If the applet doesn't appear at all,
this is the first problem to solve. Our games require a
Java-enabled browser. Most modern browsers support Java, including
Netscape 3.0 and newer and Internet Explorer
3.0 and newer, but some installations don't autmatically include
java.
The major causes of "no java" in browsers are:
If java is not installed, you need to download it. Or if
installed, it might be a really old version. Boardspace is
designed to run with all but the very oldest java versions out there -
version 1.1 or higher should be OK. Visit Java.com
to test java in your browser and help you get it installed.
On all browsers, it is possible to disable Java in the
browser's
preferences, and sometimes the default is to be disabled, and not all
installations include java by default. If your browser should be new
enough to include java,
check
that java is enabled in your browser preferences. For
reasons best known to the developers, this seems to be different in
every version of every browser. Java.com has instructions where
to find the java enable
options for most browsers.
The embedded browser in some versions of AOL do not support
Java. Use a browser
directly from your desktop, rather from within AOL.
On the Macintosh, Internet Explorer does not come with Java
installed,
but it is possible to download
Java from Apple and install it.
Two sites that will help you test and diagnose java on your browser are
Java.com
and Fitwise.com
Firewalls, Routers, Ports and Proxies, Lost Connections
If you get some kind of "can't
connect" message in the lobby chat area:
The Java applet must be able to open an outgoing tcp
connection on port 2255. Most
firewalls and routers are configured allow this; but some institutions
(work, school) and some personal firewall products (blackice, zone
alarm) may block
this port. If the applet window comes up, but can't connect to
the server, look for problems with port 2255. The applet will
also fail to connect if it was loaded from some place other than
Boardspace.net, which could be a side effect of some browser proxy
setups.
If you get the messagercv 221 errConnection error
then you have successfully connected to the server, but your connection
has been rejected. The most likely cause of this is that you
accidentally connected to the server without going through the login
procedure. This can happen if you use your browser's back
button, or if your browser has cached the login page (and so didn't to
chat with the server about your login). Check your browser cache
settings.
If you lose connection in mid-game: don't
panic, you can reconnect and rejoin the game. This can happen for
a
variety of reasons, most of which are impossible to predict or
control. Watch the little spinner
located next to your clock (and your opponents clock). The little
arrow should change position at least every 10 seconds or so, and if it
has not changed position recently, the color starts fading from green
to red. After 2 minutes of no activity a timeout will occur and
you
can try to reconnect.
Slow connections: Once the applet is downloaded, the
bandwidth required to
maintain the lobby and a game is very modest, and any type of internet
connection should work fine. One problem we have seen a few
times is that firewalls such as Zone Alarm interfere with the flow of
data to the server without completely blocking it. We don't know why,
but disabling Zone Alarm fixes the problem. A test for this
condition is to switch the type of a game room, say from "Game Room" to
"Unranked Room". The changeover should happen very fast, within
a second. If there is more that a very brief lag, look for this
kind of networking problem.
If you successfully play games, but scoring
the game fails: To
score games properly, the
applet must be able to make HTTP requests on either port 80 or port 4321. Port 80 is
normally used by browsers, so it is usually open, but some sites
enforce the use of a http proxy server by blocking port 80.
Scoring a game fails occasionally if the server is unusually busy, or
just due to random internet glitches. If port 80 is permanantly
blocked, try referring to boardspace.net as http://www.boarspace.net:4321/
Browsers, Platforms and Java Versions
The Java applet that runs the game works in any browser that supports
Java, but not all browsers or platforms are created equal. None
of them are perfect, but some are much more trouble prone than
others.
Windows (any version)
Seamonkey
and Firefox, which are the latest browserdescendants of Mozilla and Netscape are the
best. These versions use a java pluigin from sun which is
much more reliable. Internet Explorer (6 or
greater) works, but is the most trouble
prone of the major browsers; especially "out of memory" errors tend to
occur.
old Netscape and even older Internet Explorer Safari for windows is still a
beta, and doesn't work.
Other browser choices are known to work, including HotJava and
Opera, but there isn't enough usage to make predictions
about reliability
Macintosh
Safari
works the best and is recommended. There are a few
user interface glitches, but nothing major. Seamonkey and Firefox works except some menus are
missing from the top of the screen. The most annoying effect of
this is that you can't turn the sound off.
Older versions of IE, Netscape and Mozilla usually work if the
Java
pluigin us configured correctly. The key
word is if. The OS
developers and browser developers haven't always played together well,
so some there are gaps where some version of browser doesn't support
java for some version of OS.
Some olld versions of MRJ are buggy and do not work at
all,
even though they work with most other web sites; but you are unlikely
to still be using anything so old.
Linux Relatively few of
our players
use Linux , the only general statement we can
make is that the most current combinations work ok.
Old Java Versions
Boardspace works with
Java version 1.1 and greater, which is really old. No
bleeding edge features are required.
located next to your clock (and your opponents clock). The little
arrow should change position at least every 10 seconds or so, and if it
has not changed position recently, the color starts fading from green
to red. After 2 minutes of no activity a timeout will occur and
you
can try to reconnect.