Still looking for some suggestions as to why I get the above error when I attempt to connect to a server I created (see below). To date I've tried everything I can find in forums and wikis, including manually opening up all the ports that Steam and the game require (both TCP & UDP) to no avail. Regardless of what I have done so far, the server I create connects to Steam, but during the authentication process on the game splash screen authentication fails and gives an error. Thanks.
To repeat: I CAN boot the game up when I connect to WAN servers (that others have created). I only get this authentication problem when I am trying to play the game on a LAN server.
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Long story short: I installed the game and the Steam Wurm server tool and configured as instructed by all the forums, tutorials, YouTube vids and wikis. The game loads fine and I can easily connect to someone else's server and create a character. But that does not interest me at present. I want my OWN server that I can be on alone or with the friend who gifted me the game. (Playing on a private servers is, after all, the point of Wurm Unlimited, yes?)
When I start the server it says "Server connected to Steam" (in the DOS window) so I then run the game interface, find my server on the LAN tab, and click CONNECT. I get the game splash screen and some initialization messages, then (every time) it starts the authentication process then stops at:
Network error: <An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host>
then it says it will try again in 180 seconds. Repeatedly.
Seems to me this a STEAM problem, not a game problem, but of course there is nowhere to report it because STEAM support is just an endless loop of "go ask the game developers."
Any clue as to why this is happening would be appreciated, the game looks very interesting. Thanks.