Local Multiplayer with more than 1 human

[zero_koop]

Does anyone know if you can simply play a local multiplayer game with another human?  I can't seem to get a second computer connected to a game hosted by the first.

I'm trying to avoid doing the whole port forwarding thing (specifically the static IP address) because I'm not sure what effect that would have on other programs I run.

I just want to play against my wife and we can use a second computer if we have to.  Thanks!

[Big Head Zach]

You will need to have the computer that is going to act as the game host be the forwarding address of port 6260 because that's how the game communicates with the master server, for purposes of debugging info, recording game results, and capturing the chat logs.

The only thing forwarding port 6260 does in terms of security, is redirects ANY traffic going to your house that is speaking on port 6260, to go specifically to the hosting computer. It should not compromise existing security measures to any extent (though you may have to set Windows Firewall, or whatever firewall your computer uses, to accept traffic on port 6260).

Port 6260 is not used for any other official purposes or by any known programs/applications, so there is minimal risk in allowing this port to be open and forwarded-to on your computer.

There should not be an issue with your wife joining from another computer on your home network, and she shouldn't need to configure her network settings to do so.

[zero_koop]

I appreciate the response, but the website for port forwarding recommended by MULE (http://portforward.com/) says in their instructions that in order to use port forwarding you need to set up a static IP address.  Is this true?  If so, that is what I'm worried about doing because I don't want to have a static IP if it is going to cause problems for me using other programs.  Thanks again.

[Big Head Zach]

It doesn't necessarily need to be static, but if it does change, you'll be notified by Planet MULE that 6260 is blocked again - and you'll need to update the router with your new assigned internal IP address. No biggie, since most of the time the router's default DHCP setting is to lease out IP addresses for a week at a time (or longer, if you want to change that setting).

[zero_koop]

Thanks!  I went ahead and tried it without using a static IP and it worked!  I appreciate the info.