To be able to use the online features of Ship Simulator, you will need to patch your game, if you haven't already. The latest patch is available here:
http://www.shipsim.com/downloads/updates
Once you have downloaded and installed the patch, setting up your firewall for Ship Simulator is easy if you follow a few steps:
1. Find out which firewall you are using.
There are many different firewalls and internet security packages out there, each one can be very different in appearance and features. Some of the available firewalls/packages are listed below:
AVG
Bullguard
Comodo
F-Secure
McAfee
Norton
Panda
Trend Micro/Pc-Cillin
Windows Firewall (Windows XP Service pack 2 and Windows Vista)
Windows Live OneCare
ZoneAlarm
Most firewalls will start when Windows starts and will be shown in your Notification Area (by your clock). The easiest way to check which firewall you're using, is to go to your Start Menu, it should be listed there.
2. Use your firewall manual and/or support pages.
If you're not sure how your firewall works, or how to perform certain functions, check the documentation that is supplied. This is usually very informative and can help you to resolve most of the issues you may encounter. If you can't find the answer in the documentation, most security software providers offer a web service.
The packages listed above all have support pages, these are listed below (links):
AVG Support
Bullguard Support
Comodo Support
F-Secure Support
McAfee Support
Norton Support
Panda Support
Trend Micro Support
Windows Vista Security Centre
Windows Vista Firewall
Windows XP Security Centre
Windows XP Firewall Basics
Windows Live OneCare Help Centre
ZoneAlarm Support
3. Which file do I need to add to my firewall to allow internet access?
For Ship Simulator to successfully connect to the internet, you must make sure that questviewer.exe has access through your firewall. the default location for this is:
C:\Program Files\Vstep\ShipSim2008\
4. What do I need to do with my game profile?
For your Mission times and Ranking to upload correctly, you need to setup your profile in-game. Your in-game profile/name needs to be the same as listed in your forum profile, once this is setup, click Allow Internet Access, then click Go Online. You will see a small progress bar, which is checking your connection to your forum profile information.
If all this has been setup correctly, you will see an icon at the top-right of the screen, this will show Online.
5. Important information.
Every program that has online functionality, uses a series of ports to access the internet. A firewall will essentially block these ports, making the online functions inoperable. Even if you disable your firewall, it will have the same effect.
The thing to remember is, leave your firewall enabled and configure it, it's the best way to make certain that you've unblocked your game.
If you still cannot connect to your forum profile information, or you get error messages, check all your firewall and Ship Simulator settings, just to make certain you haven't missed anything.
Made by: [RWP]DJM
