Hi everyone,

I want to explain whats going on with multiplayer currently.
In build 0.15.1 public match hosting is broken, the port forwarding solution I tried just flat out doesn't work.
I'm scouring the internet trying to find a solution, and I'll be overhauling the whole system but its gonna take some time. sorry about that :(

For right now if you'd like to host a game with friends here's how to do it.

To host:

1. the host must port forward their computer
2. Load up a map you want to play on
3. in the pause menu go to multiplayer -> host private
4. enter a password, remember its case sensitive :P
5. you can keep the port number at 15937, but turn off uPNP as that might cause problems.
6. Message your friends who want to join, tell them your username (case sensitive also) and the password you set.

To Join:

1. from the main menu go to Multiplayer -> Join Private
2. Enter the username and password sent by the host
3. Hit join. if it says "trying to connect" for a long time, either the username is wrong or the host isn't port forwarded, most likely
4. if it instead quickly fades to black and says could not connect, then the password is wrong (or the host banned you :P )
5 if it says downloading grid, then you're good to go!

Known other issues:

the Change Grid option under grid tools can be buggy, and sometimes chunks can be lost. Its recommended that you exit to the main menu, load a new map and then have your friends re-join instead. This will be different in the new system as I'm planing on having a lobby persist between the menu and grid levels, keeping everyone connected until the host manually disconnects.

I know how frustrating this is and I'm sorry its such a mess. I'm working hard to get this fixed! if you'd rather wait until then I'll be posting the update directly to steam, so you can come back when you see that!
I'll also be writing up a more detailed post about exactly what the problem is if you're interested in back end stuff

Thanks again for all the support and for your patience!
- Matt