A Guide to Using Nestopia 1.39 for Netplay
By bgboud2 with help from the Tecmo community, notably daboy8821 and sois.
Edited for Nestopia 1.39 because Nestopia 1.40 desynchs movie files in netplay.
Download Nestopia 1.39 with Kaillera Peer-to-Peer Client
Contents
1. Installation and setup
2. Netplay and Movie Recording
3. Troubleshooting
1. Installation and Setup
1.1. Download Nestopia 1.39 with the Kaillera peer-to-peer client here if you haven't already. The Nestopia video tutorial in the Netplay section will instruct you to download the new kailleraclient.dll file and install into your Nestopia139 folder. If you download Nestopia140 from this page, it has already been done for you.
1.2. Open up Nestopia and go to Options then Timing. Depending on your system, you may want to Enable triple buffering or Vsync. I haven't done that and it works fine for me. One thing you don't want to do is click Auto frame skip. You may be chasing ghosts if you do that.
1.3. Under Options then Input, set your controls whether a gamepad or keyboard. If you click Set All, you'll have five seconds to press each button. If you're using a gamepad, it will show up on the right. If you use the Auto-Fire A, Iceage will immediately send a virus to your computer.
1.4. Under Options then Paths, check the Read-only box under Save Data. This prevents a file from being generated every time you close Nestopia. If you don't have this box checked, a .sav file will be generated and will cause you to desynch when you play someone online because you are essentially loading a different game than your opponent. The other thing you need to is uncheck the Use internal compression box under Save States. Stats for leagues are taken from the state files. The stat extraction does not work for compressed files.
1.5. Under Options then Preferences, check the Launcher window size and Window position boxes. This is just so you don't have to re-size the window every time you open Nestopia.
1.6. Now you're ready to test out Nestopia! Resize the screen under View to your liking. You can hit Alt+Enter to make it full screen. Depending on your computer, you may have to resize the screen or change your resolution during Netplay, but we'll get to that under Troubleshooting.
2. Netplay and Movie Recording
2.1. A good video tutorial for setting up Netplay can be found here.
2.2 To record movies, before you load the rom, go to File, Movie Player, File and name the file whatever you like. It will default to the States directory. After you or your opponent has loaded the rom, go back to File, Move Player, and hit record. If this is a season game, it is best to wait to start recording until after the autoskipping of season games.
3. Troubleshooting
3.1. We can't connect: Assuming the player hosting the game has the port forwarded properly, be sure that the player hosting the game has the server up before the other player tries to connect.
3.2. Nestopia runs choppy or slow: If choppy, make sure you don't have Auto frame skip selected in the Timing Options. If it is slow, you may have to reduce your screen size or resolution. You can reduce the screen size by going under View or by manually adjust the window. It's a good idea to display the frames per second (FPS). This will display on the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Aim for 60.
The other thing you can try is reducing the resolution by going under Options then Video. Reduce the Mode (resolution).
3.3. Nestopia runs slow during Netplay: Assuming Nestopia otherwise runs at a good speed, you may simply have to minimize the P2P window and you'll see the FPS shoot up. You can still chat during Netplay without seeing the P2P box by selecting Netplay then Chat (after you are connected). A little box will appear that you can move around the screen to your liking. Messages from your opponent will show at the bottom left of the screen. If minimizing the P2P screen doesn't fix the problem, then try adjusting your screen size as well.
A better option is to run in full screen mode. Before connecting or hosting, select the Play in fullscreen box.
3.4. The controller doesn't work during Netplay: This often results when you are Player 2. If you are Player 2, then the other options should be grayed out. Go to Machine then Input then Port 2 and select Pad 1.
3.5. We keep desynching: Be sure that you selected Read only under Save Data under Options, Paths.� Inside your Nestopia139 folder there will be folder called Save. Check that there are no files there. If you still desynch, then be sure that you and your opponent are using the same version of Nestopia and the same version of the rom. Occasionally a clumsy commish like me will have to fix something on a rom after its released and either you or your opponent did not re-download it.
3.6. My state file did not upload properly to my league's website: Be sure that you unchecked Use internal compression under Save States under Options, Paths. If you save a compressed file you can still fix it. Load the state file and save it again after you unchecked Use internal compression.