Custom Scenario Fail to transfer in Multiplayer Lobby

Age of Empires II: DE II - Report a Bug
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:play_button: GAME INFORMATION

:backhand_index_pointing_down: These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.

  • GAME BUILD #: VERSION 101.103.16877.0 (#147949) 18848918
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

:play_button: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

:backhand_index_pointing_down: *Custom scenario can’t be shared properly in a multiplayer lobby.
This is very frustrating, i host and wait for the lobby to fill. It fills after some time, then scenario transfer fails and it starts kicking people randomly. Then we spend the next 10 to 20 minutes figuring out who to rejoin and wasting time trying to fix it. Then we start the game and play normally.
The problems are below:
1- Scenario fails to transfer
2- The error message is only displayed to host so players have no idea what is going on
3- It kick players and kicked players can’t rejoin lobby, they have to wait 1 minute. New players would just leave thinking i kicked them and never rejoin.
4- It gives the scenario or game mode a bad reputation
5- Many times i host, lobby fills. Scenario bugs then i end up not playing.

This has been happening for the last 3 months. I didn’t submit a report because i have low faith in it being fixed or receiving attention from the devs. But here i am.

This discourages people to play Age of Empires. Many time i just don’t launch the game because i know the error is gonna happen so i end up playing something else.
Almost all the times we had the error ruin our lobbies, people would just leave to play a different game. This is hurting the game.
Please fix this because custom scenarios are the only reason i play this game.
Please note that when we finally start the game, the scenario works fine with no crashes or error. The only problem is the lobby part. So the problem is not in the scenario, it is the lobby failing to transfer it.
I want to add that the scenario is already in the datamod that the players download, so why on earth am i transferring the scenario to them in the first place? The scenario is in the datamod so they should have it when they download the datamod.

Finally i wanna note that at the time of writing this, i had a lobby fill with 8 players. Then the error showed up and it kicked 4 players. It is happening as i am writing this.
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:play_button: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: *How often does the issue occur? *

  • 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS)
    IT’S INSANE THAT IT HAPPENS 100% OF THE TIME I PLAY

:play_button: REPRODUCTION STEPS

:backhand_index_pointing_down: List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptive!

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

  1. Host a custom scenario that has a 800KB to 1MB size.
  2. Transfer the scenario to players
  3. no step 3

:play_button: EXPECTED RESULT

:backhand_index_pointing_down: It should be like any decent modern game where i can play custom lobbies without spending 20 to 30 minutes every time having players to rejoin. This is embarassing for a modern game, it shouldn’t be in the game.

:play_button: IMAGE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: ALWAYS attach a PICTURE (.jpg, .png, .gif) or VIDEO (.mp4, YouTube link) that highlights the problem.

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:play_button: GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

:backhand_index_pointing_down: Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file service.
No recording, the error happens on lobby. You can easily replicate this

1 Like
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So real devs fix asap pls we wanna play and such

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Duplicate of Custom Lobby: Frequent File Transfer Failures and Unnecessary Re-Downloads of Identical Mods

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It’s different and not a duplicate.
1- In my case i have the scenario in the DATAMOD, which shouldn’t cause transfer in the first place
2- The error appears before i press the start button. Some times after, but most of the time before.
3- It appears every game (you said every 10th). My case appears every single time I host.

But yea it is weird that it appears in CBA too, the most popular custom scenario. This bug needs to be fixed, it is discouraging us to host and play the game.

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I’m sure it’s the same underlying issue. I estimated about 1 in 10 file transfers fail on average, and roughly 50% of the times I host. It’s nondeterministic, the root cause is unknown, so sometimes it fails more often, sometimes less.

Your error involves the scenario file (.aoe2scenario), as shown in your screenshots, not the data file (empires2_x2_p1.dat), which transfers differently.
image

Recently, CBA also requires both the data file and the scenario file, and it shows the same issue.

In case it wasn’t clear: the error appears after the scenario-file transfer finishes, not during the transfer, and sometimes with a delay of even minutes.

My ticket additionally noted that the transfer progress bar can sometimes get stuck indefinitely without any red-error message. It’s not clear whether you’ve seen that as well, uploading a short video of the stalled bar might help clarify.

Bottom line: it’s the same bug. Having another example is great, that’s why I linked to the other report.

Workaround:

  1. As soon as that red error pops up, ask the affected player to rejoin. They won’t see the error themselves. Beware: if you start the game with someone whose transfer just failed, they may get kicked before or after the lobby timer expires, potentially causing the player missing from the game.
  2. If the transfer progress bar stalls for about 10 seconds (visible to both host and player), politely ask them to rejoin. The second attempt almost always succeeds.
  3. If transfers consistently fail when you’re hosting, the issue may be your internet connection. Try having someone else host on a more stable network, or use a VPN over TCP, assuming the game’s file transfers currently use UDP.
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With all due respect, I don’t give a damn on whose ticket is more detailed. I only want this bug to be fixed and gone forever.

I made this ticket to show what kind of problem I’m having so the devs can fix them. My ticket has all the details I found and gathered.

I am not here looking for workarounds. This is a bug that ruins the game experience for me and for many other players. It must be fixed correctly.

Also fyi, the scenario file (.aoe2scenario) is in the data mod folder. So the map transfer doesn’t make sense in the first place because players already download it when they download the datamod.