triggering login process via some other way

I found odd trick that accomplishes that. Hit that cursed INTERNET GAME button, pay close attention to dialog window that says "CONNECTING TO MWLLNETWORK" and hit Esc as soon as it disappears! Time window to Esc is pretty small, but if done right, it will cancel server list thing and will leave you logged in, free to use console's "connect".

Still would love to know console command that logs me in if there's one. Or how to fix issue directly.

Hey. It's been a long time since I messed with Wine and Crysis. That was before the Community Edition, before the launcher and before our fake Gamespy server. So bear with me.

The launcher is a necessary evil. It handles signing into "Gamespy" (or rather our replacement dummy) for Crysis, among other things. It's not intended to be able to launch Crysis independently, and it won't function properly without the launcher magic, as you've noticed. Your best bet is to get the launcher running.

The delay after clicking Internet Game sounds like DNS. We had to hardcode some domains in the game's binary (such as the defunct server browser chat) to invalid domains. If they actually resolve (usually due to DNS hijacking), the game will try to connect to something and only time out after a few minutes. Monitor DNS traffic while clicking the button. Also see here.

But unless you're using the launcher, you will still be in a non-logged-in state, or in a state where game servers will reject you, or server admins will ban you on sight.

@fire-hound might have some more recent experiences with Wine: https://forum.mechlivinglegends.net/d/161-playing-or-trying-mw-ll-on-linux-via-wine

Fun fact: The Funbocks servers have been running on Wine since the very beginning! They were a very different beast to tame compared to the client.

It's not intended to be able to launch Crysis independently

But once launcher did it's work, it is ok to keep launching independently? I did get launcher working (micross.ttf was the key problem), yet it introduces significant delay in game startup.

or in a state where game servers will reject you

I was experiencing 12thVR servers instakicking me upon connection until admin changed something on their side. I wonder if it was this authentication problem or merely ping (I have rather high ping to them).

If they actually resolve

All my DNS servers seem to properly return NXDOMAIN for those .invalid domains. Interestingly enough, game will also try to resolve and reach "www.ea.com". I placed "sake.invalid" and "motd.gsp.invalid" plus that "www.ea.com" into /etc/hosts, redirecting them to localhost, with no change to behavior of game, as I did not like bogus traffic exiting my computer. I gonna poke around and see some more what game will try to reach whenever server list is opened, but I still suspect server list freeze has nothing to do with hijacking.

Fun fact: The Funbocks servers have been running on Wine since the very beginning! They were a very different beast to tame compared to the client.

Are they still up? At first glance running server was not that difficult once I got launcher to create simple default config with map rotation. Running own server is how I managed to get in touch with person who got me in contact with 12thVR server admin!

138.201.128.96:6667, same box as GameSpy replacement thing. It even has some server running on it, but I was not able to confirm it being actual IRC daemon.

Yes, that is the CJW server that hosts the master services. It also has an IRC bouncer. Ideally, this connection attempt shouldn't happen in the first place. Is there any way you can figure out which domain name resolves to our IP behind the 6667 connection? I can then turn it into an invalid one in the binary.

It's likely your VPN blackholes IRC outright to prevent abuse (spammers and such use them to evade IP bans).

Dravi Are they still up? At first glance running server was not that difficult once I got launcher to create simple default config with map rotation. Running own server is how I managed to get in touch with person who got me in contact with 12thVR server admin!

I don't have the time anymore to maintain the Funbockses. I ended up taking them down, but can restart them if need be. Servers can still be tricky over Wine, especially if you want to go headless. At least the memory leaks in wineserver have been fixed...

Holy shit, I found the problem. Hosting company of VPN I am connected to is silently dropping connections to any 6667 TCP port. And apparently game is trying to reach IRC server. What it's even for? I was not even aware of IRC integration being there.

iptables -I OUTPUT 1 -p tcp --dport 6667 -j REJECT fixes freeze!

So, at the end it's not quite DNS hijacking, but similar grade of network shittery.

But once launcher did it's work, it is ok to keep launching independently? I did get launcher working (micross.ttf was the key problem), yet it introduces significant delay in game startup.

No, it needs to be used on every launch. Otherwise you're using an unauthenticated client, which will lead to server kickage you experienced.

All my DNS servers seem to properly return NXDOMAIN for those .invalid domains. Interestingly enough, game will also try to resolve and reach "www.ea.com". I placed "sake.invalid" and "motd.gsp.invalid" plus that "www.ea.com" into /etc/hosts, redirecting them to localhost, with no change to behavior of game, as I did not like bogus traffic exiting my computer.

