Popular Post zaxonzaxon Posted November 7, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted November 7, 2022 (edited) As someone who tried for years to finish this platinum and just got it yesterday despite not having a second ps3, I'm going to post a bunch of tips I used to hopefully help some other people who are trying to finish here at the last moment. The two main problems with finishing this game's trophies are Networking Issues and Glitchy Multiplayer trophies. 1. Networking Issues This game's servers have been broken for years, with most people unable to connect to anyone else. No one knows exactly why, but the one thing that has been figured out is that you can connect if at least one of the two players has NAT1 type connection. What is a NAT connection? I have no idea; all you need to know is that the number after NAT indicates how open the connection is to the internet: NAT1 means completely open, NAT2 means partially open, and NAT3 means heavily restricted (by firewall). Most players are going to be NAT2, which is what any connection made through a router will typically be by default. To get a NAT1 connection your PS3 needs to connect to the internet directly through the modem. How this is accomplished (or even if it can be accomplished) will vary depending on each person's ISP and network hardware setup, but I will try to give a basic idea of how you can try and do it. First up, though: DISCLAIMER: messing with your internet settings while not knowing what you are doing may result in breaking your home network. I am not a networking expert and this advice is based purely on my own limited knowledge and experimentation. Try anything that I describe here AT YOUR OWN RISK. You don't need to be a networking expert to do this stuff, but it is highly recommended that you at least have basic familiarity with setting up and configuring your home network beyond just running the "startup for dummies" apps that many ISPs give out to new customers these days. (I'm not going to explain basic things like the difference between modem/router/gateway, or how to log into your router's setup page.) Read the entire guide first and decide if the hassle and risk is worth it for you based on your networking experience and how badly you want these trophies! Before continuing, you'll need two things: a PC or laptop with a networking port (tablets and netbooks won't work), and an ethernet cable long enough to reach your computer and PS3 from your modem/router. (You probably don't need the PC if you have a separate modem and router.) I also highly recommend that before changing anything you familiarize yourself with how to factory reset your device and find any documentation or any other kind of Start Up kit that you got from your ISP. If you screw something up and can't fix it, you will have to factory reset everything and set up your internet from scratch, so having this ready ahead of time will save a lot of hassle. (Also, if you have any custom settings like port forwarding or reserved IPs or whatnot, take screenshots of all that beforehand so you can restore it easily.) If you have a setup with a separate modem and router, what you can try is: 1. Disconnect the router from the modem (Just to state the obvious: this will disable your wifi network, so make sure no one else in your household needs the internet) 2. Unplug the modem 3. Go into your PS3's network setup and set it to Wired Connection. (Use Automatic or default for everything else) 4. Shut down the PS3 and unplug it 5. Connect the PS3 directly to the modem with the ethernet cable. 6. Plug in the PS3, then plug in the modem. 7. Wait a few minutes. 8. Power on the PS3 and run the connection test in the Network settings section. If this worked, the connection test will succeed and it will list your network type as NAT1. Congrats! You should be able to get into Mercs2's multiplayer now. If it didn't work, I don't know what to tell you as this is the extent of my network knowledge. If you have a setup with a Gateway (router and modem in one device), what you can try is: 1. Go into your PS3's network setup and set it to Wired Connection. (Use Automatic or default for everything else) 2. Shut down the PS3 and unplug it 3. Connect your computer to the Gateway with your ethernet cable, then login to your Gateway's setup page and find the setting called "Bridge Mode". Enable it. (Warning: This will disable your wifi!) 4. Wait for the Gateway to complete the change to Bridge Mode, then log out of the setup page (if it doesn't do so automatically). Remove the ethernet cable and unplug the Gateway. Wait 1-2 minutes. 5. Connect the ethernet cable to your PS3, then to your Gateway. 6. Plug in the PS3, then plug in the Gateway. Wait for the Gateway to fully boot up (should take only a few minutes, but wait 10 minutes if you want to be 100% certain everything is good to go.) 8. Power on the PS3 and run the connection test in the Network settings section. If this worked, the connection test will succeed and it will list your network type as NAT1. Congrats! You should be able to get into Mercs2's multiplayer now. If it didn't work, I don't know what to tell you as this is the extent of my network knowledge. How to Undo these changes For the modem/router combo, simply reverse the steps: disconnect the PS3 from the modem, unplug the modem and router, connect the router to the modem, then plug everything back in. Undoing Bridge mode on the Gateway is a bit more complicated: 1. Disconnect the ethernet from the PS3 and plug it into your computer (so that the computer is connected to the Gateway). 2. Try to login to the Gateway's setup page; if it doesn't work (it probably won't), power cycle the Gateway (unplug it, wait 2 minutes, plug it back in and wait for it to fully restart) and try again. (The setup page is often the last thing activated after a restart, so you may need to be patient.) 