Below are a selection of commonly asked questions and some additional useful information to help make your game experience more enjoyable.
Hosting
1. To be able to host a game the host will need to have port 55000 open for UDP on their router and from their firewall.
2. The host also needs to ensure they have a stable and reasonably fast upload speed for their internet connection.
3. The speed of the hosts internet connection, and also their location to players will have an effect on the quality of the game. If a game is "jerky" or players get disconnected it may be that the host is having a problem with their connection. In this case another player should host the game.
Common Questions
Q1. When I start the game I see a blank screen, or when the game is running the graphics look bad or have bits missing.
A1. The game needs a minimum of 64Mb of Graphics memory. If you Graphics card does not have this it can cause strange things to happen.
A2. Some video cards are known to cause some problems, for example the integrated SIS Graphics cards and some of the Intel Integrated Graphics cards. The only solution to this is to upgrade to a better Graphics card.
Q2. When I log into the game I do not see any games in the games list.
A1. With a new game it takes time to build a community, and whilst doing this there may be times when there are not many players in the game. If there are not many players online you can create a game yourself and include AI BOTs. This will allow you to play a game whilst waiting for others to join you.
Q3. Why can't I connect to other games people are hosting?
A1. You need router port 55000 open on your computer to play United Football. If you have problems go to www.portforward.com to find out how to open this port.
A2. If your router supports UPnP, try turning it off.
Q4. Why can't people connect to my games?
A1. You need router port 55000 open on your computer to play United Football. If you have problems go to www.portforward.com to find out how to open this port.
A2. If your router supports UPnP, try turning it off.
Q5. What does the red "Disconnected" message mean?
A1. If you get this message it means that your game is no longer connected to the host. This is usually caused by the quality of the internet connection to or from the host. If you return back to the lobby screen, you may be able to rejoin the game to continue.
Q6. Why can't I connect to games anymore
A1. If you find that you cannot connect to any games anymore, try resetting the open ports of your router.
Q7. Why is my player turning difficult to control.
A1. Maybe your mouse sensitivity is too high. Go into the options screen and try setting your mouse sensitivity values to between 25 and 50.
A2. Maybe you are experiencing high latency over the internet. Try connecting to games listed as green in the lobby screen. Green games have the lowest latency, amber games have some latency, and red games have high latency.
Q8. Why is the game sometimes jerky?
A1. Maybe the person hosting the game has insufficient upload bandwidth to cope with all the players in the game. This problem will be improved in new versions with our upcoming data compression system.
A2. Maybe a player has joined the game with a very high ping value to the host. Each player's ping value is shown under the player's name on the pregame screen when they have selected a shirt position. Low ping values are shown in green, average pings are shown in amber, and high pings are shown in red.
A3. Your computer may not meet the minimum specification required to play the game.
Q9. What does the red "Out of Sync" message mean?
A1. If you get this message it means some game data has been lost on the internet and you need to leave the game and rejoin in order for it to correct itself. This will improve with new versions and should soon not be seen at all.
Q10. Sometimes I lose the sound in the game, why is this?
A1. You may need to update your sound card driver. To do this visit the web site for your sound card manufacturer.
Q11. Sometimes I see strange artifacts on the screen, for example players have no textures, why is this?
A1. You may need to update your graphics card drivers. To do this visit the web site for your graphics card manufacturer.
Q12. How do I report a bug or problem that I find within the game?
A1. You can report bugs via the website forum at www.unitedfootball.staggan.com/forums/
Q13. I am using a wireless keyboard and sometimes it feels like I lose control of my player.
A1. Some wireless keyboards stop sending data to the computer at set intervals. This can cause your player to stop responding or to just stop for a second.
Q14. Why does my mouse not move smoothly?
A1. This may be the speed of hosts connection. It can be especially poor when people join a game late. The only solution is for a host with a better connection to host the game.
Q15. I don’t get emails about team transfers and offers.
A1. This could be because your email spam filter is deleting or moving these emails thinking they are spam. Check your spam folder.
Hints & Tips
1. You can prevent strangers from joining games that are already in progress by creating a private game and setting a password.
2. If you close the United Football chatroom you can make other rooms to discuss specific topics. You can even make these rooms private by adding a password when you create one.
3. If there are not enough other players in the lobby to play with you can start a 4v4 game using AI controlled bots. The bots will play the game with you until other players appear online and take their place.
4. It is a lot more fun to play the game whilst being able to talk to your opponents and team mates. You can do this by creating a Skype conference call and including your team mates and other players in this call. (If possible the game host and Skype host should be different)
5. If a game is in progress you can still join the game as normal.