Inviting friends in multiplayer games doesn't work

Feedback and support for the iOS (iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch) versions of Osmos
jojo95
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Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:00 am

Inviting friends in multiplayer games doesn't work

Postby jojo95 » Thu Oct 11, 2012 11:08 am

Hi, I just tried out the GameCenter Multiplayer feature in Osmos on iPad 3 (v2.1, iOS 6) for the first time and unfortunately had to discover that inviting another friend (who has also installed the newest version of Osmos on his iPad 2) doesn't work.
I managed to send the invitation, but after some seconds of "Waiting"-time it says me "failed". We both repeated this a couple of times but we always get the same error...

What are your recommendations regarding this problem?

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eddybox
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Re: Inviting friends in multiplayer games doesn't work

Postby eddybox » Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:26 pm

Hi jojo95,

It could be due to a number of things which are hard to detect at the app level. Given you're both running the same version of Osmos, it's likely due to a preference setting on one of your devices. You should both make sure:
- "Allow Friend Invites" is on in your Game Center preferences.
- push notifications are on.
- there aren't any parental controls that may be blocking the invitations.
- you both have a wifi connection. (3G not supported.)
- only one of you is sending an invitation at once.

If none of that helps, try logging out and back into Game Center on both devices. In any case, please let us know how that goes for you and which solution worked so we can pin things down better for others who may run into the same problem.

Thanks!
Eddy

jojo95
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Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:00 am

Re: Inviting friends in multiplayer games doesn't work

Postby jojo95 » Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:39 am

We successfully played another multiplayer game ("Lost Cities") so I think it might not be a GameCenter problem.
But I will ask him to check these settings on his iPad to make sure everything is set up right.

In the meantime thanks for the help! :)

xgregious
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Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:28 pm

Re: Inviting friends in multiplayer games doesn't work

Postby xgregious » Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:35 pm

I'd like to chime in as well -- invite does not work, or at least it works for me *rarely*. I'm on iPhone 4, opponents are on iPod touch 4, and iPhone. Same as described - invitation accepted, hangs on 'connecting', then fail.

'In the room' also works poorly for me. Connection takes forever, or fails and when it succeeds, there is too much lag. I've tried bluetooth as well with similar results.

jojo95
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Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:00 am

Re: Inviting friends in multiplayer games doesn't work

Postby jojo95 » Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:50 pm

To give you a brief update:
We've checked our settings. Everything was and is set up right!
And we still didn't get it to work...

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eddybox
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Re: Inviting friends in multiplayer games doesn't work

Postby eddybox » Sun Oct 14, 2012 8:26 pm

@xgregious: I'll start with "in the room" connections first. It sounds like you may have a rough wifi connection. In order to try bluetooth, make sure both devices have bluetooth enabled and disable wifi on at least one of them. (If not, it may still connect via wifi depending on which responds faster.) Bluetooth connections can take 30 seconds to connect, but once they do they're usually solid. (ie. low lag.) Please let us know how that goes for you.

@jojo95 & xgregious: Failed Game Center (GC) invitations is a tougher nut to crack unfortunately. I was hoping it was a settings problem, but it sounds like it isn't. We've seen similar issues, but it's usually sporadic, and depends on your internet connection (not just your home<->ISP, but the route to your friend). The fact that "Lost Cities" works for you means you're using the right GC accounts, etc. but Lost Cities is an asynchronous game and doesn't depend on having a good connection. Real-time/arcade games like Osmos seem to have stricter connection requirements at the GC level, and believe me when I say we've really tried to get support from Apple on why/how this sometimes fails, but there's very little transparency here. (There are "known issues" though.) Anyways, it's poor form to point the finger at GC until we've done some more troubleshooting. Could you please try inviting your friend(s) to other iOS arcade games, like "Fruit Ninja" or "Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy" (Sky Gamblers is free to download and try). It'd be really useful to know if it works (or doesn't work) reliably for those, but not Osmos.

Thanks!
Eddy


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