed. Look for your public IP address using a website (search What is my IP). Compare both IPv4 addresses. The public IP address is different to the local IP address used for a local connection.

2.      If two IP addresses specified in step 1 are different, your ISP is using CG-NAT for your Internet connection, which won’t allow you to play online using direct IP. You need a dedicated public IP address to play over the Internet. CG-NAT is very common with mobile broadband providers. Some ISPs that use CG-NAT will provide a dedicated IP address for a monthly fee. Others won’t at all. If you can’t get one, you can’t play over the Internet, only locally with all players connected to the same router, or two PCs connected directly together. If you can’t play directly over the Internet, an alternative option is to play over a VPN.

3.      If the IP addresses specified in step 1 match, the next step is to open ports in the router’s firewall. This is a separate firewall to the Windows firewall we allowed apps through earlier.

4.      Create rules to open ports 2300-2400 and port 47624 via TCP and UDP. Map them to the local IP address of the network adapter that your PC uses to connect to the router (see steps 1 and 2 of Local Connection for instructions). Remember that this will change with DHCP, so a static IP address is recommended to avoid having to regularly change the port mappings (see step 5 of Local Connection).

5.      Remember that all players must have a dedicated public IP address and must open the ports on their routers, mapping them to their PCs as in step 4.

6.      Start a game. The IP address for clients to enter is the host’s public IPv4 address.

7.      Troubleshooting steps include ensuring any players that can’t connect (and the host if nobody can connect) have a dedicated public IP address, have all ports opened and mapped correctly, and have port rules saved. Switching to a wired connection may help, in addition to using a static IP address. Turning off UPnP in the router’s firewall settings can also help (though some devices may need this so turn it on again when finished if this is the cause).

Edited July 21 by jm-9

[ThermalSmoke]

I never could do the TCP/IP setup, mostly because I've been hibernating from GTA for a while. This all seems like great stuff Jm-9, if I ever try GTA Windows over DOSBox, I'll be sure to use this as a reference. Thanks for finishing what I couldn't start, hope the game sees some repopulation on YouTube. There are only a few videos of GTA London multiplayer footage, but no GTA 1. There's plenty of GTA 2 multiplayer footage, so that's pretty neat. Still hoping someone opens a Discord server dedicated to GTA 1 and the London expansions (Although a server with support for GTA 2 as well would be amazing, combining all three).

[jm-9]

On 5/22/2022 at 4:11 PM, ThermalSmoke said:

I never could do the TCP/IP setup, mostly because I've been hibernating from GTA for a while. This all seems like great stuff Jm-9, if I ever try GTA Windows over DOSBox, I'll be sure to use this as a reference. Thanks for finishing what I couldn't start, hope the game sees some repopulation on YouTube. There are only a few videos of GTA London multiplayer footage, but no GTA 1. There's plenty of GTA 2 multiplayer footage, so that's pretty neat. Still hoping someone opens a Discord server dedicated to GTA 1 and the London expansions (Although a server with support for GTA 2 as well would be amazing, combining all three).

No problem. Yeah, you can play a deathmatch or one of three races in all three cities in GTA 1. Strange that there's no multiplayer footage online. It's essentially the original GTA Online, though whether it was ever intended to be played over the Internet rather than just locally is unclear. Maybe I should record Manchester from GTA: London 1961 and upload it. It's almost certainly the least played GTA city.

 

If someone else with a dedicated external IP address could set it up as above we could test gameplay over the Internet.

Edited June 1 by jm-9

[Anywhere USA]

Wow. We might have to try again. I'm finally back to Bent Cop Blues

[jm-9]

On 6/4/2022 at 4:21 AM, Anywhere USA said:

Wow. We might have to try again. I'm finally back to Bent Cop Blues

Yeah, definitely. I think the problem was that both players need to open the ports in their modem. Great to hear that you’re back there after the unfortunate power cut last time. Vice City is completely open world except for one mission in Rasta Blasta so you can do the missions whenever you want.

[Anywhere USA]

You open to trying again? I'm free ATM

[FulVal85]

If you prefer to use VPN i don't recommend to use Hamachi because it will cause serious troubles...

 

https://community.logmein.com/t5/LogMeIn-Hamachi-Discussions/Slow-internet-speeds-after-installing-Hamachi/td-p/210879 (you can't fix nothing with uninstall feature...)

 

use Radmin instead

[TheEmptyProd.]

What may do with High Ping Lags???

[jm-9]

10 hours ago, TheEmptyProd. said:

What may do with High Ping Lags???

No idea unfortunately. If you're connecting two PCs directly and they're too far apart I don't think there's anything you can do.