Talk:Multiplayer/@comment-4008534-20110520024033

Okay, registered to say a few things here.

First, before trying to download a big complicated stupid VPN application, first maybe you should try port forwarding. http://portforward.com/ has a guide on how to for each router, but essentially if you play any game that can host and work via IP like this, you'll likely have people time out until you have the port the server uses (which it tells you on being run) forwarded to your machine in the network. Port forwarding is immensely useful for a variety of games. As a minecrafter I've hosted a server on my machine and I suspect you'll have similar issues if running terria.

As far as I can tell if you actually want to host some multiplayer games.

Firstly if you're trying to host a server on a normal broadband line, you will find that unless your computer is ancient, or a netbook (ie just able to run the game) you will not find that the hardware is the limiting factor. Your broadband upstream will be the issue. If you look at the hardware required for a minecraft server for example, a mid range desktop will be able to play the game and host a dozen users easily. I'm using a rather beefy PC and I'm pretty sure I could host 20+ users easily, except my users lag out the moment player 5 connects. I have no FPS issue or lag at my end, simply put, the internet connection will be the limiting factor if you're on on ADSL3 or something. My friend with a laptop can host more users than me due to a better upstream rate. If you want to play with a few friends, whoever has the best connection (trial and error may be the way forward) should host, unless their PC is really slow. If you want to play with a large community then you'll need that connection.

Of course terraria has continuity of character stats and gear between servers so you can just host a game for a few hours and if your friend can't host or isn't on, someone else can pick it up for a while and while you lose some progress you don't lose it all, you could then return to the original world even better kitted out if you so chose.