3. Once in the setup page, go back to the Bridge Mode setting and disable it. After the change completes, log out of the setup page. 4. Try to access the internet through your wifi. If it doesn't work (it probably won't), do one more power cycle and try again. What to do if something goes wrong and you can't fix it As mentioned above, if you can't manage to get your wifi set back up properly you will likely need to factory reset your modem and re-do the initial setup process. Make sure you know how to do this beforehand to save yourself a lot of hassle. And -- again -- if you're not willing to deal with this possibility Don't Try Any Of This! That's basically it. I tried off an on for years to connect to other players with NAT2 and got the "Could not join" error every single time. After getting the NAT1 set up, I instantly connected to the first person I tried. Also -- and this is the really weird part -- I was still able to connect to other players even after restoring my wifi and going back to NAT2.... but only for 24 hours. After that it went back to Could Not Join errors. So, that's something to keep in mind: if you're not able to keep your internet offline for long enough to do the trophies you could try just setting it up, connecting to another player, then reverting it and hoping you're still able to connect for 24 hours. 2. Glitchy Multiplayer Trophies In addition to the networking problems, the multiplayer trophies are notorious for being glitchy and inconsistent. I'll give tips here on all three co-op trophies to hopefully help you complete them as quickly as possible. Wheels of Steel - You came in first during a co-op race This one is not bad actually, with no glitches that I know of. What you need to know is: - The race you want to do is started from the mechanic in your PMC base (I forget what it's called, but it's the one with the hot rod). - The host has to start it. - It is a timed checkpoint race and whoever finishes it first will get the trophy. The timed part of it is quite easy, so don't rush -- the biggest threat to failing is crashing your vehicle. If player A crashed and player B already has the trophy, player B can get out of his car and player A can take it to finish with. Nothin' but a Good Time - You destroyed 200 objects from the gunner seat in co-op Moderately glitchy, but not too bad. The issue here is that the counter is very, very inconsistent so you may or may not need to do more than 200 objects. To do this easily: go to a PLAV outpost and stock up on a vehicle called "Arbenz AA" (or something like that). It's a small armored vehicle with a machine gun on top that has a boatload of ammo. Your vehicle will likely run out of ammo before destroying 200 objects, so more ammo = less time spent calling in new vehicle drops. Once you've stocked up, head back to your PMC base. Call in an Arbenz, then use it to shoot everything around the base -- bushes, trees, pots, etc. Both players have to be in the vehicle. If you clear the base out and don't get the trophy, drive out onto the road and just shoot all the cars that drive by. (I got the trophy from clearing about 2/3 of the base; my boosting partner cleared the whole base then had to spend 10 minutes shooting cars.) Damage, Inc. - You used 20 airstrikes in co-op This is the annoying one. Very glitchy, seemingly very random with how it does or does not register. There's a thousand and one tips and methods I've seen online about what to do or not do. I'll post tips that seemed to work for me: 1. You'll probably need way more than 20 airstrikes, which means you'll need a lot of fuel. You can get some easy fuel from the main base of the PLAV and the Pirates (I believe these are both the southwest outpost for both factions; someone correct me if I'm wrong!). Each base has 2 or 3 thousand fuel that can be scooped up all at once. Be aware that stealing from a faction will make them attack you, but you can cancel this by waiting next to the faction shop then immediately entering and leaving after they start attacking you. 2. Use a variety of different airstrike types. Some people claim you need to use 20 unique airstrike types for the trophy to pop -- I can confirm this is not the case, as I only used maybe 10. But, it doesn't hurt to mix it up in case one type isn't registering for whatever reason. Also, different airstrike types have different cooldowns, which means you can spam more airstrikes faster by using different types. (For example, all bombs dropped by your pilot share a cooldown but do not share a cooldown with Artillery strikes or Chinese fire support, etc.) 3. Make sure your airstrikes actually do something. Blow up a building, kill enemy troops, destroy enemy vehicles, etc. I don't know if this actually makes a difference, but both my partner and I got our trophies pretty quickly while annihilating a Chinese base, after spamming strikes fruitlessly around the PMC base for ages. 4. If you've used many airstrikes without the trophy popping, many people report the trophy popping after they quit out their current session and started a new one. (Mine popped in the second session as well.) Create the new session then try all of the following: airlift the two airstrike crates at the front of your base, complete the airstrike challenge from the pilot in your base, purchase more airstrikes from faction shops, and of course - throw more airstrikes. ... and that's all I've got. This platinum took me 13 and a half years, so it felt great finishing it right at the deadline. I wrote this guide so that hopefully others can enjoy that same satisfaction. Spoiler (I just hope it results in more platinum trophies than broken wifi networks.) Edited November 7, 2022 by zaxonzaxon 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ResiGamer_28 Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 Or you could run 2 ps3s and 2 copies and have none of these issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthUllo Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 We did way over 20 airstrikes each and nothing happened. Then we went back to the PMC base and it finally popped after we did the airstrike challenge(level 3) one time. (The other player had already the trophy before the session) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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