Overview
The Guild II: Renaissance is a great game, but there are some things you should know if you ever want to play Multiplayer. A quick guide.
Playing Multiplayer
Due to the official servers being shut down, you have to use a virtual LAN connection. Most simply, download and install Tunngle[www.tunngle.net].
Its as simple as Download, Install, and mutually join the same Guild II Renaissance room.
Just ensure both you and your friends have the same patch version! (See Patches)
NEWEST PATCH
As of the 24 of March 2015, The Guild II Developers launched the final patch 4.21:
Patch Notes Here
This patch makes this guide more or less out dated. Although it does not fix desyncs, they are massively reduced. I would still very highly recommend keeping auto save off, or very infrequent as well as avoiding game speed increases- as all of these factors contribute to an assured desync.
All in all, with auto saves off and no game speed increases you should not experience too may desyncs, if at all, until late game. Even late game, desyncs are easily managable by sending your Multiplayer partner the save file to become resynced.
Enjoy the actual playability! (Sort of)
Patches
These are important! If you try to play the game right from the start, without applying updates yourself, you’re missing out!
For best results, simply use the final official 4.21 patch by enabling the beta from the game’s settings within your steam library. This is the latest patch, and combines the official developer’s work with many of the community patches into one single patch. Also keep an eye on the community forum listed below, as they may or may not decide to post fixes additionally.
You really have 2 choices for the patching side of things:
A more official patch, this has bug fixes contributed by the community at Runeforge Games.
Keep in mind this patch is not defaultly enabled, and you must follow the developer’s guide here[postimg.org] which just comprises of updating the game to the Beta branch via your Steam Library.
1. Open Steam, click Library
2. Right Click on The Guild II: Renaissance -> Properties
3. Change the Dropdown that says “NONE – Opt out of beta programs” to patch 4.20
4. Click Close, and Steam will update the game.
It may sound less up-to-date, but from what I gather, some people have issues with 4.20 either breaking something or just plain not fixing it whereas 4.17b combined with the Legacy Mod does. I’d say go with 4.20 and if it does not work out for you, try this combo out!
4.17b :
[link]
Legacy Mod :
[link]
Community Fixes :
Don’t forget to browse Runeforge’s site[forum.runeforge-games.net], sometimes players have fixes for a bug you may be mutually experiencing
DeSync
To be honest, this issue isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be, so don’t be discouraged! Nonetheless, DeSync is simply Desynchronization. Its when the state of your game and the person you are playing with do not match. This usually pertains to some number value somewhere, like if you had $100 – but according to your friend’s game, you actually have $200. Or the game’s time for one player is ahead, etc.
In my experience, the single best way to reduce DeSync in Multiplayer was to reduce the autosaving interval. This can be done by both you and your friend(s) via the game’s Options. As it stands I believe it saves after every year, which is lots. I even disable it all together, and just save manually.
Also, while in-game, avoid using the speed modifier. Try not to go above Normal game time, as this can often cause a desynchronization.
Other than this, here are some other prevention methods :
– Ensure all players have Guild II unblocked in their firewall. Running both Tunngle and the game as Administrator may help as well.
– Ensure whoever is hosting has the fastest, and most stable internet connection.
– If the issue persists, lower the Map size and/or number of AI.
After any and all errors that cause you to have to reload the save, please also relaunch the game!
Yep, so your Sync De’d. Well, fixing it isn’t terrably difficult depending on the cause.
Most cases can be fixed by closing The Guild II, and get whoever was hosting to send everyone the savegame (Location : C:Program Files (x86)SteamSteamAppscommonThe Guild 2 Renaissancesavegames). Then, just play like normal. But depending on how hardcore you’ve been playing, I’ve found that there is a point the game stays DeSync’d which is usually after maybe 7+ hours of gameplay. This varies.
Bug Workarounds
This section is just a quick rundown on some bugs I have encountered in-game and how to fix them. I have no idea which have been patched as of 4.20, so you may never see them!
Self-Exterminating AI
This one is by far the worst. If you’re like me, you enjoy spending long periods of time on the same savefile. Well, after a good bit of time passes, the AI seems to stop reproducing and just die of old age. I have had games where I was completely peaceful, but Dynasties end anyways.
Best workaround is to just keep the years passed per turn low, to lower the speed of aging. You probably won’t notice this issue if you dont keep the same save for a good amount of time, or decide to play aggressive.
The Cart Moshpit
Sometimes, for whatever reason, the carts from all the business enter an odd circular path. This can be about 5+ carts just walking around in a tight circle.
If you get one of your thugs or characters to enter combat with each stuck cart, they recalculate the path and return on their merry way. Careful not to let it go on too long, or the economy will suffer.
Repeating Action Loop
This happens in 2 forms for me :
1. Character is stuck attacking, drawing his sword repeatedly. I fixed this issue by repeatedly clicking the Cancel Action button quickly, and after a second or two it will clear up.
2. Defaulting Action, for example, you task the character with Pickpocketing and now whenever you tell him to walk to a spot, he returns to pickpocketing once he reaches the destination. You can fix this by clicking the Cancel Action button when he is pickpocketing.
Stuck In Court
Sorry, you have to reload the save. They are aware of the issue and will hopefully fix it in 4.21
Low or No Resource Consumption
Depending on how massive your supply chain is, the only way to workaround this is to play on a map with more cities. It is, after all, supply and demand.