NXDOMAIN is fine, if it can't resolve it can't connect to anything. Using localhost is exactly the wrong course of action, as the game will then try to connect, and wait for a timeout.

And apparently game is trying to reach IRC server. What it's even for?

There used to be a server browser chat. It'll be that. However I wonder what IP it tries to connect to in the first place, as it would have to successfully resolve it first. And that shouldn't happen. Can you figure that out for me? Might help others in the future too.

No, it needs to be used on every launch.

Oh well.

and wait for a timeout

No need to wait for timeout if it's localhost that instantly rejects connection, properly, unlike ISP of VPN server that is blocking IRC clients. I guess if I wanted to keep it more elegant while not hammering Internet DNS servers with .invalid lookups I would be running own DNS server locally.

However I wonder what IP it tries to connect to in the first place, as it would have to successfully resolve it first.

138.201.128.96:6667, same box as GameSpy replacement thing. It even has some server running on it, but I was not able to confirm it being actual IRC daemon.

I can imagine people with crappy ISPs blocking IRC clients for shoddy "security reasons" running into same freeze bug.

Is there any way you can figure out which domain name resolves to our IP behind the 6667 connection?

Only following domains are resolved before game server connection is established (then game does reverse DNS lookup for server you are connected to). Those are not cached and resolved multiple times, that's why I decided to throw all of them into /etc/hosts:

• gs.clanjadewolf.net (first seen on game startup) - GameSpy replacement server, not sure why IRC thing is there too
• www.ea.com (first seen on game startup) - completely useless, as it tries to access long-dead URL http://www.ea.com/editorial/crysis/crysis.xml
• motd.gsp.invalid (first seen on game startup) - useless DNS noise
• sake.invalid (first seen when opening server list) - useless DNS noise

IRC thing seems to reuse gs.clanjadewolf.net value for some reason, either by copying it or using same variable. Each version of CryNetwork.dll seems to feature 10 copies of gs.clanjadewolf.net. Want me to try messing with hex editor and check which one is responsible for IRC connection?

It's likely your VPN blackholes IRC outright to prevent abuse

Not their job. Network neutrality, anyone? Also I think it's more about C&C server access by malware. Still extremely dumb to block IRC over that. Ironically, I am using that VPN to bypass censorship my home ISP is forced to do by government. Kinda sucks to spot more censorship done with no prior notice.

If it's using the gs host, there's not much i can do on my end unfortunately. Thanks for checking!

The reason we're running an IRC bouncer on the same machine is mostly for my own convenience Or well, it was 10 years ago. Nowadays not so much.

As for the VPN thing: They aren't providers, so technically they don't fall under net neutrality. I do agree tho. On the other hand, blackholing IRC, mail and the like saves them a lot of headache and legal problems.
If you do want a neutral VPN, your best option is to grab yourself a vserver and host it yourself.

Are you sure gs was not simply copied to distinct variable? I'll try to mess around with hex editor to see if I can get game still connect to GameSpy box yet throw IRC thing at .invalid domain. IRC bouncer being present or absent would not affect game hanging for users of crappy ISPs.

If you do want a neutral VPN, your best option is to grab yourself a vserver and host it yourself.

Person running that VPN and giving me access is actually renting a server! I think it's reasonable to expect ISP of rented box to not fuck with traffic. But alas, they do, and this person was not aware of such practice.

I was able to identify functions of various copies of gs.clanjadewolf.net in Bin64/CryNetwork.dll file! As I suspected, they are different values doing different stuff!

I changed one value at a time, from gs.clanjadewolf.net to xxxxxxxxxxx.invalid, placed entry for replacement value into /etc/hosts with distinct IP and observed what happened with game, from launch to successfully loading server list. "dunno!" entries changed absolutely nothing and thus I have no idea what they are for.

• 0x1A9158 - responsible for sending "crysiswars" string upon game launch, 27900 UDP
• 0x1AA238 - dunno!
• 0x1AA250 - dunno!
• 0x1AA268 - dunno!
• 0x1AA5C8 - responsible for loading actual server list, 28910 TCP
• 0x1AA8F0 - dunno!
• 0x1AB270 - IRC thing, seems to be GameSpy chat variant of IRC protocol, 6667 TCP
• 0x1E7F10 - responsible for GameSpy authentication, 29900 TCP
• 0x1E8060 - dunno!
• 0x1E8110 - dunno!

IRC thing can be easily redirected to .invalid domain without breaking authentication and server list loading.

Interesting, thanks. That might be the solution.

btw, if the game still locks up, give the 32 bit version a try. I remember 64 bit being problemati under Wine.