Unable to see created game in AoE2 in Windows 7

I am trying to play in Local Lan multiplayer between a Laptop, which is connected through Wifi and a desktop PC which is connected through an ethernet cable to the same router. both PCs can ping each other, and I can play other games with no issues. But with Age of Empires 2 no matter who creates a multiplayer game the other person cant "see" the game in the list of available games.

One interesting thing to note is that, when playing Starcraft: Broodwar I can create a game but only in UDP, not in IPX. ( Could that be the reason? If so, is it possible to install IPX protocol in Windows 7).

For now I am playing using Gameranger which works but it sucks due to network latency when we are in the same network :(

Any idea what could be the problem?

age-of-empires-ii-the-age-of-kings

Best Answer

Well, I finally cracked it. For anyone having this issue, the problem is that Windows 7 does not support natively the IPX protocol anymore.

So to overcome this, you can download this app : http://www.solemnwarning.net/ipxwrapper/

This will automagically convert your network packets to IPX using UDP tunneling. I tested it and it works like charm! Now the game works fine and we can play through Lan with no issues and most importantly no lag at all.

So, to quickly sum up, this is what I did to make it work:

Deactivate the firewall in your Domestic network in the Windows Network setting.
Download IPx wrapper and unzip all the files in the same folder as the executable of the game. For instance, we play The Conquerors expansion so I right click on the properties of the shorcut and then on Open file location.

Thats where you should place all the files. Do this for every machine that will join the game. Once the files are copied there are two .reg files you should execute, depending if you are in either 32 or 64 bit version of Windows. Execute it before going to the next step.

Open the game in one machine and create a game using IPX protocol. NOT using TCP/IP.
Other users are now able to see the game even if they are in Windows 7.
Enjoy an awesome game.

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Quick Answer about "Unable to see created game in AoE2 in Windows 7"

Deactivate the firewall in your Domestic network in the Windows Network setting.
Download IPx wrapper and unzip all the files in the same folder as the executable of the game. For instance, we play The Conquerors expansion so I right click on the properties of the shorcut and then on Open file location.

Does Age of Empires 2 de work on Windows 7?

Hi there, Yes, it runs on Windows 7.

How can I fix my Age of Empires 2 graphics on Windows 7?

Fixing Age of Empires 2 graphics in Windows 7

Run Age of Empires 2.

Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and click Start Task Manager.

Click the Processes tab, find explorer.exe, select and click End Process.

Switch back to Age of Empires 2 with Alt-Tab.

Why is my Age of Empires 2 not working?

Often times when a game fails, the main culprit behind this is your graphics card driver. You may be using a faulty graphics driver or it's outdated, which causes the game to crash. So, when something goes wrong with Age of Empires 2, updating your graphics driver should always be your go-to option.

How to fix the colour problem of Age of Empires 2 in Windows 7.( All versions)

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Images: Magda Ehlers, Ketut Subiyanto, Ketut Subiyanto, Max DeRoin