I’ve been meaning to write this for a while after seeing a few people struggle to host a game. This quick guide should make it relatively straightforward to do so.
Why the need to port forward?
I think it’s important to first note why we need to do this. You’ve probably hosted many other games without needing to do port forwarding so why now? The reason is that these games typically have centralised servers that you are connected to at all times. These servers help to automate some tasks such as port forwarding. Gun Bombers on the other hand doesn’t have hosting servers. You are the host and others join your game. As a security measure you need to tell your network that it’s okay for these people to connect and send packets to you.
Let’s open some ports
I should note that these instructions probably apply to about 95% of you. Some are lucky not having to port forward at all and some might not have the possibility to do so.
1. Find the required information
You need to know your local IP and the port that the game uses. Luckily both of these can be found when you host a game, see below. If you need to change the port this can be done from the settings page found on the main menu.
There is also a Test button to see if you’re ready to host. If it says that the port is not open then you need to continue with the next steps.
2. Log in to your router
You need to tell your router to port forward i.e. send packets that arrive to the specific port to your computer.
Typically the address to your router is https://192.168.0.1 or https://192.168.1.1. The default login is also typically u: admin and p: admin but if not you may need to Google and seek your router manual.
3. Configure port forwarding
This is probably the most time-consuming part – You need to locate the port forwarding page on your router. You’re faced with many menus and the location and names are not universal. When you do find the appropriate page enter the port and ip details you gathered on Step 1. Below is an example of my router page.
If you did everything correctly running the Test button mentioned on Step 1 should come up with a message saying the port is open. Now you’re ready to invite your friends to your game!