- Make sure you have both the 1.3.6.4 full build installer (100+MB, self-expanding executable inside a .zip), and then the 1.3.6.4k patch. Both are linked from the master download page,
http://matesfamily.org/bz2/ . Install them in that order.
- You can check what patch you have installed and are currently running by looking in the bottom left corner of the login (i.e. pilot selection) screen. It's printed with a blue background. (Note: this should work in all 1.3 versions; if you don't see it, you're probably running a patch made over a decade ago)
- See the Readme13.rtf and NetTips.rtf (may be shown in Windows as 'Readme13' and 'NetTips'; look in the same folder that you installed 1.3.6.4 into) for details about MP sessions. Red means it's running a different patch; there's no easy way to determine which patch it is. Yellow means it's got a different set of MOD(s) installed and required.
- Not all games will ever be joinable. BZ2 does not have forced upgrades, so people are free to run older patches. Most people do run the latest public release. There are occasionally games up with limited-distribution patches based on code ahead of the public release which might or might not be released to the public eventually.
- Installing any BZ2 1.3 full build installer will
deactivate any installed mods, by renaming the 'addon' folder. As a lot has changed since patches made over a decade ago -- or even two years ago -- this is a safety measure to make sure you verify that any mods you want to install are the latest and compatible with the latest BZ2 1.3. Some mods aren't, and misbehave, look ugly, and/or crash. I suggest you look at the sticky topics at this forum's
BZ2 Mod Playing section. In there, you'll see links to mods and comments.
- Don't see a game you want to join? Press the "create game" button up top. With BZ2 1.3.6.*, there is (usually) no need to reconfigure your router to open ports, etc. Just create a game.
-- GSH