Warp Pipe Project Ramps Up For Mario Kart

chadlnx writes "With the Stateside release of Kirby Air Ride, the first LAN-based game for the GameCube, the Warp Pipe Project is in the process of releasing source which allows users to play the game over a WAN on Linux. Development has slowed in recent weeks, but the team is working on porting to libPcap for maximum portablity. A basic stable release for both Windows and Linux is targeted for the release of the GameCube's second LAN-based game, Mario Kart: Double Dash, which ships on November 17th."

Gamecube LAN party!

[cool_bladelansmash.c]

Gamecube as a LAN box would be uber cool!!1! Unfortauntely it looks like it'll take quite a while before it will be a reality, but the potential is there.

Re:Gamecube LAN party!

[MORTAR_COMBAT!]

Uh... it's already a LAN box. This project is trying to make a WAN box out of it.

Re:Gamecube LAN party!

[cool_bladelansmash.c]

Ah ok then - not so in australia :(

sounds cool ...

[Dreadlord]

when I first [slashdot.org] read about Warp Pipe Project a couple of months back, I wasn't interested that much, cuz most of the GameCube games were only playable over the Internet, now with Mario Kart and several other titles, this project has sure become something interesting for Linux geeks who have a GameCube.
I just hope that Nintendo doesn't go after the team, using their programs requires [gamefarmer.com] a GameCube and a copy of the game, but who knows how big companies react to such projects.

XBox users have had this for more than a year...

[Scorpion_1169]

LAN enabled games have been playable over the internet almost since the date of release. There are actually several choices for clients, one of which was developed and is run by Gamespy Arcade.

I realize that there has not been a need for serious development of this tool for the GC and PS2 due to the lack of the LAN play in the the software library, but these guys seem to be a little behind. My guess is that Gamespy, with their large comercial resources, already have a tunneling software ready to go.

BUT,

Re:XBox users have had this for more than a year..

[n0wak]

I believe that GameSpy, on the record, has previously said that if Mario Kart: DD! will have LAN play (which it will), there will be Gamespy GC tunnel available. So by all accounts, it's already complete.

Re:XBox users have had this for more than a year..

[Scorpion_1169]

Actually, it's not used loosely at all. With a decent connection you don't get any more lag than you would in any similar PC game.

Re:Uh.

[Scorpion_1169]

According to their site, the software they wrote doesn't go anywhere near fast enough for internet play yet. The framerates drop all the way down to around 20fps due to how the game sends packets, so yeah, they are far behind in some ways. With all the time that they have had with the Japanese version, I would think that they would have come up with more by now. BUT it's not like they are getting paid, so I understand the long dev cycle.

Like others have pointed out though, I don't know how relevent it i

Tunnel = Tunnel.....

[Daniel Wood]

You will be able to use any of the XBOX tunnels with the gamecube. It is all the same concept, a vpn.

I don't know why these guys are even working on another tunnel. Certainly not to bring the tunnels to linux. Half the Xbox tunnels out there are linux.

Re:Tunnel = Tunnel.....

[oo7tushar]

If you read the specs of how the GC communicates you'll understand.

The "Nintendo Difference"

[chadlnx]

As some people have noted, there were traditional tunneling programs for Xbox and Playstation 2. Even PC tunneling programs [neoavalon.com] have been tools for quick and dirty PS2 online gaming.

However, the GameCube uses a "plug and play" protocol called Universal Plug and Play (UPNP). As per my original specification [sourceforge.net] details, the main challenge with bringing the GameCube online was authenticating two GameCubes on two different networks. This is a challange because UPNP broadcasts packets that have a TTL value of onl