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Sorry made a small error when I originally
posted the on-line server connection details. The port number should be 2263
not 2363. Corrected details now shown below.
** Server is back :) **
As a result of the dedicated server that CricketGames.com now owns the
on-line server for ICC 2002 has been resurrected. Please read the following
carefully before attempting to connect as you need to alter your ICC 2002
configuration to point to the new server.
 | The on-line league has been totally
reset. You will need to re-register your CD key to access the server. |
| If you have lost your CD key then no new
ones will be supplied. |
| If you have never played on-line before
please read the whole of this page especially the section covering potential
game problems dependant on where you are at in your saved game. |
Server Configuration
A new configuration file called server.cfg need to be created using NotePad
(or equivalent text editor) in your ICC 2002 directory (by
default this is C:\Program Files\Empire International\International Cricket
Captain 2002). This file consists
of the following 3 lines
internationalcricketcaptain.com
2263
1.0
The first line is the name of the server to connect
to. Note there is NO www (www.internationalcricketcaptain.com will take
you to the forum). The second line is the port to connect to. If you are using a
firewall you may need to open port 2263. The final line is your current version.
This *must* be set to the correct version. If you previously applied the
patch on-line set this line to 1.01. If you have re-installed or never updated
on-line previously leave it at 1.0 and the patch will automatically be
downloaded and applied. You can see which version of ICC you are currently
running on the title screen.
** Important note ** If you set your version to 1.0 to download the patch
server.cfg is not updated as part of the patch process so once patch has been
successfully applied to prevent having to download the patch again edit the
server.cfg file again and change last line to 1.01.
Once this file has been created start up
ICC 2002 and try and connect to the Network Game.
Trouble Shooting - Only do this if
you had problems creating a new account. If you have previously played on-line you
may need to clear your existing CD key. This requires editing the registry. If
you are unfamiliar with using a registry editor do not attempt this as editing
the registry incorrectly can damage your Windows installation. using regedit or
equivalent registry editor navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Empire
Interactive\International Cricket Captain 2002' and delete the CDK and ESP
entries.
Magpie - This is the ICC 2002 editor
in development at CricketWeb. In the spirit of a fair on-line game it is
requested (but can not be enforced) that you don't use saved games or databases
created/edited with Magpie. As Magpie doesn't correctly decipher all details it
is quite possible a Magpie saved game could crash when played on-line.
The server costs US$150 a
month and is paid for on a month by month basis. Please consider helping support
the cost of the server by donating money via PayPal (see link at bottom of left
hand panel) or by ordering International Test
Cricket (if you aren't already a user). As a suggestion donate US$20 for
every 100 games played (20c a game is not much). I will try and implement it
such that users who donate will not fall foul of their rating being reduced by
not playing. If the monthly costs get too much and not enough donations/ITC
orders cover its cost I may be forced to remove the server.
One final thing - it is hoped
that eventually Empire will sanction a server for ICC 2005 and that this server
will be used but that has not yet been confirmed.
** Important News **
The server used for playing on-line will close from 31st January 2004. The
number of people using the server has reduced to the extent it is no longer
justifies the monthly dedicated server costs. If you select Network Game after
that date it will always come up with the connection failure box.
This page contains hints for saved games, playing on-line, Changes to the Server,
list of Teams who may disconnect rather than lose and
instructions on patching ICC 2002 and what to do if you have problems patching ICC 2002.
Network Codes
Unfortunately some copies of International
Cricket Captain 2002 have part of the network code missing due to badly aligned
labels. A valid network code has 12 characters and takes the form
ABCD-1346-EFGH. If you are unfortunate to have some of the code missing email
me with as much of the code as you have and I will let you know the complete
code. Please note I can only verify an existing code - I will never give out new
codes.
Saved Games
| You can not play on-line if you are playing Easy level. This is
probably the number one reason people can not play on-line. This point is
mentioned in the manual but people can not be bothered to read the manual (you would
though probably complain if no manual was included in the game!). |
| You can not play on-line if you are just playing Internationals.
Again this point is mentioned in the manual. |
| You can not use saved games from
International Cricket Captain 2001. Trying to use one of these unfortunately
crashes the server. |
| If you are captaining England as well as you county if your saved game is
currently in the middle of a tour (any point in the tour) it will cause a disconnection
when exchanging teams. |
| If your saved game is at the End of Season / Start of Season screen it will cause
a disconnection when exchanging teams. |
These last two cases can not be checked for so make sure you continue the saved
game until they are not at a problem point.
Playing On-line
These points have probably not been stressed enough.
99% of disconnections and problems are down to one of these points.
| If you use a ISP that has a fixed cut off after a set time (normally 2 hours)
make sure you have enough time to complete a match. If cut off it will count as a
disconnection. This is especially necessary if you play a
4 day match. |
| If you have a WinModem (one that uses the PC to process traffic) you will need a
more powerful PC than the recommended specification. |
| The server is physically located in the UK - if you are connecting from Australia
you may have problems due to distance. |
| It is absolutely essential when playing ICC on-line you keep ICC as the active
Application/Window and don't switch to any other application. Due to the way the on-line
side had to be added to the existing game it can only process server requests when it has
the focus. There was no other way to do it due to the existing design of the game.
