What is an IP address?

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique address within a network used by devices to communicate with other devices within the network. Computers, printers, routers, and network hard drives are examples of devices that could have an IP address within a network.

IP addresses are generally assigned according to country and internet provider. There are also some specially reserved IP addresses or IP ranges that are universally understood:

• Local Machine IP – The IP address 127.0.0.1 (localhost) is always synonymous with the local machine. This IP address is valid only within the local machine environment, as every computer is its own “localhost”.
• Private Network IP’s – The IP ranges 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.254, 10.0.0.0–10.255.255.255 and 172.16.0.0–172.31.255.255 are reserved for private internal networks, such as a home networks or corporate intranets. These IP addresses are only valid within the local network and cannot be used if, for instance, a user wanted to connect to another user over the internet. Thus, it is typical for a computer to have an IP address for the local network (e.g. 10.1.2.1) and an IP address visible to the Internet (e.g. 65.34.24.24), which is itself one large network.

For the purpose of this tutorial, private network IP’s will be referred to as internal IP’s while internet-accessible IP’s will be referred to as external IP’s.

Why would I need to know my IP address?

1. Network gaming [internal or external]
2. Running a private server (e.g. FTP, HTTP) [internal or external]
3. Windows file sharing within an home network [internal]
4. … and any time another computer or service needs to identify your machine for commication or software deployment

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It was some time ago I wrote the original tutorial on how to make Age of Empires 3 work with a freeware Virtual Private Networking (VPN) program called Hamachi. There have been many questions about where to find the AOE3VPN.exe patch referenced in the tutorial, with some readers were to find it from the supplied Google search bar.

The good news is that a much-improved patch is available from Crea-Doo Continue »

Shortly after our wedding I asked my wife what she’d like as a wedding gift: a digital SLR or a Nintendo Wii console (this is as romantic as many techies get, after all). To my surprise and eventual delight she chose the Wii. We lucked out by arriving to a Best Buy barely an hour after the shipment arrived and scored a Wii console that someone else had probably been waiting on for weeks.

And so I joined the dark side: Nintendo has long had a negative stigma among gamers for releasing too many “cutesy” games on its under-powered consoles. These moves were deliberate, as Nintendo claimed to be targeting the family market rather than hardcore gamers. To that end, the Wii is no different from the N64 or previous “cutesy” consoles – however the revolutionary controller makes the idea of a family console a reality. Continue »

Summary

This tutorial will demonstrate how to use Hamachi and a special game patch to link two or more computers for multiplayer game play in Age of Empires 3. Since its release, AOE3 has caused many headaches for players due to the game only recognizing an internal IP address (ie 192.168.x.x). This flaw makes Internet gaming impossible, since only computers on an internal LAN can see an internal IP address. Ensemble have offered patches and suggestions to overcome this problem, but they have not worked for all gamers.

Enter Hamachi, a free network application that allows two or more users to organize a Virtual Private Network with Peer to Peer facilities. A special patch for AOE3 (this is NOT a pirate hack) allows the game to select network devices, enabling secure game play over a user’s Hamachi network.
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