directplay incompatibility

[niddrym]

I was testing out heroes of might and magic 3, and noticed that I cannot connect to a LAN game from windows 11 to linux.

I've tested Linux to Linux which connects fine, and Windows 11 to Windows 11 which connects fine using direct play. However when trying to connect from Windows 11 to or from Linux it cannot connect to the multiplayer game.

From the wine logs the only error that pops up is:
02b0:err:sync:RtlpWaitForCriticalSection section 07310720 "?" wait timed out in thread 02b0, blocked by 01b8, retrying (60 sec)

One thing I found odd, is the directplay advertisement from Windows 11, is using a non-directplay port 15562 instead of something in the 2300-2400 range.

Has anyone encountered this, or have any idea how to address it?

[niddrym]

Nevermind, I figured out the issue was upnp was still enabled on my router. I swore I had disabled it.

[ananislam99]

I was testing out heroes of might and magic 3, and noticed that I cannot connect to a LAN game from windows 11 to linux.

I've tested Linux to Linux which connects fine, and Windows 11 to Windows 11 which connects fine using direct play. However when trying to connect from Windows 11 to or from Linux it cannot connect to the multiplayer game.

From the wine logs the only error that pops up is:
02b0:err:sync:RtlpWaitForCriticalSection section 07310720 "?" wait timed out in thread 02b0, blocked by 01b8, retrying (60 sec)

One thing I found odd, is the directplay advertisement from Windows 11, is using a non-directplay port 15562 instead of something in the 2300-2400 range.

Has anyone encountered this, or have any idea how to address it?

The issue you're facing when trying to connect Heroes of Might and Magic 3 multiplayer between Windows 11 and Linux likely stems from how DirectPlay handles networking across platforms. While Windows-to-Windows and Linux-to-Linux connections work fine, the cross-platform setup can break due to mismatched port usage or limitations in Wine's DirectPlay implementation. To troubleshoot, ensure that all necessary DirectPlay ports are open—specifically UDP 2300–2400 and TCP 47624—on both machines. Also, include any dynamically assigned ports, such as 15562, as seen in your logs.

Temporarily disabling firewalls can help isolate whether security rules are blocking the traffic. On the Linux side, using Wine Staging and installing native DirectPlay components via winetricks directplay often improves compatibility. Also, verify that both systems are on the same local subnet and attempt to connect directly via IP instead of relying on broadcast discovery. If you're using the HoMM3 HD mod, confirm both installations match in version and that LAN mode is properly configured. These steps should help bridge the gap between Windows and Linux connectivity.