** Important ** Other programs like email, ICQ, MSN, etc. will often
grab the focus when they update. You may not realise this and suffer a
disconnection. It is strongly recommended you run ICC in full screen
mode to prevent the applications stealing the focus. |
| Close down all other Internet applications especially ICQ/MSN and your email
program if you only have a modem connection as they take bandwidth from the game. Do not
have any downloads going on in the background. Close down any browsers as any pages with
adverts in are regularly downloading new adverts which again takes bandwidth away from the
game. |
| If you must switch from ICC to another application make sure you return within 30
seconds. Failure to do may freeze the game (forcing a disconnection) or worse case may
result in your PC locking up totally forcing a hardware reset. |
| If you continue to have problems your best bet is to change ISPs. A lot of ISPs
are only really set up for surfing not on-line gaming. i.e. AOL is one of the worst ISPs
on the planet for on-line gaming due to having to go through its specific application. |
| Don't use teams from ICC 2000/2001 on the 2002 server. 2002 was not intended to use
2001 teams and trying to load
them in will cause the game to crash. |
| It has been suggested that chatting too much can cause the on-line game to freeze
up. Typing more than 3 messages before continuing the game seems to be the limit. |
Recommended Setup
This is a recommended setup.
| If you ISP has a cut off after a set
time always disconnect and reconnect prior to starting a Network Game. |
| Disable all other applications
especially ICQ/MSN/Email/Web so they can not steal bandwidth or the Windows
active window. |
| Play Full screen - this prevents
accidentally clicking outside of the ICC Window which would lose the focus and
could result in a disconnection. |
| Never switch to another application when
playing a match. |
Changes to Server
There have
been several changes to the server from International Cricket Captain 2001
| 4 Days
games can now be played. |
| There
are 3 ratings for a team: 1 Day Rating, 4 Day rating and a combined rating.
The default rating displayed is combined but you can manually select the
others. |
| Stats
for Played, Won, Lost and Drawn but not rating are now updated for friendlies
as well. |
| The
formula used for calculating points won/lost has been altered. There should
now be a minimum of 8 points available for a win and a maximum of 24 lost for
a defeat. If you have played less than 16 matches or are playing against
someone who has played less than 16 matches these values will differ. |
| If no
ladder matches are played for a certain amount of time your rating will drop.
This is to prevent people getting to the top of the league and then no longer
playing to protect their position. Your rating will drop by 5% after
- 25 Days
- 30 Days
- 35 Days
- 40 Days
- 45 Days
- 50 Days
- Every Day over 50 you do not play
You reset the counter every time you start a ladder match. A separate counter
is maintained for 1 Day and 4 Day games. |
Teams who may disconnect
This is antisocial behaviour. If you
know of any teams please let
me
know.
Instructions for Patching International Cricket Captain 2002
There is a patch to v1.01 which fixes
problems getting past 2013. It can only be retrieved from the Network Game. Start the game and click on Network Game. This will connect to the Empire Server
and the first thing it does is check you have the very latest version. If it finds a newer
version it will automatically download it and install it. Note: You do not have to
register to play on-line to use this method of patching. It is the recommended way of
keeping up to date as it will contain all updates and usually get new updates first.
Currently the most up to date version is v1.01.
What to do if you have problems
The patches for International Cricket Captain only contain the
differences between versions not complete files. Occasionally you may still get a CheckSum error in
which case do the following.
Using Explorer or My Computer navigate to your International Cricket Captain
2002 directory (by default this is C:\Program Files\Empire International\International
Cricket Captain 2002) and delete ALL files with .CPF extension. These are the actual patch
files and if you have more than one it could mean you have an old one as a result of a
failed download earlier. Once you have deleted all the .CPF files re-run the downloaded
Patch or click on Network Game to update the game.
If after this you still get CheckSum errors uninstall the Game by going to
Control Panel, Add Remove Programs. Once uninstalled check the International Cricket
Captain 2002 folder where the game was originally installed was deleted. The uninstall
program will not delete files created after the game was installed (i.e. saved games and
failed patch downloads). If the directory still exists delete it manually (you might want
to save .CAP files as these are your saved games). Now reinstall International Cricket
Captain and click on Network Game to update the game.
As a last resort check your registry (use REGEDIT for this). The patch program
looks for the location of International Cricket Captain 2002 in the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Empire Interactive\International Cricket Captain
2002\1.00\Path - if this is missing then it can not update. This registry key is only
created when installing International Cricket Captain 2002 off an original CD-ROM. If it
is missing you will need to investigate why your registry was not updated.
Still got problems
If after doing all the above you still have problems this means your
International Cricket Captain 2002 files have been altered in some way.
This is probably for one of the following reasons
| You are using an unauthorised external patch like a no CD-ROM required patch.
Reinstall the game and don't use patches like this. |
| You are using the illegal warez version of International Cricket Captain 2002
which has a modified .EXE file to remove the CD check. The patching system will never work
with this version. You will need to install a legitimate version of International Cricket
Captain 2002 before you can patch the game. |
| You MAY have a virus which has modified the main International Cricket Captain
2002 executable or one of its DLL libraries. Make sure you install a virus checker with up
to date virus definitions (less than 2 weeks old). If you have not got a virus checker GET
ONE. VirusScan by McAfee Associates (http://www.mcafee.com)
is a popular virus checker that has a free trial version available for download or even a
scan over the web. |
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